To be honest this all boils down to the core issue in this server: The lack of communication. --- I don't know about this, there is discord? not sure if they use this though?
The circle that repeats itself is always the same: Staff stays radio silent (working tho) > things happen > the Staff takes actions > the Staff DOES NOT explain itself > people throw a fit over it (and worse, blackmailing them).
A lot of those dramas (ban or just a mechanic change) could had been prevented by more communication. Best example: The Eden set change. The topic was in Gitlab for over half a year, nothing happen, and then BOOM change, without any notice. And believe me, I regularly check gitlab and even to me that was out of the blue. --- this did not make players leave, it sparked drama but it was not the cause of losing players.
What we really need, and what I already tried pushing to Oppai in the past (with lackluster success), is a sort of "Dev Notes" blog/forum topic/whaterver. Something that tells the players "Yo we are working on this, X gonna happen, what's your thought on project Y", that kinda thing. --- This does nothing if we continue the trend of losing players. this is a petty need that will help somewhere down the line but it's not what the server needs right now. Maybe this is what opti thought too which is why he didn't act on it.
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Now the points that make me probably again the no1 boogey gei on the server. Note, all statements are under the assumption allegations are valid and not some shady "we dunno" case.
While I agree, punishments should have a sense of stacking up on another (for example, you won't lose your driver license after 1 mistake (assuming it wasn't THAT bad)), BUT. The thing that kinda annoys me the most with especially the thrid party/macaroni/whatever cheaters is,
IT IS IN THE RULES. IT IS IN THERE IN EVEN A BIG RED FONT. It should be f***ing common sense to not cheat in the first place. --- yes, actually even if you don't state it in the rules I am sure that people know this but it doesn't mean that you wouldn't apply any security controls that should block these from working. it is like a law with no police, only a judge. Prevention is always better than cure, it applies to everything and this game is no exception especially if it helps preserve your community. This is a competitive game and unfortunately it is automatic that it will also bring in players that take it to the next level and end up using 3rd party tools of some sort to gain that competitive edge (happens to every game) that's why applying controls to prevent these 3pp tools from working is a "worth-a-try" solution instead of moving in to bans directly because as players they are vital too in keeping the server up and running.
I can understand a bug abuse, that might accidentally happen. But using a macro? THAT AIN'T HAPPENING ON ACCIDENT. The person did that INTENTIONALLY. A person doing this does this being WELL AWARE they break the rules (and no, the "but I didn't read the rules" excuse doesn't count; Ignorance doesn't protect from punishment) and (in my opinion) should face the CONSEQUENCES.
And on that note, since people connect it with "the woe will become alive". Like, really - they never ever thought of, idk, MAYBE get a newer generation to woe? Instead they cling to the old cheaters and hope that they will come back not cheating again? Guess the egos too big to get newbies on board and teach them. --- this is possible however a bit hard to do since these new players are looking for servers with active WOE already. They want to join guilds and not manage their own since most of them are family people and wouldn't want to spend too much time in game. I know this since I got to play with some new players and unfortunately are no longer active.
God, this really - Yes Oppai did mistakes, but one thing he did well was, that he gave people consequences for their actions. And I respect that. --- I do too...
And @1337 I really hope you make a good research on that and don't just unban people 'coz a certain someone wants more money or a bunch of kids pressure you because their egos are hurt. I really hope. Thanks. --- this could work as long as you have solutions to bring in a new wave of players in a timely manner.
Also welcome gei, I hope you enjoy hell.
At the end of the day, this is a BUSINESS, it needs to make money and not just pay its bills to continue to operate. More players will mean more income. More income will mean better opportunities for our admins and our GM's. Motivating Admins and GM's will mean better gaming experience. Better gaming experience will mean new players coming in. and let's be honest here, we are in a situation now that the server population is in "No good shape" anymore and it continues to diminish, this is the biggest problem now that needs urgent attention. Nothing more, nothing less.