Aegean

going on vacation
leaving in like 10 minutes so this thread is gonna be very short
ill be gone for 7 days, ill still browse the forums but thats about it
see ya @Aegean

Please tell us your previous name on xG or sign into your previous account and reapply.

Totally understand where you're coming from, but just look at the member application section of the forums. Look how many members have applied but have not even gotten a vouch. They probably won't come back to the forums, and just because you're shy and don't talk a lot does not mean you are not a quality member. Unfortunately, the vouching system just to gain membership only allows outgoing players who are good at making friends join the clan very quickly, and pretty much keeps away anyone who might not use the mic or talk a lot in servers. I want xG to be a place where people who are accepted and become a member can gain new friends, and come out of their "shell" so to speak, where they start making friends and enjoy a warm community. As a few others have stated, we do have member protest section and we can always use it (:

So, I'm curious to know as I've noticed that whenever a mass closure of Member Subs (Accepted/Declined) happens, it ends up completely filling the New Posts section of the Forums. I realize that it isn't common for this to happen, but it does happen every month or so and it completely buries all other threads (in general, not just Member Subs) which can effectively shut down the visibility of a thread or anything.
 
I'm wondering if there was some sort of change or function that could be implemented for Higher-Ups to utilize when dealing with the closure of a Member Submission? As an example, maybe a checkbox of sorts [Accepted/Declined] that will notify the user who posted the thread that their Application was Accepted or Declined that only Higher-Ups could access?
 
In other words, anything that could effectively replace a Higher-Up from actually posting in the thread (thus bumping it in Recent Posts) to prevent excess bumping of Member Submissions and the burying of other [un]related posts/threads @Rhododendron @Aegean
 
EDIT: @virr raised a good point that the "Delete thread" process could be re-worked or otherwise improved on for this sort of thing as it notifies the User. Is there a way this could be utilized for new options such as "Accepted" or "Declined" that closes the thread and notifies?

Will be done within 24 hours or I'll get punished in the town square

Not sure what the status is on this whole thing, but I just wanted to bump this thread in case it slipped through the cracks as I still believe a user-friendlier experience is key in an increase in regulars and activity @Aegean

@TheSupremePatriot @Kypari stop arguing. People shit post sometimes, you don't have to read the thread if it doesn't interest you.

I just want to clarify a few things that people seem to misunderstand from my previous posts.

Member tags will not change from [xG] or xG | or however you put xG in your name, the junior - senior example is something that will be automated via forums, and it will just give people a sense of accomplishment upon several hurdles that we set (i.e. amount of posts + time registered on forums). We will discuss this in detail once it's fleshed out.
Getting membership was much harder and more of an accomplishment in the past, that is of course true. We made it like this because as I reiterate, the higherups do not like the idea of someone joining our servers, wanting to be a member, not being vocal enough or standing out by being funny or really good, and then not getting accepted into the community. We obviously can not force people to vouch for others, nor can we assume they will remember every member who goes on the servers. Letting members in and following alongside our competitors in this aspect is a net gain because we gain a population growth while the newer players feel like they have a place they can call home in xG.
Member protests exist! We can always get rid of members who do not deserve to be a member, this should not be an issue.
IF all hell breaks loose, and we truly did make a mistake, we can always change the rules around submissions. Nothing is set in stone.

I just want to clarify a few things that people seem to misunderstand from my previous posts.

Member tags will not change from [xG] or xG | or however you put xG in your name, the junior - senior example is something that will be automated via forums, and it will just give people a sense of accomplishment upon several hurdles that we set (i.e. amount of posts + time registered on forums). We will discuss this in detail once it's fleshed out.
Getting membership was much harder and more of an accomplishment in the past, that is of course true. We made it like this because as I reiterate, the higherups do not like the idea of someone joining our servers, wanting to be a member, not being vocal enough or standing out by being funny or really good, and then not getting accepted into the community. We obviously can not force people to vouch for others, nor can we assume they will remember every member who goes on the servers. Letting members in and following alongside our competitors in this aspect is a net gain because we gain a population growth while the newer players feel like they have a place they can call home in xG.
Member protests exist! We can always get rid of members who do not deserve to be a member, this should not be an issue.
IF all hell breaks loose, and we truly did make a mistake, we can always change the rules around submissions. Nothing is set in stone.

I just want to clarify a few things that people seem to misunderstand from my previous posts.

Member tags will not change from [xG] or xG | or however you put xG in your name, the junior - senior example is something that will be automated via forums, and it will just give people a sense of accomplishment upon several hurdles that we set (i.e. amount of posts + time registered on forums). We will discuss this in detail once it's fleshed out.
Getting membership was much harder and more of an accomplishment in the past, that is of course true. We made it like this because as I reiterate, the higherups do not like the idea of someone joining our servers, wanting to be a member, not being vocal enough or standing out by being funny or really good, and then not getting accepted into the community. We obviously can not force people to vouch for others, nor can we assume they will remember every member who goes on the servers. Letting members in and following alongside our competitors in this aspect is a net gain because we gain a population growth while the newer players feel like they have a place they can call home in xG.
Member protests exist! We can always get rid of members who do not deserve to be a member, this should not be an issue.
IF all hell breaks loose, and we truly did make a mistake, we can always change the rules around submissions. Nothing is set in stone.

I just want to clarify a few things that people seem to misunderstand from my previous posts.

Member tags will not change from [xG] or xG | or however you put xG in your name, the junior - senior example is something that will be automated via forums, and it will just give people a sense of accomplishment upon several hurdles that we set (i.e. amount of posts + time registered on forums). We will discuss this in detail once it's fleshed out.
Getting membership was much harder and more of an accomplishment in the past, that is of course true. We made it like this because as I reiterate, the higherups do not like the idea of someone joining our servers, wanting to be a member, not being vocal enough or standing out by being funny or really good, and then not getting accepted into the community. We obviously can not force people to vouch for others, nor can we assume they will remember every member who goes on the servers. Letting members in and following alongside our competitors in this aspect is a net gain because we gain a population growth while the newer players feel like they have a place they can call home in xG.
Member protests exist! We can always get rid of members who do not deserve to be a member, this should not be an issue.
IF all hell breaks loose, and we truly did make a mistake, we can always change the rules around submissions. Nothing is set in stone.

I just want to clarify a few things that people seem to misunderstand from my previous posts.

Member tags will not change from [xG] or xG | or however you put xG in your name, the junior - senior example is something that will be automated via forums, and it will just give people a sense of accomplishment upon several hurdles that we set (i.e. amount of posts + time registered on forums). We will discuss this in detail once it's fleshed out.
Getting membership was much harder and more of an accomplishment in the past, that is of course true. We made it like this because as I reiterate, the higherups do not like the idea of someone joining our servers, wanting to be a member, not being vocal enough or standing out by being funny or really good, and then not getting accepted into the community. We obviously can not force people to vouch for others, nor can we assume they will remember every member who goes on the servers. Letting members in and following alongside our competitors in this aspect is a net gain because we gain a population growth while the newer players feel like they have a place they can call home in xG.
Member protests exist! We can always get rid of members who do not deserve to be a member, this should not be an issue.
IF all hell breaks loose, and we truly did make a mistake, we can always change the rules around submissions. Nothing is set in stone.

Well the idea of changing how submissions work was to allow more people to get member obviously. We wanted xG to stop feeling like some kind of exclusive club or something along those lines. Usually when people don't get member, they don't even try to re-apply. They just move on to some other clan, one that is much easier to get into. By reducing the time it takes to get in, and also reducing the requirements, we are then hopefully able to keep peoples attention on xG instead of wherever else it is. If you feel someone is not fit for member, you can always make a member protest, that's why the section is there. Even though I am confused about the new requirements myself, hopefully things will become more fleshed out in the coming weeks.

[ATTACH]6687[/ATTACH]
 
CONGRATULATIONS!
 
You have been accepted to join Xeno Gamers!
 
To begin your membership, familiarize yourself with our rules listed here. This is highly important and knowing these rules will keep you safe from bans!
 
Want to get Moderator?
 
There are a few ways to earn it!
1. Be active on TeamSpeak! To download TeamSpeak click here and then click 'Download Here' and download the appropriate client for your OS. Then just install, follow the 'Easy Setup' guide, and finally, click 'Connections' and 'Connect' and enter 'voice.xenogamers.com' in the 'Server Address' field.
2. Be active on the forums! This is one of the best ways to get your voice heard in Xeno Gamers!
3. Be active on the servers! This shows that you are committed to the clan!
 
For a server list, click here.
 
Come check out our staff list to see who is who on the servers, click here or here.
 
WE HOPE YOU ENJOY YOUR STAY!

Member Submission Guidelines. (Read)
 
I will list the changes here as well so it's more clear. Anyone with a membership application currently open will have an answer within the next 2 days as following our current changes.
 
The Changes (subject to change at a later date)

* After 2 days of your membership being open, you will be accepted if you fit the criteria as long as nobody gives a valid reason to keep you from getting into the community (this is judged by the higher ups)
 
Vouches still are a great way to increase your forum activity, get credits and also give input to help us recruit the right members into our community!
We will introduce new ranks to members (junior - senior etc) but we will discuss the names with the higherups and implement that at a later time!
If you have been perm banned or kicked out in the past (and not pardoned), you need 3 higherups (dm+) to vouch for you to get accepted into xG
Any member application currently open will be grandfathered into these new changes, and they will get accepted/declined based on these new changes

@Forest
Silence and I had a ton of discussions about this aspect, and we did come to the conclusion after looking at other communities that our bar for membership was too high in the beginning. We did not want our community to be like "the old boys club" where if you don't know the right people or don't talk enough in servers you can't get in.
 
We still value input from our members, but we do not want the reasoning of someone not standing out enough to be the reason they do not get into xG, and to find another community that accepts them with open arms. I know there's pros + cons to either way, but we feel this way has more pros than cons as it's easier to get rid of bad members, than it is to bring in quality members who might be shy. As virr mentioned as well, people will still need to be standout members to get staff, and also we will provide way more giveaways + events to glorify the members who are active in our community. Once our traffic is much higher in our community, and people are applying at a much higher rate, I'm sure people will visit the forums more often to give vouches towards players as that'll be a good way for them to increase forum count to apply for mod if that is their goal. Considering all things being said, I think it'll be a net gain that we will realize within a few months, especially once summer hits. I never have any issues with discussion so no need to apologize.
 
I edited the membership guidelines thread again, Virr rewrote it to make it much simpler and cleaner and I forgot to edit the 2 day part in.

@Isabelle to Mod
@Sylux to Mod
Forge to Member (stepped down)

I see no reason not to maintain the mutli-clan rule. Even though making entrance easier seems to be the clear goal of this, it's still important for the people here to try and be more focused on activity in this specific clan, even more so for new folks.

I like the new changes and definitely think making it easier to get in is a good thing. My only concern is that two days might be a little short. The percentage of our playerbase that checks forums daily is pretty low, so not very much of the community is going to be involved in the process in that short of time.
 
But my suggestion, that would help whether we increase the time frame or not, is to start pushing the forums alot harder than we already do on the servers. Not just in chat, but in the middle and on the side of the screen (atleast in tf2 not sure how other games would work).
 
As @Forest said, our community has until now been very selective, with a high bar to be accepted, and that's worked, but if we're going to change that we can't just make it this thread and higher ups running the changes and done. We need to commit to raising traffic total for this to work at it's best.
 
 
Buckle up for the member protest section to be more than just the after thought it's been for years ;)

I was going to type something longer to explain our reasoning, but @Aegean covered some of it in his post. I'd just like to add;
 
The issues we were having with the old system was that a lot of people didn't really understand the purpose of the vouches which in addition to the guidelines being a complete mess (which has now been fixed) led to confusion in a lot of cases. A lot of applications never really met the old requirements (which was 7 for TF2, 3 for CS:GO) which was really disheartening and a lot of people give up after their first member application being denied.
 
Members who put in extra work to be stand-out members of the community will still be recognized and rewarded when we flesh out the member hierarchy properly. We feel like this in addition to badges (which are being finalized probably some time this week) will bring a bit of bling to members that really put in that extra mile to make xG a better place for all of us.

Totally understand where you're coming from, but just look at the member application section of the forums. Look how many members have applied but have not even gotten a vouch. They probably won't come back to the forums, and just because you're shy and don't talk a lot does not mean you are not a quality member. Unfortunately, the vouching system just to gain membership only allows outgoing players who are good at making friends join the clan very quickly, and pretty much keeps away anyone who might not use the mic or talk a lot in servers. I want xG to be a place where people who are accepted and become a member can gain new friends, and come out of their "shell" so to speak, where they start making friends and enjoy a warm community. As a few others have stated, we do have member protest section and we can always use it (:

Totally understand where you're coming from, but just look at the member application section of the forums. Look how many members have applied but have not even gotten a vouch. They probably won't come back to the forums, and just because you're shy and don't talk a lot does not mean you are not a quality member. Unfortunately, the vouching system just to gain membership only allows outgoing players who are good at making friends join the clan very quickly, and pretty much keeps away anyone who might not use the mic or talk a lot in servers. I want xG to be a place where people who are accepted and become a member can gain new friends, and come out of their "shell" so to speak, where they start making friends and enjoy a warm community. As a few others have stated, we do have member protest section and we can always use it (:

It does to get unbanned, but not to become a member.

Member Submission Guidelines. (Read)
 
I will list the changes here as well so it's more clear. Anyone with a membership application currently open will have an answer within the next 2 days as following our current changes.
 
The Changes (subject to change at a later date)

* After 2 days of your membership being open, you will be accepted if you fit the criteria as long as nobody gives a valid reason to keep you from getting into the community (this is judged by the higher ups)
 
Vouches still are a great way to increase your forum activity, get credits and also give input to help us recruit the right members into our community!
We will introduce new ranks to members (junior - senior etc) but we will discuss the names with the higherups and implement that at a later time!
If you have been perm banned or kicked out in the past (and not pardoned), you need 3 higherups (dm+) to vouch for you to get accepted into xG
Any member application currently open will be grandfathered into these new changes, and they will get accepted/declined based on these new changes