New Staff and New Server

[81stDragon]

The state of this server is pathetic. Absolutely pathetic and there is no way around that at all in the slightest. The staff are all incompetent people who do nothing but stride in their power and waltz in their pride. They do not serve the player community in which they receive their power from, but instead take time to dish out punishments to players who are complaining about the issues that are presented from the very admins punishing them. I say a new staff is needed and Ill list out some other things.

1: Factions is the only server I've played but I have had numerous problems that would require the attention of a mod or higher, but instead am left having to ask a helper over and over if this said mod will ever show up. I have been doxed in chat and told the helper about it who literally saw the msg and asked a mod to come help deal with the issue and yet... nothing happened. The player had no punishment and continued to mess with me, while the helper is there. The mods are only ever on once in a blue moon. There are different staffs for different game modes for a reason. Why the hell is an entire faction server filled with up to a 100 players on given a helper and that's it? What kind of moronic idea is that? There are blatant racists and people breaking rules so obviously and nothing happens to them days later even if they were reported on forums. The fact is, is that I have seen only 1 or 2 mods ever join on factions, which by the way is one of the most played it seems, and I play very frequently which just seems crazy to me.

2: There are problems still on factions that have been told to mods and seniors mods from LITERAL Helpers and nothing has been done. Told your SR Mod Ranged that the arenas are still down since the server has been wiped and nothing has been done and I am told that they've been notified from Terry and still nothing happens? How does that even make sense. Is it that hard to fix a problem when you've had over a week to fix this? I get that it might not be the most important problem out there, but if you cant complete something that small for one of your higher modes then what's the point in playing on a server with minimal care from staff.

Its crazy that staff seem it more appropriate to kick players who tell them the issues they have instead of addressing them. Appeals also make no sense to why they take so long. Is it that hard to look at some of these appeals that it takes days upon days?

 

[MutedPianist]

As a Survival Helper, I can't comment on much about Factions so I'll leave that to the experts.

From a Helper standpoint, yes there are permissions I do and don't have and for what I don't have permissions to handle myself, I must relay information and let the Mods (and higher) handle it because they do. This is just one part of our job. After that, there's nothing else we (Helpers) can really do except give updates from time to time of what we know.

It's not that Mods aren't doing anything because they're lazy, incompetent, don't want to, etc. It's simply that
A.) We're still real people with lives outside of Manacube and this is a volunteer job we do. We still have to eat, sleep, use the bathroom, go to work/school, take care of pets, hang out with friends and family, etc. For example, I'm chronically ill and I often get up and leave my device to do my daily treatments, cook, and eat so I can take my daily medicine (+ Some of the medication I take makes me have to use the bathroom a lot more than usual, so of course, I get up and go to the bathroom) Another example, I'm starting college this semester and I'll need to get into a good schedule where I can balance everything out efficiently but it may take me a bit to really figure that out and get into that groove.
B.) Manacube is a huge network and we get tons of helpops, reports, ban appeals, support tickets, etc. on the daily and it's easy to get sidetracked and lost in another task while trying to handle everything, especially when something comes up irl and pulls you away from work for a moment. Even for me, it can be difficult to keep up with how many private messages I get with questions, suggestions, concerns, etc. and especially when my family keeps calling me for this and that. Also remember this goes for all game modes, Discord, and the forums which is definitely a lot to do!

This was explained in the Discord's help channel, but the appeal process is not as fast and easy as you think it is. We're not permitted to explain in detail the process that goes on, but we have a longer and more secure method than some other networks do.
I'll use the same example as I used before: Think of it as a checkout line or when you're ordering fast food. There's a line in front and behind you. Person A goes first, then B, then C, then D, and so on. Eventually, the person in front of you gets to go and once they've been handled, it's your turn. After that, the person behind you goes and so on.
For us, it's not a situation where we just stamp it and move on. When we do get to your ban appeal, we actually have to sit down and really review it.

 

[acousthicc]

The state of this server is pathetic. Absolutely pathetic and there is no way around that at all in the slightest. The staff are all incompetent people who do nothing but stride in their power and waltz in their pride. They do not serve the player community in which they receive their power from, but instead take time to dish out punishments to players who are complaining about the issues that are presented from the very admins punishing them. I say a new staff is needed and Ill list out some other things.

1: Factions is the only server I've played but I have had numerous problems that would require the attention of a mod or higher, but instead am left having to ask a helper over and over if this said mod will ever show up. I have been doxed in chat and told the helper about it who literally saw the msg and asked a mod to come help deal with the issue and yet... nothing happened. The player had no punishment and continued to mess with me, while the helper is there. The mods are only ever on once in a blue moon. There are different staffs for different game modes for a reason. Why the hell is an entire faction server filled with up to a 100 players on given a helper and that's it? What kind of moronic idea is that? There are blatant racists and people breaking rules so obviously and nothing happens to them days later even if they were reported on forums. The fact is, is that I have seen only 1 or 2 mods ever join on factions, which by the way is one of the most played it seems, and I play very frequently which just seems crazy to me.

2: There are problems still on factions that have been told to mods and seniors mods from LITERAL Helpers and nothing has been done. Told your SR Mod Ranged that the arenas are still down since the server has been wiped and nothing has been done and I am told that they've been notified from Terry and still nothing happens? How does that even make sense. Is it that hard to fix a problem when you've had over a week to fix this? I get that it might not be the most important problem out there, but if you cant complete something that small for one of your higher modes then what's the point in playing on a server with minimal care from staff.

Its crazy that staff seem it more appropriate to kick players who tell them the issues they have instead of addressing them. Appeals also make no sense to why they take so long. Is it that hard to look at some of these appeals that it takes days upon days?

Hi there,

I have found it very difficult to get the attention of staff members. I think the only way I can get their attention is by using HelpOp. I am unsure about the unfair punishments- I just know that sometimes other players and I don't get the same help as normal.

 

[MutedPianist]

Hi there,

I have found it very difficult to get the attention of staff members. I think the only way I can get their attention is by using HelpOp. I am unsure about the unfair punishments- I just know that sometimes other players and I don't get the same help as normal.

If you're asking in normal chat, it can definitely be a little difficult for us to see since chat can go by pretty fast with all the other people chatting. Plus if there's one moderator online and they get up for a second to go use the bathroom or anything like that, it'll unfortunately be completely missed.
Doing /helpop does get our attention since it's differently colored than the regular text and any staff member who's online, regardless their realm, can see it.

 

[acousthicc]

If you're asking in normal chat, it can definitely be a little difficult for us to see since chat can go by pretty fast with all the other people chatting. Plus if there's one moderator online and they get up for a second to go use the bathroom or anything like that, it'll unfortunately be completely missed.
Doing /helpop does get our attention since it's differently colored than the regular text and any staff member who's online, regardless their realm, can see it.

Yeah. I get it. When I moderated it was only 50-100 players in both global and local chat, and messages. It was hectic and hard to catch on. However it's almost if I am being ignored sometimes... like the mod can clearly see I need help...

 

[MutedPianist]

Yeah. I get it. When I moderated it was only 50-100 players in both global and local chat, and messages. It was hectic and hard to catch on. However it's almost if I am being ignored sometimes... like the mod can clearly see I need help...

Speaking for myself here, if I see a helpop and I don't know the answer at all but there's other staff online, I definitely just let them have it and take the wheel but if it's just me online, I try to ask for help from the others.
Very much possible they're doing the same thing and just not getting the answer fast enough.

 

[Cookie Kat]

I’m confident that it isn’t the intention of any mods to ignore players. There are many reasons as to why a mod may not respond to a request/report. The best solution I can think of is to repeat yourself because sometimes things do get buried in chat!

 

[81stDragon]

As a Survival Helper, I can't comment on much about Factions so I'll leave that to the experts.

From a Helper standpoint, yes there are permissions I do and don't have and for what I don't have permissions to handle myself, I must relay information and let the Mods (and higher) handle it because they do. This is just one part of our job. After that, there's nothing else we (Helpers) can really do except give updates from time to time of what we know.

It's not that Mods aren't doing anything because they're lazy, incompetent, don't want to, etc. It's simply that
A.) We're still real people with lives outside of Manacube and this is a volunteer job we do. We still have to eat, sleep, use the bathroom, go to work/school, take care of pets, hang out with friends and family, etc. For example, I'm chronically ill and I often get up and leave my device to do my daily treatments, cook, and eat so I can take my daily medicine (+ Some of the medication I take makes me have to use the bathroom a lot more than usual, so of course, I get up and go to the bathroom) Another example, I'm starting college this semester and I'll need to get into a good schedule where I can balance everything out efficiently but it may take me a bit to really figure that out and get into that groove.
B.) Manacube is a huge network and we get tons of helpops, reports, ban appeals, support tickets, etc. on the daily and it's easy to get sidetracked and lost in another task while trying to handle everything, especially when something comes up irl and pulls you away from work for a moment. Even for me, it can be difficult to keep up with how many private messages I get with questions, suggestions, concerns, etc. and especially when my family keeps calling me for this and that. Also remember this goes for all game modes, Discord, and the forums which is definitely a lot to do!

This was explained in the Discord's help channel, but the appeal process is not as fast and easy as you think it is. We're not permitted to explain in detail the process that goes on, but we have a longer and more secure method than some other networks do.
I'll use the same example as I used before: Think of it as a checkout line or when you're ordering fast food. There's a line in front and behind you. Person A goes first, then B, then C, then D, and so on. Eventually, the person in front of you gets to go and once they've been handled, it's your turn. After that, the person behind you goes and so on.
For us, it's not a situation where we just stamp it and move on. When we do get to your ban appeal, we actually have to sit down and really review it.

Ok, but I'm referring to the entirety of manacube staff, if you are all unavailable then you need new staff who have different free times that don't merge it seems like. 90% of the things I listed were referencing things that took more than days to fix or more than days for nothing to happen at all. Also, no hate was targeted towards helpers, actually I lean more towards helpers being the only ones doing something and the mods wont ever deliver when helpers ask them.

B: You listed the same thing as you said in A. Yes I understand that there is a lot of things going on with this mid tier server, but like I said these things are taking a week and more to finish. The arenas just got fixed after almost 2 weeks. I'm not hating towards anyone, and sorry if it came off at first like I was, I was just annoyed with staff a lot up to that point and got it off my chest.

Once again referring to your ban appeals, maybe you guys should get so more volunteers to handle some forum ban appeals and then once reviewed send it up at a quicker rate rather than take them slowly. Response time is the issue here. Mods might be busy, but when every mod is busy that they cant come and help at at least a quicker speed then you might have to get more staff or get staff that doesn't have free time that merges. I don't wanna see rude once again here, I'm just trying to list my thoughts and opinions on the state of this all.

 

[Hallowqueen]

Ok, but I'm referring to the entirety of manacube staff, if you are all unavailable then you need new staff who have different free times that don't merge it seems like. 90% of the things I listed were referencing things that took more than days to fix or more than days for nothing to happen at all. Also, no hate was targeted towards helpers, actually I lean more towards helpers being the only ones doing something and the mods wont ever deliver when helpers ask them.

Our staff applications are open for people to apply - staffing is completely voluntary, and we all have lives outside of ManaCube. We don't expect players to be online 24/7, so please don't expect the same of staff. If you have an issue and no one is online, you can submit support tickets for reports, or post it and tag the appropriate staff in #reports on the community discord.

For issues such as bugs (I assume is what you're referring to with things taking days to fix), this is not something that any moderation staff (helpers, all the way up to SrMods) are able to resolve. Our role on the team is to deal with chat related issues and other things such as players cheating, stealing etc - we are purely here to moderate. Issues with plugins, servers and bugs are something only Admins, and in particular Developers can deal with.

Moderation staff do certainly report issues as soon as we are made aware of them, but the Developers and Admins have several servers to deal with, as well as plenty of behind the scenes situations. I can understand your frustration in having to wait for things to be fixed, but please keep in mind that the admins and developers do their very best to ensure the server is functioning and that issues are resolved as soon as possible.

Once again referring to your ban appeals, maybe you guys should get so more volunteers to handle some forum ban appeals and then once reviewed send it up at a quicker rate rather than take them slowly. Response time is the issue here. Mods might be busy, but when every mod is busy that they cant come and help at at least a quicker speed then you might have to get more staff or get staff that doesn't have free time that merges. I don't wanna see rude once again here, I'm just trying to list my thoughts and opinions on the state of this all.

Your opinion is appreciated, and we don't want to discourage players from ranting and relieving stress. That being said, as I mentioned before moderation is completely voluntary, and staff have things going on outside of what players see on ManaCube. Appeals typically shouldn't take longer than 24 hours to respond to, I understand it can sometimes take longer than this due to staff shortages and staff being unavailable due to other commitments, but you are welcome to contact a moderator and ask about your appeal. If the appeal is currently in reviewing, you can speak to the staff member who is dealing with it if you have any questions. As long as you are respectful, they will be happy to assist you.

Having volunteers or dedicated staff for punishment appeals seems like a good idea on paper, but it would be more complicated than what it's worth, and at that point they would essentially be staff members anyway. I think the current process works well, and it is more functional having all Moderators up to SrMods handling punishment appeals, rather than one smaller team dedicated on handling appeals. Additionally, it would be difficult to do so as they would not have the full context for every situation regarding appeals, and wouldn't have access to the same resources moderation staff do.

 

[81stDragon]

You're right, it is voluntary, but you serve a job at this position regardless of it being voluntarily. Players are spending money on this server expecting the best service from staff so treat is as accountability not just "I am voluntarily doing this position so it doesn't matter if I fuck up or am late to every call from helpers". Also I mentioned multiple things that show that response time is awful. I literally was doxed in open chat and had a helper see and it call an mod and one never showed, told a helper about an illegal cannon he called a mod and one never showed. If you're constantly busy then how is it I never see anything you ever do anywhere. I have seen multiple people make reports about issues and they never get them resolved until ages later. Like I said earlier the problem seems to be that you treat your position as only "voluntarily" instead of a position to ensure the best experience for players.

 

[81stDragon]

Also I never said I expected you to be on 24/7, I expect there to be at least someone available 24/7 in a staff with over 2000 players. Players are not the same as staff. You keep the experience in the server fun for other players and rid the server of malicious players, cheats, toxicity and other things. You cant compare a normal player to a staff member. If you volunteer for this position then you should know what you're putting yourself into and be ready to take these jobs on.

 

[Hallowqueen]

"I am voluntarily doing this position so it doesn't matter if I fuck up or am late to every call from helpers"

This is not how myself or any member of staff view our staffing commitments, I can assure you of that. No staff member looks at an issue, shrugs it off and goes "I volunteer, I don't need to deal with that" - if you believe this is the case or have any evidence of any staff members doing so, I would strongly encourage you to file a staff report with an admin.

I literally was doxed in open chat and had a helper see and it call an mod and one never showed, told a helper about an illegal cannon he called a mod and one never showed.

As mentioned above, helpers do not have as many permissions as moderators. I sincerely apologise that a moderator was not available as these incidents took place, but that is not the fault of the helper who tried to assist you and is also not the fault of the moderators as again, we do have real life commitments that sometimes take priority.

I appreciate your frustration, however there is only so much staff are able to do. If you tag moderators in the community discord if there is a chat issue going on, or /helpop if there are other staff online, someone will be able to respond to you as quickly as they can. I have personally not seen an instance were zero staff are online at all. If that ever where to happen - again, tagging mods for urgent issues in #reports or #issues within the community discord is guaranteed to get you a quick response.

You cant compare a normal player to a staff member.

Now this I do have to disagree with. Part of bringing up that our position is purely voluntary includes that we are also players, who just have more permissions and responsibilities. I would argue that we have the exact same experience as other players on the server, as we didn't log on immediately with the staff role. It is something everyone has worked for, and volunteered their time to.

Factions is without a doubt our most understaffed realm. It is a struggle for the current factions staff due to the sheer lack of staff we do have, and as I mentioned previously we have staff applications open to anyone who feels they are capable of helping out. Mods from other realms can only do so much to assist with Factions, and I can assure you all of our Factions staff members are incredibly hard working, especially our helpers.

 

[Cookie Kat]

Factions are without a doubt our most understaffed realm. It is a struggle for the current faction's staff due to the sheer lack of staff we do have, and as I mentioned previously we have staff applications open to anyone who feels they are capable of helping out. Mods from other realms can only do so much to assist with Factions, and I can assure you all of our Factions staff members are incredibly hard-working, especially our helpers.

What hallow says is very true. Unfortunately, there aren't as many staff who can handle factions-related issues due to the lack of staff on Factions specifically. Mods from other game modes can only do so much- they basically have the same permissions a helper would (correct me if I'm wrong.) That being said, for something like doing you'd need a factions mod because only factions mods or higher ranked staff such as the Sr. Mods can ban. This is simply just because of the way permissions work on Manacube, it has nothing to do with the competence of staff. The issue is the small amount of staff on Factions who have ban permissions. As Hallow said, the best way to get their attention is to report it through discord and tag the appropriate staff role.

As for appeals, I know that only mods and higher can actually review appeals- but would it not be possible to open it up to helpers as well? Or is it just not possible... there may not be that many helpers- but I could say that with the addition of five or six more people, things could be done in a more timely fashion. I will admit that my last appeal took a week or so to get a response after it got into reviewing the reviewing stage- but I understand that the mod was busy. If you or anyone else finds that you aren't getting a response on your appeal, don't be afraid to contact staff, as Hallow mentioned they will be more than happy to assist you as long as you remain respectful.

 

[freelancegamerr]

moderation is completely voluntary

breh yes it is voluntary but you still signed up for it lol. Its like volunteering as a fire fighter then nor responding to a call because its "voluntary" You both know what you signed up for and you did it "voluntarily".

To be fair I wouldn't say responding to fires and complaints on forums are the same in severity but in the same vein

I have been doxed in chat

I at least think this is very serious and I was there man dropped 2 addresses in chat and his whole legal name so that is pretty bad to have no response even a week later

 

[81stDragon]

breh yes it is voluntary but you still signed up for it lol. Its like volunteering as a fire fighter then nor responding to a call because its "voluntary" You both know what you signed up for and you did it "voluntarily".

To be fair I wouldn't say responding to fires and complaints on forums are the same in severity but in the same vein



I at least think this is very serious and I was there man dropped 2 addresses in chat and his whole legal name so that is pretty bad to have no response even a week later

TRRUUUUEUEUUEUU.

 

[81stDragon]

Also, no. Players and staff are not the same. That's a final point no matter how feel about it. You may have came from and you may be similar but you have a job to do to ensure the actual player enjoys their stay, and it seems that you make every excuse in regards to mods doing literally nothing. I've seen so many people complain and then ask if their issue was resolved and always said no. This staff is just not on their A game and you need to get more or get new ones its just what is it. I've seen hackers reported countlessly, racists in chat reported, so many things and nothing resolved. You keep saying "oooh were busy so we cant handle it all the time!!" then what is the fucking point in you being there. You guys take so long to resolve anything that players have to take things into their own hands. Helpers are left on their own to handle an entire server with not a single mod helping its just pathetic.

 

[81stDragon]

Just start asking for people to apply or that your hiring and advertise and get some staff in here. It would increase the server ten fold. Thats only thing I want

 

[81stDragon]

You guys seriously gave me a warning for disrespect because I commented on the poor reply time by the mods. You proved my point so many times over. You care only about punishing and not enriching. You are the exact thing that I said you were in my first comment in this thread. I don't understand the mindset, then again I cant expect much from a server who use to allow players to buy unban and unmutes. Yikes

 

[Cookie Kat]

Just start asking for people to apply or that your hiring and advertise and get some staff in here. It would increase the server ten fold. Thats only thing I want

It wouldn't though, most players know that staff applications are open. They always have been and always will be. There is just a lack of people who apply for factions staff, if there's anyone who wants to be staff on factions you should ask them to apply.

 

[Cookie Kat]

You guys seriously gave me a warning for disrespect because I commented on the poor reply time by the mods. You proved my point so many times over. You care only about punishing and not enriching. You are the exact thing that I said you were in my first comment in this thread. I don't understand the mindset, then again I cant expect much from a server who use to allow players to buy unban and unmutes. Yikes

You were kinda being a bit rude/disrespectful, honestly, the staff could just resign if they wanted to. But they stay because they actually care for the community believe it or not. Even though I don't always agree with them, I know they are just trying to do what they believe is best for all of us. That being said, it really is unfortunate that factions don't get as much attention as some of the other game modes, but that is no reason to go bashing the whole staff team- like I already said there just isn't enough staff on factions that are able to deal with factions related issues. You can keep complaining all you like, but it isn't going to resolve anything. The only way to resolve this issue is if more people step up to the challenge and become mods on factions.