InterntePolice, who I don't know, and Rhino who I think is a respected member of the community.
He was the guy on LeafyGreenTea Day that sat in our chat and didn't participate and made it really difficult for us to hear one another. He kept talking about what he should buy on steam or whatever.
To what you wrote
Scott put it best on another thread (I cannot remember which one, I'm sorry). He said (rough quoting) "events are the best way to bring the community, both staff and players together. However, a specific recipe is needed in order for it to bring together those two parties. The event should be player and staff organized, with player leadership and staff participation. That flip-flop of the hierarchy that you wrote about lets people who might feel inferior (I sure did when I first got here) see the staff that do so much for us everyday as other players of this game we all love!
What you wrote about when a player gets mod and loses their friends when he was a regular player to hang out with other mods, I have experienced that a little bit. I was, at one point, pretty close to someone who is in the staff team today. Although I did quit our friendship is not as close as it used to be. Granted, they are busy, and I respect and understand that, but if I ever want to talk to him now, I feel like it would be something about his mod work.
However,
LilBub is right, not all mods act like this. The mods that go to the cleansweep are all really friendly and act just like any other member of the community, as many others that are on the forums like
Ceroria,
Jeffrey or
AGFire2013. If I saw them on teamspeak in a moderator chat, I would love to poke them and see if I could join. However, other times, I go on Teamspeak to see who is on and then leave because I don't want to deal with what
Beardy was talking about in the regular chat. Unless I have a reason to go on, I don't just go on to chill with people.
It's because you're the people with all the power; with the red names and the ability to ban people and do many more things that the average player can't. No matter what the staff team tries to do, people will always perceive them as superior and that you don't count as regular players. I honestly don't see the reason why anyone should even bother trying to bridge the gap. You don't see Obama visiting random families and trying to convince them that "oh I'm just like you, believe me on that one.", when he arrives in his limousine and is constantly surrounded by bodyguards and being patrolled by helicopters. The truth is ugly, but it's also something we have to accept, and something we cannot really change.
"If you come get to know us, you'll realize we're just regular people" not on that Teamspeak will I even bother approaching anyone.
There is a ton of truth in what you wrote here, but at the same time, the mods were all once players like us. Just try to get to know one, you are pretty famous anyway
I do agree the the teamspeak is a mess.
You may be good about keeping up with others, but as a whole, it's hard to actually find someone to get to know. That's what the problem is, however, if you were to talk to someone who was as open as you say you and some others are, it is a step in the right direction. You say not all mods are like I described and you have some friends who aren't, but I that means you're a minority.
Of course, this is going to sounds rude, but those mods who are friends and defend each other about how you do interact with the community makes me think mod is one big popularity contest. Like someone said earlier, "I'd rather have 4 quarters than 100 pennies." Your mod buddies are a lot closer than those people you meet. All it is is going around meeting people, befriending them, but not letting them get close.
While I do agree with the fact that being mod can seem like one big popularity contest, the best mods throughout MCGamer history have been the ones that the community know. Scroll down the list of staff members they have on the forums. I didn't know half of them existed, and most of their forums accounts have 200< posts on them. Those mods are not good mods in my opinion, because they don't get to know the community. But the ones that participate in events all the time, or are active on the forum, or sit in the hub and chat, while it does seem like a popularity contest, those are the mods I go for to get help, and they are also the most friendly. To those mods out there that I speak of, you know who you are and keep doing what you do
So it's still a problem? At this point I could care less, I pick who I like and dislike based off their forum character.
I hope you like birds and chess.
