12-22-2020, 06:40 PM
This is actually part one of two posts, so buckle up. The ideas of each are pretty separate from each other, but somewhat intrinsically linked.
The community right now is in a weird place. It's pretty mellow, weirdly, but also dramatic as all hell. Most of this can be fixed by a few things.
1. Chill the fuck out.
Seriously. Everyone needs to take a chill pill. It's a GMod server, people come to have fun. I know most of you want to come and have fun with your friends, that's all I want as well, but remember that that's what everyone else is trying to do to. Harassing an individual makes it shit for them, especially when it's constant. Sure, some of you might think that people need tougher skin, but that's why you're not the one in charge. There are younger people on, or people that just really are uncomfortable with certain behavior. They have just as much of a right to be around as anyone. But also, people need to chill about certain behaviors, as well. You're never going to get a group of people to stop being friends, and some of their less harmful inside jokes need to just be able to exist. ASAB, honestly, really annoyed me at first because certain people had used it at certain times to target me directly. For a minute there I started to be a bit shunned by certain groups of people when I first got staff, then I started to just steer into it. It's just a meme. No biggie. If you join in on some jokes, as long as you have the skin for it to turn it into something that isn't joke, it'll be easier.
2. Be better about who you want as staff and who you want to climb up the ranks. Certain people have gotten staff or gotten certain ranks that did not deserve it at all. I won't confirm or deny my being one of them, as I don't think that I'm too terrible but I'm sure there are people out there that hate me, lookin at you two or three abuse reports of varying degrees of incoherent rambling about nothing. Some people shouldn't have ever gotten staff, and demoting someone after they get staff due to certain things like very large swaths of inactivity shouldn't be negative. I'll name drop because I really don't care and use Quaxi as an example. It's not the server's fault that you no life'd for a month until you could apply and just had enough hours, and everyone decided you were fit for it but you got burnt out before you even got accepted. You've literally played less than some staff that are on a hiatus. And, to make it worse, I've seen you on an alt since your inactivity, like dear lord. And there are a few cases of things like this, where people just aren't where they should be anymore. Plus the few staff members that are blatantly either racist, sexist, homophobic, or transphobic. How can one sit here and represent a server that literally has users that are something that they actively shit on? That's fucked. There's a lot of problems with staffing, and honestly? Not much of it has to do with our adminship. Which brings me to the player part of this point. Fuck ooooff of the admin team. Dong should not have had anxiety over a stupid fucking GMod server sometimes, but everyone is so involved with everyone and everything that anyone being punished for doing anything turns into a month long shitfest. Don't be stupid, if you are, things will happen. Not every punishment is an ASAB, let's start a riot thing. That time when four people got muted for an hour on disc and certain people were ready to burn the place down? It was warranted, going back on it. Well, warranted as per the existing rules. Which brings me to my next point.
3. Some rulings can be lax. In the disc, a few memes? Really not a big deal. A bit of spam, whatever, It's different if they're actively interrupting an ongoing conversation, but seeing people get warned for just meme spamming general when no one is talking is absolutely ridiculous. It hurts no one. It's a victimless crime, and energy can be diverted so many other places. Same with TTT. I'll make a reference to this part at the end, but some rules and some punishment times are just insane. It's a GMod server, someone doing something stupid even ten times over the course of two years /is not a big deal./ Some people get permabans for stupid mistakes, which is fine, but sometimes their still are more positive to the server than they are negative. It all comes down to committee I know, but some people just need to really think on what they're voting on. But also, don't think I'm saying do stupid stuff and don't get punished. I'm just saying permabans are silly half the time, especially when it's of a regular, well liked person.
4. Did I mention chill out? Different direction, but just don't take things so personally all the time. Someone recently was trying to actively do what they thought made the server a better place, in fact it has happened multiple times, and the people that that literally may or may not have affected were pissy over it and shit on the person, and all the people before them. That's fucked. Constructive criticism is one thing, but shit talking someone for doing what' they feel is right is just wild, and that whole ordeal is probably a major part of the second post of this series. People should not have to hide behind staff or hide behind friends or hide in general to change the server, or just have a voice. I'm name dropping again, but this is just really necessary to say. Get off Jesse's dick. Kid has been harassed by every clique in the server at some point, yet he stays and tries to make the server better for new and old players alike constantly. He shouldn't have to deal with that. No one should. He's a good kid, as are a lot of people that care about the server and just want to better it. Let people try. And, to the staff out there, try to make yourselves more available to the userbase. Maybe add a message in the text box or center screen that will go off every so often saying where they can find a staff list, and that th ey can feel free to message any staff member online or on discord if they have an issue. That could solve a lot of problems. And obviously logging everything.
5. Last one, filled with crumbs. Propkilling, not a huge deal, if you have an issue with it /report them/ and if it's consistent /report that./ Bhopping, not a big deal, completely allowed, mellow out about it. Grapple exploiiting even to a certain extent isn't the worst thing in the world. Banning people over any of these until it transcends into an actual issue is silly, as is getting uppity about them. For the love of god, just report people, dont' make a huge fuss over it over multiple rounds. It's maddening.
I think that's it. Except my last thing, a reference to a part in point three.
For the love of god.
Just unban @aeth0r
The community right now is in a weird place. It's pretty mellow, weirdly, but also dramatic as all hell. Most of this can be fixed by a few things.
1. Chill the fuck out.
Seriously. Everyone needs to take a chill pill. It's a GMod server, people come to have fun. I know most of you want to come and have fun with your friends, that's all I want as well, but remember that that's what everyone else is trying to do to. Harassing an individual makes it shit for them, especially when it's constant. Sure, some of you might think that people need tougher skin, but that's why you're not the one in charge. There are younger people on, or people that just really are uncomfortable with certain behavior. They have just as much of a right to be around as anyone. But also, people need to chill about certain behaviors, as well. You're never going to get a group of people to stop being friends, and some of their less harmful inside jokes need to just be able to exist. ASAB, honestly, really annoyed me at first because certain people had used it at certain times to target me directly. For a minute there I started to be a bit shunned by certain groups of people when I first got staff, then I started to just steer into it. It's just a meme. No biggie. If you join in on some jokes, as long as you have the skin for it to turn it into something that isn't joke, it'll be easier.
2. Be better about who you want as staff and who you want to climb up the ranks. Certain people have gotten staff or gotten certain ranks that did not deserve it at all. I won't confirm or deny my being one of them, as I don't think that I'm too terrible but I'm sure there are people out there that hate me, lookin at you two or three abuse reports of varying degrees of incoherent rambling about nothing. Some people shouldn't have ever gotten staff, and demoting someone after they get staff due to certain things like very large swaths of inactivity shouldn't be negative. I'll name drop because I really don't care and use Quaxi as an example. It's not the server's fault that you no life'd for a month until you could apply and just had enough hours, and everyone decided you were fit for it but you got burnt out before you even got accepted. You've literally played less than some staff that are on a hiatus. And, to make it worse, I've seen you on an alt since your inactivity, like dear lord. And there are a few cases of things like this, where people just aren't where they should be anymore. Plus the few staff members that are blatantly either racist, sexist, homophobic, or transphobic. How can one sit here and represent a server that literally has users that are something that they actively shit on? That's fucked. There's a lot of problems with staffing, and honestly? Not much of it has to do with our adminship. Which brings me to the player part of this point. Fuck ooooff of the admin team. Dong should not have had anxiety over a stupid fucking GMod server sometimes, but everyone is so involved with everyone and everything that anyone being punished for doing anything turns into a month long shitfest. Don't be stupid, if you are, things will happen. Not every punishment is an ASAB, let's start a riot thing. That time when four people got muted for an hour on disc and certain people were ready to burn the place down? It was warranted, going back on it. Well, warranted as per the existing rules. Which brings me to my next point.
3. Some rulings can be lax. In the disc, a few memes? Really not a big deal. A bit of spam, whatever, It's different if they're actively interrupting an ongoing conversation, but seeing people get warned for just meme spamming general when no one is talking is absolutely ridiculous. It hurts no one. It's a victimless crime, and energy can be diverted so many other places. Same with TTT. I'll make a reference to this part at the end, but some rules and some punishment times are just insane. It's a GMod server, someone doing something stupid even ten times over the course of two years /is not a big deal./ Some people get permabans for stupid mistakes, which is fine, but sometimes their still are more positive to the server than they are negative. It all comes down to committee I know, but some people just need to really think on what they're voting on. But also, don't think I'm saying do stupid stuff and don't get punished. I'm just saying permabans are silly half the time, especially when it's of a regular, well liked person.
4. Did I mention chill out? Different direction, but just don't take things so personally all the time. Someone recently was trying to actively do what they thought made the server a better place, in fact it has happened multiple times, and the people that that literally may or may not have affected were pissy over it and shit on the person, and all the people before them. That's fucked. Constructive criticism is one thing, but shit talking someone for doing what' they feel is right is just wild, and that whole ordeal is probably a major part of the second post of this series. People should not have to hide behind staff or hide behind friends or hide in general to change the server, or just have a voice. I'm name dropping again, but this is just really necessary to say. Get off Jesse's dick. Kid has been harassed by every clique in the server at some point, yet he stays and tries to make the server better for new and old players alike constantly. He shouldn't have to deal with that. No one should. He's a good kid, as are a lot of people that care about the server and just want to better it. Let people try. And, to the staff out there, try to make yourselves more available to the userbase. Maybe add a message in the text box or center screen that will go off every so often saying where they can find a staff list, and that th ey can feel free to message any staff member online or on discord if they have an issue. That could solve a lot of problems. And obviously logging everything.
5. Last one, filled with crumbs. Propkilling, not a huge deal, if you have an issue with it /report them/ and if it's consistent /report that./ Bhopping, not a big deal, completely allowed, mellow out about it. Grapple exploiiting even to a certain extent isn't the worst thing in the world. Banning people over any of these until it transcends into an actual issue is silly, as is getting uppity about them. For the love of god, just report people, dont' make a huge fuss over it over multiple rounds. It's maddening.
I think that's it. Except my last thing, a reference to a part in point three.
For the love of god.
Just unban @aeth0r
-courtesy of a sarcastic fish
-courtesy of milk(2)