User blog comment:MrDupin/Why Jeff the Killer isn't a classic/@comment-25052433-20150918004554

Well, here goes my 2 cents, offered as though anyone actually asked for it.

This post is meant to hopefully assist Fizz on my Jayce, and others who are upset about the decision to delete, and the stance that the majority of the community has placed on Jeff the Killer, and similar stories that fall under the "classic" concept.

The Jeff dynamic created several issues that simply had to be addressed in order for this community to evolve. In the end, it was more of a logical decision than one based off of love or hate.

So, let's start by comparing Creepypasta Wiki to a very basic business model.

On the surface, from a strictly "here and now" business concept, Jeff was good for the site. He had brand recognition, he brought in users, and, as has been pointed out, was many people's first pasta. He had a nostalgia that cannot be replaced, and for that, we thank him.

However, when reviewing and round-tabling concepts, especially in business, you always have to examine two ideals. One is the concept of "current operations," which, as I stated, looks at the face and pace of the business at the exact moment. From a current ops stand point, it made sense to keep Jeff, if for no other reason than to promote the site because people did flock here to read his story.

But, when we examine the "future ops" end of the stick, we get a different result. We developed a core-concept here to promote and develop high quality stories. Part of this meant building a Standards Code that defined what could and could not be posted on this site. Now, once that code was written and agreed upon, it was determined that Jeff the Killer, as popular as he might be, did not meet that new criteria.

Still though, he hung around, because, well, it was obvious, he brought in traffic. Going back to the business model comparison, "give the people what they want," is one of the corner-stones of any successful operation, so, we allowed the story to remain, for that reason only.

But, then we began to examine real concepts, like fairness and consistency, and the question bobbed up, is it ethical to delete a story based on the same standards that a so called "classic" is allowed to sit and violate every single day. Keep in mind, Jeff wasn't just a bad story, it was a bad story that was being celebrated as a hallmark of our genre. With that in mind, it simply isn't ethical to allow one to stay while deleting other stories based on those same merits. After all, how can you enforce a standard that is being violated each and every day?

Still, we were determined to make this a group consensus. The admins could have deleted Jeff the Killer for any number of reasons and owed no explanation to anyone, but instead, they demonstrated our pledge to serve the community by putting it to a vote.

Simply put, if people really wanted Jeff to stay on this site, then that would have been reflected in the voting, and Jeff the Killer would still be on this site today. It's really as simple as that.

Now, that being said, we all have a voice here. While I would not suggest voting to bring Jeff back, as I think the majority vote would still be the same, I have pondered the idea of doing something here with the Jeff concept.

Perhaps a writing challenge to create a Jeff the Killer remake that actually passes on this site. I could see myself taking a stab at that, no pun intended. This is something that you can propose to the admins, and if the idea works, perhaps we could have Jeff again, just done right. I am not sure this idea would even make it off the table though, so I cannot say this will happen, but it is something that you could consider, since the story seems to mean so much to you.

Also, taking Jeff down from here by no means erased him. There are still countless places to read the original story, plus Youtube tellings, fan remakes, spinoffs...it's not like we are depriving the world of Jeff the Killer.

I hope this helped you understand a bit more of what went into the decision to remove a story with such a huge fanbase. We wouldn't have made a decision like that lightly, if we didn't believe that it would benefit the community in the future.