Addressing the hoax about Dank Memer and your data

I resisted making this for a long time, hoping things would improve, but they have not. So there's going to be three sections here, and a TLDR (too long, didn't read) summary at the end.

All the way back in May, we started seeing screenshots, which you can see the original here.

That gist was telling users that we were "sending messages to a server full of creeps," "stealing your IP, address, sending creepy emails," and "kidnapping people." If you don't instantly dismiss this as a crackpot conspiracy theory and would like me to "prove" it's not true, I'll do that now.

Issue One - We can't access your data

Discord Bots cannot get your IP address. It's not possible, and you can ask Discord directly if this is true.

Now what people don't seem to realize is that literally ANY website you visit, unless you're using a VPN, can see your IP address. In fact, MOST sites actually store your IP. It's not nearly as sensitive and damning as some people would have you believe.

As outlined in our privacy policy, we sometimes store your IP and email address for our site. However, we ONLY store this data if you log into the site using Discord. We're purely storing it for security against malicious users, especially to fight chargeback fraud. We're doing standard practice, and our website is entirely open source.

However, us storing your data in this specific instance isn't what the hoax is talking about. They're claiming that by having the bot in your server, we're able to get your email, IP address, address, and more. This is simply not possible, let alone true.

Again, I encourage you to directly reach out to Discord and ask them what the API gives us access to as far as your data is concerned.

Issue Two - Our motive

Let me challenge this in another form. What would our motive be?

It's common knowledge, at least for those who have ever asked or interacted with the developers, that we are a small team doing this out of passion and as a job to support our families. This is my (Melmsie's) full-time job and the only income supplementing my small family, including an 18-month-old baby.

At this point, anywhere from 25%-50% of our monthly income goes to a charity, the rest goes to financially sustaining us developers and paying for server costs.

Why am I telling you all this about the financials? Well, look at how much we have to lose from "giving info to creeps." What could we POSSIBLY gain, and we would have so much to lose.

If this were true, Aetheryx and I would lose all our income and be banned from the platform. (which is why the secondary rumor floating around that "Discord verified it's true" is so laughable). Discord has not "verified it to be true," when reached out to via email about the situation, Discord called it chainmail and asked the user not to participate in spreading it. (As seen in this screenshot taken by a user.)

This hoax doesn't even reach conspiracy theory level, because there is literally no evidence presented. The only clear motive is by the people starting the rumor, which brings us to the next section.

Issue Three - The motive of the person spreading this

I've already established how idiotic and gain-less it would be for us to do something like this, so why would someone say this if it wasn't true? Well, there are only two explanations I can think of.

Number one, they simply don't know what they're talking about and have inferred out of context of what mods and developers have said about things such as data security to mean something more malicious.

This may be the case, albeit unlikely in my eyes. We seldom talk about what goes on behind the scenes because we're running a game where many people cheat. So, in turn, us talking about how we catch cheaters is always vague as to not telling cheaters exactly how to bypass our checks.

Number two, they started this maliciously to try and harm our community and business. This one is the one I am personally sure is happening here.

First, we have a long history of people mad about our bot or changes made to it. Whether it's an update they don't like that "ruins the fun," or they were caught cheating and banned for it, we aren't sure which case this might be.

This rumor is so insanely unfounded with not even a fraction of truth to it. This was started maliciously in an attempt to hurt us personally or the business in general. Congrats, you've succeeded in damaging a small developer team and fracturing a passionate community.

I was hesitant to write this portion. Some would argue it's validating what the people who are starting this are doing to us and giving them the ammo to continue. However, I would rather be open and honest about the negative effect this has had on us as both employees and people.

Our growth, while still decent, has stagnated. We've always hovered at about a 45% retention rate for new servers for our bot's entire existence. Since this rumor has started, we've been hanging around a 20% retention rate. People are sharing this blatant copypasta everywhere the bot exists. Users who don't know any better are kicking the bot without question about what's true or not.

Multiple other large bot developers have reached out to me, letting me know they've seen people talking about it in their own servers. It's spreading like wildfire, without any discernable reason other than malicious intent and an easy to share format.

We have lost hundreds of dollars a month in patrons, who, in their exit surveys, referenced the hoax as the main reason.

Just myself, personally, I've received a large amount of "hate" messages on both Twitter and Discord over this. I've been called a pedophile, a liar, and a criminal.

Our entire existence, we've done our best to run this bot above the board. We've turned down two different buyout offers from large companies who clearly wanted the bot EXACTLY to sell your data. We've never had advertisements on our website or within the bot. We've always been transparent about updates and changes, more so than most bots. Until we got cheaters using our source to bypass our anti-cheat, we even had our bot completely open source. We've done our best to fight against memes or meme culture that is hateful and harmful to specific groups of people or communities.

The damage this hoax is causing to our bot's previously sterling reputation is impossible to repair anytime soon, if at all. We've lost so much goodwill over this, and we will never be seen the same by the community.

This part is going to be a bit more informal and personal, I just have some things I need to say.

I have lived and breathed this bot and its community for years now. I've given it everything. For the community to blindly believe someone they can't even see the name of in that screenshot, over me, is just painful.

Unfortunately, I think this is just how Discord culture as a whole likes to be. It thrives in drama and intrigue and will assume the worst before using critical thinking. How often have you seen the copypasta of "don't accept friend requests from x user because they'll steal your IP"?

These last few months have taken such an immense toll on my mental health, dealing with this issue. Imagine working on something for years to see it crumble over blind accusations without any form of evidence. I've spent countless nights thinking of new ideas, interacting with the community, or finding stupid bugs to improve the bot's quality for all its users. All of that is getting thrown away, and it hurts.

I've started applying to jobs lately due to this. I don't think I have the longevity to do this for x number of years until Discord dies. I need something stable and not able to be taken away by a single malicious user.

All this to say, I'm taking an extended break. For the next few months, there will be little to no updates on the bot. Aetheryx is still working on the rewrite, and I will come back eventually, but I need time away. I need time to focus on my career as a whole and spend time with my family. I'm finding it hard to sit here, be passionate about a bot being seen like this, and be treated like this.

The bot will stay online, and Aetheryx will keep it running as smoothly as possible. Still, I won't be around the community for a while or doing any more work than paying the bills.

I'm going to pursue a career elsewhere, hopefully in the gaming industry, as Dank Memer has shown me where my passions truly lie. And if I do end up finding something, it won't mean the end of the bot—just the end of my participation in the bot.

If you'd like to connect with me and talk about this, please reach out to me in my DMs on Twitter (@realmelmsie). I will not be accepting Discord friend requests to chat, and I will not be around the official server for a while.

• This hoax is exactly that, a hoax.

• Discord did not verify this to be true.

• We haven't got the means or motive to do what is claimed.

• These false accusations have damaged us a lot.

• I will be removing myself from the bot for a few months for my own mental health.