So, I have been playing on this server for a little while now, I like this server, it's not as toxic as people have said it was (VSH at least) and I have a lot of fun. However, there is a significant problem this server has, and that problem is the Admin system.
The fact that you can get banned/muted with no warning, no notification even if you are not even online is ridiculous. A player could be playing enjoying themselves, and have missed a rule, or maybe even misinterpreted it, and now they can not speak or chat, are slain, or maybe even banned, all that stands to do is cause confusion and people to leave the server. The admin system feels like it is run of fear, you do not know who is admin, you do not know what counts as rule-breaking in some cases and hell sometimes you may not even know you have been punished till you get on the next day, it's silly.
Most tf2 servers have a warning than action systems for a reason, and they work well, and that's without the in-game player vote menu skial has yet Admisn seem really keen on telling people not to use it. This system needs to be adapted, it is incredibly player unfriendly the way it works now and removes so much communication that could help players learn what they did wrong and why it was wrong, not just blind punishment.
Another issue is the rather strict nature some admins treat rules.
An example is the aforementioned vote menu. You can vote to slay, vote ban, and vote mute all for 30 minutes. A reasonable amount of time that players have the power to use. Yet you are only allowed to use it in certain situations. If you have an open vote system let the players use it, don't punish people for using it in ways you do not like. Most "Vote abuse" incidents are in good fun between consenting parties and in the event, someone is actually trying to abuse it 9/10 times the vote won't pass. The server is not a hivemind and the vote requirements are close to unanimous, so the server tends to vote against unfair votes, and if it does get through, it's only 30 min, not a significant amount of time, and more than enough to contact an admin if needed. There is no need to punish people for using it, if the vote passes it means the server agrees and it was a consensus. Punishing people for this is ridiculous, if you do not trust them to use the hammer, do not give them the hammer, don't just tell them what nails they can and can not hit,
Another example of the treating of the rules is "Spam"
You have a voting menu for this, you have private mutes for this, you have a goddamn custom !ignore system for this. I get having to have an admin mute if it's consistent or if people are leaving but if people are enjoying the music/sound/movie etc, then there is no need to punish. Lots of people like DJing, playing podcasts, sound clips, whatever, and plenty of people like to listen to them. If they do not they can !ignore mute or vote mute. If those fail to work and the sound becomes a problem, then the admin should intervene, but not as soon as someone tries or if admins join into people having fun.
In conclusion, Skial is a much better server than I thought it would be and I do love a lot of the community and how fun VSH is. But the administration has a few problems that I am hoping this post brings attention to. I am not calling out anyone, in particular, I just think things can be better and I know others feel the same way. I hope to see everyone's opinions on the topics and examples I brought forward and discussion ensues.
TLDR; Do you think the Admins system fair, and if not, what problems do you have with it currently?
The fact that you can get banned/muted with no warning, no notification even if you are not even online is ridiculous. A player could be playing enjoying themselves, and have missed a rule, or maybe even misinterpreted it, and now they can not speak or chat, are slain, or maybe even banned, all that stands to do is cause confusion and people to leave the server. The admin system feels like it is run of fear, you do not know who is admin, you do not know what counts as rule-breaking in some cases and hell sometimes you may not even know you have been punished till you get on the next day, it's silly.
Most tf2 servers have a warning than action systems for a reason, and they work well, and that's without the in-game player vote menu skial has yet Admisn seem really keen on telling people not to use it. This system needs to be adapted, it is incredibly player unfriendly the way it works now and removes so much communication that could help players learn what they did wrong and why it was wrong, not just blind punishment.
Another issue is the rather strict nature some admins treat rules.
An example is the aforementioned vote menu. You can vote to slay, vote ban, and vote mute all for 30 minutes. A reasonable amount of time that players have the power to use. Yet you are only allowed to use it in certain situations. If you have an open vote system let the players use it, don't punish people for using it in ways you do not like. Most "Vote abuse" incidents are in good fun between consenting parties and in the event, someone is actually trying to abuse it 9/10 times the vote won't pass. The server is not a hivemind and the vote requirements are close to unanimous, so the server tends to vote against unfair votes, and if it does get through, it's only 30 min, not a significant amount of time, and more than enough to contact an admin if needed. There is no need to punish people for using it, if the vote passes it means the server agrees and it was a consensus. Punishing people for this is ridiculous, if you do not trust them to use the hammer, do not give them the hammer, don't just tell them what nails they can and can not hit,
Another example of the treating of the rules is "Spam"
You have a voting menu for this, you have private mutes for this, you have a goddamn custom !ignore system for this. I get having to have an admin mute if it's consistent or if people are leaving but if people are enjoying the music/sound/movie etc, then there is no need to punish. Lots of people like DJing, playing podcasts, sound clips, whatever, and plenty of people like to listen to them. If they do not they can !ignore mute or vote mute. If those fail to work and the sound becomes a problem, then the admin should intervene, but not as soon as someone tries or if admins join into people having fun.
In conclusion, Skial is a much better server than I thought it would be and I do love a lot of the community and how fun VSH is. But the administration has a few problems that I am hoping this post brings attention to. I am not calling out anyone, in particular, I just think things can be better and I know others feel the same way. I hope to see everyone's opinions on the topics and examples I brought forward and discussion ensues.
TLDR; Do you think the Admins system fair, and if not, what problems do you have with it currently?
