Why Did Tweaker Fake Retro Resignation?

By
Tristan Oliver
– October 20, 2008

“Social Experiment” May Cue Deeper Community Rift

When Sonic Retro administrator Tweaker abruptly resigned his post at the beginning of the month, only to re-assume his post just hours later, it was widely speculated that the move was done in an effort to discredit this site, and this reporter.  Officially, it should be noted that Tweaker’s official stance was that the move was “a social experiment,” as he said on this site and elsewhere.

But three weeks after, some veterans within the Sonic Retro forums remain scratching their heads as to why such a sequence of events had to occur in the first place, and why they were at the hand of such a respected community figure.  When TSSZ News spoke to some of those who were taken back by Tweaker’s initial resignation–those who, evidently, didn’t get the joke–we found evidence of a split in those who believe in Tweaker’s leadership as a whole…even from those who know him personally.

“Tweaker’s got a lot of people who hate him on Sonic Retro.  I mean, a lot of people,” community veteran Lostgame told TSSZ, while admitting in his comments that the administrator was one of his “first friends in the Sonic community and he’s a great guy.”

Upon initial murmurs of Tweaker’s resignation, a thread was setup on a special forum on Sonic Retro.  Due to its semi-private nature we will not disclose the specific details of that forum.  Speculation on that thread pointed to simple stress caused from other forum members and their posts contributing to the decision–simply that a cool off period may be needed.  Several community members posted their support for Tweaker, to the point where the current five page thread hit the end of a third page, with speculation as to what a new administrator would bring, before Tweaker returned, and made known his “social experiment” that, in his words, “gave me the results I needed.”

One forum veteran even wrote a song dedicated to Tweaker.

TSSZ News recently E-Mailed several of those veterans who participated in the discussion to speak with us on the record about their feelings toward the resignation and re-assumption of Tweaker.  They were not asked, directly or indirectly, for comment on Tweaker in general; they were only asked their feelings as to his quick step down and reassumption to power.  Some declined comment or did not return our request for comment as of this time.  But some did go on the record, and Lostgame was one of those community veterans.  He told TSSZ News, in addition to the comments above, that Tweaker, on the whole, would have been missed due to his commitment to the Retro forum.

“I think it’s soon going to be time that we see even more people unappreciative of the work he does,” Lostgame said.  What follows is his rationale as to why:

…while I think that he’s not nearly as bad as most people make him out to be, there are members of the community that would make far better leaders. Before Simon left, the forums basically moderated themselves. Sure, a lot’s changed since then, but I still think that sometimes Tweaker takes his actions too far and often trashes or locks topics without a real significant purpose. As far as his attention-whoring goes, I don’t think that helps/helped his standings with the community…

XCubed, another community veteran, also was confused as to what was happening until word spread of Tweaker’s initial resignation.

“I was really shocked because I saw him as a highly respected member on the board,” he told TSSZ News and continued:

It was somewhat depressing for me to see Tweaker around as a Tech Member, but either way I didn’t have a choice in the matter and respected his decision either way. However, one day suddenly he was back to where he was before the ordeal, telling us that it was just an experiment. I was shocked, but at the same time I understood most of his intentions on the matter….or at least I thought so. [....] believed that his intentions were to see what would happen if he had a sudden departure. I thought that he was curious to see if things would fall apart and who would stab him in the back. Even with his departure I’m sure that he realized that I was one of the few true friends he has on the board, even if we sometimes have our disagreements.

With that, XCubed also told TSSZ News about a situation that developed within the Retro community upon the cancellation of the Sonic 1 Megamix fan project, elborating on Tweaker’s strengths and possible weaknesses as an administrator:

Awhile ago during the Sonic Megamix fiasco, there were many negative generalizations about the board members. He made it sound as if we were all selfish idiots when I knew that was far from the truth. He just had to get out a little steam, but it was directed towards some of the wrong people. I actually felt insulted that I was being blasphemed and attached to the collective that would not ever have the pleasure in playing the latest official Megamix release. That truly made me angry and at that point I was willing to give up Retro for awhile because I’ve done it in the past (forcefully while the board had been down for some time, and I got an email that everything was back in working order). I told everyone in a post that I would see them again sometime in 2009. Tweaker sent me a message and asked me to stay. He told me that I was one of the ”cool ones” and was distraught to see me go. It didn’t take much for him to twist my arm. I figured if one of the most elite members of the Sonic community thinks I’m pretty cool and actually wants me to stick around, it was a worth while request that I would be more than happy to make. So I continued my time with the board. This was the reason I was so confused with his self-demotion and brief absence. I knew that something wasn’t right, but I respected his decision either way because I knew that it wouldn’t be possible to leave indefinitely. Without him, it felt like the board was starting to become chaotic, but mostly I think I felt more “safe” with him around. He always knows how to bring logic into discussions.

As we reported upon first word of Tweaker’s resignation, he is no stranger to discourse with regard to his administrative capabilities.  At the time, Tweaker’s public Sonic Retro profile outlined a 2006 dispute while head of the Sonic 2 Beta message boards, resulting in that board’s split.  He would have a role the next year in merging the remnants of the S2B community with that of Sonic Retro.

We asked Tweaker to comment on this story before we went forward with it.  Here are his words, unedited:

Do you want comment? My comment is that this is absolutely none of your business, and that you shouldn’t be making a story on it unless you’re trying to start trouble. This has gotten you into all kinds of trouble every single time you do it, so why do you continue to?

If you have any respect for Sonic Retro or any of its administration, then do not report our forum affairs on your website unless it is explicitly requested, please. I don’t want us torn into your little game. We’re not SFGHQ–we don’t exist to be your news scapegoat.

We also asked Sonic Retro webmaster Scarred Sun for comment.  She has not returned our request for it as of this time.

Lostgame closed his comment to TSSZ News by saying that, while Tweaker is a friend and does his best, “I just don’t know if he’s the best administrator.”

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