Very true. You always give up some rights when you accept a contract. But no one wants to - and no one should give up rights when it would render that contract low value or useless. If one wants to be part of an online community, they should not give up rights when that might (or even makes probable to) make the experience of the online community less than a good one. So one of the questions is "what are the needed essential member rights in order to have a successful online community?" No, and you shouldn't if you want to be part of a community. Freedom of speech does not mean that you can break forum rules, like use obscene language, bring up inappropriate topics, troll others etc. Freedom of speech means that you have right to freely and fully express your opinion within the accepted forum rules, without having to fear any oppression, any negative consequences from the forum owner or the staff. Instead, you should have the right to be protected by the moderators in this matter. "I don't have to agree with your opinion, but I will fight for your right to freely express it." I think this is an essential right for a successful online community. That's a too simple example, this thread and discussion is really in no point about offensive language or range of allowed topics. Yes and no. We can see from postings in this thread, but also other threads, that members have quite different opinions about the life of the "EMC community", even old members. Also, it's not only about (simple) rules. This differences come from uncertainties that arise from past experiences but also from the lack of explicit commitment and mission statements regarding the community. Additionally to that, as Krysyy said herself, don't look at the past, EMC is not what it was before. So what you have learned in the past might not be applicable any more. The current (primary) mission statement does not mention a community at all (if you read it literally it says "We (that would be Krysyy and Aikar, the writers of the mission statement) want to have fun and make lasting memories."). The wiki page on community does not have a community mission statement and over 90% of it is staff related and server operation related. Actually, as some members have pointed out above, it seems that EMC currently really is a private party more than anything else, with Krysyy as the host. She is a nice host and it is a nice party, but... But it is no wonder at all, and I think I don't need to explain why, that there is and there will be quite some number of members that are looking for more than a private party, that actually want a community. I think that it is not far fetched at all, that EMC could attract more members by being (a bit) more a community and (a bit) less a private party. That's the main point. Against EMC (still) being too much a private party and not (yet) enough a community.
woa'h, your going to make a bold statement like that? last i checked, anyone can join EMC if they wished to play here and follow its rules, because i'm pretty sure i didn't have to go beg Aikar if i could join this wonderful server or get white-listed on, this isn't like other peoples's servers that's only for their friends, did you have to which is why you say EMC is a "private party"? i would think not, i have seen players come and go because they didn't understand how awesome it is here or it just wasn't their style of gameplay. On a added note, i thought this was originally about getting it to where players know their "rights" *cough* the rules *cough*.
I think you should re-read the mission statement without adding in your own words. 'Our mission is to have fun and create lasting memories on Empire Minecraft. There are numerous ways to play, whether you want to focus on mob hunting, Frontier exploration, being a major player in the economy, etc. On EMC, you get to Play Your Way! Our rules are in place so that everyone can enjoy their time on the Empire. Do your best to follow these rules and we can all focus on having FUN, like we're meant to.' Nowhere in there does it state that the 'Our' refers to Aikar and'/or myself. It is the EMC community, of which we are a part of. 90% of the wiki page on community shows the various ways that you can keep in contact with the other members of the community, including myself and Aikar. I think you need to stop reading the wiki/rules pages with your glasses. They seem to be adding in things that aren't actually there and missing the parts that are.
But it also doesn't state what it refers to, and a mission statement is given from someone who can have a mission, who establishes and runs the service. And this is not a community. You can't write a mission statement for someone else. I know that you've meant "the community" when you wrote "our", that's why I wrote "literally". But still, when you have a service like EMC, a mission statement from the owner is expected, and it is expected that the owner clearly speaks in his own name. It is good to read it with "glasses" of a new, unsuspecting potential member and think about what kind of members EMC can try to attract and make stay.
But you aren't a new, unsuspecting potential member which is my point about your glasses. Before typing up anything for the community, I make a point to read it as an outsider, various age groups, etc, as well as run it by some people in my life that do not play on EMC. To an outside player looking in 'Our mission is to have fun and create lasting memories on Empire Minecraft' is pretty straightforward that it's the server community's mission and not just speaking as the owner/community manager there. If I wanted to write my own mission statement, it would be 'My mission is to help the players have fun and to help make lasting memories on Empire Minecraft, while making sure they abide by the Rules.'
This is my last post I will make on this thread. https://empireminecraft.com/threads/an-apology-and-final-letter.65840/
Oh, nice to know that the rules as I see them clearly written are actually quite different simply because my vision sucks and I need glasses.
Same opinion as 607, but gonna make my viewpoint EMC is a company that provides software(well not software but a server) so it uses licenses(the long text that no one reads before signing up, like being >13 years old, and no disruptive laguage, etc,(is called terms and agreements(in EMC case terms and rules)) you can ask EMC for rights, but what can you ask, i mean... Be able to insult each other? obviously not! So yeah...
You misunderstood this. In this context, and as others have described above, "private party" does not mean there is a whitelist, but means that EMC is a private company which sets all rules. I didn't bring this up, I'm quoting others there. So perhaps read again what they wrote - and also this quote: That's (roughly) what is meant with "private party." That's nonsense. You have missed the point by far. (Far = measured with astronomical units.) Perhaps you'd like to read the thread (again)? PS: imputing such a nonsense, something that no one in this thread has suggested is actually ignorant and rude. You're insulting in the very posting where you state you're against insulting. This is a "school example" of a hypocritical statement.
To all who voted yes and all who mean yes. To all who think that at its core this is a good suggestion. To all who think that freely expressing opinions is an essential member right for a successful online community, and agree that - freedom of speech (on EMC) means that you have right to freely and fully express your opinion within the accepted forum rules, without having to fear any oppression, any negative consequences from the forum owner or the staff. And that everyone should be protected by the moderators in this matter. Is there anything that still remains unclear? Is there something of importance to continue the discussion with? Is there anything left to do about this matter?
I have stayed quiet all this time and reading this last bit I still have the same thought... I'm so confused or perhaps I'm dumb because this makes no sense to me. You have been flailing on about these rights that you and everyone on this server already have.
Except (from what I gather) they want to be able to say and do anything (within reason of course) without repercussions. For example they want to be able to have a discussion about politics without having staff intervention should things get too heated. (If I'm wrong I apologize I've been half reading since page 6).
Funny that, a lot of the posts you make give off a similar effect for me. Lots of interesting points raised in this thread. I don't personally see the need for further changes from now, a lot has been discussed, I'm glad at least something good came out of the idea with the change to the rules.
That's the thing, this "point of view" isn't about "rights". Everyone on this community has the right to post anything they want that does not violate our rules. What you are suggesting, is a desire for the rules to change to allow political discussion even when things get heated. You don't have to word it as some massive political movement to ask for a rules change on specific topics such as politics and religious discussion. The issue is, this approach made it look like there was something fundamentally wrong in the core of the community management, when in reality, you're just looking for some changes to some rules. Approach with that suggestion and we could have a totally different discussion.
Hehe, to be clear I'm not for this at all (I don't see the point as I haven't felt restricted in my posts since being here) I was just trying to summarize what they were looking for (from what I understood) into my post for crystal as she seemed confused. Apologies for any confusion.
So they are going to make a suggestion thread that we don't laugh at hysterically and then.... oh wait.... they were serious? I know sparx said it before but... ok ok ok. *mind blown*
