Here's a little thing I wrote last night about people's ideas of staff corruption and the like, I thought some guys here might appreciate it...or hate it. You can find it on my blog here. I know I'm not a really good writer so don't take me line by line refuting...just try to get the idea of the post. Or you can post here.
Chipsinabox himself told me that he gave infractions just to show who's boss. And guess who's not a mod anymore? Chips. Well, not for now, if what he told me was true.
I'd love to play online with you too Insane, but you blocked communications with me when you were streaming live Anyway I think everything you said here needs to be taken into consideration by everyone. Lately FH has been cast in a negative light due to the lack of unintelligent posts, in the Map Section & Off-Topic. I haven't posted a map in a long time because I feel that if I do post it, it'll either be glanced at by people who will either say something like, "Nice map, I like your interlocking. 9/10" or "Needs more interlocking and pics. 2/10" and the people don't even bother to actually go and play my map. They just want to try and look cool and go with the crowd because they are all sheep...
Yeah, he's not a mod anymore. If he does want to become a mod again, we'll need to clear that up first, anyway. Put your gamertag on a visitor message and I'll unblock you. Yeah, I know what you mean, but we can't just give up on FH. Everything you do that's helpful makes it just a little better, and it is contagious. It takes a little work, but the end result is completely worth it.
Personally I don't see the corruption in the staff. I don't know if I have just had good experiences, but even the more harsh staff seems to be helpful and law abiding.
It's only when people aren't getting their way do you hear "The Staff are corrupt". Many people just cannot comprehend a situation when things don't go the way they expect. So the next logical step is: corruption, obviously. I think the biggest reason so many people cry "corruption" is because they have a very poor understanding of how the site is run.... or they're just a jackass. But you can't do anything proactive to stop a jackass.... so lets stick with the first point. It might be worth posting a sticky going through the guidelines and steps it takes to get a map featured. That seems to be the focus of all the trouble around here. I don't think people realize how many maps are disqualified for bad spawns or poor layout design. Not only that, but so many people refuse to make adjustments (most likely so they won't lose their DL count).
DTL, I agree that its the features that are the biggest problem. Repeat features from premium members is completely understandable, but it seems like over half of the maps featured are by a mod, a loyal, or an already premium member. Surely they aren't producing fully half of forgehub's quality maps, right? I dunno, maybe they're just the only ones who have figured out how to get a map to look good without sacrificing gameplay, cause I know there are maps out there that play equal or better than many features. Or maybe its just that the maps by hub pub members are the ones that whoever decides on features have actually played seriously on. If that's the case, then you're already addressing it with the recent extension of feature testing to senior tester's guild members, and I think it is a good idea to make that clear to the members of the site in general. Those complaining about getting infracted or temp-banned and claiming corruption just need to grow up.
It's easy to say there are maps that play better... Which ones? We play all the maps suggested in the Want To See A Map Featured? thread. Their usually denied for, as DtL said, bad spawns or layout. Also, premiums were normal members, too. They've just worked their way up in Forging abilities and know-how, and their maps aren't taken any more seriously than anyone elses when deciding features.
While I do believe that most of the staff are stand-up people, it would be foolish to think that not a single one of them are corrupt, or that they have never done something that could be considered corrupt.
It would also be foolish to believe that they are not human, with the human regularity of failure. Because you know, once you enter the staff section, you become perfect.
One thing the community has to realize also is that a large majority of the punishment you don't agree with is brought on by yourselves. What I am referring to here is reported posts. I think a common misconception here is that we (the Moderators) scour the forums in search of instances where we can flex our internet muscles and single you out in a corrupt manner while ignoring somebody that did the exact same thing you did a few comments back. This is about as far from the truth as you can get. We do not have the time to read through every post on the site and infract everyone. We rely heavily on what you, the community, report to us. When we review the reported post we just simply can't read through the entire thread to make sure nobody else made the same mistake. Hopefully everyone can realize that when you report a post we specifically focus on that post, otherwise we would be here all day, and as Insane said, we have lives also. You also have to take into account the fact that if you are getting infracted there is a very high chance that it was reported, so in turn you can't blame us for being corrupt and infracting you because the truth is your fellow normal members are the ones pointing you out, we simply enforce the rules. Hopefully this helps some of you realize that we aren't as bad as you think we are when it comes to infractions. Sure, we find a few on our own, but the community is really a huge help when it comes to pointing out spam and other offenses. My one tip is a simple one, if you see that you have been infracted while somebody that posted earlier in the thread was not, just report that post. We will take care of it and all will be happy :0)
Fact is when people cannot cope when they don't get what they want. They make an excuse for there bad actions and blame someone/something else. They don't take responsibility for there actions. Example of this: " My map was better than a premiums map, wtf. Staff are corrupt" One of the biggest incentives for me to join Forge Hub was that everyone here was friendly. I would like to keep the friendly environment that made me join this site.
Very good points everyone brings up. I'll edit in some of that into the OP when I have time later, hopefully. Yeah, friendliness level has seemed to gone down as of late, but we can definitely push it back up....same thing with helpful members.
Considering Moderators do not have "absolute power", your statement is irrelevant to the post. Re-read Insane54's definition of corrupt and explain further how a Moderator here would personally gain from knowingly handing out unwarranted infractions. If anything like that happens, it would be far more likely to be the caused by ignorance on their part (ignorance in the true meaning of not knowing all the facts) rather than the "corruption" that many people here have constantly whined about. Every time I hear of someone talking about how the Staff are corrupt, it just makes me think that they probably ***** about how their parents are such assholes for not letting them do whatever the hell they want. It's a sad state of affairs that Insane had to take the time to make such a good write-up for the group of mewling brats who can't get over themselves. Hats off to you, Insane54. You're a better man than I am.
I find this pointless. Once you are labeled as to being corrupt, you will never be able to change the minds of those who labeled you as such. Denying corruptness is just further "proof" and reason for being corrupt, making you more guilty of it for each post. Their minds have been made, and further debating the topic will only result in more people turning against us. As it stands, mostly staff has posted in this topic, defending themselves, and defense as previously stated, is a sign of guilt. I say we ignore it, and just go on with our lives. If people don't like it, they don't like it and can leave. I for one have had enough of this pointless debate, and just want to get back to doing what I signed up to do, to be amongst a good community, forge, and have fun.
Maybe. If you perceive it that way. I see this thread as a way to clarify some misconceptions. Some issues are issues because of ignorance to the facts. I don't see the harm in trying to let the community know how we really operate as opposed to letting them continue to assume and allow it to get worse and worse.
However, these misconceptions are due to ignorance, and ignorance is the result of ignoring fact and replacing it with speculation. Those who are ignorant will continue to remain ignorant, and not even bother reading the posts staff leaves. They may even go as far as to say we have orchestrated a lie. The point is, they are the kind of people whose mind you can't change through civil explanation. They want to see their ideas done, they want half the staff to be removed for being corrupt, they want us to start featuring normal player maps that through testing we have determined a poor choice of feature due to gameplay and other reasons. They want change, and will not stop persisting about our "corruptness" until they see it happen.