What annoys me more than anything...

...is that people like Hoch get into positions where they can exert such arrogantly imperious behaviour.

As you already know, Hoch is closing down the DSB community. No-one has asked him to do it, and he has consulted no-one on the decision. He has merely taken it upon himself to close down DSB because he believes his position of power gives him that right.

Hoch says: "Is it not better to leave on a high-note?"

He doesn't seem to understand that he has no right to choose when people leave this game. It's our choice. If we want to leave on a high-note, we may choose to leave now, but no-one wants Hoch to choose this moment for them.

Unfortunately, this behaviour is all too typical of Hoch: the man I have debated with on politics many times. As many of you would expect, Hoch gravitates towards the right in politics. He has more in common with Bush than Obama, and when I say Bush, I'm holding back on a more felicitous comparison with a particular deceased German dictator.

Another facet of Hoch's modus operandi is his fervent devotion to "keeping face" and never admitting to being wrong. This is because it would damage his pride to admit such a thing, a pride built on the image he has cultivated in DSB, and an image that reflects his fantasy for the real world.

Having discerned this about Hoch, he is the very last person I would ever want to run DSB. There is a saying that may be older than I, but it's one I have come to learn from experience:

"Those who gain power are usually those who desire it the most. Those who desire power are most prone to abusing it."

In my experience of ten years playing subspace, I can confidently say that this applies to subspace staffers more than in most areas of life. It's the price we pay for playing a game that does not pay it's staff. We rely on volunteers to staff our zones, and so what incentive other than the desire to wield power is there for those who inevitably get it? There will be those good-willed staffers who believe their hard work will make their subspace experience more enjoyable, but there will be plenty of the aforementioned power-hungry types.

Hoch is the power-hungry type. He will end this game for everyone at a time he chooses, and he will destroy the thousands of hours of hard work put into DSB by developers and staffers over the years. Why? Because he can. It's in the words he uses:

"I have the right because I am owner of this zone"

But Hoch, you did not make this zone, you did almost no work in making it what it is. So no, you do not have the right to destroy what you did not create.

What's worse, and most telling of Hoch's psychology, is the way he tries to make his decision into a good thing. He says things like:

"Let's retain our former glory" "Let's go out on a high" "It is owed to this great community"

This is exactly what I mentioned earlier: Hoch retaining his pride. He cannot look like a git, he has to make it look like he is doing us all a favour, even if everyone disagrees with him. He has to convince himself that he is not wrong. It's like a general on the battlefield sending his troops into the fray to die with honour, as if it salvages some sort of righteous end worthy of applause. It's another characteristic of a man drunk with his own eminence and power.

Unfortunately, none of this fares well for the future of DSB. Hoch see's this as an "executive decision" that is necessary in the face of unpopularity... like a CEO making a pay-cut for his employees when times are hard. In fact it's exactly like this because Hoch see's DSB as a place to play out his apotheosic fantasy. He will not relent because it's not his nature, and we will be left to pick up the pieces.