Ever since the the take over of the Ember Discord server I have watched it go way down hill. From the trolls that want to accuse others of watching porn because there was a legit question of a technical nature, spamming the chat with the bot that is there, to now that the presidential election is over people are calling candidates being like Hitler. This not only is unacceptable but in poor taste, but the Moderator (only one is in the position), the Owner (That I have never seen loged on) and tech support has done nothing to control this. Yes free speech is an important thing, especially in the times we currently live in. I have voiced my opinion on the matter in the serer feedback and how to improve the server and the state of things. But more than likely the people that needed to see it just passed it over and and will do nothing about it. So I will do it here.
The server is poorly ran, as one person said there are "300 people" that are on the server. 3 people, Owner, 1 moderator and one tech support are in a position of authority in this server. This is poor planing and over all insufficient staffing to manage this. Before the question comes as to how I would know, or if I have done this before. Yes I have, on a professional level also. The way that this server should be ran is the owner with at least 2 to 3 assistants that can manage it for him, 4 moderators so that some one can be on on a consistent basis to help maintain the peace or answer questions that may arise. Tech support that can remain at the one person may be 3 at various times of the day so that questions can be answered if some one has them.
If this is followed, it doesn't have to be to the letter, the community will flow in conversation better. Also why hasn't information been going through the community that HAS come from DEV's. Is it that much work for a community leader and his staff can't be bothered to do it? We have left Firefall to come to Ember community because it was fracked off, dont make this community the same way.
If you are going to reply to this, fine reply, but be intelligent in your argument. I already know quite a few people that will remain nameless that agree with me and find the lack of Discord server supervision disturbing. As well as I do. Trolls need not say a damn thing because you will be promptly ignored and put on that list.
Hello Yappy,
Thank you for taking the time to give your feedback both here and on Discord. It is unfortunate to hear that you aren't happy with some of the changes to discord. I will see if I can address at least some of your concerns.
If it seems as though the server is not being monitored I can assure that is far from the case. In addition to the two moderators, I check the server myself multiple times throughout the day and night. At times I pop on quickly (to read literally every line written since my last visit), then leave for a bit. I also spend quite a lot of time online without being visible to everyone that I am there. As of yet, I do not feel that additional moderators or moderation is necessary or beneficial. If and when we feel that time has come we will definitely act on it.
I want to be 100 percent clear when I say that I have been reading all feedback regarding the changes in the Discord server. Since the change to official I have been taking my time watching, listening, and gathering information to get a sense of what rules or format changes (if any) might need to be added or changed. I am also in contact with multiple people who voice their opinions of discord through private messages. I take everyone's feedback into account. In fact I am quite grateful that so many people care enough to be vocal and stay involved.
One thing that is most important to keep in mind is that different people will have different preferences on how discord should be run. Some will prefer more strict rules and more moderation while others will prefer less strict rules and less moderation. Our goal is not to please everyone, as that is literally impossible. Our goal is to create a vibrant, active community where free speech is welcomed. So far I think we are on the road for that.
The rules of both this forum and discord are rather lenient by design. The nature of free speech requires that. We will moderate things like personal attacks and ad hominem, but we will not moderate general interactions. Even some of the relatively awkward or somewhat uncomfortable ones. Ultimately folks will voice their various opinions about many subjects. At times each of us will find ourselves liking what we read, at time it may rub us the wrong way. In either case, these things are allowed as long as they fall within the rules.
I want to add that it is important to understand that a forum and a discord server are very different animals. For better and for worse the conversation flow of a stream of posts on discord is not going to be as structured as a forum with it's very sectioned out format. In many ways that is why we are so pleased to offer both options for our community.
On that note, our discord server currently has no rules on the subject matter that can be discussed in the main lobby. Honestly, this may or may not change at some point in the future. We shall see. For the time being, people discussing everything from other games to world events still falls within the rules as they are written.
In regards to the discord bot, it was implemented specifically to be used. Though I'd agree that there is a line between usage and spam. At one point the bot was purposefully being used in too quick succession by too many people so I asked them to stop spamming the bot, and they did. Otherwise it was being used, not spammed, and so we let it be. When a technical problem appeared with the bot Xeevis disabled it until it can be brought back up to the standards we intend for it.
Now, as for the lack of updates and new information. Well, it has been a while. For that all I can say is that more info is coming soon. So much is going on here that we look forward to sharing. Pretty soon here the new website will drop with some new stuff to talk about.
Hey, I think that the community we have here is amazing and diverse. You are a part of that. I know that sometimes things change in a way that may not fit into our preferences. I hope you stick it out with us through these things. I believe it will be worth it in the long run.
