What happened here?

[Alusair]

I thought Evony was all about "being close with the community" and all that stuff and now I'm wondering what happened to that? It feels like the Management doesn't even care about the community anymore other then to slap us when we're not being all "happy-go-lucky-about-everything" and that's a feeling I'm uncomfortable with. Why do the reps and administration feel they don't need to talk to us, the community, about who they're putting in charge? If someone is going to be in charge, it would be nice to least be able to put in an opinion on the matter before anyone is appointed. Now all this hub-bub is not entirely Jurnis's fault, he's just a kid that thought he was being selected for something special, but some blame does fall on him for not asking how we, the community, would feel about him being a mod before accepting the position. Blame also falls on the community (mostly me) for simply flaming instead of taking a more rational road, I should've kept my head about the issue. And blame also falls on the Management for not including the community in their decision, that felt like a low-blow. Overall, I would like to know what happened to the closeness of the Community and Management? Dawnseeker, Valkriah, and Foxybunny used to be on the forums all the time, now it only appears that they are on just to yell at someone or to tell us all to jump. It even seems like Lord Arumen and Wildor aren't on as much anymore, only appearing to ban people and close threads. As long as the Management separates themselves from the Community, things are only going to get worse and I want to see them get better. The Golden Age of Off-Topic was so because the moderators and representatives actually spoke to and interacted with all of us like their status's as mods and reps meant nothing more then a color change. What can we do to get such fun interaction back? and before anyone cries that I'm being butthurt, know that I'm being quite serious here and not an ounce of butthurt went into it. I want to hear the higher powers opinion on this because this is a forum and we all (players, moderators, representatives, and administrators) get an equal say.

Alright, I want to throw in my two cents in my perspective of this. Keep in mind I don't speak for anything but my own view on this topic.

I'd say harmony between company and customer is a business credo for any business. But there is a line between how much customers can throw their opinion around and when a business needs to make its own decisions in matters. I mean, I can't think of a business off-hand that lets its customers choose its workers. Walmart doesn't let me choose its shelf-stockers. Microsoft doesn't let me choose their programmers. My school didn't let me choose their teachers. And why should they? It would be like your neighbors or friends telling you who you're allowed to date or what pets you're allowed to have in your house.

And, there's another thing to consider. Evony is the one that has to pay for this board. Not you, not other normal users, not me, not the other moderators. Evony does. So doesn't it make sense for Evony to have the say in what happens on the board that they pay for? Why should we freeloaders get to have equal or higher say than Evony?

I don't think Evony doesn't care about its community, both in-game or on the forum. Of course, it's also impossible to keep 100% of the population happy at all times; any decision is bound to have both happy and unhappy reactions. The business has to make the decisions it thinks are best. Some people will disagree or not understand the logic behind all decisions, but that's just how things go. And I don't think Evony is required to explain everything, either.

As for the Reps not speaking much in the forum anymore, I think it's important to remember what they have to do these days. Honestly, I'm surprised most of them find the time to breathe. I mean, they have to look over dozens of forum problems, watch the moderators and be ever-present for when we need them for something, make decisions on several issues, they get lord knows how many e-mails/pms a day from players with problems or questions or just wanting to say hi, they have to look over in-game issues and customer service, they have to try to keep up to date with the game developers, *and* try to balance their non-computer lives, all while trying to also maintain any sort of social life.

I can't speak for the moderators with smaller duties, but I'd say there's a lot of situations where real life or a few online responsibilities can eventually cut down on the time people can just lounge around and socialize.

As for Jurnis being a moderator, there's a lot of factors to being chosen. It's not just about how long you've been here or how active you are or popular you are with the forum, but it's also about how responsibly and devotedly you can handle the job. Now, I'm not saying those who aren't moderators don't have those factors, but Jurnis is one that stood out, for whatever reason, as an eye-catching candidate. And for whatever people want to say about him, I think it's important to look at the past events of the few days:

Some members have gotten very angry just at Jurnis being a moderator, and I'd say have lost their cool about it (which, not to be accusatory or anything, is not a desirable factor for any would-be mods out there, because as a moderator you're going to be under fire/pressure *a lot*). Now Jurnis on the other hand, despite being put down repeatedly by some members, being disrespected or mocked, or just being up and out flamed, in ways that have even taken *me* aback (and I've seen my share of hate in my 10 months as a moderator) has managed to keep, IMO, a very professional stance with it all. Which I find pretty admirable, honestly, and I don't think it's something most could do.

Now, I'm not a member of OT, haven't been, don't really care to be, and am actually content with having never gotten involved in what I've seen as the clique aspect of it. So for that reason, perhaps I'm not as much "in the know" about things as I should be to be standing on a soap box about the matter. But for whatever gripes there are about Jurnis, would it really be too much to ask for that he be given a chance to prove himself before being stoned to death? Or at least give him a grace period to get adjusted to being a moderator? I can't think of a moderator yet that was able to hit the ground running upon being crowned.