This thread is for fun, so don't take it seriously. (I am guilty of using neutrals too) I have been thinking about the word neutral and our neutral ratings. What does that actually mean in the context of the use we made for it. Firstly there are many different meanings for the word neutral. These are a few that match the skyblock community in our use of it. - not aligned with or supporting any side or position in a controversy - of no particular kind, characteristics, etc.; indefinite - not engaged on either side Let us break these definition down by context. The suggestions section allows users to select a neutral rating. If a neutral rating is given then it can be assumed the person does not have a particular view for or against the suggestion and therefore would not be affected by a suggestions addition. They do not support a side nor engage with one side or the other. But what are the sides? Our skyblock ratings system has two clearly defined sides for suggestions; support or no support. Essentially a neutral isn't a useful rating for suggestions. It just serves as a way to give a balanced option without having to make a decision. "Yeah mate i'm just gonna rate the post neutral and let the dev and crew decide (aussie accent)". The same goes for replies that state being neutral. Now the fun part. Mod applications have a neutral rating also. If a neutral rating is given it can be assumed that the person does not have a particular view for or against the play.... wait is that actually how neutrals work there? When I use the above definitions of neutral and apply it to applications it tells me that use of it just means that you don't have an issue with the person being promoted or not. Hence you are not engaged either side (yes or no to them being mod) and have not made a decision that is meaningful. You look at who supports and who doesn't, not who can't decide. What neutral is used for by the playerbase is to say "hey, I don't want to support you but I don't want to hurt your feelings". We use it to say neutral is the step to get to a support though many people won't come back to give their final answer. So why do we use it? This goes for posts which people reply with neutral as their stance too. So what did this thread accomplish? Nothing. Was it worth reading? No. Should we start making the hard decisions (support and no support)? Yes. Don't use neutrals, make a decision.
yayh mite Oy'm just gawnna ryte the paowst neutrahl and laeh' the daev and crew desoide For the aussies that couldn't read it
There’s a reason I’ve never given a neutral rating to anyone. A neutral rating to me is just stupid. There is no use to it and rating something neutral gains nothing on the mod app or suggestion. If you’re going to rate neutral, just don’t rate anything. If I find an application or suggestion I either don’t support or support, I don’t rate it a neutral but instead I reply with the pros and cons from both side and just give a in depth opinion on what can be good or bad about it. I just reply with constructive criticism from both sides because rating it neutral won’t mean anything. Personally, I believe we should get rid of neutral. It’s pointless. Either don’t respond or just respond with your feedback that you wish to give. If you’re leaning towards support or no support just pick a side and stick with it and explain why. I just find a lot of people who use neutral ratings try to avoid hurting someone’s feelings so they say neutral so they don’t “feel bad” even though that’s stupid. If you don’t want to hurt their feelings, don’t respond instead of rating something neutral and providing information that’s already been stated or providing something that wouldn’t have mattered if you said it or not. Make the hard choice. Applicants and suggestions don’t get picked when 20 people sit on the fence not wanting to move somewhere in their opinion. It provides absolutely no use to the applicant or suggestion. Just pick a dang side and change it if your opinion changes over time. Your neutral rating provided absolutely nothing to the person making the thread and the staff team in charge of adding suggestions. If there’s something I feel neutral on, I just don’t reply. That simple. Something with 10 supports and 2 no supports is a lot more clear if it’s a good idea or applicant than something with 10 neutrals and 2 supports. Stop sitting on the fence and go and pick your side. Life doesn’t wait for you to make up your mind it’s going to keep happening so you might as well decide something for yourself rather than sitting on the floor waiting for other people to make that decision for you. Anyways, that’s my rant for this thread. Ty for reading : D
i usually just use neutral as how it is i use neutral in staff applications because i am undecided not because i don't want to hurt their feelings but because i have never really payed attention to what they were doing so i have no idea who they are or what they do so i put neutral because i don't want to make a rash decision and pick support or no support that i don't fully agree with because then it is just a new neutral to me, without neutral then i would probably just use no support because i don't know enough to support but if there is no neutral then how would they know if people actually support or don't support them because they would possibly be using the ratings as just a new neutral, so i personally pick neutral while i pay attention to how they are and if they are helpful so i can make a decision that i actually agree with and say "yes i support/no support"
A neutral in itself has no meaning it's actually more confusing than giving a support or no support. It has no meaning because it has 0 effect on the outcome of the applicant or suggestion. I would much rather have someone give me a no support and explain to me why they don't support it than someone give me a neutral. You can just not give them a rating and respond with your feedback. If it's an applicant and you don't feel swayed to either side, just don't give a rating and leave a comment explaining what you feel they need to work on and leave it at that. If it's a suggestion just reply with the upsides and downsides to it are and down leave a rating. As I said in my original comment, I would much rather have 4 supports and 1 no supports than 20 neutrals. I would much rather have 5 answers or ratings that are 100% either support or no support rather than 20 answers that are all just sitting on the edge not giving me a good answer. There's no point in a neutral rating because 90% of the time a lot of people never even go back to change their rating. When you say you use it as a stepping stone so you can change either way when you see improvement, just don't leave a rating in the first place. If you're going to end up changing the neutral anyways then just don't give a rating until you actually feel swayed towards support or no support. Then just rate no support or support as you see fit when the time comes
I guess differences in opinion, to me I find it useful and I use it the way I think of it as a middle ground before deciding what I am going to choose, i get not everyone uses it like that and to others they find it to be annoying or useless and I’m probably not going to be able to change your mind about it so I guess agree to disagree? (Let me be Switzerland)
Man I use neutral when I don't have an opinion of someone in an application most of the time. And man why the heck r cookies neutral? Are they that bad to be neutral Petition to change the cookie ratings to a positive ratings cause cookies man COOKIES
I dislike that I can't give a neutral rating on this post, I use it occasionally where I don't see or really know a user applying for mod, as I have no knowledge of their activity or good doing, I believe it shows people that A negative rating however to me means I do know the player however I believe they may not be suitable, I do see your point of view though and although I hadn't really thought of it before it is an informative point of view
