First, I'll say people pick on Frag too much. Think about it, you wouldn't want me to call you Penislander right? Just because it was a "cool" thing to do and everyone was doing it then doesn't mean we should do it now or should have ever done it. I know he can be annoying at times and I've had my arguments with him, but this is a community god damnit, we should at least try to get along with each other and stop listening to what others say about other members. As for the topic at hand, I don't see any staff corruption. They're doing things for the good of the site. It doesn't matter what they do to the site or what pisses the members off, if it's for the good of the site, it's for the better. Although if people have better suggestions and the staff doesn't take them into consideration, that is a mistake on their end and they may or may not suffer from it. It's not staff corruption, but it is ignorance and maybe stupidity on their end. I think what I hear mostly about staff corruption is the staff changing the site and making bans that actually needs to be banned and changes that need to be changed. The biggest cry of staff corruption I hear is when they said they might delete the offtopic, which then everyone pointed their finger at staff for making it so and not at theirselves for making our offtopic extremely similar to 4chan.
Introduction I don't see how the Staff gets deemed "unworthy" or "corrupt." I take it more as a "Teh staffz are teh corruptz and dey r gun steel mah monies" kinda of way. All of the staff has earned a spot on the staff. It's never too late to try and become part of the staff though. You will be appointed if they see you fit. But teh staffz are picking the featurezz!!!1! Yes, they are but you have to think of it in a democratic perspective. It is limited democracy, similar to that of America, France, and almost any other modern-day country. You might not think it's not limited but it really is. How, you ask? It is limited because you have to be 18 years or older (in the US) in order to vote. Yes, I know the US is royally ****ed and the analogy can be misinterpreted but we're still chugging along. Anyways, you don't need features to become popular anyways. Let's get this straight, people's maps can fail beyond what the eye can present. A lot of maps now-a-days have a lot more spawn fails than cosmetic failures. I'm not saying there are not a lot of ugly maps though. There are. A lot of the good maps get noticed no matter what. The staff do a fair job of keeping up with their fan-bases. Whether it be nominating TGIF hosts, accepting feature nominations and other random site anomalies that I can't think of at the moment. Look at Val for instance, phenomenal maps. They get noticed. He even got a feature. I'm expecting another one relatively soon. Corruption? I don't really think that the staff is corrupt. If anything they can be brutally honest. Take Sarge for example, he's an ass, but he helps. What about Cr33ping De4th? He just says things bluntly. Annd Lightsout? It's called leadership. (look at his signature) What about Matty? He seems to act like an ass, but he still helps doesn't he? I don't really have a problem with the staff until they go to far? They do it a lot and I can see where people can get the whole "corrupt" ordeal but it is not really possible. I mean, without the ordinary members, there would be no Forge Hub. If you want to leave, leave, especially if you think they're "corrupt". Ugh. Now I seem like a kiss-ass... The staff is corrupt. Universal Quote Do not try and bend the spoon. That's impossible. Instead... only try to realize the truth. What truth? There is no spoon. There is no spoon? Then you'll see, that it is not the spoon that bends, it is only yourself. Interpret that as you please.
i don't think "TEH STAFZ R CORUPPT" i just think there srs bsn about the rules and just want forums to run smoothly. with, of course, the mild out breaks of corruptness.
Just to make this clear you guys, the only time that the sentence "The Forgehub staff are corrupt" comes out of my mouth is when I am joking around. I am never serious when I say that the Forgehub staff are corrupt, and I hope that nobody else is. Although some of them may be corrupt, when you say "The Forgehub staff are corrupt" you are saying that the intire team of staff is corrupt, and not just the specific people in the staff that are.
Almost nobody's serious about it anymore. I'm pretty sure the main sources of the QQing over supposed corruption have abandoned this site by now. Hell, 70% of xforgery's description of what its all about basically boils down to "we're better than some other sites!" and they list all kinds of ridiculous complaints about "other sites" and they're very clearly referring to forgehub. Edit: Sorry, I didn't realize this was such a touchy subject. I respect and encourage anyone who will find a new community if they were unsatisfied with the old one, rather than just complaining. Can we drop this? I don't mean to dig up what is apparently old drama that I missed.
:: the xForgery fiasco is over there's no reason the two sites cant coexist. I recently became a member over there...its all good in the hood.
I never really saw the staff as "corrupt" cause i had it explained to me why they do what they do its for reasons, just don't complain pretty much imo.
often, if a map needs some tweaks in order for a feature, the creator is contacted via PM. you may not see it in the map post, but it doesnt mean its not there. Rarely does a map hit the front page without tweaks having to be made post-release. Basically, just because its not all out in the open for everyone to see, doesnt mean its not happening behind closed doors. Trust us we do more than most people think oh and I lol'd at that last part
Sorry, I didn't mean to bring up any old drama, I simply meant to point out that many people who were unsatisfied with the staff here, and fueling the corrupt cries, left for that site or others.
XForgery never said anything about being better than other sites. ForgeHub members put that upon themselves. If you've noticed on the XForgery forums, its about what we love. The only people really starting anything between the two are the members who just come from ForgeHub to whine. Just leave it at that. The sites are at peace.
The only time I've had a problem with the staff is when my vote was disqualified in SOTY, but that was a misunderstanding. I also got my feelings hurt (aww *sniff*) by a loyal in off-topic but that is a different story. Really though, the staff at Forge Hub is great. Everyone I'm familiar with has rightfully earned their position and is using their power fairly. Thanks guys.
As one of the many users he on the forum, I have never thought once that the staff were corrupt. At times, I would not like an infraction that I received or a certain, more unflattering, post by a staff member but I never thought of that as corruption. As you stated Insane, the staff are not robots, they have personalities and they want to joke around and post like some of the normal members on the site without members screaming "omg u guyz r so corupt and u h8 us all". The only true problem I have ever had and still have with this site is the whole topic of deleting the off topic section. That is a part of the forum that I have always loved and gone to just to relax. I realize there was and still is spam in that section but seriously, having one section of the forum with spam really doesn't matter. I acctually find some of that spam to be quite ammusing. Some of the useless topics are acctually kinda funny to see. But I am not on the staff and I know that it is there job to keep the site spam free. All in all, I think there are some staff members who think that they are better than the rest of the members, but as a whole, they are a hard working and helpful group of people.
Alright, it's been said already and a million times after, but I have to say it... "The Forge Hub Staff are NOT corrupt" Some people have been saying that they are human, they make mistakes, that means they're corrupt. Those people are getting their brains all mixed up. There's a difference between making a mistake and being corrupt. A mistake is involuntary, being corrupt is an action of will. The staff doesn't go around saying "What should I do too screw with the lesser members of the forum today.." They got to such a position by being helpful to the community, and I don't think an option to delete posts are leave a read square on someone's post on the internet is going to make them have a change of heart and go on a rampage. The truth is, the staff aren't corrupt, but the members themselves are corrupt. As stated before, the forum is a place where people receive help from the other members of the community. What really happens: normal members kiss ass towards the colored members because they think that will put them in a position of false popularity on the internet. I've posted several maps here on forgehub, to the point where I can't remember how much I've posted. Did I ever receive some gameplay feedback on how to make my map better? nope, I didn't. I've been here for a year, posted so many maps, not one helpful comment from someone after playing my map. It was also quite obvious that my map wasn't perfect because it wasn't featured. But then I venture into a colored member's map thread, or a more popular member's thread... They have several comments about gameplay and how it could be better from other staff or colored members. But that's not corruption, it's just because the staff members and colored members were their testing the map and the colored members are the helpful ones so they have things to say. When the tester's guild was unveiled, I felt that a normal member such as myself would maybe have a chance to actually get some help. Turns out it's just some more kiss asses. The first time I set up a test thread in that forum, I got about 5 people maybe that said they would be there for testing. Only ONE person that commented on that showed up. Just one. Then I hear all this nonsense that the testers from the guild almost ALWAYS join a staff members. Then I saw that forge hub was bringing the review hub back. I've seen that forum up for months and there is still no review hub... I myself would start my own "review team" up if I didn't know the truth that nobody would even join it because I am just a normal member and there's no reason to kiss my ass. I've tried to get customs together to test some maps that I can eventually review and help out these normal members, but guess what, nobody ever joins my parties because I'm just another guy that nobody cares about. I'd like to see the Review Hub actually get started up for real so those normal members can get the help that they joined forge hub for but never received. But I'd like to see the Review Hub made of a bunch of members that AREN'T kiss asses and actually care about helping these members rather trying to achieve worthless internet popularity. I rarely travel into other forums other than the map forums and leave a comment unless I find that my 2 cents is needed... My 2 cents was needed here, so I hope someone listens.
In the Pub we try our best to get weekly gaming sessions in on potential map features. We post our thoughts for improvements in the appropriate threads, but this is done much more discreetly than how the review hub used to function. This is only for maps that we feel are close to the featured standard though, so perhaps an additional form of review is needed. Another problem with a review team is that you're forced to play terrible maps, and then the creator often expects you to fix the problems for them. It's basically a difficult, thankless job. That's why you don't see too many people doing it on a regular basis. You get tired of playing the crap and you just want to play the creme of the crop. Personally, if I see a map with potential I'll put my two sense in. If the person seems receptive to any advice I give, then perhaps I'll delve further given I have the time and motivation. But I won't waste my time with someone with an ego or someone who thinks their map is perfect. No map is perfect.
The tester's guild basically does that job, but because it does not ask for finished products, nor does it rate your map, people who are just looking for praise never show up for testing. Basically the people that would benefit most from asking for our help are the least likely to actually ask for it. A review hub, on the other hand, is where people would think they can just plop in their map and out comes a 5/5 rating like clockwork. No need to actually explain your work, and no actual dialogue between reviewer and maker. A review hub would be redundant to the tester's guild and the featured map testing(which I still wish had more transparency), and thus, it would be unnecessary.
I think many people are intimidated by the complex sign up method in the TG. We should consider reconstructing the sign up post to streamline the process further. Perhaps tags would help... And there isn't much more to see in the pub. We play whatever maps peak our interest at the time and then decide on a day to play. Its nothing too official, just some of the guys playing some customs, followed by a little discussion and some feedback.
Perhaps you misunderstand how a review team should work. Ratings are completely unneccesary and in no way help the map creator. In my past reviews, I've always included problems with the map, and what could be done to fix it, no matter how extreme or how little the fix may be. Then I point out the good things so the creator knows what to keep if he or she does another version of the map, or so they know what they've done right so they can keep those things in mind for future maps. I personally don't like how the review hub has a strict template for reviews that must be folowed. and @DTL, yes, we would get crap maps that we would have to review. But the point I'm trying to get across is, those members that are making crap maps aren't getting help from ANYBODY. They get comments on their maps that are based off pictures, never gameplay, and the comments just say how sucky the map is. Nobody actually tries helping these guys understand what;s wrong with the map, how it can be fixed, and other things the map could use. If the people on the Review Hub actually want to help, then it shouldn't matter what maps they have to review. I myself have been guilty of reviewing maps that had already been reviewed, but hose to ignore some smaller maps out there that needed the help. But with a little help from some other members like me that want to help those less talented forgers, we could actually do something about it. BTW, this has strayed a bit off topic from staff corruption to discussion on a specifc problem within the community... I apologize for this.
I agree, steam-lining the TG/RH would be a great idea, bc right now, they are huge walls of text, that I'm sure scares the **** outa newer people who are wanting to meet new people & help out FH.
I didn't find the Tester's Guild to be hard to sign up for. It is all welcoming and jolly while the Review Hub kind of seems like you only got one shot and it is hard to judge a map. Of course after reading it through and through it made more sense. I wanted to sign up for it though.