Post by Faclan on Nov 22, 2015 8:51:20 GMT -6
This was made before I saw the survey, just to let you know that the two have no link to each other besides some similar subject matter.
-------------------
Overall message:
This thread has been a long time coming, and so is finally been posted after compiling and checking with others. At the moment there are at least Six members (Of varying ranks) who feel the same way as I do so please don't dismiss this as just myself spouting this. But they will not be named as at the moment they wished not to be.
The reason for this thread is this; Several members, myself included, have really disliked the direction the forum has been going recently with the current Staff team. The reasons will be lower just wanted to have this said clear at the top. As such we believe its time for a new staff team and a new admin. The fun we used to have on the site is either completely or nearly all gone - so its time for a change.
The Reasons:
* Attitude:
This always will be and always has been a problem, but with the current staff team it seems to happen a bit more frequently than I remember during the previous teams.
It comes in many forms to be sure; from general abrasive behavior in regards to member questions/profiles/proposals (saying its a dumb idea or wouldn't work without allowing space for a member response), to the clear biases toward one side of the profiles and against the others (expanded on in the favoritism section), too general un-professional behavior (ignoring Skype questions and not doing something you said you would), and finally to the personal one for me of making assumptions after assumptions about certain members.
(Only time I will directly mention names)
For the last one I am talking about a Skype call that took place with Kill, Beta12, Tin, Llau, BetaW, and myself with Frazer coming in at the end. At this time Beta12 and Tin were both staff. During this call a huge amount of assumptions were made about myself and BetaW; how we were trying to return the site to Z-armory days, or how we were just putting things up because they were cool, or we put up our info threads without them being graded or checked (even though they were), or even that our RPs and info would destroy the site.
The call itself nearly made me leave the site, and I only didn't because of the members who still enjoyed to RP with me. But behaviors and attitudes like that are not staff like responses. Especially when Tin began to shout at myself and BetaW for us not agreeing with him.
Yes, not all of the current staff are like that call was, but many of them still exhibit some very rude attitudes that make the members not like the staff. Or make the site a lot less fun. Leading to a disconnect between the staff and the members when we should all just be having fun RPing.
* Time and activity:
A problem that has risen fairly recently but one that is affecting the entire staff team. We are all aware that there is a life outside the site - but you are staff for a reason and have a responsibility to all of us who RP on the site to be there to post, answer questions, and to moderate when needed. All of the staff team seems very busy right now and not able to devote the needed time to the site, especially when a Main Mission is trying to be planned out and it takes awhile for proposals and profiles to be looked over or graded.
As such I think it would only be right if you don't have the time or desire or drive to be a full staff anymore to step down and let someone else moderate in your stead. If your job or way to make money is too busy then you should focus on that. The site is less important than keeping your job. Especially because there are those of us who have a lot more free time and would be more than happy to use some of that time to moderate the site.
* Restrictions:
At this moment there is a general rule that everything has to be canon, period. This is mostly fine for Humans but for Alien or ONI players it means there is extremely little wriggle room for what we can and cannot do. What we can and cannot RP about. Sure we could do it in the sandbox but some of us would like them to be something 'canon' that we can reference back to in later RPs. This does include the Flight of Faith argument of it no longer being canon but it is not the only things in this discussion. Things that people have tried to suggest that sounds like an interesting idea or a cool RP spot have been shot down because it doesn't follow 'site canon' even though site canon itself is very flexible. I'm almost to the point where I say we shouldn't have a site canon and just let some more freedom be let out. Just have it be up to the individual thread owner to regulate what they want in their threads.
Then there the Timeline. I know this has been a sticky issue in the past but as it is right now we have a time that we seemed to be locked into. No going forward or backwards. And the timeline is only advanced by the main mission which take a long time to come and go. This makes personal growth of a character challenging as you only have a few months to work with between the 'canon' main missions to get anything done.
* Heavy favoritism:
This is something that has been clear for awhile but the UNSC is the favored side on this site. Not only in member numbers and profiles but also in freedom by the staff. For the Aliens we are much more restricted on what we are allowed to do and for ONI its even more so. Its even come to the point where it really seems like certain Staff just flat out don't want for example ONI players or ONI equipment. Do they worry that their special Agents may be too powerful for the Humans to stop? If for some reason ONI attacks the UNSC? For ONI at least its important to remember that they were responsible for the Spartans, so they must have a lot of other tech at their disposal, they are a special intelligence agency after all. As for the Aliens they may be a bunch of religious nutters (most of the time) but they are also a fully fledged 'State' as it were with a religion and a military. With the population they have they would have huge cultural differences, tech differences, and low tech holdings that would have to make do with old tech given to them after the fact.
Not everyone plays an Alien character because they want to kill Humans.
But it seems as though we are always being steered away from exploring these facets of the other factions (not to mention Herectics and Innies, who we know existed before the Human/Covie war) because 'they dont need it/too powerful'(ONI) or 'non-canon/doesn't make sense'(some covie ideas). Why aren't all the factions allowed the same freedom as the UNSC? If members want to put fourth the effort to explore something that could be fun even if its just fun for them that's fine. This sites RP is supposed to be fun, just allowing one side the most freedom and attention isn't fair to those of us who want to play the other teams.
* No discussions:
"The aim of argument, or of discussion, should not be victory, but progress."
- Joseph Joubert ( en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Joubert )
This has seemed like the general attitude lately; to win be locking, deleting, moving, or denying the discussion instead of talk it out. Or to attack with such ferocity that the other side eventually relents. To win, not to talk about the idea.
This is one of the bigger ones for me but I really dislike the apparent rule now that a denied proposal is locked outright, before the creator has a chance to try address some of the issues. It could have been a misunderstanding from the reviewer (not grader as recently they haven't been graded just denied) or just the proposal needed some more fleshing out. Flat out saying no with no discussion just comes off as very rude.
Also on the no discussion path is the site policies. How staff and only staff have a say in them and seem them before they are implemented. Why? Why is that the case when the members who are on the site are often the ones most affected by the changes do they not get a say or warning as to these changes. I remember the last time this happened with the new info threads the staff told us that there would be more talk next time. But that hasn't happened. It would take longer but that's fine, better to take some more time rather than angering a large portion of the site population.
And finally there is the issue that members, myself recently, cannot voice discontent or issues without the thread being moved out of the public view (or deleted) and then set upon by the Staff team. This isn't ok when other members may feel the same and would like to have their voices be heard but may not want to try and challenge the staff with their own thread. This attitude that the staff, and the higher ranked staff to the lower ones as well, cannot be challenged openly on their decisions and policies creates a huge rift on the site that really makes it not a big community. Its a bunch of smaller ones that dislike each other.
* Delayed action:
The community voted on to bring back the main missions awhile ago - and BetaW's mission was suggested in the Guardian thread awhile ago as well. But it seemed that when I asked there had been no evolution or discussion of the idea even though we had it. This relates back to the activity and time issue but it seems as if some of the staff just aren't active enough to talk about and work on the main mission for the sake of the members.
However this is one area where the staff is super active on, and that is the punishment of members. While I agree its good to be quick if members are being disruptive its not good to only be seen doing that. It makes it seem like the staff is only interested in punishment and not the betterment of the site.
* Double Standards;
Right now there is a staff contract (versions 1.0.2) that we can see in the rules section. However the specifics if it we cannot see at all. Which for some parts of it makes sense, like member warning records. But because we cannot see the staff activity regs or the staff responsibilities we have no idea if the staff are doing their jobs or not. It is only up the staff itself to police its own members to make sure they are doing their jobs.
This becomes an issue when staff activity slips and it seems like little is being done. We as members can't do anything besides ask other staff if the staff in question is still doing their job. We don't even know what their requirements are as they may be posting a lot in the staff boards that we can't see. But because we can't see what is expected of them we can't directly confront staff about not meeting these requirements. Besides just pointing out that their activity seems to be lacking - which some Staff have gotten very angry about their activity which is its own problem. Relates back to the time point.
The members should be able to challenge the staff about not doing their job, and to do that they have to know what is expected of them.
-------------------
You are free and welcome to agree or disagree, but this is how many of us feel right now. And we believe that a new staff team could help to fix a lot of the issues, many of us willing to take the spots if needed.
But I also know with the Staff may see this as a coup and remove it and possible punish me. I knew this going in, just wanted these points to be in writing.
Hope you all have a good day.
-------------------
Overall message:
This thread has been a long time coming, and so is finally been posted after compiling and checking with others. At the moment there are at least Six members (Of varying ranks) who feel the same way as I do so please don't dismiss this as just myself spouting this. But they will not be named as at the moment they wished not to be.
The reason for this thread is this; Several members, myself included, have really disliked the direction the forum has been going recently with the current Staff team. The reasons will be lower just wanted to have this said clear at the top. As such we believe its time for a new staff team and a new admin. The fun we used to have on the site is either completely or nearly all gone - so its time for a change.
The Reasons:
* Attitude:
This always will be and always has been a problem, but with the current staff team it seems to happen a bit more frequently than I remember during the previous teams.
It comes in many forms to be sure; from general abrasive behavior in regards to member questions/profiles/proposals (saying its a dumb idea or wouldn't work without allowing space for a member response), to the clear biases toward one side of the profiles and against the others (expanded on in the favoritism section), too general un-professional behavior (ignoring Skype questions and not doing something you said you would), and finally to the personal one for me of making assumptions after assumptions about certain members.
(Only time I will directly mention names)
For the last one I am talking about a Skype call that took place with Kill, Beta12, Tin, Llau, BetaW, and myself with Frazer coming in at the end. At this time Beta12 and Tin were both staff. During this call a huge amount of assumptions were made about myself and BetaW; how we were trying to return the site to Z-armory days, or how we were just putting things up because they were cool, or we put up our info threads without them being graded or checked (even though they were), or even that our RPs and info would destroy the site.
The call itself nearly made me leave the site, and I only didn't because of the members who still enjoyed to RP with me. But behaviors and attitudes like that are not staff like responses. Especially when Tin began to shout at myself and BetaW for us not agreeing with him.
Yes, not all of the current staff are like that call was, but many of them still exhibit some very rude attitudes that make the members not like the staff. Or make the site a lot less fun. Leading to a disconnect between the staff and the members when we should all just be having fun RPing.
* Time and activity:
A problem that has risen fairly recently but one that is affecting the entire staff team. We are all aware that there is a life outside the site - but you are staff for a reason and have a responsibility to all of us who RP on the site to be there to post, answer questions, and to moderate when needed. All of the staff team seems very busy right now and not able to devote the needed time to the site, especially when a Main Mission is trying to be planned out and it takes awhile for proposals and profiles to be looked over or graded.
As such I think it would only be right if you don't have the time or desire or drive to be a full staff anymore to step down and let someone else moderate in your stead. If your job or way to make money is too busy then you should focus on that. The site is less important than keeping your job. Especially because there are those of us who have a lot more free time and would be more than happy to use some of that time to moderate the site.
* Restrictions:
At this moment there is a general rule that everything has to be canon, period. This is mostly fine for Humans but for Alien or ONI players it means there is extremely little wriggle room for what we can and cannot do. What we can and cannot RP about. Sure we could do it in the sandbox but some of us would like them to be something 'canon' that we can reference back to in later RPs. This does include the Flight of Faith argument of it no longer being canon but it is not the only things in this discussion. Things that people have tried to suggest that sounds like an interesting idea or a cool RP spot have been shot down because it doesn't follow 'site canon' even though site canon itself is very flexible. I'm almost to the point where I say we shouldn't have a site canon and just let some more freedom be let out. Just have it be up to the individual thread owner to regulate what they want in their threads.
Then there the Timeline. I know this has been a sticky issue in the past but as it is right now we have a time that we seemed to be locked into. No going forward or backwards. And the timeline is only advanced by the main mission which take a long time to come and go. This makes personal growth of a character challenging as you only have a few months to work with between the 'canon' main missions to get anything done.
* Heavy favoritism:
This is something that has been clear for awhile but the UNSC is the favored side on this site. Not only in member numbers and profiles but also in freedom by the staff. For the Aliens we are much more restricted on what we are allowed to do and for ONI its even more so. Its even come to the point where it really seems like certain Staff just flat out don't want for example ONI players or ONI equipment. Do they worry that their special Agents may be too powerful for the Humans to stop? If for some reason ONI attacks the UNSC? For ONI at least its important to remember that they were responsible for the Spartans, so they must have a lot of other tech at their disposal, they are a special intelligence agency after all. As for the Aliens they may be a bunch of religious nutters (most of the time) but they are also a fully fledged 'State' as it were with a religion and a military. With the population they have they would have huge cultural differences, tech differences, and low tech holdings that would have to make do with old tech given to them after the fact.
Not everyone plays an Alien character because they want to kill Humans.
But it seems as though we are always being steered away from exploring these facets of the other factions (not to mention Herectics and Innies, who we know existed before the Human/Covie war) because 'they dont need it/too powerful'(ONI) or 'non-canon/doesn't make sense'(some covie ideas). Why aren't all the factions allowed the same freedom as the UNSC? If members want to put fourth the effort to explore something that could be fun even if its just fun for them that's fine. This sites RP is supposed to be fun, just allowing one side the most freedom and attention isn't fair to those of us who want to play the other teams.
* No discussions:
"The aim of argument, or of discussion, should not be victory, but progress."
- Joseph Joubert ( en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Joubert )
This has seemed like the general attitude lately; to win be locking, deleting, moving, or denying the discussion instead of talk it out. Or to attack with such ferocity that the other side eventually relents. To win, not to talk about the idea.
This is one of the bigger ones for me but I really dislike the apparent rule now that a denied proposal is locked outright, before the creator has a chance to try address some of the issues. It could have been a misunderstanding from the reviewer (not grader as recently they haven't been graded just denied) or just the proposal needed some more fleshing out. Flat out saying no with no discussion just comes off as very rude.
Also on the no discussion path is the site policies. How staff and only staff have a say in them and seem them before they are implemented. Why? Why is that the case when the members who are on the site are often the ones most affected by the changes do they not get a say or warning as to these changes. I remember the last time this happened with the new info threads the staff told us that there would be more talk next time. But that hasn't happened. It would take longer but that's fine, better to take some more time rather than angering a large portion of the site population.
And finally there is the issue that members, myself recently, cannot voice discontent or issues without the thread being moved out of the public view (or deleted) and then set upon by the Staff team. This isn't ok when other members may feel the same and would like to have their voices be heard but may not want to try and challenge the staff with their own thread. This attitude that the staff, and the higher ranked staff to the lower ones as well, cannot be challenged openly on their decisions and policies creates a huge rift on the site that really makes it not a big community. Its a bunch of smaller ones that dislike each other.
* Delayed action:
The community voted on to bring back the main missions awhile ago - and BetaW's mission was suggested in the Guardian thread awhile ago as well. But it seemed that when I asked there had been no evolution or discussion of the idea even though we had it. This relates back to the activity and time issue but it seems as if some of the staff just aren't active enough to talk about and work on the main mission for the sake of the members.
However this is one area where the staff is super active on, and that is the punishment of members. While I agree its good to be quick if members are being disruptive its not good to only be seen doing that. It makes it seem like the staff is only interested in punishment and not the betterment of the site.
* Double Standards;
Right now there is a staff contract (versions 1.0.2) that we can see in the rules section. However the specifics if it we cannot see at all. Which for some parts of it makes sense, like member warning records. But because we cannot see the staff activity regs or the staff responsibilities we have no idea if the staff are doing their jobs or not. It is only up the staff itself to police its own members to make sure they are doing their jobs.
This becomes an issue when staff activity slips and it seems like little is being done. We as members can't do anything besides ask other staff if the staff in question is still doing their job. We don't even know what their requirements are as they may be posting a lot in the staff boards that we can't see. But because we can't see what is expected of them we can't directly confront staff about not meeting these requirements. Besides just pointing out that their activity seems to be lacking - which some Staff have gotten very angry about their activity which is its own problem. Relates back to the time point.
The members should be able to challenge the staff about not doing their job, and to do that they have to know what is expected of them.
-------------------
You are free and welcome to agree or disagree, but this is how many of us feel right now. And we believe that a new staff team could help to fix a lot of the issues, many of us willing to take the spots if needed.
But I also know with the Staff may see this as a coup and remove it and possible punish me. I knew this going in, just wanted these points to be in writing.
Hope you all have a good day.
