An Actual Open Discussion On The Culture Killing Armageddon

We've got plans that are certainly better than what's going on now. If our ideals are shitty, then the status quo is abysmal. If you want ArmageddonMUD to continue on its way towards being a glorified meta-chatroom, then by all means carry on!

I tried making an account called hey hey with the email opendiscussion to talk over on the GDB. It wasn't accepted. But here you are. Who's more cliquey again?

Sure you're never going to be part of the gang here when you're trying vehemently not to. It's pretty obvious that you don't want to. For comparison, I've had several accounts on the GDB and never had any success getting in really (all tied to my account, else I would have used one for an opendiscussion staff love yonder) despite a reasonable amount of trying. If you don't have very many posts you tend to be treated very condencendingly for starters.

i agree entirely with the bolded sections.

in respect to the second bolded part, i think that these boards are a useful endeavor in that they allow for a discussion of opinions on a matter. this previously was not possible -- the Arm boards put the narrative in staff control which allowed them to shut down and avoid talking about issues that they felt were embarassing to them, or call them out on issues. it also was subject to moderation by staff and certain favored players alike with no accountability. certain posters were very, very good at being as big of a condescending prick as possible to elicit a response that they knew would get the other posters moderated and shut down discussion.

i'm wary and protective of the boards because of it. i don't appreciate people trying to shut down discussion with tone policing or implying that there's some forced narrative because someone had the audacity to post their opinion and add content to a board. if someone wants to post a thread about how fine and great Arm is this week, they can do that. if you want to post a thread with an essay on how you think people like the OP and the discord server crew are ruining the game, go for it. but don't be upset when you get roasted because you're not on the GDB, just like you don't seem to mind roasting people who you disagree with.

See, here's the thing. Let's forget about the Copper War, the greatness that was once called Kurac or volcanoes dropping from the sky, let's go with something player driven. Let's go with The Great Roc hunt; would something like that even be possible today? It's moreso a rhetorical question, because the answer is No. Because if it was, it would've happened several times over by now. There's this thing called consistency. You set a tone and you follow it. The tone has been set and that's what people expect. When those things don't happen, people leave. People leave and come back, see it's not the same, leave again. It becomes a revolving door, eventually though the door will stop turning and people will stop coming through. No amount of votes, inviting friends/spouses what have you will help. It'll be a diminishing return. Armageddon set a very high bar for itself, some of us want that back.

So we can drop the "I don't know what's wrong with you, the game is just great for me" styled gaslighting. That narrative has been over for some time now and as long as some people keep it up, the retention problem will continue. Even if that were true: the game is great for you, there's something wrong with us that's another potential problem i.e. what are you getting that other people aren't? Staff support? Some other kind of goodies? I don't know...but when that's thrown out there, it certainly can be taken that way and honestly? That yarn has been spun for faaaar to long.

And if there are plenty of people that disagree with the status quo but are silent. How would staff know? Very strange retorts, it's almost like a lawyer throwing out an "OBJECTION!" because the examination is getting too hot and heavy. But self examination is a good thing. It's like Armageddon doesn't want to look in the mirror and it definitely doesn't want to look in the mirror with it's players. That's a very bad thing. So to go back to Bitter's original question, the answer is pretty simple: It's denial. The culture of denial has to stop.

While the title was a little Click-baity, the idea behind it was a good one and one worth discussion. But then again...Armageddon doesn't have that many idea people these days does it?

Guilty as charged.

Yes, definitely. That's one of the reasons I get annoyed at useless reminders about how the staff used to be players or how "the staff" isn't a monolith or what have you. The game has been horribly mismanaged. Who is on staff or if there is a diversity of opinion there is irrelevant to the discussion of how the staff should be running things.

Since the last time I clarified myself was a page ago, I'll say it again here. (Clarification: This is not directed at your post, lyse) The people I call cliquey retards view role playing as an OOC social activity. They use metagaming, OOC harassment, and staff power to suppress role playing they don't like, and they vehemently hate people who "role play without permission." This is the culture that has currently gotten a stranglehold over Arm and, in what is obviously my opinion due to the fact I'm saying it, that is the main thing killing Arm.

I'm curious: are you saying the culture of denial is the main thing killing Arm, or just contributing to its death?

If she wants a rematch I'm not going to turn her down. The time she wastes trying to harass me into silence is time she could have used shouting down someone who can't call her out for being a self-contradicting, dishonest cunt. I'm providing a public service to people I'll never meet.

In a (rare) moment of persona sobriety, I'm going to post something sincere. Without the normal rhetoric.

Regarding the airing of dirty laundry as it's been suggested on the alt-shadowboard:

Posted by Dar:

I, ppurg, Chairman of the Armali Fanclub, being of sound mind and body, do henceforth declare that my dirty laundry be exposed as it exists, to the benefits of the ideals of transparency and fairness, so that the ongoing dialogue regarding the dysfunction of the current staff-player relationship may be better understood.

The excuse Nergal types is, "We don't want to embarrass the player." Nergal, you cannot embarrass me, no matter what you do.

And what's more? I detest these accusations that my logs of interactions with the Grand Nyr have been edited or faked to the extent of making him seem even more like an asshole: a feat which I assure you is humanly impossible. The same goes with every other staffer who has seen fit to misdirect, insult, or lie to me; I had no motive to make you look worse than you already were. My only goal is to give as good as I get.

Every single log I have posted has been legitimate. Period. Every single one. No edits, no changes, nothing.

Any staff member who would hint to the contrary should be crucified by his peers, as they have access to the log itself and are fully capable of checking if the log is faked or not. I'll mind you that it's also impossible (as far as I know) to fake the fetching of an email from the Outlook website front-end, of which should these accusations continue I would be happy to demonstrate that the automated emails I received match the logs I posted word for word.

You would rather sew a lie of discrediting these true failures of your administration rather than face it like a respectable individual would? For that, you get no respect because you deserve none. It is your own actions that have birthed the trend of outcries to your policies. Do you really believe otherwise? Do you assume the MUD community is so filled with pedantic, schizoid individuals that overwhelmingly every grievance is the player's fault, not yours? Are you going to answer for your own failures, the failures of your peers? Or are you content to continue to pretend that they don't matter? We as players are forced to answer for our failures... Even our imaginary failures have been reason enough for harsh punishments in the past month.

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Now, regarding the actual open discussion on the culture killing Armageddon:

These are not demands, but rather a member of the loyal opposition's roadmap to the solution of a serious problem.

Admit that your dialogues with players have been critically harsh, needlessly accusatory, and inflammatory. They do to you the most serious wound that you have — you are unrespectable. Apologize sincerely. You will find that we will accept a sincere apology with the same good faith we hope you'd display for us. For you to continue as though these dialogues never happened is an insult: not only directly to the individuals who suffered from it; but also to the intelligence of everyone who has seen them and know them to be true.

You cannot hide behind a bureaucratic system and expect your individualism to shine through, absolving you of the black-stains caused by your peers; the concept is wishful and ignorant. A member of staff is a member of staff is a member of staff, and the staff is stained by two decades of bad blood. Apologize sincerely. Until you do, you are — at best, implicit; and, at worst, complacent — in your collective reputation. This gesture of good faith will allow for the healing that your own players are (in oh so many words) begging for.

Admit that Nyr was a toxic, bad administrator. Declare he has been removed with prejudice. Post the SMF admin-panel log of his forum account being banned. I shouldn't really have to explain this.

And (if you've reached this far), start moving forward by auditing yourself. Have a serious discussion with your own staff team, see if any one of them are burned out or disillusioned with the responsibility they've signed up for. Make a declaration that from here forward, the staff team are to be the directors, not the executioners; and with that directive responsibility comes a mandate of professionalism that should not be broken in any case, at the risk of being kicked out of the team. Make that clause readily obvious to the playerbase, and trust us to inform you when a breach happens.

I do not want to hear excuses about improvements in the past few months. Recent improvements only half-allude to wrongdoing, and ultimately they reject any implication of it when pressed upon. Until you deal with the blood pooled around your ankles, your floor will never be clean. No amount of passive improvement will be enough to expect in good-faith that the abuses of before will not happen again; you require an active, sincere display of remorse for it to even be considered. I could point you to dozens of scientifically documented instances of this psychological phenomenon.

These aren't meritless suggestions. These are steps that my own "RPI" community (which is bigger than yours ) took when we were suffering from our own collective failures. A year ago, we were practically dead; and by following the steps I've outlined above, we have thrived back. I know for a fact they work; we have done every step I've suggested. On the off-chance you're legitimately curious, I'd be glad to tell you about it Admin-to-Admin.

I also know for a fact that Armageddon can get back up to 70, 80 peak players. There's a culture of love for the game which is being killed through this animosity, and too many people have been burned for us to all turn our heads and pretend it does not exist. No matter how much effort is put into the game, no matter how many code improvements are worked on — if the outlying barrier stopping a player from loving the game like they used to still stands, then none of it matters; the player will remain outside.

I'll request that someone quote me on the alt-shadowboard, as this post has been carefully constructed so as to not break any rules. If the administrative body would discard my efforts here at resolving the issues of the game as needless antagonism or trolling, well... that would only prove my point.