Thread Rating:
  • 9 Vote(s) - 4.56 Average
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
General thoughts and Opinions off the chest
#5
Though I cannot comment on the immediate matter (because I'm not involved and don't have any information beyond what's available to the forums) and I could potentially just be rambling my entire post, I can say that since I ever started playing so long ago, in the baby days of the game... the GMs are, and always have been, king of needless paranoia.

Bans, for the most part, have always looked outright random and with very little explanation for anybody that has been banned, and even less for anybody who just sees the ban go on over OOC. There's also been a problem with little warning given to people who are breaking the rules, or doing something that they probably shouldn't. I've been lucky to have kind words when I have messed up more recently, but the outright fear of basically not being communicated with pre-Discord SL2 is still strong in my blood.
I'm mortified by the idea that I'm messing something up, and just out of the blue I'll get banned because the GMs are "collecting evidence" instead of just saying something is wrong here, and then collecting evidence when it's been shown a warning isn't cutting it. Whenever Rai plays one of my character's partners and says something a little risqué, I get an immediate panic attack that we're going to be banned - and I feel that for every person who does it in front of me too, because there's always just such little warning that anything is being noticed, or even that it'll come back on someone.

I feel a small, constant fear of every GM, no matter if I've talked to them and know them a bit. That people and them are just hoarding the shit I did when I was an actual 13-15 year old to hold over my head even now that I'm 23. (And this isn't conjecture, I've been told people in some positions of power (though not necessarily GMs) still hold some things over my head, hence why the anxiety.) This shouldn't have to be the case, especially now with new GMs that're active with the community. But this still exists for both I and quite the bit of others because the communication is just non-existent - between the GMs and players, and between themselves.
And that's existed for a long time, mind you - way back when, I asked a GM about a jokey alias I wasn't sure about, and got a 'sure, go ahead'. I did so, and within 15 minutes of existing, another GM just shadow changed my alias because they didn't agree. It's kind-of a microcosm of problem out of lack of communication that still persists to this day; if one GM says one thing, that doesn't mean that another won't entirely disagree because they don't know it's already been given an okay. The only time that this isn't a problem is when that person has made an application that is visually available to all GMs to look at on the forums, but a simple "can I do X" or "is X okay in Y situation" isn't something you're going to make a whole-ass thread for. ModMail is helping a bit with this, but ModMail isn't going to work for people who may need a bit of discussion.

This fear also happens even much more when they make a decision that wasn't exactly sound - there's an overwhelming horror of making any criticism because of immediate reaction from not even the GMs sometimes, but the players too. (And I'm not thinking about the current situation in this regard, more-so about the time a GM was upset over the term "K.O." being used ICly because it's "too modern", despite the contrary.)
The GMs are people, capable of mistakes, and aren't being paid - they're volunteers. But the GMs shouldn't be the only people that'll be shown respect if things go awry. People immediately saying that the GMs are being "harassed unreasonably" because people have criticism of any situation is a very gross thing that I've noticed ever since the Discord era came to be. The players aren't immune to mistakes and criticism, and neither are the Eventmins, GMs, or even Dev. The difference is that criticism needs to be discussed peacefully, which I know when things get heated can be hard, but to villainize all criticism because it exists? It's not healthy for anybody. And it does happen, I've seen it in both Discords we have before, both recently and non-recently. It's probably fair to say a lot of people know I can be stubborn and passionate about the things I believe in, like, or do, and come off as rude as well - but at the very least, I try not to get like that in any public place if I can help it, and I try not to hold it against the people that caught me like that, because more often than not it's not even their fault, it's just how my brain barely functions. You just have to find a method that works for calming down. I just turn on something to watch for a few minutes, process, then come back.

On the topic of the more private SL2 Discords since it's been a more prevalent plot point for the recent problems though, I just want to say: they're not a bad thing. Bad comes from people, and not from entire servers. It's come up publicly already so I guess I can say, but; I'm in the Hearth server. There's a ton of very lovely people in there that never cause trouble, but are there because it's a moderately public space with a bunch of people. Hell, it's called the Hearth because it was the server for the G6 guild, but since it's not around it's a hang-out spot. I'm also in a ton of other SL2-based Discord servers, and all of them are moderately peaceful when it comes to this stuff. But, since having a GM loosely lurking the entire server can be rightfully uncomfortable for a lot of people - hence why there's not always a GM in these servers - the responsibility comes to the players themselves, and the owner of the server if they know it. I'm pretty sure that Egg had no involvement in either times the Hearth was used, outside of trying to mediate and calm people down when things got heated, he's a sweetpea who wants the best for people. 

In summary of my barely-medicated ass's ranting:
As a whole, we really - as a community with no roles or authority preceding that - need to work on our communication hard. Roleplaying games are a game of cooperation, not a game of competition. Just reaching out to someone and saying "hey so, we're doing..." or "hey, we have a problem with..." can mean a lot to people. Even if I don't think someone'll care or they don't really have a say in it, I at least try to send them something if they're involved to a degree.
All not communicating does is lead to hardship, panic, and a sour taste in someone's mouth about things for long periods of time. Not like I'm immune to small grudges, either, but I don't let it paint my entire view of someone if there's a chance they've just made a mistake, or not thought very clearly, or even if they're just a very young person who doesn't have a wink of what's going on, or how that could hurt someone. I've been on the receiving end of this recently from people I thought knew better, and it'd be lovely to never have to have a panic attack that loses me sleep on a bunch of people who're just trying to help again - or have someone else be victim of that too.

Dezark and Frozen have had wonderful solution ideas, but I only wanted to throw my two cents in as someone who's had to hear of, deal, and suffer these types of panic attack-riddled problems and confrontations before.
You really don't have to name names or anything in your transparency (because it's entirely understandable that you wouldn't want to name names in harassment cases and etc.), but you can stand to be transparent in every other way - and that goes for GMs as well as players. It builds trust between you and your fellow players, and it's a trust that SL2 has never really been able to have, but desperately needs.
[Image: 5HkCz2Q.png]
[Image: s0bdkqm.png]
[-] The following 10 users Like Shadbase's post:
  • Croakie, DancesWithMoths, Deathly, Dezark, HaTeD, Kyratio, Mewni, Roland_Staghare, Toffee, WaifuApple
Reply


Messages In This Thread
RE: General thoughts and Opinions off the chest - by Shadbase - 03-03-2023, 11:32 AM

Forum Jump:


Users browsing this thread: 7 Guest(s)
Sigrogana Legend 2 Discord