Before I reply to anything here I would like to say this is wonderful, it's not quite the level of back and forth understanding that I believe we need but to see a thread that is entirely free of flame with multiple different communities participating for the better of the server is great, it is just a shame that it needs a rant post to bring it about.
I do think it brings up some of the major issues with the server however, and I want to at least briefly and maybe a tad belatedly put forth my two cents (I replied to MonMarty's posts as I feel they bring up the most valid counter arguments but this generally applies to the thread as a whole)
Nothing in here is meant as an attack either, it's simply me venting about what I see, whether wrong or right. Personal viewpoints are just as important as fact when it comes to community relations.
Player base consultation requires a lot of bureaucracy and is unnecessary.
I would partly disagree, I see that coming to the players for every single decision would be completely futile and a complete democracy is nothing more than an uneducated mob rule which I am sure no one would want but the opposite end of the spectrum is hardly desired either, some level of consultation will always be necessary to keep up happy player-staff relations.
I could talk for hours about this sort of stuff, but I generally assumed nobody particularly cares to hear my road map.
The replies are also very minimal which always gives the impression nobody really cares. The amount of hours I put into posts seems kinda pointless if I only get 3 replies out of it and I don't see any particular trend changes in the community as a result of it.
Au contraire! I would be very interested in said road map, maybe the issue is not the content itself but how it is presented, I know I personally don't check the forums on a daily basis and I can imagine it is similar for quite a few other players.
Even then engaging in this way kind of feels like throwing the ideas out into a sea of other posts and suggestions, maybe a page on the website with a 'projected future projects' list would be appreciated and if possible a small amount of detail on what is currently being worked on or a rough due date. This may seem like more work than would be warranted but it would be an easy and quick way to show us that work is being done.
We have an iron willed codex which strictly regulates how open we can and will be with regards to dispensing information. It's the same codex that causes disgruntled ex-staff members to effectively get ahead by spewing whatever bullshit they want, and because we aren't allowed to contradict them or engage them in arguments about it, they are generally assumed correct. Please understand that despite these drawbacks, this codex makes MassiveCraft hugely professional and clean of any corruption, a day and night comparison to many other servers. We have our reasons for keeping the codex and enforcing it as strictly as we do.
This is also highly appreciated, any steps made toward a higher level of professional conduct are always welcomed but it is frankly too strict on its disclosure policies. We need some level of transparency or it begins to feel like an us and them scenario. I understand entirely that even though we cannot see the work being done it doesn't mean that it is not there but it can also be incredibly frustrating for us when all we see from the staff is punishments being handed out and broken plugins being added with no word as to why or no warning as to their implementation.
From a rotten core of some PVP'ers I only get shit by being called the Antichrist and a whole bunch of slurs against homosexuals, down to being called "The source of everything that is wrong on MassiveCraft". From those in the mid ranges of toxicity I have to deal with them trolling in Regalia because "hey let's show those roleplayers what losers they are". Squarely put I've never receive any words of encouragement, recognition or appreciation from any PVP'er, even when I jump into the fray to try and help out due to some vague sense of obligation.
This of course is entirely unacceptable. I however don't think that the "hey let's show those roleplayers what losers they are" accusation is entirely true, there are certainly PvPers who despise the RP community and vice-versa but when people go and clown around in regalia it is not I feel a personal attack to make the RPers seem foolish it is a bored rebellious affront in response to the seemingly elitist style of seclusion that can be shown there.
I know Raptum in the opening days of the Qaliphate attended multiple events in Qadir skins and did nothing to cause disruption but were still treated as outsiders and were kept at arms length. I can see why as the history of RP disruption by non RP players is very apparent but I feel something could have been made of this. Instead of pushing away any possible intrusion try and utilise it, allow the standing of Raptum and the Qaliphate in the faction worlds to be apparent and treat them as such, include it into the rp instead of trying to keep a calm status quo.
The insults back and forth only act to perpetuate this of course and it is only a product of a larger issue, the growing gap between the RP and PvP communities which also feeds into things such as this:
Ofcourse. You will have to get over the whole community castration issue. As soon as any PVP'er joins the staff, they become outcast among the PVP'ers and part of the enemy. It would be nice to see someone from the PVP community step up to the challenge, put some hard work in place to get done what they want done, and to defy the constant vicious cycle.
Yes, there are examples of ostracisation among PvPers to the new staff members from their ranks and examples of behaviour that show the contrary but it all once again leads back to the much larger problem that needs to be fixed, the apparent disconnect between the staff and the players that is only growing wider as of late.
I understand that there is a lot of work that goes on behind the scenes and that there are things being in production that we could have no possible inclination about but the longer things continue on as they are the worse things are going to get, PvP has been in a state of decline for months now and I don't see it having some incredible revival any time soon under the current climate but there are still so many people that do not want to see it die!
We complain and I suppose in some cases play up due to a considerable amount of built up frustration, we love this server and want to see it do as well as it possibly can.
Final Words
We bring forth issues with things that are presented to us such as the state of RP-PvP relations, the issues with the vampire plugin or the possible imbalance of traits or the ridiculous censorship shown in things such as the Afrovia sanctioning incident and further bans, mutes and jails following it.
These issues, whether they are being worked on in the background or not feel like they have gone almost entirely ignored due to the nature of the staff codex and its nondisclosure rules, this then leads to the players feeling like we are being shunned in a
'we known what is best for the server and are going to do it no matter what' sort of way, I have heard a lot of incredible suggestions from players that have been repeated for months now, inclusions to the factions plugin, current prices of factions, ways to boost the economy and such and yet when we bring them up with staff it is either hushed up or straight up refused.
This same theme of disconnect continues with the PvP/RP situation again, where it has become yet another us and them scenario as the server slowly breaks down into its own niche sectors.
Hearing from the older players of the times when things such as the Viridian Crusade was a thing is amazing and only makes me wish there was a minecraft server like that out there now because massive is certainly no longer applicable although it has all the tools and ample potential to be that once again, yet the complete lack of consequence to PvP be it in the factions worlds, in RP or in a general survival sense means people are becoming more and more disillusioned to the idea of fighting.
I can think of at least three incidents in the faction worlds that could have been utilised to the benefit of the community as a whole; Mags latest war and the rise of the Wolves resistance, the Deldrimor Dominion rising again and the Qaliphate emerging which could have tied in incredibly with the earlier Qadir invasion of Regalia, even the animosity of the re-inclusion of the vampire plugin could be used to bring about another war with actual emotional intent behind it.
People in factions, specifically PvP factions I assume would not mind changing their faction slightly (name, theme, goals) to fit a current RP event at all (such as the aforementioned Qaliphate and the Qadir invasion) if it meant for a continued interesting PvP experience with some obvious impact on the server itself and/or some small change in RP, something to make people feel more connected and something to actually get behind that isn't standing and talking in the tavern (nothing wrong with this if that is what someone enjoys) or a PvE event every so often.
I also however feel the answer of
'Join the staff and be then change then' if a bit of a cop out, yes it would be a good way to get our ideas recognised but for some of us it is unreasonable or impractical due to time constraints or simply not wanting to, this is hardly a bad thing on our part mind you. We come to this server to enjoy ourselves after work/uni/school whatever it may be and simply want to play it for what it is, a game.
The unfortunate attitude of the staff of treating it too much like a business (even though I am in complete realisation that it
is a business) is possibly making this seem like a completely fair point to make, but we come here to enjoy ourselves in hopes that the people running the server will try and cultivate that entertainment to the best of their ability, having to rise through the ranks to fix it ourselves seems rather counter intuitive.
tl;dr
I believe there is a growing disconnect between the staff, the PvP and RP communities leading to an 'us and them' mentality in which none of the groups want to associate with each other and don't feel the need to which is only dwindling the community as a whole, the main reason why the vast majority of us stuck with massive for so long and still do to this day, even if that tie is becoming rather fraught.
Okay, maybe not so briefly.
Also, excuse spelling and grammar I didn't the post to be this long and don't have the willpower to comb over it all now to polish it up.
Hell, a lot of points may have already been addressed in the time I was writing this!
