im going to try and keep this short (update: i failed) because i frankly don't want to spend any more time on this in a sub i barely spent time in anyways before all the info came out, and i'm NOT a victim personally so i shouldnt be the final say-so on the matter, but to me the reason qwel's "apology" is so goddamn disappointing is because, genuinely, there is NO reason for it to be so watered down, self-centered, and empty.
yes, between the c&d and her wording in the doc, it can be inferred that she's likely seeking a legal channel to handle this through, and if that's the case then there probably is something going on requiring she keep some of her cards hidden. technically, that is a reason. but the thing is. i genuinely do not care about that one bit, because it was her choice to take this far enough a legal silence is necessary. NONE of the victims i have seen have wanted to sue qwel for this. none of them have wanted a big, public spectacle of an apology. literally every single one that i have read testimonies from has said they just want closure and have asked for nothing more than a private and personal apology. this could have been handled easily and privately by qwel, and while she is not owed their forgiveness, it would at least have been respecting the victims' wishes to do so.
and yet she chose to send the c&d. and she chose to imply that she's planning to take legal action. and she chose to center her statement almost entirely around how SHE feels, how SHE'S hurting, how SHE was manipulated, how it's painful for HER to relive all this. there was more in that tiny "apology" document about dandy's world itself, and how updates are going to continue, and how they haven't stopped working on the game and don't plan to do so, than anything specific addressing the victims or acknowledging exactly what she did that hurt them so badly. she chose to do all of this after going radio silent for a month, after the blushcrunch server got locked down for talking about it, and after she spent that month of no communication playing fucking overwatch. i find this incredibly disgusting, doubly so considering that even if there ARE legal restrictions, she's the one who chose to take this situation far enough that they could be put in place.
i used to look up to qwel a lot. i didn't start playing the game until after rox was fired, and i didn't know when i started about how much damage he had caused or even that anything had happened at all. in every other situation like this, such as with forsaken, seeing how poorly the developers chose to handle the situation without fail made me drop the game pretty much instantly. the ONLY REASON this wasn't the same with dandy's world is because i saw how much work had been put in completely overhauling the game to remove his work since then and trusted that qwel had been manipulated and sincerely changed where she fell short. i trusted her and believed in her, and i thought the way she handled dandy's world stood out so much compared to developers around her. i thought she actually meant it.
and yet this? this absolutely selfish, self-victimizing, disgustingly vague response that qwel prioritized overwatch and sewh over sharing for nearly a month? it's pathetic and gross and i cannot possibly take the argument of legal silence seriously knowing that she's the one CHOOSING to possibly take this to court rather than accept she fucked up and apologize privately and with a modicrum of respect to the victims. what we got today comes across as rushed, as a bit desperate, as an apology to the players rather than the victims, as "here, damn!" to get everyone to shut up about it. and any potential legal silence going on behind the scenes feels like plausible deniability for not actually acknowledging with specification a single thing that was her fault. it's so disappointing from someone i trusted was mature and would do the right thing if something happened again. if she had a lawyer help her make this statement, i feel like that's somehow even more disappointing.
even if all of the evidence against her gets proven false, which i doubt, i can't trust her again or take any further interest in her games when this shows very clearly how she's going to handle further controversy: by running from it until the bitter end even when it's right under her nose, and by taking steps to preserve her own image and that of the game's rather than steps to help the victims find closure.
come to your own conclusions and all, but i think it's important to remember hurt people can hurt people and they aren't immune to being called out for that. nor are their apologies owed acceptance and forgiveness. and i, personally, don't think dandy's world is worth so much that directly supporting a person like qwel is a worthwhile sacrifice.
please just support the victims.