People's reactions to accusations of bias.

[n00bl3t]

So, the thread is as it is.

Anyway, why do people react as they do to accusations of bias, or statements stating that there is something amiss?

I see reactions ranging from frantically PM-ing an Administrator/moderator, calling for a lock, speaking of an impending lock, posting demotivational, or demotivational-like posters of cats with tin foil hats, or other images which are intended to have the same effect.

Simplistic explanations I have heard can be paraphrased to "I was making fun of a stupid situation, since from my limited reference frame I find that claim to be inaccurate, since there is no possible way a giant Admin conspiracy with faction leaders could exist." I have asked, or stated, I am unsure at this point in time, since in my land it is 2:00 hours, that it is not a giant conspiracy, but maybe little bits decided here and there, which are made partially.

Perhaps my theory of bias ever existing on the server is completely and utterly incorrect, but considering we are human I do not think so. Anyway, this thread's purpose is to discuss why people react as they do to accusations of bias, not the existence or non-existence of bias.

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Anything I say is not intended as offensive, and to try and deliberately misinterpret it as such would be an attempt at trolling via misrepresentation.

It's not a conspiracy, it's localised bias. They're not intelligent enough to form a conspiracy.

[Dab]

Bias can be as much against a certain group of people as it can be for a certain group of people. You're not a Saint Nublet. Go take a check at your past comments and posts and we'll compare, hmm?

And I fail to see how some admins who play quite a few indy characters, would be biased in favor of factions they aren't a part of. Show something to prove there is some and we might get somewhere, but I've yet to see it..

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[farmerman]

I think there very well could be a vast conspiracy, though smaller amounts of bias are far more likely. That being said, just because something may be true, it doesn't mean it is for a particular situation. A real biased situation seems like it would happen out of the blue, not amidst frequent complaints.

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Faction info links: Samura Heavy Industries : LWB : Watchers

[jammi]

Dab, I don't think he was actually bringing up a cae of people being biased this time, but more trying to work out why people react the way they do when it's suggested.

My personal opinion on it is that the majority of people that are crying about Admin/faction conspiracies are doing it because they've just been sanctioned. People then learn to ignore the whole argument because of the tide of poorly written and worded inflammatory material that the subject is usually comprised of. Because of that, when someone seriously tries to approach the argument, readers associate the poster with the whiners (whether they realise it or not) and blank it. Devaluization of a point through association.

Other than that there's always denial. People like to think there's a perfect system, and don't want to address any issues.

Personally I don't think there's much bias (note the 'much'. the admins are still human. They're never going to be machines) in the Admin team, and certainly not enough to skew major decisions or create faction/admin conspiracies.

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[Jihadjoe]

I have a bias against those who break the rules. I have a bias towards those who follow them.

I think as biases go, thats a fair one.

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[tazuras]

Everyone's biased. The fact that we all have different life experiences makes it that way. Some biases are conscious, others unconscious. Regulatory systems are designed to minimize bias and generally they do a pretty good job.

As for reactions to accusations of bias, get over it. A lot of people around here seem a little high strung. If you are one of them and you are accused of something, step away from the keyboard, take a deep breath, remember: "spaceship; computer game" and if you feel the need to defend yourself, do so calmly and logically without making accusations of your own and potentially making things worse.

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[Eppy]

I think the Admins are biased. I think some of them are very biased. However, I doubt that bias is towards the factions at all. I think it took a ridiculous amount of time to get what we've got written down done at all, and calling that bias is a joke.

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Quick comment - we thought that Panzer was the Leader, Swift. -Agmen

Which Dreadnought was that?

One of your nine.

[Reverend Del]

I'm with Joe on the bias front. I'm no more biased towards faction members than I am towrds independents, but I am in favour of properly regulated factions.

Now to the point raised, Jammi hit the nail on the head, most posts concerning possible Admin bias and conspiracy tend to be posted by the inflammatory or those just sanctioned, which makes it hard for people to accept the validity of any post concerning such when it's not made by one of those two groups. The well has been poisoned and folks aren't willing to drink out of it.

However I too am a little tired of seing threads driven off context by silly pictures. Given forum rules forbid deliberate off topic posting, perhaps it's time we started cracking down on it a little harder, whetther or not it's a thread the moderators and Admins like.

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Saint Del is considered a holy healer of diseases of children, but also as a protector of cattle.

[Linkus]

The Nazi's were against harming animals.

If they made a post about people harming animals and why they shouldn't, it would be pointless really.


The thing is that as Del said, the majority of accusations of bias come from relatively untrusted or unknown sources.

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Facilitating the rise of robotics since 0 A.D.

[Malaclypse 666]

Trust is not only "earned", but "learned", and is a pretty intangible concept to boot.

Sombunall of us should focus on the "earning"..

Sombunall of us should focus more on the "learning".

This too, shall pass.

Pass the handbook, please.

Mal

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