Post by toby on May 19, 2022 19:32:23 GMT
Howdy everyone,
Over the last couple of weeks, but most prominently in the last couple of days, there have been quite a few posts being made on the forums with numerous complaints, people leaving the community and a general increase in contentious conduct. I wanted to make a post expressing my standpoint on this perturbation. I must stress before I start that this is my personal opinion and not the view of the administration team as an entirety (though I preempted to them that I’d be writing this).
I’d like to start this post with a rather severe note, and hopefully, as this post progresses, it becomes a bit more lighthearted. I would firstly just like to emphasise that threatening to attack/take down the ClassiCube servers is a severe offence and would like to remind people that if you partake in this activity, we will ban your account and may threaten further action - it is an illegal activity and not something to joke about, period. It is hugely disappointing to see some once active, community-oriented members stoop to this low and get their hours and hours of hard work on the server erased in such a careless way like this. Whatever you think about the staffing protocol or the staff personally, threatening such an ‘attack’ is extreme and uncalled for. If you are partaking or thinking of doing something like this, please just talk to me on Discord DM instead of breaking laws. I’m happy to listen but attacking the server won’t help you. I do hope this little warning marks the end of this.
Toxicity is not welcome in the community, and I admit and am sorry that there has been a wave of toxicity against players that mean no harm other than an evident passion for the community - my activity over the last 6 or so months has been extremely limited and not had the chance to put up defences to prevent this the way I would have wanted. Bullying and harassment are not welcome in the community. As my activity increases this summer, I will push for us to be a lot stricter (and thus escalating punishments) when it comes to this sort of behaviour, as it is the root of evil within the community. The current muting procedure isn’t as effective in preventing chat-based rule-breakers, so we are thinking of introducing mutes that ignore offline time. This, to some, may seem harsher than the current system but should help further minimise this toxicity. Furthermore, there have been conversations within the staff channels about re-working the general punishment system (though it has died down a bit at the moment), but pledge that this summer, these things will be effectively addressed and implemented. If this means that we need to resort back to a harsher system or more automation to keep chat clean and toxic-proof, so be it. I also want to reiterate that the primary report function now is embedded in our Discord server, with the hashtag report channel - this enables staff and players to have a live conversation about the report instead of a prolonged conversation on the forums.
The next point I’d like to address is the squabble that “admins don’t care” or are “lazy” that makes its rounds now and then. This is categorically untrue and is based on little truth. It is very, very important to note that admins (or staff) are not paid positions and thus cannot spend countless hours on the server as it is not economically sustainable (a lot of senior staff are in their final years of college/university and thus may not have a job). This, in turn, means that staff time is inherently limited, and staff merely volunteer here because we enjoy sustaining a community that is so deep to a lot of our hearts. In theory, we could have some sort of premium subscription - like that of premium Minecraft servers - to help fund development and senior staff members, but this probably wouldn’t be taken all that well by certain community members. My point is that this isn’t a Triple-A game nor an economically sustaining role, so time is limited to what time we have. Many people have highlighted in their recent goodbye threads that real life is a priority, which is true. As the senior staff gets older, the server's time gets limited without economic incentive (sadly, we live in a capitalist society). This seems like a good time to highlight that I want to be leaving the community at the beginning of September as university and paid work will consume my next academic year. This is not me trying to ‘justify’ inactivity; just trying to give you a realistic perspective where the inevitability of getting older impacts how much time and effort one can put into an online community. This is an age-old problem with New Blood, and as Venk discussed in his goodbye thread himself, there have been times when I’ve thought about shutting the community down. This won’t happen, but we need to start thinking of approaches to retaining longevity whilst tackling in-real-life commitments that are inherently more important.
On a more lighthearted note, I’d like to thank Subelectronite, Panda and the now-retired Venk for helping push the community in the right way in my absence - I can assure you that this thread is the beginning of my comeback now that summer is approaching. I have said this before but will repeat that their discussions in the administration chat and the general staff chats have been excellent in every way possible. I’d also like to thank our two Managers, Arvid and Bruce, for helping carry the map submissions alongside assisting the more junior staff in their staffing practices. Both of them are exceptional staff and some of the ideas they have been suggesting are remarkable. I generally believe that we have a very strong senior staff team right now and think this summer will be exceptional in pushing ideas into practice. There is still a lot to learn, and a lot of staff growth is required, but we are on the right trajectory.
I guess as a summative point to this post is that treat people how you wish to be treated. Think before you write something, you really don't know how much a mean message can impact someone's health. Being mean to players/staff in the community or any community associated with New Blood is counter-productive and only results in more toxicity. Yes, there have been mishaps and yes things are not perfect but there is a general consensus from everyone to push the community in the right way. We are all here for the same shared reason. We [most] love the game even though the lows. I am once again extremely sorry for my absence and for letting things get to this stage.
I would also like to host a Q&A session at some point on the Discord with all the senior staff members on a Discord Stage whereby players can hold us accountable and ask us questions about the future. This may be an effective way of bridging the gap.
Wishing you all a pleasant rest of your day and I ask that this thread does not result in some playground flame war but instead a respectful reflective thread on the last couple of weeks.
Tobs.
Over the last couple of weeks, but most prominently in the last couple of days, there have been quite a few posts being made on the forums with numerous complaints, people leaving the community and a general increase in contentious conduct. I wanted to make a post expressing my standpoint on this perturbation. I must stress before I start that this is my personal opinion and not the view of the administration team as an entirety (though I preempted to them that I’d be writing this).
I’d like to start this post with a rather severe note, and hopefully, as this post progresses, it becomes a bit more lighthearted. I would firstly just like to emphasise that threatening to attack/take down the ClassiCube servers is a severe offence and would like to remind people that if you partake in this activity, we will ban your account and may threaten further action - it is an illegal activity and not something to joke about, period. It is hugely disappointing to see some once active, community-oriented members stoop to this low and get their hours and hours of hard work on the server erased in such a careless way like this. Whatever you think about the staffing protocol or the staff personally, threatening such an ‘attack’ is extreme and uncalled for. If you are partaking or thinking of doing something like this, please just talk to me on Discord DM instead of breaking laws. I’m happy to listen but attacking the server won’t help you. I do hope this little warning marks the end of this.
Toxicity is not welcome in the community, and I admit and am sorry that there has been a wave of toxicity against players that mean no harm other than an evident passion for the community - my activity over the last 6 or so months has been extremely limited and not had the chance to put up defences to prevent this the way I would have wanted. Bullying and harassment are not welcome in the community. As my activity increases this summer, I will push for us to be a lot stricter (and thus escalating punishments) when it comes to this sort of behaviour, as it is the root of evil within the community. The current muting procedure isn’t as effective in preventing chat-based rule-breakers, so we are thinking of introducing mutes that ignore offline time. This, to some, may seem harsher than the current system but should help further minimise this toxicity. Furthermore, there have been conversations within the staff channels about re-working the general punishment system (though it has died down a bit at the moment), but pledge that this summer, these things will be effectively addressed and implemented. If this means that we need to resort back to a harsher system or more automation to keep chat clean and toxic-proof, so be it. I also want to reiterate that the primary report function now is embedded in our Discord server, with the hashtag report channel - this enables staff and players to have a live conversation about the report instead of a prolonged conversation on the forums.
The next point I’d like to address is the squabble that “admins don’t care” or are “lazy” that makes its rounds now and then. This is categorically untrue and is based on little truth. It is very, very important to note that admins (or staff) are not paid positions and thus cannot spend countless hours on the server as it is not economically sustainable (a lot of senior staff are in their final years of college/university and thus may not have a job). This, in turn, means that staff time is inherently limited, and staff merely volunteer here because we enjoy sustaining a community that is so deep to a lot of our hearts. In theory, we could have some sort of premium subscription - like that of premium Minecraft servers - to help fund development and senior staff members, but this probably wouldn’t be taken all that well by certain community members. My point is that this isn’t a Triple-A game nor an economically sustaining role, so time is limited to what time we have. Many people have highlighted in their recent goodbye threads that real life is a priority, which is true. As the senior staff gets older, the server's time gets limited without economic incentive (sadly, we live in a capitalist society). This seems like a good time to highlight that I want to be leaving the community at the beginning of September as university and paid work will consume my next academic year. This is not me trying to ‘justify’ inactivity; just trying to give you a realistic perspective where the inevitability of getting older impacts how much time and effort one can put into an online community. This is an age-old problem with New Blood, and as Venk discussed in his goodbye thread himself, there have been times when I’ve thought about shutting the community down. This won’t happen, but we need to start thinking of approaches to retaining longevity whilst tackling in-real-life commitments that are inherently more important.
On a more lighthearted note, I’d like to thank Subelectronite, Panda and the now-retired Venk for helping push the community in the right way in my absence - I can assure you that this thread is the beginning of my comeback now that summer is approaching. I have said this before but will repeat that their discussions in the administration chat and the general staff chats have been excellent in every way possible. I’d also like to thank our two Managers, Arvid and Bruce, for helping carry the map submissions alongside assisting the more junior staff in their staffing practices. Both of them are exceptional staff and some of the ideas they have been suggesting are remarkable. I generally believe that we have a very strong senior staff team right now and think this summer will be exceptional in pushing ideas into practice. There is still a lot to learn, and a lot of staff growth is required, but we are on the right trajectory.
I guess as a summative point to this post is that treat people how you wish to be treated. Think before you write something, you really don't know how much a mean message can impact someone's health. Being mean to players/staff in the community or any community associated with New Blood is counter-productive and only results in more toxicity. Yes, there have been mishaps and yes things are not perfect but there is a general consensus from everyone to push the community in the right way. We are all here for the same shared reason. We [most] love the game even though the lows. I am once again extremely sorry for my absence and for letting things get to this stage.
I would also like to host a Q&A session at some point on the Discord with all the senior staff members on a Discord Stage whereby players can hold us accountable and ask us questions about the future. This may be an effective way of bridging the gap.
Wishing you all a pleasant rest of your day and I ask that this thread does not result in some playground flame war but instead a respectful reflective thread on the last couple of weeks.
Tobs.
