GC 2007 Survey Results - Any Problems?

[Flitterkill]

In no particular order. Everyone's opinion will be listed here:

 

1) Many of them will be edited in some fashion (stuff in parentheses my summarizing long posts)

2) Some that seem to reflect personal attacks may be omitted.

3) Those that say "nope" or "nothing", etc. naturally removed.

4) There will be stuff folks don't agree with - in your responses keep it civil!

5) Fk's responses are mostly stream of thought, not board-approved final word.

Anything about GC that bothers you?

 

Only a few games, but that isn't too bad.

i was banned for the lamest reason possible

Not enough UT

No California server. That is my main gripe.

Lunk is sexier than thou

Favoritism. (admins treating regs/friends differently - admins jumping on other admins for same)

 

Lack of west coast stuff does come up a few times. Re-booting west coast is possible but do we have the commitment to get it rolling? Love to have more UT, perhaps with the new game. Lunk? Admin performance comes up a few times, 86%+ say we do pretty good but there are some sore spots out there. It is likely not prevalent but for those who run into it I imagine it would leave me hot too. We have from time to time in the admin forums tried to stress fun and fair admining (inquire, ask, kick, ban - and in a friendly way) but we can certainly re-emphasize this.

 

 

The interpretation of GC standards has lead a lot of people to viewing it as an almost exclusively "Christian" gaming community. There's nothing wrong with that, but it can encourage religious zealots and discourage a lot of agnostics from becoming GC regulars.

 

To be fair, I've heard that on the UT servers before. "No swearing? What are you guys some Christian thing - I'm out of here". UT GC members shrug there shoulders, say "huh?" and forget about it. To be sure there are some Christian folks here who are not afraid to say so (and that's fine of course) but as far as us promoting it or anything, aside from the single Christian forum and Fatty's summer camp bit, I don't know where some folks get that idea (and there is another forum for all other religious stuff as well). We can look at inserting a statement into our promo stuff more clearly expressing what we are about and who we welcome here. Other than that I doubt we can ever get by the folks who think "no swearing=jeebus server" - more a reflection of themselves than anything else. As for any GC members who think we are all about your/my/someones saviour, for one, I hope you aren't actively promoting us as that 9cuz we ain't) and two, if that does interest you, you may wish to look at other true Christian gaming communities (they are out there).

 

 

No west coast servers - not a huge deal.

Some admins in charge have been getting a little power hungry as of late - sometimes the power goes to you heads.

If I had to pick something it would be that we have changed over the last few years on our standards a bit.

I'm bummed that immut died. but i just don't have time to play css anymore with all my school work and such

Some of the members/admins are a little more 'uptight' (for lack of a better word) than I would like

A little bit of inconsistent administration on the CS servers from member to member, for the most part A+ though

 

Some of the same on wanting west coast back and admin consistency. Our standards have changed? Good? Bad? (I assume bad...)

 

 

(Movement of players to other teams because they are good - annoying when just trying to play)

People seem to run in packs at times Hard to fit in or get associated with the packs.

It would be nice to have more then one CS:S server again, specifically a scope-less one

Have admins that are around at different times, so that we have someone to go to with problem players.

There is no consolidated list (that I can find anyway), that lists who has admin on the server (CS:S, vent, etc)

 

Yeah - sometimes you have to take one for the team(s) as far as balance goes. The pack stuff - hmm - hard one to tackle - our UT side is pretty close but with so many in CS, thre are bound to be some cliques. Another server again (west coast and scopeless come up a lot). Admins on at all times is something that is always a problem.

 

Now that last line, the list - is such a stupidly good idea that it is now on our punch list to take care - admins (ut, vent, cs) and their contact info, pm, im, etc. Seems a fair thing to do. You could search our forums for members with admin tag but yeah - you should not have to do that in the first place.

 

 

Oh-mm-gee is not swearing, telling someone to not say "lame" or "damn" is usually more trouble than it's worth

Some admins sometimes (rarely) have bad days and go overboard and make the environment very not fun

The little temper tantrums people get into, I just think that sometimes we need to remember it is a game.

(A board member) not being more active in the forums and on the servers

When no admin on, and server rules are not followed. Perhaps limited kick/ban capability for members?

This is very small, but when posts are altered because they are "offensive" are we not allowed to debate things?

 

The language filters are always under some form of debate. CS runs on it's rails, UT on theirs. On UT, o-m-g is allowed, o-m-*-g is not (of course). Warnings are never not worth the trouble - it is the first way folks get a clue that we are different. Certainly g-a-y and the three letter f-variant are worthy of a warning (if we truly do cater to all), UT filters d-a-mn but folks do mention the holding-back-water version. We mentally note, then warn if repetitive, etc. once it becomes apparent they have an attitude. This goes back to how we admin, the fun environment, etc. Believe it or not, once folks hit our bacon filters (filtered words become "bacon") the type of player they are becomes apparent remarkably fast, the chuckle and adapt kind, or the uptight "this is an adult game" morons. CS is a much slower game with friendly fire on. UT is fast as hell with friendly fire off. Stuff happens in UT that one can't but help and say "o-m-g" and it is not attitude; for CS perhaps the word is a pointer to something else. We can have the cs admins get together and look at this but things will not change much (probably). If it does change this may lead to the charge that our standards are not what they once were for those wanting o-m-g filtered. A hard road this one.

 

More admin and temper stuff. We could get into the habit of spot checking logs now and then for bans after the fact. However, if you see this stuff, feel free to note day/time/server and serve up a pm to the server lead for a log check. Can't do anything unless we know.

 

If edits to posts are made for attitude/offensiveness, we'll remind changers to make sure to leave a note int he post as to why. If your post is edited and your point/argument remains intact, roll with it - if you start to argue language, etc. you'll probably get no where at best.

 

 

(Hard to pay $50 a year - maybe $50 to join, less annually afterwards)

Lack of servers - Word of mouth is best option not paying for access

More scopeless cs!

The decline in member commitment

Admin attitude such as, "smooth move there buddy"

Map circulation when no admin is around - maps not changed frequently enough.

Jumbled management

The rules on language and names

 

We're working on the first one - after CS:S and west launched we had 6 or 7 cs-s servers and reserves were *still* at a premium so the decision was made to bump up dues (otherwise people were payin money for reserves they'd never get a chance to use) - situation is different now and we are working on a model for initial membership, the less subsequent years. Mind you, without moneys, servers go away. Everyone is free to use our servers but if you can't get in, we want you to think about getting a reserve, this is how this whole thing works. Decline in member commitment I assume means regs not renewing as paying members but still sticking around. Hard to say why but could be personal, financial or burnout reasons. Wish it didn't happen either. Rules on language - well, again, it's what we are. Map circ noted and jumbled management - how so? Admins? Board?

 

 

It's Dieing. CS seems like it's getting smaller and that is GC's bread and butter. UT 2004 is all but dead. Yes we are all tired of it. UT3 is almost here and that will liven things up but there is no leader for the current game or the upcoming UT3. We need someone who knows the clans, with good communication skills. And someone with the time to do so. We need more scrims and other game type participation like CTF,DM and TAM but as of right now we just don't have the roster to do so. Like I said UT2004 is dead but is GC prepared for UT3?

 

Told you we wanted honest feedback - not much editing by me there. I can only do so much. Knowing the clans, etc. seems to be more about the competitive side. Keep in mind, we are a pub first and foremost, competitive play is purely a sideline and will always be. Same with scrims, etc. No reason for folks to not take the ball and run with it themselves if they want - nothing prevents you from saying "hey - lets do this!" and leading yourself. DarkArchon has just dropped from our TWL roster to play with other clans still active in UT2K4 competitive play - *with our blessing* - we are a group, not a competitive clan - everyone is free to belong to any clan they like - gc membership does not preclude that. Dark is coming back for our UT3 competitive play but he has an itch he wants to scratch right now and the rest of the lads are pretty much in standby mode - so why not? Dark joined GC for the people and server environment firstly. As for other UT3 gametypes, we'll let the demo decide. We skew primarily vehicle with UT and I doubt we will ever have a straight DM server again, but Vehicle CTF and TAM are certainly possible in the new gametype.

 

(some senior members of GC exempt from the rules that other members are expected to follow, esp. rules about showing respect to other members of the community)

 

Harsh.

 

 

I would say the reserves for non-GC members bug me a little because the server is always full in the evening. Immutable surely flopped.

The "clean server" rules seem a little too strict

Why doesn't Fatty play CS:S?

Super overstrict admins, and when admins don't say anything to regs that knowingly break/push the rules.

Preferential [server] treatment towards regulars/members. eg. more warnings than the random pubber would recieve. Team stacking is becoming a large issue when few administrators are on the server.

Regulars like to stack the skill.

 

No clue on Immut, depends on what you can strict, Fatty is a high school varsity asst. coach in addition to his regular teaching duties, and he gots youngin's - he'd like to play more but time = not much. He claims he'll be giving UT3 a whirl. I'm sure he appreciate you wanting to die at his hands (virtually of course )

 

More admin stuff...

 

 

When I joined GC, people were more willing to help noobs learn, I think that this might be something that's been lost.

Wish there was a 2nd CS:S server. Wish that the CS:S map cycle wasn't so boring on the weekends.

 

Always nice to help noobs, I think we are all guilty of it on older gametypes that we are so accustomed too.

 

There was also another one (not posted) about emails you recieve - we'll touch on that in the "what could we be doing" post.

 

Whew.

 

Time for beer.

 

Another problems one to post, then two more questions follow.

 

-Fk

[Flitterkill]

A few more to wrap this up...

 

Sometimes I think we are a little too quick to judge as admins. I miss the old days when we used to punish people by turning them into chickens, or throwing them across the map with Jedi-Mod...things like that. It seemed to present a more "fun" atmosphere than does the immediate "get the hell out" type mentality everyone has now.

Sometimes I will see an admin act like a total ******* when a simple "please don't do that" would suffice.

Over zealous admins that take things way too seriously and ruin the fun atmosphere of the server.

Some of the admins (even a couple respected ones) have been known to abuse their power and kick/ban because they are in a bad mood. While I haven't personally been kicked like that, it still bothers me to see others treated unfairly. It doesn't happen often, but just often enough to notice.

 

It should be fun, agreed. Toying with (a little) those who don't wise up only helps to reinforce our community standards amongst the other players. We'll reiterate in the admin forums.

 

Not GC's fault, but since I am not a paying member, it sometimes takes me a while to get into the servers.

 

Become a paying member

 

 

Nepotism among the staff. Decision making biased and often based on emotion.

 

Not sure what benefits the staff have other than more work and less play... Not sure I agree with the emotional decisions either but noted.

 

Never play CS:S because of the drama on those servers. Reading the CS:S forums is enough for me not to play there.

 

There's that much drama? Are you sure?

 

Negative attitudes about people or players - rare but noticeable

 

Rare thankfully...

 

We need more regulars playing CS:S. AKA you board members...

Sometimes there are no Admins on. My next renewal I would like to become an admin.

 

Not Flitter - UT only . First one also indicated they wanted more recruiting for players on the servers.

 

 

Don't have time enough for me to get more involved with GC as I would prefer. But as for GC itself...maybe the integration of more maps for UT2004

 

I think now that our core UT community is experienced enough to be able to deal with map voting (without bailing on certain maps because...) this will help the new game.

 

Too few maps on the CSS server. Playing a wide variety of maps keeps it interesting.

Some players only seem to care about their stats - won't defuse, won't rescue, won't plant, etc.

 

Noted.

 

I think a couple upper (board) members have a tendency to alienate some players. Perhaps rightfully, but when it is done in the open, with a tone that is very strong, other players hear/read this and they form a negative opinion. How one deals with players - either via mic or forum - ought to be carefully drawn in order to save face among outside parties.

 

A good suggestion. GC business in GC-only forums. That, and remembering that the structure of posts carry no small amount of weight.

 

I'm concerned with what exactly the $50 is being used for.

 

This came up a few times. Financial stuff is more properly discussed in our coalition-only forums (and yes, we probably won't discuss it there either - at least in the detail you probably want). That said, I understand wanting to know. I can say that we kick out a lot each month for servers, etc. Also, we try to keep a three to six month reserve. Why? We have no idea who is joining and who is not renewing. Things have gotten ridiculously tight in the past only for us to ease out of it by riding those reserve funds while new members and renewals kick in. More than this is not suitable for pub forums. We'll see what we can do though.

 

All done with the bothers (notice Flitter did not use the word "issues" in the question - yay Flitter)

 

Next up - happy responses.

 

-Fk

[Fatty]

I drink Labatt out of gold-plated pilsners....but I swear I paid for those on my own.

[dragonfly]

It's Dieing. CS seems like it's getting smaller and that is GC's bread and butter. UT 2004 is all but dead. Yes we are all tired of it. UT3 is almost here and that will liven things up but there is no leader for the current game or the upcoming UT3. We need someone who knows the clans, with good communication skills. And someone with the time to do so. We need more scrims and other game type participation like CTF,DM and TAM but as of right now we just don't have the roster to do so. Like I said UT2004 is dead but is GC prepared for UT3?

 

Told you we wanted honest feedback - not much editing by me there. I can only do so much. Knowing the clans, etc. seems to be more about the competitive side. Keep in mind, we are a pub first and foremost, competitive play is purely a sideline and will always be. Same with scrims, etc. No reason for folks to not take the ball and run with it themselves if they want - nothing prevents you from saying "hey - lets do this!" and leading yourself. DarkArchon has just dropped from our TWL roster to play with other clans still active in UT2K4 competitive play - *with our blessing* - we are a group, not a competitive clan - everyone is free to belong to any clan they like - gc membership does not preclude that. Dark is coming back for our UT3 competitive play but he has an itch he wants to scratch right now and the rest of the lads are pretty much in standby mode - so why not? Dark joined GC for the people and server environment firstly. As for other UT3 gametypes, we'll let the demo decide. We skew primarily vehicle with UT and I doubt we will ever have a straight DM server again, but Vehicle CTF and TAM are certainly possible in the new gametype.

 

First, I'd like to say I didnt write the above comment in the survey! Now to comment on it:

 

It's quite easy to do actually. Just play with people and joke around with them. Almost everyone on has some sense of humour, and having that lightens up the atmosphere a lot. You'll get contacts in all the clans easy as pie that way. Heck, I've been with GC for only 6 months and I've got many contacts in T5K, SCK, Vox, uMA, v3x, pH, Phx, DW, DoW, the list goes on.

 

I know whoever wrote the above would be able to do it, and being a rep for GC doesnt actually take that much time. You could do it in 10min per day if you wanted, and take Sundays off.

 

Side note: I think Flitter has done an EXCELLENT job with the survey stuff. I wish there had been a "good stuff admins do" in the survey that I could have filled out.