Dear Community,


Preface

I want to begin by stating that my intention is not to spread negativity or undermine anyone or anything. I am addressing an issue with the utmost civility and in a level-headed manner because I believe it is crucial to shed light on a matter that requires attention and instigate positive change.

I would also like to mention that all statements, insights, and suggestions stated below are presented as verifiable facts. These assertions have been thoroughly examined and verified, no generalizations nor assumptions have be made. Many of the concerns mentioned have been individually and independently voiced by various members of the community, all of whom shall remain anonymous. I hope this reflects my commitment to accuracy and transparency in addressing the concerns within our community.



The Core of the Problem: Lack of Economy Staff

Contrary to what some may argue, the core of the problem is not an overall lack of staff, it is a lack of active Economy staff members. Even the addition of a single active Economy player who recently applied for a staff position could significantly enhance the overall mod presence in Economy tenfold. It's essential not to dismiss this argument. Claims made by certain mods about their active involvement in Economy seem, in reality, to be far from accurate. This is not speculation or assumption; it's a verifiable fact.



Impact of Mod Presence and Inconsistency

The impact of having a mod present, even for just one hour a day, cannot be overstated. When players see a mod present, they feel empowered to address issues, believe that their concerns will be heard, and are guided towards the proper channels for reporting. Unfortunately, instances like the brief appearance of a mod, such as Moderator KingJonSnow, in eco for under 60 seconds with a dismissive comment like "I was told it's been handled," while ongoing arguments persist in the chat, is a mockery of what moderation is meant to achieve. There have been multiple instances where Super Moderator Novembree, has entered eco only to instruct players to submit reports on forums amidst active instances of racism, sexism, and general rudeness, all of which are violations of the rules. Following this, they promptly return to /Skyblock, seemingly turning a blind eye. The crux of the issue lies in the inconsistency of moderation. More often than not, a simple mute would be sufficient to resolve issues, but when mods exhibit a lack of concern for certain servers over others (/Skyblock over /Economy), it becomes evident, and it is extremely disheartening.



Repercussions on Player Base and Exodus

Furthermore, the repercussions of inadequate moderation are not confined to the immediate issues within the server; they extend to the player base. A growing number of players are expressing their frustration and dissatisfaction, with some even reaching the point of quitting the server altogether. It's disheartening to witness a community that has invested time and passion in the Skyblock experience disband due to the failure of proper moderation, as well as other issues. The exodus is not just about seeking refuge on other servers; it's a manifestation of the collective discontent stemming from the perception that their concerns are falling on deaf ears. Players, once enthusiastic contributors to the server's community, are now opting for alternatives where their experiences are met with the attention and care they rightfully deserve. This ongoing migration underscores the urgency of addressing the moderation issues to salvage not only the server's reputation but also the community's spirit. It is my sincere hope that this message serves as a wake-up call to rectify these issues promptly an adequately.



Suggested Remedial Steps: A Multifaceted Approach

To rectify the prevailing moderation concerns within the server, a multifaceted approach is not only warranted, but necessary. Undoubtedly, a comprehensive review of the current moderation team's allocation is imperative. Consider redistributing responsibilities to ensure equitable attention to all server components, with a specific focus on addressing the lack of Economy staff. Encourage active Economy players to take on moderation roles, fostering a deeper understanding of the unique challenges and nuances within that Economy specifically.

Implementing a more robust reporting system could also be beneficial. Introduce a streamlined process that allows players to report issues directly in-game, ensuring that instances of rule violations, racism, sexism, or other disruptive behavior are promptly addressed. Enhance the transparency of moderation actions by providing regular updates or summaries of resolved reports to the community, fostering trust and accountability.

Additionally, something voiced multiple times by many players, is to consider organizing periodic town hall meetings or forums where players can openly express their concerns and moderators can provide insights into their actions and decisions. This two-way communication channel can bridge the gap between the community and the moderation team, promoting understanding and collaboration.

Investing in proper and ongoing training for moderators, especially in handling diverse and sensitive issues, can contribute to a more effective and responsive team. Provide moderators with the tools and resources necessary to navigate challenging situations and enforce the rules consistently across all servers.

I strongly believe in the power of open dialogue and collaboration. To come together as a community to discuss these concerns openly and constructively, we first need Staff to create a more open environment encouraging said communication.

Ultimately, a commitment to continuous improvement, transparency, and community engagement will be instrumental in remedying the moderation issues and cultivating a more positive and inclusive environment for all players.



In Conclusion: Addressing the Discrepancy

In conclusion, the problem at hand is not directly a scarcity of staff but rather a discrepancy in the dedication and attention given to the Economy server. It is my sincere hope that this message serves as a catalyst for positive change, fostering a more inclusive and well-moderated environment for all players, of all servers.

 

Before my appeal becomes public I want to clarify that this is not my alt. I do totally agree with them though. Eco needs staff. There are other things that are needed, but right now the best thing that the server can do is invest in long term active economy staff as well as equality between the servers. I'll elaborate on this more when I get a chance.

 

Bree, I appreciate the elaborate and informed response.

Below, I would like to clarify just a few things. Again, I hope none of my comments or statements provided below bring any implication of hostility. My intention again is not to bring negativity nor ill-will towards anyone or anything, but to address the issues at hand. I appreciate you, and anyone else who reads this, for taking the time to read my initial post and this response carefully.


Clarification 1:

"With complete transparency, staff cannot be online 24/7, 365 days a year."

Now that is completely understandable, but I am in no way implying that staff must be on at all times. One goal, of which I have mentioned in the initial post, is that with the appointment of a staff member who is a regular or mainly plays on Economy we would see much more overall staff presence in Economy. This could only be a positive thing. I in no way expect any staff member to devote all their time to the server. This false mindset I believe outlines the reason which has led so many players to feel dejected in the first place. Rather than continuing on with less staff with low overall Economy presence, add a new staff member or two who can increase that staff presence to Economy. Again, this is about overall staff presence, not 24/7 staff presence.


Clarification 2:

"Coming online, handling an issue, and leaving after is perfectly acceptable." regarding Moderator KingJonSnow.

That is true if the issue is handled, yet that is not what happened. In the situation mentioned there was active and ongoing arguments and comments to which Moderator KingJonSnow would have would have seen if they had spent more than mere seconds in Economy at that time. To be specific, there were multiple players arguing with another, notoriously troublesome, group of players due to their rudeness in chat, of which comments made by both parties being against the server rules. This was an ongoing situation. Moderator KingJonSnow entered /Economy after being summoned by /msg in-game because they were currently on /Skyblock for roughly an hour prior. After joining /Economy, they promptly left after stating "I was told it's been handled", returning back to /Skyblock, without resolving the issue at hand. It was not handled privately. I know this as I am speaking on behalf of both parties of this situation, both of which I have made contact with and that is where this information is founded as well as personal account. So this is not a handled and shut case, this was staff neglect plain and simple. Moderator KingJonSnow, for whatever reason, did not deal with the issues in /Economy as they were actively unfolding, despite being active and online at the time, and returned to /Skyblock where they were engaged in non-staff obligations which is evident due to their active socializing in chat. This I feel directly opposes your statement "If staff are on /Skyblock and an issue arises on /Economy, please send that staff member a quick DM to have them hop across to assist" as the issue was indeed neglected despite the summons. Of course, staff should be able to play the game too, but not when they neglect ongoing issues right under their nose. I hope not to be argumentative with this, though I find it hard to make excuses for this behavior from a staff member.


Clarification 3:

"For what it’s worth, I personally log into Economy for around 30 minutes a day, if not more and I know that other staff pop back and forth as well."

This is true. I always appreciate when you, and other staff members, show presence in Economy. It does not go unnoticed and it is appreciated. Though, it is not enough. I would love to say it is but it simply is not, and that is evident by the steady increase in issues in Economy as of recent.


Clarification 4:

"Yes. Staff by and large spend more time on /Skyblock than Economy because Skyblock has more players and has more to moderate. Around 50% of all accounts on Economy are AFK accounts/accounts used for grinding so while both servers may have similar player counts at a surface level, the amount of actual active players is much less."

True again, though despite this being the case it is still very important to moderate both servers. Staff is almost always not "in the know" of the situations on Economy because they are simply not present. You are highlighting the exact issue I am hoping to outline here as well, a lack of staff presence in Economy.




Conclusion:
Lastly, I would just like to reiterate my goal with the initial post as it seems it may have been interpreted slightly differently according to your response. I am trying to outline the overall lack of staff presence in Economy and the consequential neglect it casts on the Economy community. Any implication of ill-will towards existing staff or issues with moderation methods is not intentional. My entire purpose here is to outline the lack of staff presence in Economy, the effects that has on the server and community, as well as the need for active Economy player staff appointments.

 

KingJonSnow, thank you for reading through the initial post and my reply. Sadly, on account of your response stating how I decided to "try and call me (you) out" I see you have taken this as more of a jab towards you than seeing through to my point. Whether that is a poor use of language or an intentional prodding on your end, I can sense the hostility in the way you decided to phrase your response. I did not try to "call you out" per se, I stated a time of lackluster moderation and your improper response. If you are so inclined to use the phrase of "calling you out" then by all means feel free, if anything, I did call you out, not just "try" to. Though again, that is not what this discussion is about, and I have made that abundantly clear.
Thank you for offering to provide more information but no further clarification, details, or heartened response is needed nor desired at this time in regards to your behavior. Though I would love to welcome insights on the constructive criticisms I, and the community, have compiled above.

 

i agree with everything mentioned here. i can second everything said was true here, im just really glad someone is finally saying something abt the state of eco rn bc its really only going downhill and most ppl would say they can feel it too. praying one of the eco players staff applications get accepted one day, its far fetched but we can hope lmao

 

quote of the decade, love this

 

First thing I want to state is Jon wanted to get your side of what happened and go off of that. From what I can see he didn't take it as a jab at him he just wanted to understand your side of it and clear it up.

 

please can we have a tldr, if i read this all i'd lose 2 billion brain cells.

 

I started reading through it and stopped where you said: there's facts... Overall you are giving your personal impression.
The impression might match with my experiences, but those are not facts. If you want to make them become facts you will need to set up a protocol with examples of mod appearances and number of player who actually left.

Just some advice: If you would write such a statement rating your employer, their lawyers would have an easy game ripping your statements apart, making you pay damages. So just try to adapt this over here: Either you make a study, collect facts and you can call it factual or you stick with 'having an impression'. Last is totally fine, this is how I would have done it. The combination of calling impressions facts, using an anonymous account and calling out staff is something making me not support this thread even though I totally get what this is directed towards.

It's OK to raise the voice, to be heard, but let's do it fair.

 

Hello Offline,

I appreciate you taking the time to read a portion of my post.

Of course, these are all "impressions", though they are those expressed by a sizable sample of players who have voiced their concerns to me. I am not here to lie about the conditions of there server or make any false claims. Everything listed as fact is, as I mentioned, verifiable fact. I did not claim any subjective interpretation or "impression" as fact. If you were to read the post in its entirety you would see that I outlined a couple of times of lackluster moderation on the server, this is why I outlined the presence of "verifiable fact" in the preface as to allow you, the reader, to understand that it is not speculation nor false claim, and for the reader to interpret it as they please. This also allows the reader to take everything mentioned with a grain of salt, and to feel free to seek more facts themselves if they so please. I believe you may have a better understanding if read through the post in its entirety.

Additionally, I understand that not many specific details were provided as to the claims of lackluster moderation, and this is intentional. I am not using this discussion to made a mod report nor to highlight these specific situations, I used these situations to give support to my report on the views of my sample. I very well could have included time stamps, chat logs, server connection times, elapsed connection times, etc. in order to further back the claims I outlined as factual, as these are all things I have logged as of the beginning of January, 2022. Though, that I have no intent of doing as for the reasons explained previously.

All of this discussion is to highlight concerns expressed by users of the community. I intend no hostility towards the server, those who play it, or those who run it. I made it clear that I was speaking on behalf of a sample to which I have spoken with directly. I am not putting words in their mouths nor distorting them. If you believe any claims I have made to be false, claims regarding the points expressed as "verifiable fact", please feel free to be specific and point out what exactly is incorrect.

Lastly, this discussion is inherently an "impression" of the server and its current state. That is indeed the purpose of this post. To claim that the "impressions" displayed here are incorrect is an injustice to the people to which I am here expressing the concerns of. I think for you to read just 3 sentences of my post and to leave this comment based on little understand of the intent of the post is another reason why many people here feel conflicted about voicing concerns on their own. To belittle those sharing opinions in a structured, non-hostile, and overall formal manner is quite rude of you to do. Though I suppose that is just my "impression" of your reply, am I wrong?

 

What time of day does Eco become so wild it needs more than lacklustre moderation?, I’ve visited a few times the past week to find that barely a word gets said in the hours I witnessed everyone afk farm. I feel like I’m being gaslit into believing economy is the lawless Wild West based on the forums posts? This is a light joke (I know some people struggle with context) just wondering why people can’t just report things or DM staff or open a discord ticket? we have to do that too on SB. Genuinely wondering how bad it is?

 

some of us are far too naughty and cant open a discord ticket (permanently banned) speaking on behalf of myself...

 

because eco is quite literally a bunch of anti socials lol (this is coming from an eco player, and it's also a bit of a joke)

 

Please stop posting too long answers. An argument is not won by writing the longest monologue but being precise in conveying the most important messages.

At this point I fear you are using AI to troll us all.

Dear Staff, can we close this? He is trying to waste our energy.

 

The sever definitely has a lot of drama. I have noticed it seems to be the worst between 5-8pm. There is definitely hints of lawless wild west, (that name is hilarious btw and I will totally be using that,) because sometimes it gets to the point that we just mute the players involved because otherwise we would be reporting things constantly. It makes more sense to leave the little things, and report the bigger things. (At least imo.)



On to the main post. It would be nice to have mods on to curb some behavior, but sb def needs them more. (because the server is way more active, Mods definitely on more than you think; especially Novembree, Slagomizer, and Luka.

I have NEVER seen a mod brush something off, and I especially cannot see Bree do something like that. If you believe it happened, provide evidence and there might be a deeper explanation. I have an example of what could have happened if you ever believe a mod is ignoring an issue.

A mod joins the server after receiving a report with not enough/no evidence. They might sit and watch the conversation if it continues to gather more evidence. most (if not all) staff can also access chatlogs. They might be checking them to be able to handle the situation better.

Please do not automatically dam mods (or anyone,) without seeing their side. These mods LOVE the server, and put everything they have into it. If you have an issue, please messagee the mod in question for more information, (with evidence.) If you find the reasoning unsatisfactory, you should then make a staff report.


(Tldr: Eco has drama, Having mods on more would be nice, accusing people without evidence or letting them explain themselves is not nice.)