Posts: 3,217
Threads: 100
Joined: May 2012
Staff roles: Balance Dev
I'm going to go off on a quick tangent to set up for one last thing I would like to address.
I almost exclusively use my Discord for Gaming™, and am in quite a lot of different Discords both related to Discovery and otherwise. Surprising absolutely no-one, many of the Discovery-related servers -- although I left most of the worst offenders years ago -- are, generally speaking, toxic, bitter and quite unpleasant to be in. In contrast, many of the non-Discovery servers are fun places to be. People chat about the latest Monster Hunter game trailers, their struggles with the Elden Ring DLC, their epic D&D character ideas, whatever. Sometimes even the dreaded subject of real-world politics! The pattern that quickly emerges, however, is that the latter group almost always has a zero tolerance policy for asshole behavior, racism, and people will often call out others who get stuck being overly negative.
I lifted a tiny piece of the veil of Orex' internal communications once, and at the time the faction was firmly in the former camp. Negative, bitter, with liberal use of racial slurs. Now, I'm going to give people the benefit of the doubt and say that I don't really think Orex' players are racists. I think, unfortunately, that various Gamer Words get used by people trying to appear Cool and Edgy on the Internet without really thinking about the repercussions of normalizing their use. I would assume that, after this was pointed out when your first official faction creation request was denied, an effort was made to fix this. However, it leaves a bitter taste that's hard to get rid of, and with so much Discovery-related communication having moved from the game chat to Discord text & voice chats, one could cynically assume that the problem wasn't actually addressed, but rather that it has simply moved from places the staff can see to places the staff cannot.
I want to live in a world where Official Factions reflect the very best of what Discovery has to offer. Solid roleplay, high PvP standards that are considerate of "the other side", and perhaps most importantly of all, a welcoming home for (new) players that provides them with community and guidance. Lazily or poorly written infopages can be rewritten, but deeply-rooted toxicity can be much harder to get rid of. So, my question at the end of all this is: did you take that "nit-picking", as Venkman described it, to heart? Can we trust that Orex can tick all those boxes we want an Official Faction to tick?
(07-20-2024, 04:22 PM)Haste Wrote: I'm going to go off on a quick tangent to set up for one last thing I would like to address.
I almost exclusively use my Discord for Gaming™, and am in quite a lot of different Discords both related to Discovery and otherwise. Surprising absolutely no-one, many of the Discovery-related servers -- although I left most of the worst offenders years ago -- are, generally speaking, toxic, bitter and quite unpleasant to be in. In contrast, many of the non-Discovery servers are fun places to be. People chat about the latest Monster Hunter game trailers, their struggles with the Elden Ring DLC, their epic D&D character ideas, whatever. Sometimes even the dreaded subject of real-world politics! The pattern that quickly emerges, however, is that the latter group almost always has a zero tolerance policy for asshole behavior, racism, and people will often call out others who get stuck being overly negative.
I lifted a tiny piece of the veil of Orex' internal communications once, and at the time the faction was firmly in the former camp. Negative, bitter, with liberal use of racial slurs. Now, I'm going to give people the benefit of the doubt and say that I don't really think Orex' players are racists. I think, unfortunately, that various Gamer Words get used by people trying to appear Cool and Edgy on the Internet without really thinking about the repercussions of normalizing their use. I would assume that, after this was pointed out when your first official faction creation request was denied, an effort was made to fix this. However, it leaves a bitter taste that's hard to get rid of, and with so much Discovery-related communication having moved from the game chat to Discord text & voice chats, one could cynically assume that the problem wasn't actually addressed, but rather that it has simply moved from places the staff can see to places the staff cannot.
I want to live in a world where Official Factions reflect the very best of what Discovery has to offer. Solid roleplay, high PvP standards that are considerate of "the other side", and perhaps most importantly of all, a welcoming home for (new) players that provides them with community and guidance. Lazily or poorly written infopages can be rewritten, but deeply-rooted toxicity can be much harder to get rid of. So, my question at the end of all this is: did you take that "nit-picking", as Venkman described it, to heart? Can we trust that Orex can tick all those boxes we want an Official Faction to tick?
As someone who was recently punished for this behavior, I understand where you're coming from. The issue was addressed by leadership and players are making an effort, at a minimum, to keep it out of the game altogether, as we know what precedent that sets. I'm not going to sit here and tell you that it'll be perfect. Nor am I one to make guarantees. As for PvP standards, and roleplay, the members of the faction make it a point to keep fights fair and roleplay properly, both in-game and on forums.
You can trust that @Venkman and I will make every effort to ensure that Orex will "tick those boxes" as you put it, to display what an Official Faction should be. That doesn't mean mistakes won't be made, words won't slip, or people will disagree. You and I both know that. It comes down to you (and the rest of staff's) judgement to make that call.
The faction info looks much better! Good job on that. The only nitpick i may have is that the font size could be a bit larger so it's easier to read.
Another suggestion to add flavor could be to give a small explanation why you are friendly or hostile to some of the factions mentioned in your diplomacy tab.
I mean sure: Liberty, Nomads, Pirates is obvious why and don't need no explanation. But it would be interesting to know why factions like Lovelace Circle or Rowlett Aerospacial Research Group, 2 groups i didn't have the honor of meeting ingame yet, are considered unfriendly to Orex.
Again this is just something to add extra flavour but is not necessarily. Good luck with your OF request!
(07-22-2024, 01:55 PM)Arne Wrote: The faction info looks much better! Good job on that. The only nitpick i may have is that the font size could be a bit larger so it's easier to read.
Another suggestion to add flavor could be to give a small explanation why you are friendly or hostile to some of the factions mentioned in your diplomacy tab.
I mean sure: Liberty, Nomads, Pirates is obvious why and don't need no explanation. But it would be interesting to know why factions like Lovelace Circle or Rowlett Aerospacial Research Group, 2 groups i didn't have the honor of meeting ingame yet, are considered unfriendly to Orex.
Again this is just something to add extra flavour but is not necessarily. Good luck with your OF request!
Thank you for your feedback.
Personally, I don't like anything other than regular-sized text, it just doesn't feel good. As for the diplomacy info, that's a good one, in the past, I've been doing what you said, I guess I can add a bit of explanation as to why we're friendly or unfriendly to certain groups/factions.
(07-22-2024, 01:55 PM)Arne Wrote: The faction info looks much better! Good job on that. The only nitpick i may have is that the font size could be a bit larger so it's easier to read.
Another suggestion to add flavor could be to give a small explanation why you are friendly or hostile to some of the factions mentioned in your diplomacy tab.
I mean sure: Liberty, Nomads, Pirates is obvious why and don't need no explanation. But it would be interesting to know why factions like Lovelace Circle or Rowlett Aerospacial Research Group, 2 groups i didn't have the honor of meeting ingame yet, are considered unfriendly to Orex.
Again this is just something to add extra flavour but is not necessarily. Good luck with your OF request!
Thanks Arne, we have so far only updated a couple of sections. As I get done with more, I will post here with updates.
(07-15-2024, 10:21 AM)Chuba Wrote: As you don't seem to have a feedback thread,
One is required for official faction requests.. EDIT: After re-reading the requirements, it's not mandatory for the request, it is after approval. My bad. Still good form to have one created regardless.
Possible to get one created? As no such thread is linked or able to be located.
Appreciated. Perhaps include the Feedback Page in your initial application. Your replies show that you are wanting feedback, and you are acting on this which is fantastic to see. Having an avenue for feedback displayed (outside of the OF application) would be helpful. I do apologize for critiquing the missing threads too hard. Having gone through this process myself, when I find critical parts are missing it looks like to me that the application isn't taken seriously.
(07-15-2024, 10:21 AM)Chuba Wrote: As you don't seem to have a feedback thread,
One is required for official faction requests.. EDIT: After re-reading the requirements, it's not mandatory for the request, it is after approval. My bad. Still good form to have one created regardless.
Possible to get one created? As no such thread is linked or able to be located.
Appreciated. Perhaps include the Feedback Page in your initial application. Your replies show that you are wanting feedback, and you are acting on this which is fantastic to see. Having an avenue for feedback displayed (outside of the OF application) would be helpful. I do apologize for critiquing the missing threads too hard. Having gone through this process myself, when I find critical parts are missing it looks like to me that the application isn't taken seriously.