07-21-2022, 09:50 AM
My friends,
I believe it is time for me to resign from my position as a moderator of the prop hunt server.
There isn't a singular incident that led me to this decision, but rather a combination of things which I'll talk about below.
1. General apathy. I really don't have much fun on the PH server anymore, and this can be attributed to a couple of things. It's so hard to get changes to happen on the server whether it be maps, player models, guns, etc. Eventually you just get tired of playing the exact same game over and over. The PH server has stayed the #1 PH server for a very long time, primarily because the PH staff have made a collective effort to make players feel safe and welcome on the server, but also because how well the server was built. The shop is full of cool things, the maps don't require any CSS, there's a prop menu, unstuck works, and overall the server isn't buggy. This makes the server a great place for new players to play which is one of the reasons why the PH server has a constant stream of new players every day.
However, such great things become stale if nothing changes. It takes months to get broken maps removed from the server (let alone the addition of new maps) and the shop offerings rarely change. Since my start as a staff member in 2021, we've lost a lot of great regular players because they've gotten bored with what the server has to offer. It's incredibly frustrating to talk to regulars have have left the server and constantly hear that they love the community but want changes we simply don't have the power to make happen. I'm sure things would change for the better if we could guarantee changes to the server would happen in a timely manner. Lt. Star once told me he would happily come back to Dinks if he knew the effort he would put into fixing/making maps for the PH server wouldn't be wasted.
2. Old friends. Almost everyone I started playing PH with on Dinks back in March 2021 has left for other things. I'm not sure how to describe the feeling? It's not quite like being left behind because I play other games with them, but more like I'm left maintaining a server that people simply don't want to play on.
3. Community Issues. I'm not going to be a turd in the punch bowl by turning a resignation into a shit-flinging contest. I've always tried to be professional when acting in my capacity as a staff member. If you'd like to discuss my thoughts on community issues, please feel free to DM me.
4. Life and work. Two more grants I've submitted have just been accepted; these will keep me quite busy through graduation and postdoc. That makes 3 unique projects I'm lead on in addition to my duties mentoring students. I don't want to be an inactive staff member, and I especially do not want to be an inactive admin. When I put my admin application in, I did not expect these grants to be accepted simply because we are heading into a recession and grant applications are always competitive. While I could definitely make the time to be an active admin, you have to consider the fact that I don't enjoy playing on the server anymore and there are other things I enjoy doing. If I knew changes I wanted to make would actually happen in a timely manner, then I would probably feel differently.
I've spent so much of my time on the server, hanging around the discord, and checking the forums for issues/ban requests. It's really coming down to where I rank my priorities. I have my job/career/school, friends/family, powerlifting, personal goals, etc. to consider, and ultimately spending time on the server doesn't rank very highly.
Final notes. I'm sorry for leaving the PH server, especially since the community as a whole is just hemorrhaging senior staff at an alarming rate. The reality is that not a lot of people want to staff simply because after a while it will seem like a chore. There's some truth to the idea that if you turn what you love into your work, you will in turn start to hate it. I'm unsure of the future of the PH server or the community as a whole, but I hope it continues to survive and thrive. I've written some of my thoughts for Possum on the direction of the server here: doc
Fond Memories: I have had a lot of fun on the server and met some great lifelong friends along the way.
For those that don't understand the title of this post, I used to primarily hide as the vending machine prop, and took some modest pride in getting away with the most ridiculously shitty hiding spots when playing against some of the best PH players.
I only ever counted it as a win if the "sweaty" hunter I was against lived for the majority of the round and passed by me (so no cop outs where they died at the start without ever having seen me). I've successfully vending machined the following players (some many times too!):
Vis, AstralSapphire, Zenful, Speedydog, Nullify, Garro, Fofab, Mork Mork, Norm Minder, TheUltraFish, Alora, Murel, Kickstone1, Lucas, Glaceon, perci, Ryzif, Nuru (too short to see me tho), and that's all I can remember off hand without looking at the screenshots I have.
Remember, sometimes half the fun of PH is trying to be a really dumb prop instead of hiding as a wrench clipped into a dark corner.
Make sure to drink water, eat food, get some exercise each week, and get a decent amount of sleep each night.
Cheers
I believe it is time for me to resign from my position as a moderator of the prop hunt server.
There isn't a singular incident that led me to this decision, but rather a combination of things which I'll talk about below.
1. General apathy. I really don't have much fun on the PH server anymore, and this can be attributed to a couple of things. It's so hard to get changes to happen on the server whether it be maps, player models, guns, etc. Eventually you just get tired of playing the exact same game over and over. The PH server has stayed the #1 PH server for a very long time, primarily because the PH staff have made a collective effort to make players feel safe and welcome on the server, but also because how well the server was built. The shop is full of cool things, the maps don't require any CSS, there's a prop menu, unstuck works, and overall the server isn't buggy. This makes the server a great place for new players to play which is one of the reasons why the PH server has a constant stream of new players every day.
However, such great things become stale if nothing changes. It takes months to get broken maps removed from the server (let alone the addition of new maps) and the shop offerings rarely change. Since my start as a staff member in 2021, we've lost a lot of great regular players because they've gotten bored with what the server has to offer. It's incredibly frustrating to talk to regulars have have left the server and constantly hear that they love the community but want changes we simply don't have the power to make happen. I'm sure things would change for the better if we could guarantee changes to the server would happen in a timely manner. Lt. Star once told me he would happily come back to Dinks if he knew the effort he would put into fixing/making maps for the PH server wouldn't be wasted.
2. Old friends. Almost everyone I started playing PH with on Dinks back in March 2021 has left for other things. I'm not sure how to describe the feeling? It's not quite like being left behind because I play other games with them, but more like I'm left maintaining a server that people simply don't want to play on.
3. Community Issues. I'm not going to be a turd in the punch bowl by turning a resignation into a shit-flinging contest. I've always tried to be professional when acting in my capacity as a staff member. If you'd like to discuss my thoughts on community issues, please feel free to DM me.
4. Life and work. Two more grants I've submitted have just been accepted; these will keep me quite busy through graduation and postdoc. That makes 3 unique projects I'm lead on in addition to my duties mentoring students. I don't want to be an inactive staff member, and I especially do not want to be an inactive admin. When I put my admin application in, I did not expect these grants to be accepted simply because we are heading into a recession and grant applications are always competitive. While I could definitely make the time to be an active admin, you have to consider the fact that I don't enjoy playing on the server anymore and there are other things I enjoy doing. If I knew changes I wanted to make would actually happen in a timely manner, then I would probably feel differently.
I've spent so much of my time on the server, hanging around the discord, and checking the forums for issues/ban requests. It's really coming down to where I rank my priorities. I have my job/career/school, friends/family, powerlifting, personal goals, etc. to consider, and ultimately spending time on the server doesn't rank very highly.
Final notes. I'm sorry for leaving the PH server, especially since the community as a whole is just hemorrhaging senior staff at an alarming rate. The reality is that not a lot of people want to staff simply because after a while it will seem like a chore. There's some truth to the idea that if you turn what you love into your work, you will in turn start to hate it. I'm unsure of the future of the PH server or the community as a whole, but I hope it continues to survive and thrive. I've written some of my thoughts for Possum on the direction of the server here: doc
Fond Memories: I have had a lot of fun on the server and met some great lifelong friends along the way.
For those that don't understand the title of this post, I used to primarily hide as the vending machine prop, and took some modest pride in getting away with the most ridiculously shitty hiding spots when playing against some of the best PH players.
I only ever counted it as a win if the "sweaty" hunter I was against lived for the majority of the round and passed by me (so no cop outs where they died at the start without ever having seen me). I've successfully vending machined the following players (some many times too!):
Vis, AstralSapphire, Zenful, Speedydog, Nullify, Garro, Fofab, Mork Mork, Norm Minder, TheUltraFish, Alora, Murel, Kickstone1, Lucas, Glaceon, perci, Ryzif, Nuru (too short to see me tho), and that's all I can remember off hand without looking at the screenshots I have.
Remember, sometimes half the fun of PH is trying to be a really dumb prop instead of hiding as a wrench clipped into a dark corner.
Make sure to drink water, eat food, get some exercise each week, and get a decent amount of sleep each night.
Cheers
![[Image: oWCbLWL.png]](https://i.imgur.com/oWCbLWL.png)
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