Blaise your points regarding the server make total sense. It's not the points themselves that are the issue, it's how players express those points. Whether through insulting people that have different opinions or being passive aggressive when suggesting things. It's all in the delivery and people here are not doing anyone a favor by being aggressive and threatening.
I'm sure the community would appreciate some more civility from us sinners (of whom I am the chief.) So without arguing anything in this thread, I'd just like to say well said @Blaise and I for one will try to conduct myself more maturely or avoid debates altogether. I'm just as tired of it as everyone else.
If one honestly and truly wants discussion and values other people opinions, even those who have different playstyles, you should be extremely careful how you choose your words. Even a feint implication of or similarity to a put-down can cause the discussion to derail, whether it is towards an individual, or a playstyle. It can also have the invisible damage of someone leaving the discussion without responding because they don't want to deal with it, and perhaps most importantly, for others to not even join the discussion because they don't want to become a target of even minor attacks on their image/identity by sharing an opinion. It shouldn't be that easy to derail or discourage discussion, but it is. You can even do it by mistake. If you're saying in your head right now something similar to: "Well, people shouldn't be so sensitive", then I agree with you but now we are talking about fighting the battle of 'People are too sensitive' and not 'We value discussion concerning UO:R'. A topic can tangent that easily. If what you truly value(and not simply: 'What I want people to think I value') is everybody's opinion and perspective on the experience the server offers, try to value the input of anybody as sacred and something you want to take all steps towards encouraging and all steps away from scaring off. Thanks for reading EDIT: grammar
Heres an example: PlayerA: Macers are too powerful in pvp, they drain your stamina and then you can't move, that's fucking OP PlayerB: Macers don't need to be nerfed, you're just new and don't know how to fight it. Carry red potions and you'll be fine. PlayerA's response is probably 100% correct. The problem is, the part of that sentence PlayerA is going to be concentrating on is the part where PlayerB said he was new. It is probably true but he isn't going to like that PlayerB said it. He is going to be thinking of ways to combat that attack on his identity. He might find way to insult PlayerB or discredit PlayeerB's authority on the subject. The point is, the discussion isn't about macers anymore. A more careful response that value's PlayerA's input despite disagreeing with him on this particular subject or having a different experience than him: PlayerA: Macers are too powerful in pvp, they drain your stamina and then you can't move, that's fucking OP PlayerB: I carry red pots to combat the stamina drain and find macer's to be not as powerful as other templates. I came up with this example on the fly, I hope it made sense.
*raises hand* Guilty as charged. I'll admit that most of my debate points are snarky and juvenile at best. I often voice my opinion because I think it's better to speak up rather than stay silent on some topics so people don't feel alone. But to be honest, if things continue exactly as they are my personal game experience would not change. This shard rocks. And while I tip my hat to @Chris for the awesome content here, I must say it is in greater part because of the community that I've stayed. Thanks everyone!
Some of the behavior I've witnessed both in this form and in game has had me asking myself... do kids play this game? Because if not... who the hell are these adults acting like this? It's not a UO thing, it's an internet thing. We're in a low to no accountability zone and acting as humans do in that type of environment... ...as ourselves. Good post OP but, I think the majority of your target audience either doesn't read these forums or won't comprehend any of it.
I have been banned from #Renaissance for a year... WTF HAPPENED! it was supposed to get better LOLLOLLOLLOLLOLLOLLOL
This is very very accurate. A great deal of people will attempt to place me in the role of a god here, or use the "It's Telamon's server so he can do what he wants". Neither of these things is even close to the truth. I am simply a caretaker of this world and this community. My job is to make sure Renaissance is not a race, but a marathon. Focusing on the long term life and stability of the server. Without players working with me day in and day out the server would not be what it is today. Renaissance is the culmination of all my experience playing UO, refined by the opinions, wants, desires, suggestions, recommendations and worries of the players and other staff. Every valid opinion is worthy of discussion and like Blaise said sometimes these will get heated. But in the end it is because we care about this place a great deal. No player should ever hesitate in taking the time to voice their opinion on an aspect of the server that concerns them, or something that wish to see improved. However you should always understand this is a volunteer project and the wheels move slowly. As long as the statements are constructive and your honest opinion they are always welcome. However.... Fear mongering, accusations and conspiracy theories have no place in this community. We go out of our way here to be very transparent, to explain what we are going to do and why. We never spring negative patches on our players. If we are going to change the hue palette available on a dye tub, we will make a public post a month ahead of time to warn the players. Development on Renaissance has followed a consistent path for 3 years now. And while some people will see a lack of action on some things as a negative, this is not always the case. The job that the players entrust the staff with here on Renaissance is to be very careful with the world. To think hard about any change, to verify that this change will improve the server for long into the future. And make sure that the change is well thought out and not tinkered with once applied. Things like all the vitrol over; "triple boxing" (Who is actually using 3 computers?) "Tamers" "Trammel" "Pet Skill Loss" etc... Creating an environment where people are discouraged from playing here based on your comments is never good for a server. We welcome everyone to have concerns with the health of the server. However making statements like "The server is broken because *tamers*" does not help development, it does not help new players and it generally leads to the negative environment that you are supposedly trying to resolve in the first place. As a server we survived almost 6 months of daily DDOS attacks. We are growing faster than ever with a 25% increase in new players in the last month. We have plans to address the players concerns, but you have to understand things take time. Playing on 1,2,3 accounts is completely within the rules. We will not be trying to tell players how they can play as long as they follow the rules. If people can manage to play 3 accounts while fishing, farming, mining, camping house decays or some other creative endeavor we will allow it as long as it is with the rules, and as long as razor is used. The method in which platinum is rewarded for champions is already in the process of being re-written. Players will see a change to this system very soon. Pet skill loss will return in the upcoming patch, with some small tweaks to account for tamers using pets in faction activity. Accusations of Trammel will continue no matter what the staff does. Renaissance is a server with endless possibilities based on the risk based Felucca ruleset. That does not mean we will avoid fixing things that punish players for a lack of understanding of a 15 year old game. To survive into the future we must be accessible to both new and old players. And 99% of the time we focus on education when trying to address these aspects. Renaissance has the best community on any free shard. Every new player comments on how welcoming we are as a group. If you feel the conversation in IRC is getting out of hand. Report it to a moderator. If you feel that a post on the forums is off topic, inflammatory or breaks the posted forum rules. Use the report feature. In the end we are all in this together. In closing, some humor. Disclaimer: Random internet meme does not represent the staff's opinion on the tamer playstyle.
Conflict is necessary for UO. Without it people would get bored and quit. People play UO for the unexpected, if you weren't looking for this experience you would be off playiing WoW. I do believe the line should be drawn at personal attacks and counterproductive behavior, but conflict is the sign of a healthy server. "Toxic" is one of those buzzwords that you can use to spot someone who probably needs thicker skin. This is particularly true in Gideon's case, he's cultivated his share of hostility. As for the recent discussion involving tamers, I feel that it was completely civil. Civil discussion is another sign of health.
Honestly, aside from who killed who pvp debates, things have been pretty level for a couple months or so.
Thanks for that post, Chris. I haven't been here too long so it's the first time I've gotten to read something like a mission statement from you. It just further confirms that this shard is the best player-run shard out there. Thanks!
Those daily IRC fights get pretty bad pretty quickly and they monopolize the chat room, discouraging and drowning out any other discussion about UOR. Still, they ARE about UOR in their own way so its hard to complain about until people start making IRL attacks. Still, I think they need to be moved to #Uorpvp sooner. EDIT: I'm not trying to blame anybody, I know how hard it can be when someone says something negative about you, it's pretty hard to let its accuracy sit there unopposed and accepted by anyone who might read it. I don't even know what I can offer instead other than saying that its not true but asking for the conversation to be moved to private chat or #uorpvp or whatever. I have seen people do this sometimes and its very appreciated and respected.
