The future of EMC

I have had too many problems with staff that i have kind of given up on them. Which is really sad

The Zaid is back! You sure come back with a blast, I bet you never foreseen this to happen. Ha, ha, leave it up to Aussie to come up with a spicey thread

I think some major changes are going to come with 1.9. Some for the better, some for the worst. I personally really dislike the way maps are being made in the snapshots and I fear that it could cause serious problems for some of the pixel artists. The problem is that maps are now zoomed out. Not only rendering them totally useless (in my opinion) but the new option of zooming in on a map is also somewhat flakey. Instead of zooming in on the middle it always picks the bottom right corner. Which makes me seriously wonder: I think that it has become impossible to make some maps (I still need to test, might try that today).

As Penguin mentioned in that same thread golden apples have been nerfed too. Quite horribly even, making their effect barely better than that of two potions. Which in the end even seem cheaper to make (!). I kinda hope that Aikar might be able to nerf these changes back if needed, though I think we're most likely going to follow the vanilla way.

And theres the new combat system. Not too sure I like those changes either. It would make fighting mini bosses a whole lot more difficult I think. Alas, my specific comments on the 1.9 issues can be found in the other thread.

As to EMC itself. I think players will come and go. Its kinda funny because I already started to notice a specific group of players who are there most of the times as well as plenty of new players on the server I'm on. We'll probably have some more fun events, there's bound to come a bit of drama (that seems inevitable with Minecraft servers) and we'll see staff members come and go. Hopefully also some cool new features.

But to be very honest I don't see any dark clouds or doom periods up on the horizon. And if there are I'll be sure to bring my vacuum cleaner or ventilator.

I agree that, in internet communities, moderator elections can turn into popularity contests, but I don't believe this should be used as an excuse to completely lock out community input.

Instead, I believe a Player Council could be elected, maybe one from each SMP and Utopia, then ten elected from those with the highest number of votes but who didn't get a council seat. Or maybe less. The Player Council would represent player interests to staff in an accountable manner, and have powers to advise and scrutinise staff actions and decisions, particularly on community issues and the appointment of moderators.

every time i see someone bashing mods for their grammar, or how they talk,
i get sad.. i get really really sad and hurt ..
why?

did you know i was considered stupid.. like really stupid in school.. cause i had such a hard time writing..
they wrote me of as stupid ( my teacher ) and used me as a bashing bag in front of the class.. who cares about a stupid human anyway.. was his line of thought..

when i got to high school, i got a new teacher.. she was not a bully, she sent me to take a test. and they saw i was smart.. but horribly dyslexic like.. horribly.

the only reasoning i can type is cause for 10 years i have forced my self to learn words .. in my language.. i have not been able to do so as well in English, so i type.. and use the spell checker for help.
i cant to that in game.

every time i see a mod bashing for grammar, i think its time to stop being a mod. and i get warped back to that time.. "who wants a stupid mod anyway?"

and before i post.. i have to say..
how can one feel connected to the community.. when every time you log on.. you get 2-15 begs for your head.. or signature, or screen shot.. and sometimes from the same person you have declined before..

and now that i have finished writing this.. im gonna click my red lines.. and make sure my words are readable

:/

I wonder where I get the Ideas from, Oh wait, Its from shel! Haha if it weren't for shel joining this community I'd be nowhere. As for the people who have problems with staff (Not pointing out names) from my perspective, I think that they should firstly understand 1 thing the whole community has said and I will say it again.. The staff are not robots and no one is perfect. Yes, Some things (barely) May be lacking in the staff team however everybody/thing isn't the same nor is it perfect. I really think the staff team has nothing to do with the fact of EMC going down if nothing changes. The staff is there to help, not to decrease or increase the rate of EMC's popularity.

If you're referring to my original post about EMC Running into the ground and staff at least needing to use caps when it is needed, I wasn't bashing staff for their grammar. The only thing I said about the staff's grammar/spelling was suggesting they use caps so their post and would be a bit better to read. I'm sorry if you felt this was bashing anyone for how they write, but it wasn't.

You know what why?
Why?
Everyone is stating there is a staff problem Why?
These Staff had more freedom when they weren't staff then now.
These Staff have offered to help EMC for FREE. Wasting hours
on reports just to make this Commnunity stay strong and make it right
for players. What is the big issue if they don't respond to a PM? Instead
they help hurt players and do better things instead to answer the PM. Staff
will eventually help you. But not now maby tommorow or the next day but they
will answer. The problem is we just need more Staff to help this wonderful community.

Crap, damn, and shit are allowed under moderation even in game too as the system does not filter them and it even says in the wiki they are allowed.

Just take a look at this thread. This is supposed to be about the future of EMC yet it has derailed into sharing annoyances about the staff. And they're not even doing a single thing about it!

Shame on them I say

This. So much this.

One of the complaints is that staff became too serious and/or robotic. That there's little chemistry between the staff and the community. And to some extend I actually agree with those comments. Some extend. Only this morning did I notice "a certain staff member" and my friend Aussie explore the basement of the flag shop to check out the VIP room.

But here's the thing: I honestly think that some people have no idea how hard it can be if all your words are put under a microscope and will usually be taken literally. I can go online to smp8 right now, and do something in the likes of: "Ok guys, keep quiet please. We have important things to worry about: I need a fish!". Note: I am pretty much a stranger to smp8 yet I think I can easily get away with this and it might even make people grin.

What would happen if a random moderator would do that? How would people react? How would the senior staff react?

Would that be funny? Would that be authoritative? Would that be plain out bullying? Or would it be a display of arrogance?

So while some players would like moderators to mingle a bit more, I think it could very well be much harder for them to do than you may realize. Obviously this is just my idea on that matter.

I would say are future is pretty rock solid as of now....

Leave it for the Boulder to say a rock joke

Fairly new member. Played on several other Minecraft servers seriously. Best staff on this server than any I've played on. Challenge anyone to mention a server with better staff. Now I expect staff to be available, be knowledgeable, act professional, and be consistant with the rules across all players. If these are not the qualities of staff you are looking for then you might disagree with me. And as far the the selection process for staff, the one here is consistant with all other servers I have played on. I would be amazed if the owner of a server would put it in the hands of the players to choose the staff. Imagine the problems of favoritism, etc... the could cause.

I'm not sure if you were specifically talking to anyone, but I have never personally been on the warning side of the moderator. I think for the most part (by most I mean like 99% of the time) moderators are amazing at enforcing rules fairly. As for trying to improve the situation, I have literally been trying for months to make conversations with various staff members. I'm not talking about full on conversations where they're busy and can't respond. I'm just talking about saying a "hey" or "how are you" here or there. A lot of the time I barely get a response if anything at all. So this isn't a one time situation where I got upset that a mod didn't respond to me when they were busying moderating. This is over time where I have tried multiple times with no results. As I've said before, there are obvious exceptions to this. There are three situations I can specifically think of where I saw mods actively involving themselves. And I only want to point this out because I don't want it to seem like I'm just "bashing" mods which isn't at all my intentions. The first one was after the last thread like this went around where people were mentioning the lack of chemistry. ArchdukeMelon (formerly Manchildie) had commented on the thread that I should try and make conversation with him. Within the next couple of days, he came to smp8 (which is my home server) and we actually did have a conversation, which was nice. The second was with highlancer54. I had posted a thread that specifically outlined which promos I do have and which ones I don't. One of the promos I didn't have was the Not Special Dirt. Someone pm'd me trying to get way more money out of me than they should have. Highlancer noticed this and specifically sought me out in game and gave me two pieces of Not Special Dirt from his own collection because he noticed the thread and saw that the person was trying to take advantage of me. The third was with Uber_Corq, who is amazing at involving himself in the community. My boyfriend DubChef and I were talking about going to pvp and just messing around so we switched over and Uber followed to play along with us. It surprised me because a lot of the staff are really uptight about doing pvp with the community since for some reason they put a lot of value on their own heads. The three of us had a lot of fun and it's nowhere near the first time Uber has just hung out with the community just for fun. There are other mods which you know are friendly but you can tell they are busy moderating, which is fine. And again, me leaving any mods out has nothing to do with me thinking they're horrible. I just haven't been able to have real conversations with them, which is the problem. In my personal opinion, the largest lack of chemistry lies within the sr staff and up. Obviously they are typically busier, but when you're in the lobby waiting for UHC and they're literally just running around (obviously not AFK) but they're only giving one word responses, something is wrong. Yes, I realize there's an issue with the EMC server and UHC not being the same, etc, but that's not really a relevant point as the two go hand in hand. Honestly, I don't see this situation getting resolved. About once a month a thread pops up like this and nothing changes. There are the people who genuinely just want a closer community and to get to know the staff (like me) and there are the people that think we're just whining and need constant attention, which couldn't be further from the truth.

Edit: I just want to reiterate: Just because I didn't mention a mod does not mean I think they're horrible. The experiences I listed are just that. Experiences I've had with moderators. I can't list experiences that haven't happened.

just a one of many .. many grammar bashing post..
i still remember my first broadcast, i was on mumble.. and i wrote dont instead of don't and a player didn't know i was the one doing the broadcast.. and bashed me badly for being stupid and illiterate cause of a single '
i don't see the difference between a big letter and a small one. i just don't see it, and if the word corrector won't show me.. i'll never know :/

but it does not say how i do my modding, im still just as compassionate, i still can listen to a problem, and help players in need,

We all know what you are specifically talking about. The problem is, is that it is hating a specific people group. Disliking a candidate or an object or anything like that is a matter of personal preference. Devaluing a human being is not okay under any circumstance.

Just ignore them {not /ignore }

I am surprised that no one has bashed on my post :-\

I understand this point, and I do understand the aversion which does kind of exist to having elected positions, because it might seem unnecessary, but I think that there is a difference between when an ordinary community member might put forth a suggestion about who should be a mod or about community decisions, and when someone elected, under this hypothetical system, would put forth a suggestion.

When an ordinary community member puts forth a suggestion, that is representative of them; there is no guarantee they actually represent anyone else. But if an elected rep puts forth a suggestion, by doing so they are actively seeking to ensure the views of their voters are heard, and to ignore their suggestion most definitely constitutes ignoring the views of a lot more people.