The truth behind the Tarisland drama

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Although we’ve covered Tarisland positively several times, the MMORPG set to launch on June 21 has recently stirred up some controversy. The dispute involves Spid, a well-known promoter of the game, whose video about it was deleted, and Tencent banned him in the process. Here are the details of what actually happened.

For context, Tarisland is developed by Locojoy, the team responsible for the game’s development and core mechanics. Tencent, the massive Chinese multinational conglomerate known for its wide presence in the tech and gaming industries, is the main backer of Tarisland, providing financial support and additional resources for the game’s development.

Popular YouTuber Asmongold recently uploaded a video in which he spoke with Spid about what exactly happened. The drama sparked mixed opinions. You can hear one side of the story in the video, but there has been no official statement from the developers or Tencent to explain their side. Instead, a volunteer moderator had to speak on their behalf. On various social platforms like Reddit (and let’s be honest—can we really trust Reddit?), people are saying things like this:

To start with, the game promises that it will never sell stat-boosting items to players. The game’s creators firmly believe that “pay-to-win has no place in the gaming world.” Instead, the game will focus on organic player growth, encouraging skill development and strategy without relying on excessive spending.

Asmongold mentions a video Spid made six months ago, criticizing Tarisland for turning into a pay-to-win game. Interestingly, after Spid’s video, the developers rolled back some changes. Spid explains that his issues with the game began with small lies from the developers, which gradually escalated. One major lie was about pay-to-win elements, which the developers initially denied existed.

Spid goes on to detail a competition during the game’s beta phase, which promised good rewards, including an interview with the developers. However, these promises were never fulfilled, leading to growing distrust. He then mentions Lorne, the community manager for Tarisland, who was later found to have misrepresented her position. She and Jaya, another manager, were employees of the company but shared access to developer accounts.

Spid stresses that he never asked for special treatment, but the developers falsely claimed he did. This misrepresentation further damaged their relationship. He also highlights inconsistent behavior from the developers, such as offering rewards they later didn’t deliver. They even accused Spid of selling closed beta keys, something he denies.

Moderation issues on Discord are another point of conflict. Spid explains that his supporters were banned or muted on the game’s Discord server for speaking out against the developers. A particular moderator (the same one who later spoke with Asmongold) even encouraged mass-reporting Spid’s YouTube channel to get it removed. Spid then provided screenshots as proof, showing the extent of moderation abuse.

After making a video criticizing the pay-to-win model, the developers stopped communicating with Spid. Despite this, many of his suggestions from the video were implemented into the game. Ironically, after his video, a marketing agency offered him a sponsorship to make a new video highlighting the positive changes, but asked him to label the video as unsponsored, which he refused.

Spid recalls a 40-minute conversation with Lorne, who remained defensive and never apologized. He requested to speak with a supervisor, but Lorne ignored him. When he contacted another employee, Jaya, he received a vague reply, and eventually, all employees he reached out to stopped responding. He described the situation as highly unprofessional and careless. His original intention was simply to enjoy the game, but broken promises and lies from the developers left him disappointed. He pointed out the game’s appealing features, like challenging raids and the absence of pay-to-win elements, which attracted him and his community. However, the developers failed to deliver on those promises, leading to significant disappointment.

During the conversation, Asmongold decided to bring in another person to address some of the accusations. This new participant, a volunteer moderator for Tarisland (the same one mentioned earlier), attempted to explain his actions and defend himself. He admitted that he had suggested people report Spid’s video out of frustration with the ongoing drama. He insisted he was merely responding to community anger and denied any malicious intent.

The moderator acknowledged that he filed a report against one of Spid’s earlier videos, claiming it contained defamatory content. However, YouTube did not consider the report valid. The moderator felt that Spid’s portrayal of him in the video was unfair, as some messages were shown out of context and mistranslated.

Spid and the moderator argued, with Spid disputing the justification for reporting his video. The moderator tried to clarify his actions, but his explanations remained unconvincing. Despite his efforts to improve the game and build a community around it, developer dishonesty and the toxic environment on the Discord server made the experience deeply unsatisfying.

The discussion then shifted to Discord moderation and a heated debate about macros in Tarisland. Spid was muted for spreading misinformation after stating that using macros in the game was similar to botting. The moderator clarified that Tarisland’s macro system requires players to press a button for each action, which does not qualify as automation. Interestingly, Spid accepted the explanation and acknowledged that he may have been wrong in his initial claim.

Afterward, Spid and the moderator agreed on the importance of constructive dialogue about the game. Spid reiterated that his main goal was to improve Tarisland and that he never intended to harm the game. Despite their disagreements, both sides expressed a desire for positive progress, emphasizing that better communication and transparency are vital for a healthy community.