Yurt member and current SCP Wiki Administrator aismallard (here “yurtmallard”) in the main Yurt Discord server channel, #fuck.

The Yurt is a Discord server which operates as a social gathering point for numerous influential members of the SCP Wiki community. The server was created by user and author Rounderhouse, sometime between 2019 and 2020. The Yurt name has been affiliated with Rounderhouse prior to and independent of the server, as part of an umbrella marketing campaign (a “Yurt” is a round hut).^[1][2] The Discord server has been likened to an alternate staff chat, or a version 2 of #rogetbox.^[3] There is controversy surrounding the intent and purposes of the Yurt social group; however, the accomplishments represented collectively by the known and/or suggested members, whether covert or overt, are numerous, and their community influence significant.

Confirmed Members

The following members have been confirmed as participants in the Yurt Discord server:^{[4][5][6][7][8][9]}

• Roget/RJB_R, now known as PixelatedHarmony, a former Administrator who was also the wiki’s most prolific author before she requested the deletion of every article attributed to the RJB_R Wikidot account.^[10][11]
• djkaktus, a former Moderator and the most popular author in the wiki’s history by total upvote count.^[12][11]
• Rounderhouse, a popular author and an Administrator on the wiki’s sister site, the Wanderer’s Library.^[13][14]
• Woedenaz, best known for his involvement in the creation of Black Highlighter, a popular alternative to the wiki’s default CSS theme.^[15]
• Captain Kirby, a prolific author who has been a member of the wiki’s Operational Staff since September 2018.^[16][17]
• aismallard, an Administrator who currently leads the wiki’s Technical team.^[18]
• Elenee Fishtruck/soup, a Moderator who is best known for her work on the wiki’s Licensing team.^[19]

#fuck

“#fuck” is the predominant and general channel in the Yurt Discord server, and where most discussion reportedly takes place. It is where the Yurt’s members come to chat, vent, coordinate with other members, and discuss ideas to enact on-site, such as remaking the appearance and/or structure of the Wiki.^[6][20][21]

Controversy

The Yurt has been notoriously described by a vocal ex-member and a prominent community figure (Roget/RJB_R/PixelatedHarmony) as not just a staff clique, but a political party with sophisticated plans and efforts to replace the existing SCP staff and site structure with their own members and political ideals.^[22] This has resulted in a significant amount of debate and heated discussion in parts of the community.

The Yurt is sometimes referred to as a “shadow staff” by proponents of the claim. According to this claim, the Maintenance and Ancillary Staff Team (MAST) was created with the intent to siphon power and influence from existing staff teams in the form of menial taskwork, in order to build a rapport with the on-site community and Administration. Proponents of this claim believe that at least one member of the Yurt is currently in an Administrator position (with another incoming), that numerous individuals hold positions in lower ranks, and that their footprint on the governing body of the site is increasing steadily with time. The 2021 failure of ProcyonLotor’s promotion to Administrator is attributed by some to the interests of the Yurt, and pointed to as an ostensible expression of its influence, given the proximity among the involved Yurt members.

Critics of this claim commonly remark that the Yurt has not been verified to exist, that the idea of the Yurt as a shadow government is a conspiracy theory, and regard it as little more than a like-minded group of community members who have progressive ideas for the Wiki that they collaborate over and are willing to work for in order to see manifested. Justifications for this position include the belief that such an operation would unlikely be truly concealable to the extent claimed by the theory’s proponents, that it gives the participants too much credit and the current staff members too little, that the Yurt is simply an attempted meme marketing of the “Rounderhouse” brand (which the proponents are ironically helping proliferate), that there has not been definitive or sufficient proof offered to support the accusations made, that claimed photographic evidence is doctored in bad faith, that the motive of the theory is retributive animosity on the part of one vocal critic of the SCP Wiki and its influential members, that the theory is itself a smear campaign for political purposes, and that the apparent major instigator of the political aspirations therein (Roget/RJB_R/PixelatedHarmony) is no longer active in the group.

Available Evidence

Screenshots of the chat and member DMs suggest or demonstrate the following:

• The existence of the Yurt server and channels.^[4][6]
• The political ideals and goals of top Yurt members.^[23][24][25]
• Analysis of existing staff structure and proposals to modify site structure.^{[26][27][28][29]}
• Prominent and productive members of the channel regard it as a political party, although this is consistently seen at the questioning and insinuating by Roget/RJB_R/PixelatedHarmony.^[30][31]
• The coordinated planning of Yurt members to be either recruited into or promoted within the SCP staff structure, often achieved by the assuming of menial or highly technical task work, and with explicit purpose to buttress an individual’s resume and candidacy.^[32][33]
• The utilization of the Maintenance and Ancillary Staff Team (MAST) as a political vehicle for changing site culture.^[34][31]
• The grooming/coordination of influential members such as djkaktus and Rounderhouse to be leaders within the group, specifically to mold and guide a new generation of users into shared political philosophies and goals, which are counter to current ones.^[35][36]
• The overt political positioning of Yurt and Yurt-adjacent individuals, particularly with respect to furthering on-site legitimacy in existing staff.^[37]
• The mantra of “Vegas Rules”.^[38]

It should be noted that much of these screencaps are from DMs, and not from the actual Yurt Discord server. One would need to infer that these members are continuing and supplementing discussions that would have taken place on the actual server. This is not definite via the available evidence, and these could instead represent a multi-faceted discussion with one individual (Roget/RJB_R/PixelatedHarmony). Additional data would be necessary to justify further conclusions regarding the coherency and unification of the presented ideas and goals as a group-specific campaign; e.g. more robust server screencaps, DMs between other Yurt members demonstrating similar discussions.

If the Yurt is a subversive organization, there is likely a wide spectrum of intent and involvement in its participants, allowing for total or near-total unawareness of the more explicit political agendizing therein. Extremes of this spectrum range from explicit political weaponization (as in the apparent case of Roget/RJB_R/PixelatedHarmony) to apolitical socialization (as is the apparent case for members such as Captain Kirby, Elenee FishTruck, etc). Other observed nodes along this spectrum include like-minded, productive, and constructive participation (as in the apparent case of aismallard), and pseudo-political, marketing investment (as in the apparent case of Rounderhouse).

Finally, the available evidence here does not guarantee an interpretation in either direction of the controversy. Whether this suggests a plotting shadow government, or an organized group of dedicated community members who want to see the site improve, remains a matter of debate.

Trivia

Rounderhouse commonly utilizes the term “Yurt” in a facetious way to reference the group, its reputation, and the potential misconceptions surrounding it.^[1]https://archive.vn/4LU1L#selection-1866.0-1875.6