An open letter to PCB - Caution I use expletives

Gaming Minecraft
#1

While I might be burning every bridge on the server here goes nothing…

An Open Letter to PCB

The latest incident to occur on the server has made me make an evaluation of myself and the server. I will be using expletives because I damn well think they are necessary.

My fondest memories of PCB were in the beta-era.People like Liam, Sip, Ouhai, Brodur, Italian, Fili, Valociraptor, Kyle, Andy, Jet, John, R33bok and Spec. We were a tight-knit community who helped each other out. I feel this is no longer the case.

Staff members have become vericose-veined Soviet Gulag officers. Nyet locking. Nyet no having fun. I am not going to stoop to naming names but many of the new comers to the server seem to not be able TO FUCKING LET GO SOMETIMES! For christ’s sake when I am using md for 10 minutes LET IT GO!

Now I understand that this is how you believe you must act but COME ON. In beta we would be joking one minute and when it counted be mature the next. IS THIS NOT POSSILE ANYMORE?

And another thing.

The ranking system is flawed as hell. No I am not just bitter about not being SOP. Semi and Sacred had to wait forever to become OP. YET YOMI GETS OP In 5-6 MONTHS??? We need a bloody structure to promotions… Sorry Yomi to name you but your very special :). We also only have 1 mod now. I’ve been OP for more than a year only to be grouped with every other staff member basically. This honestly makes me feel like dirt. Am I really the same as all of them? I had to work and apply for OP. THEY GET OP in 6 months?

Op used to be special. Now it is standard. Now I get MOD is a see if you can do it and if you can great! But my god leave people as MOD. I would like to see an application be necessary for the transition to OP.

And yes I realize I have just burned nearly every bridge on the server and frankly, I do care. I want to be the best staff member on the server. But I honestly feel like I am part of the furniture, clumped together with all the other op books.

Please do not believe I am writing this because of my SOP app which I am not. The final straw was with Fili. I agree on most of his points sadly.

School is coming and for now I will stay hoping that I can instill change. If I feel we fall into another rut then I will be leaving too.

Please note that if you can find it Jet’s thread about the downfall of the server is a good part II to this. many of the things he says in it are true once again sadly.

http://projectcitybuild.com/forums/index.php?topic=2683.0

Finally I would like to see the staff all be re-evaluated. No offence to anyone in particular but I feel some of the staff need to be either re-trained or demoted. Sorry…

Sincerely,

Ka_52

A Once Proud PCB OP

#2

I absolutly agree Ka, and I second the motion of a lot of things mentioned in both yours’ and Jet’s post from last year. I feel strongly passionate that many people on the server second guess who are true valuable players that have been loyal, trustworthy, helpful and esteemed builders. Personally I felt recent promotions weren’t true to the same standards to which me ans Sac both received our promotions. Remind me if I’m wrong but the last set of promotions were only a few weeks apart from mine and Sac’s, and me and him have been here much longer than the others (no offense to recently promoted staff, but its true)

I’m not sure what I personally can say to others who think that they know who they’re dealing with when sometimes they really don’t. I miss the environment we did have, and for me personally, I’m going back to the days I joined which was in 2011 sometime. I feel like there are some of us (like me) who stay around long enough and get treated the way they deserve to be with respect and seniority while others get kicked to the curve. I’m sorry you feel that way Ka, I really do :-\

#3

Thanks guys for the support. Some good points brought up.

I like dialogue :smiley:

#4

Mhm, I usually dont read walls of text, but I’ve read this one. And Ka, I do agree with you.

And ka, we have more mods than 1 :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

#5

I know I am new and not yet really a member of the community and so my opinion doesn’t really matter (and saying this will probably make people hate me), but based solely on some of my experiences I have to fully agree with you Ka. Certain members of the staff really need get some retraining - mostly on not overreacting and not stifling people. From the perspective of someone new, if they happened to turn up while certain staff were alone, they probably wouldn’t feel like PCB is the great server it really is.

#6

I completely agree with you ka.

Some of the staff, and it is mostly the newer staff, need to lighten up. Not everything has to be taken seriously the instant you get those yellow letters in front of your name. You 1st played to have fun. So why stop now? Yes there are times when you need to be serious, but that isn’t all the time. If you are unable to switch between being serious and being fun, you should reconsider your position as staff. Nobody wants staff members who are uppity the whole time. They want someone who they can play with normally and then ask for help when they need it.

I miss the old days too. I’ve seriously considered leaving, or taking a long break at times for just the reasons you stated. But I haven’t because I know there are people who would be sad to see me go, and I have made some good friends here that I don’t want to leave behind.
A re-evaluation of staff is a good idea, but may be difficult to organise. It would have to be just the SOPs and Admins who voted to stop bias between players. And with the amount of staff we have, it would literally take weeks to sift through every player. There are only 11 of us, and not everyone has time to check the forums regularly.

#7

I know how you feel Ka, I’m kinda in the same boat as you… of course I’m not very active but I also started on the server in April 2011

#8

Kinda makes me wish I were around for the good days. :’(

#9

In short, I agree. I’m not making big posts now as I’m staying with family for the weekend. Mini holiday.

#10

the only thing I hope is that I wont lose my mod rank IF they are going to flip flop the staff

#11

As far as I’m concerned, I’ve always acted the same even in the old days. I also notice some people take things too seriously.

I’m sure many of you can’t even count the number of times I jump on the live map or server and start spamming a few lines of a song in caps. If I recall, there were a couple times people would say something about my use of caps lock, but if it’s not an issue then who the fuck cares?

I recall awhile back I suggested something like that (re-evaluation) and wanted inactive staff to be demoted. But I was told there was no need to demote them. Well Chuckles, I think it’s about goddamn time we start re-evaluating our current staff and make some necessary changes. Inactives need to be removed because I’m not taking no for an answer this time and I WILL demote them regardless if they were damn good staff or not. If they come back and want their position back then they can earn it just like everybody else.

I would like to apologize on behalf of the staff for the Mod and Op rankings being a bit fucked, pardon my French. Mod was originally to be a ‘trial run’ for Operator but for some reason or another it became a rank itself underneath Op. Now slowly, but surely, things are being done to turn it back into a trial rank for future applicants. With school coming up we will most likely lose some staff. I also want to make this very clear to our current Mods/Ops. If you are too busy for school to make time for PCB, let us know. I see no reason in having staff that can’t volunteer time. I know not everyone agrees with me on demoting but honestly I see no reason on KEEPING people their rank. It just crowds up the staff list and we need to be treating this as a volunteer job. If someone isn’t going to be here, why the hell do we keep them on staff? For convenience sake? That to me says “lazy”.

In general, there’s a lot of “We’re gonna do this” and no one does anything. Well I think once we sort out the staff and start enforcing work, then hopefully shit will be productive like the old days.

#12

ANNNNDDDD

Nek said exactly what i was going to say

So never mind.

#13

If we’re going to do this we need to have a full discussion about each staff member really, decide what should be done with them.

Mod will stay as the trial. Op is full staff. Sop is Op but doing more behind the scenes - map transfers, forum management etc. Although, I know a lot of the current sops probably could do more than they currently do behind the scenes (Myself included).

As for inactive staff, I agree but feel if they come back they shouldn’t necessarily have to go through the whole application process again unless the rank has significantly changed in their absence, or they’ve just been gone for something like a year.

#14

tbh, i have a lot more i wanna say, but im holding back untill my fuse isn’t lit… cause if i started typing now, id be here for a while, and i promise when i get done, i will have a lot of people severely pissed off at me.

So for the time being, just be expecting a new thread.

#15

I think we (as in SOP’s/Admins) need to discuss each player individually. I don’t really see the server-side of things, but more the forum-side.

Ka I will agree, we used to have 1 hard-ass in-game. Hard. Now I feel like everyone is acting ‘tough’ on their high-horse so to speak. I will to say that I have had players complain to me about staff about nearly every staff member at some-point, so do not think you are excluded. I am absolutely sure people complain about me too, we are all going to have moments where maybe we are being too tough, that’s life and that’s what appeals are for.

On appeals, I like how they work for the most part, but those involved may need to tell the whole situation and then we can make a true verdict. Not just one person handling it.

I probably have more to say

#16

Questions:

  1. Who says you cant have fun while doing your duty?
  2. I do agree with ka, but did anyone else think he was SOP?

Now yes the ranking system is screwy and im not saying this because ive been denied mod about 7-10 times, but Some of the newer ops have been mod for, what seems link, less than a month where as Ka has been op, for what seems like, 90 years. I know I have not been part of this community that long. (little over a year). I dont think my opinion matters much, but Shouldnt Classic SOP at least be trusted enough to be able to do some moderation on the full server?

The way it is now for classic is:

  1. guest
  2. rank (forgot rank name)
  3. builder
  4. adv-builder
  5. Probuilder
  6. Trainee-op (some fail here)
  7. Op (some fail here)
  8. Sop
    9 Admin.

I mean Senior operator is so close to admin, why dont they have some sort of moderation duty on the full server?

Can we not have ranks like classic?

I think the only person who goes on Classic regularly, (forgotten username here) >.<

Im not very good at writing sentences.

Now the only reason for the first question way at the top of this post, is because, I am a very high tier admin on a TF2 server and I joke around with people who im suppose to warn, kick, or ban. Now if you dont know me very well, you might take that as trolling. I already won the internet…

Anyways, I ask them why they did it, and if it’s a logical or semi logical reason, i lighten the punishment.

Example: Rule #2 states no killing in the end. (Friendly zone as it is a trade server)

Me: Why did you kill in the end after i sent a server wide message telling people not to kill in the end?

note People dont always see white text on a bright blue sky

Player: I couldnt see it
or
Player: I just joined, i didnt know!

Me: alrighty then, this is your warning, do it again and you will be kicked.

Situation 2
Me: Sends out server wide message about killiing in the end
player dies by fire in the end and im not sure what exactually happened
Player 2 should be banned for repeated offenses

Player 1: I was killed in the end!

Player 2: I swear it was an accident!!!1!!!

Me: What…

Player 2: I set him on fire in the tunnel that leads to the end. I swear i did not try to kill him in the end. The fire damage killed him!

Player 1 troll mode activated: But i died in the end

Me: Well I can see you didnt mean to. And Player 1, you chose to run instead of fight.

As you can see i use logic. (rare things now a days…)

#17

Well I think I made my stance on this thing quite well when I typed up my “PCB is Dying” thread. And I think Ka here has done a wonderful follow-up with my old thread, and I completely agree. And to reply to sword’s thread above this post; that is how I go about operating. I ask people about their actions before banning them; me doing this has saved many a clueless new member from getting banned. I feel like banning people has become sort of a game of “Who can ban the most NOOBs/players”. This mentality needs to stop.

#18

I will admit that I get hotheaded with members occasionally. I think we all have a breaking point. For me it is when I am dealing with arguments between members or member vs. guest etc. and no one accepts the other’s POV…

#19

This this this this this.
This this this this.
This this.
This this this.
This.

The word “this” looks weird to me now.

Sword, classic ranks =/= cmp/smp ranks. They’re different. You may be a good classic op but not have a clue when it comes to smp/cmp.

Jet, I love you. Again, all of what he said. For the love of godfuckingdamnit try and sort out situations before just being like “hurrdurr ban lol.” That’s the whole point in being staff, not just banning people. Perhaps the griefer simply doesn’t understand minecraft, they’re new. They may apologise once being told off, and rebuild what they damaged. If they continue to troll and act like an arse, then ban them.

I made a staff reassessment thread in the Admin board. Ranks will be discussed and changes may be made. Do not complain about this, what happens happens.

'appen.

#20

I choose now to come in since I am following everything from the start.

My name is called for being trusted/mod/OP fast. The trusted because my attitude was good and I worked hard,
Mod because I helped solving problems while being trusted with reports and other discussions. The OP came for me as a surprise to so don’t shove it in my face. I heard that the higher staff was planning to change the MOD rank to a trial op again which had 1 month trial. I had passed that.

I worked Very hard for this rank I did not get it just because I’m nice.

I also have Borderline Syndrome which means something is either Good or Bad. black/white never grey.
So I judge a lot on my first thought and I do listen after but I only see people Good or Bad.

I’m not a hard ass mod. I’m just VERY STRICT. No=NO

btw when we ban people those people can also not be online so If they make a ban appeal it means this server means something to them and that it is worth giving a second try.

as long as someone is saying sorry i mostly forgive them.

I always check the forums when I’m behind my laptop around every 10 minutes and as soon as someone posted a report I take a look into it and come on the server and solve the problem and lock the post.
This has happened 3 times already this weekend.

Atm I am not “on” the server a lot because I’m playing Pixelmon with sacred and Shadow.

I swear I’m still the guard dog during European Time zone. I’m a lot behind the scenes

And If you never see me check your timezone before saying anything about being nonactive

Next time DO name members because I now got the feeling it was ALL towards me because my name is mentioned and I do know that is not the case but that is how it is feeling.

I worked my hard in all the free time I had to achieve this and I have a playtime for Over 1 month in 7 months so Do NOT say I’m NOT active!

(I also post a lot of ideas and suggestions in the Box, I do My Fair Share)