Feedback Threads

[Mímir]

Yes, a lot of players are less inclined to leave positive feedback. That's natural - we are more likely to speak up when we feel we have been treated wrongly or when we think we might be able to offer advice that be useful for a positive change. It can be argued that we have the kudos thread for giving thumbs up.

I think it is important to have expectations towards each other, and from factions. I don't think those expectations have to be set unrealistically high, but it has to match the way the faction portray itself, its code of conduct and so on. That's often where feedback stems from: An experienced mismatch between what the faction says and what it actually does.

The main issue with feedback threads, as I see it, is that the recipients in almost all feedback threads get apprehensive and act like they've been personally violated. Sometimes it boils down to "pics or it didn't happen", when you would think that in a small community like ours we should be able to trust what another player tells us, or at least listen to what they have to say. There are more small things like that which are so retarded when you realize that we are no more than 100-200 players. Basically most feedback threads seem to be about various ways to shut people up, ranging from the "Ahaha I'm too cool and well-connected to even bother myself with your petty feedback" to "OMG why are you guys hating on us like that, have you no hearts you cruel and terrible monsters?!". That seems to lead to frustration (or fuels it further - I suppose frustration is already an element to some degree when someone decides to post feedback outside of the kudos thread), and you often see things spiral out of control quickly.

To top it off you have a new team of quite thin-skinned mods who locks, warns, and bans indiscriminately, and that's often when things really get out of hand. If you want to leave feedback these days, you need to write a long disclaimer saying "I'm not a hater, I love you guys, this is the best faction I have ever seen, BUT..." which should be totally unnecessary.

In a recent feedback thread, it came to light that the faction in question for a long time have been harboring some grudges towards the faction that complained - it's a problem when players and factions cannot freely tell another faction what they would like to see from it to improve relations and fun. It's a problem that feedback is always looked on as something horrible and negative, "something you wouldn't do to another faction", when sometimes those discussions could fuel a positive change. In many cases what is written in the feedback threads would be mutually beneficial if people could just chill out a little.

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