In Defense of Freedom

Greetings community,

Before I engage in this discussion, I want to make my position clear: I am not happy with the way moderators have been moderating, nor am I happy with the recent "crackdown on communication" that has pervaded our community. I feel deeply passionate about all this, but I will try to put my argument in the most respectful way I possibly can. Let me also make clear that I am grateful to have the opportunity to express my views freely on this game, I hope that you will consider them with respect and open arms.

To begin, I think it is important we realize why we are having this argument in the first place. No one, including myself, can deny that toxicity is the chief reason why new players are repelled from AtWar. In this respect, there is a great deal of common-ground between the AtWar administration and myself; however, we differ in our approach to this issue. It is my informed belief that censorship will act contrary to its intended goal, and that enforcing bans, mutes, etc. for acting "toxic" will hurt our community, not heal it. Let me elaborate.

Let us take the n-word, for example. As most of us now know, the n-word is censored from all means of communication on AtWar. There is no doubt in my mind that whoever censored it had good intentions; however, what has this resulted in? What are the consequences of censoring words that carry a supposed "negative connotation." What we have seen over the past several days is an increased use of the n-word. Players are innovative, they know how to get around these restrictions. And what has this resulted in? More mutes and bans! My point is that our community, at its core, survives and thrives on toxicity. Remove toxicity, and what are we left with? We are left with a community of players who have no choice but to praise and worship the Mod Squad.

Communication is a necessary condition for families to live and thrive with one another; likewise, we as a community must be able to communicate with one another. I know this might come as a surprise to the AtWar administration, and those in particular who have made these "executive" decisions, but some of us in the AtWar community are illiterate. Some of us are unable to communicate without using the n-word...

What I just wrote might sound ridiculous, satirical even, but this is precisely why I am so worried about the future of AtWar and the future of our community. Censoring the n-word does not seem like a "big deal;" it is, actually, funny to take it seriously, but what we must consider is where this will lead us. It is a slippery slope. Censoring the n-word could lead us on a very downward path from which our community cannot return unless we take important, executive measures NOW to stop more and more words from being censored. What next? The b-word, the c-word, the d-word? Who's to say "corruption" is not a "bad word," or "abuse," or perhaps "fraud." Hopefully you get my point.

Not only this, but I believe that the free-flow of thought will actually make our community more receptive towards new players. Players want to feel welcome and accepted; this is psychology 101. The best way to create an accepting atmosphere is by allowing them to engage in locker-room talk. When you consider the demographics of AtWar, it is primarily a male-oriented game. There is conflict, war, and violence - these things attract young men around the ages of nine to thirteen. These are not the sort of people who feel welcome in a stodgy, dull community where all players are bound to a set of arbitrary rules enforced by a moderator's arbitrary interpretation of justice.

I know that that bridging the gap between our two views cannot be done overnight, but our new champion for change, David, has provided me and many others with a renewed sense of optimism, a renewed sense of hope that progress can be made on some of our community's most greatest challenges.

Thank you,

Sean Spicer

K

Tldr

Okay but you wasted protocoins to promote this? lol

I think it's grand, I can still say "fuck" "Jew" "fag" and numerous of other insults. It's alright

EDIT: Now I actually don't like it, my reply to someone got deleted with no reason. Support

Spaghetti

- Care for some alternative facts?

Who's that guy

Skrevet av triangle., 31.12.2018 at 08:53

Who's that guy

Who are you?

Skrevet av DeepFriedUnicorn, 31.12.2018 at 09:02

Skrevet av triangle., 31.12.2018 at 08:53

Who's that guy

Who are you?

Spaghetti

Is always the same low life scums the ones breaking the rules of conduct and harassing low level players. I was not surprised to see who posted this topic

100% agree. promoted for another day

Lol trolls geting censored xD

Is it toxic for me to say tl:dr?

I have helped and trained more new players than all the mod team combined and not even one left the game due to the "toxicity". They left due to lack of updates, innovation, map maker or boredom/real life.

"Toxicity" is the escape goat. Its just a buzzword that mods, noobs and snowflakes came up to project their own depressed feelings and lack of accomplishments.

Skrevet av Khal.eesi, 31.12.2018 at 13:38

I have helped and trained more new players than all the mod team combined and not even one left the game due to the "toxicity". They left due to lack of updates, innovation, map maker or boredom/real life.

"Toxicity" is the escape goat. Its just a buzzword that mods, noobs and snowflakes came up to project their own depressed feelings and lack of accomplishments.

Greetings & Salutations,
Pardon me for saying so, but I disagree. "Toxicity" is a word to describe the general nasty attitude and behavior of the community. But I would agree the cause for such Toxic attitudes and behavior could be their depressions, anger and general resentment for their own underachievement. And then they come here and think it's so much more than a game. And truly this is all AW is, a game. Somewhere, at some point, someone went beyond that and drug real life into this. AtWar is a game! And as such it lies in the realm of fantasy, not reality. Play the Game, have fun, be polite, and forget about real life for awhile. If the players of this game had any sort of sportsmanship & compassion there would not be any toxicity in the community. What is the solution? I am not going to pretend to have the answer or solution to this, but I do know these constant rants & raves are not accomplishing anything.
Respectfully,
WM Dak

I like new mod decisions.At last they actually do something.

Skrevet av Warmonger Dak, 31.12.2018 at 14:39

Skrevet av Khal.eesi, 31.12.2018 at 13:38

I have helped and trained more new players than all the mod team combined and not even one left the game due to the "toxicity". They left due to lack of updates, innovation, map maker or boredom/real life.

"Toxicity" is the escape goat. Its just a buzzword that mods, noobs and snowflakes came up to project their own depressed feelings and lack of accomplishments.

Greetings & Salutations,
Pardon me for saying so, but I disagree. "Toxicity" is a word to describe the general nasty attitude and behavior of the community. But I would agree the cause for such Toxic attitudes and behavior could be their depressions, anger and general resentment for their own underachievement. And then they come here and think it's so much more than a game. And truly this is all AW is, a game. Somewhere, at some point, someone went beyond that and drug real life into this. AtWar is a game! And as such it lies in the realm of fantasy, not reality. Play the Game, have fun, be polite, and forget about real life for awhile. If the players of this game had any sort of sportsmanship & compassion there would not be any toxicity in the community. What is the solution? I am not going to pretend to have the answer or solution to this, but I do know these constant rants & raves are not accomplishing anything.
Respectfully,
WM Dak

Name a competitive community of any kind (doesn't have to be gaming) without saltiness and toxicity. It's impossible because it's human nature. Doesn't mean we shouldn't refrain ourselves from being dicks to each other.

Greetings & Salutations,
I'm not saying players shouldn't be competitive, salty as you said but also as you said we don't have to sink to the gutters to say what we want to say. To me a big part of the toxicity is not what we are saying but how we do say it. Profanity has it's place but language in it's self has so much more to offer. Tact is what makes the difference between savagery and courtesy. And the definition of Tact is being able to tell someone to go to hell in such a way that they look forwards to the trip. I truly believe we can be competitive without being toxic.
Again, Respectfully,
WM Dak

I would encourage you to read the public statement from the Moderator Team "On Toxicity..." I think that will give you a better understanding of how we moderate. I'd be more than willing to answer any other questions you have that aren't in that statement

Skrevet av Columna Durruti, 31.12.2018 at 08:48

- Care for some alternative facts?

Skrevet av Tundy, 31.12.2018 at 11:11

Is always the same low life scums the ones breaking the rules of conduct and harassing low level players. I was not surprised to see who posted this topic

No it's not, I was describing something to a non English speaking player about this topic and it got deleted for no reason

Skrevet av Sultan of Swing, 31.12.2018 at 17:10

I would encourage you to read the public statement from the Moderator Team "On Toxicity..." I think that will give you a better understanding of how we moderate. I'd be more than willing to answer any other questions you have that aren't in that statement

I was describing this topic to a non English speaker and it got deleted. Now I fully support this thread, fuck this shit, not good at all!

Skrevet av Sultan of Swing, 31.12.2018 at 17:10

I would encourage you to read the public statement from the Moderator Team "On Toxicity..." I think that will give you a better understanding of how we moderate. I'd be more than willing to answer any other questions you have that aren't in that statement

I dont mind the crack down. But you guys should notify people when you remove messages. How else can people defend themselves if they truly did nothing wrong to have there comment deleted?

Skrevet av DeepFriedUnicorn, 31.12.2018 at 18:17

Skrevet av Sultan of Swing, 31.12.2018 at 17:10

I would encourage you to read the public statement from the Moderator Team "On Toxicity..." I think that will give you a better understanding of how we moderate. I'd be more than willing to answer any other questions you have that aren't in that statement

I was describing this topic to a non English speaker and it got deleted. Now I fully support this thread, fuck this shit, not good at all!

I don't instantly remove topics posted that aren't in english unless they are either 1) in the wrong place (upon which I move them) or 2) are clearly doing no good (upon which I delete them). As for chat, it's pretty clear public chat is to be in english.

Skrevet av Helly, 31.12.2018 at 18:19

Skrevet av Sultan of Swing, 31.12.2018 at 17:10

I dont mind the crack down. But you guys should notify people when you remove messages. How else can people defend themselves if they truly did nothing wrong to have there comment deleted?

I always notify when I remove messages, and all mods are supposed to do the same, but apparently this isnt the case. It's pretty clear in our Moderator Guideline that mods are supposed to notify the user when their message is removed/when they are muted and why. It's tempting to do nothing because of laziness and just remove it and be done with it, but then we wouldn't be doing our jobs. I'll make sure to discuss this with others

Skrevet av Sultan of Swing, 31.12.2018 at 18:27

Skrevet av DeepFriedUnicorn, 31.12.2018 at 18:17

Skrevet av Sultan of Swing, 31.12.2018 at 17:10

I would encourage you to read the public statement from the Moderator Team "On Toxicity..." I think that will give you a better understanding of how we moderate. I'd be more than willing to answer any other questions you have that aren't in that statement

I was describing this topic to a non English speaker and it got deleted. Now I fully support this thread, fuck this shit, not good at all!

I don't instantly remove topics posted that aren't in english unless they are either 1) in the wrong place (upon which I move them) or 2) are clearly doing no good (upon which I delete them). As for chat, it's pretty clear public chat is to be in english.

Skrevet av Helly, 31.12.2018 at 18:19

Skrevet av Sultan of Swing, 31.12.2018 at 17:10

I dont mind the crack down. But you guys should notify people when you remove messages. How else can people defend themselves if they truly did nothing wrong to have there comment deleted?

I always notify when I remove messages, and all mods are supposed to do the same, but apparently this isnt the case. It's pretty clear in our Moderator Guideline that mods are supposed to notify the user when their message is removed/when they are muted and why. It's tempting to do nothing because of laziness and just remove it and be done with it, but then we wouldn't be doing our jobs. I'll make sure to discuss this with others

My comment should not have any reason for it's removal, I was describing something. It's drastically different from saying something to offend someone.

Who would have said, the reborn of AtWar would have brought new problems... Mods are abusing too much :/ They weren't even active back when atWar was dead and nobody was here to say anything (6 months ago). Freedom is speech is dying in this game. People will have to leave for Discord or some other app. That shouldn't be the case.

You made an eloquent case. There needs to be more discussion of this.

Skrevet av DeepFriedUnicorn, 31.12.2018 at 18:35

Skrevet av Sultan of Swing, 31.12.2018 at 18:27

Skrevet av DeepFriedUnicorn, 31.12.2018 at 18:17

Skrevet av Sultan of Swing, 31.12.2018 at 17:10

I would encourage you to read the public statement from the Moderator Team "On Toxicity..." I think that will give you a better understanding of how we moderate. I'd be more than willing to answer any other questions you have that aren't in that statement

I was describing this topic to a non English speaker and it got deleted. Now I fully support this thread, fuck this shit, not good at all!

I don't instantly remove topics posted that aren't in english unless they are either 1) in the wrong place (upon which I move them) or 2) are clearly doing no good (upon which I delete them). As for chat, it's pretty clear public chat is to be in english.

Skrevet av Helly, 31.12.2018 at 18:19

Skrevet av Sultan of Swing, 31.12.2018 at 17:10

I dont mind the crack down. But you guys should notify people when you remove messages. How else can people defend themselves if they truly did nothing wrong to have there comment deleted?

I always notify when I remove messages, and all mods are supposed to do the same, but apparently this isnt the case. It's pretty clear in our Moderator Guideline that mods are supposed to notify the user when their message is removed/when they are muted and why. It's tempting to do nothing because of laziness and just remove it and be done with it, but then we wouldn't be doing our jobs. I'll make sure to discuss this with others

My comment should not have any reason for it's removal, I was describing something. It's drastically different from saying something to offend someone.

Yes and like I said, if for some reason I felt it should be removed (obviously in this case it was not me, I have no idea the context) I'd let you know why I did. If you got back to me and explained, I would most likely realize my mistake and correct my error of judgement. Again, this is pretty clear in our moderator guideline about how to moderate, but apparently there are moderators who are not following, and I will make sure to bring this up to the team as a whole

For those of you who read through this post and agree with everything said, I would like to direct you to this public statement by the Mod Team: https://atwar-game.com/news/news.php?news_id=226

This should answer all concerns you've had