04-25-2024, 02:07 AM
chelllman, you are absolutely correct. Effective communicating is something that does need to be practiced, and is paramount to building successful relationships. Communicating is key for any relationship, friend-friend, parent-child, partner-partner, husband-wife, moron on GMod server-moron on GMod server, to flourish. When communication stops, anger, strife, and resentment follow. I have always been a massive proponent of "take it to the forums" because the forums are a place for public, open, honest, and tough discussions to be had. Without a place to air grievances, rumors and division are begat, which is what we are experiencing now. But it is hard to have discussions when threads are closed once an inkling of argument, tough conversation, or bickering begins. And it is even harder to discuss things when threads are made for the sole purpose of being closed immediately and to be stared at like a piece in a museum.
PandaInPants, I agree with you when you say that we should have more clarity when things are being investigated or worked on. Prime example, 12 people were recently banned for various lengths of time. As someone who doesn't live and breathe Internet drama, I have next to no idea why the majority of those people were banned because there was no reason provided in the ban. I'm not asking for evidence to be provided. I'm not asking for victims to be outed. A simple one line blurb or a couple of words next to the player's name to provide some context behind the ban would be helpful for people who aren't knowledgeable of the situation.
A question I have for you, PandaInPants, is what were the types of issues that you would run into where you would get zero responses? Who were the people that you were asking? If an admin couldn't answer your question, could another staff member answer it? Maybe a moderator or T-mod? Additionally, what do you mean by "...the only response was from Tief and no flame but she didn't know what rules to push either because staff training has not been worked on in eons?" What rules were Tiefling pushing? What is rule pushing? If I'm understanding you correctly, it sounds like no one knew the answer to your issue, or Tiefling made her best effort to answer your issue but wasn't sure what to do because staff training wasn't worked on? I don't exactly know what that means. Couldn't any of the admins begin staff training or drafting a plan to start training staff? Or couldn't any other staff member with some experience do some type of training if they were approached? If someone sees someone struggling, don't just sit there. Help them out. I am not sure what staff training has to do with this exact situation or how the blame solely falls on Icey. Tiefling is an admin. If she doesn't know a rule, or needs clarification on a rule, she should ask the other admins. But I find it hard to imagine that she didn't have a solid grasp of the rules, considering that she made it to admin. I just don't understand what this means. Side note, I did go and check Icey's admin application. I wouldn't say that staff training was a big part of his admin app; it was 2 sentences, or 34 words of the 376 words that he typed. I will agree, however, that there are things that he mentioned in his admin application that I have yet to see.
I don't want to comment on every word of your post, PandaInPants, but I do want to comment on the second to last paragraph of your post. You again mention training. I was taking a look at the TTT staff list thread and the staff going back as far as September of 2022. This is/was not a young staff team by any stretch of the imagination. What young staff team are you referring to? Why do people who have been on the staff team for a year, a year and a half, 2 years or more need training? If they haven't figured it out yet, the impetus should be on them to ask questions. If an admin, another staff member, or a member of the community has not noticed staffing issues that need to be addressed in a staff member, I would say that training is not necessary. Another question that just popped into my head, when did we have staff training? I may have been on one of the hiatuses that you mentioned, but I remember maybe one large staff training during my time here. All the training that I received, and that others have received, was a quick rundown of the RDM manager, a quick rundown of the commands, and an "off you go. If you have any questions, feel free to ask." The bulk of my training came from observing other staff members, asking questions, and learning on the job. And, in my humble opinion, I turned out just fine. And I know plenty of other staff members who turned out just fine without the need for a sit down Zoom or Discord staff training.
I will wrap up by saying that I also agree with you when you say that there are some members of the community that need to leave the server alone. I may even be one of the people that you are referencing. However, I'm not trying to hold on to 2016 Dinklerberg's; I am trying to hold on to 2014-2016 Dinkleberg's, where staff spawned with full ammo, there weren't any stupid cosmetics, the line "fast downloads" was actually true, the maps were good, and the players were cool...but it's too late for any of that. This server has seen a lot of absolute garbage over its almost 10 years of existence. And to be quite honest with you, I refuse to watch this community shrivel up and die because people who have been here for all of a baby's fart and people who are a bunch of drama hungry, bloodsucking, forum and discord stalking dweebs refuse to realize that there is a world outside of this community. Yes, staff members who sweep things under the rug should be ashamed of themselves. But those who leave the staff team because they are tired of seeing things stay the same, but magically and conveniently bring up all of these things that they want to change and point out should also reevaluate their motives. Why wait until you abdicate your position on the staff team to want to suggest changes or bring up issues you saw? Why not address them while on staff, where you could have done something. What is the point? To have people smell your farts as you spout your self-aggrandizing bile from your pedestal? Saying that you gave up because you weren't listened to isn't good enough. If you're ignored once, message the person again. If you're ignored again, go to someone else. The squeaky wheel gets the grease. And that goes for staff and non-staff alike. If you have a complaint, comment, accusation, whatever, do not stop bringing that thing up until you get the response you are satisfied with.
I want it to be known that I am not calling out one single person. This is behavior that has actually been a pattern from multiple people that I've noticed over the years.
I'd apologize for the wall of text, but I'm not sorry. I know that barely anyone is going to read all of this crap. I know I spent too long on this stupidity and should be sleeping. I know it's cringe. But what is more cringe is people actively acting like brain dead donkeys while burning this community to the ground. We can, and should, do better.
I leave you with the wise words of one of our greatest presidents, Teddy Roosevelt, "It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat."
Thank you all for the opportunity to communicate and discuss with you all.
PandaInPants, I agree with you when you say that we should have more clarity when things are being investigated or worked on. Prime example, 12 people were recently banned for various lengths of time. As someone who doesn't live and breathe Internet drama, I have next to no idea why the majority of those people were banned because there was no reason provided in the ban. I'm not asking for evidence to be provided. I'm not asking for victims to be outed. A simple one line blurb or a couple of words next to the player's name to provide some context behind the ban would be helpful for people who aren't knowledgeable of the situation.
A question I have for you, PandaInPants, is what were the types of issues that you would run into where you would get zero responses? Who were the people that you were asking? If an admin couldn't answer your question, could another staff member answer it? Maybe a moderator or T-mod? Additionally, what do you mean by "...the only response was from Tief and no flame but she didn't know what rules to push either because staff training has not been worked on in eons?" What rules were Tiefling pushing? What is rule pushing? If I'm understanding you correctly, it sounds like no one knew the answer to your issue, or Tiefling made her best effort to answer your issue but wasn't sure what to do because staff training wasn't worked on? I don't exactly know what that means. Couldn't any of the admins begin staff training or drafting a plan to start training staff? Or couldn't any other staff member with some experience do some type of training if they were approached? If someone sees someone struggling, don't just sit there. Help them out. I am not sure what staff training has to do with this exact situation or how the blame solely falls on Icey. Tiefling is an admin. If she doesn't know a rule, or needs clarification on a rule, she should ask the other admins. But I find it hard to imagine that she didn't have a solid grasp of the rules, considering that she made it to admin. I just don't understand what this means. Side note, I did go and check Icey's admin application. I wouldn't say that staff training was a big part of his admin app; it was 2 sentences, or 34 words of the 376 words that he typed. I will agree, however, that there are things that he mentioned in his admin application that I have yet to see.
I don't want to comment on every word of your post, PandaInPants, but I do want to comment on the second to last paragraph of your post. You again mention training. I was taking a look at the TTT staff list thread and the staff going back as far as September of 2022. This is/was not a young staff team by any stretch of the imagination. What young staff team are you referring to? Why do people who have been on the staff team for a year, a year and a half, 2 years or more need training? If they haven't figured it out yet, the impetus should be on them to ask questions. If an admin, another staff member, or a member of the community has not noticed staffing issues that need to be addressed in a staff member, I would say that training is not necessary. Another question that just popped into my head, when did we have staff training? I may have been on one of the hiatuses that you mentioned, but I remember maybe one large staff training during my time here. All the training that I received, and that others have received, was a quick rundown of the RDM manager, a quick rundown of the commands, and an "off you go. If you have any questions, feel free to ask." The bulk of my training came from observing other staff members, asking questions, and learning on the job. And, in my humble opinion, I turned out just fine. And I know plenty of other staff members who turned out just fine without the need for a sit down Zoom or Discord staff training.
I will wrap up by saying that I also agree with you when you say that there are some members of the community that need to leave the server alone. I may even be one of the people that you are referencing. However, I'm not trying to hold on to 2016 Dinklerberg's; I am trying to hold on to 2014-2016 Dinkleberg's, where staff spawned with full ammo, there weren't any stupid cosmetics, the line "fast downloads" was actually true, the maps were good, and the players were cool...but it's too late for any of that. This server has seen a lot of absolute garbage over its almost 10 years of existence. And to be quite honest with you, I refuse to watch this community shrivel up and die because people who have been here for all of a baby's fart and people who are a bunch of drama hungry, bloodsucking, forum and discord stalking dweebs refuse to realize that there is a world outside of this community. Yes, staff members who sweep things under the rug should be ashamed of themselves. But those who leave the staff team because they are tired of seeing things stay the same, but magically and conveniently bring up all of these things that they want to change and point out should also reevaluate their motives. Why wait until you abdicate your position on the staff team to want to suggest changes or bring up issues you saw? Why not address them while on staff, where you could have done something. What is the point? To have people smell your farts as you spout your self-aggrandizing bile from your pedestal? Saying that you gave up because you weren't listened to isn't good enough. If you're ignored once, message the person again. If you're ignored again, go to someone else. The squeaky wheel gets the grease. And that goes for staff and non-staff alike. If you have a complaint, comment, accusation, whatever, do not stop bringing that thing up until you get the response you are satisfied with.
I want it to be known that I am not calling out one single person. This is behavior that has actually been a pattern from multiple people that I've noticed over the years.
I'd apologize for the wall of text, but I'm not sorry. I know that barely anyone is going to read all of this crap. I know I spent too long on this stupidity and should be sleeping. I know it's cringe. But what is more cringe is people actively acting like brain dead donkeys while burning this community to the ground. We can, and should, do better.
I leave you with the wise words of one of our greatest presidents, Teddy Roosevelt, "It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat."
Thank you all for the opportunity to communicate and discuss with you all.
