sugarvalves [1963573] —
Original article
Find out why one of Torn's top factions was deleted last week, where its members went, and what fate will befall its hastily rebranded subfactions.
Have you been hiding under a rock lately? Good, that's some excellent social distancing you've got going on there. But you may have missed the news that Unrelenting, a former subfaction of Relentless, was deleted by Torn's Community Manager bogie last week, with a number of its members and leadership team also removed from the game.
The decision to remove an entire faction is rare but not without precedent. Indeed, Bogie told The Times that he has deleted two other factions above 1 million respect in the past few months, along with several smaller factions too. Bogie explained that in cases where multis were used to build up a substantial amount of the faction, he is compelled to ask whether or not it is fair to allow them to continue to exist.
"My initial decision was to actually leave the faction; when it was taken over as Unrelenting it had around half of the respect it does now and I acknowledge that a large amount of that was built up through legitimate gameplay. However, my decision to delete it came at the point where it was discovered that ItsZahid and his co-leader Pachico were conspiring to sell the faction for real-world funds."
"That, unfortunately, forced my hand and it [Unrelenting] had to be removed in order to maintain a level of fairness for all players. Truly a shame for those who did put the work in, only to be tossed aside for the sake of some final profit."
ItsZahid was the ringleader of this fraudulent activity, but he had willing accomplices within Unrelenting, hence why so many other players were taken down with him, including the faction's co-leader, Pachico. There were obviously some innocent players within the faction too, but many are finding it hard to feel sorry for them, given that Unrelenting has always had something of a reputation.
Pictured: If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it may be one of multiple ducks.
From the outside, ItsZahid appeared to be single-minded and volatile, and there is no doubt he had some leadership qualities. But I feel he held a level of power over the faction which was oddly disproportionate to his abilities, as whenever Unrelenting would fail in an attack, I would receive numerous anonymous messages from their troops complaining of his arrogant mistakes.
I personally found ItsZahid difficult and petulant whenever we spoke, and as others will testify, he was committed to one thing above all others; avoiding the truth. You could confront him with hard evidence of his own birth, and he'd still find a way to dismiss the idea that he'd ever been born.
Pictured: Didn't happen. Fake news.
I've heard that ItsZahid was one of many in UR who "demanded to see proof" when they were caught. I have seen said proof, and it is staggering how blindingly obvious their misdeeds were in the end. That is not to say that ItsZahid and his cronies should've been apprehended sooner - the burden of proof is always on us, and this process must be drawn out and exact if we are to act fairly - but as time went on, this band of compulsive liars got lazy, and their crimes became ever more apparent.
It is not in any way controversial to say that Torn is a better place now that ItsZahid and his accomplices have been removed, as cheaters of any description must not be allowed to prosper in Torn. But nobody is 100% excrement down to the bone, so here are some kind words from RGiskard of Relentless, who was one of the few players I could find who was willing to defend ItsZahid publicly.
"Zahid was a very active, engaged, and strong-willed leader, which was a big part of their success. Consider that he named his faction Unrelenting (our old subfaction name) before we even knew who he was. We thought he was just trying to rip off the name, but then he came to us and proposed becoming our real sub. At least in terms of leadership, he was capable, which is not easy to find on or off Torn."
So what happens next? In the wake of Bogie's decision to terminate Unrelenting, questions have been asked of their former subfactions, Unrelenting 2 and Unrelenting Medical, with onlookers wondering whether sanctions will befall their members too. No specific accusations have been made against either, but their links to Unrelenting mean that many in the community are understandably concerned.
Both of UR's former subfactions have rebranded since their deletion, with UR2 becoming Endeavour, and UR Medical changing to Bloody Dangerous Sadistic Medics. The latter is by far my favourite name, but if they don't adopt the motto "Scripts and chains excite me" then they're missing a trick.
Pictured: Come on chaps, make the right decision.
However, before B.D.S.M. changed their name, it appears they were already making moves to distance themselves from ItsZahid and his cohort of cheating bastards. I was told that UR Medical was seen breaking off from Unrelenting and trying to creep towards several factions in Sector 7 last week, including Teufel Hunden Barracks. My anonymous source told me the following:
"All I know is they were trying to declare war on us, and a bug or possible exploit was discovered and they were waiting on staff to clear it up. Seems there was one terf [territory] that allowed [factions] to jump over another. I do believe UR medical broke from UR due to how long and how many issues the prolonged prep was doing. Possible PT was in on the war as well, many big-name factions been lurking nearby the outskirts for a little."
I asked B.D.S.M.'s leader ScroogeMcDuck about the suggestion that his side had split from UR before the feddings, and he admitted that they had. However, in a brief statement, Scrooge denied that they had broken ranks specifically to attack TFB. Either way, B.D.S.M.'s decision to high tail it out of the UR family may look suspicious given the timing, but MolonLabe, Scrooge's compatriot in Endeavour, suggests that this breakup was a long time coming.
"We have been planning a departure from UR1 for 3-4 weeks now. After the initial split from Relentless, most of us in UR Leadership wanted to redefine the faction as a whole in a positive fashion to Torn. Unfortunately, this wasn’t possible as all of our policies we crafted and agreed upon to have a democracy based leadership weren’t being followed. Instead, we were functioning underneath one person’s decisions with no regard to our structure."
UR Medical was forced into leaving the UR faction family sooner than they had anticipated when the mass fedding of Unrelenting's members happened. MolonLabe went on to say that the faction now known as Endeavour hopes to embody the ideals they put forth when they originally split with Relentless, while also providing a place for everyone within the faction to grow and learn.
Nobody can deny that escaping ItsZahid's influence was a legitimate reason for Endeavour and B.D.S.M. to split from Unrelenting. We must, therefore, presume the innocence of both factions until such a time as they or their members are proven to have acted unlawfully. But nobody should take this to mean that justice will not be done if misdeeds have taken place, as Bogie makes abundantly clear.
"I think players get into their heads that if they've managed to 'get away' with cheating for a brief window that they're immune to punishment, but I am a patient person, and we log practically everything, as our systems constantly improve we have the ability to check back over time and see the extent of the cheating players do."
"I am very keen on always making sure that the punishment will fit the crime and any cheating is just for nothing. In the cases of Zahid and co, several years of their own time wasted, only to be banned and forgotten."
The use of multis to undermine Torn's integrity is by no means amusing, as regular players cannot hope to compete against cheats as organised as Unrelenting proved to be. However, there were a few funny stories to come out of this incident, in particular, one involving Harley, which was told to me by BraveKath. She informed me that after a recent fight between Unrelenting and JUX HQ, Harley was impressed with the way UR's players fought, so much so that he felt obliged to tell them.
"...after that little war was over he complimented some of the players on their effort. They were all Zahid lol."
Pictured: ItsZahid and his brothers, in an image that was sent to us anonymously after his jailing.
Harley told The Times he was impressed with the insane activity shown by UR's members in this war, specifically jesticles and realityShift, both of whom were later found to be ItsZahid's multis, and who have now been marked for deletion. This was disappointing news to Harley, especially as it seems he rather enjoyed his side's war with Unrelenting.
"It was a very fun war with great participation on both sides, so to see a lot of that activity being cheaters just felt very disappointing as UR showed great promise for the future. And I was hoping for a more even rematch in the future."
The chance of a rematch with Unrelenting is now zero, especially as its members are now scattered across various factions throughout Torn. However, JUX may be tempted to have a crack at Endeavour (formerly UR2), given that thirteen former Unrelenting members have joined their ranks since the faction was destroyed.
Interestingly, only one UR member has joined B.D.S.M., aka UR Medical, with another joining their old parent faction Relentless. The biggest groups outside of Endeavour saw nine players move to 39th Street factions, eight players switch to factions in the Animal Kingdom, seven each to UnLeashed and Helvete, and three players move to PT factions, Bengal Tigers, Sykoz and JFK. Eleven former Unrelenting members are still homeless.
One of these factionless players is Deimos, who famously robbed Unrelenting of $10 billion just before the faction was destroyed. Any faction he has joined since leaving UR has been threatened, with MMCP known to have specifically targeted several. In a long and detailed interview, Deimos says he robbed UR's vault because he felt betrayed by Unrelenting after years of service.
"The main grievance that I would have is that I busted my ass I've been on this game 13 14 15 16 hours a day I would have done anything and then to come to find out how immoral the faction is or maybe just leadership to where they could force other people to do their biddings or hold their rackets or take their money or whatever I don't know I felt like I did all that work for nothing I mean yeah okay I gained my stats but like I chained for what for a faction that's hated by people because they treated them poorly."
Our intrepid team of journalists at the TCT have discovered that it was realistassassin who suggested robbing the faction bank to Deimos, with this act intended as a response to those in Unrelenting who had mugged realist while allegedly using illegal scripts. Nevertheless, Deimos appears to take responsibility for his actions, actions he believes to be legitimate, given the nature of Torn City.
"I learned pretty quick that money rolls all right and torn is vicious I had people coming at me all the time again it's a game I would never do this to somebody in real life for f***** sake... But I hold the basis on it's a game then it was a legal action I don't really know what else to say there are a few that I would like to apologize to but then apologies nothing... I'm not going to give the money back that would be stupid receive all the s*** and have nothing left makes no sense."
I believe Deimos could restore his reputation in the wake of Unrelenting's deletion, but much depends on how he uses this cash going forward. Sadly, he is unshakable in his belief that this money is now legitimately his, and having robbed from the cheating rich, he has no plans to give to the innocent poor.
"For the past 5 months, I switched my mind thought I went from never buy mugging to thinking okay it's another means of making money. If you can't protect yourself you deserve it... as like if I buy mug somebody they need to learn they deserve it if they can't protect themselves. I don't feel like the villain because it's part of the game and it's been done to me f*** a lot lol."
Deimos has since set up a Music Store with his ill-gotten gains, with reports suggesting that his newly-hired employees have been bountied and hospitalised repeatedly - time will tell if they stick around. And if losing your faction, the respect of Torn's community, your employees and some of your friends wasn't bad enough, Deimos has now thrown his lot in with this guy.
You couldn't write a more tragic ending than that.
The decision to remove an entire faction is rare but not without precedent. Indeed, Bogie told The Times that he has deleted two other factions above 1 million respect in the past few months, along with several smaller factions too. Bogie explained that in cases where multis were used to build up a substantial amount of the faction, he is compelled to ask whether or not it is fair to allow them to continue to exist.
"My initial decision was to actually leave the faction; when it was taken over as Unrelenting it had around half of the respect it does now and I acknowledge that a large amount of that was built up through legitimate gameplay. However, my decision to delete it came at the point where it was discovered that ItsZahid and his co-leader Pachico were conspiring to sell the faction for real-world funds."
"That, unfortunately, forced my hand and it [Unrelenting] had to be removed in order to maintain a level of fairness for all players. Truly a shame for those who did put the work in, only to be tossed aside for the sake of some final profit."
ItsZahid was the ringleader of this fraudulent activity, but he had willing accomplices within Unrelenting, hence why so many other players were taken down with him, including the faction's co-leader, Pachico. There were obviously some innocent players within the faction too, but many are finding it hard to feel sorry for them, given that Unrelenting has always had something of a reputation.
Pictured: If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it may be one of multiple ducks.
From the outside, ItsZahid appeared to be single-minded and volatile, and there is no doubt he had some leadership qualities. But I feel he held a level of power over the faction which was oddly disproportionate to his abilities, as whenever Unrelenting would fail in an attack, I would receive numerous anonymous messages from their troops complaining of his arrogant mistakes.
I personally found ItsZahid difficult and petulant whenever we spoke, and as others will testify, he was committed to one thing above all others; avoiding the truth. You could confront him with hard evidence of his own birth, and he'd still find a way to dismiss the idea that he'd ever been born.
Pictured: Didn't happen. Fake news.
I've heard that ItsZahid was one of many in UR who "demanded to see proof" when they were caught. I have seen said proof, and it is staggering how blindingly obvious their misdeeds were in the end. That is not to say that ItsZahid and his cronies should've been apprehended sooner - the burden of proof is always on us, and this process must be drawn out and exact if we are to act fairly - but as time went on, this band of compulsive liars got lazy, and their crimes became ever more apparent.
It is not in any way controversial to say that Torn is a better place now that ItsZahid and his accomplices have been removed, as cheaters of any description must not be allowed to prosper in Torn. But nobody is 100% excrement down to the bone, so here are some kind words from RGiskard of Relentless, who was one of the few players I could find who was willing to defend ItsZahid publicly.
"Zahid was a very active, engaged, and strong-willed leader, which was a big part of their success. Consider that he named his faction Unrelenting (our old subfaction name) before we even knew who he was. We thought he was just trying to rip off the name, but then he came to us and proposed becoming our real sub. At least in terms of leadership, he was capable, which is not easy to find on or off Torn."
So what happens next? In the wake of Bogie's decision to terminate Unrelenting, questions have been asked of their former subfactions, Unrelenting 2 and Unrelenting Medical, with onlookers wondering whether sanctions will befall their members too. No specific accusations have been made against either, but their links to Unrelenting mean that many in the community are understandably concerned.
Both of UR's former subfactions have rebranded since their deletion, with UR2 becoming Endeavour, and UR Medical changing to Bloody Dangerous Sadistic Medics. The latter is by far my favourite name, but if they don't adopt the motto "Scripts and chains excite me" then they're missing a trick.
Pictured: Come on chaps, make the right decision.
However, before B.D.S.M. changed their name, it appears they were already making moves to distance themselves from ItsZahid and his cohort of cheating bastards. I was told that UR Medical was seen breaking off from Unrelenting and trying to creep towards several factions in Sector 7 last week, including Teufel Hunden Barracks. My anonymous source told me the following:
"All I know is they were trying to declare war on us, and a bug or possible exploit was discovered and they were waiting on staff to clear it up. Seems there was one terf [territory] that allowed [factions] to jump over another. I do believe UR medical broke from UR due to how long and how many issues the prolonged prep was doing. Possible PT was in on the war as well, many big-name factions been lurking nearby the outskirts for a little."
I asked B.D.S.M.'s leader ScroogeMcDuck about the suggestion that his side had split from UR before the feddings, and he admitted that they had. However, in a brief statement, Scrooge denied that they had broken ranks specifically to attack TFB. Either way, B.D.S.M.'s decision to high tail it out of the UR family may look suspicious given the timing, but MolonLabe, Scrooge's compatriot in Endeavour, suggests that this breakup was a long time coming.
"We have been planning a departure from UR1 for 3-4 weeks now. After the initial split from Relentless, most of us in UR Leadership wanted to redefine the faction as a whole in a positive fashion to Torn. Unfortunately, this wasn’t possible as all of our policies we crafted and agreed upon to have a democracy based leadership weren’t being followed. Instead, we were functioning underneath one person’s decisions with no regard to our structure."
UR Medical was forced into leaving the UR faction family sooner than they had anticipated when the mass fedding of Unrelenting's members happened. MolonLabe went on to say that the faction now known as Endeavour hopes to embody the ideals they put forth when they originally split with Relentless, while also providing a place for everyone within the faction to grow and learn.
Nobody can deny that escaping ItsZahid's influence was a legitimate reason for Endeavour and B.D.S.M. to split from Unrelenting. We must, therefore, presume the innocence of both factions until such a time as they or their members are proven to have acted unlawfully. But nobody should take this to mean that justice will not be done if misdeeds have taken place, as Bogie makes abundantly clear.
"I think players get into their heads that if they've managed to 'get away' with cheating for a brief window that they're immune to punishment, but I am a patient person, and we log practically everything, as our systems constantly improve we have the ability to check back over time and see the extent of the cheating players do."
"I am very keen on always making sure that the punishment will fit the crime and any cheating is just for nothing. In the cases of Zahid and co, several years of their own time wasted, only to be banned and forgotten."
The use of multis to undermine Torn's integrity is by no means amusing, as regular players cannot hope to compete against cheats as organised as Unrelenting proved to be. However, there were a few funny stories to come out of this incident, in particular, one involving Harley, which was told to me by BraveKath. She informed me that after a recent fight between Unrelenting and JUX HQ, Harley was impressed with the way UR's players fought, so much so that he felt obliged to tell them.
"...after that little war was over he complimented some of the players on their effort. They were all Zahid lol."
Pictured: ItsZahid and his brothers, in an image that was sent to us anonymously after his jailing.
Harley told The Times he was impressed with the insane activity shown by UR's members in this war, specifically jesticles and realityShift, both of whom were later found to be ItsZahid's multis, and who have now been marked for deletion. This was disappointing news to Harley, especially as it seems he rather enjoyed his side's war with Unrelenting.
"It was a very fun war with great participation on both sides, so to see a lot of that activity being cheaters just felt very disappointing as UR showed great promise for the future. And I was hoping for a more even rematch in the future."
The chance of a rematch with Unrelenting is now zero, especially as its members are now scattered across various factions throughout Torn. However, JUX may be tempted to have a crack at Endeavour (formerly UR2), given that thirteen former Unrelenting members have joined their ranks since the faction was destroyed.
Interestingly, only one UR member has joined B.D.S.M., aka UR Medical, with another joining their old parent faction Relentless. The biggest groups outside of Endeavour saw nine players move to 39th Street factions, eight players switch to factions in the Animal Kingdom, seven each to UnLeashed and Helvete, and three players move to PT factions, Bengal Tigers, Sykoz and JFK. Eleven former Unrelenting members are still homeless.
One of these factionless players is Deimos, who famously robbed Unrelenting of $10 billion just before the faction was destroyed. Any faction he has joined since leaving UR has been threatened, with MMCP known to have specifically targeted several. In a long and detailed interview, Deimos says he robbed UR's vault because he felt betrayed by Unrelenting after years of service.
"The main grievance that I would have is that I busted my ass I've been on this game 13 14 15 16 hours a day I would have done anything and then to come to find out how immoral the faction is or maybe just leadership to where they could force other people to do their biddings or hold their rackets or take their money or whatever I don't know I felt like I did all that work for nothing I mean yeah okay I gained my stats but like I chained for what for a faction that's hated by people because they treated them poorly."
Our intrepid team of journalists at the TCT have discovered that it was realistassassin who suggested robbing the faction bank to Deimos, with this act intended as a response to those in Unrelenting who had mugged realist while allegedly using illegal scripts. Nevertheless, Deimos appears to take responsibility for his actions, actions he believes to be legitimate, given the nature of Torn City.
"I learned pretty quick that money rolls all right and torn is vicious I had people coming at me all the time again it's a game I would never do this to somebody in real life for f***** sake... But I hold the basis on it's a game then it was a legal action I don't really know what else to say there are a few that I would like to apologize to but then apologies nothing... I'm not going to give the money back that would be stupid receive all the s*** and have nothing left makes no sense."
I believe Deimos could restore his reputation in the wake of Unrelenting's deletion, but much depends on how he uses this cash going forward. Sadly, he is unshakable in his belief that this money is now legitimately his, and having robbed from the cheating rich, he has no plans to give to the innocent poor.
"For the past 5 months, I switched my mind thought I went from never buy mugging to thinking okay it's another means of making money. If you can't protect yourself you deserve it... as like if I buy mug somebody they need to learn they deserve it if they can't protect themselves. I don't feel like the villain because it's part of the game and it's been done to me f*** a lot lol."
Deimos has since set up a Music Store with his ill-gotten gains, with reports suggesting that his newly-hired employees have been bountied and hospitalised repeatedly - time will tell if they stick around. And if losing your faction, the respect of Torn's community, your employees and some of your friends wasn't bad enough, Deimos has now thrown his lot in with this guy.
You couldn't write a more tragic ending than that.
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