The depth of the stranger
Now that we have our own server, and a rad presence, it is inevitable that some people, strangers who would never have joined Icrontic otherwise, will begin to join the site only so that they may use our tag, and feel like they belong.
We need to have a unified front. We need to know how we are going to deal with this.
The temptation is to say that this is a great way to get new members, and that any reason to join Icrontic.com is a good reason.
On the otherhand, some of the people who play these games are tremulous, immature, asshats, who would only detriment our community if let too deep within it.
This means we must ask ourselves: Who is the {IC} gamer. Is this a tag and a community that is open to all comers? One which will be defined and founded on the strengths and weaknesses of the general internet stranger? Or is it and exclusive club, open to long-time friends (and their long-time friends), snubbing the asshat public in favor of a more family-esk, casual gaming paradigm?... Or is it something in-between?
If a new person joins us just to play TF2 with us, for example: Do we invite them to use the {IC} tag immediately? do we ask them nicely to refrain from joining our club until they establish themselves in our community? Are we okay with people who join, and try to be our friends, just to be in our game? or is that akin to the shills who join and try to be our friend to advertise their wares?
If we are okay with their use of the tag, are we also okay with their access to the teamspeak server? What about the supar secret gaming forum? what about letting them help pay for the server (essentially letting them buy their way into adminship and a guaranteed slot) if that's what they want?
Where do we draw the line of access for 'new to the neighborhood' members? How deep into our community do we want the internet stranger to be able to go?
I'm not posting this thread to endorse either total inclusion, exclusion, or anything between. I'm starting this thread because I know that there will be differing opinions about this issue, and we should all be on the same page when is comes to interacting with strangers who want to join us. The worst way to handle the situation is to have some of us turning new people away, while some of us embrace them. A unified front on this issue is more important than our actual stance.
How does everyone feel about this issue?
We need to have a unified front. We need to know how we are going to deal with this.
The temptation is to say that this is a great way to get new members, and that any reason to join Icrontic.com is a good reason.
On the otherhand, some of the people who play these games are tremulous, immature, asshats, who would only detriment our community if let too deep within it.
This means we must ask ourselves: Who is the {IC} gamer. Is this a tag and a community that is open to all comers? One which will be defined and founded on the strengths and weaknesses of the general internet stranger? Or is it and exclusive club, open to long-time friends (and their long-time friends), snubbing the asshat public in favor of a more family-esk, casual gaming paradigm?... Or is it something in-between?
If a new person joins us just to play TF2 with us, for example: Do we invite them to use the {IC} tag immediately? do we ask them nicely to refrain from joining our club until they establish themselves in our community? Are we okay with people who join, and try to be our friends, just to be in our game? or is that akin to the shills who join and try to be our friend to advertise their wares?
If we are okay with their use of the tag, are we also okay with their access to the teamspeak server? What about the supar secret gaming forum? what about letting them help pay for the server (essentially letting them buy their way into adminship and a guaranteed slot) if that's what they want?
Where do we draw the line of access for 'new to the neighborhood' members? How deep into our community do we want the internet stranger to be able to go?
I'm not posting this thread to endorse either total inclusion, exclusion, or anything between. I'm starting this thread because I know that there will be differing opinions about this issue, and we should all be on the same page when is comes to interacting with strangers who want to join us. The worst way to handle the situation is to have some of us turning new people away, while some of us embrace them. A unified front on this issue is more important than our actual stance.
How does everyone feel about this issue?
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Comments
Can I ban YAD? Pretty pretty pretty please?
Bahaha! I was wondering if he was getting on anyone else's nerves:bigggrin:
Mmmnnnn.....
His (YADs) avitar does tend to describe him quite well.
All we ask is that people with {IC} in front of their names don't act like dicks on other servers, or exploit maps, or cheat, or call people "****ing retards", etc.
I was thinking the same thing. I guess we should keep it to just our TS channel instead of to everyone.:bigggrin:
Or perhaps I should play TF2 first. Damn all these good 360 games right now!
But we should give everyone a chance. If they are just self-serving jerks, they can be dealt with right?