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Vargas

Friend of xG
  • Content Count

    162
  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    1

Reputation Activity

  1. Agree
    Vargas reacted to Tatost in Promo Demo #220 (epic meat edition)   
    tatost pt. 2 bagel edition

  2. Like
    Vargas reacted to Bone in Bias and hypocrisy   
    That's cool, my dude. I'm open to correction if needed. 
    Also, I didn't think I was being any more aggressive than him, but alrighty ?
    Edit: Also I've seen posts before in which Rhodo has even said NSFW material isn't allowed on the servers due to ToS, but I may have misunderstood
  3. Sad
    Vargas got a reaction from Bone in Stepping down   
    Tf2 lost its charm and has become a chore to stay on. So I'm stepping down 
    Adios 
  4. Sad
    Vargas got a reaction from Sora_ in Stepping down   
    Tf2 lost its charm and has become a chore to stay on. So I'm stepping down 
    Adios 
  5. Sad
    Vargas got a reaction from Thorax_ in Stepping down   
    Tf2 lost its charm and has become a chore to stay on. So I'm stepping down 
    Adios 
  6. Winner
    Vargas got a reaction from Reptile in Stepping down   
    Tf2 lost its charm and has become a chore to stay on. So I'm stepping down 
    Adios 
  7. RIP
    Vargas got a reaction from Lithium in Stepping down   
    Tf2 lost its charm and has become a chore to stay on. So I'm stepping down 
    Adios 
  8. Like
    Vargas reacted to Vexx in Stepping down   
    This has been quite a long time coming. I will be stepping down from the TF2 division. Got really bored of TF2 and kinda tired of forcing myself to play. Not really sure what else to say so I'll just keep this short.
    Bye.
  9. Agree
    Vargas got a reaction from Elcark in maf427   
    User will be unbanned. Evidence provided wasn't enough to prove that this user was hacking.
    ~Closed
     
  10. Agree
    Vargas reacted to Vexx in Sucy the Mushroom   
    I don't necessarily understand why people are pushing for a permanent ban on this guy over a bit of BM in chat. It doesn't even look like what he said was actually directed at anyone, and simply general opinions on "furries" themselves. The kids like 14 or 15 and it's really obvious he just wants attention. I agree with Elcark, 1 week is plenty enough for something like this.
  11. Smelly
    Vargas got a reaction from Tatost in My Application!   
    +5 Uses the !friendly command
  12. Agree
    Vargas reacted to Kypari in Emmy   
    Link now works, thanks!
    A lot of people were breaking rules on the server, though it did seem like @Vargas was quite occupied with other things and he was misinformed about the !calladmin rules. Mistakes happen raysShrug
     
    Honestly this kind of thing happens on the regular, so if he was going to get anything I would suggest a 60 minute ban or him to be warned about it.
  13. Like
    Vargas reacted to Chrono in Goodbye xG.   
    Everyone knows I love putting in my post on controversial threads!
     
    I'm not quoting anything because then I will have a cancerous time editing down the pieces I want to respond to for everyone. Since clearly @Ms.Spooks will not be responding and or reading, I don't feel like this is directed at her more so at others who are saying "this is 100% true! omg xg sucks!"
     

    A piece of advice I was given was "Keep your supervisors accountable, especially when it comes to potential promotions to a position of leadership. But do not pester them with constant nagging about said promotions" Basically saying every once in a while (2 or more promotion cycles in the case of xg and being on the internet, longer in the case of real life), ask a few questions about it and see what kind of constructive feedback can be garnered. but if you are asking about it every other day or even 1 a week, the thoughts behind your application/request will gradually (or quickly) go from "this person wants to be promoted/do more" to "this person is needy/demanding/needs to get over themself.
    Don't be discouraged when you are not promoted as quickly as you think you should, there are a lot of factors that come into the minds of those responsible for the promotions, be it an internet community, or a workplace.

    [*]Staff are volunteers not lackeys, yes this is true, but as staff even on a volunteer basis, you are expected to do the job that you agreed to do. I can volunteer to rebuild my brother/sisters master bedroom shower for them, and they will expect that I complete the task of rebuilding their shower, and that it is completed correctly, all the pipes connected, all the water working, and that on the outside there is no discernible error that looks completely awful. they also would expect that on the inside I haven't done anything that will break under normal wear and tear conditions in a less than average timespan, as well as not do anything that makes a hassle for repair during special circumstances. If I were to not complete the rebuild, or do a pretty shitty job at rebuilding it, then they would be rightfully pissed. likewise, if I am asking them for food/beer/to dog-sit while I do it, they would rightfully expect that my standard is of a better job. (this sounds confusing but the point behind it is that if you volunteer to do something, expect to be held accountable to it, and if you want to be given a title for it, expect to be expected to do more.)
    [*]Transparency is necessary, however there are some limits. Promotions were something I used to think "oh why dont they just tell me what i need to do to be promoted" but that is a very backwards ideology, something I learned is that if you want the position of leadership then show some leadership, take the initiative to mentor newer mods or explain why something is against rules/what they are to newer players. for those that I would promote back in the day, I based it off of a few things: are they active (dont have to be the most active person, but not have noticeable gaps of inactivity), do they have any bans on record for major violations (banned a couple hours for spam is no big deal, contrary to the popular belief that staff have to be perfect and can never break a single rule, shit happens), does the community respect them

    more detail on that last one: Does the community respect you? I did not necessarily want staff the community liked, I wanted someone they respected. If the person is a people pleaser and sort of a push over, how can I trust them to maintain the servers/rules with integrity if they just want everyone to like them? People typically dont like being banned and they dont like the people who ban them. I wanted people who the community could trust and respect their word, that the community knew that this person knew what he was talking about when it came to the rules, and upkeep of the server.

    [*]Witnesses do matter, and a staff witness does also matter. but there are some issues with that which I have said previously. If the staff are witnessing something, why are they not dealing out the appropriate form of punishment for it? Witnesses come in and they can +1 or -1 all they want for ban req/protest etc. and that matters, they see this person doing x all the time. but unless there is evidence, it is a case of he said she said. again, the "staff witness" should have dealt with the issue at hand as it happened. (exception: staff witness observed x freekill, and appropriately slayed and warned. observed it again, teamswapped. nothing else happens. player again is caught doing this, and a ban request with proof is made by a non-staff player and they throw out their experience, typically this would lead to a more severe form of punishment than a slap on the wrist/1 day ban from that post. but remember this "staff witness" has followed the proper procedure of actually taking action on what they have seen as per their role, and it is documented in our bans)
    [*]Staff shouldn't be jumping over the other to show their e-penis. if someone is clearly handling it, let them handle it and go on and enjoy your time on the server or do some other staff tasks (like watching other things going on in the server). This is also an issue of staff communication, back in the old days, we were all on TS because that was expected that if staff were on server we were to be on a voice channel. (it didnt have to be the TF2 JB1 channel on TS, but some available channel of sorts) and we all talked to eachother, we typed in admin chat all the time (there were some days depending on who was on that you couldn't press Y and not see some form of admin chat). we let each other know "hey I'll take care of X" or "I'm giving X a ban for this" and nobody else jumped over them because they were informed of what was happening. nowadays, I haven't seen really any of the staff on Discord except for the DM/DLs (and this has been a problem for years now, especially in regards to the tf2 division unfortunately. no offense, but you guys dont make active efforts to communicate outside of the forums and your friends)
    [*]As for the +1 0 -1 and it means you dont get promoted, like @Aegean said, there are times where the response is "i'm not for this, but if you are all down with it, then go ahead." having a single negative remark doesn't mean that it immediately is trashed. it just means that the person has concerns for X Y Z and they want them to be known before a final choice is made. There are also times where there are several negative remarks but only 1 positive and that positive is very huge (and the negatives are over petty/misguided reasons) [example: Someone was previously promoted on my final decision as a DL, where my DMs had given reasons not to but after having a chat with them they came to the realization that their reasonings were driven by their own personal issues with something that was said/done previously and were willing to give it a shot, even though they both still did not think person x should be promoted they respected my thoughts, and gave it a chance.]
    [*]Nobody is entitled to a higher position because they have been here longer. There is no clear path to mod/admin/dm/dl other than be active and a positive role model. There will always be less and less positions the higher you go. and whether you have been there for 7 years, or 7 months, both people have equal opportunity at a position based on their skill, integrity, knowledge, and ability to communicate.


    Thanks for the sick read friendos. There is never going to be a TL;DR on anything like this. Take the time to read it and let it sink in, there is no short version of it.
  14. Agree
    Vargas reacted to Bone in Goodbye xG.   
    Hey look, it's another reply you probably won't read, but I feel it's necessary.
     

     
    But it isn't some "mystical, magical, special role". If anything it's basically "Veteran Moderator". Someone who's more than trusted enough to handle the extra responsibilities as well as being a trusted source of information for not only players but for Moderators who may not feel as confident in their authoritative abilities.
     
    Plus, becoming Admin is basically stepping down the importance ladder. Let me explain, the ladder goes like so: Randoms/regulars/members > Mods > Admins > DM > DLs. Why? Because members/randoms/regulars are the most important part of the servers. They make up like 95% of our population. Without them servers would be barren. Next are Mods, these guys basically work for the former. They make sure they enforce rules to keep the servers enjoyable for everyone and keeping the non-staff player base happy. Admins help out Mods and Players by enforcing rules, but by also teaching and helping newer Mods (and maybe even old) to be better at their job. DMs are next, these guys help to choose who gets promoted, basically who they think would be the best choice to keep the player base happy and on the servers, as well as the aforementioned duties. Finally, there's DLs. They do all of the above, but also make sure the servers have the maps, plugins, and settings the community wants to keep people on the servers.
     
    TLDR: The "higher" you get on the ladder, the more you have to humble yourself because you basically get more bosses and more people who depend on you.
     

     
    I'm gonna stop you there. No, it isn't. It's to make sure the candidate is able to handle the job, not only in a responsibility way, but in various personal ways. For example: I've been a Mod 3 times, Admin once, and DM once, if I reapplied for staff right now I'd probably get Probationary Mod for the sole reason that my work requires a weird schedule so activity is tough for me. Would I care? No, because even I know that's something I'd have to work on and improve.
     

     
    While I agree this is an issue, and staff should be versed in all servers, some may feel like they're not as experienced with a certain server's rules to enforce them (or they don't like the gamemode). It was like that with me and Jailbreak. I didn't feel like I knew the rules as well, so I'd ask someone who was more knowledgeable in that area to take care of it, you know, to do the job correctly.
     
    Also, I don't feel it's just server based, but more uhh, clique based. There are cliques within the TF2 div, I know, shocking right? Point is, these people may not be groups who regular one server but stick with just their buddies. Anything their friends do is totally fine, but if someone outside of their group does the same thing, then oh boy, here comes the member protest/abuse report.
     

     
    This goes hand in hand with the previous topic. While I feel, yes, witnesses are important, especially since Staff can't see everything, just someone saying they saw something happen doesn't make it true. Allow me to give a ridiculous exaggeration to prove my point. A group of buddies in the TF2 div don't like a player. He's a big meanie and they don't like that kind of thing. 5 come forward and say "Admin ____ abused! 5 of us saw it!" and bam, guy gets in trouble and buddy group removes their nemesis from the ranks. Though that's a far reach, this could happen by "just taking their word for it"
     
    Another thing is, you're telling me, that 15 people saw this happen, and none of them took a screenshot or could type "record demo" in console? Ehhh...
     

     
    To be honest, letting people condemn someone without evidence promotes sucky, bandwagony mentality...
     

     
    Agreed. We're all humans here (as far as we know..), so treat each other like one.
     

     
    Again, agreed. But this whole thread was made due to you not getting your much anticipated promotion. Was the promotion anticipated because you wanted to serve the community more, or because you wanted a higher rank? If you enjoy serving your community, you'd be content with Mod, since you still get to enforce rules and (try to be) somewhat of a role model for others. This is coming from someone who's been Mod 3 times, and all 3 times was happy to make the servers I could call my TF2 home a little bit of a better place with what little I could.

    For the most part, I agreed with you until I read this:

     
    It was then I decided to go back, read everything again, and make a response here. You've said like 8 times that this is a volunteer job, which it is, so how thankful of a job did you think this would be? Whether you like it or not, this is a volunteer job which requires a lot of work, energy, and dedication (well, at least if you want to do it right). Plus the fact you said you wouldn't try to justify anything you said or even "bother" responding, and that's an awful mentality to have.
    "You proved me wrong, but I'm still right and I don't have to prove it, I'm right!", which sounds pretty immature...
     
    If you truly felt there was a huge amount of bias against you then, you know...

     
    Talk to the Higher ups, find out why they may not feel you're ready for promotion or why you aren't promoted yet, and if the reason is "Ehh, I just don't like you". Then work to change their mind and prove them wrong. If you felt it was more extreme than that, then contact someone even higher than them, tell them you feel biased against by DL ___ or DM ____.
     
    And final note: You coulda posted all of this without stepping down, or by talking to the higher ups to bring these points to their attention. They'll listen, they aren't gonna bite. Worded the way it is, your post sounds more like the ramblings of a disgruntled employee rather than a concerned community member, but do whatever you feel is necessary. If you ever decide to come back, you're always welcome.
  15. Disagree
    Vargas reacted to TBOHB in Goodbye xG.   
    This. This sentence right here. This sentence defines the reason as to why I haven't gotten staff yet. What I am about to say is most likely going to affect my chances now, but I have talked with higher ups. They told me the same thing. One person -1, another +1, another neutral. I guess that automatically means a no right? Well it shouldn't. Just because there is a single -1 shouldn't change the fact of getting declined or not. At least keep the application open for a little bit. (Also this might be a problem happening with me but +1 on staff application doesn't feel like it does anything. If it does, I have 0 chance of getting at least probationary mod because nobody sees my fucking application. A great example is my last application; the one before my most recent. Anyways. Back to your regularly scheduled immediate no staff for sepdick.)
     
    My main point here is this: Higher ups need to talk more instead of having an instant decline because one of them doesn't like him/her/helicopter/catboy or doesn't know him/her/helicopter/catboy. Actually use the probationary moderator to see what they can do. If they don't do well, then they don't get full mod and get put back to member.
     
     
    Anyways as for Ms. Spooks herself,
    I am sorry that shit isn't going right for. It was to suck to be moderator for as long as you have and not get promoted. My biggest hope right now is that I wasn't part of the reason for you leaving. I try my best to be nice to everybody. I just feel like I didn't talk enough with you. I'm sorry for not doing so. Truly I am. I hope that everything works out for you in the future. Thank you for everything you have done for the community <3
  16. Agree
    Vargas reacted to Bone in Goodbye xG.   
    Alright then, how about this? DM/DL ____ says "I don't see you on servers very often", so the appropriate response is "Oh, well then screw it, I quit"?
    How about instead you find that higher up in a game on our servers and join it and maybe play with them a bit? You know, show them you're alive? Do this a few times and "I don't see you" becomes "Hey, you're pretty active!"
     
    Standing out doesn't mean wearing a lime green Scout set and hitting people with a pan, it means showing a lot of initiative and potential with being staff. When the time comes for promo/demo, staff would be able to say "Hey, you know Mod ____? They do a really good job, they're active, and they're super mature, we should promote them"
     

     
    Ok, I feel I need to squash this attitude, because people keep thinking this is how it works. If one person -1'd her, that doesn't mean she was barred forever from being promoted. That person had a reason to -1 her. Even if all the others +1'd, if the one who -1'd gave a really valid reason why they shouldn't be promoted, then obviously that reason was good enough for the other higher ups to agree or even change their mind. As @Bello said, "majority rules" is fairly flawed. If we had 15 higher ups +1 a guy, but one person -1'd them because they constantly abused, then that -1'er had a good reason for doing so. Hell, the others may not have known that, and that one guys -1 could turn the 15 +1s into -1s.
     
    However, one person -1'ing doesn't automatically mean a "no" either. I've seen instances where one higher up would -1, but all the others would +1. If they have a good reason to strongly suggest that player, they could still be promoted.
     
    You getting a +1, a -1, and a neutral does not seem like a yes to me. That means only 1 of 3 dentists approve, and don't think you're ready. Like I said before, Probationary Mod is for making sure someone is ready for staff, not to go "Hey, let's throw powers at this guy and see what happens!". They still have to feel you'd be responsible with those powers, as limited as they may be.
     
    Final Note: While I don't condone bias against a player, the higher up(s) who -1'd Spooks had a good reason for it. They genuinely thought they weren't ready for the position (again). And from the way she stepped down, they may have been right to do so the whole time. Spooky, huh?
  17. Agree
    Vargas reacted to Aegean in Goodbye xG.   
    Sad to see you go, I did read your post in detail, there are a few things that you posted that are ill-informed which I'm happy to break down a little bit just out of respect for you as you leave.
     

    Decisions do not have to be unanimous, many times higher ups who do not agree with a decision will usually say "I'm not for it, but if you guys want X to happen, that's fine". That being said, there are times where one higher up has the most experience with a certain individual which is why we will go with their reasoning, since we respect their views over our uninformed ones.
    There are some decisions we don't fully explain to the public due to the fact it causes unnecessary drama, for example in the past Rabid was discussed to be DM of CS:GO or CS:S (I don't remember which one) but I refused it due to how many times I had to personally ban him or punish him. Rabid is one of my closest friends in this community but when this was discussed 6 years ago, why would we make a post explaining that Rabid didn't get DM due to his past? What benefit is there for the community to know something like that?
     
    Some decisions have no say on the matter because Silence (rhododendron) likes trying things out to better the community, instead of getting approval from 10 people and waiting weeks to implement, he implements it as long as there is net gain. Of course it would be nicer if it doesn't affect the community in a bad way, but at the same time his heart is in the right place and he always thinks about bettering the community and keeping people happy. Nothing else. This does not include the shitty John Cena meme on the forums that he still needs to remove.

    My own thoughts on this matter though is that I do think you were wrongfully treated, I saw how active you were on the forums and didn't speak up on the promo/demo thread like I should have since I definitely thought you deserve Admin weeks ago. I definitely think we let you down, and for that there are no excuses so I would like to apologize to you on behalf of xG. I personally don't know how you interact on the servers and so I didn't want to make a decision that I wasn't informed on and I trust my higher ups on TF2 + VIrr to deal with Promo/Demo without my help, I will look into the matter for the future to make sure no one feels this way again.
     
    I wish you the best of luck wherever life takes you, and thank you for all your support on the forums + servers as staff.
  18. Like
    Vargas reacted to Elcark in Suggestion - Timer before we start voting to change map   
    Yup, it's been looked into. Can't say myself how long or easy it will be to do, but it's not being ignored (y).
  19. Smelly
    Vargas got a reaction from Caleb956 in What's your favorite unusual effect?   
    Demonflame is favorite
  20. Losing It
    Vargas got a reaction from virr in TF2 Discussion Thread   
    I have a concern with play points on ff2 and it seems like you barely gain any points most of the time. Maybe the amount of points earned as a red should definitely be increased to help with being able to purchase upgrades such as .50 cal which is 10000 points and Hyper Heavy which is 5000. Plus blue doesn't seem to gain any points from what Elcark has seen even with winning the round. I suggest even having something in play where you earn extra points for winning a round.
  21. Thinking
    Vargas got a reaction from Elcark in What's your favorite unusual effect?   
    Demonflame is favorite
  22. Agree
    Vargas got a reaction from mrnutty12 in GamePony - Team Fortress 2   
    +1 This was quite a long time ago so why not.
  23. Agree
    Vargas got a reaction from Elcark in GamePony - Team Fortress 2   
    +1 This was quite a long time ago so why not.
  24. Friendly
    Vargas got a reaction from Kitten in Kitten   
    +1 Seen around quite a bit on surf and I can definitely say Kitten is a nice person to be around.
    A:8
    M:9
  25. Agree
    Vargas reacted to Vexx in TF2 Discussion Thread   
    This would kind of alienate newer players who do not have access to an abundance of credits, and would kinda ruin the entire reason to have the RTD plugin in the first place. RTD is only there for players to have fun with it, having to pay to use that just seems kinda scummy imo.