Improvements-

Despite most of my posts causing flame wars/controversy, there is what I think to be quite valid points behind them and since I am continually going on about how my intentions are good and I am all for the game I thought I would vent my opinions into a different direction and try and indentify some points/aspects of XJ and of KZ that I feel should be addressed. Whether they should be improved or just discussed further here are my suggestions, feel free to add or comment on any of my following points but I do ask you try and read my post in its entirety as everything sort of links together, or at least iv tried to.

Before I begin I would like to outline a few things for those that will probably post before reading everything I have had to say and generic posts about the following things really are not needed;

- I am not flaming nor trying to start a flamewar, these are my ideas on improvement
- Each and every bit of criticism is constructive and has been pointed out in the hopes of change
- XJ is the official kreedz community, I am not debating it nor am I complaining about it
- The staff do a lot of work, I’m not saying they don’t
- I do realise some of what I ask requires a lot more work

Alright let’s see how we go,

I would firstly like to talk about XJ overall; I read recently a comment from faker about the XJ staff and site overall being based on individuals opinions and ideas rather than those of a professional organization (can’t get the quote, comments locked) which is fine, if anything, its actually exactly how anyone would expect it because he is right, there is no way such a small group of people can always get it right and I respect the fact that he can acknowledge this but I don’t think all the staff (this is not a criticism) understand the privilege they have. I would expect as much from say the deathrun community but kz is completely different, kz has a hardcore following, lots and lots of active and dedicated players as well as active mappers/moviemakers AND even fans, who week after week continually download and watch the demos of their favourite jumpers. Sure kz can be played as a casual game and it is to some but I don’t think such a vast group of devoted players can be ignored, it angers me to see people posting ‘it’s just a game’ although they are right, so is every other game but it is ignorant to completely ignore the fact that there is an extremely enthusiastic player base who spend a big chunk of their time online playing and being involved in the community. Assuming we all agree with the above, this links directly into my ideas on improvement.

Firstly, running the community with individual opinions, I agree that there’s not much more can be done because in reality and literally; that is what XJ is, individuals. But I think that the ‘official kreedz community’ can approach things with a little more professionalism. Before I go on I would like to point out I am not taking ANYTHING away from any of the admins, I can’t even begin to imagine the work that goes into running XJ BUT I feel that there is some baggage that should be dealt with.

I’m going to use an example without names, you will all know what I am talking about but in the hopes of staying unbanned I don’t want to name anyone. Recently a joke was played on a player which was tasteless and until pointed out by higher staff members, remained a ‘joke’ whilst community members were warned/banned for voicing their opinions. Now my biggest issue with the situation wasn’t that it happened, it was because of the stubbornness of the staff member who made the joke, unable to admit fault until torn down by higher authority is completely ridiculous the comments early on proved that his/her joke was completely out of line but he/she was still unable to remove or apologize until told to do so. And community members who were on his/her side continued to comment even after XJ admitted its fault. I appreciate XJ admitting fault, but I feel this sort of behaviour is far from professional and cannot imagine anything like it happening in any other sort of environment. I was completely horrified by the ‘joke’ and still feel horrible for the victim; how dare a member of staff personally attack a kz veteran, especially a staff member who is as new as he/she is.

I think what I am getting at is consistently, a level of consistency must be found in order to maintain a strong and reliable community, if the forum admins want to ban/warn people for voicing their opinions then put it in the rules so it’s clear and people don’t banter and get upset when their time comes (I don’t feel that ‘admins are always right’ is clear enough, nor do I find it right in such a large community). It continues to shock me that players with proper opinions are banned where as +1’ers are free to roam the forums as they please, opinions and views are the best way to keep things moving forward you should take every single community members ideas and views into consideration no matter how silly/dumb it may seem, as hard as it might be to hear/see criticism on a site you all work on the only way to improve things is to find their weaknesses, it doesn’t take a genius to understand that concept. But before I stray away from my initial point, consistency; if someone is going to be banned for a certain infringement, then ban every one that commits the same offense, I still see people typing in different languages and posting offtopic/not searching, yet it clearly states in the rules guidelines in which should be used when being involved in the forums. So to summarize on my first suggestion, consistency! Do your best to put measures in place and draw a line in the sand, where community members can clearly see where and why they are banned which in turn will reduce the amount of time/effort spent warning and banning people, I’m sorry but it seems half the time the forum staff are only there to ban and not actually try and maintain a proper standard.

The case above with the player and staff members ‘joke’ links directly into my point on consistency, I feel as though a personal attack is far more worthy of a ban over someone who has tried (and unfortunately, failed) at getting their opinions across which overall is a lack of consistency. A lot of teams/communities/groups/companies strive off criticism, because essentially what it does is point out what is bad and in turn provides ideas on bettering themselves and I am NOT saying spamming/flaming should be tolerated but maybe a little less narrow-mindedness and try and understand where the community member/player is coming from before giving them a ban, Its all well and good that the forum staff are there to do their job but banning people whilst being ignorant to their intentions is only hurting themselves.

For example, take a look back and have a look for the member that fought so strongly and clearly outlined the benefits of using milliseconds leading to the introduction of the idea, where is he now? Hint: check the warnings page. Ah well.

Secondly, going back to my second paragraph about the player base, I feel as though XJ could be doing more with the resources they have. I was upset to see that the current league is not going well but it was definitely good to see the news about a new league with prizes or something? Not entirely sure as I have been banned (although it did upset me to see the owners post about there being no prizes or sponsors in kz, because before I go off into a rant about MNM again I did present these exact ideas to the community over a year before this guy, anyway..) but if his league does get off the ground I feel XJ should put as much support behind running it was possible. Although I have mentioned the size of the community, I don’t feel it is big enough to be split between two sites, so no matter what happens with the league XJ, please, please take control and push forward with the idea/concept because prizes/sponsors can only HELP the game. While I am on that point, about splitting the community into two sites, I would like to express my disappointment in some admins when commenting toward others opinions, I feel “if you don’t like XJ, start your own site” is not a valid argument has completely missed the point, please try and understand that the members of the community your running are aware that XJ is the one and only official kz site, we don’t need to be reminded nor is anyone arguing it so honestly calm down.

I feel league/tournament/events could and can be the life blood of XJ (alongside the world records) and continue to push kz forward. I think you guys shot yourselves in the foot when creating your latest league, if it had been opened up to more than just record holders I think more success could of been had so with that being said why not look into more league/tournament opportunities? Prochallenge in my eyes was still absolutely brilliant, I loved that it linked into every aspect of the game and provided a fresh approach to tournament play, you guys should try looking into doing something similar or even working off the successful parts of that event.

I also think the great thing about prochallenge was that it was the first time I had seen XJ properly embrace longjumping for what it is; part of kz. Many of you might of seen me fighting for LJ recently and hopefully my point got across but just in case, I will reiterate. It is upsetting that so many players see LJ as the downfall of kz, expressing aggressive opinions on why it should be removed from XJ and is not worthy of any notoriety which is actually wrong, and not because I say it is, because it honestly is wrong. The game is based on the physics in counter-strike and longjumping is most definitely a kz technique, it is unarguable, XJ have acknowledged it and so should anyone else, if you don’t like it then don’t take part but how dare anyone try and tell a longjumper their time was less worthy in comparison to a WR recorder. No one should take anything away from the time and effort some LJ’ers put in, having said all that, like prochallenge, I think more can be done with LJ and with a just as hardcore following (maybe even more so, there’s SO many longjumpers) I think some more time/effort/creativity should be directed into longjumping. Not even just longjumping but all aspects of the game, XJ needs to embrace all aspects and run with them without bias.

Just because 10 members comment on how horrible longjumping is, doesn’t meant it’s not part of kz and it definitely does not mean the whole community dislikes it. To ignore it or try to degrade the technique and players involved is also a bad idea, I’m not saying the changes to the LJ page weren’t great, nor am I questioning the amount of work that has been put into LJ but I feel more can be done with it, just something to think about..

I am going to back track a little bit and touch on bans/warnings a little further, maybe its just me but I had quite a hard time contacting/speaking to admins without annoying/wasting time trying to track them down through steam, maybe I’m the only one like this (I am completely aware of IRC, but timezones and trying to catch admins whilst online) but I feel that when it comes to cheaters and even in my situation when I was urged to prove myself (comment for my ban was something along the lines of ‘prove you are lagster’) it would of been great to have a PM system to do so, so basically setting aside how hard or how much work it would be to do I think a system in which a banned member can log in and use the PM system to contact admins is not much to ask, keep the forums/downloads/any other features locked off but it would of been great to log in and get a clear answer straight away from a staff member rather than me running round like a headless chicken wondering who I need to speak too. Then again maybe I’m the only one this would of helped but I honestly would of loved a proper way (maybe even a ban appeals email?) to get in contact with an admin. So there is something maybe you guys could look into.

The warnings page and being warned/banned I think should also be looked into, the whole process even, because (no hate toward those that cheated) I am struggling to understand how a member that has been caught cheating three times is able to submit and use all the site has to offer while I sit banned unable to do anything because of I logged in to the website from hazards house and because of some previous flaming, please someone explain to me how the most taboo, most hated and game ruining thing (cheating) is tolerated so lightly as opposed to flaming, I am not saying flaming should be allowed but wow, priorities would be great because in any other community, even normal counter-strike communities cheating is the worst possible thing a player can do and yet here, it’s a slap on the wrist. Sure the cheaters write an essay, but I hope you realise you have re-offenders still submitting (no hate) and in comparison to my case or any other case involving forum banter/IP changes, it is honestly baffling I really cannot understand it. This also ties into consistency so, that’s just something else I think the site should have a think about because it honestly seems illogical to me.

The forum admins, despite keeping the forums clean, should focus more on where and when warnings are going out, I’m not sure if it happens but if someone swears in one post and is warned, and an admin then sees another warnable post a week ago it completely throws out the idea of consistency, I’m not sure if that happens but judging from the warnings process/page I don’t think the system is viable when it comes to situations similar to these. I also feel the comments could be a little more clear, going through there seems to be big jumps between real reasons and ‘cbf’ responses.

My last point is in relation to map checking the system behind it, although I’m quite ignorant to the changes and how it all works I have been around for longer than 95% of active players and have seen the system struggle to get off the ground or show any form of consistency over the years, I don’t have any real suggestions on how it can be improved and I do realise changes were made recently but having to change the system over and over obviously means something isn’t working, I think some of the systems previous were failing because of inactivity from those involved? I don’t know but maybe try and find some people suitable to put a plan in action and set it in stone rather than wasting time rethinking the process over and over.

I will do my best to try and conclude everything my thoughts and ideas are a little jumbled but I hope I got some sort of message across. My overall point is consistency and professionalism, faker’s responses to incidents pretty much hit the nail on the head, they are written properly and get the point across, where as others seem to just chuck whatever they want down because ‘admins are always right’. I think XJ do a wonderful job in certain areas and completely miss the mark in others, I think there is a lot that could and can be fixed, if your current staff don’t have time/the skills to do so don’t be scared to slowly search for those that can help, the more consistent and professional will not only lessen the misconducts (maybe not but in theory it should because most of it is strong opinions) and make the site/game more fun and inviting to be around, as I said straight off the bat above, you guys really are lucky to be able to run/make big decisions in this game so don’t take it for granted, use your power and resources for improvements rather than kicking people down and expanding your ban list.

Now I hope there is at least something there that can be thought about and if this does in fact start flaming and I do get banned again I can only hope that the reason for my post is understood. You guys should be embracing one another’s opinions and treat them with a little more respect, people voicing their ideas and views is their right and shouldn’t be put up as a ‘privilege’ I would expect as much from a small tight knit armature community but not from the official kreedz community, and like I have heard before from some admins if changes you want to make are too much work then look into finding people and the right resources to better things, there is no reason disable yourselves by employing deadweight with minor abilities in checking over forums when proper changes can be made.

I think the most upsetting thing is that I questioned weather or not I would infact be banned again because of this, because of posting what I think would improve the site lol. Sad really.

As always, to whoever took the time to read, thank you and feel free to comment/add to any of my points.

<3LAGSTAAAH

Agree with everything will edit this tomorrow pretty tired took me awhile to read because its 3 AM.

Can someone please short that wall of text down abit?

I dont know about others, but i have never been scared to express my opinion, you might call me mister bawlz. But i have to agree in every point of yours.

One thing i dont understand the most is, you(staff side) always say reasons like its so much work, we dont have the time. Well if its so much work then just take some other people into your staff and learn them to do it, but then you say smthing like "we dont accept people we cant trust", well then who you do trust? i get the expression that you dont even try, sure you got some people lately like Vee and the weekly writers(thats great), but you could do more

And I will call names for example Vee is an moderator who wants to push thigs too much and digs himself into things he doesnt even fully understand himself.

I am surprised about the amount of people that have never even heard of me that come to the forums and judge me, whilst I ain't judging anyone. About the "bans for opinions", we (the XJ staff as a whole) will deny that we banned (we, because I wasn't moderating the comments page alone) people for exposing their opinions. We banned people for insulting, not expressing their thoughts.

akkord was pretty harsh on me when I simply asked him to change his avatar for the (obvious) pornography/illegality involved. We hope you understand that the community has guidelines, although, as you say, may be currently mis-drawn.

About the individuality regarding admins, we never take action if we have any doubts. The "puppetz incident" was handled that way because some of the admins were fine about it, but some weren't, so we took the safer way, the one that all admins would agree on: removing the questionable content from the newspost completely.

Let me again point out that you are just looking for someone to blame, in that case, the new admins. The community is turning to the wrong path with so much flaming, spamming, etc., and we're working our butts off to get it back in the tracks. We are.

As for your word itself, lagster, you won't blame me for not taking it far enough, will you? You didn't really seem friendly when I met you at PhooGi.

Please specify exactly what you want us to do and how. Most of that was I hope and somehow, this is a suggestions forum.

About problems with reaching admins when being banned is quite false i believe, you could've written your essay with the "ban complaint" feature.

People who are scared of posting should simply start writing normal posts like the ones above, not "bibo did it" etc. If you simply keep constructive etc, it will be no trouble posting your opinion.

Appreciate the feedback,

Firstly juleeeh I completely understand where your coming from but my post was more to spark some discussion and try and make it clear to the admins that there is quite a bit of room for improvement, I have added a few points that are quite obvious in their improvement ie. Communication with Admins, but as I said I would really just like to get the ball rolling because these issues are honestly pretty hard to talk about without people getting angry and defensive.

I mean for instance I kept names out of my post to try stick to what I'm preaching, professionalism, and for Vee to jump in and start talking about akkord straight away is exactly what I think needs to be addressed. Don't take what iv just said the wrong way Vee but you have to understand out of everything I wrote, as an admin I would of loved some feedback on what you thought of my ideas and if you yourself could see some space for improvement within the site, especially since you are a fresh staff member which makes you even more valuable in that regard. Being an admin should mean you approach everything objectively, where as you have come straight in and started naming off members and using your personal opinions and incidents which is unprofessional and stubborn, you have said a few times that people are judging you and telling you off when they don't even know you, I don't know half the admins but am able to agree when someone says they do a good job. If you want people to stop getting angry and having a go at what/how you do things try and be a little less stubborn and give us something quality to judge you on, simple as that.

I am not looking for anyone to blame, I repeated over and over that I respect and understand the amount of work that goes into running and maintaining XJ, maybe you misunderstood but I apologize if you took any of what I said the wrong way.

"see cats don't listen if the joint is soft, so sometimes you gotta curse to get your point across"

I don't mind some people say whatever about me, I am not here to entertain every single member. When you talk about room for improvement, you should see me every day here moderating the forums, doing IRC cups and still finding some time to take care of demo releases and real-life.
We are working to make things better but, as juleeeh said, you are just saying there is room for improvement, whilst we already know that and are trying to get better.
Everyone else spoke my name in their posts, surprises me you condemn me for saying one of them back.

Solid ideas would be better appreciated for an objective discussion. However, as Dacca said, you are not quite the example to question attitudes. Nevertheless, this ain't the point here.

I am surprised about the amount of people that have never even heard of me that come to the forums and judge me, whilst I ain't judging anyone.

Lagsterr you made a point about the "joke" about a great kz player. I think the people who got banned, they didn't really voice an opinion, all they said, was stuff like "Vee who the fuck are you" "What an idiot" in know way is that a constructive opinion towards anything. They are just bashing the admin for making a mistake. I love when people voice their opinion, it makes everything run better to me. But when someone bashes out against an admin, that goes a little too far. There's no point in trying to listen to someones "opinion" if they are just saying "what an idiot" or anything like that. Maybe if they gave a clear reasoning by why they disagreed with what they said, that's a great thing.

You also pointed out that the admins have a lot of things to do, but your right. But honestly if anybody needs help i'm willing, so just send me a pm ill look into whatever goes on. It's like the community doesn't trust the admins. I don't really get the whole idea behind that, but the community has to start realizing that were not trying to bash them down and make this such a biased place. We want people to have opinions, we want people to do whatever they please. But there's a point in where people should stop and realize what there doing isn't something they should be doing. If you have a problem....voice your opinion, but do it in an constructive way.