The provoking situation was that the staff PC would not automatically step aside for the player character in that spot. The argument is that since it was a Rank 5 influence spot, which only one person could hold, that was automatically a position of power-- and that was the crux of the disagreement. Some felt it was not a position of power, some did and that a staff-PC shouldn't hold it. But Shava has always been very clear about her preferences on boundaries between staff PCs and non-staff PCs. It was one of the things that drew me to the game, after being burned by questionable staff ethics and actions on so many other games.
It is true that coming in as a new staffer on an established game in which 70% of the game was in one person's head, and the new folks left with no training or minimal guidance, was difficult. There were some attitudes towards the new staffers coming in that were worrisome, both from the player and the established staff side. New staff put in an incredible number of hours trying to play catch up, field complaints and try to rectify a situation that had been simmering for awhile. We worked our asses off and while I'm sad, I'm also proud of what we did do.
But the reason for closing the game was not over the 1XP reward.