Leaderboard

Good morning. We develop for fun the game 0 A.D., which is a strategy game in which multiplayer is an essential component. However, the childish and toxic behavior of a minority of lobby players has always been an issue and a cause of distress for developers. I see with disgust that this continues to be the case. I suppose it cannot be avoided, since professional game developers also face a lot of verbal abuse from their players, but unlike them, we do not receive compensation for our work. Thus, it should be expected that most WFG developers, especially me, are not aware of the daily developments in the MP community, and are not interested in knowing more about them. Since a few days, I have been receiving complaints from several accounts, who harassed me and other devs in order to get Norse_Harold removed from his position. I have also been added to a conversation about one specific offender, in which Norse_Harold has provided convincing data backing his decision. There are probably other discussions I am not aware of, I am merely giving the context in which I write this post. The only complaint I agree with is the need for transparency around the rules (currently materialized as a draft Code of Conduct, which is not yet published). This is the team's fault for not publishing this CoC in a timely manner. For the record, Norse_Harold has been the one pushing the team for a publication, he does not withhold the CoC on purpose, quite the contrary. Sadly, we in the development team are notoriously inefficient at publishing rules, terms, or legal stuff. It is our fault that rules applied to the community are not clearly communicated and make moderation appear arbitrary. However, this does not justify the current situation. The method used by players to denounce the alleged abuse (spamming devs with copies of the same message, childish comparisons between totalitarian regimes and a silly video game) are jerk methods (not to say extremely cringe-worthy) which are just pushing me into backing the moderators. By the way, there are several moderators with identical powers. I heard no complaints of Norse_Harold alleged power trip from his fellow moderators. I just see the current wave of copy-pasted criticism as a concerted attack towards the most active and efficient moderator. I must say I am concerned about the variety of back channels used to harass people (including me during a weekend I wanted to take for myself...) If you are temporarily blocked on the lobby or the forums, just close your computer and go touch some grass. Or fire up a different game if you have no outside life, which is OK. Opening Insta or Discord to harass, complain, and start a concerted attack is gross misbehavior. In my opinion, this extends to what I read about the use of Element: while I find the idea of restorative justice extremely interesting in principle, I find it unhealthy to actively reach out to offenders, using different platforms, to burden them with injunctions. I would prefer to push people into disengaging from the community for a while and, I insist, going to touch some grass. This is the last input I deign to give in this thread, as I have more important work to do on 0 A.D., including helping to publish the CoC.

Hello, fellow warriors of 0 A.D., This is ScribeOfAges, or 70H4NN2S if you've seen me in the lobby, greeting you from this side of the screen. Although I'm a relatively new player, I have dived deep into the fascinating world of 0 A.D. and have come to cherish the camaraderie and competition this platform provides. Today, I come to you with my first announcement, one that is aimed at invigorating our gaming experience. Joining forces with effervescent and MuchoLag, we have brainstormed and envisioned a new dimension to our beloved game – a biannual Team Game Tournament. The purpose behind this idea is not only to introduce a fresh wave of excitement but also to offer a platform where we can unite, grow, and have even more fun playing 0 A.D. Here's a brief outline of how we envision this tournament: 1. Teams: Each team will consist of 4 players, along with additional members as replacements if needed. A minimum of 4 known players are required to form a team. 2. Leadership: Every team will have a leader, a beacon guiding the team's progress. The leader's role includes choosing the team's name, selecting new members when necessary, and, under the agreement of at least 50% of the other team members, having the power to replace a team member (maximum twice a year). This proposal is not only about creating an additional competitive event, but it's also about fostering team spirit, strategic coordination, and developing deeper relationships within our gaming community. We believe this new structure could enhance the incentive to play, improve, and experience the joy of 0 A.D. in a novel way. However, let it be known that this is an initial idea, the first step in a journey we wish to embark on together. Your opinion matters. We want this to be a collaborative venture, driven by the wisdom of the crowd. Whether you are a seasoned veteran or a newcomer to our community, we encourage you to voice your thoughts, propose modifications, or suggest entirely new ideas. Let's use this opportunity to not only refine this proposition but also to make our 0 A.D. community stronger, more united, and continue to enjoy this game that brought us all together. Looking forward to hearing from each one of you. Until then, prepare your troops and keep your strategies sharp. Registration: Best regards, ScribeOfAges

@alre

There were many players who showed interest in the idea of a series of tournaments with constant teams. Registration: comment bellow with your username or write me in the lobby. At this initial stage, we're keen to gauge the level of interest in this proposed tournament before we move ahead with team formation. So, if you're excited about this prospect and want to see this tournament come to life, we encourage you to register. Your participation could kickstart a new era in our 0 A.D. gaming experience! ScribeOfAges

preview next release: Postfix UserName / GameNames enable? Enable Postfix for UserName and/or Suggestions for game Names?

I don't care what they are doing or how many accounts they have or how have you confirmed they are were created to bypass ban. I am reacting to the information you are sharing with the public and so far I got from the responses is "we have power we can enforce anything we want"

This is not the lobby.

Thats bullcrap. Here are current "Terms of use" everyone agreed on: Registration Terms × Forum Terms & Rules Please take a moment to review these rules detailed below. If you agree with them and wish to proceed with the registration, simply click the "Register" button below. To cancel this registration, simply hit the 'back' button on your browser. Please remember that we are not responsible for any messages posted. We do not vouch for or warrant the accuracy, completeness or usefulness of any message, and are not responsible for the contents of any message. The messages express the views of the author of the message, not necessarily the views of this bulletin board. Any user who feels that a posted message is objectionable is encouraged to contact us immediately by email. We have the ability to remove objectionable messages and we will make every effort to do so, within a reasonable time frame, if we determine that removal is necessary. You agree, through your use of this service, that you will not use this bulletin board to post any material which is knowingly false and/or defamatory, inaccurate, abusive, vulgar, hateful, harassing, obscene, profane, sexually oriented, threatening, invasive of a person's privacy, or otherwise violative of any law. You agree not to post any copyrighted material unless the copyright is owned by you or by this bulletin board.

@Norse_Harold He does this. He griefed people's accounts before and gives random warning. @Norse_Harold can you explain to me what are you doing? What do you want? Last night at around 1am UK time he was sending me random accusations like you often do. Then in the meantime MarcAurel was spamming me on Instagram asking me if I made new smurfs. To my understanding, Norse believes a player called inzhu is my smurf, so he took action immediately without evidence. Why am I sure that he has no evidence? Because I was away from the game for a very long time. I know what I have been up to these weeks and it's not anywhere near 0ad. I almost forgot about this hellhole until they harassed me at late night last night. The two of them ruined my sleep as this kind of nonsense gives me stress and forced me to remember the painful past. I have received countless ecomplaints about Norse Harold inappropriately banning and muting users. I didn't want to care but last night's harassment lasted for a long time through multiple channels. Norse accused me of random things (that are not related to me) via Element, whenever something goes wrong. He hopes that he can bait me into admitting something or exposing a friend of mine. But sadly I am more clueless than him as he has moderator rights to see more than me and I haven't been near wfg service often, especially not the lobby. To censor me, Norse Harold imposed a rule on my forum usage: I have to send text to him via Element indicating when I visited, why I visited and log out time. He also imposed that forum can only be used for restorative justice work. I want to ask @Stan` and @Itms is this your verdict, and is it justice? If you don't want me to use the forum why not just ban me or impose some technical limit? Or is this Norse Harold overriding you? @Player of 0AD this is why I couldn't reply to you, sorry. To mute his random accusations I deleted Element. On that platform, he called me a "bad influence" and coerced me into contacting random dodgy people on the internet to take down YouTube videos. All of these should be his job. But he coerces me to do it with the threat of increasing the amount of restorative justice work. @Stan` @Itms @Dunedan I ask you all again if you agreed to punish me this way. I feel enslaved by this so called restorative justice. I have decided to not waste any more time on this. It is his job to moderate the lobby and other WFG services, not mine. I will not become his slave. I do not have the responsibility to give him any information, not to mention that I don't know most of the people who he is asking about. However, what I am sure of is he is manipulating people to speculate each others' possible smurf account and report it. He also mutes any kind of complaints. And now you see people being banned just based on suspicion. How is this any different from a totalitarian regime? These methods were the ones used in USSR and North Korea. I suggest we set up a proper legal system where we can have a court or a hearing of some kind before sentencing anyone to anything. Seems like 0ad is becoming Norse Korea with just one dictator. There is no justice system. Many rules are hidden to the public in some draft code of conduct. Norse holds people responsible to that but it's not shown to new users when registering. The drafts are DRAFTS, not implemented ! They are also not in visible places of the forum or any other WFG services. So it's easy for anyone break one of those rules unknowingly. If the draft is approved, at least put it somewhere visible! But @Itms if you have not enacted the draft as new regulations, people must not be held responsible for it. There is no clause in the current forum code of conduct to register more than 1 forum account. Yet at least 2 people have been sanctioned just because Norse suspects they are my alts, without evidence! 0ad will just keep losing players with this kind of dictator in place. Seems like I should cut all communications with all players as well to keep my own sanity.

This is the most Shakespearean thread on the forum.

Ah yes, some people are more equal than others.

You announced your departure several times. That doesn't mean I don't believe you mean it this time. I wish you could find a way with less drama. And separate certain things; like stuff in the lobby, ideas about gameplay... Anyway, best to you.