09-06-2019, 02:58 PM
Recently, we received two similarly-worded anonymous complaints that Kyra had been “stealing code” when coding Beqanna. Neither complaint contained any details or proof of this accusation. First, we’d like to remind everyone that no matter what the complaint, we can’t do anything about it without more information. Even anonymous complaints need to include information on who was involved, what happened, and when, in order for us to fully comprehend any issues. In addition, things like screenshots are very helpful.
Because of the nature of these complaints, we asked on the discord for more information and/or proof to be sent as we do take the concerns of our players seriously, even when they are about owners and officers. We did receive more information, and first and foremost, we’d like to make it clear that as owners and officers, we stand completely behind Kyra, and do not believe she did anything wrong. However, we are going to address the issues brought up point by point, to clarify and hopefully prevent this from being an issue in the future.
1. One complainant suggested we “hire someone more capable.” In case anyone is laboring under any illusions: none of Beqanna’s owners or officers are paid. Your owners pay for the hosting and web address because they love this community and want to see it continue, and everyone else volunteers their time for everything we do - coding, updates, brainstorming new ideas, judging, stats, etc. Kyra spent months of her own time learning to code in mybb so that we could move from broken b2g boards to the new forum, and every time we want a new feature she has to go and learn how to do it. Every time the site gets an update, Kyra has put many many hours into coding for us.
2. Additionally, Kyra was accused of being “careless towards others” & “callous/biased with players”. However, no examples of this behavior was provided. We’d like to remind you that owners and officers are human beings. We try to be fair and diplomatic, but sometimes we do slip up. We also don’t always have all the information, and we all know things might come across the wrong way over the internet. We can’t do this without communication from all of you. However, we can't modify our behavior without examples of things people are upset by; it is ALWAYS better to approach the player you have an issue with in a straightforward way, even officers! If you don't feel comfortable with this, you can always message any other officer as a go-between in conflict resolution, but we still need examples: “I felt [insert emotion here] when [insert name here] said or did [insert words/actions]” is a good start.
3. “Kyra steals codes from other websites.” This is a very serious accusation. However, when asked for proof, not much was provided. One of the complainants went to (presumably) another party, who offered this. Even comparing line to line, the professional consulted couldn’t find a significant degree of similarities between BQ's code and the other websites. As a reminder, many free tutorials exist online as well as guides and free sections of code; also, due to the nature of code, certain things like div placements, some very basic styling features, name of divs/classes (particularly when something is pulled from a tutorial or free to use code) may match other websites. In the case of free resources available on the internet, entire sections of code might match, and it still might be totally innocent. What creates a cohesive code is the way you string all of these similar elements together. Finding a few similar pieces in a code means nothing, and is not proof of stealing.
4. This picture was provided to show that we must have stolen code because the “set up is similar.” As anyone who has been on any message boards, much less RPGs, for any length of time knows: there is a limited number of ways to set up an RPG. We’ve been using this set up (kingdoms and lands attached to them) for literally longer than most sites have existed. Without totally changing the very essence of our game, this ‘set up’ is not going to change much. It's also not proof of stealing code.
4. The color scheme is the same as a previous version of a site that doesn’t even exist any more. A player made an image for us for this most recent layout, with pretty free rein on design. When we received the picture, we pulled colors from the image for the site. It’s complete coincidence that they ended up having a similar color scheme. Our sidebar, which does have a ‘similar structure,’ is actually coded completely differently from the other site in question. Additionally, there are a number of tutorials and plugins online, for free use, on how to add a sidebar to mybb, so this is not a unique feature.
5. Kyra is not a professional myBB code developer. In fact, she’s not a professional code developer at all. She is well aware that parts of our code are obsolete, parts are from old layouts she never deleted, parts are incomplete. As it is, we’re incredibly lucky to have an officer who can make it work for us at all. (We’d be happy to take donations to actually hire someone to make us shiny new professionally developed layout - to the tune of hundreds of dollars - if anyone is feeling so generous. Kyra would absolutely love to spend her free time writing her own characters instead of coding new layouts).
6. This issue could have been avoided completely if the complainant had approached us with their concerns to start with, instead of someone else. If you have questions about Beqanna or Beqanna’s code, you need to bring it to Kyra, Kortnee, or Dianna’s attention. If someone approaches you, you need to direct them to those people. These could be potentially serious issues (for example copyright on images) and we need to be aware ASAP. In addition, doing it this way was seriously hurtful to Kyra - she puts endless amounts of time into coding for us, out of the goodness of her heart, and her reward in this case was to be accused of stealing, and not in a nice way either.
Because of the nature of these complaints, we asked on the discord for more information and/or proof to be sent as we do take the concerns of our players seriously, even when they are about owners and officers. We did receive more information, and first and foremost, we’d like to make it clear that as owners and officers, we stand completely behind Kyra, and do not believe she did anything wrong. However, we are going to address the issues brought up point by point, to clarify and hopefully prevent this from being an issue in the future.
1. One complainant suggested we “hire someone more capable.” In case anyone is laboring under any illusions: none of Beqanna’s owners or officers are paid. Your owners pay for the hosting and web address because they love this community and want to see it continue, and everyone else volunteers their time for everything we do - coding, updates, brainstorming new ideas, judging, stats, etc. Kyra spent months of her own time learning to code in mybb so that we could move from broken b2g boards to the new forum, and every time we want a new feature she has to go and learn how to do it. Every time the site gets an update, Kyra has put many many hours into coding for us.
2. Additionally, Kyra was accused of being “careless towards others” & “callous/biased with players”. However, no examples of this behavior was provided. We’d like to remind you that owners and officers are human beings. We try to be fair and diplomatic, but sometimes we do slip up. We also don’t always have all the information, and we all know things might come across the wrong way over the internet. We can’t do this without communication from all of you. However, we can't modify our behavior without examples of things people are upset by; it is ALWAYS better to approach the player you have an issue with in a straightforward way, even officers! If you don't feel comfortable with this, you can always message any other officer as a go-between in conflict resolution, but we still need examples: “I felt [insert emotion here] when [insert name here] said or did [insert words/actions]” is a good start.
3. “Kyra steals codes from other websites.” This is a very serious accusation. However, when asked for proof, not much was provided. One of the complainants went to (presumably) another party, who offered this. Even comparing line to line, the professional consulted couldn’t find a significant degree of similarities between BQ's code and the other websites. As a reminder, many free tutorials exist online as well as guides and free sections of code; also, due to the nature of code, certain things like div placements, some very basic styling features, name of divs/classes (particularly when something is pulled from a tutorial or free to use code) may match other websites. In the case of free resources available on the internet, entire sections of code might match, and it still might be totally innocent. What creates a cohesive code is the way you string all of these similar elements together. Finding a few similar pieces in a code means nothing, and is not proof of stealing.
4. This picture was provided to show that we must have stolen code because the “set up is similar.” As anyone who has been on any message boards, much less RPGs, for any length of time knows: there is a limited number of ways to set up an RPG. We’ve been using this set up (kingdoms and lands attached to them) for literally longer than most sites have existed. Without totally changing the very essence of our game, this ‘set up’ is not going to change much. It's also not proof of stealing code.
4. The color scheme is the same as a previous version of a site that doesn’t even exist any more. A player made an image for us for this most recent layout, with pretty free rein on design. When we received the picture, we pulled colors from the image for the site. It’s complete coincidence that they ended up having a similar color scheme. Our sidebar, which does have a ‘similar structure,’ is actually coded completely differently from the other site in question. Additionally, there are a number of tutorials and plugins online, for free use, on how to add a sidebar to mybb, so this is not a unique feature.
5. Kyra is not a professional myBB code developer. In fact, she’s not a professional code developer at all. She is well aware that parts of our code are obsolete, parts are from old layouts she never deleted, parts are incomplete. As it is, we’re incredibly lucky to have an officer who can make it work for us at all. (We’d be happy to take donations to actually hire someone to make us shiny new professionally developed layout - to the tune of hundreds of dollars - if anyone is feeling so generous. Kyra would absolutely love to spend her free time writing her own characters instead of coding new layouts).
6. This issue could have been avoided completely if the complainant had approached us with their concerns to start with, instead of someone else. If you have questions about Beqanna or Beqanna’s code, you need to bring it to Kyra, Kortnee, or Dianna’s attention. If someone approaches you, you need to direct them to those people. These could be potentially serious issues (for example copyright on images) and we need to be aware ASAP. In addition, doing it this way was seriously hurtful to Kyra - she puts endless amounts of time into coding for us, out of the goodness of her heart, and her reward in this case was to be accused of stealing, and not in a nice way either.