It has been quite some months since I posted my last review on Bedlam. Originally I had no intention of replying to Veda's riposte, but supervening events have led me to the conclusion that a reply is necessary - if not for the sake of refuting his claims that I am a 'mid-career player' bent on nit-picking and petty revenge, then for the sake of injecting some truth into the picture.

Since writing the review I had more or less decided not to play until the admin got some sense into his head and decided to start listening to an experienced pbase that actually cared about the game. This did not happen. Instead, on the single occasion that I logged back into game to see how things were going, and to chat to old friends, the admin immediately leaped upon me and a 'tell' conversation ensued. Not once was I inappropriate or rude in my conversation, although I was understandably sarcastic/ cryptic in my comments. This is natural and expected when a player who was serious about the game has been marginalised/ ignored for far too long. Instead of taking my comments positively and actually turning an eye on himself, the admin decided to ban me - despite knowing that he had NO grounds to do so as I had not broken any rule of policy. I never have.

24 hours later, the admin emailed me to say that my having posted the comment I did here was 'unforgivable'. His email is reproduced below for posterity. A refund of the price I had paid for his Apple app was offered. One only imagines that the reason he had done this was because he feared losing his app developer privileges with Apple, if it were to come out that he had unjustly and without cause, banned a player - simply for having had the temerity to disagree with him.

______ Hi, I'm writing to let you know that I've decided to ban you permanently from the game Bedlam.

Obviously, everyone's free to review the game in any way they please. But if you leave an all-negative review designed to turn new players away, and then continue to play the game yourself, that would be hypocritical. So, if you stand by your review, you should quit even without being banned.

I've decided I don't care why, after playing for 2 years, you left a review in which you didn't mention a single positive thing about the game. But I do care about the health of the community, and I can't forgive someone who made it clear by their actions that they'll continue to try and drive the game into the ground instead of contribute to its growth.

Would have like things to be different, but I would be foolish to not try and minimize the damage you are trying to inflict on the game I've worked, and will work, so hard to create.

I wish you all the best in your other pursuits in life. Regards, Plamen _____ Also, if you have purchased the iOS app and feel in any way dissatisfied with your purchase, I'd be happy to provide a full refund--just let me know at what price.

P.