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got me fucked up

BEFORE YOU READ THIS IS NOT A SHITPOST! On behalf of some current long time playing members and the people who have left the community (whether it was in a bad way or not) There is some honest issues that a lot of us see about this server's staff team. Now that being said the staff team is "alright" but there is some underlying issues that some of us has noticed and I feel I am the only one brave enough to say anything here. This post will probably get taken down by a SMOD+ because suppressing anybody who is willing to have a voice and speak up about things get shut down immediately. Let's start with the reason I left the staff team besides my military reason's. As being staff to which I thought was fun in the beginning because I enjoyed the server a lot many great memories from 2016-present. But as I soon noticed there is a clique like mentality that goes on, you are either an Assaulter or a McStubbins or your opinion means nothing. AND I MEAN NO DISRESPECT TO THE ASSAULTER'S OR MCSTUBBIN'S but I felt that if they did not think I was "cool" or joined the cliques they got going on, that my voice or opinion meant nothing at all. As staff I feel like you are a supposed to be a team but I didn't feel that at all. I have talked to some former staff member's and they agree as well (I will not give out their names). Another reason was that I felt like I was getting no help at all when I would be on, now I am fully aware that this is a voluntary and I will probably get the response of "Well you should just ask for help", but I felt that I shouldn't have to ask for help when there is other staff on but no one is taking sits but me. And all the player's would yell at me for not taking their sit's etc. when other people were fully capable. It was mentally draining and pushed me to dislike being a staff member here. Second thing I have noticed is "community suppression" it's a very broad statement I know, but what I basically mean is that if the staff does not know you they don't care which I think new member or not you should be able to speak about things and have a voice and staff should at least listen. I feel that if you have something that you need to say and say it (if it's not being stupid) and the staff team disagree they will just delete the post or not even look at it or even care at all. Which I feel should not happen I feel everyone should have a voice and be able to speak about something before staff just goes "Nope I don't agree with this *delete*". And if you do say something about it after they will just pull the "Drama Mongering" or "shit posting" card and you can find yourself banned or removed from the discord or forums. Third thing I have noticed is "Bias", some staff members (not saying names) are super biased towards players whether it be friends or what not. I feel that some player's may get to "harsh" of a punishment for doing something but then when the person they like does it it's almost like they get away with it. Another form of being biased is as a staff member you can ALMOST get away with anything you want because with this clique like mentality "whos going to report me?". And as now a player I feel that if you "kiss ass" to the staff members you can get away with a lot more than the average joe. If you "butt-buddy" a staff member you won't get a severe punishment if even a punishment at all. I feel that I am the only one who has spoken out about some of these issues is because of the fear of getting banned from the community that they enjoy, but I'm different I honestly don't care anymore I have kept my mouth quiet about these things until now. I have only said these things now because I am getting a little tired of it and some other issues is pushing me away from the community and not make me want to play on the server anymore. In the past couple weeks I have had no desire to play on the server that I spent a lot of time on at all. Do I expect anything to be done about this?, most likely not. Do I expect a forums moderator to take this down because they disagree with what I have said?, absolutely. Thanks for reading, If a forums moderator decides that this was stupid and is a shit post and bans me or delete's the post that's fine I guess and proves my point, but at least I put out what I feel and had to say. Have a nice one! -Yike

BIG props to yike for having the drive to try to see change in something he somehow still has faith in despite the potential adversity. I've seen all the points Yike has brought up. Staff bias, "us vs them" or clique mentalities, suppression of users on forums or in game. The staff team is doing good PR on the thread, but i don't believe everything they say. I'd like to see something to show the claims that the staff team is moving in a positive direction. From my first memories of the server and the staff team, the staff team got more politically correct, more restrictive on player speech, more separated, and more disconnected from the actual player base and how they feel (partially referencing higher up staff that i wont name, just know i genuinely believe 2/3 main big boys are very good for the server and should get the appreciation they deserve.) Now, getting punished for making non-personal or malicious jokes in a videogame made to have fun and create your own experience just doesnt sound right, thats not to say let all hell break loose, as things definitely go too far when emotion is mixed in, but sometimes it can seem like your fingers are tapping on egg shells sorta speak. I also noticed that staff value their experience over a standard player's. Which seems natural as humans to put yourself first however, the disparity between what most staff are willing to give up from their own experience for another player's experience seems larger than before. The comments i make are not directed at the staff team as a whole, but certain individuals or groups. A few very kind, intelligent, and over all good staff members are lower rank than those who give me the reason to negatively comment on the staff team. The image i will attach was on Silver's discord ban appeal, the thread seemed to be the same comments regurgitated so I put an input that wasn't "make a better appeal" "you should know better than to make that kind of joke." As non-staff im generally not supposed to comment on those things, but, the only comments were essentially echoing the ban reason or about his appeal title. My comment was deleted with no reason or warning points. I had an assumption that would happen which is why i screenshotted it. I believe this can serve as an example of suppression given the replies prior to mine, the player in question having poor relation with the commenting staff, and the action taken for my comment.

Bias is something that is for most people subconscious in people and its extremely hard to prove or give evidence that someone would do the same thing in a certain situation if it was a different person. Staff having bias towards each other is something I think all of us on some level understand, for example if a staff member would break a minor rule that would result in a short ban or a warning they would likely get the "he gets a talking to" punishment, which does not actually punish them like a player is punished. This is also if someone does go through the trouble of making a report on the forums which might just lead to someone saying "wow this report is petty and should be handled ingame"(Also keep in mind at some point sugar has said to only make a report if you think "wow this is demotable"). I think there is bias that is favored for the staff to each other and towards players and its up to each person to try and evaluate their own biases and hopefully work on keeping it to a minimum if you are staff. The suppression thing is a bit tricky, you want to have a balance where people can talk about things but also to not allow peoples whos intention it is to make people mad and it might be hard to discern sometimes. I agree with what you say and I have an example. Recently i had a discussion with walter the assaulter about an opinion and he prefaced everything with something like "what you said was a masterful shitpost because its something that someone could actually say". I personally think this is a way to easily dismiss someone when they don't agree and I think, like you said that there are some staff members who will on some level try to supress something that they dont agree with. I also think that this is a bit tricky when it comes to forum reports/appeals where people cannot comment unless they have direct evidence or involved, this stops people who might have comepletely valid reasoning or concern from posting a reply. I understand that this is a measure to keep people from having to read 10 page long threads but I think it can also lead to staff bandwagoning.