Staff Sensitivity [trigger warning]

Ok, this isn't very well organized but it contains what a lot of me and my friends have been thinking lately.

DISCLAIMER: I do not have anything against the staff members themselves, and I think in general they do a great job of keeping the server running smoothly, I know it must be difficult running such a large server. But these are criticisms me and those around me on the server have been dealing with in increasing frequency, and frankly, everyone else is too scared of getting shut down to talk about.

In the past, but especially with some of the newer staff members, multiple members of the Jerry and Harry management have been overly sensitive and given out false warnings. We all make mistakes, but the amount of times I've been falsely warned (or verbally warned) this past year at least doubles the amount of times that I've actually broken a rule.

Let me put it this way: Some of the staff don't know their own rules.

Let me list a few examples of situations that SHOULD NOT be against the rules, but seemingly half the staff don't mind and the other half mindlessly dish out punishments for.

1) Any mention of race, ethnicity, or religion, especially the words "negro" and "black"
- This is not against the rules, and if it is not intended to be harmful then the staff have absolutely no reason or excuse for dealing out punishment for this. Calling someone black or hispanic or asian or white is not offensive and the ONLY thing this will do is create a false sense of "racism" that no one is actually offended by except the staff giving out the punishment who most likely is just under the impression that they SHOULD be offended.

2) Anything controversial. Anything at all.
- Almost none of the staff on here realize the difference between an "argument" and a "debate". People are allowed to chat. Just because you don't like the topic we're discussing doesn't mean we're breaking a rule. Get over it. As long as insults are not being thrown and no rules are being broken, debates ARE allowed, as many staff have confirmed for me. Players should be allowed open discussion of subjects they chose so long as they do not get out of hand. Instead, it seems players are limited to topics hand picked by whichever staff members happen to be on that particular server at that time.

Now what the main purpose of this thread is
3) Harassment. Saying something a player doesn't like is NOT harassment, if it is not directly targeted at a specific player or group. If I am having a conversation and I bring up the word "cancer" and someone doesn't like it, I am not going to nor am I obligated to not say the word "cancer" just because they are offended. Now, don't get me wrong, if they ASKED me, I would probably stop, but it is not against the rules to say a word that is not on the "word blacklist". Here's why:

People try to argue that if a word is not liked, then it is considered harassment if someone is saying it. But the thing is, that's simply not true. That's not how harassment works, but on this server we've shifted from an open discussion based chat to a "don't offend anyone or else" chat. Offending someone is not against the rules. You guys run a 1000 player+ server and you cannot expect to keep everyone happy.

Furthermore, it seems like only very specific words are given the pass for this. For instance, if I said "cancer" and some random person got offended by that, then I would most likely be given a warning if I continued to say it, even if I wasn't directly talking to that person. But if I were to have a conversation about turtles, and someone was offended by the word "turtle" then no staff member would make any attempt to warn me for that. For words like cancer, if you want them on the blacklist, put them on the blacklist, but if not you cannot bend and morph the rules for each situation just because someone feels a little insulted.

In summary, a lot of the staff members on here seem to think that offending someone is against the rules. Which is simply not true. PURPOSELY and INTENTIONALLY offending someone is against the rules. But in the recent months the chat has degraded to the point where you cannot have a normal conversation about real-world or even certain in-game topics without someone who's not even participating in the chat getting mad or insulted, and then a bunch of staff coming in and "dealing with it" in ways that are not fair to the player, nor to the server as a whole.

NOTE: If you did not read the disclaimer at the beginning, do that before you get mad and type some useless hate down below. Also do not start an argument, this is not a flame war, and I would hope I'm allowed to have an opinion without it being shot down

Also, #TeamJit

 

After further discussion, we've decided to unlock this thread.

 

Referencing point number one, Negro is not against the rules anymore due to a recent change. Admins do listen and make changes.

 

I agree with literally everything you've said! Having a normal conversation about whatever should be allowed until it becomes directed at people. hate speech or any type of large vulgar language that is in the blacklisted words.

 

Yes, there is something that needs to be done with our rules, I'll admit. In my opinion, if what you're doing isn't hurting anyone else or affecting anyone's gameplay in a negative way, we can roll with that.

Some people forget that we aren't to issue thousands of mutes and bans. If someone isn't trying to break rules, and they're really not offending anyone, I don't see why a punishment is needed.

Not that I disagree with you or anything, but staff do listen. While I may not be allowed to leak any specific information, I can say that changes are being made. The staff are listening, and the rules will eventually change for a more suitable environment.

There was no intent to harm, discredit, or offend anyone in this post :)

 

You have made some good and logical points in this thread, and I agree with you. I'm sure the staff will improve based on the community's feedback.

 

I don't think the staff is not doing an bad job. But the "black" "white" "hispanic" "asian" thing is kinda dumb. Unless if its racist or offensive then it should be reported.
#TeamJit

 

Thank you everyone for your replies! I just want to restate that me nor anyone else on this thread is intending to insult/harm the staff or anyone working on the server

 

Honestly, if the staff team pin a thread with clear-cut rules. Such as blacklisted words and no exception type of system, then there would definitely be a better understanding between both staff and players. Less work for staff, and more reasoning for players. Infact, before I left, I was warned twice for words deemed "offensive" by the staff team, yet there id no clear-cut statement about it in the rules.

"But Morcov", I hear you say, "The J&H Detailed Rules clearly posts what not to dooo". Really? So there's a list of blacklisted curse/offensive words, is there? There's a no-exception rule when it comes to innapropriate situations, is there? Yes, because "Fuck" and "Shit" are "mild" curse words. And there is totally an area in place where users, no matter the topic or joke, are treated equally or even all notified together. Yeah, totally, and pigs fly, just as unicorns exist.

Now, don't get me wrong, the team is way better than most other forums, but I still cannot deny that there needs to be change. I may make a thread of my own about how staff can improve, but that's for a different time. Right now, step 1 is putting clearer parts in the rules, and stamping out any gray areas. Not only does this give a more "blanket" amd fair coverage of the rules, but it also holds staff accountable if they make an exception(For example, bailing a friend out).

 

Glad to see this thread unlocked. Community feedback is one of the greatest metrics a server can have to keep it running properly.
After all the community made accounts on a 'forum' for a reason, it may be different for everyone but there is still a reason.

 

Some of the warnings we give out are based on our own personal judgement, and sometimes they are warnings that are not included in the rules.

Behind the scenes, we do more work than you think we do. Don't try to assume things right off the bat.

Nethertheless, thank you for the feedback.

 

did you just confess to staff abuse? you can't warn for something that's not against the rules because it's impossible to expect players to follow your made up inside-your-head rule that no one knows

 

@Calebach Either that or staff just try to make immediate action on certain situations when people try to bend and blur the rules with intent to harm the server or its community.

 

We do though...

 

lol I see what you did there @Netherr har har har

 

We only do when it's absolutely necessary. We don't warn people for no reason.

 

Preach to the choir.

 

Sorry, I typed that wrong, I know that you do (staff).

 

tbh, I hate some of the staff and their judgments. I've seen my friends get warned for very ridiculous reasons. I have one staff member in particular that likes to warn for everything, but I don't want to start anything on this thread so I'll keep it to myself. But yeah... that's one of the things that I used to and still do think is ridiculous is when people get warned for literally saying "kys" when "kys" doesn't even mean anything bad. It's an abbreviation and even if the meaning behind it does mean something bad, don't warn if it wasn't directed towards anyone and it was just an inside joke.

 

I can't agree any more. I hate to warn people...surprising enough since I'm a staff member now.
The thing is, I don't like doing it so I'm..probably more lenient than I should be. I definitely am compared to other staff when it comes to strictness, I just take things lighter I guess. Nothing wrong with that.
"Kys", in my opinion, shouldn't be worthy of a full out warn...maybe if it's used with an excessive amount of inappropriate language.
Also, if any staff intentionally go out of their way to warn players...I don't even want to say my response to that.

To the thread, I had to delete my comment since it was unlocked.
I agree that the staff isn't perfect, but the only thing a public thread about these topics creates is a whole lot of like-spam, arguments, and whatnot. The best way, in my opinion, is to not create a full-out thread bashing us for our mistakes that we probably know about, but to talk to a higher-up staff privately as they have more experience...and can probably make a difference for the better.

See, I'm a staff member and I admit the system isn't the best it could be.