Don't really remember any real heated arguments between staff and donors/regulars...people just seemed to stop showing up.

That said, server seems to be intermittently full and empty. If you see some people playing, don't be afraid to jump in and join!

I'm not looking to change anything beyond the MOTD. The solution should (hopefully) just be a few minor edits.

Everything else about it is fine. I just feel that fixing the resolution would make it more visible, and people would be more likely to look over it. Foolproof? No, but I think it's a good step to take.

I hadn't really thought about this until recently, but I play the game at a lower resolution, and I realized the rules on the MOTD aren't even visible unless you scroll through the page, and even then, about half the text is clipped off.

Here's what I see from my end[imgur.com], playing at 1280x600 when you first join the server, and here's my view scrolled all the way over[imgur.com]. Note that a large portion of the text is missing.

I wanted to discuss this to see if anyone else is experiencing the same thing, and on which resolutions. I believe people may end up skipping over the MOTD because they don't see any rules or announcements on the screen, and that could be giving us the sizable amount of traffic that comes in and just starts yelling about spam, and then have a hissy fit in chat when they get muted.

If this is the case, would we be able to fix the MOTD so that the full contents can be seen and read at any resolution?

Unfortunately, with a server as unorthodox as ours, people will not want to deal with it and will complain, no matter what warnings or messages are given. Could there be some other ways to get the concepts and rules of the server to a newcomer? Yes, but the more hoops we throw at people to get them to understand the rules, the less appealing the server becomes. The problem is finding a balance between effectively communicating the rules and not distract from the server's operations.

With a community as large and diverse as ours, a lot of our customs are, again, quite unorthodox to most pub players. I got into the community by following the cues of donors and mods that helped me get accustomed to a new atmosphere I hadn't seen elsewhere. If you want to see a more inclusive community, you would need to follow the same principles other donors observed when they helped me. Say hello to a returning player, encourage participation in spamming or talkingin chat, anything that removes some of the uneasiness some people experience on a new server.

Post note: I will say that because I play the game at a lower resolution, the MOTD clips and requires a sizable amount of scrolling for me to fully read and navigate. Maybe some of the ignorance stems from people not wanting to scroll through a page to read everything, especially if they carry the notion the server is just like any other. I think fixing the resolution could help people see it better, and get them better acquainted with the server.

Originally posted by BlackDoomShadow:

As an additional note, to avoid hilarious embarrassment on your part, please don't bother lying about what happened. The majority of bans involve something said or done in text chat, and Aliento has access to a record of comments. We know what you did. Don't be those guys on To Catch on Predator who sit there going "uh uh I was here to you know hang out."

Edited original post to reflect this.

Due to an influx of comments regarding ban status on various accounts, I thought I'd give a quick overview on what you should do if you find yourself banned from the server for whatever reason.

1. Locate your ban on the SourceBans page. We have a link to the banlist in the sidebar of the group's homepage that has a full and organized compilation of invoked bans. Locating your ban shouldn't be difficult if it was recently invoked. Worst case scenario, you can use the search function to find an older ban.

2. Compile ban information. Each ban shows the responsible mod, a reason associated with the ban, and likely additional comments providing extra detail about the circumstances leading up to the ban. Analyze your ban carefully and understand why the mod felt action was needed. The ban info also provides the 32 bit Steam ID or IP associated with the ban that you will need should you decide to protest.

3. Protesting The SourceBans page has a protest form should you decide your ban may have a case worthy of protesting. The form requires your 32 bit ID or IP that is being blocked (this info is located on your associated ban) and your reasons for why you feel the ban is unneeded. If you analyzed your ban info, you should have some relevant info to use in your protest. Upon submission, mods will get a chance to review your ban and see if it is justified.

4. Keep in contact. We may need to discuss other info regarding your ban before we decide to grant an appeal. Be prepared to discuss your ban with any applicable mods trying to piece together what happened to lead to your ban.

Note: Protesting will NOT guarantee your ban gets lifted.

Some other helpful tips:
DO:
-Use your 32 bit Steam ID for protest, not your community profile link.
-Provide as much detail as possible to give us a better understanding of your situation.
-Remain courteous and civil, even if the discussion is not going in your favor.
DON'T:
-Pester mods about your ban. We will be analyzing it, even if we don't get back immediately.
-Use threatening language in discussion. We will drop any talk of protest on the spot.
-Make alternate accounts to circumvent your ban. We'll just add an IP ban and reject any protests.
-Lie about your ban and/or the circustances leading to the ban. We have access to chat history, and we can easily see if you are making stuff up.

That basically covers it if you get banned. However, the best way to get out of trouble is to avoid trouble from the beginning. If a mod asks you to stop doing something, stop immediately, even if you feel you are not breaking any rules. If you need to discuss anything further regarding a certain policy or rule, discuss it privately with a mod to avoid further conflict. Also, we have the chat filters in place for a reason...deliberately trying to bypass them will result in a gag and/or ban.

If you have questions, feel free to talk to me and I will do my best to help you out.

Are you using the right ID in the form? The SourceBans page compiles and organizes user bans by the 32 bit ID (looks like STEAM_0:1:XXXXXXXX) rather than the 64 bit one that's normally located on your profile's URL. That said, you will get errors if you don't use the 32 bit ID.

Also, I suggest reviewing the circumstances of your ban via the SourceBans page[refugeegaming.site.nfoservers.com] of the ban in question so you have a better grasp of why action was taken. Also has the 32 bit ID you need for the protest form if you are still wanting to fill it out.

If the spam is really low quality to the point where it becomes garbled, it ought to be muted anyway. However, even with bad quality spam, it's still not very difficult to pick out slurs, and action should still be taken.

If you hear people playing music that is either really garbled or contains slurs, mute the person playing it. If the file being played has clear audio and the lyrics fall within the rules, there shouldn't really be an issue.

I'm fine with explaining micspam to newcomers. I have no problem investing people into what the server is and how they can participate and join in when they are genuinely interested.

That said, my discussion with Lulli was the result of his/her reaching out personally and asking me about something s/he felt was an issue with the server. I was looking into basically anything that could answer concerns. Those were just a few I threw out, despite being counterintuitive to the nature of the server. However, I wanted to use those to find a starting point to find anything else that could address the concerns as needed.

Yeah, people can be utterly oblivious and stupid, and there's no viable solution to filter all traffic out that doesn't understand the concept behind the server. If they're not figuring it out now, there's not really much else out there that will fully engage even the most headstrong user. That said, you have mute/gag powers now, and it's important to know when and how to use them. It may seem tedious giving people the same warnings and silencing 3 people who just won't stop complaining, but most people have the illusion that it's just another server like everywhere else on TF2, despite the contrary. Could there be some other measures in place? Maybe, but as it stands, there's not really anything that we could place that would properly dissuade unruly players from server without also dissuading casual players who don't mind. Even worse, it could end up alienating our regulars.

As much as I want to help you enjoy the server more, this is something that's really not up to me to decide or implement, especially when it could have a direct effect on the traffic we get.

Yeah, I'm not particularly fond of the map. It's one of those places where half the server leaves if it's chosen.