I don't like this, man... not exactly the best of choices.
I mean, come on... think about it. People troll on local, too. In fact, there are more trolls OFF of General than there ever were ON General. The little sparkledogs buttswinging in your face, little trolls who cuss at you... there are trolls EVERYWHERE. Removing General will not solve the trolling issue.
Besides that, you people made this game for the community to enjoy, so I think you should listen to our opinions. There are now 62 pages, and most of the comments don't like this change. The majority of the community who have commented wants General back, so why not give it to them?
Though, I know, I know... I'm just the idiot Chosen who has absolutely no idea what he's talking about. .-.
Although I'm tired of repeating myself and I'm sure plenty of the other staff are as well I will explain some things here & address some of the things you guys are stating.
You guys keep bringing up the whole topic of trolling in local now and saying how removing general is just causing the trolls to look for trouble in local now etc... Truth is that the trolls have always been in this game since it's start, from local, to general, to vid clips & even random whispers. They aren't getting worse because of general's removal. It has always been difficult to manage them especially when more and more just keep coming on constantly. For these reasons removing general chat was a HUGE benefit to both the players and staff when it comes to trolls & rule breakers because it cuts down one major avenue that they were using to raise trouble and annoy others on the mass scale.
Lets also remember here guys that it's just a chat for heavens sake... when we joined this game we weren't all like "OMG THEY HAVE A CHAT THAT GOES ALL OVER THE MAP!!! I'M SO JOINING THIS GAME NOW 8D!!!"
General chat did not make this game as popular as it has become, it was just another feature that came along with the package and sure it has it's conveniences but if you are truely a mature member of this community that loves and supports the game for more than just a chat you'd understand and be willing to over look some of your usual in game comforts to make a sacrifice that would benefit most. Do you guys think we really wanted to remove a feature from a game that is already so lacking? No! Not at all but it was done because many users continued to grossly abuse of the feature, from swearing, name calling, bullying, hosting inappropriate as well as nonsense discussions, mocking staff, & spamming etc. People were warned, kicked, and banned many times in fact half of our in game time was spent focusing all of our moderating time on general chat. How productive is that?! Users complain about how we staff just "sit around" right? Did it ever phase you guys that all the sitting around is because we have to babysit chats just to keep things friendly and respectful around here? Without general chat we can focus our attentions now to local much more and the behavior going on with the rest of the maps much more efficiently. Trolling in local is not nearly as destructive as it was on general. Trolls & rule breakers in general chat reach out to many users faster than we staff can crush the problem. You guys think alot of people left just because of general being removed how about all the people that left or were hurt by things said in general? Priority of this game & its staff team is to maintain integrity, safety, and friendliness for all above all other things.
Let's also not make claims that the entire or most of the community are against the removal of general. None of you can prove that and not to mention there are quite the number of posts here that are made by the same user using multiple accounts. Those who are for the removal of general wouldn't have much reason or desire to write here so there really is no accurate way to see exactly how the entire community feels about this. So many of you need to stop throwing things around as if they are fact.
If you guys want to point fingers at anyone point it at the large part of the community that abused the feature and gave the staff no other choice than to remove it. Don't complain and or down talk us staff when we are investing so much of our time to come up with solutions to better your game play experience. We're far from selfish so please don't insult us anymore. If you're not dealing with the kind of stuff we have to deal with everyday while still getting bashed by many of you you have no right to talk.
This thread has been kept open for you all to share your RESPECTFUL, MATURE, & CONSTRUCTIVE feedback on the removal of general. We staff really do appreciate your feedback but please mind your manners when doing so.
(This is directed to everyone here by the way not just Zelos here)
The results with FeralHeart's role-playing no longer carries out what it's ambitions were and I am disappointed with the way Admins have run and carried out this game's performance without good thought. It is truly a shame that I cannot even criticize MODs because I can get a ban, and so will others if they dare speak up for themselves.
Most of what I needed to say to you Padgze is written up above. As for mods banning you for speaking up that's ridiculous. We don't ban people for speaking their mind but as a said above we do ask that you are respectful when you do so. Rule breaking & down right disrespect is ban worthy but not opinion sharing. If we just banned people for speaking their minds everyone who has posted in this thread would be banned. Don't be silly.
Now you also said "Admins have run and carried out this game's performance without good thought." I'm very disappointed with that statement because that is not true at all and it's very inconsiderate of you to state such a thing. We staff constantly work to make the mass of the user base happy, it's why we are always coming up with new ideas for contests & community events, etc. The choice to remove general was no different. We had plenty discussions together of it's pros & cons and ways to help everyone since we know plenty of the good users like the RPers had to make sacrafices as well as the people who used general respectfully to chat etc. We pay close attention to this thread even if we aren't always responding on here. None of your voices go unheard so please stop painting the staff out as cold & uncaring because we are not. We are trying to make everyone happy at our own expenses.