I would love to help with this situation, although some things that have been said have actually made me feel uncomfortable and saddened. The staff team has been generalized as one big group of corrupt people and we have even been compared to criminals. I don't like being seen like that when I personally try my best to help the server in every possible way I can and be pleasant to everyone. I know a lot of other staff members are the same. Yeah, we may have/had some corrupt or otherwise not-right-for-the-position staff members, but we can't do much until they are reported to us. We also can't improve the staff team until players tell us how to. We don't mind constructive criticism but comparing us to criminals is not the right way to go about it. Therefore, I don't really want to participate in this. I hope you can understand that.
Other things I would like to add:
- I don't use Discord but feel free to message me in game or on the forums any time you like and I'd be happy to help or talk to you about anything. As long as the discussion is respectful, I'm happy to participate.
- Some players feel this way due to being punished. It's often found that they were correctly punished and just simply didn't like the rules so they claim the staff team is corrupt and state rude things about us. Miscommunication is then a factor, as this happens quite a bit and if other players see this frequently, some start to believe it or say similar things. Please do not believe everything you read. I've read some pretty ridiculous and incorrect things stated against the staff team on the forums before.
- Some ex-staff members may not always speak the truth in plain black and white or they may not explain situations in full detail to you. I've seen some ex-staff members not give full stories behind their demotions which may lead the community to dislike us or make false allegations towards/about us. Unfortunately, we cannot reveal the full story behind an ex-staff members demotion unless we have their permission. Therefore, the players base their opinions off of a one-sided explanation which isn't always correct. Once again, please consider this before believing what you read.
- If players would like to continue to give their opinions on the staff team, that is completely fine. I encourage it 100% as that is the only way we will improve to how the community would like us to. However, please ensure that you are respectful about it as there are plenty of disrespectful forum posts regarding this topic. Also, please don't generalize all staff members as bad or corrupt. If you believe one of us is, that's fine for you to believe - but don't believe/generalize us all like that. If you have evidence to back your opinion on certain staff members being corrupt or abusive, please create a support ticket or message a Sr. Mod+ about it so that we can deal with that staff member appropriately.
Please note that this message isn't aimed directly at ArmenTheHeli, but rather the whole player-base involved in these posts and discussions. Sometimes the staff team can't (or aren't allowed to) give you the answers to everything you ask (for example, reasons for demotions). However, we would really appreciate it if you consider other possibilities and didn't believe every bad claim you hear about staff members, because we can't always stand up for ourselves and explain our reasoning. Thank you guys for understanding!