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Hey everyone! I hope you're having a great day. Thanks for taking the time out of your crazy day to read this long post. Most of all, thank you for even caring to read my thoughts at all. I have a lot to get off my chest, and it's not really easy for me to post publicly. Some people will probably not even get to the end of this statement, and call me out for certain things. I'd like to invite you to read the entire statement whenever you have time; there's no rush! =)



As some of my followers may know, some things have been happening very recently, and I want to take some time to address these occurrences. I don't plan on sugarcoating anything. Before I do that, however, some of you may be wondering what this post is all about. So, let's start from the very beginning.



Most of you know me by now as the guy who has no life that still streams Toontown in 2017. Crazy, right? I've been broadcasting games like Toontown for almost 5 years now, and it's certainly been a journey for me. Countless memories have been made left and right, and it's escalated into unimaginable experiences for me, such as visiting Owensboro, KY last summer to meet the Toontown Rewritten team. A real-life Toontown event was something I never thought I'd ever be able to attend! Toontown will always hold a special place in my heart, even when I quit the game for good. Now, while I'm not quitting the game for now, I do want to express some thoughts that have been circulating through my head, and address some of the recent events occurring in the Toontown community.



I've been having tons of thoughts lately, and I haven't pondered over some of these questions since I had originally taken a hiatus from Toontown back in 2014; that's saying something, as these questions were concerning whether or not I should continue playing Toontown. At the end of the day, I truly love meeting new faces each and every day, and the game has made me into the person I am, which is why I've been around for so long. However, as with many other online communities, it's not always perfect. As some of my avid followers might have noticed, there's been a lot of negativity in the Toontown community recently. Most of it has had to do with my involvement with a private, fan-made rendition of a server called "Toontown: Project Altis".



Toontown: Project Altis--like a few other private servers--is a fan-made rendition of a closed MMO that was known as "Disney's Toontown Online", which closed on September 19, 2013. On that day, people were saddened at the fact that a childhood game that they've known and loved was disappearing for good. About a month later, the first recreation of Toontown--Toontown Rewritten--was born. Since that day, several other servers have come and gone. To name a few creations that are currently around, there's Rewritten, Dessert Storm, Altis, Offline, Infinite (Classic), and many others. I feel as if a lot of people forget the common idea behind why there are so many servers: we all love Toontown, and we don't want to see it go.



That being said, there are many different interpretations and ideas of how developers envision Toontown, and regardless of popular opinion, I respect that. It's important to have different ideas and variety, and that can be an amazing thing. I acknowledge that difference can lead to lots of confusion, and sometimes anger people when it's not sticking to the original formula, but I believe that change can also be exciting! No matter what, it's important to treat each other with respect, including our ideas. This is something that the Toontown community in particular seems to lack overall, and it's upsetting to know--as I draft these words--that somebody is going to completely ignore my entire message and immediately bash me out for being "wrong". It's impossible to ignore the fact that the Toontown community has become more toxic than ever before, and this is a serious problem.



See, I was very interested in "Toontown: Project Altis" when it was released. I was excited for the product, and wanted to contribute to their ideas as much as possible, which is why I voluntarily asked if they were willing to let me help them out with the team. Some time passes, and I earned the role of Community Manager for the game, which I took great pride in ensuring that the players of the game were having fun and enjoying the experience. I got to know a team of staff that appeared to be just as excited about Toontown as much as I was. People seemed happy towards what I was doing, and I truly felt like I was making a positive impact in their day! After all, my ultimate goal is to make sure that I can make at least one person smile every day, and inspire others to be inspiring; most of you have probably heard me say that a lot, however.



Unfortunately, as time went on, I started to get a sense of what it meant to be a part of a team, nonetheless for a game in relation to Toontown. For example, most of my followers have probably heard about the situation where Altis decided to put their product on Steam Greenlight in hopes of expanding the amount of people playing Toontown. No, that's not a lie, but it's what the intention was for putting the game on Steam; that does not reflect my actual opinion on whether or not they should have done so.



The community response was enormous, and there was a lot of pressure thrown onto the team. Even as I write this message, the pressure builds. In my case, believe it or not, the moment I logged online for the first time the entire day, I was swarmed with messages that targeted me as a person. The Toontown Reddit page was blowing up, and the entire situation was very concerning. My role on the Altis team has been full of accusations, and I feel as if it's been harmful towards both my online reputation and my attitude going into real-world scenarios.



Don't get me wrong--my focus is not about how much reputation I have online. There's so much more for me to worry about than popularity on the internet. At the end of the day, I'm a young adult who's trying to find his way in life. That being said, it's not exactly the best feeling in the world when you get accused for the actions of others. Coming from a personal level, I'm not exactly the best person at handling sarcasm. From being told that I got "bribed", or that I need to "manage the community" in a jokingly manner, towards people legitimately attacking me as a person, it's getting ridiculous. As a result of these accusations, it seems as if I'm not only completely irrelevant to a handful of people, but it appears that I am an easy target just waiting to be knocked down. I understand if people think that I can achieve my goals of positively affecting the community differently; I appreciate advice, constructive criticism and change. However, my role on the Altis team has negatively impacted me in ways unimaginable to where I can't even bring myself to write it out. These conditions have become unhealthy for me, and it hurts.



I can't stand in silence. In fact, I won't stand in silence any more.



As of today, I've informed Dubito--the founder of Altis--that I am stepping down from my role as Community Manager for the game. I don't want to be confined by boundaries, but rather free to follow my own path. I respect the Altis team and the game itself, despite being imperfect; I've learned the importance of respecting my surroundings, no matter what I personally think. I'm not attacking the Altis team by any means, especially after working alongside them after all of this time. In fact, I don't plan on abandoning the game by any means. I still plan on playing the game, and I wish them the best moving forward with their project. At the end of the day, I always have and will always be a long-time player and fan of the game I love: Toontown.



One more thing:



Where do I go from here?



I will still stream on my Twitch channel as always, and I'll definitely continue to play Toontown with you guys. It's always going to be a game I mainly broadcast. It's a lot more fun when you guys are around! :D



On the contrary, I'm also looking at other games to branch out into, such as games like Rocket League and Overwatch, and adventures like Undertale. Some of these games sound pretty cringy, eh? I never said you had to like my content. Regardless, I still plan on trying news things outside of just these certain games, so feel free to join me on this journey as I experiment with new opportunities. :)



In the end, I'm trying to spread a message: Follow your own path. Stay true to yourself.



And, most important,



Treat others the way you want to be treated.



I'll be out and about to answer any questions you guys may have, so feel free to hit me up on Twitter if I missed something or if you have any questions!



Finally, thanks for supporting me. Believe it or not, I doubt myself a lot, and I always wonder if I'm doing good things. Not everyone will like what I do, obviously, but I want to inspire somebody out there to inspire others. That doesn't mean you have to enjoy what content I produce, but if I'm able to have that meaningful conversation and change somebody's day, then I've done my job.



I feel like I'm rambling at this point, so I'm gonna end the post right here. Over 9,000 characters went into this post, so my brain's probably fried at this point. =P



Well, thanks a lot you guys. <3



Smirk on,

~Michael

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