Post by Zuni on Jul 4, 2015 19:21:44 GMT
So, last night was the first time since I came here that I seriously found myself wondering why I’ve bothered to invest my time in the community. Just over eight weeks! That’s not bad, honestly, from my experiences elsewhere, it usually takes me two weeks to decide that I’d rather be playing a video game or doing something else. I thought long and hard about how – or whether – to put together a list of reasons I found myself asking the question. In the end, I decided that any community where I felt I couldn’t criticize it when it wasn’t working right is a community I shouldn’t be a part of anyway. I would also like to reassure people that I’m not intending to go anywhere in the near future; in the longer term, though, these are issues which will slowly kill my interest in the game if they aren’t addressed. So, here we go. I hope this is taken in the constructive nature it is meant.
1) Staff Attitude.
This is the big one. The longer I’ve been here, the more I’ve seen that there is a growing attitude of ‘us vs them’ in the staff culture here. It is a pity, because it really wasn’t the impression I got in my first few weeks here, but over the past four I would say that staff in general have begun to treat the playerbase as a hindrance or an enemy to be fought.
Staff need to remember that without a playerbase they do not have a game. I’ve seen staff members go into overt sarcasm, be insultingly patronizing, or display outright contempt for players – both individual players, and towards the playerbase as a whole. That last one is the most damning; when staff start talking about ‘the players’ when they address complaints and bad behaviours, that’s a sign that they are no longer seeing the hobby as collaborative but as combative. Nothing will kill a game quicker than players feeling like they are actively working against staff.
We’re not there yet, but we’re getting close.
2) Consistency is non-existent.
Ask how something works at two different times of the day and you will get at least four different answers. It doesn’t really matter what you are asking about, staff or player alike will give you multiple different opinions on how the most basic elements of the game work to how the most niche cases should be handled. This is exacerbated by players and staff reusing information from how things worked 6 months ago when that information has been updated, to even using information from previous sites as though it applied on this one.
This ranges from IC information to OOC procedure. There is no information regarding very basic elements of the setting or the mechanics of the world, and that means that everyone just throws around their favoured interpretation as though it is fact. There are very few clear and concise threads where this information is written down, and on at least one occasion pointing at The Rules thread didn’t end the consistent flow of misinformation because ‘that is probably out of date.’
We need to know how the setting and the OOC rules actually work or we are all playing different games. I know some effort has been started towards providing background information regarding some parts of the setting (for instance, the Saiyan Solar Empire lore thread which is great) but there are other parts – such as the Arcosian Empire – where what is actually played seems to directly contradict what little setting information is available. Rulings regarding what ki actually is, how sensing it or suppressing it works, and how common high power levels actually are all remain mysteries; so does information regarding things like ‘How do I join a saga?’ ‘Is there a minimum wordcount on histories past a certain alt limit?’ and ‘What exactly is a special technique and how do I get one?’
Since there are almost as many interpretations of the facts as there are players on the site, I would suggest that the only way this is going to be solved is to stop answering questions in the real-time chat entirely and start directing people to make threads. It will slow down the rate at which answers come, but it might be the first step in creating an actual ‘knowledge hub’ of consistent rulings and information which will work towards a long term solution for the site.
3) Criticism is Not An Attack.
This is the reason I was hesitant to post this thread at all – but there are a lot of members here who take criticism of ideas, character concepts, or story elements as a personal attack against themselves.
This is a terrible way to respond to concerns, no matter whether you feel they are legitimate or not, and I think feeds into point number 1 very strongly. No doubt, not every criticism you receive in life is valid – but one of the things you learn very quickly in life is that if someone is taking the time to tell you that they think what you’re doing needs work, there is a reason for that. It can be naked self interest, but far more commonly it is a matter of wanting to create the best possible experience for all concerned.
If you respond to criticism by going on the offensive all the time, you create an atmosphere where people are frightened of saying what they think for fear of offending the wrong person and winding up in trouble. We’re playing a game, here, which should be about the least stressful task it is possible to undertake with a computer – when the stress outweighs the fun, it is time to pack it up and walk away. Again, I don’t feel we’re at that point (for me) yet, but I can name a half a dozen people for whom that is not true in the eight weeks I’ve been here.
One last time, I’d like to say that this is not a series of criticisms intended to bring anyone down or a ransom demand to the game. This is a set of observations regarding problems which I think are definitely fixable and which I hope will be addressed before they become more deeply entrenched. It isn’t intended as an attack against anyone; it is set of issues which I hope are phrased as constructively as possible and which I hope will be taken seriously going forward.
Thanks,
Zuni.
1) Staff Attitude.
This is the big one. The longer I’ve been here, the more I’ve seen that there is a growing attitude of ‘us vs them’ in the staff culture here. It is a pity, because it really wasn’t the impression I got in my first few weeks here, but over the past four I would say that staff in general have begun to treat the playerbase as a hindrance or an enemy to be fought.
Staff need to remember that without a playerbase they do not have a game. I’ve seen staff members go into overt sarcasm, be insultingly patronizing, or display outright contempt for players – both individual players, and towards the playerbase as a whole. That last one is the most damning; when staff start talking about ‘the players’ when they address complaints and bad behaviours, that’s a sign that they are no longer seeing the hobby as collaborative but as combative. Nothing will kill a game quicker than players feeling like they are actively working against staff.
We’re not there yet, but we’re getting close.
2) Consistency is non-existent.
Ask how something works at two different times of the day and you will get at least four different answers. It doesn’t really matter what you are asking about, staff or player alike will give you multiple different opinions on how the most basic elements of the game work to how the most niche cases should be handled. This is exacerbated by players and staff reusing information from how things worked 6 months ago when that information has been updated, to even using information from previous sites as though it applied on this one.
This ranges from IC information to OOC procedure. There is no information regarding very basic elements of the setting or the mechanics of the world, and that means that everyone just throws around their favoured interpretation as though it is fact. There are very few clear and concise threads where this information is written down, and on at least one occasion pointing at The Rules thread didn’t end the consistent flow of misinformation because ‘that is probably out of date.’
We need to know how the setting and the OOC rules actually work or we are all playing different games. I know some effort has been started towards providing background information regarding some parts of the setting (for instance, the Saiyan Solar Empire lore thread which is great) but there are other parts – such as the Arcosian Empire – where what is actually played seems to directly contradict what little setting information is available. Rulings regarding what ki actually is, how sensing it or suppressing it works, and how common high power levels actually are all remain mysteries; so does information regarding things like ‘How do I join a saga?’ ‘Is there a minimum wordcount on histories past a certain alt limit?’ and ‘What exactly is a special technique and how do I get one?’
Since there are almost as many interpretations of the facts as there are players on the site, I would suggest that the only way this is going to be solved is to stop answering questions in the real-time chat entirely and start directing people to make threads. It will slow down the rate at which answers come, but it might be the first step in creating an actual ‘knowledge hub’ of consistent rulings and information which will work towards a long term solution for the site.
3) Criticism is Not An Attack.
This is the reason I was hesitant to post this thread at all – but there are a lot of members here who take criticism of ideas, character concepts, or story elements as a personal attack against themselves.
This is a terrible way to respond to concerns, no matter whether you feel they are legitimate or not, and I think feeds into point number 1 very strongly. No doubt, not every criticism you receive in life is valid – but one of the things you learn very quickly in life is that if someone is taking the time to tell you that they think what you’re doing needs work, there is a reason for that. It can be naked self interest, but far more commonly it is a matter of wanting to create the best possible experience for all concerned.
If you respond to criticism by going on the offensive all the time, you create an atmosphere where people are frightened of saying what they think for fear of offending the wrong person and winding up in trouble. We’re playing a game, here, which should be about the least stressful task it is possible to undertake with a computer – when the stress outweighs the fun, it is time to pack it up and walk away. Again, I don’t feel we’re at that point (for me) yet, but I can name a half a dozen people for whom that is not true in the eight weeks I’ve been here.
One last time, I’d like to say that this is not a series of criticisms intended to bring anyone down or a ransom demand to the game. This is a set of observations regarding problems which I think are definitely fixable and which I hope will be addressed before they become more deeply entrenched. It isn’t intended as an attack against anyone; it is set of issues which I hope are phrased as constructively as possible and which I hope will be taken seriously going forward.
Thanks,
Zuni.