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stutters

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hello, this is your captain speaking. we've reached our cruising altitude of 30,000 feet and have turned off the fastened seatbelt notification. please feel free to get comfortable and move around the cabin. smoking is prohibited in the lavatories.

 

alright, so what's up? i took a good 6+ month hiatus from the servers because of work () and just got back into playing css sort of on the regular. i was a little surprised with what i walked back into -- specifically talking about the css server, not forums. this thread conversation started in the board room, went through the senior admins, the admins had a kegger around it, and now here we are in front of everyone. i hope i'm wearing pants (hint: i'm not).

 

this isn't an attempt to create an exhaustive list. consider it a vision, or a framework, or maybe some really specific things to consider when playing in the server. at the end of the day, we're a clean gaming community that promotes a welcoming atmosphere with a side of competitiveness. if that's the only thing you take away from this post, i couldn't ask for anything more. clean. community. welcoming. kinda sorta competitive.

 

here are the four points that we started with:

1. if you have in game admin, you must be active in the forums. if there's a complaint against an admin or an unban request and the admin involved doesn't respond in the forums within 3 days, their admin rights are revoked until they respond. this applies to all levels of admin, including board members and senior admins.

2. we're a noob friendly community. the more active you are in the servers, the more this applies to you. don't shoot through teammates, don't talk trash (especially about teammates), and treat people like you want them to come back to the server.

3. we run clean servers. i'm hearing admins drop sh!.t and phucks, and conversation that other board members and old timers would hit the roof if their kids heard it. clean it up.

4. map rotation. it'd be great to see primetime back on a fairly stock rotation, or the votemaplist being updated. mookie, do you have any fun stats on maps and player counts?

 

short version:

1. admins must monitor the forums.

2. show some patience.

3. stop swearing.

4. suggest maps.

 

if you don't have time to monitor forums, update your email address so that if we PM you, you'll see it and can respond. i know we're all busy with real life (), but being an admin is a responsibility, and part of that includes being accountable for your actions (e.g., banning people).

 

comments, feedback, and egregious tips are always welcome. especially the last one, especially as a 12-pack IPA.

 

update: i'm getting a disturbing number of complaints from people about admins unbanning their friends that were banned by other admins. please send me a PM if you've got any info.

 

good night and good luck,

sj

 

for the historians in the group, here's the original post:

i'm planning on moving this topic to the senior admin forum, then admin forum, then member forum. i'm starting here (and continuing in order) so that we're on the same page before going to bigger audiences. please don't say anything here you wouldn't want members to see.

 

i largely stopped playing cs when i started my new job, but making my way back into the server. i'm disappointed with what i'm walking back into. this isn't a complaint thread, but a list of things i'd like to incorporate or get feedback on. please chime in; no response is not a claim to come in later and disagree.

 

1. if you have in game admin, you must be active in the forums. if there's a complaint against an admin or an unban request and the admin involved doesn't respond in the forums within 3 days, their admin rights are revoked until they respond. this applies to all levels of admin (board -> admin).

2. we're a noob friendly community. the more active you are in the servers, the more this applies to you. don't shoot through teammates, don't talk trash (especially about teammates), and treat people like you want them to come back to the server.

3. we run clean servers. i'm hearing admins drop sh!.t and phucks, and conversation that other board members and old timers would hit the roof if their kids heard it. clean it up.

4. map rotation. it'd be great to see primetime back on a fairly stock rotation, or the votemaplist being updated. mookie, do you have any fun stats on maps and player counts?

 

please don't turn this into a "cs is dwindling in numbers" thread. it is. there. secret's out. but that's not new. we've always differentiated by being a clean server with some insanely skilled players calling it home. when stop enforcing that principle or holding ourselves accountable, we're just another (empty) server.

 

thoughts? anything i missed?

 

i'm going to give it a couple days then move it down. rinse, repeat.

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I have nothing to add, seems sensible.

 

#3 caught me off guard. That's disappointing.

Every time I'm on, things are under control (granted, I'm not on much). Peckles has been doing a great job IMO. Quick, decisive, minimal disruption.

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As I've said in the past - the server has *no* leadership.

 

Oh yes, there are admins and such. But no one is herding the cats or setting a direction.

 

Also, insert blither about community want of GC events on server but absolutely no one ever actually doing it.

 

CSS is all we have at the moment and if the future of FPS and the like is going to be company-managed servers vs. community dedicated servers, I suggest the CSS folks here get this at least stabilized and not take the server for granted.

 

I've been afk for the better part of a month and a half and am way behind on membership and the like; what is equally surprising is that no one has pestered me about anything at all during this time. Nothing. Email, pm, etc. Nada. Apathy thy name is GC (but insert anything else for comedic effect)

 

-Fk

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I also noticed #3 on an anonymous visit to the server.

I didnt act on it at that time for the simple reason that I try to avoid using admin menus when my evening's diet was largely liquid.

 

Trying to get active in the server again is something I have has a short term goal as well. Ive been missing it, and have decided that my odd ping issues arent going to get me down :) ( Still 100+ to the server here, even though I can ping LA etc. at 80). Also, Im starting to get my school/work/ new baby life under control.

 

Good post Stutters. I agree with the 3 (+/-?) day rule. Even though I havent been playing as much, Im still a regular forums visitor. That should be the norm for admins on up.

 

I agree with Flitter about events. Unless someone can REALLY take those on, its a little redundant to push for them.

 

And YES, we obviously need to maintain a community run server. Not just for CSS, but also for games that may be forth coming.

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I like it, and i'm glad to see this happening..it's been a long time coming. Thanks for the work stutters.

 

I have a couple ideas as far as all the admins go, one of which is an old idea that we did for a while, but it slowly drifted away, and that is to assign all new admins to a senior admin for some mentoring...a bit of time to ask questions and learn the ropes...if nothing else, just to make sure that someone that's been here a while can get a good feeling that these guys know what they are doing...hell, I remember years ago just having to search for the command information, I wasn't very confident when I was fumbling around trying to figure out what to type in and where...although mani makes this a bit easier these days.

 

The second thing, which I think stutters is well on his way in doing, would be to have everything as far as rules and standards VERY clear, as well as the consequences to members and admins for not adhering to them. We have them posted, but again, it's just kinda there, it doesn't stand out, and you kinda have to be told to look for it. I would suggest that we have a statement sheet written, one for members, and one for admins, and when we get the paypal, they are sent their "official membership letter" or whatever you wanna call it, and attached to it, is the appropriate rules and standards letter, which they will return back acknowledging that they read and understand it. This would be even more important for admins, then there are no excuses for not knowing how we are expected to conduct ourselves, and how we expect our guests, not only to behave, but be treated, because pubbers are our guests and should be treated as such.

 

I also think that we have a TON of admins now, and that we should maybe hold off on accepting more for a bit...we need to focus on getting the machine working tight again before we add more parts, we are more than adequately staffed right now.

 

As far as events and stuff, those are a great way to make this more of a community than just a server, and we should get back to that, but we should probably take small steps and work up to that again. We really should focus on many of our regular pubbers, make the place feel like somewhere they are welcome, and may want to become a member of. But that's hard to do when it's easy to play without a reserve, so atmosphere is everything, make it a place people want to be, then when it's hard to get a spot, the guys that are here all the time will take the next step, and so on goes the cycle.

 

We did this before, and we can do it again....an aging game shouldn't make a difference, we need to make it more about the people, I don't go that nuts for the game, I have always played because I consider it "hangin out with my friends"..and I have made quite a few very close ones here in GC....that's what we are about.

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speaking of games, pub vs company servers, etc. Anyone looked at shattered horizons? New steam game. Cheap. Multi player I think. Looks interesting. I started a thread on it down in Computer Games.

A quote:

If you’re a longtime fan of Counter-Strike, Team Fortress, or others and have the power under the hood to run it, you’ll find a lot to like in Shattered Horizon
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speaking of games, pub vs company servers, etc. Anyone looked at shattered horizons? New steam game. Cheap. Multi player I think. Looks interesting. I started a thread on it down in Computer Games.

A quote:

If you’re a longtime fan of Counter-Strike, Team Fortress, or others and have the power under the hood to run it, you’ll find a lot to like in Shattered Horizon

i don't want to derail the original intent to get into new game talks, but the offer still stands. i think.
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I will post a longer response later.

 

But just to let people know, the pub has been going on and off the master list again. Not showing up in the server list doesnt help.

 

But I must actually work now, be back for a good response later

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I will post a longer response later.

 

But just to let people know, the pub has been going on and off the master list again. Not showing up in the server list doesnt help.

 

But I must actually work now, be back for a good response later

Dang dude...you still working? That's a long shift!

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I also agree completely with everything that has been said so far. 3 or 4 years ago the stuff that is going on now would have never been acceptable. When I joined GC years ago I joined because of how close everyone seemed to be as a community, we could joke around with each other in a nice and clean way. The people who were banned(the ones who didn't want to be) would instantly come to the forums to try to make an apology. And when something serious in the servers came up the admins were right on it, taking care of the community to keep it as enjoyable as possible. Everyone treated each other with respect and I really do miss all of that. I think if we want the community to grow again we need to get back to those roots.

 

Starting up those events I heard about awhile back could be pretty fun too, and definitely could help out a lot. But like Clueless said small steps would be best for the time being, especially with new regulars who may or may not be registered on the forums.

 

Thanks for the post Stutters, I hope we can once again become a community of players who enjoy being on the servers.

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Whenever I have a chance, I'm on the server. I try to keep things pretty light, and lately I've even (brace yourselves) started using my microphone. SOMETIMES even when I haven't been drinking. I can't say I've been present for any admin foul language, though I'm sure if I am, I'll say something. I'd love to get some community events going, but my work schedule is so sporadic that I can't commit to any kind of regularity. I'll keep playing till the plug is pulled, because it's pretty much the only multiplayer game I play.

 

...

 

Now I'm sad. No mop can contain my tears.

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Um.. been busy, divorce, finding new work, fixing up vacation home, playing first MMO... but I still show up around once a week to play CSS. Hopefully once things settle down after the New Year I will have more time to play. As for the issues Mr. Stutters (if that IS your real name) brought up, I would agree that some of the standards have not been enforced as stringently as before. For my part I will much more likely give a verbal warning, maybe even two or three before I will kick a new guy off the server for language issues. I'd like to see the server population grow, and getting someone acclimated to our no swearing policy might take a day or two, but if they stick around they tend to follow the rules after a few nudges. I prefer that to simply kicking and never seeing them again.

 

 

 

 

 

Shaftiel

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I'd stop by the forums more, but the new theme sticks out like a sore thumb at work; which is typically when I hung out here; and I haven't figured out how to change it using greasemonkey. At home, my in-game time is very intermittent (with the new lil kiddo and all :).

 

 

In game, I feel like vote map made for lazy admins. Admins used to chat about maps, come in, look at the map history and try to keep the feel going good. Now its just votemap -- and it makes me feel like most of the admins need to go up to the top of this forum and read the post Mookie has stickied. Mapcycles, mapvote, etc. is for when there aren't any admins on. We should be able to do much better than that when admins are in game. Still, I've gotten chewed out for avoiding the "map vote" by certain admins; and so I generally just leave when the map is going to suck and one of them are on.

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I'd stop by the forums more, but the new theme sticks out like a sore thumb at work; which is typically when I hung out here; and I haven't figured out how to change it using greasemonkey. At home, my in-game time is very intermittent (with the new lil kiddo and all :).

Feast your looking orbs upon this:

 

You can "businessify" GC's site pretty easily if you're using Firefox.

1. Adblock the rank images.

2. Go to Tools -> Options, click the "Colors" button. Uncheck "allow pages to choose their own colors". Change the link colors to your preference (I use black and white for a total bw conversion).

3. Hide signatures.

4. Stay on GC's site all day. :)

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