Declined A detailed discussion on server mute.

[[SSoH] Chuker34]

The server mute works mildly well, here I am about to both rant and show you the pros and cons of it, but first, the rant.



My story starts out with me wanting a regular 24/7 server, I used to play skial so I quickly find a turbine one and join. I am glad to see it is sv_pure 0 and add it to favs. Fast forward a few months, I am now a regular in this server and most people are friendly to me, or at least don't have anything against me. But almost every day I get muted for using my mic, the reason? Not mic spam but just the fact that when I plug my mic in it needs to be adjusted, so I do so, but every so often it gets banged around and I need to readjust it. Before I realize this, people try to vote mute me and sometimes succeed, more than often yes. Never once have I spammed, in fact most of the time it is the donators of your servers that end up vote muting me because they get mad for some reason or another, or just don't bother to tell me that my mic is messed up and know I, or anybody else, cannot retaliate. It is seriously a five second to a minute fix but everybody just assumes I know it sucks (when I don't) and end up muting me... And no, I do not have the money to get a new 50$ mic as money is tight as it is.



Anyways, rant over let's get back on topic.



The pros of server mute are that it does get rid or REAL spammers by chat or through the mic

Also the fact that muting someone can make them want to leave the server if they are both spamming and doing something else.

The cons are many.



For one, the gag feature disallows teamwork if somebody such as me gets muted for my mic souly, this could be fixed by having mute and gag be different features.



Another con is that people get mad at a certain individual and vote to mute them, even though they have no reason, people vote yes to almost anything.



And the final con is that TF2 already has a client side mute, no need to mute someone to people who want to hear him, just mute him for yourself and your done, no more spam / "bad" mics.



A removal of the mute feature could be implemented and instead replaced by a pop up telling someone how to client side mute, it is there for a reason. The only person who should be able to mute is admins because if they are admins, they should be able to tell who is right, keep a cool head and make final judgment. And yes, I do enjoy these servers but people wanting to mute others for reasons such as, getting mad, not being a polite person and giving a little warning before they do so such as " hey XXXXXXX your mic sounds bad" or "hey XXXXCXCSXXX, stop spamming trade requests or we may mute you". And then there is people who want to vote ban certain people, mostly because they get mad (not once have I seen a hacker or someone who should be banned in one of your servers), but this ends up failing because of the high percentage of people required.



Anyways, if you did not want to read that riveting tale of love and loss, here is its abbreviated form.



"TF2 has a client side mute for a reason, people abuse certain vote menu features, admins should be the only ones allowed to mute and good job, keep improving because that is all I see you guys doing."

 

[KillerZebra]

no

 

[P Lash]

I suggest you first find an empty server, or one with very few people in it, and then test out your mic. You can always go back to a populated server after that.

 

[KillerZebra]

I suggest you first find an empty server, or one with very few people in it, and then test out your mic. You can always go back to a populated server after that.

or do what everyone else does and go and use the built in "test microphone" button under options

 

[[SSoH] Chuker34]

or do what everyone else does and go and use the built in "test microphone" button under options

I do, but even that does not work as well as useing it. Every once in a while players will tell me it is bad and ask me to "fix" it then tell me if it is better...those players are mostly my friends though.

 

[Isil]

I have the same problem with my mic at present, and I have just stopped using it until I can afford a new one.

This is probably the best route if you do not wish to incite pathetic neckbeard rage

 

[MilleNX]

I was in one of the games that ended up muting you, and I do feel is undeserved for you to end up muted (although the noise distortion was disturbing =P). Even so, removing mute altogether is a bad idea because of the myriad of spammers it would galvanize.

 

[wokmage]

I would suggest something like this: http://www.amazon.com/Plantronics-G...5XT4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1335501562&sr=8-1, which is the headset I use and is super comfortable as well as giving me absolutely no problems with the mic.

 

[butterfingersman]

I would suggest something like this: http://www.amazon.com/Plantronics-G...5XT4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1335501562&sr=8-1, which is the headset I use and is super comfortable as well as giving me absolutely no problems with the mic.

(Off Topic: I love that headset sooo much.)
On topic: No. We all need votemutes to deal with real spammers and annoyances. It's always better to try that votemute, and if that doesn't work then call an admin. If we didn't have votemute, many admins would be called out for minor offences and it would take much longer to get things dealt with.

 

[[SSoH] Chuker34]

I would suggest something like this: http://www.amazon.com/Plantronics-G...5XT4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1335501562&sr=8-1, which is the headset I use and is super comfortable as well as giving me absolutely no problems with the mic.

That is cheap...I may try to save up some extra money for it...so long 1$ a day soda budget.

 

[Ozone]

yeah, no. Some people need to shut up for obvious reasons and the votemute is the perfect tool for that if there's no admin around who can do it for you.

 

[pr1mus da scr1pt]

The cons are many.

the rule is that if someone finds you annoying; it's justified to use the votemute, even though what people find 'annoying' is a slippery slope, so every votemute is justified if you dig hard enough.

i agree with the cons though, the gag alongside the mute seems to be uncalled for (also it makes it harder to play the game), even if someone isn't communicating; tired of that one scout killing you constantly? votemuting will teach him! besides, there's a client-mute, i encourage people to use the client-mute, give them instructions when they obliviously type '!votemute' constantly, most of the people on the server aren't even aware a client-mute option even exists, and usually can't be arsed following directions and go with the route that involves less mouseclicks.

votemute gets treated like "all-purpose problem-solver", people just spam it endlessly because they can, and nobody will begrudge them for it because people don't care. the system isn't ideal.

if someone wants to block off all sorts of communication from one player, it's subjective, and should thus stay with that one person. you have the means to do that (besides chat, but you don't have to read it, i know i don't start votegags against every illiterate dipshit, or kids that exclusively speak in foreign-language, as well as people who generally say the damnedest things that irk me the fuck out) and that's cool and all, but trying to make it so that the entire server HAS to ignore one person is just stupid. sure, i might get annoyed by one person for some reason (there's a kid on the server who has a lisp and it sounds like a tea kettle blowing steam when he pronounces words with the letter "S" in them), what i do is a client-mute, what i don't do is start some votemute because i'm personally annoyed by someone, taking advantage of the fact that the server is mostly filled with "hurr 4"-droids just to add a gag on top of a mute is just overkill and unnecessary. some people might not get annoyed by that detail and enjoy listening to this guy, i don't understand where people get the audacity to start a !votemute on an occasion like that.

I suggest you first find an empty server, or one with very few people in it, and then test out your mic. You can always go back to a populated server after that.

it isn't like having a very good mic means you won't get votemuted anymore, some kids just don't like people talking over the mic period.

yeah, no. Some people need to shut up for obvious reasons and the votemute is the perfect tool for that if there's no admin around who can do it for you.

"perfect" implies flawlessness, the current system has flaws up the ass (as you could read above).

i'm still a contender that votemute does just that, mute people; people who get muted (mostly for little to no reason), should still be able to communicate. if you afraid that people who will start spamming up the chatbox out of spite after getting muted, then just report the guy for spam and get him banned for a few days, keeping !votemute in it's current form arguably does just as much bad (if not more) than it does good.

 

[Tomatketchup]

This isn't a problem with votemute really, it's just the community. And you can't do much against the community unless you rule them with an iron-hand. As earlier stated, test your mic beforehand on other servers or with the in-game option. Your case is a very individual one whereas general micspam is a much more broad issue, so I'll have to disagree with ya, chap.

Also pr1mus, people don't gag you because they're "hurr 4"-droids, but because you're annoying as shit. :P

 

[pr1mus da scr1pt]

Also pr1mus, people don't gag you because they're "hurr 4"-droids, but because you're annoying as shit. :p

with a stance like that, everybody who gets votegagged must be annoying as shit, that wouldn't exclude the numerous times you've been votegagged as well (your words), right? it's either that or the screaming over the mic (and other weird ass noises you produce) gets to them. (although as of late, you haven't been used your mic)

wasn't talking about "hurr 4"-droids applying to me specifically, they apply to everybody on the server, i don't even recall a single vote that didn't get more 'Yes' votes than 'No' votes.

 

[Tomatketchup]

with a stance like that, everybody who gets votegagged must be annoying as shit, that wouldn't exclude the numerous times you've been votegagged as well (your words), right? it's either that or the screaming over the mic (and other weird ass noises you produce) gets to them. (although as of late, you haven't been used your mic)

If you make random noises in your mic, intentional or not, you'll most likely be considered annoying. That includes me, but I've stopped making random noises into my mic because I've been trying to grow up as of lately.

Also, people have been trying to voteban me, not votegag me. Frustrated teenagers want extreme forms of vengeance, and votegags won't satisfy that as I can still play on the server.

 

[pr1mus da scr1pt]

Also, people have been trying to voteban me, not votegag me. Frustrated teenagers want extreme forms of vengeance, and votegags won't satisfy that as I can still play on the server.

i think after a few hours on this server, people become aware that votemutes always pass, and will also 'get to' people. votebans on the other hand, rarely ever pass. that and i do remember a bunch of times where you do get votemuted.

 

[Tomatketchup]

i think after a few hours on this server, people become aware that votemutes always pass, and will also 'get to' people. votebans on the other hand, rarely ever pass. that and i do remember a bunch of times where you do get votemuted.

Yeah, before when I was being a total jackass on the mic, but as I said, I stopped doing that because I want to grow up.

 

[Ozone]

"perfect" implies flawlessness, the current system has flaws up the ass (as you could read above).

i'm still a contender that votemute does just that, mute people; people who get muted (mostly for little to no reason), should still be able to communicate. if you afraid that people who will start spamming up the chatbox out of spite after getting muted, then just report the guy for spam and get him banned for a few days, keeping !votemute in it's current form arguably does just as much bad (if not more) than it does good.

People have flaws, the votemute doesn't.

 

[pkm]

i think after a few hours on this server, people become aware that votemutes always pass

You know, everyone seems to think that but I rarely see it happen that way. I've seen plenty of petty vote mutes fail and I've seen the vast majority of the revenge vote mutes fail. The vote mutes I always see pass though are the ones where the person was truly annoying/distracting/offensive. If someone finds themselves constantly getting vote muted, maybe they should begin pondering if they happen to fall into one of those last 3 categories.

 

[pr1mus da scr1pt]

People have flaws, the votemute doesn't.

seems you haven't read my post, i'll try again:

if somebody is using a microphone that isn't top-notch quality, and that person gets votemuted because there's some background fuzz and feedback, would you agree that the person shouldn't be able to communicate with his team through chat either because he brought it on himself to talk with a microphone that doesn't deliver the best sound quality available?

this situation is more of a technological flaw considering the hardware used is less than optimal, less so than it has anything to do with the person using the microphone, who might just be a swell individual.

You know, everyone seems to think that but I rarely see it happen that way. I've seen plenty of petty vote mutes fail and I've seen the vast majority of the revenge vote mutes fail. The vote mutes I always see pass though are the ones where the person was truly annoying/distracting/offensive. If someone finds themselves constantly getting vote muted, maybe they should begin pondering if they happen to fall into one of those last 3 categories.

i'm not sure what server you play on, but custom servers are plagued by this one specific problem (pretty sure it has something to do with the TF2 custom audience being generally poor).