Several things regarding how certain things are being done, below is a little bit on each one of the things that I think should be talked about.
Firstly, I haven't talked to very many people about this but the few that I have all seem to be in favor of moving day phase ends forward a few hours. Midnight is just a little bit late for most people, and almost everyone should be active from 7PM server onwards or so. This one is kind of hard to fit into a poll, so if people could talk about when they think phase ends should be moved, if at all, that would be good, but I'll try to include a good option.
Secondly, inDheart figured out that its still possible to view what post(s) a player is viewing in the TWG forum, even though this should not be possible. Talked to Velocity about a potential fix, and it sounds like there is not one. Now, this really, really sucks. Logging out in order to view specific posts is super aids, and absolutely placed an undue burden on the playerbase, more specifically the wolves.
There are two potential fixes for this, I think. The first one is moving FFRTWG to some other domain where this is not possible. I think this is kind of ridiculous, but it is an option.
The second one is telling players that they need to exercise caution when viewing specific posts or post links, and should probably log out when doing so. This especially sucks for mobile users, but because the first option is super terrible, I think its what has to happen. Input on this issue is absolutely necessary in my mind, and if people have better ideas than the ones I have, which is usually the case, I would love to hear them.
Thirdly, and this is slightly coupled with the last issue, but FFR moderator (and any higher status such as admin) accounts absolutely provide player advantage to anyone with such a status. The known advantages include:
1) the ability to see invisible users on the "Currently Viewing" bar on the bottom of each page
2) the inability to be put on the ignore list of another FFR account
3) the ability to see IP addresses (this is more useful in certain situations than others).
and there are almost certainly more unknown advantages lurking in the depths of vBulletin. As should be obvious, I have migrated to another account, but this was my own personal choice. I think that the advantages provided are potentially too much to go unaddressed at this point, however.
The invisible users thing is kind of unimportant, but it is technically an advantage as it provides moderators with information that other players do not have access to.
the inability to be put on ignore lists is the reason why I made and play on this account, and I think if it were the only thing, this would still be reason enough to address this issue. Its just plain not fair to be unable to put a moderator on ignore if you want to.
The last thing is at best a fringe case, but in specific situations, is potentially game-breaking.
As such, I propose that all players with moderator status or above play on TWG-specific alts from all games that begin from the end of the ongoing turbo (Turbo XIV) onward. I trust all of our mods not to cheat, and to be honest, only the IP address thing is game-breakingly unbalanced, and again only in certain situations. However, the point on the ignore list is something that cannot be helped otherwise.
This has turned out to be a longer point than I meant for it to be, so I'll wrap this up. I have proposed that all moderators (and higher status accounts) that wish to play in TWG play on alternate accounts in the future. I would like to hear input on this, but I really see no other way around this.
Fourth, two small issues regarding replacements
a) Should there be a set time slot in which players can be replaced out of games?
b) Players talking about replacing out of their own slot will, from now on, be modkilled without exception.
The first point came up when the wolves in the previous TWG game protested Tokzic being replaced out so late in a day phase. I completely understand that this sub messed with plans, but I think that this is something that just cannot be helped. Subs are a kind of necessary evil in my mind, and these situations just have to happen so long as subbing is a thing that we are going to do on FFR, but I completely understand the complaint here. It is my belief that game moderators are not really allowed to think about what impact the sub may or may not have on the plans of players in a the game, for the sake of fairness. As such, I don't think that any adjustment here is needed. Would like to hear input here, because I wouldn't actually be that surprised to see myself in the minority.
The second point is something that I am going to remind players of in future games, as it is something that players have done for a while and it has gone completely unpunished. Talking about replacing out with anyone other than the mod privately has an inherently negative impact on the game, especially when timing and such comes into play. This is something that cannot go without punishment any longer. I will post this before the beginning of each game for a few games, just to remind people.
Lastly, I would like to hear input regarding abolishing the rule forbidding TWG players to participate in more than one game at once on FFR. No real lead into this discussion other than this stands out to me as a potentially outdated rule, and I think it is pretty easy to participate in more than one game at once so long as phase beginning and ends are staggered.
tl;dr beneath this post
Firstly, I haven't talked to very many people about this but the few that I have all seem to be in favor of moving day phase ends forward a few hours. Midnight is just a little bit late for most people, and almost everyone should be active from 7PM server onwards or so. This one is kind of hard to fit into a poll, so if people could talk about when they think phase ends should be moved, if at all, that would be good, but I'll try to include a good option.
Secondly, inDheart figured out that its still possible to view what post(s) a player is viewing in the TWG forum, even though this should not be possible. Talked to Velocity about a potential fix, and it sounds like there is not one. Now, this really, really sucks. Logging out in order to view specific posts is super aids, and absolutely placed an undue burden on the playerbase, more specifically the wolves.
There are two potential fixes for this, I think. The first one is moving FFRTWG to some other domain where this is not possible. I think this is kind of ridiculous, but it is an option.
The second one is telling players that they need to exercise caution when viewing specific posts or post links, and should probably log out when doing so. This especially sucks for mobile users, but because the first option is super terrible, I think its what has to happen. Input on this issue is absolutely necessary in my mind, and if people have better ideas than the ones I have, which is usually the case, I would love to hear them.
Thirdly, and this is slightly coupled with the last issue, but FFR moderator (and any higher status such as admin) accounts absolutely provide player advantage to anyone with such a status. The known advantages include:
1) the ability to see invisible users on the "Currently Viewing" bar on the bottom of each page
2) the inability to be put on the ignore list of another FFR account
3) the ability to see IP addresses (this is more useful in certain situations than others).
and there are almost certainly more unknown advantages lurking in the depths of vBulletin. As should be obvious, I have migrated to another account, but this was my own personal choice. I think that the advantages provided are potentially too much to go unaddressed at this point, however.
The invisible users thing is kind of unimportant, but it is technically an advantage as it provides moderators with information that other players do not have access to.
the inability to be put on ignore lists is the reason why I made and play on this account, and I think if it were the only thing, this would still be reason enough to address this issue. Its just plain not fair to be unable to put a moderator on ignore if you want to.
The last thing is at best a fringe case, but in specific situations, is potentially game-breaking.
As such, I propose that all players with moderator status or above play on TWG-specific alts from all games that begin from the end of the ongoing turbo (Turbo XIV) onward. I trust all of our mods not to cheat, and to be honest, only the IP address thing is game-breakingly unbalanced, and again only in certain situations. However, the point on the ignore list is something that cannot be helped otherwise.
This has turned out to be a longer point than I meant for it to be, so I'll wrap this up. I have proposed that all moderators (and higher status accounts) that wish to play in TWG play on alternate accounts in the future. I would like to hear input on this, but I really see no other way around this.
Fourth, two small issues regarding replacements
a) Should there be a set time slot in which players can be replaced out of games?
b) Players talking about replacing out of their own slot will, from now on, be modkilled without exception.
The first point came up when the wolves in the previous TWG game protested Tokzic being replaced out so late in a day phase. I completely understand that this sub messed with plans, but I think that this is something that just cannot be helped. Subs are a kind of necessary evil in my mind, and these situations just have to happen so long as subbing is a thing that we are going to do on FFR, but I completely understand the complaint here. It is my belief that game moderators are not really allowed to think about what impact the sub may or may not have on the plans of players in a the game, for the sake of fairness. As such, I don't think that any adjustment here is needed. Would like to hear input here, because I wouldn't actually be that surprised to see myself in the minority.
The second point is something that I am going to remind players of in future games, as it is something that players have done for a while and it has gone completely unpunished. Talking about replacing out with anyone other than the mod privately has an inherently negative impact on the game, especially when timing and such comes into play. This is something that cannot go without punishment any longer. I will post this before the beginning of each game for a few games, just to remind people.
Lastly, I would like to hear input regarding abolishing the rule forbidding TWG players to participate in more than one game at once on FFR. No real lead into this discussion other than this stands out to me as a potentially outdated rule, and I think it is pretty easy to participate in more than one game at once so long as phase beginning and ends are staggered.
tl;dr beneath this post
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