I apologize for the sloppiness of this comment, it is more or less my thoughts jumbled together.
Because we care about our community and the game. We want to see it thrive, and we want to preserve a place that still means so much to many. A place that after several years of absence you still see old users return to and look fondly upon.
For those that seem to think we don’t care, aren’t listening, and aren’t trying, do you ever just question then why we are still here? Does it really make sense to think that a staff team that has to deal with constant misinformation, doubt, ridicule, trolling, death threats and so forth would stick around for nothing? You’ve got folks here who have busy personal lives, health struggles, relationships, kids, jobs, etc pouring their time and souls into an absolutely free internet game daily for seemingly no reward.
There’s got to be a reason, and that’s because we care. We want to make you all happy. We value the feelings and desires of total strangers enough to stick around for countless years. We keep trying, and you know what? We don’t always succeed. That’s life. That goes for anything you do. You can’t always make everyone happy, even yourself, but heck we sure will try and if that means we have to keep trying then so be it. That’s why we are still here, and that’s why we will not just let it die.
Everyone commenting undoubtedly has sacrificed time and energy into this game. Sura, you especially have, considering you have been caring for this game for many years throughout its ups-and-downs. It is silly for anyone to disagree that you have put time and effort into moderating this game and interacting with the community via the forum.
Still, realistically, why do people join games such as these? Do people typically join a gaming community after evaluating how much the administration has personally sacrificed to keep a game orderly? People join for content and the experience of playing the game, not for how emotionally invested staff members—not even developers—are in the game.
I will argue that not everyone in-game even knows who the staff are because they do not care to know if they do not directly affect their experience. When I joined FH, I had no idea who the staff were, how they worked, how active they were, etc. Once I became more involved in the forum, I dedicated a lot of my time and regarded the staff very highly for their work, although looking back now, sometimes I wasn’t really sure what that work was (in regard to promised forum work, anyways). After my experience with staff head-on and my experience with administrating the community’s largest Discord server, I can now form my own opinions on the game’s administration through various interactions with the community, current staff, and former staff.
As you know, people can be aggressive when it comes to online community management, which is obviously the downside to administration on any sort of online outlet. There have been many disagreements between the community and staff, and there probably will always be regardless of what staff do. It is a consequence of dealing with the public—some people can handle it and others cannot. This seems to be a reoccurring issue FH experiences. The emotional explanations that have been used over and over (although they are totally valid to an extent!) does not excuse the lack of urgent work this game needs to recover. If you are inactive or unable to be online for an extended period of time, a staff member should do the game the favor of stepping down. Alternatively, hire more staff.
Because to let it die, is to simply give up! To give up on caring... And honestly I think thats more of a failure then any possible unpopular patch or future decision.
This comment was especially thoughtful and sweet, but as much as I want to agree with this, as I mentioned earlier, in the end, the typical FH player (not anyone active on the forum) does not care about your involvement. They just want a game to play. Considering the increasing lack of activity in-game (that many people mistake for an increase in registration as they conveniently forget the registration was closed for a majority of FH’s uptime…), something needs to be done. There have been many people willing to help FH both new and old. Suggesting people that have also worked their
-Removed by moderator, inappropriate language- off to voluntarily assist staff with reports in the past as now “giving constant misinformation, doubt, [and] ridicule” only breeds more tension. If you are distrusting of the community, the community will only be distrusting of you. The reason some individuals denote all staff as “bad” just because of past conflicts, such as, for example, Raz and the MOTS situation, is because a team is only as strong as its “weakest” member. I agree that it is hurtful to devote time to this game and only be disregarded, but it is something current staff do have to work with, unfortunately.
I will say, however, that these answers seem to be bouncing back and forth. One person says there's a surprise waiting to happen because you want to keep it a surprise, and then the next party says "the reason we can't share is because of x and x" and nothing really regarding a personal decision. It's a bit conflicting, don't you agree?
I agree as I’ve seen it myself occasionally. Even when there is direct clear communication between people the messages get scrambled between person to person passing of info and so forth. It’s a reason why when you were on the staff team staff had these talks of all agreeing on things before going out and talking publicly about it. Unfortunately there is the matter of the teams being split now and communication varying between individuals or just their own interpretations of things. There’s also people not even on the staff discussing certain things and those things being misinterpreted and further confusing matters. This is a reason why being so open with communication is a double edged sword, and why there’s no universal correct approach within gaming communities. Once something is out there it spreads fast and people will warp the information just by sharing it over and over again. Unless there’s specific people or places appointed to discuss specific things you’ll run into this issue, and even still with that you will. We have the newsletters for that.
As of right now a lot of the mixed messages are in regards to the same thing: the future of the game’s development. Community wants to know what’s going on if anything and staff can’t say much to deny or confirm yet because it’s not up to us and some of us don’t even know for sure what’s planned. The surprise aspect was mentioned, likely to keep the answer neutral while there is no concrete roadmap or answer of yes or no yet. It keeps people anticipating something and interested in the meantime while the details of the specifics are worked out upon.
Communication between an administrating body and a community can be tricky I agree; there is no correct approach. Given FH is certainly more vulnerable to “inside issues” when considering the split staff teams and also the split between Raz and staff/devs, making communication even more difficult. Taking into account this unfortunate situation and FH’s dwindling community, being more personal with the community would probably benefit both parties. Although it may not be seen as the most professional path, it would establish a stronger bond between the regular community and staff. Simply being involved on Discord even helps with this. As Calvary mentioned, some staff can be scary, even if you are already a staff member.
The reason misinformation is so rampant within the community is because staff as a whole are not public about moderation, administration, updates (before they are released), etc. The community doesn’t have much else to grasp onto to keep them excited about this game. All I ask is that FH staff are more willing to be upfront with mistakes and issues the game has. Maintaining this positive facade when the reality of this game is bleak only makes people more frustrated. It's important to be positive but it is expected that administration should be urgent and more realistic in regards to this game’s outlook with evidence backing their statements (e.g.: a roadmap or even lack thereof). I loved FH growing up and I do truly hope it finally gets out of this rut, but without the admittance of past mistakes on the administrative side of things, it is likely nothing will change.
One of my favorite YouTubers always said "Seek to understand before being understood" and that has resonated with me ever since I first heard it.
I am doing my best to try to listen to what you all have to say. I know we are all hurting because of the state of this game.
I appreciate the rest of what you had to say in this most recent post, Cal. Even though we have had our differences in the past.
I actually do agree that quote is strongly representative of everyone's struggle here. I appreciate and thank you for this comment wholeheartedly.
