The People vs. SpookedOne

[Ekk0]

Hello Trench Wars community,

Now that I’ve officially stepped down from staff, I feel compelled to speak openly about the state of our zone — and the leadership that is steering it in the wrong direction. Specifically, I am calling for the resignation, demotion, or at the very least, a formal review of SpookedOne, current Sysop and Dev Team Leader.

Why I Resigned

The breaking point came yesterday. I responded to 4–5 pub players voicing concerns in the official TW Discord. I mentioned that league players also disliked many of the changes being made and that I feared the zone was on the decline due to the dev team ignoring over 95% of community feedback.

For that, SpookedOne silenced me in the Discord for 24 hours.

This wasn’t the first time I experienced this kind of authoritarian behavior. For months, I defended him. I encouraged players to give feedback constructively. I supported his request to move all discussion to the official Discord. I even created a thread with a community poll — only for him to delete the poll, lock the thread, and ban new users from joining the Discord for 24 hours because two people left mildly negative comments.

This is a pattern.

Abuse of Power

This is the same person who:

• Used his dev time to remove the !block command from being used on staff — just to shield himself from criticism and warranted community pushback.
• Gives himself bursts and decoys during public games in front of players to show off his power.
• Removed attach mode from pub so he could practice Terrier without interference.
• Removed MMR multi-arena matchmaking to limit matches to one arena. Now, if 30 players queue up, only 10 play. The rest get benched. People log off. Under the previous system, three 5v5 matches would start, keeping all 30 players engaged. That change alone severely damaged player retention. His reasoning for this change was he only wanted to play with top-tier players like Stayon and did not want to play in jd4 with y0gi/Shaun.

Community Voices Ignored

I’m not the only one speaking up.

• Viruk and Lupin made a well-reasoned post criticizing poor spawn logic and the removal of attach mode — feedback Spooked continues to ignore.
• Absurd (Spezza), Pub Bucks billionaire, said:
  “PUB WITHOUT ATTACH MODE IS BAD. I AM THE RICHEST AND MY OPINION MATTERS THE MOST. STOP LISTENING TO PEASANTS.”
• Lee: “You can go 22–10 and still lose points. It’s unfair.”
• Bike: “Me win = good, me lose = bad. Must Einstein meddle in caveman waters?”
• Rainbow Seeker: “SpookedOne ignores feedback. I used to want to play. Now I don’t.”
• Beam: “I stopped playing because Spooked ruined MMR.”
• Best: ““MMR completely ruined my enjoyment. The old system had balance and competitiveness. SpookedOne’s new system is frustrating, punishes good performances, and makes matches feel pointless. This is exactly why so many players, including myself, lost interest.”
• Banks: “This game is cooked because of Spookedone”
• Damageinc86: “Spooked was adjusting live gameplay settings mid-match to sabotage players. That’s unacceptable. I’ve received messages from others seeing the same thing. I won’t be coming back to this game until that c**** is gone.”

These aren’t isolated complaints. This is a systemic issue: a zone leader who doesn’t play with the people, doesn’t listen to the people, and — worst of all — acts against them.

I have also attached a poll conducted on discord with 12 votes to bring back multiple arenas, 15 votes to gain points on win, and lose points on losses.

How did SpookedOne respond to the community request via poll? He ignored it completely, hid the numerical rank system and changed it to a vague tier system, that no one asked for, essentially putting a bandaid over a leaking pipe.

A Path Forward

The zone is dying. Players don’t always make dramatic exits. Most just quietly leave. But those of us still here are saying it clearly:

The problem is SpookedOne.

What we need now is not more experimentation or half-baked innovation. We need a return to what worked:

• Restore attach mode in some form for pub players.
• Revert to MMRv1 settings:
  • Bring back !mtt, multiple arenas, and numerical MMR scores.
  • Remove vague tiers that hide real progress.
  • Let players win, see it, and feel it.
• Reset the MMR ladder every 3–6 months and race to the top like we used to.
• Keep only what worked — like the automated basing lines.
• Undo everything else SpookedOne has imposed under his personal agenda.

The community has paid for server costs for three years. We were thriving before these changes. We don’t want "new features" — we want the core experience that brought us joy.

It should be noted that other zones like Hockey Zone have a board of directors consisting of 5 players who must vote on any changes made to the zone, I believe chaos zone has a similar system/council.

Why is that as the largest and most active zone we do not have a similar check in place to changes made to core areas in gameplay?

Why is SpookedOne allowed to do anything he wants with no repercussions? No single player should have this much power.

Time for Change

There is no accountability, no transparency, and no openness to player input under SpookedOne’s leadership. If Trench Wars is to survive, we need leadership that collaborates — not dictates.

To the upper staff, and to all who still care about this zone: this is a tipping point.

The movement has already begun. Effective immediately, I will no longer participate in MMR matches. If I want to Warbird, I’ll play in ?go wbduel. If I want to Jav, I’ll play in ?go javduel. If I want to base, I’ll be in ?go base — where the spirit of the game still lives.

Unless meaningful change happens, I will be stepping away from Trench Wars entirely after the TW Cups conclude on June 8th, 2025. Unfortunately, I know I’m not alone — many players feel the same way.

Enough is enough. It’s time for a change.

[Viruk]

Power corrupts, it seems.

I don't have any confidence in SpookedOne to provide leadership for this zone. I am not sure what his vision for pub is (has he ever given it?) but he seems to blithely ignore the considered opinions of others.

How is he doing on MMR? - Unlike pub it is a new project that has rarely worked well for me in my very limited experience of it. (But then I'm a pubber and perhaps not the kind of player it is most aimed at)

Leagues? - What the hell do I know about them?

[Menelvagor]

Who has the power to remove spooked, and who can replace him?

from what I've seen the entire community supports his removal. but there needs to be a plan. the problem is clear, and if we could offer a solution (a replacement and a path forward - ekko has given some excellent examples above) perhaps we could get the ball rolling and appeal to whoever has the power to make the changes.

[Best]

Lol, I actually agree with Ekko, even though I no longer play the game and have no intention of returning. The main reason I’ve stepped away completely is because of the direction the game has taken under Spooked’s leadership. One guy making major changes without any community feedback or constructive criticism has completely ruined what made the game special.

I remember when the MMR system was well-designed, and the boys would be up til 2am grinding the ladder and it actually felt rewarding lol. Now it’s just a lazy point system that kills all sense of progress and competition.

This selfish, four-eyed virgin geek refuses to take feedback that could benefit the zone, but he’s quick to force in personal changes nobody asked for. He’s never led anything in his life, has no sense of community, and just keeps breaking things that were never broken in the first place.

I still remember when this clown Spooked removed antiwarp, a feature that was untouched for 25 years because I was spawning him. Game always had spawning and somehow it was an issue because it was him being spawned. I abused the broken mechanic just to show how stupid the change was, and he reverted it, only because he didn’t even understand how +1 worked. That’s the level of incompetence we’re dealing with.

It’s disappointing to see a game we’ve loved for over 20 years fall apart due to one person’s unwillingness to engage with the community and make collaborative decisions that benefit the player base as a whole.

Someone hit up qon probably the only real savior we’ve got… sad

Fuck DookedOne, the Tyrant.. #FreeOurBelovedZone


- Your Boy El Bigmon

[death row]

Did Pure_Luck retire? He was great at running things.

btw - hey friends.

[damageinc86]

Who has the power to remove spooked, and who can replace him?

from what I've seen the entire community supports his removal. but there needs to be a plan. the problem is clear, and if we could offer a solution (a replacement and a path forward - ekko has given some excellent examples above) perhaps we could get the ball rolling and appeal to whoever has the power to make the changes.

what plan!? just set the damn stuff up and leave it alone! you could probably pay a monkey to do that and then tell him he's laid off afterwards.

[paradise!]

spooked used to be cool. but there is clear consensus that this has crossed the line. Absolutely indefensible things.

[Ekk0]

Lol, I actually agree with Ekko, even though I no longer play the game and have no intention of returning. The main reason I’ve stepped away completely is because of the direction the game has taken under Spooked’s leadership. One guy making major changes without any community feedback or constructive criticism has completely ruined what made the game special.

I remember when the MMR system was well-designed, and the boys would be up til 2am grinding the ladder and it actually felt rewarding lol. Now it’s just a lazy point system that kills all sense of progress and competition.

This selfish, four-eyed virgin geek refuses to take feedback that could benefit the zone, but he’s quick to force in personal changes nobody asked for. He’s never led anything in his life, has no sense of community, and just keeps breaking things that were never broken in the first place.

I still remember when this clown Spooked removed antiwarp, a feature that was untouched for 25 years because I was spawning him. Game always had spawning and somehow it was an issue because it was him being spawned. I abused the broken mechanic just to show how stupid the change was, and he reverted it, only because he didn’t even understand how +1 worked. That’s the level of incompetence we’re dealing with.

It’s disappointing to see a game we’ve loved for over 20 years fall apart due to one person’s unwillingness to engage with the community and make collaborative decisions that benefit the player base as a whole.

Someone hit up qon probably the only real savior we’ve got… sad

Fuck DookedOne, the Tyrant.. #FreeOurBelovedZone


- Your Boy El Bigmon

Thank you for sharing your thoughts, Best. I appreciate your support and perspective, it's clear you, like many of us, care deeply about this game.

That said, I want to say one thing: I don't support personal attacks on SpookedOne or anyone else. It's obvious he puts time and effort into the zone, which deserves respect in itself. I believe he loves the game, otherwise, he wouldn’t still be here.

The frustration isn’t about malice, it’s about direction and accountability. The problem is a lack of checks and balances. When one person is able to make sweeping changes without real community feedback, it creates a disconnect. That disconnect is growing, and it’s pushing veterans away.

The changes feel arbitrary and unaligned with the majority of the player base, which defeats the purpose of building and maintaining a competitive, fun environment. I think we’re all feeling the same thing: like our voices don’t matter, and that’s not how community-based games should work.

I’ve tried to have conversations, but often it feels like talking to a wall. There's a condescending tone that makes meaningful communication hard, and it’s disheartening because I do think Spooked has good intentions buried somewhere in there. Maybe he's dealing with personal things, maybe this game has become an outlet for control — I don’t know. But whatever the cause, the outcome is hurting the zone.

The idea some upperstaff have that only a "vocal minority" is opposed to recent changes just doesn’t hold up anymore. The community is speaking, loudly and clearly. We want collaborative decisions, stability, and the potential for more leagues, more content, and more of what made Trench Wars special.

I’m not trying to divide — I’m trying to protect something I care about. I want to help create an environment where respect flows both ways, where creativity can thrive, and where we don’t lose what little momentum this game still has. I do not need to be staff to make changes, we have moved the revolution to non MMR arenas such as .?go base, in protest, however, I've still added spooked to games and let him exist freely.

We were on the cusp of something exciting with the MMR system and a potential new league structure. Now it feels like we’re watching it all slip away..

Let’s course-correct. There’s still time..

[Ekk0]

Did Pure_Luck retire? He was great at running things.

btw - hey friends.

DEATH ROW BACK FROM 2005, LOG IN, WE WILL SAVE THIS GAME YET.

-your biggest fan

- Ekko

[Lupin]

• Used his dev time to remove the !block command from being used on staff — just to shield himself from criticism and warranted community pushback.
• Gives himself bursts and decoys during public games in front of players to show off his power.
• Removed attach mode from pub so he could practice Terrier without interference.
• Removed MMR multi-arena matchmaking to limit matches to one arena. Now, if 30 players queue up, only 10 play. The rest get benched. People log off. Under the previous system, three 5v5 matches would start, keeping all 30 players engaged. That change alone severely damaged player retention. His reasoning for this change was he only wanted to play with top-tier players like Stayon and did not want to play in jd4 with y0gi/Shaun.

I was wondering why attachmode was removed. These sound plausible, but sad and surprising since I know/remember Spooked to be a nice guy. I hope he had reasons for these changes that aren't totally self-motivated, and does the right thing by listening to the community on the points we've been rallying behind.

[paradise!]

Ok so whats the result of these posts? What happens now?

[damageinc86]

Ok so whats the result of these posts? What happens now?

Nothing probably. Unless people start putting their money where their mouth is and actually make something happen with this frickin' game.

[Viruk]

I was wondering why attachmode was removed. These sound plausible, but sad and surprising since I know/remember Spooked to be a nice guy.

I am sure some - or even most - of the changes he has made have had legitimate reasons, but he doesn't want to say what they are! You can still screw up a game for legitimate reasons.

Is he a nasty guy? Does he have a repellant personality? I would guess not, though I don't know him well. I respect him as a player and as someone who has put their time into developing this zone.

BUT - once someone has has gained the habit of abusing their power, can we trust them with that power? Especially when they are abusing other staff who also deserve that respect.

I say it is time for him to step down.

hope he had reasons for these changes that aren't totally self-motivated, and does the right thing by listening to the community on the points we've been rallying behind.

Well, I have seen some attachmode and flag games back but still get screwed by low pop random/deep spawning.

I have not seen any response, or explanations from Spooked...