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30-07-2K:
Today (or yesterday
evening, I'm not quite
sure) the Community
Board finally took
the break it needed,
but unlike its master
it shouldn't be missed.
Where as the The Allotment
was perhaps the finest
thing ever to come
from the Worms Community,
the message board
that it spawned was
a big mess up.
I'm
sure many of you remember
what the board was
like back before Worms:
Armageddon arrived,
for the most part
it was somewhere that
could be relied upon
for intelligent conversation
and debate, of course
they was still the
odd post slagging
people off etc. but
in general is was
a great place to visit.
Add to that the fact
that it actually was
frequented by Team17
staff members, who
would listen to suggestions
and post responses
made it even better.
When
Worms: Armageddon
was released things
started to change,
although at first
it wasn't as bad it
is now, you could
see that things were
starting to go wrong.
I remember a case
in which I was involved
regarding the Full
Wormage - at that
time you couldn't
download it, it had
to be earned and many
people thought that
was the way it should
stay.However, I felt
differently and once
I had earned it for
myself I used Jon
Skeet's excellent
back-up program to
get the Full Wormage
into a file that could
be distributed. I
then offered that
file to the community
(at this time I wasn't
called AGi, rather
Paranoid Android)
and being the first
to do so, it generated
a bit of controversy.
Some
people congratulated
me on it and others
slagged me off, which
I expected but when
someone asked me to
give me them the file
and they they took
it, altered and then
offered to to the
community claiming
to be the first to
offer it for download,
that pissed me off
a great deal. The
seeds of what we have
today were sown back
then.
With
the advent of WormNET
most of the decent
debate left the board
and was replaced by
people moaning about
disconnectors and
generally just slagging
everybody off. Am
I the only person
who thinks this is
unwarranted? If you
have a problem with
someone you sort it
out privately, unless
they choose to make
it public, and you
certainly don't need
to slag anyone off.
The
treatment of Newbies
was also shameful,
these people are new
to the game - it takes
time to learn all
the protocols that
the community abides
by. There is no need
to lambaste them for
being ignorant, experienced
Wormers should be
helping the new comers,
not making them feel
unwelcome. Finally
we have the treatment
handed out to Team17,
of course there are
things wrong with
the game, things you
want to see but the
way to put suggestions
across is constructive
criticism, not slagging
off their work and
using abusive language
towards them.
It
came as no surprise
when it was announced
that Team17 had decided
that the Allotment
board should no longer
be the official board.
Sniper had a great
idea when the Community
board was set up -
bring everybody together
in a general message
board that can be
linked to and provides
links to other Worms
sites.
It didn't quite turn
out the way he imagined
- it did provide a
focal point, but for
abuse and not very
much else. The slagging,
impersonation, and
general scumy behavior
shown on the board
has dragged what was
once a cornerstone
of the community down
to the level of a
"ghetto".
I wouldn't have been
surprised if it were
at all possible, to
see drive by shootings
and drug dealing going
on there. The fact
that Sniper very rarely
posted and that most
of the established
players visited infrequently
kinda shows exactly
what the board had
become.
Everyone
has let themselves
down, it doesn't have
to be like that and
I hope that whatever
comes along to replace
the Community Board
(and when the board
comes back) is treated
with more respect
or sooner or later
the people who run
these sites will say
to hell with you,
shut up shop and leave
you with nothing.
This
is a time to ring
in the changes, use
it wisely because
it may be the last
chance you get.
AGi.
The
above is a personal
opinion and should
not be taken as that
of WM.V2 or any of
its other staff.
//agi.
[agi@fsmail.net]