D&D General Critical Role Investigation Into Complaint

A couple of weeks ago, Critical Role was accused of commissioning work from one of their community members, but of not paying for that work. The company immediately undertook to investigate the claim, and made this statement, indicating that no work was commissioned or received from the person in question, and no such agreement was in place.

The person who made the complaint referred to online bullying within the Critical Role fandom.

The full announcement reads:

 PRESS RELEASE

---

A couple weeks ago, an individual made statements online claiming that he provided work for Critical Role without payment. Critical Role took these allegations seriously and immediately sought to investigate the situation. After an extensive investigation directed by outside counsel, it has been concluded that Critical Role never established, or intended to establish, any employment, independent contractor relationship, consulting arrangement or any other type of work-related contract with that member of the community.

This individual voluntarily reached out to Critical Role with concerns around his own experience with online bullying. Critical Role does not condone online bullying or harassment of any kind, and an employee within the company listened with the sole purpose of being an understanding ear. The correspondences on Discord reflect an empathetic dialogue with a concerned member of the community and not the providing of any professional services to Critical Role by this individual. Nothing in the communications established any professional, employment, or contractual relationship with Critical Role. After months of casual interaction, the individual made an inquiry to the Critical Role employee about possibly being engaged by Critical Role as a consultant to the company. Upon receiving this request, the Critical Role employee immediately and clearly declined the request.

The importance of helping cultivate and encourage positive and inclusive spaces for Critters has always been a huge priority for us well before this interaction. Although we understand that there is only so much we can control within unofficial online communities and platforms, Critical Role has been working on new policies to ensure that we’re clear with you about what we stand for, and more importantly, what we do not stand for. You’ll hear more about this in the coming months.

Thank you for your ongoing support. Harassment of any kind is unacceptable, so please be kind, and don’t forget to love each other.

Critical Role

 

[Morrus]

Wait...targeting them irl???

He said Twitter.

 

[Teraptus]

Wait...targeting them irl???

Not yet and not in a physical harm way - I don't think anyone would be that dumb..then again... "Orcs" ..... These individuals are stating they don't accept / trust anyone that supports WOTC and have used "white men" to describe the fan base...we know where that goes., which in turn can relate to IRL actions at LFGS/expos etc....

 

[Teraptus]

I don’t think it’s that simple. WotC in particular seems to be getting it from all sides right now. The folks talking about Mearls or Orion Black are definitely not the same folks yelling at them about alignment and orcs.

They are. However, the meaningful issues are being used to fuel the fire of the Twitter nonsense being spread around. I sunk into the rabbit hole and found many of them spewing literal hatred only because you support WOTC. The Orc crowd is fusing with the other crowd and becoming one.

 

[Guest 6948803]

WotC web presence certainly looks paralysed by their PR department.
Whoever speaks up, needs to be super-careful or one side or another will find something objectionable.
Answering rules questions is pretty safe. But even talking about direction of future product brews controversy ("Why only this and not more? Why so late? If it ain't broken, don't fix it!").
I doubt they can afford to "lose" some senior designers this way, like they "lost" Mike Mearls. Contrary to what some say, free-range talent isn't what makes good books (I work in publishing and its always like this - 90% professionalism and 10% ideas).
Anyway, today its combat zone in social media out there.

 

[Rhineglade]

What has happened to the "innocent game" I used to love and cherish as a boy? People have all gone plum loco! Bottom line: you see something you don't like or perhaps don't agree with? Fine. But don't be an naughty word. "naughty word" definition: stalk your perceived offending parties and harass them in any way, shape or form (especially when the issue doesn't even concern the general public).

 

[Dausuul]

Ugh...I am so glad after they self examined they realized they did nothing wrong...

Then again, if my boss was breaking the law, got called on it, then said "I made sure to thourgouly investigate this and I did nothing wrong...here I paid a lawyer to also tell you I did nothing wrong" no one would believe her.

If in fact they did nothing wrong, what else were they supposed to say?

 

[doctorbadwolf]

Not yet and not in a physical harm way - I don't think anyone would be that dumb..then again... "Orcs" ..... These individuals are stating they don't accept / trust anyone that supports WOTC and have used "white men" to describe the fan base...we know where that goes., which in turn can relate to IRL actions at LFGS/expos etc....

The thing about diving into rabbit holes is, you put yourself in a perspective that sees the rabbit hole as much bigger than it is.

There are a few jerks on twitter who are extremely angry at wotc.

And no, the #firemikemearls crowd and the crowd angry about upcoming changes to alignment are not the same crowd. At all.

People until you have a written contract in hand, don't do any work on a project.

Seems more like this person tried to push their way into CR like they wanted to be the next Dani Carr (fan turned core part of the team), by basically putting in a bunch of voluntary work that CR didn't ask for wrt anti-bullying policy, refused to accept that they weren't being received how they wanted to be received, demanded a job/payment, and then accused CR of a bunch on nonsense when they were told no.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

Also, the accuser is a known liar, and a bigot who targets anyone in the Queer community that isn't a cis gay man, accused Liam and Travis of queerbaiting for not making Caleb/Fjord happen, and denies that Beau is actually queer because she hasn't explicitly said that she is a lesbian.

Like, take accusations seriously enough to look at them and genuinely review their contents and the context around them, but we don't need to do any more than that for someone who provokes the community with bigoted speech, attacks on the character of the CR castmembers, and then cries harassment when the community pushes back.

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

And no, the #firemikemearls crowd and the crowd angry about upcoming changes to alignment are not the same crowd. At all.

Fun fact- all that is old, is new again. We might say that people who are diametrically opposed on most issues "are not the same crowd. At all." And yet history shows us that extreme people tend to find common cause to keep the rest of us down.

Andrea Dworkin and Edwin Meese might not have agreed on much at all, but they shared the same contemptuous view of the principles of free speech and the First Amendment as an obstacle to impose their views; their goals might have been different, but the desire to impose their beliefs on others was the same.

As to the instant issue, while an outside law firm investigation hardly ensures that there was no malfeasance, it does appear that Critical Role took the accusations seriously and verified that they had no substance.

 

[teitan]

WotC web presence certainly looks paralysed by their PR department.
Whoever speaks up, needs to be super-careful or one side or another will find something objectionable.
Answering rules questions is pretty safe. But even talking about direction of future product brews controversy ("Why only this and not more? Why so late? If it ain't broken, don't fix it!").
I doubt they can afford to "lose" some senior designers this way, like they "lost" Mike Mearls. Contrary to what some say, free-range talent isn't what makes good books (I work in publishing and its always like this - 90% professionalism and 10% ideas).
Anyway, today its combat zone in social media out there.

except Mearls is back on the team.

 

[Ravenbow]

Thank you for using an image with the entire, original cast. Tiberius was a hoot.

 

[OblivionDrive]

Also, the accuser is a known liar, and a bigot who targets anyone in the Queer community that isn't a cis gay man, accused Liam and Travis of queerbaiting for not making Caleb/Fjord happen, and denies that Beau is actually queer because she hasn't explicitly said that she is a lesbian.

Like, take accusations seriously enough to look at them and genuinely review their contents and the context around them, but we don't need to do any more than that for someone who provokes the community with bigoted speech, attacks on the character of the CR castmembers, and then cries harassment when the community pushes back.

As I said upthread, I didn't wanna drag all the stuff I've heard from various sources about this kid over the last several months but... yeaaah They've got a history for sure.

And speaking as a queer dude, there are few things that make me angrier than when someone like this does something crappy and then immediately dives behind their marginalized identity as a shield. Being part of a marginalized community doesn't mean you're magically exempt from being a bad person or doing bad things. Especially when it's to other marginalized folks.

And it's even worse when they get other people to carry water for them and defend them. And man, there's a LOT of that happening right now. Which is ironic as hell because they keep holding up the "stop defending people you like when they do bad things" card as a way to shout down people who defend CR blindly (and I will freely admit that the Critter community has some toxic elements and people who seriously need to chill out) while doing literally the exact same thing for this person, despite their well known history.

sigh

 

[Morrus]

Thank you for using an image with the entire, original cast. Tiberius was a hoot.

It was just the first Google result!

 

[doctorbadwolf]

As I said upthread, I didn't wanna drag all the stuff I've heard from various sources about this kid over the last several months but... yeaaah They've got a history for sure.

And speaking as a queer dude, there are few things that make me angrier than when someone like this does something crappy and then immediately dives behind their marginalized identity as a shield. Being part of a marginalized community doesn't mean you're magically exempt from being a bad person or doing bad things. Especially when it's to other marginalized folks.

And it's even worse when they get other people to carry water for them and defend them. And man, there's a LOT of that happening right now. Which is ironic as hell because they keep holding up the "stop defending people you like when they do bad things" card as a way to shout down people who defend CR blindly (and I will freely admit that the Critter community has some toxic elements and people who seriously need to chill out) while doing literally the exact same thing for this person, despite their well known history.

sigh

Yeah it's a lot.

And honestly, even just their own description of what went down read as a grift, to me.

 

[Guest 6948803]

except Mearls is back on the team.

He is silent, no posting anything, he was moved around, is he even doing any new designer/developer work? I don't know.
Btw, I'am actually curious, how decision-making and design process works at Wizards. Few years ago, when I got back to 5e, I was under an impression that its Crawford/Perkins/Mearls game with everyone else playing support, now I have no idea who is calling shots.

 

[Umbran]

Also, the accuser is a known liar, and a bigot...

Mod Note:
Dude. The barrage of insults is not good. Impugning the character of accusers or defendants in the court of public opinion is... repugnant. Please stop.

 

[OblivionDrive]

Yeah it's a lot.

And honestly, even just their own description of what went down read as a grift, to me.

They have/had an EXTREMELY unhealthy parasocial relationship with CR that seems to have poisoned their outlook on everything. And the fact that they're claiming now (or having others claim for them) that money was never an issue rings a bit hollow when their initial post claimed that they felt that both them and "their team" (who we still aren't sure actually exist at all, as nobody else has stepped forward) were due compensation for all the "work" they did and that asking for it finally led to them being "ghosted" by CR.

The problem is, considering that this was all conducted by emails and Discord chats, apparently, that records exist on both sides so even if he presents an edited version of events to paint his position in a better light, CR still has their copy of it all, which I assume is what the counsel's investigation went over to come to their conclusion.

And like, yes, nobody should be brigading or harassing this kid's Twitter mentions. I agree that's a bad thing to do and a bad look for the fandom. At the same time, I also have no love for grifters and abusive/hateful people who try to leverage their marginalization to hurt others so... I understand people being angry

It's a garbage situation all around, really.

 

[Mercurius]

Maybe its time to have an RPG controversies forum. Controversies & Conspiracies?

@Morrus ?

 

[doctorbadwolf]

And like, yes, nobody should be brigading or harassing this kid's Twitter mentions. I agree that's a bad thing to do and a bad look for the fandom. At the same time, I also have no love for grifters and abusive/hateful people who try to leverage their marginalization to hurt others so... I understand people being angry

It's a garbage situation all around, really.

Yep. I apparently can't say any more than that without getting a warning, so...yeah. Agreed. The accuser shouldn't be getting harassed on twitter by rabid stans. Rabid stans are bad and they should feel bad, as it were.

But also, anyone who knew this person's history knew how this would conclude, because it was obvious that they were full of crap.

 

[OblivionDrive]

Yep. I apparently can't say any more than that without getting a warning, so...yeah. Agreed. The accuser shouldn't be getting harassed on twitter by rabid stans. Rabid stans are bad and they should feel bad, as it were.

But also, anyone who knew this person's history knew how this would conclude, because it was obvious that they were full of crap.

Yuuup. And yet, this discourse will continue to bubble alongside the half-a-dozen others currently brewing for a while longer. And the people carrying water for him will use him as yet another example of how horrible a company that they already hated are the next time anything connected to them comes up, regardless of how true or not his accusations were.