I only said he threatened to call the cops because it's what you said?? It was his therapist who recommended it, but I recommended against it. I have no way to verify what he told anyone else.
This is here in case the original letter is taken down from Northern Ruins.
Before delving into the details, keep several things in mind.
This all happened because two staff members, Min and Yolk, quit after not being allowed to discuss the idea of compensation for hundreds of hours of work in just the past few months. We just quit after leaving behind a notice of resignation with grievances in only the mod server. The goal was never to hurt Northern Ruins because despite all this, we still dearly loved it and, above all, its community. Northern Ruins contained so many friends that we would not want to hurt just because we were quitting. The only one who had the power to delete the servers was Aug despite what he has been relaying to people. And keep in mind, he has yet to release a comprehensive statement just explaining things to the people caught in the crossfire of his decisions.
Also note, Aug has not made any attempt to directly contact Min nor Yolk after quitting. Min has not been available for contact since the stress of the situation has landed them in the ER so lack of contact with Min might be excusable. However, Yolk has always been open to civil conversation and has told such to each and every messenger Aug has sent his way. Almost every messenger seemed to also think that Min and Yolk were at some fault for the servers being taken down or for the supposed destruction of Northern Ruins. As said previously, we merely quit because of lack of compensation. The only thing that was directly changed was that Min repossessed unpaid decorative code that they wrote and are the rightful owner of. Min left a lot of the code they themselves paid for along with other things on the site despite everything to make sure the site stayed perfectly functional with the database intact.
All destructive actions are by Aug’s hand only.
Plus, it was by his suggestion Yolk quit initially and Min followed soon after.
While Aug will repeatedly say he would have given compensation if he had known, he was the one who did not even want to discuss it in the first place. That is an undeniable fact. The issue is not a matter of money but rather a matter of fairness, transparency, and attitude. Aug does not entertain the idea of compensation in a transparent manner but instead opts to try to push it off till later. Compensation desired wasn’t even necessarily monetary but since he did not even want to discuss it, he would not have known. Min, who spent hundreds of dollars out of pocket, deserves monetary compensation especially considering their personal situation that Aug is completely aware of. Yolk did not want monetary compensation but rather wanted pets, items, and/or slots that were higher than common. But, again, Aug did not want to discuss compensation and therefore would not have known by his own choice. Note, previous staff-wide compensation was a single common slot. The only scaled compensation was a single Aspirith slot for Min. Compensation was not repeated nor otherwise scaled per work time. ONLY slots for compensation is a slap in the face since it requires work to truly get the benefit. Those bogged down by work by Northern Ruins or otherwise or even personal life would not really get any benefit from the slots at all. He also claims that the privilege to do adopts when he chooses to do them is compensation ignoring the fact that creating the adopts in itself is work. The price of an adopt pays for the adopt’s creation. It does not pay for the cost of the assets done. It does not pay for the cost of the site. It does not pay for the time spent on work for Northern Ruins outside of the adopt.
But, these words are nothing without the evidence to back them up. Aug, we know you keep telling people your version of the truth. So, we will tell our truth with the evidence to back it up.
If you wish to know the truth behind the issue at hand, this link will take you there.
If any questions come up, feel free to comment on the linked sheet. Since some of the images may be small, it is recommended to view it in presentation format. Imgur links will be added later to ease reading. For the sake of not overwhelming people, please do not DM any party involved! Additionally, please do not harass Aug. Even if we have issues with him, we do not want to cause him unneeded trouble in that regard. To be transparent, this letter and the attached compilation of evidence have been created and curated by Yolk. In order to ease the reading process, I have been referring to myself in third person. Min has had a limited amount of input regarding this because they have been hospitalized and are still ongoing treatment. Further details regarding their personal health will not be given at this time to respect their privacy.
Thank you for your time in reading this.
〔Edit 9-May-2021〕
Steve from Gumroad finally learns to read.
"If you haven't gotten your refund yet, you purchased through Gumroad, and you are being ghosted or dismissed by Komugitsune, please email [email protected] directly to get your refunds. They will process the refunds for you."
‣ Gumroad is now giving out refunds!
---
! ! ! ONGOING BREAKING OF TOS AND POTENTIAL SCAMMING ! ! !
Aug is currently upselling several designs despite not adding to their value via commissioned work or through any other valid means.
‣ NotDamien's Statement on Sell Value of Designs
‣ SnorkMaiden's Statement on Sell Value of Designs
‣ Heelies's Statement on Sell Value of Designs
If you wish to keep track of what he is attempting to sell and to see if anything might have inflated sell values, the link to his trade/sell thread is below. If you find something that may have inflated value, please report it and make a comment on his thread about it so more people can know. If you wish to, you can also comment here and I will add it to the list here.
〈Komugitsune's Trade/Sale Thread〉
EDIT: Image Transcription of Slides
PDF Version of Slide (Note: this will not be updated as fast but will be updated alongside the original.)
〔Edit 3-May-2021〕:
I'm adding this edit here since Aug decided, in a relatively confusing move, to lie blatantly on his site about the situation. Considering that, the following links will be added for ease of access to emphasize what he has had a direct hand in. This has gone beyond an issue concerning former staff since it has deeply affected many people unrelated to the original grievances I wrote. I sincerely hope this will help open more eyes to the issue.
I will preface with two important links.
This form is to collect formal evidence against komugitsune (Aug). As of right now, we are prioritizing gathering evidence of financial malpractice in order to strengthen cases against him in PayPal and Gumroad. However, if you have evidence of him doing any unsavory acts, we welcome that as well.
〈Please share this twitter link on the issue.〉
I have been informed that the issue is not well known outside of TH so it would be wonderful if you can spread the word outside.
Please note for posterity that this was done in a midst of a spike in anti-Asian crime. Both Min and I are Asian. Threats of police, in itself, is not a joke. But threatening it in this climate is horrendous especially considering he knows both of our addresses as well as the addresses of many others.
‣ Min's statements against Aug's allegations
‣ Persistent lack of communication
I would like to note that Aug has still never attempted to directly contact me and has blocked me everywhere instead.
‣ Cutting off communication avenues
It has been documented that Rook has been aiding with refunds as well as trying to be an avenue of communication between Aug and everyone else since he refuses to communicate directly. Since they have been cut off, Aug has effectively decided he would rather not face the allegations against him. Aug seems to have been using them as a scapegoat for failed refunds.
‣ Proof of selling traced Picrew design
He sold this to me when we were still friends and he had the picrew image hidden.
‣ Chargeback issues as well as Aug's indecision regarding NR
I don't know why Aug doesn't seem to be settled on what will happen to NR. But I will note his waffling on it seems to correlate with his waffling on refunds.
‣ Proof Aug said despeciesing applies to Official designs
‣ Aug lying about refund issues
I, and others, have experienced this. Aug has repeatedly been trying to lie on paypal about "nobody" trying to communicate with him. He's blocked most people seeking refunds so the only avenue of communication is PayPal where he, again, seems adamant on lying.
‣ Aug blocking those requesting refunds
It should be noted this wasn't a chargeback but a formal request for a refund. Basically, chargebacks seem to be the only valid avenue at this point.
Rook if you said that because of what I said then why was the reasoning that we would threaten legal action? Did you make that up? Because if he didn't, where did it come from?
And I am aware you cannot verify what anyone else said but if you're saying what other witnesses have said while being under Aug's good graces then I cannot do anything but believe your original words.
Rook sorry for second ping, i didnt see your previous message
aug did set schedules, every mod can tell you that. aug did demand things be done, every mod can tell you that. the evidence, though? most of it is gone because he deleted the server. so if i didnt include it, that's why.
hitch, did you even look at the slides?
neither of us went on attack. we retired. aug decided he wanted to end the servers and to lie to people. we are protecting ourselves. i didnt ask for compensation immediately and you can see that in the slides. i was asking to DISCUSS it
look at the slides. thats all you need and if you dont see it there then. i dont know what more i can do for you.
No, once again, that was based on something you told me. I'll post a ss in a moment, please forgive me but I'm still at work so I may be a little slow about it.
As for how Aug came to think you would do that, I honestly don't know, because all I ever did was tell him what you were telling me. I was trying to remain as neutral as possible knowing that he DID make mistakes--but you two are the ones who absolutely blew the situation out of proportion by lashing out just because you didn't get the answers you wanted when you wanted them. Slots etc aren't good enough for you as compensation? What kind of CS ever offers more than that, beyond things like mod customs, which I've already tried to get Aug to agree To?
I was working my ass off to solve all of your complaints, and then you went and posted a PSA which totally negates your claim that you were never trying to damage Northern Ruins. I have no idea what your intentions are now other than to turn NR into a smoking ruin over a problem that could have easily been SOLVED.
The point is that it's no one's damn business how Aug spends his money because he never entered into any payment agreements.
So, are you saying that "Aug threatened to call the cops because I threatened legal action" was something I said? Because I assuredly didn't. The screenshot you're probably looking for is this:
Note that I am NOT threatening action against him. I was saying IF he did something illegal, then I would talk to my uncle who happens to be a lawyer. That is not a threat. That was an answer to something you asked.
I'm not sure how we lashed out considering we were never contacted by him and tried to civilly resolve this. This spun out of control because he kept lying to people. People who kept DMing me with lies he told. People including you.
Also plenty of CS do. Explore around and see.
And I worked my ass off to show you my side. Posting this doesn't damage Northern Ruins any more than Aug deleting the servers and leaving everyone out to dry. I was the one who told people what was happening. Several GAs approached me to ask what happened and I told them that I retired but to seek Aug for answers which Aug didn't give. This happened because Aug didn't want to hear us. You agreed. You saw what I showed. I don't know why you have suddenly forgotten everything I have shown you.
I'm sorry for showing DMs but I feel like you're attacking me without remembering we talked previously very amicably about how things went down.
There may have never been a payment agreement, but they complained they couldn't pay their mods for the work they did, and then turned around and dropped 300$ on a gacha game?? I'm sorry but that's just immensely shitty (as well as morally wrong to be entirely honest)
Your comparison of the two is pretty disrespectful of those of us who have grown up relying on social services and is the primary reason I’m bothering to comment on this at all. It was a 100% unnecessary comparison.
Again, did you read the slides and evidence? “ The point is that it's no one's business how Aug spends his money” except it is now because he was the one who brought up spending $300 on a game FIRST
Yolk, the first screen shot (as I mentioned to you later) was from when Aug still didn't know what happened to the site because no one warned him it was going to happen. He reacted very badly because like I said, he thought you and Min had conspired to destroy the site.
The second screen shot was only after you gave me the biggest piece I was missing, which was the conversation where you were dogging him about compensation and he had to REMIND YOU that you're a volunteer, not an employee. He did it in a very bad way but that doesn't change the fact that here you are now, claiming that the payment methods you agreed to when you became a mod were not enough, yet even still didn't specify what you were expecting. You can't demand something that was never part of the agreement! Your extreme dissatisfaction was why he told you to quit.
Also no as someone who also lives on food stamps, the point is completely valid, because people are always bitching about how I use them when I can't afford to buy my own food half the time. :)
Rook, people can disagree with you on the validity of the point.
If he had a bad reaction because of an assumption, it is still a bad reaction.
There was no formal agreement, like you said. So, I am within my right to ask for something. Also yeah, I know. I quit. Then he seemed to take issue with that?
This is to everyone, I'm not gonna answer a list of questions that is easily answered in the linked slides in-depth. If I feel your points are clearly addressed in the slides, I will request you read them from now on.
If you have questions not answered in the slides, feel free to ask! As always, I am open to constructive conversation about this situation.
If Aug is reading, yes, I am willing to talk to you constructively too. I've been open to it and still have yet to hear directly from you. If you need time, take it. I haven't blocked you on any site nor do I plan to.