[Note: Looking back on this, this is a long, long post. For those interested in just the bare bones of what I'm trying to say, go from the bottom and scroll up.]
Alright, so...
I'm personally terrified of forums. Queer trait, but an honest one. However, shortly before I lost my ability to regularly appear on CotH (The server, not the forums,) I made a promise that I'd actually attempt to speak up and try and add something to a community that I have, by and large, truely come to enjoy.
So, in that vein, I'd like to try and add some thoughts into this matter.
I'm a relative newcomer to CotH. I joined the forums a scant few months ago, and came online a week or two after that. In the time, I watched the Grunt system be overhauled, got to see this whole Rommath thing start up, and met some GMs - both old and new.
Let us, for a moment, dispense with Mary-sue-isms, Godmodders, and other such nonsense that people throw fits over. That, in my eyes, is a different problem. The problem I wish to speak on is this rift that seems to exist between the wider playerbase and the GMs.
I, personally, was rather terrified of GMs when I spoke to the first GM I was aware of (the first time I met a GM doesn't count, as I had no idea they *were* a GM until long afterwards, and thus is a bad comparison). The reason, in large part, why I was terrified was because of the general attitude I'd seen expressed about GMs. This short of vibe of fear. This, combined with that fact that back on my server in live a GM appearing was sort of a message of doom from the heavens, meant that I would rather have given a public address in my undergarments than PM the GM.
The upshot was that it was a sane, calm, and reasonable conversation.
I did this again. The same result happened.
As I thought about this, I realized why the initial contact had been such a nerve-inducing experience. The problem is not singular, and - I think - is not helped on either end.
The problem is - Again, I postulate this, I have no *real* proof as I have not sat down and done studies - that the GMs are much akin to policemen.
Before anyone starts shouting, ranting, or talking about GMs, players, volunteering, or getting their knickers in a right twist please read on. I don't feel I'm unfounded in this, and my idea shouldn't be insulting to anyone if read and understood properly.
Where I am (some, unspecificed place,) and in all the places I've been. In so many medias and forms, I've seen this sort of fear of "The Authority". In part, this is because we are all silly monkeys, who want to do whatever we feel like. On a more human level, this fear makes a lot of sense because this is something that *we are not a part of*. That we *do not understand*, and that has, in the eyes of many, *vast power over us*.
Like the aforementioned policemen in this parallel, the GMs - especially to someone just coming on to the server (double so, from my live experiences,) were like clouds: unfathomable, knowable, with mysterious traits and movements and the ability to rain down a variety of things on me, from the wanted rain (items, levels, etc,) to damaging lightning (getting booted, banned, etc).
Now I have to skip back a bit.
I personally, like the police. I know someone who studies the police heavily. I learned to study the police from them. I learned a little about how the law works. I learned what the police are actually meant to do, what they can do, and the things they will often do. I spoke to police officers, got their opinions, learned how they thought of people and what they hoped to accomplish.
As I grew to understand them, I lost my fear of them. Were they powerful? Of course. Could they do something horrible to me? Absolutely. Would they? Hardly. Were they allowed to? No, not really. Did they even want anything from me other than my being an upstanding member of my community? Not at all.
Now, of course, there are crooked cops, bent fuzz, and mean officers. This is not the majority. Most simply want to do the job they came there to do - and would really prefer it if you were not part of that job.
As I spoke with some of the GMs, and learned not to fear them, I found my interactions with them were reasonable, relatively pleasant, and mostly satisfying. Have I seen a GM do something that made me groan? Of course I have. Sometimes, things get a bit out of hand. Sometimes, a person might feel like teasing someone when they oughtn't. But that doesn't blot out the fact that, from what I have seen, the GMs by and large are simply people trying to fulfill a function, and enrich their communities.
As players, I have seen the GMs held up as both semi-sacrosanct and objects of fear. As someone who did this, I encourage people to talk to the GMs. Calmly, reasonably, and with as open a mind as you can manage. If something doesn't make sense to you, *ask* without defensiveness, fear, or anger. Doubly so if you are afraid of GMs. The more you continue to act like they are something to be feared or evil overlords, the more you will inevitably make them wish to take putative action against you. They *shouldn't*, and probably won't, but it will taint and colour your interactions with them, on both ends.
The more something is known, the less it is feared. If we aren't interested in getting to know something we fear in an attempt to dispell that fear, we are agreeing complicity that the fear is a preferred thing. To all the newbies, I encourage you to talk to your GMs. Not just with problems, but say hello. Get to know one of them. The more we see them as people and not as powerful but removed entities the better off we will be.
The flip side of this is a problem that I have encountered since I have been here: I have yet to find an easy, newbie/user-friendly way to learn about what GMs actually *are*. I've slowly pieced together an understand over the time I've been here, but the lack of readily available information - perhaps as a wiki article - is hampering the process. As someone who wants to feel safe and comfortable around GMs it would go a long way to have something noted down in some cohesive form: What their responsibilities are. What they aren't. What the different types of GMs actually *do*. The fact that their are different types of GMs. How to use that little "Chatting with GM box" that some of you enjoy (which continue to completely mystify me). What sorts of things we can request of a GM, and what we shouldn't. The ambiguous "Talk to the GMs" statement is - to my ears - not helpful, and has always put me far more in mind of the ever-famous Spanish Inquisition than a group of empowered citizens eager to server those they were empowered to aid.
::looks up at the post::
...Lemme wrap this up by saying something sort of global to the GMs. This comes from my interactions with you, and my understanding (as incomplete as it may be) of what it is you do.
Please, please. ...Not as individuals. But as a general group, sit down and examine the way you communicate and use language. I am by no means placing the blame for this... Fear-mongering on your shoulders. But I say this because I feel it can be made better.
My own interactions with those of you I have spoke to have been nothing short of pleasant, and I've walked away with good feelings after each one. However, all of you belong to a collective group. This collective group, I think, is not optimally communicating itself to the general citizenry. It is not largely about what you say, or what you do in most respects. What am I getting at is how the group has come to relate to issues such as these.
Sayings like "Talk to the GMs" or "This is a GM issue" are not as helpful as other options. Not because it isn't true, or because it's ZOMG THEYRE GETTING THE BANHAMMER!, but because finalities such as these shut down the lines of communication without providing and understandable conclusion for the other party. I understand, as GMs, Admins, Etc, that you will make pronouncements. It comes with the territory. I understand that perhaps it is even policy to shut down communication along certain lines. But I would encourage you, as a group, to think about amending statements of this nature. I was told, once, by a GM, that if I ever had any more concerns to (if I'm remembering correctly,) "feel free to bring this sort of thing up with [me], and we can work them out". Perhaps such approach have been tried before in en masse - as I said I am new here. I don't know the server history. But from what I have experienced with people, and especially with masses, (and, non-GM players let's face it - I don't care how thin our collective physics are, we are a mass,) is that to simply shut down the lines of communication - without any elaboration, without any kind of information or understanding to work off of - will cause the mass to start muttering darkly.
If it has not been tried before, consider giving us, as players, some transparency. Even if the policies are stated, show us what you are acting off of. If we have been being uncommunicative, give us information and reasons to show us that this is a bad thing. CotH is meant to mature, understanding community. ...Perhaps I'm being too idealistic but I think we can live up to that, and I think that allowing us some transparency will help us work together better.
Other than that, good luck and thank you for your hard efforts. This whole mess seems to be a long-standing issue for CotH, and its something I'm sorry that both side have had to endure.
:: ::
...Because this post was huge, and some may have forgotten, gotten bored, or not wished to read the whole big mess I typed in there, I have summarized the contents here. There a many other tiny, nit-picky issues I have with this whole mess, but their mention will be largely unhelpful and, at the point I see this thing at, only server to hinder any advancement:
1) I'm a relative newbie on CotH
2) The GM/regular player split problem comes from fear of the GMs.
3) Players need to stop billing the GMs as things to fear
4) Players need to get to know a GM or two casually as players, not just as GMs or characters
5) Players need to take the responsibility on themselves to understand the community they move in
6) The GM/Admin community (the collective group, not the individuals,) needs to make itself easily understandable to players (the collective group,) especially newbies.
7) The GM/Admin community (the collective group, not the individuals,) needs to examine the way it communicates with the players (the collective group,) and to ensure that lines of communication are open (and, preferably, discreet)
That is the essentials of my suggestion and my theories. Admittedly my language in my summary is far more authoritative in list than in my actual post - this is because I don't know how to compress it down otherwise. As I have said in there, several times, this is postulation, and my own perspective on the problem. I can only hope it helps people think about the problem in a new light, and is useful to finding a resolution.
For those of you who actually went through the whole entire thing, thanks a bunch for reading. If you catch me online and ping me about it, I'll mail you a G.
Cheers,
-Rimewynd