Statement on Recent Events

The article I recently submitted to EventHubs unintentionally misrepresented an important community. I have listened to your responses and understand the negative implications of what I did.



I would like to make a few things clear.



1) I went in with the intention of explaining why people who don’t play KOF decide not to pick it up. I asked my community on Twitter and Facebook and received those responses.



2) I will not apologize for my words. These are definite issues that affect the overall player base. And yes, I do feel shame--but not for my words. Their effect and perception are what I am ashamed of.



3) I certainly do not have much experience in KOF myself, which is why I turned to others who might know more than me, hence the history bit in the beginning of the piece. That, I will admit. I do love and adore Capcom fighting games, but I greatly enjoy KOF, as well. I just don’t have much experience with it, in part due to the lack of players in my area and my inability to find ranked matches online. As far as my other fighting game knowledge, that comes from Street Fighter, which I do play and really enjoy playing. I did NOT think to address key community members due to the fact that they do play the game and would be better suited to the follow up article I had intended to make and am in the process of creating. But, in hindsight, I should have done this.



4) I will also admit that I should have communicated that I would be using quotes from my inquiries within my article. That is a fault of my own and I completely own up to it. I do not, however, believe that any quotes I used within the piece were libelous. Case in point, Chris Tartarian’s statement on the graphics. I utilized his words within the context of the player base taking issue with how the game looked. As you may well know, social media posts are public and may be used in written pieces such as mine. The fact that I should have communicated their use within my piece did not occur to me because as I was writing it, and as I looked over it once complete (which I do), did not feel as though it was a “hit” piece, and neither did my editor. Chris and I have discussed the issue in direct messages and have come to a mutual understanding on the matter. That does not excuse my actions and I take full responsibility for them. In sum: On a legal level, I am not required to ask permission to use quotes from anyone who shares their thoughts on social media or public forums. That said, I do care about common courtesy and feel that, on a social level, I should have reached out to Chris T. before using his words. I apologize for failing to do so. I did not feel as though it was a “hit” piece, and neither did my editor. Chris and I have discussed the issue in direct messages and have come to a mutual understanding on the matter.



5) Originally, my article addressed a few key concerns that were mentioned in the comments section and elsewhere, such as MVCI having awful graphics and a 3v3 system, as well as SNK not putting much money into their tournament scene, along with their World Tour. I also had more positive things to say about the game, but I cut all of these due to length. Eventhubs’ freelance articles have a word count—generally the limit is 1,500 to 2,000 words. I had to cut the article down to under 1,000 words and still failed to meet that mark. I felt as though I should keep the article focused on a particular topic at that point—why you should be playing KOF, or why people aren’t playing it. Since I didn’t see an overtly negative tone within the piece, I figured it would be alright to omit the positives and create a follow up article on why players SHOULD pick up the game. The decision to keep the “negative” side was on me. Eventhubs did not pick the content to cut themselves.



6) As for any insults toward my credibility, I encourage you to take a look back at the previous articles I have written for Eventhubs. All of them are highly positive and work to further the FGC. I have been in the tournament scene for about six months and before that helped organize tournaments and promote a scene in my own local area in Oklahoma. I have always been invested in the FGC even when my voice didn’t make many waves. That has ever been my intent and I will continue to write and bring the FGC into the spotlight. I did not handle the execution of this piece well, I will admit, and I sincerely apologize for the negativity it has caused. For those insulting my appearance, I encourage you to say those things to your mother or sister. Not so nice, huh? The way the FGC treats girls--and this includes girls hating on fellow girls--is unacceptable. We cannot use the "It's a boy's club and I want all the attention" as an excuse to hate on each other. It's a dog eat dog world and we have to stick up for one another. Men, do better. Encourage your girls to play competitively, or write, or draw, about fighting games. Don't tell them to sit still and look pretty. We're humans too, and we love the same things as you.



7) There will be a follow-up article with input from key members in the KOF community, such as Hellpockets and Romance. I intend to right my wrongs the best I can because, even with all the criticism and hate I have received due to this, I love this community and want to do better.



That’s it. I want to do better. I want everyone to know that I truly do love the FGC and all fighting games—even if they aren’t necessarily my type. Yes, I love Street Fighter most of all, but I do love KOF as well, and my attempt to speak on this title was obviously flawed. I intend to speak to key members of the community to educate myself.



I am glad that this fiasco has allowed the KOF community to have the spotlight. I am also pleased that a new hashtag has arisen, detailing why players love the game. Despite my blunder, KOF is gathering together. I have taken every criticism of my piece in mind. I've looked at Kappa, Twitter, Facebook, Eventhubs, Twitch, you name it. I've seen it. It won't happen again.



I appreciate those who saw my intent and stuck up for me, and I appreciate those who criticized my work and called me out, as well. It is not my intention to incite sympathy from you all, but rather to make things clearer from where I stood.



That’s all I have to say. I’m going to do better. I have learned an important lesson and will allow you—the community—to take the stand and make your voices heard.



TL;DR- I messed up and I’m sorry, but the concerns addressed in my article were legitimate. I made mistakes and am working with the community to right them.



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