[Rockabye]

Ryu, this is a message for you. I know the topic of this thread may have raised some alarms, so let me tell you what it’s not. It’s not a complaint thread about you for the community to rant in. It’s not an attempt to get you ostracized. It’s not an attack on you or your intelligence in general. You seem to be having many problems within this community, and this is my effort to help you. I’ve never made a thread like this before, so I’m just going to start laying out bullet points. I’ll try to be as clear as possible to prevent any confusion, but if you don’t understand something then please say so.

• Let’s get the purpose of this thread out of the way. This is a confrontation thread, but I need to be absolutely sure you know what that means. For this to actually hold any value to you or anyone else, you need to abandon any impulses to be defensive. This means that if I say “Ryu, you have this problem,” or “Ryu, you make people uncomfortable with this,” I’m not asking for you to explain or justify your actions to me or anyone else. You don’t even have to respond. The only thing I would like from you is to think about these things, because it’s not easy confronting people, and I’m making a great effort here for you.

• Ryu, rumors are rumors, but when much of the community has some sort of problem with you, it’s natural to start considering that maybe there might be something to them. I’ve seen more from you than you know, so I can tell you a bit of what I’ve seen so far: When people confront you about things that you do that they find problematic or that make them uncomfortable, you’ve been known to be highly defensive rather than understanding. If you think that being a good friend means accepting your friends for their flaws… well, you’re not entirely correct. A good friend talks to their friends about their flaws in order to help them improve and strengthen their relationship, but when they do the person needs to be receptive to it. It’s not fair for them to pour their heart out while their friend is hiding behind a shield. Friends with the courage to tell you honestly how they feel about you are a blessing, and if you don’t appreciate when they do, then I’m sorry to say that you're letting those friends go to waste.

• Another issue is that you seem to shoot ideas from others down without giving a concrete reason as to why they shouldn’t be considered. It’s true that some things may not be necessary for a game to function, but you’re in a community of people who may find more enjoyment out of the things they’re suggesting or supporting than you, so unless you have a reason to believe it would harm the game itself, you should refrain from nay-saying outright. Not necessary is not the equivalent of a bad idea, and if you take this mindset with the development of a game then you’ll be holding it back from reaching its full potential.

Speaking of things being held back from reaching their full potential… Ryu, I cannot stress enough that you need to try to stop being so defensive. Not only are you going to stress yourself out, but you’ll end up losing good friends that way. I realize that you get a lot of negativity from the community, and I realize that it’s most likely very stressful, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re the victim. People are constantly bringing up your issues (to you and around you), and while they may not always be in the most tactful of ways, if you value your relationships and the feelings of other people, then if nothing else you should always focus on extracting the points that will help you grow as a person to avoid the same mistakes in the future, or at least make a mental note that this particular person does not like this particular kind of behavior, and take that into consideration when they're around.

Please realize the reason that so many people are frustrated with you. Do you think it’s out of hate? Why would people constantly bring up your problems if they felt you could do nothing about them? If they didn’t believe you could do better, then they wouldn’t complain so much about it. It’s because they believe you can do better that they find some of the things you’ve done so frustrating. Having flaws doesn’t make you a bad person, but refusing to manage them when you know that they’re hurting other people might. If you won’t do that much, then accept the fact that they’re going to have to find an outlet for their frustration. If they can’t even approach you with the problem without feeling that you’ll get defensive and shut them out, then what else can they do but talk to people who they believe will really understand and consider their feelings?

Again, you have no obligation to respond to this, and unless there's something in there that you didn't quite understand that I need to clarify then it may be best that you don't. There should no longer be any doubts as to some of the main sources of animosity between you and the community, so how you proceed from here with this in mind will show where your priorities lay. I've already done my part; there's not much more that I can say to help you. But please, please do read this with the consideration it deserves, because it is meant purely to help you improve.

To the rest of the community, please do not flood this thread with aggressive remarks, because that’s far from its purpose. If you want to add in your two cents, then do so with the full intent of helping him recognize his faults and improve. Otherwise, stay out.