Serious TTT Management Staff Problem

I agree, and you are exactly right.

 

Here's the thing: All the staff members started out as normal players. We already have your point of view over the whole thing, but likewise, you also need to look over the matter from a staff member's point of view. Logs don't show everything, but when the logs, which never lie, conflict with your words more than a few times, then we have no choice but to go off the logs on those specific scenarios. The staff have always waited until they had both sides of the stories before passing judgement on a player. Those who didn't, got valid reports against them and have either learned from their mistakes or have been demoted from the team.

 

Will edit later (I want to respond to this but am at school and I don't want it to get locked before I can reply)

 

My perspective (Being that of a former Co-leader for a once popular TF2 Server Hosting Clan, and Long *1 year long* time member of this community *Who also hasn't been banned ever*):

I'll say for right now, in my ~700 hours played strictly on SeriousTTT servers over the course of a year since around July last year or so, I have only had one issue with a staff member who is now long gone. There are always minor instances that I try to emphasize as major, but they could not be taken care of due to lack of evidence. Only once has such a situation escalated and could not be taken care of due to how analytical the people who I was trying to get banned were. That said, whenever a staff member is online the peace is kept as best as humanly possible. Whoever it is, even BlueCore who I've played with several times as a Mod and Admin on Vanilla always did a wonderful job. I cannot say anything about Falcor because I only played with her on East 1 I believe for like 5-10 minutes 2 weeks ago. That being said aside from these two who I am sure have done fantastic jobs and are probably more forgiving than others as they'd like to see change, everyone does a great job. That goes for both former and current staff. I always see rules being upheld once they're brought to a mods attention, whether spamming, harassment, hacking, RDM, etc. Protocol is rarely broken, they always listen to both sides of a story, and lately I've gotten to have a lot less WvW reports due to how well the rules have been shaped and how much more in-depth the staff look into the logs which only provide a mean to an end once all the information is gathered. As long as you can gather the right amount of evidence, then there you go. You'll be able to uphold your end of the story. I'll say any staff member who strictly uses logs to come to a decision which I believe is at most 2 (no one in particular, just speculating), then yes they're probably not the most trustworthy and should possibly be dealt with in the reports section. However, I'll reiterate, I see a staff member ask for both sides of the story, check the logs for any helpful info, and always by my request I say to them in admin chat "If my report is invalid, mind telling me why?" I do that so in case the offender repeats again, I'll be prepared as I'll record a demo and send it to the mod.

I also however always see people with god awful times on this server as you're having now. Whatever you've done, or not done, I won't say anything about. However, if you cannot adapt you will not survive. All staff are different people, so to adapt to their way of working is what needs to be done. Whether you agree to it or not is your problem, because if how they're working is... approved or... acceptable then that's how they'll go about business.

Lastly, if anyone isn't doing their job properly just report them. That way you won't say there's a staff management problem because the problem will be solved if and only if your evidence is convincing that what's occurring is in fact an issue.

 

I have a strong feeling this man Is quite salty,

I have played with falcor as staff for probably over 300hours, never once did she do anything in any way as you described. Bluecore is an admin, a title not many have, he has it for a reason. Keep this stuff between you and the admins/mods, if you didnt want to get publicly humiliated by your childish act of making a rant on the PUBLIC forums then only ask people to comment positively about you, you are dreaming a fools dream. If you did something to get in trouble own up to it and stop trying to hurt others.

I have played on these servers for over 500 hours, and in those I have never had a problem with staff, now Im not saying I didnt argue, or even go to far a few times trying to prove a point, but I have never been undermined, put down, harassed, or punished differently because Im a friend of said staff member or the reason im in trouble is because it effects a friend of some staff member. The best way to solve any problem anywhere is with respect, and this whole post IS NOT RESPECT.

 

I can assure you, the quality of the management here at SGM has not diminished, but increased in the past 2 years. I have been on these servers since November 2013 with ~1,000 hours on these servers. Since then, the rules and the forums have been reorganized for their members and have seen professionalism become SGM's biggest priority when it comes to applicants. Though I may have not agreed with every chosen applicant, I have nothing but respect for the current set of Lead Admins, Admins, and Mods who uphold the community standards for staff. Anyone unfit for the job is quickly dealt with or learns from their mistakes, but as of now, there are few to none who require replacement or reevaluating, especially not those like BlueCore and Falcor.

If your ban has left a sour taste in your mouth (though you deny it, it's clear this was, at the very least, your "final straw"), then I'm sure reading their persepcetive on the situation might help you understand why they made their choice. If that is still not enough to convince you that they are competent staff members, then there's nothing I can convince you of.

 

Hi Insanity.
It's always sad to hear when people have grievances about the servers and staff. But I am always glad they are expressing it instead of silently harboring ill feelings.

But as one person you are "calling out" and pointing fingers at. I feel as if I have no choice but to defend the way I moderate the servers.

I'm one of the mods who encourages any players who feel they've been wronged, to take the appropriate course in either reporting them or talking to an Admin about the situation. And why you feel as such.

Personally I don't think I have ever wronged another player in game. And when I have I'm the first to openly admit it and take the appropriate action which is normally slaying myself in game. Mistakes happen and we are all flawed, human error and all that.

But I have several issues with your original post.
Firstly you say you are disappointed how members and supporters are treated.
I for one, do not treat people any different simply because they have decided to support this community.
In fact regulars who have many hours, should be held to a higher standard because they know how the servers work and have knowledge of our rule set.
Although I gladly try to explain to all players how something they may have done is not allowed or rule breaking. No matter how much time they have on the servers.

Example:
Just yesterday I had a player quite mad at me for reporting him for crow-barring a fellow player at the start of the round.
The damage was only 20 damage but this player who received the damaged messaged me soon after the incident asking me to check who crowbarred them and asked me to report them if they weren't a traitor.
Normally I wouldn't report a player myself unless the said damage exceeded my damage threshold or it is blatant RDMing.(some admins even have thresholds of 10 damage which is significantly lower then my own) And even then I message the player asking why they have done such a thing.
But back to my example.
This player was quite mad I had personally took the time to check the logs and report him myself.
I tried explaining to him several times that this player had contacted me investigate and to report him for him.
Since I am the individual on the server responsible for helping ALL players when they feel something isn't right. And since I have access to a more detailed damage logs.
This player thought I was being unjust when that simply wasn't the case. I was merely helping another player who had felt he had been wronged. The player felt I was nitpicking but I was simply not ignoring another players woe's within game.
Which it is my duty to make sure everyone is enjoying there game play and having a good time and being heard when there is an issue. And I stated this many times to the player and tried to explain it to them

You claim I am not using my best judgement of the rules and certain in game situations. But I am simply inquiring with players who seem they have broken rules,
taking time to investigate reports and harassment within the server.
Using both the player words and the logs. I simply do not rely on one or the other but both as one fluid look into a situation at hand. Seeing both sides of the situation.
As a moderator I stay unbiased because I truly want every player to feel welcomed and feel they can have a great time and when they feel they have been wronged to feel comfortable coming to me as a staff member to help and assist them with any issue, whether it's with another player or staff member or a specific rule and why it is place.
Even when a player has felt they have not broken a rule I try to explain and sympathize to the best of my ability, so they can see a different point of view and understand why a said scenario is rule breaking. Granted I can not always say things in a nice passive tone and there are times where I must be stern with players in game.

I say this as someone who has seen both sides as a staff member and as someone who had over 600 hours on the servers before I even seriously considered applying for staff.
I feel I have an excellent understanding of how the servers are run and how a staff member should present themselves.
Also as someone who has had previous grievances themselves about the community and how staff conduct themselves, whether in game or on the forums.

Once again I am sorry for any grievances and issues you've had within the community. I hope you have now seen my point of view. As you have stated yours.
Although I am still unclear as why you feel I have wronged you and other players. Since you state little to no examples of why you harbor this much animosity towards myself and fellow staff.

Thank you for your time Insanity and I hope we can correct any ill feelings you have.

Regards,
Falcor.

 

Having staffed at different TTT communities and other gamemode communities, I can easily say that the staff here at SGM is one of the most fair, well-run groups out there. The rules, systems and ways of operating that they have in place create a fair environment where everyone gets an equal chance. Everyone is treated the same in the eyes of the rules, and staff members moderate the server in a way that utilizes a realistic combination of logs/hard evidence, along with the testimonies of the parties involved in offenses.

As both a staff member and a regular player at SGM, I can say that I've never had a situation where I felt that the entire staff team was in poor management or structured/run incorrectly. While I have had situations where I felt certain staff members could have acted better, that doesn't reflect on the staff as a whole in my opinion. Because most of the time, I experience fair, professional staff members who are cool-headed and approach the situation without bias.

If you feel a certain staff member isn't meeting what I've said above, reporting them individually in the report section would be appropriate. I feel very strongly, though, that saying the entire staff team has a problem is not only unfair, but very undeserved. You're obviously welcome to your opinion on the matter, but I hope you're willing to consider what it is you've accused the staff team of, and really look at whether or not that's a true judgment of all those who staff the server.

 

The best course of action here would have been a report or appeal, especially with BlueCore involved. I've been here about 10 months and I'm addicted to reading reports and appeals. I have not once in 10 months seen a report on a mod or a serious appeal go without a good explanation, and BlueCore is one of the best goshdarn explainers I've seen. Like this guy must have a degree in professional communications or something.

Back to the point. The ability to report staff is one of my favorite things about this server. Because every report is looked at and staff have been removed from power based on evidence from ordinary players. The power is with the people as much as with the staff. As others have stated, recording your gameplay is the most effective way to gather evidence, and make funny gifs. Demos are the easiest, and smallest filesize way to take evidence. Though imperfect and an annoyance to handle, they won't eat up your disc space in one day of recording, and will capture any percieved abuse that is conveyed through voice chat, because nobody ever types these days.

The staff here care you have a good time. Everyone wants to have a good time. But just making broad sweeping statements without any concrete evidence doesn't really show anyone you've been wronged. Unfortunately, the Internet is plagued with trolls who would like to see all staff removed so they can ignore the rules and mass rdm, micspam, hack, and harass. So everyone here will take anything you say with a grain of salt unless you can prove your words are true.

 

We are always here for our players. It makes me very upset to see a community member in grief over an experience in-game, and I can assure you that we will always do our best to make our servers enjoyable. Please take the time and really read through some of the lengthier posts in this thread, for they serve great explanation for some of the harder aspects of running our community.

I wish that we had eyes everywhere in the server, and had robots to watch every situation, however we must make do with what we have. I hope you will come back to our servers feeling refreshed and welcomed.

 

GMOD's problem is it's a cheap game based on a popular engine who's been attracted and sold by popular youtubers and attracts younger, entitled players. Not pointing any fingers in this thread, OP, but it's made clear here as well.

 

ive been on here for a while and ive always known the staff team to be one of the best on gmod, i feel like this thread is just another complaint that you didnt like what a staff member did to you. as people have stated before, if you dont like what the staff team does then leave

 

I agree that it's one of the best staff on gmod. I've played on multiple servers and have never seen the extend of professionalism that this server does. Sometimes I feel that it's abit excessive.

 

Yeah dude i agree the staff sucks, telling me what i can and cannot do, who do they think they are, the video game police? *scoff*

 

WHERE IS THE EVIDENCE?!
You talk a lot about the bad decisions being made and the harassment and other stuff but you never provide any screenshots or demos or anything!

 

Well first off this should have been a pm to Darktooth or disruptionz. But also

do you expect staff to only play SGMOD? I mean they have their own lives to go deal with let them join whatever communities they want. As long as they staff correctly and meet their quota of hours leave them be they already help the server soo much.

there is no way that one community in thousands caused a root problem. It's not even possible. SGMOD is too small for that. See the root problem is people like you who call other people and groups the root of the problem not falcor, not me, not blue core. And definitely not SGMOD

 

tbh the quotas staff are held to nowadays, and the standards they're supposed to uphold has gone down since 1-2 years ago. If you think this isn't true then some of the current admins that were here 1-2 years ago are liars too I guess. Staff back in the day used to be robots with a little bit of personality, but now the staff team seems like all personality with a little bit of robotiness, if that makes any sense.

 

Which is by no means a bad thing. I think that the reason that the staff mentality and common personality has changed is because of the Lead Administrators that are upholding the community. Back in the day, @ComPeter and @Angelx held their standards to be much higher, usually remaining 100% professional in all situations in public. Soon after, with @Sinz and Event, the mentality was altered slightly to serious, with some personality on the side. With me and @Slicck, or me and @Disruptionz, the mentality has a lot more personality behind it because we show our own personalities to the community a lot more frequently.

Personality is a great thing, but I also can see why people would want a robotic staff team. I just believe solely in being myself, while being professional.

 

I agree that having a personality is not a bad thing however, there has been a slight trend with all of these "questioning the staff" threads. They all seem to be pointing out how some staff members feelings/personalities are getting in the way of them correctly performing their job from the communities standpoint. As a member of this community myself, I think that the amount of times staff members have been given chances is a little ridiculous. Back in the day (Like @Carned said in the other thread) they would've most likely been demoted/punished sooner than what most of the staff team is now. Hell, as a staff member, I was given too many chances. I should've been punished sooner for my shitty attitude/behavior, but it was allowed to go on for so much longer than it should've, and currently, I think that's the problem with the staff team, things are being allowed to go on for longer than they're supposed to be.