The current state of things, at least for me

Please Note: The TotalFreedom Forum has now been put into a read-only mode. Total Freedom has now closed down and will not be returning in any way, shape or form. It has been a pleasure to lead this community and I wish you all the best for your futures.

    So I thought it's only fair to give folks a bit of an idea what's going on for me, because I fully appreciate I've been somewhat snappy and generally stressed recently, and for some people they've received a sharper end of the stick than usual.

    Right now, I'm trying to find and buy my first home (Which is surprisingly stressful for what feels like it should be shopping, it's not fun, it takes a lot of my time up), in addition to this I am still working a 40+ hour week day job, which I do love, but can be quite stressful due to the nature of IT and all that good stuff. On top of all of that I'm trying to progress things here on TF, but more importantly I'm also trying to grow ATLAS (Which pays for TF's server hosting, which I have to pay for from my day job).

    I am doing what I feel is the best for the server with the hand I've been dealt, and while there is a lot more stuff I'd love to be doing my hands are tied as a result of the shrinking player base and lack of development capacity combined with a lack of my time.

    After the discussions today it's also become pretty clear there are enough people in the community that have either lost faith in me, or wish to actively argue against everything I do.

    Back in November 2020 I put my name forward for owner, and I was pretty clear as to what I wanted to achieve and since then have been very clear on my own style of ownership and how I would approach things, but none the less people don't seem to either agree with that position now or potentially are arguing for the sake of arguing.

    I've felt I have had no choice but to cancel a number of projects that I feel will have helped to grow this server and expand our audience and keep us relevant for another 10 years, but reflecting tonight I'm struggling to see that position as viable with our current direction.

    With all of this in mind, and out of respect for TotalFreedom and it's community, I am going to give the current server executives the ability to invoke the ownership policy under Scenario 1 if they unanimously agree (And the community are supportive of such a decision) that I am no longer representing the community or the direction this server should go in. This offer will stand until the end of this month, if by then the executives haven't notified me that they would like for me to step down, I will assume there is still confidence behind the decision making I've made to date and that I have the communities support going forward.

    I've given TF a lot of my life over the last 9 years, and I hope that the executives and the community as a whole are able to see that, but equally for my own mental health I can't continue to have things run the way they currently run.

    Thanks all.

    Wild1145

    Network Owner at TotalFreedom

    Managing Director at ATLAS Media Group Ltd.

    Founder & Owner at MastodonApp.UK

    We can all see what you have done for TF, and all the sacrifices you made. I know that you only want the best for TF, and based on our interactions ths is more evident than ever. It's safe to say that Scenario 1 will not be used and we hope to see you prosper as an owner in the future.

    I don't think you're the problem, and I don't think your position is the problem, and I know the community, including the execs, agree with me. We appreciate all the sacrifices you've made to keep this server running. The reason that there are always arguments and complaints is that people here (including me) are very passionate about doing what they think is best for the server. I would like to personally apologize for the trouble that this arguing has caused you. Sometimes, to get things done, you can't just keep responding to feedback and trying to fix the problems everyone keeps complaining about. Getting somewhere where people are happy and stop complaining probably isn't that far off, even though it may seem impossible. It's clear that you want this server to succeed, and with time and effort, your choices for how to move us forward will be successful.

    I've been admin on this server as nearly as long as you, and tbh, I think the mindset we all need to think is that we can't please everyone.

    We can't say what tf's overall vision or direction is, because no-one has any idea what TF needs, it's more throw stuff onto the fire and hope it doesn't blow back into your face.

    I think tbf, you're doing a good job and a lot of people who are criticising you aren't practicing what they preach.

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