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Showing Compassion in Discord
There is a lot of positive effort being put in by players to do what we can for this game we love. But sometimes I read messages I feel are unkind directed towards our admin players. Discord gives us access to administrators to a degree we did not in the past, and I really feel we could slow down before we hit Enter. There is a difference between being constructive and being rude.
"Things are being released too slow."
With Lusternia being a living world that has dazzled us with both possibilities and reveals, it may be good to remind ourselves that, of the latter, we are only seeing the final stage. There is a lot of work before things go live, and a queue of many other things to balance. It's not different from our own creative projects. I think we could use Discord in a more encouraging manner with fellow players (which admins are) and people juggling passion projects and life.
As humans, we also have a negativity bias. If we look back at posts, at the changelogs, what work is getting dismissed? What overarching IG storyline or real life context are they not telling of?
"I know -stuff-."
That information is out of date and out of context. Anyone who could currently speak of the latest with context is currently under an NDA. That NDA is a boundary, and we are mature enough a playerbase to know respecting boundaries is healthy.
I have seen the compassion and shared joy that players offer each other, celebrating efforts in-game, cheering for milestones reached in real life, or sympathising with very real struggles. Why is that compassion harder to access when fellow players become admin? Our friends' passion projects and their lives didn't stop happening just because they stopped talking about it. When we are rude, it is not to a hazy corporate entity but our fellow players. They put in 400 or more hours playing alongside us and seek to do more for a game they also love.
Please remember there are fellow humans behind the screen, whether it is a mortal or an admin player. Communicating in Discord is like talking before or after a tabletop RP session you sat down for together with your friends. What are you about to express to a friend who took a turn at being GM? What are you really looking for (e.g., transparency)? Is there a more constructive way to phrase it?
"We're waiting on admin for xyz."
There are always going to be projects spinning in this living world, but unlike consumers of some triple-A graphic MMORPG, we can do more than wait for the next patch. Mortal players are a lot more empowered in how we contribute to the world and its lore, how we create roleplay experiences for each other, and how we build the community around this game. Overall I feel there has been good energy towards that, and I hope compassion might help us focus on what we can do together.
Thank you.
"Things are being released too slow."
With Lusternia being a living world that has dazzled us with both possibilities and reveals, it may be good to remind ourselves that, of the latter, we are only seeing the final stage. There is a lot of work before things go live, and a queue of many other things to balance. It's not different from our own creative projects. I think we could use Discord in a more encouraging manner with fellow players (which admins are) and people juggling passion projects and life.
As humans, we also have a negativity bias. If we look back at posts, at the changelogs, what work is getting dismissed? What overarching IG storyline or real life context are they not telling of?
"I know -stuff-."
That information is out of date and out of context. Anyone who could currently speak of the latest with context is currently under an NDA. That NDA is a boundary, and we are mature enough a playerbase to know respecting boundaries is healthy.
I have seen the compassion and shared joy that players offer each other, celebrating efforts in-game, cheering for milestones reached in real life, or sympathising with very real struggles. Why is that compassion harder to access when fellow players become admin? Our friends' passion projects and their lives didn't stop happening just because they stopped talking about it. When we are rude, it is not to a hazy corporate entity but our fellow players. They put in 400 or more hours playing alongside us and seek to do more for a game they also love.
Please remember there are fellow humans behind the screen, whether it is a mortal or an admin player. Communicating in Discord is like talking before or after a tabletop RP session you sat down for together with your friends. What are you about to express to a friend who took a turn at being GM? What are you really looking for (e.g., transparency)? Is there a more constructive way to phrase it?
"We're waiting on admin for xyz."
There are always going to be projects spinning in this living world, but unlike consumers of some triple-A graphic MMORPG, we can do more than wait for the next patch. Mortal players are a lot more empowered in how we contribute to the world and its lore, how we create roleplay experiences for each other, and how we build the community around this game. Overall I feel there has been good energy towards that, and I hope compassion might help us focus on what we can do together.
Thank you.
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