Shoutbox removal

[Andrew]

Why punish all for the actions of some? That's the question I asked when the shoutbox was removed the other day. In school, I always hate when teachers punish (or threaten to punish) the whole class for the actions of one person or a few people. If the majority of students didn't cause any problems, why should they receive any sort of punishment? The same goes for here. I don't get why instead of removing the problematic users from the shoutbox (thus eliminating the problem) the staff decide to remove the whole shoutbox. By removing the shoutbox it shows a lack of power or firmness in enforcing the rules and punishing specific users.

If banning the problematic users wasn't an option, the staff could have just muted the shoutbox for a couple of hours to let everyone cool down and stop/forget about the arguments.

 

[Jasmine]

Honestly, I think a temporary removal is needed. It's never really been moderated properly (too many "pleases" and warnings were given to members) and it was being used for the wrong purposes (for game updates, meaning many people missed them, causing the same question to be asked repeatedly. In turn, members - and often staff members as well - got frustrated when the same questions were being asked over and over again).

I think it was relied on way too much. I agree with you, though. I always hated that about school as well. But if moderation and rule enforcement is an issue (and it clearly is), it might as well stay closed.

 

[Andrew]

Honestly, I think a temporary removal is needed. It's never really been moderated properly (too many "pleases" and warnings were given to members) and it was being used for the wrong purposes (for game updates, meaning many people missed them, causing the same question to be asked repeatedly. In turn, members - and often staff members as well - got frustrated when the same questions were being asked over and over again).

I think it was relied on way too much. I agree with you, though. I always hated that about school as well. But if moderation and rule enforcement is an issue (and it clearly is), it might as well stay closed.

Most of the time it was just users chatting about the game or really anything. The fact that it was used for game updates and the fact that it caused many questions to be asked repeatedly is a staff issue, not a user issue. It's not really something users can control or fix, so it's not something users should be punished for.

 

[Jasmine]

Most of the time it was just users chatting about the game or really anything. The fact that it was used for game updates and the fact that it caused many questions to be asked repeatedly is a staff issue, not a user issue. It's not really something users can control or fix, so it's not something users should be punished for.

I agree with that as well. My point is, unless the staff issues are fixed, then I don't think some of the other problems associated with the shoutbox will be either (aka the arguing). They're intertwined. Even if it was brought back tonight, unless changes are made by both staff members and members, nothing would change and it'd probably end up closed again.

 

[CocoBandicoot]

it's not that easy andrew. the removal of problematic users won't go away. it'll provoke them and they will come back and attack/spam the shoutbox in an act of rebellion.
not only that but it could cause turmoil by saying staff are abusing their power, in which case they are clearly not.

 

[Andrew]

it's not that easy andrew. the removal of problematic users won't go away. it'll provoke them and they will come back and attack/spam the shoutbox in an act of rebellion.
not only that but it could cause turmoil by saying staff are abusing their power, in which case they are clearly not.

Not if they were banned for a long period of time. They could have aso tried muting the chat for a few hours to cam people down.

 

[Esqueleto]

Another complain......

 

[Andrew]

Another complain......

What's your point? People are allowed to complain on here. It's not like it's against the rues or anything.

 

[Esqueleto]

What's your point? People are allowed to complain on here. It's not like it's against the rues or anything.

my point is that no one is ever happy

 

[Jasmine]

my point is that no one is ever happy

You do realize you're essentially complaining about him complaining?

I think it's good that they posted an announcement about the the shoutbox being closed, but closing the thread kind of defeats the purpose of the announcement. If they hadn't of closed that thread, he wouldn't have needed to post this one.

No, everyone won't be happy because we all have different opinions. If they'd have allowed us to speak them on the announcement thread, there wouldn't have been 3 or 4 threads created about its closing by now.

 

[Andrew]

my point is that no one is ever happy

Well that's just not true. Obviously you're never going to please everyone. Just like you can't please everyone in real life. There's always going to be people who are happy and people who are not. Saying that "no one is ever happy" is not true at all.

 

[Eliz]

Hmm, you say that you don't like that the shoutbox was removed, that it was punishing everyone. But then you suggest to mute the shoutbox, for everyone. Isn't that still punishing everyone?

 

[Dyllan]

my point is that no one is ever happy

No one is ever happy because we're never allowed to speak our mind. I also get annoyed when people start back seat modding and especially when people start attacking users for having an opinion. The Shoutbox is where we can chat, speak our minds, and get to know people. How will I get to know others without knowing what they do and DON'T like?
I understand yesterday was just full of drama, but we're all teenagers at the end of the day. We like to argue and the only place we can express ourselves without getting punished is a place like here. I'm not going to go to my mom and complain about not getting an in-game birthday party or how long of a wait crates were because she would only laugh, take away my computer and tell me to get some fresh air. I would (not saying I did complain yesterday, although I was slightly annoyed) complain to my PEERS, those who UNDERSTAND what I'm going through. People don't take others opinions in mind, I know this, but taking away the shoutbox was a little too far. I think it'll just cause more problems in the end. Sadly, without the shoutbox, I don't really have any people to talk to. I didn't use it for drama, I used it to have fun and communicate.

 

[Andrew]

Hmm, you say that you don't like that the shoutbox was removed, that it was punishing everyone. But then you suggest to mute the shoutbox, for everyone. Isn't that still punishing everyone?

Yes, but it only affects everyone for a certain amount of time (a few hours perhaps) rather than for much longer by having the shoutbox removed.

 

[Dyllan]

Hmm, you say that you don't like that the shoutbox was removed, that it was punishing everyone. But then you suggest to mute the shoutbox, for everyone. Isn't that still punishing everyone?

Muting the shoutbox is like telling everyone in the classroom to stay quiet for the rest of the period, not giving everyone extra homework at the end of class because of one individual. Wow. I'm going to shut my mouth for 45 minutes is not as harsh as, wow, I have to spend another hour of my night doing this extra assignment that I didn't deserve.

 

[Eliz]

Perhaps, there's ultimately only so much a person can do.

 

[CocoBandicoot]

Not if they were banned for a long period of time. They could have aso tried muting the chat for a few hours to cam people down.

They come back on different accounts
It never ends.
You can't get rid of them.
The shoutbox removal was the best idea
Because the complaining plague spreads like wildfire. You can't ban every problematic
Complaint, that's banning half
Of the community..


shhh I'm undercover..

 

[RealSaltLakeFan]

There were always arguments in that thing. As good as it was, it had its flaws.

 

[Andrew]

Weren't you complaining last night about the price of crates last night? Seriously though, there were always arguments in that thing. As good as it was, it had its flaws.

Actually, there usually weren't that many arguments in the shoutbox. Usually it was just people having normal conversations about the game or really about anything.

 

[Dyllan]

They come back on different accounts
It never ends.
You can't get rid of them.
The shoutbox removal was the best idea
Because the complaining plague spreads like wildfire. You can't ban every problematic
Complaint, that's banning half
Of the community..


shhh I'm undercover..

I'm pretty sure making multiple accounts for the forums is a bannable offense. If theres time to close the shoutbox, I'm sure theres time to ban people. That, as well as extending the ban time of the person responsible so maybe they have time to think about what they've done. I know people who get saturday detention don't ever think about doing what they did to get the punishment again because nobody wants to be at school on the weekend. Yesterday, the chat box was muted for a short time and that gave everyone enough time to chill out. People who don't always go on the shoutbox, I find, always see the box as a nuisance but they haven't spent the time on it, met and talked to the people who use it daily.
We're not saying ban everyone who complains, because you would be banned just for replying to this post, we're saying ban the people who take it so far out of hand that it's causing peoples feelings to get severely hurt or causing the community to "crumble".