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3/14/2007 5:58:40 AM
232
The 7th Column, The Community, It's Guy, and The Lack There Of
[b]The 7th Column, The Community, It's Guy, and The Lack There Of[/b]
[i]Let me begin by saying what follows is not my rant, but as I agree with most of it I believe it should be posted. If I am wrong for this then I will recieve my just 'reward' but it must be said. I will not reveal the identity of said ranter for his own privacy reasons. Enjoy!
*note: This was written before the announcement of the new Bungie.net*[/i]
Part 1:
You asked for this. Here goes. :3
Let me commence by stating that the problem with the Bungie.net community is deep rooted. I don’t like to blame the web team with any scathing conviction because they have provided the site that, at least formerly, hosted a really good community. However, SketchFactor apparently gave up even before the “upgraded” column was implemented – he was after all the Community Guy whose responsibilities, theoretically, included the interaction with the good persons of the Seventh Column. I was never around too long before the change so I have no grounds on which to argue that he was ever actively involved, but the fact of that matter is that when I and some of my friends submitted our chapters for approval (as was the former custom), he accepted them. The spotlight, too, had been fairly frequently updated.
I understand that there are slightly higher concerns than a thriving community of well-mannered, Bungie-loving individuals – the professional needs for a sleek site with job offers and interaction with Halo 2, for example. It’d be ignorant in the extreme to pretend said necessities do not exist. But how many times have we been told that Bungie.net is not a business site – it’s a community site? The answer, should you wonder, is very often indeed.
I’ll be up front and admit that some of the things done with the site are amazing, not least the full integration of the various modules as one easy-to-navigate conglomeration. I’ve always liked the forums as they, in my opinion at least, look the part, and are so very easy to use. There’s no unnecessary formatting; you just hit reply or new topic, type what you want, and hit submit. Nothing could be simpler. Since I’d never used a forum before that time, it was the perfect way to get started.
Also engaging was the Seventh Column. An invite from a prominent founder via Private Message introduced me to it, and it was excellent: lots of databases and plenty of room for personalisation and creativity, plus scope for organising chapter-wide events. This little communities thrived as one and interacted with one another publicly, also, where great friendships were made and inter-chapter events established. In fact, that was the purpose of the 7th Column Community Page, which died at about the same time as the Spotlight and news.
Priorities seem to be wrong, also. I refuse to believe that a search feature – and repeat threads will surface, especially in the absence of constant new discussion material and in the presence of the ridiculous “don’t dig up old threads” regulation – is more crucial to a community site than the community itself. Surely resources would have been better spent on the 7th Column in one way or another.
And so many empty promises. Nobody expects miracles, but when fanfests, an updated column, more interaction from Bungie and a community that has official support are pledged, it’s saddening when they are not fulfilled, and more so when they simply fade away without even a “no, that’s not going to happen”. I wouldn’t will them all to attend massive fan gatherings, because, let’s face it, no other game developers do, but the fact that it’s happened before and future events were promised makes it that little bit worse. I’d much rather see a fantastic Halo 3 than direct community interaction, as I’m sure we all would, but surely the purpose of a site for the community and Bungie’s having of a community team is to interact with their fans? But Bungie is just the core, the very heart of a system composed of many more organs, blood, bones and flesh.
[Edited on 3/13/2007]
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[quote][b]Posted by:[/b] Recon Number 54 [quote][b]Posted by:[/b] Deaths Divinity Actually, it took a lot more than "senior ninjas" seeing him being an ass. It actually took about a month of people making spam tags and posting threads of the things he was doing as a moderator along with the creation of off of bungie sites to keep things going. Here is the biggest example of the spam and off forum sites [url=http://s8.invisionfree.com/The_Bungie_Revolt/]Here[/url]. [/quote] I disagree strongly with you. If you see a cause and effect from those activities, then you are forming your conclusion based on that evidence. But you have no idea of the private conversations that took place, the inner workings of the team and are not in a position to state that you know what events and decisions influenced the result.[/quote]I hate to tell you recon, but [i]you[/i] werent involved in certain discussions between moderators and members. I also hate to tell you, but word spreads quickly, especially when PMs are sent to users containing parts of this discussion. Private discussions.... like all of the moderators agreeing not to lock the skulls thread, letting users back in as long as they dont reference their other accounts, etc. you dont mean anything like those private discussions, or that I have been messaged with private info, ask achronos on this one, as I wont post it because it would be really wrong to do so. [quote] That sort of ego, that sort of "we made a noise and look, the sun set" is not a [i]logical[/i] (ironic eh?) conclusion. No amount of disruption, and terrorist tactics are going to force the administration to make a decision other than the one that they would have made despite the disruptions. But some people don't want to be a part of that process, since it doesn't show how much THEY took part in it. They want to know that whatever happens, it happened because of them.[/quote] Did I say anything along those lines? I said that you guys did it, but it took people setting a fire under your ass to get you to stand. Also, I would like to quote achronos as seems to be a trend. [quote]your flaunting of authority[/quote] Now, I am not going to quote any more than that as I dont remember it exactly, hell im not sure if that is 100% right, but the point is that the overlord made a statement concerning the "authority" of a member. If a member is "flaunting" it, it must be rather effective. Far more effective than the role you gave it in your efforts to minimize the work of others. [quote] All of that noise, all of that disruption, in the end did NOT bring any additional attention to anything other than the disruptors. Which is (IMO) their goal. It's all about "hey, look at ME, I have a cause that I have wrapped around myself...." and then, when the proper process takes it's course, those same disruptors are there to shout, "hey, look at ME, I was right and what I wanted came to pass!" It was a distraction from the real issue.[/quote] Do you not realize the contradiction in this post? Noise, disruption, but no attention was given? That makes perfect sense to me. Which is why the forum posted was spammed by moderators of this site? Your right, it had no effect. If it was taking its course, why did it take over 1 year, yet he was removed less than two weeks after the posting of the goatse man thread? [quote] Vultures. Pure and simple. Ego opportunists... and it makes me ill. For anyone to align themselves with those actions and claim that those tactics were valid and laudable... you have just stepped into a pile of "credibility crap". And the smell never goes away.[/quote] I hate to tell you, but if you take a look in that group I posted, quite a few people agreed with the points presented, and actually got quite involved in refining them. Not to mention PMs sent on this site of moderators proclaiming their support of the removal of toast. There is a difference between you and me recon, you are speaking for the authority, and bias your opinions as to not acknowledge anything but the "leaderships" good features, while I post the good and the bad. Now, the greatest point in all of this is that recon insists that they were already investigating the matter. So, there are a few possible conclusions which could be reached. 1. They were investigating the matter and didnt find all of the things that were easily found by others. 2. They did know of toasts wrong doings and allowed someone clearly in the wrong to retain their powers and act with them freely 3. They werent investigating at all and this is yet another case of the truth being less than prevalent So, were you incompetent, lying, or did you allow someone clearly in the wrong to continue his wrong doings? It is clear to me that atleast in part, your post was an attempt to reinforce the control of this site, you seem to have it in your mind that someone is trying to take your baby. The fact is that nobody wants it, so actions to prevent it are not needed, much less desireable or anything but a general annoyance and waste of time. Please, stop trying to attack my character, which seems to have been the goal of you mentioning the word "ego" like a trained parrot. If I really wanted to inflate myself I would, but I am not trying to do that, so dont question it. Stick to the points, I didnt attack you, so dont attack me. [b]On the selection of moderators[/b] It is clear, that contrary to the statements made by others, the selection of moderators [i]IS[/i] based on their [i]PERSONAL[/i] standings with the other moderators. It is really similar to the andrew jackson "spoils of war" system where moderators put in a good word for their friends, even if they arent the best person for the job. If you check the past history of chosen moderators, you will see that they play with the moderator "click" and are in the same groups as other moderators. Now, there are a few exceptions to this, I wont deny that, but the general trend is friends of moderators become moderators before anyone else. That is simply how it works. EDIT: As for your terrorist comments, you should really learn what is going on before you post. If I wanted to cause problems I wouldve done it last night, or earlier in the week. I am not going to go into specifics, but I got some things sent to me that I couldve really been an ass with. Ask achronos on that one, I actually PMed him with the information to give him a heads up so he would be able to better deal with the issue. Like I said, i wont post the direct information, if you dont know about it, you can PM him on the issue. [Edited on 3/15/2007]
