Rigaudon
Youngster
- Joined
- Nov 26, 2013
- Messages
- 1,309
- Points
- 38
I don't normally post these, and in fact I didn't start doing swarms as an official thing, but here's a heads up. They're established enough for me to have to say this.
For context, Swarms started as a spontaneous way to make people's days brighter. Once every weekend, I would make something normally rare a bit easier to find/obtain at an unannounced time. This could be a Pokemon, an item, or both. I did these at different timezones in an effort to reach as many different people as I could, because you're all members of this community and should have an opportunity to enjoy swarms when possible. It felt bad to just do things 5-6pm my time every time, so sometimes I would stay up until 2am or even 5am to try and make people I don't normally get to interact with smile. For a while, it went fantastically. But now, it's backfiring.
I want to note that for the past 3-5 weeks I've done swarms in general, I have received a lot of salt. I have seen hostility, accusations of favoritism, conspiracy theories, whining, you name it. I have to draw a line somewhere.
I will stop swarms if people continue to have a poor attitude about/around them. Every single time I do one, there's drama at minimum and abuse aimed at me/staff otherwise. Every time.
This next bit is probably the most important part of the announcement since I think there needs to be major clarifications. Not the thing about swarms, this:
Lots of people are missing the point of why staff engage players so frequently, openly, and as individuals. Staff value good ideas above everything, but figuring out what idea works and what doesn't takes a lot of vetting and logic. Still, we value these ideas so much that we don't care who they come from or where, for the most part.
Because we don't normally care about that, we frequently engage players one on one on our own time. Why? Because we love finding ways to improve the game. We also do this to educate players on our standards/vision for the game or to see who might make a good future staff member. Our high level of communication is actually pretty rare even for the small-fangame scene, and it is risky. But people have mistaken this as something that is just another staff job.
Problem 1: People think open discussion with staff is a required staff thing when it isn't.
Now add Problem 1 to this next concept. Because we engage people not on standards of our authority (IE: I am admin so listen to me) but on standards of if an idea will work, (Ex: This idea won't work because it will crash the market), something else happens. Instead of going "Staff always have a reason for doing/not doing something and can explain themselves", people have for some reason taken that to mean "Staff always have to give an answer and satisfy ME for why they are/aren't doing something, and I am entitled to those answers."
Problem 2: When we don't give a reason that satisfies a particular person, even a person that wasn't involved with the discussion initially, we get a lot of entitled people who become abusive when they don't get what they want.
So let me clarify this, right here and right now:
No.
Nobody is entitled to that. The only group that has to be satisfied with a reason is a majority of staff. If you guys are privy to why we did something too, that is a bonus. If you guys agree with it and find it reasonable, fantastic. We try to put rationality and morality above ourselves, our ranks, and our own desires outside of just wanting to make a good game. If not, well, you are not entitled to the direction of this game even if we want to give you the chance to be involved in it.
PWO's community is great because everyone has opportunity to sit down and to be creative/problem solve together, or to be heard. That does not mean we always have to go through with everything, and our plans are normally highly vetted and reviewed internally. Stop biting at the hands feeding you. Do not demand things and expect to get good results.
As a result of my realizing why people are probably behaving this way, I am not going to pander hostile suggestions or behavior. I will also flat out ignore ideas if I think they are based in selfishness/hostility. Instead of people understanding we were trying to show them how we approach our design and what are standards are, it became something else harmful. I have realized that trying to explain and disarm situations to people who are thinking only of themselves or will be unhappy if they are told anything but "yes" is harmful and just encourages that behavior more.
I hate that this has to be a less-than-exciting announcement. Even if the swarms go poorly next time, staff will still be around working on the game and I'll still love this community and its project. It's just a shame I have to consider taking a step back for the health of myself and the community.
For context, Swarms started as a spontaneous way to make people's days brighter. Once every weekend, I would make something normally rare a bit easier to find/obtain at an unannounced time. This could be a Pokemon, an item, or both. I did these at different timezones in an effort to reach as many different people as I could, because you're all members of this community and should have an opportunity to enjoy swarms when possible. It felt bad to just do things 5-6pm my time every time, so sometimes I would stay up until 2am or even 5am to try and make people I don't normally get to interact with smile. For a while, it went fantastically. But now, it's backfiring.
I want to note that for the past 3-5 weeks I've done swarms in general, I have received a lot of salt. I have seen hostility, accusations of favoritism, conspiracy theories, whining, you name it. I have to draw a line somewhere.
I will stop swarms if people continue to have a poor attitude about/around them. Every single time I do one, there's drama at minimum and abuse aimed at me/staff otherwise. Every time.
This next bit is probably the most important part of the announcement since I think there needs to be major clarifications. Not the thing about swarms, this:
Lots of people are missing the point of why staff engage players so frequently, openly, and as individuals. Staff value good ideas above everything, but figuring out what idea works and what doesn't takes a lot of vetting and logic. Still, we value these ideas so much that we don't care who they come from or where, for the most part.
Because we don't normally care about that, we frequently engage players one on one on our own time. Why? Because we love finding ways to improve the game. We also do this to educate players on our standards/vision for the game or to see who might make a good future staff member. Our high level of communication is actually pretty rare even for the small-fangame scene, and it is risky. But people have mistaken this as something that is just another staff job.
Problem 1: People think open discussion with staff is a required staff thing when it isn't.
Now add Problem 1 to this next concept. Because we engage people not on standards of our authority (IE: I am admin so listen to me) but on standards of if an idea will work, (Ex: This idea won't work because it will crash the market), something else happens. Instead of going "Staff always have a reason for doing/not doing something and can explain themselves", people have for some reason taken that to mean "Staff always have to give an answer and satisfy ME for why they are/aren't doing something, and I am entitled to those answers."
Problem 2: When we don't give a reason that satisfies a particular person, even a person that wasn't involved with the discussion initially, we get a lot of entitled people who become abusive when they don't get what they want.
So let me clarify this, right here and right now:
No.
Nobody is entitled to that. The only group that has to be satisfied with a reason is a majority of staff. If you guys are privy to why we did something too, that is a bonus. If you guys agree with it and find it reasonable, fantastic. We try to put rationality and morality above ourselves, our ranks, and our own desires outside of just wanting to make a good game. If not, well, you are not entitled to the direction of this game even if we want to give you the chance to be involved in it.
PWO's community is great because everyone has opportunity to sit down and to be creative/problem solve together, or to be heard. That does not mean we always have to go through with everything, and our plans are normally highly vetted and reviewed internally. Stop biting at the hands feeding you. Do not demand things and expect to get good results.
As a result of my realizing why people are probably behaving this way, I am not going to pander hostile suggestions or behavior. I will also flat out ignore ideas if I think they are based in selfishness/hostility. Instead of people understanding we were trying to show them how we approach our design and what are standards are, it became something else harmful. I have realized that trying to explain and disarm situations to people who are thinking only of themselves or will be unhappy if they are told anything but "yes" is harmful and just encourages that behavior more.
I hate that this has to be a less-than-exciting announcement. Even if the swarms go poorly next time, staff will still be around working on the game and I'll still love this community and its project. It's just a shame I have to consider taking a step back for the health of myself and the community.