This situation has been on my mind, and I’d like to share my feelings. It’s a bit like when you have a misunderstanding with a partner, and they take you out to dinner to show they’re sorry and want to make things right. You appreciate the gesture, but when they offer you a gift during that dinner, it unintentionally makes things worse. That’s what this recent event feels like to many of us.

Over the years, we've had an unspoken understanding with the company, almost like a mutual agreement that gave us a sense of balance and security. We played our part, and in return, we received tools and upgrades over time, often aligning with new developments. We always had two sets of equipment: what we were currently using and what we were working toward. It was like working at a graphics studio where, after dedicating enough time, you could eventually keep the company’s camera as your own—a part of your reward for staying and contributing.

But this year, late in the fall, things changed suddenly. We were asked to hand in both sets of equipment—the one we had been using and another we had bought with our own earnings—to receive a new company camera that would be ours to keep, with support for future updates. While this was an interesting new approach, it felt like a break from the unspoken contract we’ve always operated under.

For those of us who have been here a long time, this change had significant consequences. We suddenly found ourselves in a situation where assets we worked hard to earn lost their value overnight. It wasn’t just about adjusting to a new process; it was about losing something we had come to count on. Personally, this meant a substantial loss and unexpected costs, leaving us scrambling during a time when we’d been waiting for the market to settle. A time we would otherwise have used to complete our seasonal gains.

I can see that this recent event was meant as an apology and a show of goodwill—bringing us the materials to make this new process easier. And while I appreciate the intention, it doesn’t address the real impact. We were asked to dismantle our current setup, essentially voiding the value we’d built up over the years. It’s like being charged twice for something that, under the old system, we would have naturally obtained within days had you left the contract to stand for the remainder of the season.

This isn’t just about the tangible cost. It’s about the shift in trust and the sudden change in a system that many of us have grown with. By handing in both cameras and then having the new camera be of no value you have fundamentally demanded we return all our earnings over the decade to you. In short, a kind of robbery by ignorance of process or structure. The gesture to make amends, while thoughtful, misses the core issue and feels like it’s not fully understanding why this is so significant to those of us who have been here for years.

I hope this helps explain why this change has been challenging and why it feels like the recent event, as well-meaning as it is, doesn’t really resolve things. I believe there’s a way to work through this together and find a path forward that respects the understanding we’ve shared and what we’ve built over time. However, that process involves first recoginizing the error you have made in breaching this mutual contract that has otherwise been upheld for so long. 

Thank you for listening,

and I hope we find a way to bridge this gap.

P.S.
Please understand this isn't written in hostility. However, your ignorance is potent in this matter. It is an inconceivable error of judgement that I don't know how to better properly articulate. Please take a moment to respect the years of effort our equipment represented. Which you had us destroy. It was our "time-played" and you have said to all of us now "your time is meaningless to us". Then went on to say, "But here are some materials to incentivise you to return to form in paying us," never understanding that what you are emphatically saying is, "so that we can do this to you again". 

Just as the contract prior was unspoken, but implicit so is this new contract of unspoken, but potentially reoccuring theft implicit. 

You really need to grasp how underhanded this all was and remains in our eyes. 

It was always understood that our gear was forever in BDO, but that FOREVER was also acredit to TIME PLAYED.

You destroyed that.

Having not addressed that this event appears merely as bribery. 

I completely agree. Everything was drastically devalued at one point, without a smooth transition.