Discussion:Why are ex staff so toxic?

We all love to joke around and call people toxic ex staff as soon as they resign, but I wanted to look into the mentality that can turn a well respected staff member into a troll worse than any of the people on vanilla. Everyone likes to think of 1/11 as the big moment where all the old staff went toxic, but it's been a problem ever since operation 666 at the end of 2013. Even ex leads have fallen victim to this. I'm not a psychologist so these are just going to be observations of previous toxic ex staff. Maybe someone with actual psychological training could comment on this if they have something to add.

Staff are held to a higher standard than the rest of the players, meaning some of the harmless jokes regular players make aren't acceptable for them to make. Sometimes they just need to blow off some steam after months of being forced to bottle it up. This is probably the most mild form of toxicity from ex staff, since it's usually done in a joking manner. Even when it does cross the line these kind of ex staff generally don't stay toxic for long. They'll move on with their life after they vent what they need. I'm no exception to this. I've resigned multiple times and taken advantage of all the things I can do when my blue name isn't on the line.

Over time as different people take over the leadership positions of SGM the overall attitude of the staff can change. I remember back in 2014 MangoTango's military training influenced the rest of the staff and caused them to be extra strict. Any amount of damage got you slain for RDM and there was no forgiveness. Nowadays being that strict would be frowned upon by most staff, but it's hard for a lot of people to accept when some of the unwritten staff rules change. Some ex staff might see something from a mod that's fine now but wouldn't be so fine back when they were staff. They'll report that staff member and be surprised to find out that nobody on the current staff thinks it's a big deal. This leads to them getting angrier and turning more toxic, all while being seen as a backseat admin by the current staff.

The biggest example of staff turning toxic is 1/11, so we have to look at what led them to become toxic. I won't get into details on what caused it since most people already know. The people involved with 1/11 were a tightly knit clique that saw themselves as the whole community, so after some decisions that negatively impacted them (and thus, negatively impacted the entire community in their eyes) they wanted to get back at the person who made those decisions. They were such a tightly knit group that it turned into a big echo chamber. They all vented their anger with each other, amplifying their anger even more. Their anger kept them from thinking of the reprecussions of their actions, or even if their actions would have any benefit at all. Even though Highwon was the only one who made the decisions they were mad at, they attacked the entire community with no regard for any of the people who hop on the server twice a week and don't use the forums.

As a last note, I don't mind if people can come up with other reasons staff can go toxic, but please don't call out any names. I want to talk about the topic in general, not shame any specific ex staff. Even if you think this post is directed at someone, there's a reason I left out names.

 

i love rdm

 

Meh, every ex-staff who "turns toxic" will have their own reason.

 

It's fun to be sarcastic but sometimes I go too far <3

 

Because staff always whine when you prove them wrong as staff, might as well continue to prove them wrong as non-staff

 

wtf fuck you im not toxic

 

i try not to be too harsh on people :(

 

Like you said, many ex-staff may be toxic due to the change in rules, or the game not being held to the same standards as they were required too. People also do change, or toxic players on the server can rub off on others. I didn't think I would ever harass anyone, because I had been multiple times in the past, but I ended up doing so. I wouldn't be too surprised honestly, this server is really toxic, so I'm sure that doesn't help.

 

I dont think all staff turn toxic. My guess would be because they have to be so professional, calm and collectible that they got sick of it and turned toxic.
My other guess would be that they've seen so much toxicity that it infected them too or they have been like this the whole time. Its hard to tell without interviewing them.

 

Majority of us arent toxic - you don't notice them as much as non-toxic people are usually not as loud as the toxic ones. There are a few, and they also got on my nerves when I was staff, but I think most of us are friendly. There is even a channel on discord for us non-toxic staff <3

 

Smh leaking

 

I don't know. I'm just me. I've got no intentions to be toxic, and thus far I don't believe that I have been. Besides the occasional RDM I am pretty non-toxic. I suppose if I had to give a reason it is this: when you become staff you adopt a different personality and the regular's mindset disappears over time. Either the person has always been toxic and it comes out when they aren't staff, or they just want to let off steam.

Either way, being toxic ex staff is kind of a cliche.

 

Usually the ones that fucked up are toxic.

 

fake and gay Rhaz

Toxic ex staff is a meme. And if you call anyone it seriously, you're an even bigger meme.

 

Being toxic is cool. Mods are gay. Simple as that.

 

To understand "Toxic ex-staff" let's talk about perspective. First, we will talk about the outside (ex-staff) looking in (to staff). Then, we will go into the inside (staff) looking out (ex-staff). Both of these hold two entirely different perspectives most situations. This is mainly because our staff team is, and should be, held to a higher standard. Our ex-staff get to become regular players and members of the community, equipped with extra knowledge that they can use in either a good or bad way.

From the outside looking in, our ex-staff tend to see our current staff as incompetent when they do something wrong. They push the limits with their knowledge to see how the current staff will react and, at times, that can be seen as toxic. They also call out our staff when they actually mess up and that can also be seen as toxic. What they should do is try to understand that perspective, because we've all dealt with a lot of the same issues. Maybe you need to consider what kind of approach you have when calling out a staff member.

From the inside looking out, current staff members tend to get a mob mentality when someone is called out; I'm sure that some lead at some point in time even had to write about how current staff sometimes fail to admit their faults and just have each other's backs most of the time. The only issue with that is that they don't understand that when an ex-staff member is providing them feedback, they should both take it with a grain of salt, but also use that feedback to self-assess.

All in all, don't be a meme. Don't be an asshole to ex-staff as a staff member because they may know a thing or two that you don't. Then, when you leave the staff team, don't act like a know-it-all that thinks their shit don't stink. Nobody should act like a selfish person on a video game community, because it's honestly nothing to sweat. Yes, I know that at some points I was a more serious community member, but that's was because of my own maturity; it was also what the community needed at the time. However, everyone should never stop growing, never stop becoming better, and never take this shit too seriously.

TL;DR: Try to understand each other and don't be a dick.

 

Too late for me

 

it's because they realize that they just wasted a shit ton of time on a server of which does not care for them

 

Honestly, just go look at the first page of your posted messages.