An Appeal to Server Admins -- and the Players
Posted: Mon Feb 20, 2012 5:07 am
This topic may or may not generate replies, controversy, flames and/or a higher barrel price of crude oil. Still, I must write it.
First: I'm not a 75 year veteran. I've been playing since 2007. I've introduced a handful of adults and children to the game. Most of them have enjoyed it. A few have become regulars. I've enjoyed getting to know a number of players through the years and have learned to put up with the quirks of each -- for the most part. I don't mind it when people hunt me (Joop, you know who you are), taunt me (I think friendly trash-talk can stimulate someone to try harder if it's not intentionally degrading) and I am glad to spend time with new players showing them tips or tricks which I have learned by practice -- or from better players. I alternate generally between times of playing and times of taking a hiatus. Like most of you, I have a life beyond this game. It is, after all, just a game. A place to hang out, relax, compete, chat and -- at times -- just relieve some stress by making tanks explode.
What I liked about BZFlag was the ability to compete with real people in real time without all the blood and gore of most modern gaming systems. I don't need to see someone's head explode to get the satisfaction of having beaten an opponent in an arena at any given time. I also like the fact that pretty much the most popular server of the day (MW 2.3) was run by a responsible and even-keeled admin -- kudos to you, blast.
I could recommend to teens or preteens to visit and play MW/BZF and pretty much expect that the atmosphere would be generally clean and wholesome. People might occasionally spout profanity, but the filter would generally blot it out. Further, if blast -- or the admins who used to frequent the board -- found any violators of the rules, they were warned and/or summarily banned, depending on the level and egregiousness of the offense.
Times have changed. After a hiatus a few weeks back, I joined a server for play, and in the middle of the game came across the foulest language I had seen to date on a BZ server. I either tried to initiate a poll or messaged the admin (can't remember) and was told that, "This is an adult server. He can say what he wants." I was troubled by that and made my choice -- I left.
In the past two weeks, I've been attempting to revive interest in MW 2.3, but in the slow times, I have also playing on some of the newer maps. Wow. The nicks that people log in with would have gotten them a warning and or immediate ban from blast on his server in the old days. The language is atrocious. It's not G-rated. It's not family friendly. And it has the capability of helping to kill off this game.
Thus, my appeal to you admins.
I'm not telling you that you can or cannot have an "adult" server. It is, of course, your server. But how does a parent or a responsible teen or preteen expect to know that? There is no CIPA-plugin which requires proof of adult status. A seven year old can login to your "adult" server and be confronted with words, terms and chat which her innocent mind has never had to deal with. When that happens, and when the parents find out what is going on, there will be no, "Oh, let's look for a good server for you to play on." It's pretty simple: BZFlag loses a player. Maybe a good one. Maybe a bad one. Maybe a future programmer or server admin.
For those who run servers which are not expressly "adult," my question is, "Why are you allowing players to trash the environment to the point that they become offensive to other players -- in a way which has nothing to do with the actual purpose of the server itself?" It is, after all, a tank shoot-em-up game. It's not just IRC. There is software to do just that. If the primary purpose is to have a chat room, download you a good PHP script and start a chat room, put up CIPA warnings and have at. If the primary purpose, however, is to host a tank game, then part of the balance seems to include the same challenge as keeping the hooligans from ruining English football for everyone else.
To the players, I would ask you to reassess your sense of what is best for the community. Last night on MW 2.3, I encountered one of those players who just likes to come in and generate ill will by flaming statements, rude/obnoxious and/or sexually suggestive nicks. There weren't a lot of players online who were registered, but when a poll was started, it failed. I reported it to blast and will let him deal with it as he sees fit.
After the poll failed, the player logged back on with numerous nicks, each attempting to elicit a response, and continually cursed and verbally abused those he/she thought were "better than thou." The end result was that half of the players left. That left MW with pretty much too few to conduct a game.
Who won?
But it left me wondering to what degree this game has just completely degraded to the point that anyone can come in and run YOUR server -- or RUIN your server -- for the rest of us without you caring. I wonder how badly our collective consciousness has become that we can no longer look at someone and say, "Your behavior is wrong." I didn't say, "Not something I like" or "Not something I approve of in my own special way." I said wrong.
Am I "better than thou" for thinking that blast is a great admin for running a family-friendly server for so many years? No. Is anyone "better than thou" for being willing to speak up at a ball game to the person yelling profanities at the umpire and ask, "Would you please stop? There are women and children around"? No. It simply means they still have a conscience. It means they are willing to do the HARD thing and go against the grain and try to remind their fellow man that we were made for better things than this. Those people in our society used to be called men or women of character, and they were respected for it instead of ridiculed.
I doubt the user from last night will even respond to this message. First, he/she would have to use a registered nick and own up to his/her behavior. Second, I imagine the board's profanity filter would stop a good part of the words, rendering the sentence structure pointless. But I would welcome some thoughtful replies.
C
First: I'm not a 75 year veteran. I've been playing since 2007. I've introduced a handful of adults and children to the game. Most of them have enjoyed it. A few have become regulars. I've enjoyed getting to know a number of players through the years and have learned to put up with the quirks of each -- for the most part. I don't mind it when people hunt me (Joop, you know who you are), taunt me (I think friendly trash-talk can stimulate someone to try harder if it's not intentionally degrading) and I am glad to spend time with new players showing them tips or tricks which I have learned by practice -- or from better players. I alternate generally between times of playing and times of taking a hiatus. Like most of you, I have a life beyond this game. It is, after all, just a game. A place to hang out, relax, compete, chat and -- at times -- just relieve some stress by making tanks explode.
What I liked about BZFlag was the ability to compete with real people in real time without all the blood and gore of most modern gaming systems. I don't need to see someone's head explode to get the satisfaction of having beaten an opponent in an arena at any given time. I also like the fact that pretty much the most popular server of the day (MW 2.3) was run by a responsible and even-keeled admin -- kudos to you, blast.
I could recommend to teens or preteens to visit and play MW/BZF and pretty much expect that the atmosphere would be generally clean and wholesome. People might occasionally spout profanity, but the filter would generally blot it out. Further, if blast -- or the admins who used to frequent the board -- found any violators of the rules, they were warned and/or summarily banned, depending on the level and egregiousness of the offense.
Times have changed. After a hiatus a few weeks back, I joined a server for play, and in the middle of the game came across the foulest language I had seen to date on a BZ server. I either tried to initiate a poll or messaged the admin (can't remember) and was told that, "This is an adult server. He can say what he wants." I was troubled by that and made my choice -- I left.
In the past two weeks, I've been attempting to revive interest in MW 2.3, but in the slow times, I have also playing on some of the newer maps. Wow. The nicks that people log in with would have gotten them a warning and or immediate ban from blast on his server in the old days. The language is atrocious. It's not G-rated. It's not family friendly. And it has the capability of helping to kill off this game.
Thus, my appeal to you admins.
I'm not telling you that you can or cannot have an "adult" server. It is, of course, your server. But how does a parent or a responsible teen or preteen expect to know that? There is no CIPA-plugin which requires proof of adult status. A seven year old can login to your "adult" server and be confronted with words, terms and chat which her innocent mind has never had to deal with. When that happens, and when the parents find out what is going on, there will be no, "Oh, let's look for a good server for you to play on." It's pretty simple: BZFlag loses a player. Maybe a good one. Maybe a bad one. Maybe a future programmer or server admin.
For those who run servers which are not expressly "adult," my question is, "Why are you allowing players to trash the environment to the point that they become offensive to other players -- in a way which has nothing to do with the actual purpose of the server itself?" It is, after all, a tank shoot-em-up game. It's not just IRC. There is software to do just that. If the primary purpose is to have a chat room, download you a good PHP script and start a chat room, put up CIPA warnings and have at. If the primary purpose, however, is to host a tank game, then part of the balance seems to include the same challenge as keeping the hooligans from ruining English football for everyone else.
To the players, I would ask you to reassess your sense of what is best for the community. Last night on MW 2.3, I encountered one of those players who just likes to come in and generate ill will by flaming statements, rude/obnoxious and/or sexually suggestive nicks. There weren't a lot of players online who were registered, but when a poll was started, it failed. I reported it to blast and will let him deal with it as he sees fit.
After the poll failed, the player logged back on with numerous nicks, each attempting to elicit a response, and continually cursed and verbally abused those he/she thought were "better than thou." The end result was that half of the players left. That left MW with pretty much too few to conduct a game.
Who won?
But it left me wondering to what degree this game has just completely degraded to the point that anyone can come in and run YOUR server -- or RUIN your server -- for the rest of us without you caring. I wonder how badly our collective consciousness has become that we can no longer look at someone and say, "Your behavior is wrong." I didn't say, "Not something I like" or "Not something I approve of in my own special way." I said wrong.
Am I "better than thou" for thinking that blast is a great admin for running a family-friendly server for so many years? No. Is anyone "better than thou" for being willing to speak up at a ball game to the person yelling profanities at the umpire and ask, "Would you please stop? There are women and children around"? No. It simply means they still have a conscience. It means they are willing to do the HARD thing and go against the grain and try to remind their fellow man that we were made for better things than this. Those people in our society used to be called men or women of character, and they were respected for it instead of ridiculed.
I doubt the user from last night will even respond to this message. First, he/she would have to use a registered nick and own up to his/her behavior. Second, I imagine the board's profanity filter would stop a good part of the words, rendering the sentence structure pointless. But I would welcome some thoughtful replies.
C