server strictness suggestions.

[dobby_ashy]

Hi all.
I'm writing this post to try and raise some awareness and give a suggestion which could help the server greatly.
Recently, many people including myself have realised that the amount of builders and veterans getting demoted is far too great. Over the past 2 weeks, 9 builders/veterans have appealed for there demotions. Though this might not seem much, they are the people who appealed, so this could be a considerable amount higher. Builder and veterans are very privileged to have the commands that we have. kicking, banning and draw commands are being used way to much, needlessly and pointlessly. This is mainly due to careless people being promoted. Im not saying all people are careless and abuse commands, but lately many have been.

My suggestion is to put a questionnaire/introduction/statement in place, to help ops determine how mature people are, and if they may be suitable for the builder rank. This might not be a great way to determine if people are suitable for the builder rank, but im sure it will help to give some indication. if a guest builds a promotion worthy build, the op asks the guest to fill out a questionnaire on the forums. This method can also me used as an introduction for people on the forums. This idea may not be the best but I believe it can help the server.

This post is simply an idea that I have thought, I hope you take my idea or points into consideration. Any constructive criticism, suggestions or questions are more than welcome. Thank you for your time.

Ash
(sorry of any spelling/punctuation mistakes)

[cdferg]

I don't think a swarm of guests on the forums is going to be a good thing, but thanks for sharing your concerns Dobby. I, like you, wish there was something we could do as a prevention.

[theytookourjobs]

i agree with dobby, there have been many builder/veteran demotion recently, i know we have had this discussion numerous times before, but something has to be done about this, if we do not take action now it will just continue to happen time and time again.
I know there are good builders/veterans who do not abuse their powers what so ever, but we need more than just a strict warning of the consequences about abusing their commands after they leave world "school", something that could help keep us aware of possible command abuse.
I am tired of seeing ranked players being demoted and or banned.
like i said before dobby, i don't think the intro would be very affective having guests have to make an account, introduce themselves, get approved all to be promoted at least in this form, we could possibly alter it somehow.

[jxfuller]

I heard that one point that the reason it is fairly easy to get builder rank is because there were complaints and people saying that it was too hard getting ranked on this server, so they would just go to another server.

What you are suggesting would possibly just revert it back to that problem.

Also, I think what you are suggesting would only reduce the problem for the simple fact that there would be less guests getting builder rank, not necessarily because of having to fill out a questionnaire/introduction.

[dobby_ashy]

No, my idea is not to reduce builders purposely or make guests leave the server, it is simply a way to make sure the right builders get promoted. so many builders and vets have been demoted/banned for abusing commands and breaking the rules. This method is a way of getting to know the guest before they have the ability to use the commands. I'd also disagree with the fact that people say its too hard to get ranked. I have heard many ops+ saying that the standards of promotion worth builds had fallen over time.
Im not saying people shouldn't be promoted or less people should, im just trying to point out a more careful way and reduce the hassle of replying to demotion appeals, getting server evidence and figures in the future and possible make the server more enjoyable for everyone, as people wont need to bother with dealing with demotions. less people will need to be demoted.

[Hafnium]

"We have too many demotions and bans of ranked players" isn't a problem to be solved, its a non-consequential statistic. If anything, its a symptom of some other problem.

Suggestion: If builders and veterans don't want to be banned and demoted, they should make sure they know and follow our rules. If people are being banned and demoted improperly, or if our rules are too draconian, address that.

We're not making it harder for people to be included. If you do that, sure you'll see a decline in demotions, but only because there will be a decline in promotions. That's a shitty way to solve a problem.

As to Dobby's suggestion:

We tried this once, in some form. We had mandatory trips to the school map for new builders. It killed our promo rate, between promotees being uninterested and ops not wanting to deal with it. In the end, dealing with the appeals takes less time.

[dobby_ashy]

It was just a suggestion, but i think there should be change soon. I think that if it carries on the way it is, it could get out of hand or just plain stupid. Having to demote builders and veterans shouldnt be needed. The snowball has started rolling and its only going to get bigger. Anyone have any other suggestions?

[Ollieboy]

It's not really a snowball at all. There has been constant punishment for the offenders. Minecraft just has a huge component of people who like the fuck up the game for everyone else. There is nothing we can do about it. If builders fuck up, we can't give them more chances or anything, just remember there are PLENTY of builders still going, not being shit.

[Xesdra]

As for the original post, like everyone else is saying, a questionnaire would just decrease the number of builders, certainly catching a few would-be griefers, but hindering other would-be builders in the process (technical difficulties, account registration problems, etc.)

It was just a suggestion, but i think there should be change soon. I think that if it carries on the way it is, it could get out of hand or just plain stupid. Having to demote builders and veterans shouldnt be needed. The snowball has started rolling and its only going to get bigger. Anyone have any other suggestions?

The effect isn't really a snowball, more of a near-constant, with maybe around 10-20% (I have no idea) of builders being demoted out of everyone promoted. Having to demoted anyone SHOULDN'T be needed, but dumb lack of perfect world....

[dobby_ashy]

I was only trying to create a discussion that has been brought up most probably many times before. There will never be a stop to it, but you can reduce numbers. I also put "any other suggestions" to try and draw other ideas. I still think something should change. 10-20% (even though it may not be dead on) is still pretty high. Another thing to highlight is the more responsible commands, e.g ban/freeze/kick. These are still getting abused i understand that it would be time consuming for a questionnaire or may cause technical difficulties, but the idea of this thread is to weigh up other options and people opinions.
Do you see where im coming from?

[Ollieboy]

There isn't anything we can do for the better. People are shitty and will mess up, and get punished, and it is a case of some ruining it for all. There are many good vets and good builders, and we really shouldn't be trying to help builders who clearly just wanna play around with draw commands.

All the mature and good players are going to SMP these days, leaving people who can't afford it/can't pay for it online/shitheads to go for freebuild, and that is something that we can't change.

[xKoreaNx]

Yeah this is just people not listening, really.

1/2 of the demotees I've seen have been arrogant, rude, and/or raged in all caps after being demoted.
The other half that was demoted didn't understand english very well, honestly.

We can tell them to not abuse draw commands and the like, but we can't MAKE them not abuse their commands (Not right now at least). There will always be some guy who runs around making giant bookcase ellipsoids everywhere, even if we tell them several times not to.

The same can be said for the builder/vet trolls. We can try to tell them to be polite, respect the community, etc, but people who don't want to listen will not listen.

It's not a perfect system as far as I can tell, nothing is, but if the idiots are being weeded out (In any way, demotion or otherwise), it's working somewhat.