I basically left during the whole drama last time, this is an account of mine that I barely used, I was known as DarkLustyHumor before and helped out a lot on the forums for a time. Anyway..this is what I have to say about this:
Raz, I understand wanting privacy, I do. But you're currently treating this game like it's being run by a large corporation, which it is not. The staff members and the users are very important, as this game isn't overly popular, this is an isolated community. How the staff reacts can make or break the game. This is a game directly connected with social interaction, role playing, and there's nothing else that would keep people here other than that. So there isn't a lot to fall back on. You can't run this game in the dark, it's just not possible with the type it is. Transparency is very important, when the game itself surrounds so much around social interaction, then there needs to be a healthy relationship between the staff and the users. There's no income for this game, there's no special features. The staff that work here are volunteering their time and should be treated as more valuable than people you can just throw away. I don't know if you keep up with gaming, but if you're aware of the heat that Blizzard is going through right now for their value for their employees? They themselves are a huge company that is underwater for destroying the morale and going after hundreds of employees, when they have hundreds and hundreds to spare. Feral Heart doesn't have that, what Feral Heart has is a very few amount of staff members that are supposed to have a presence within the game and bridge the gap between staff, a terrifying hierarchy, and the other users. You can't rule by fear, in fact you shouldn't be ruling at all. The staff should be working together but still be free to enjoy themselves in the game. Without a connection to the users, why should the users trust the staff? They don't know what's going on most the time without the staff telling them. Then rumors go out of control. Just let the staff be friendly with other users, don't force them to be silent, allow them to be seen, let the users know that the staff is invested, that they care.
You already lost one group of staff. I think it's time you set your pride aside and look at things from a different perspective. This isn't a corporation, you aren't seen as royalty, you are just some person that we don't know that controls the server and may as well be a robot to the rest of us. And that's because there's such a divide. Allow the staff to be seen as people. Because this game can NOT handle this drama and survive. Eventually something is going to give if things stay this way with you feeling the staff should be so distant. And when it gives, Feral Heart is done. Your actions, how you speak, what you choose to do, will say whether you have staff that will be loyal to you and stay, or leave. They have no incentive to stay on as staff here other than nostalgia. So give them a reason to stay, give them a reason to be loyal. Be fair to them AND the other users.
Otherwise we can say goodbye to Feral Heart.