what can we do to help improve roleplayer guild?

[Dion]

We need a new face of staff members since most of the time barely do anything. Check with the current staff members to see if they still care about the site. If not, then they will be stripped of the title and privileges. If they still are, then they should be expected to be active on the site by dealing with every issue. Since there is going to be room, the staff members (still interested) set up applications for mods. Maybe have two mods per subforum (casual, advanced, 1x1, nation, etc.). Then, there will be four mods that keep running the entire forum smoothly.

@The Spectre

I don't trust the existing mods to make that call. They made the last choice. Situation barely improved (although the last pick is more active than the rest, it's still barely an improvement, because nothing gets done.). It'd be more of the same shit.

[pugbutter]

@BrokenPromise Pretty solid advice, even if I don't like it. (Catch-all rules tend to be a GM's excuse to abuse his power, so I've avoided using them hitherto as a gesture of goodwill.)

Of course, people forget that the GM is already given these rights in the universal forum rules:

• GM Autonomy – in most matters pertaining to the thread, the GM has the final say, as it is their plot and we do not wish to interfere with running RP's. Who is in, who is out, calls regarding the storyline and the rules by which RP's run (including how many paragraphs, post rate and order, etc, etc...) who needs to leave and so forth. The only time the moderators tend to step in is when the rules listed above are being violated, otherwise the GM is left to sort it out and deal with their problem players.

@Guild Mods

[skidcrow]

i honestly don't get why it needs to be in the gm's separate rules, or the forum rules at all. isn't it common sense to know that a gm can accept and deny whoever they want, for whatever reasons? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[Todd Howard]

i honestly don't get why it needs to be in the gm's separate rules, or the forum rules at all. isn't it common sense to know that a gm can accept and deny whoever they want, for whatever reasons? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

@Grimhildr

This.

It's their fucking thread, therefor they make the rules and have the final say. I don't know why anyone would feel like they couldn't do this; I've never hesitated to deny someone. Opinions are always welcome yeah, but they are just that; Opinions. The GM is the one who's supposed to watch over the damn thing and make sure it runs smoothly; They don't get that by going "lol iunno" and letting people do whatever they want.

Otherwise roleplays would be a complete mess. I can't believe of all things this is an issue people are having. I'm shaking my head ashamed.

[Mao Mao]

<Snipped quote by The Spectre>

I don't trust the existing mods to make that call. They made the last choice. Situation barely improved (although the last pick is more active than the rest, it's still barely an improvement, because nothing gets done.). It'd be more of the same shit.

@Buddha

What should we do then? Sit on our hands and hope that the staff members are more active in the near future? We are running out of options. Do we demand that the staff members be more active or just give up on saving this site?

I am fucked if this site goes under and my roleplaying hobby might just end. The only other site that I could go to is Iwakuroleplay. But, I have been banned there for a long time (it was over something stupid that I deserved the ban). So, I am screwed when it comes to my roleplaying hobby and I love to do it too.

[pugbutter]

@Grimhildr There are people on this site who, when they mean to say "bored," instead say "board" and "bord." In the same damn sentence.

Never doubt the depths of Man's stupidity.

[Dion]

<Snipped quote by Buddha>

What should we do then? Sit on our hands and hope that the staff members are more active in the near future? We are running out of options. Do we demand that the staff members be more active or just give up on saving this site?

I am fucked if this site goes under and my roleplaying hobby might just end. The only other site that I could go to is Iwakuroleplay. But, I have been banned there for a long time (it was over something stupid that I deserved the ban). So, I am screwed when it comes to my roleplaying hobby and I love to do it too.

@The Spectre

No. I would prefer to have user elected moderators. But I fear the outcome would be even worse. But I don't trust the community or the moderators to make that call anymore. The mods have proven they don't really care, the community has proven they're too clique-y for that. IDK what other solution there is.

Do you trust the mods to make that call unbiased?

[skidcrow]

@Grimhildr There are people on this site who, when they mean to say "bored," instead say "board" and "bord." In the same damn sentence.

Never doubt the depths of Man's stupidity.

@pugbutter

i'm talking about the people who's brains haven't been placed in a hydraulic press.

[BrokenPromise]

@pugbutter@Grimhildr@Raddum

Oh, I don't include that rule because I think it needs to be there. I do think it lets interested roleplayers know that i'm going to be looking at their posts. It's not there to ensure I can be a GM, but to scare off roleplayers that aren't qualified to join.

[Todd Howard]

<Snipped quote by Buddha>

What should we do then? Sit on our hands and hope that the staff members are more active in the near future? We are running out of options. Do we demand that the staff members be more active or just give up on saving this site?

I am fucked if this site goes under and my roleplaying hobby might just end. The only other site that I could go to is Iwakuroleplay. But, I have been banned there for a long time (it was over something stupid that I deserved the ban). So, I am screwed when it comes to my roleplaying hobby and I love to do it too.

@The Spectre

I mean, really, if they are so inactive, is any of this going to actually happen anyways? Can't pick new moderators if they aren't even around, and Mahz doesn't really have the time to do it himself.

While I personally have a group of people who I can group with from here off-site (And in 1x1's as well) I can understand your problem. Iwaku isn't really a good alternative regardless of a ban, but all I can suggest is getting off-site info for the good people you know on this forum and hope if this site goes down you can hang with them still.

I say if, but this thread is slowly taking us more and more towards despair. We seem to be coming to a slow and painful realization that we can't really do much without any of the higher-ups.

[Cyndyr]

I say if, but this thread is slowly taking us more and more towards despair. We seem to be coming to a slow and painful realization that we can't really do much without any of the higher-ups.

@Raddum

This is the sad and bitter reality, but we can say that at least we acknowledge that there is somewhat of a problem here on the Guild and that is the first step towards improvement. Maybe we could start prodding at the moderators and Mahz, but I somehow doubt that'd be very effective considering the fact that they hardly exist in the first place.

[pugbutter]

I would prefer to have user elected moderators. But I fear the outcome would be even worse. But I don't trust the community or the moderators to make that call anymore.

@Buddha

Agreed. This site's greatest draw for me has been that the mods aren't power-hungry. Other RP sites, other forums, a certain anime streaming site, have all been ruined by mods who care more about becoming god in their little internet-societies than about actually making the sites better for everyone. I'd sooner have no mods at all than a force of them who, given Mahz's inactivity, can run rampant without any checks and balances to limit their damage potential. Personally I know there are at least three people on this site who would want me banned just for existing with a different opinion near them. I think I'd be a fair mod but there are people who'd fear for their safety on the site, because they and I have had our spats before, and it's much too easy for players to hold a grudge, especially when the opportunity to retaliate on those grudges presents itself.

But then, @BrokenPromise brings up a good point: if the mods control the rules of the site, then the players control its culture. If we want a certain type of roleplayer (e.g. people who go AWOL on the RPs they've joined) eradicated from this site then it's up to our GMs to enforce these folkways. And if the guilty parties don't like that, well, they're free to make their own RPs here, or to go somewhere else. The absence of the mods only punctuates the idea that we the players are responsible for creating the site which we want to play on: if we want more diverse plotlines then we must be the ones to write them. If we want problematic players to leave then we must be willing to publicly acknowledge them as problematic. And so on.

Waiting for other people to effect the changes we want to see on this site isn't working. As players, and especially as GMs, we must be willing to be the changes we want for the Guild, especially if the mod team make it clear that they're not looking out for us anymore.

[skidcrow]

<Snipped quote by Raddum>
This is the sad and bitter reality, but we can say that at least we acknowledge that there is somewhat of a problem here on the Guild and that is the first step towards improvement. Maybe we could start prodding at the moderators and Mahz, but I somehow doubt that'd be very effective considering the fact that they hardly exist in the first place.

@Cynder

i didn't say anything was gonna come of this thread, i just wanted to see people's thoughts. however, it is sad to see that due to an absent staff and owner, there isn't much we can do to avoid the site getting run into the ground.

[Cyndyr]

i didn't say anything was gonna come of this thread, i just wanted to see people's thoughts. however, it is sad to see that due to an absent staff and owner, there isn't much we can do to avoid the site getting run into the ground.

@Grimhildr

I appreciate the thread nonetheless. Even if nothing changes, I'm glad that there is discussion regarding the topic from a community standpoint.

[Mao Mao]

<Snipped quote by The Spectre>

No. I would prefer to have user elected moderators. But I fear the outcome would be even worse. But I don't trust the community or the moderators to make that call anymore. The mods have proven they don't really care, the community has proven they're too clique-y for that. IDK what other solution there is.

Do you trust the mods to make that call unbiased?

@Buddha

No, I personally cannot trust everyone to make the call. No matter what option we decide, we are fucked. Unless, Mazh realizes that there is a problem and tries to fix it. But, I do not even believe that it will be completely fix. It would be funny if someone tried to make a site that is almost identical to this site.

<Snipped quote by The Spectre>

While I personally have a group of people who I can group with from here off-site (And in 1x1's as well) I can understand your problem. Iwaku isn't really a good alternative regardless of a ban, but all I can suggest is getting off-site info for the good people you know on this forum and hope if this site goes down you can hang with them still.

@Raddum

Fair enough. It does sound like a good idea to talk to people that I trust about other options. Thanks.

[Dion]

<Snipped quote by Buddha>

Agreed. This site's greatest draw for me has been that the mods aren't power-hungry. Other RP sites, other forums, a certain anime streaming site, have all been ruined by mods who care more about becoming god in their little internet-societies than about actually making the sites better for everyone. I'd sooner have no mods at all than a force of them who, given Mahz's inactivity, can run rampant without any checks and balances to limit their damage potential. Personally I know there are at least three people on this site who would want me banned just for existing with a different opinion near them. I think I'd be a fair mod but there are people who'd fear for their safety on the site, because they and I have had our spats before, and it's much too easy for players to hold a grudge, especially when the opportunity to retaliate on those grudges presents itself.

But then, @BrokenPromise brings up a good point: if the mods control the rules of the site, then the players control its culture. If we want a certain type of roleplayer (e.g. people who go AWOL on the RPs they've joined) eradicated from this site then it's up to our GMs to enforce these folkways. And if the guilty parties don't like that, well, they're free to make their own RPs here, or to go somewhere else. The absence of the mods only punctuates the idea that we the players are responsible for creating the site which we want to play on: if we want more diverse plotlines then we must be the ones to write them. If we want problematic players to leave then we must be willing to publicly acknowledge them as problematic. And so on.

Waiting for other people to effect the changes we want to see on this site isn't working. As players, and especially as GMs, we must be willing to be the changes we want for the Guild, especially if the mod team make it clear that they're not looking out for us anymore.

@pugbutter

I agree with what you say but I must raise a counterpoint:

at this point, how many RP'ers have we lost that did not decide the culture (because let's face it, that's more work than some of us are willing to put into a hobby) and instead just quit/leave the site.

Are we not at the point where this change is a bit too late? I feel like this is a realization we should've had from the start. Not now that we're realizing there might be a problem.

[skidcrow]

<Snipped quote by Grimhildr>
I appreciate the thread nonetheless. Even if nothing changes, I'm glad that there is discussion regarding the topic from a community standpoint.

@Cynder

yeah, i figured i might as well make it since you wanted it too.

@pugbutter@Grimhildr@Raddum

Oh, I don't include that rule because I think it needs to be there. I do think it lets interested roleplayers know that i'm going to be looking at their posts. It's not there to ensure I can be a GM, but to scare off roleplayers that aren't qualified to join.

@BrokenPromise

alright, i getcha. but i still don't really see the point in that, either. i guess i just prefer to crush people's spirits when i tell them their cs is shit.

[Cyndyr]

It would be funny if someone tried to make a site that is almost identical to this site.

@The Spectre

Is this a challenge.

[skidcrow]

It would be funny if someone tried to make a site that is almost identical to this site.

@The Spectre

Is this a challenge.

@Cynder

hey, i mean, i'm learning html coding, so...

[Todd Howard]

This is the sad and bitter reality, but we can say that at least we acknowledge that there is somewhat of a problem here on the Guild and that is the first step towards improvement. Maybe we could start prodding at the moderators and Mahz, but I somehow doubt that'd be very effective considering the fact that they hardly exist in the first place.

@Cynder

You'd probably just get told to shhh tbh.

---

Fair enough. It does sound like a good idea to talk to people that I trust about other options. Thanks.

@The Spectre

Ye. I've been planning this for over a year now, lol. Emails, IMs, discord, skype, the works.

Are we not at the point where this change is a bit too late? I feel like this is a realization we should've had from the start. Not now that we're realizing there might be a problem.

@Buddha

Ye, we're months, if not a year or more behind on solving this problem from a decent starting point.