NYPD on Twitter: "We regret to inform that Desmond Amofah aka Etika has been found deceased." (See guidelines before posting)

Ferrs · Jun 25, 2019

Flutter said:
Some communities in Era have been great. Like I said, I dont want this forum to fail because it's a self professed safe place and Ive heard plenty who were dependent on support given on the previous mental health OT at GAF. Every bit of that helps.

But there really needs to be better moderation in a lot of threads. A lot of decisions making have left a lot of us scratching our heads.

I think everyone, mods and not mods included, need to reflect a little bit, yeah. We don't treat mental health with the seriousness it needs, even people complaining now probably didn't in a time. The system failed Etika, and our lack of understanding about Mental Health makes the system fail.

But it's just too unfair to shit on Era, as a whole, when a lot of members have helped so much people, from the Mental Health thread, passing by a lot of helping going on with PMs, or acts like Talal donation.

We need to reflect, and we need to be better, mods included, but trying to pick up fights it's not going to help, we need to learn more about Mental Health, and truy to help more people. For example, things like having the Mental Health thread stickied on Etc would be a small measure, and if guidelines for mods can be improved then let's go for it. Using this tragedy to pick up internal fights on Era even against people that helped A LOT with MH issues with users here is wrong.

SaltyGeneralTso · Jun 25, 2019

MechaX said:
Prior GAF mod transgressions ranged from literally doxxing people, scamming forum members out of money to fuel drug habits, or literal pedophillia.

The mods here have issues but let's not get crazy here

I've seen multiple suicidal posters banned by the mods here. One for simply describing their body dysphoria as mental illness. The mods need to get better at this stuff.

Deleted member 1102 · Jun 25, 2019

MechaX said:
Shit have you seen how GAF is responding to this same news now?

Started off as a thread for genuine remorse and respect, immediately started to devolve into a way to attack ERA (and this was egged on by Evilore himself at that)

GAF indeed is a fucking cesspit now, but prior to the mass exodus I feel like it wasn't that far off from what we have now.

Vertpin · Jun 25, 2019

sora87 said:
Yeah, a lot of the staff are good people here, i just don't think they know how to cope with this incident. The one who was demodded has always been a troll and it was about time he had that taken away from him.

Perhaps I overreacted a bit. I'm sorry.

Chariot · Jun 25, 2019

I wish the mods would give us the opportunity to discuss their actions, then there wouldn't be a problem with people discussing it here.

This issue was brought to their attention, but they just buried it: https://www.resetera.com/threads/era-has-a-real-empathy-problem.124496/

Just burying these things, and ban anyone who speaks on it, is not a good thing.

TheGreatMightyPoo · Jun 25, 2019

Kinsei said:
People tried, but he couldn't remain hospitalized against his will.

Not even after the altercation with the cop???

That certainly points to him not being mentally ready to be amongst the general population.

The system failed him too.

Kiraly · Jun 25, 2019

Those discussion threads about moderation invariably end up with people just looking for blood.

Vexingsruzz · Jun 25, 2019

Etika, I only found out about your content in the past year but the world lost a shining star today. RIP and know that the hype and warmth you brought to your fans will not be forgotten.

mutantmagnet · Jun 25, 2019

I've only been tracking these Eitka threads by reading only the subject titles.

Despite that rest in piece. I wonder if family were even aware of how he was acting because just from reading forum titles it sounded like the guy needed help for quite awhile.

Deleted member 19742 · Jun 25, 2019

SweetNicole said:
We now equating a website owner sexual assaulting someone with this?

lol stay frost era

Did you not read "While I don't believe Era is anywhere close to what GAF was at this current point"?

I'm really disappointed in resetERA's mods today. And really, a lot of resetERA in general. :(

rras1994 · Jun 25, 2019

I will say that when ever I had a problem with moderation or an issue with another user, I have always found them very helpful msging them in private, and a lot got sorted - a lot more goes on beneath the scenes then you know.

I will say I hope the best for Etika's friends and family that must be going through hell right now.

Quantza · Jun 25, 2019

Cerium said:
Official Staff Communication

This tragedy is not an opportunity for drama, it is not entertainment, nor is it an occasion to organize harassment against people who most likely already feel terrible about what has happened here.

Please don't be political only when it suits you.
Posting this, while the forum mods try to tame down, direct and censor conversation, is contradictory whether allowed by your existing rules or not.
I am wary of people that speak of legality rather than logic.

People have a right to be angry whether you like it, whether it helps, or not - as long as it does not harm others.
Because feelings before context are not a substitute for accepting and understanding the truth.

vestan · Jun 25, 2019

Heckler456 said:
They're gonna let this fester until it becomes a huge problem, aren't they?

I checked all the Etika threads since April when he was originally hospitalized and all 6 threads were locked. Overall I'm not a fan of how this situation was handled and while I know the staff are good folk, pretending the issue don't exist by shutting down discussion just makes me really sad. I just wish that we had better avenues to communicate our grievances instead of just locking threads with no comment. There was a really good particular thread made by 2B or not 2B a few minutes ago that I absolutely agreed with but it was just locked straight away.

https://www.resetera.com/threads/we-need-to-openly-talk-about-moderation.125550/

RIP to my man for real, today has been such a shit day.

PlanetSmasher · Jun 25, 2019

TheGreatMightyPoo said:
Not even after the altercation with the cop???

That certainly points to him not being mentally ready to be amongst the general population.

The system failed him too.

The problem is that even after a mental break, without a court order, a patient cannot be held in a hospital against their will after 72 hours. Once they are lucid, if they express a desire to leave the hospital, by law they have to be released. The only way that can be overridden is if they display a clear and present danger to themselves or others, and that means direct evidence, not just 'we think he might do something dumb'.

Kinsei · Jun 25, 2019

TheGreatMightyPoo said:
Not even after the altercation with the cop???

That certainly points to him not being mentally ready to be amongst the general population.

The system failed him too.

In regards to the bolded: Absolutely.

Vertpin · Jun 25, 2019

SweetNicole said:
We now equating a website owner sexual assaulting someone with this?

lol stay frost era

uhhhh. did you miss the point?

LegendaryElite · Jun 25, 2019

Scotia said:
GAF indeed is a fucking cesspit now, but prior to the mass exodus I feel like it wasn't that far off from what we have now.

A large number of the member here migrated from GAF so what do you expect lol?
But I thought with a different mod team the moderation would be more transparent and open to opinions.

tulpa · Jun 25, 2019

SweetNicole said:
We now equating a website owner sexual assaulting someone with this?

lol stay frost era

why are you so obsessed with shutting down all criticism and trying to whitewash what happened? yeah systemically failing people with mental illness and allowing ableism to run rampant is pretty bad. you can't just handwave that by saying that some people got help when they needed it. that's great for those people, but others were failed and others had to experience the toxic ableist language that's been all over the board for a long time pre-dating this incident

you can't even say, yeah we've messed up in this area and need to change. you're just trying to ablesplain everything to us that there is no problem and nothing to see here and responding with pithy gifs does nothing to help the situation

kickz · Jun 25, 2019

Wow

Was this the guy who was at the game awards?

Deleted member 16657 · Jun 25, 2019

PlanetSmasher said:
I don't know what to tell you. Were you looking for more threads about him? Less threads about him? There was no really good way to discuss him especially as the situation worsened.

There was a perfectly good way to discuss the situation, respectfully and empathetically, as all mental illnesses and suicidal ideations ought to be.

Unfortunately that didn't happen because of a fundamental culture on this forum that needs to change.

Lothars said:
Which it's very rarely done respectfully and any of the threads I've seen posted has not been done respectfully and just wanna shit on people.

What do you expect? The offenders shat and doubted someone who was a suicide threat. Now us pointing out that this behavior was fucked means that the thread gets locked and we get actioned for "harassment and drama?"

What an absolute joke.

feyder · Jun 25, 2019

I'm really embarrassed by the response by this website. This + that pro-pedophilia expose from a few weeks ago are making me really sad and weary. I've even heard that the mods are being sympathetic towards members like Professor Beef too, telling him what he did was dumb but not taking any action, essentially giving him a light tap on the wrist, which I hope is just a rumour. I really think there needs to be a shake up before things get worse. 🙁

Reinhardt Schneider · Jun 25, 2019

Lothars said:
The Staff here isn't horrible and rushing to shit on them is not fair to them. Can things be better? absolutely but shitting on them is not helping anything

They surely aren't, but the matter at hand have been handled very poorly in my opinion. In a community that claims that people should be held accountable for their mistakes, a mod getting away from trivializing/mocking a person with mental issues with just being demoted honestly feels like a joke.

If someone needs to be called out, I feel like this is a very good time

Deleted member 1102 · Jun 25, 2019

LegendaryElite said:
A large number of the member here migrated from GAF so what do you expect lol?
But I thought with a different mod team the moderation would be more transparent and open to opinions.

I expected the same, but I guess your first point explains why the second point hasn't happened.

Amauri14 · Jun 25, 2019

Fuck! So it was actually his body. What a tragedy. Rest in peace Desmond.

cyress8 · Jun 25, 2019

ArcaneSylph said:
And really, a lot of resetERA in general. :(

I am too, people are more worried about moderation than Etika himself, fucking shameful.

HibbySloth · Jun 25, 2019

SweetNicole said:
We now equating a website owner sexual assaulting someone with this?

lol stay frost era

Its not comparable to sexual assault, but suicide and mental health issues are serious business and I'm disgusted with the behavior I saw in the previous thread.

With that said, it's not the main issue at hand. This is about Eitka.

Giudecca · Jun 25, 2019

Dang, RIP. Mental health is no joke.

Reading up on all the flippant posts people (including a mod, it seems) gave about this guy keeps re-inforcing time and time gain that the "progressive and inclusive" angle this site has is just a shallow facade. This place is just as nasty and vindictive as any other.

LookAtMeGo · Jun 25, 2019

HockeyBird said:
I doubt they thought he was fine. He was most likely offered help but unless he posed an immediate threat to others then they can't just lock him up indefinitely.

You're right. But I just can't help but feel like more could have been done. But ya I guess if he refuses then there isn't much you can do if he's not threatening to hurt himself or others.

Chariot · Jun 25, 2019

vestan said:
I checked all the Etika threads since April when he was originally hospitalized and all 6 threads were locked. Overall I'm not a fan of how this situation was handled and while I know the staff are good folk, pretending the issue don't exist by shutting down discussion just makes me really sad. I just wish that we had better avenues to communicate our grievances instead of just locking threads with no comment. There was a really good particular thread made by 2B or not 2B a few minutes ago that I absolutely agreed with but it was just locked straight away.

https://www.resetera.com/threads/we-need-to-openly-talk-about-moderation.125550/

This one, specifically on the topic of Etika's treatment here, is also rather interesting:

https://www.resetera.com/threads/era-has-a-real-empathy-problem.124496/

sora87 · Jun 25, 2019

Vertpin said:
Perhaps I overreacted a bit. I'm sorry.

It's ok, obviously it's a sensitive topic. I know all too well from personal experience.

Crossing Eden · Jun 25, 2019

Linde said:
there is no excuse for banning discussion on this sites moderation and policies (so long as its done respectfully)

There's nothing more true than this when it comes to discussing Era as a website:

but invariably public discussions on this get hijacked by trolls or posters who are more interested in drama than solutions

considering that there are LITERALLY tons of people with low post account alts/trolls with dormant accounts at the ready to argue in bad faith, not to mention the constant stalking of the forum of its members over our opinions on video games of all things to stalk people about.

Case and point, the discussion isn't even respectful ITT and you think an entire thread dedicated to it will be any better when most users going by this thread will just use it as a place to vent about how "bad" moderation is. Some of you people need to use your heads. This thread is not the time or place. And no, don't ask me "when then."

Kiraly said:
Those discussion threads about moderation invariably end up with people just looking for blood.

Foffy · Jun 25, 2019

Finale Fireworker said:
Ableism has always and will always be against the rules -- we action these types of infractions frequently. It is enshrined in our guide alongside racism, sexism, sexual orientation etc:

A lot of our staff have first hand experience with the burden of mental health woes themselves. Multiple staff members have disabilities. These are personal issues for a lot of us.

Where is your stance on mental health being enshrined with that? Not to make a "meme" out of it, but every major staff thread about transgender people usually gets a staff post highlighting what's tolerated and what isn't.

Unless I didn't see it, none of this happened with Etika. Why is that? If you all want to collectively admit you fucked up and will do better, I think that's what all the heat in your general direction is about. We're supposed to "move on" from that glaring issue after the fact only because he took his life? Where was this stance when, hours after getting out from hospital, he clocks a cop?

Again, we all make errors, and hindset will be the biggest one for this issue. But I and others wish it was taken more seriously. I hold no malice, only frustration, because as I said in my earlier posts, my earliest thoughts about this whole ordeal went right back to this forum and the thoughts allowed on it about how he was looking for attention.

Hybris · Jun 25, 2019

RIP Etika, you will be missed. It always hurt to see twitter replies on his tweets showing that he clearly was not okay. He had such a toxic fanbase that did nothing to help the situation he was in. Unfortunately the good and helpful replies on social media will almost always be overrun by the bad until it's too late. Now we get to sit back and see the flood of "mental illness should be taken seriously" posts and go back to calling mentally ill people insane and clowns.

tulpa said:
Era needs to fundamentally reform the way it approaches conversations around mental illness. There is no rule against ableism on Era and why its tolerated is beyond me. This board is not a safe space for people suffering from mental illness and long before the Etika incident the way people on this board openly mocked people with mental health issues with zero consequences ripped me apart and deeply hurt as someone with a life-long history of mental health struggles.

I hope we can take this as an opportunity to listen and learn because what's happening now on this board is systemic ableism and there needs to be a fundamental review of policy

This. ERA needs to do better than the toxic wasteland that other social sites are. Sweeping it under the rug does nothing but enforce the status quo. The status quo is not good enough, not even here.

Gundam · Jun 25, 2019

kickz said:
Wow

Was this the guy who was at the game awards?

Different black guy, that was SonicFox.

LegendaryElite · Jun 25, 2019

Scotia said:
I expected the same, but I guess your first point explains why the second point hasn't happened.

It's almost like human never learn from their past mistake.

Deleted member 442 · Jun 25, 2019

Gundam said:
Can we talk about the treatment of mental health here on ResetEra? Or is that drama/entertainment? If there's something to take away from all of this, it's that no one struggling with suicide should ever post here.

I would honestly disagree with that. There are a number of threads each week where people post and discuss the kind of difficulties that they're facing, to the point where there are some genuinely upsetting and alarming posts where people are responded to in a supportive and compassionate way.

I would say that we've seen with Etika is a pretty harrowing example of how accustomed and inured the wider community has been to discussions around self harm and destructive behaviour. This comes out in a lot of ways and one way in particular is that people might see something like this and simply not believe that there is a real risk of harm, that it is an act and that it is not real. Likewise it might be that this is something that we're so used to that we can't really talk to each other as normal people and instead wrap what we're saying underneath a dozen layers of irony and self deprecation.

I recently saw a video talk by Demi Adejuyigbe where he talked about some of these things and focused in particular on the idea of irony poisoning. Until today I thought of Etika as someone who was absorbed in a Jaden Smith / Kanye West personality whilst dealing with mental health problems.

I didn't think there was a real risk of harm to himself. I have become so used to that kind of behaviour that a nervous breakdown comes across as a self-mocking reference to Internet culture.

I think a lot of people saw it that way.

Here's the Demi video. I think it could help some people at this time.

https://youtu.be/G39U1Z1d7qI

QBizM · Jun 25, 2019

Daily reminder that mental illness, along with cancer, can go fuck itself.

Rest in peace Desmond. I didn't know you, but I know the struggle with mental illness all too well. Hopefully things get better for everyone still battling. My love and respect to you all.

entremet · Jun 25, 2019

There is a way to discuss forum stuff without attacking anyone. But it seems that these issues left to fester and then users pop off.

Moderation needs to understand that you can't just put your head in the sand. A community can revolt very fast.

Maybe make the thread members-only.

There was a lot of transparency when ERA started, but everything gets locked these days.

Deleted member 6730 · Jun 25, 2019

I can't believe a thread about a man's suicide managed to turn toxic Jesus Christ.

rusty chrome · Jun 25, 2019

Scotia said:
Honestly, yeah I agree. Sucks to say but I see a lot of resemblance to what GAF was as we got closer to the end.

Why would things be any different here when it's the members that make a forum what it is, and most of the people here came from GAF? You expect people to just change?

kickz · Jun 25, 2019

Gundam said:
Different black guy, that was SonicFox.

Damn rip

LookAtMeGo · Jun 25, 2019

Giudecca said:
Dang, RIP. Mental health is no joke.

Reading up on all the flippant posts people (including a mod, it seems) gave about this guy keeps re-inforcing time and time gain that the "progressive and inclusive" angle this site has is just a shallow facade. This place is just as nasty and vindictive as any other.

I mean yeah, if you want to pick a handful of people out of a pool of tens of thousands, you can always find a few people behaving unfavorably.

Masagiwa · Jun 25, 2019

QBizM said:
Daily reminder that mental illness, along with cancer, can go fuck itself.

Yes

Deleted member 1102 · Jun 25, 2019

kikiribu said:
Why would things be any different here when it's the members that make a forum what it is, and most of the people here came from GAF? You expect people to just change?

I thought people would learn from the mistakes that were made at GAF, but I guess it was my fault for thinking so.

impingu1984 · Jun 25, 2019

Rip etika... Incredibly sad....

I know of the pain of someone disappearing and then get the worst possible news..

Resetera staff.. please review your actions and policies.. policy means nothing if it isn't enacted..

Kingpin Rogers · Jun 25, 2019

PlanetSmasher said:
I hope you realize that the mods are people and it takes time to actually look into things.

How hard is it to review and take action on these posts?

https://www.resetera.com/threads/et...ems-to-be-very-suicidal.124467/#post-22054815

https://www.resetera.com/threads/et...ems-to-be-very-suicidal.124467/#post-22054842

https://www.resetera.com/threads/et...ems-to-be-very-suicidal.124467/#post-22054983

https://www.resetera.com/threads/et...ems-to-be-very-suicidal.124467/#post-22055028

Imagine posting stuff like this in a thread where an ERA user had said he was feeling suicidal. How the hell has literally nothing been done here? It's been close to a god damn week. All these posts clearly dismissing what turned out to be a genuine suicidal message and absolutely nothing had been done. Why has nothing been done?

Vampirolol · Jun 25, 2019

I'm sad for him and his family. I loved his reactions, he was just good in front of a camera. What he did in the last year was a synthom of bad mental health, and I kind of feel guilty for thinking that it was just things he did for attention. Rest in peace.

neon/drifter · Jun 25, 2019

Damn it. Damn that darkness that takes another. His madness was too much. Watch who you love closely everyone. Protect them.

And rest peacefully Etika. You gave too much of yourself.

Betty · Jun 25, 2019

Sponge said:
Its not comparable to sexual assault, but suicide and mental health issues are serious business and I'm disgusted with the behavior I saw in the previous thread.

The problem was people only had a cursory knowledge of what Etika was going through and his full history with mental health.

Couple that with the fact his own fans would make light of his disappearances or the fact he'd done this several times before, to the point his own fan reddits made memes about it, I don't blame some people for wondering if it was all just a stunt, though some of the comments went too far.

I wish it had been a stunt though, and i'm sure the people that thought it was fake regret what they thought now.

In the end, we all need to take mental health more seriously and even if we think we know all the details, we should never assume it's just an attempt at attention because the consequences are too great to take it so lightly.

Randomly Generated · Jun 25, 2019

There really needs to be a separate Communications subforum where issues about the site can be openly discussed. It's absurd how many times I've seen people write these essay-length threads about issues only to have it immediately closed because you need to PM a mod instead. This approach isn't solving anything, just causing those issues to fester, with an added feeling of resentment for being treated like a child.

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