Members and Visitors of GameHavoc

[darien]

Countdown To Re-opening:

As a prelude to the re-opening of the forums, I would like to present an invitation. Anyone wishing to post may reply to this message only and only as a response to the following question:

What emotion did you first encounter when you learned these forums were closed and what, if anything, did it make you think about?

I would personally find it rewarding and encouraging if at least 64 unique members (20% of the community) were to respond to this post.




From Friday Evening:
Dear Members:

I have closed the forums. You can not post. If you had a thought that was itching to be released from your brain, sit on it. Ponder it. Call a friend on the telephone or meet up with someone in real life. But you can not post it here.

The forum closure will last a minimum of 48 hours. This is non-negotiable.

There appears to be a need for a reality-check around here for some portion of the population. Those of you who feel that not a day (or hour?) can go by without making some statement or comment on these threads will realize soon enough that your life will not end. For 48 hours there will be no insults, no "post whoring", no complaints. There will simply be silence. Use this time well.

Why am I doing this?
I'm doing this because I feel it needs to be done. Our community operator and friend, ferret, is at his wit's end with the nonsense that has been taking place here lately. It's not right that we, a group of people brought together because of his hard word and dedication, should have the ability to burden one man and not be accountable for our actions. So, acting on behalf of everyone at GameHavoc, I am making a quiet yet firm statement that we care about this place. We care about these people. We will come back here in 48 hours with a fresh perspective on what makes this community special and we will work hard to make every effort at bringing a positive contribution to the table, or none at all.

Have a nice day.

-darien

[r u s h]

when i first read it i was like WTF?!!!? COMMON!?
but after i kinda thought about it, i realized it was the right thing to do. ferret doesnt deserve any of our complaining.

[sexyownage]

huh? what happened? i missed everything. someone wanna fill me in? :?

[TheDeadBeat]

I felt kind of sad because we made ferret all stressed and i would have done the same thing.

[Canon]

I felt indifferent. There was IRC, after all... it's not like I was cut off from the people I enjoy conversing with.

[Gracey]

What did i miss ? Did something happen ?

Cause i wasnt paying attention .

[Canon]

What did i miss ? Did something happen ?

Cause i wasnt paying attention .

Rofl.

Exactly.

[J.A.C]

I didnt really care, its was a weekend anyway, I have better things to do on a saterday night.

[[gh]Spurty]

I felt it was about time someone gave the nerds around here a reality check.

I also feel saddened that ferret felt he had to carry this load alone and was the brunt of something nasty. This 'capable young man / father / some ones son' does not deserve the head fooks he was getting from some ppl around here. There are plenty of capable shoulders around here and I feel a tad ashamed I wasn't present enough to stand up and do something myself.

I always thought forums were places where people gave 'useful information' and 'ideas' to ppl. Asking or Answering questions with some theme related to the World in which the forum is part of. I would sincerly hope that we can get back on track and reduce the noise in the forums and make them places where people go to find out some answer to a problem, not to learn of a member's hard day at the office or worse, used as a medium inwhich to grief people.

Social aspects are fine, but when they creep into every post, even technical related posts, it soon becomes a disaster.

Lets try again and make good use of all the rules and regulations that have been put in place.

[Mountain_Dew-R-]

Honestly for me, it wasn't that big of a deal since I don't post on here too much. But from what I gather it seemed to be the right thing to do. Ferret and all the people who make Gamehavoc what it is deserve to be treated with respect.

[Dank]

i laughed... to think that shutting down the forums will make people 'cooldown' ya right.....

[Doc Wattson]

My emotion to the lock was "Over kill, but it's cool. Ferret has been abused as of late."

My "emotions" to this thread? "What am I, a 12 year old earth child?"

-Gary-

[SavaThePriest]

I was kind of disappointed, since it was done on the weekend I was home the entire time studying for exams which is naturally boring enough, this just making it moreso. However, it was the right thing; don't want out ferret burning out because of dealing with some of the people that were getting on his nerves.

[Stick]

when i first saw it i only saw that the forums were closed so i thought o shit what happened, but when i got home and read why they were shut down i saw that it was the right thing to do. i mean ferret has been so greatfull to use his little bit of free time to the community. some people need to realize that he is running it if you dont like they way he does shit leave.

[Limbic]

Surprised. Angry. Postal. I've been gone for a few days and really have no idea. What I do know is that the ferret machine does plenty of work here and to have a bunch of jerk off cosplay nubblets give him grief is sad. What he needs is a couple of hard hitting brothers with a pair of pliers and a blow torch to go in and regulate. This might be the most I've ever typed here. :shock:

[Thordic]

Well I didn't really have time to worry about it as I was away all weekend and when I finally did get online there are huge amounts of drama on another forum I'm on that kinda displaced the drama here.

Then I read the forums a little and I realized that some people got out of control, and I got pissed at them for being such douches. Its ferrets server, and while people are still allowed to have opinions, people just go too far.

I think bans are a better solution to problems like this though.

[Nefarious]

My first thought was: WTF, I need to post something! But then I read ur post and was in total agreement with your philosophy. Ferret deserves our respect and everyone needs to stop being a jerk.

[OreoCookieSP]

I was confused at first since I have not been at the community long. Then I read the things in reference. I was annoyed that someone who puts in so much effort to bring all this together has been having to deal with social annoyances. That's what forum admins are for. Let them deal with the annoying stuff and you take a well deserved rest Ferret. And keep up the good work. It's a great community. You all just have to start playing cs:source more :-P

[Canon]

Are there even 64 people registered who post regularly?

[ThriKreen]

Disappointed in certain members since I know of the events leading up to this.

[Canon]

So, how have those google ads been doin gthe past two days? *tries not to look incredulous*

[ToeL]

WHy is everything locked? How can I post about the hackor dude I just removed from game? IS someone else reading these forums at the same time I am? IS this another expierment, which we are the lab rats? Will my spelling reflect upon my personality?

[Snowman]

I wasn't bothered by the locking of the forums, I don't post much over the weekend. I was bothered by how ferret was treated. He puts a lot of work into this community, only to get negative feedback from a select few. I think that if the majority of us who appreciate his hard work and dedication spoke up more often, it wouldn't have gotten to this point.


And canon, I don't think there are 64 registered users who post here regularly.

[Satanic_Hamster]

To be honest... Was a bit confused, disappointed. I think some of the jerkoffs can't really tell when Ferret is being serious and when he's joking around, and didn't really have a clue that they really were pissing him off.

--------------------
Currently listening to Luther Allison's Bad News is Coming

[Kamie]

I was glad because it was about time that it happened.

We have had a wonderfully relaxing weekend.

<3 Darien

[Disgruntled]

Hey, you guys (darien, farrett, kamie) do what you need to do. I think the message you sent was well recieved. Personally, if I were running things, I would have simply banned the offenders. I think the majority of the community was behind the decision to shut down the forums for a bit. Those that don't/didn't like it can take it somewhere else.

[Nades-GanjaErk]

I felt bad anout how ferret and his wife were feelings. So I wrote ferret a note :D

[ThriKreen]

To put it into another perspective, if I had caught the catalyst that started this, I would have done the same thing.

[zimzat]

No idea what caused the forum to close, seeing as I rarely visit except once in a while to click on the google ads, and even then I don't visit most of the forums, but ... meh. From what I gather it seems like a decent idea. I like the idea of having a cooling off period rather than just shut everything down permanently. *nods*

Kudos.

[blue]

Well. i guess i can say WTF? i read it, and had to go back and look at why it was locked. cause i still dont get it. what good did it do again?

call me crazy, but i never saw "Our community operator and friend, ferret, is at his wit's end with the nonsense that has been taking place here lately". i would love to know what is going on. im in the dark here. havent seen any posts in the admin areas. i dont ever recall seing a post where he said that he was going nuts. perhaps i missed it... if so. i do appologize.

personaly, when i saw that you locked it, i though this: GREAT! A WHOLE 2 DAYS I DONT HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT READING CRAP POSTS.

im sorry if this sounds rude or indecent, i like ferret lots, but he is spending too much time on this if he is getting bogged down on this. but locking it wont do anything. just going to make people bitch and do things more. if ferret wants to stop this crap, then he should step away. turn the forums over to somone else for a while (You darien maybe since you seem to care alot).

i used to read these forums every day. monring noon and evening and once in between.

now the only time i bother to check them is once a day at lunch. and if i launch a new browser on my linux machine here at home. which happens only every few days. i actually kinda liked seeing them locked to tell you the truth. i didnt have to worry about catching up on 300+ crap posts that are completely meaningless and have little to no contet within.

i have some oppinions on these forums:
1) Too much crap being posted that is meaning less jabber and post whoring.
2) Too many forums now. why do we need a general off topic and a general on-topic forum?
3) A few [eople have found ways to get around the way to count posts and have posted what they think they have for counts.
4) admins are afraid to admin. yes. they are. i did some a while back and got ridiculed for it. i didnt appreciate it and now i constantly think twice and look over my shoulder. i dont like that at all. and i have found i dont do much admin'ing anymore.
5) the postwhoring. im so sick of seing crap posts in the middle of a decent thread.
6) admin nomitnations. im tired of seeing these. unless ferret or spurty starts them, why are we doing this?

So i hope this gives some others an understanding of how i feel about this. if it was locked another week, i really woundnt mind. I enjoy you guys lots but the posting has been rubbish lately. maybee this will be a change for the better.... or perhaps (and morelikley) things will get better for a week, then return to where they were before.

Blue.

[Talon Karrde]

Hrmm I qwas more like what happened who did it? and I am very sad that Kamie had to get pissed off about it... she shouldn't have to especially with things they way they were I was disgusted by the behaviour of the offenders (Though I don't know who they are or what they did) but I know that Ferret put's his time, love, and money into something we can enjoy and that it shows how selfish ungrateful some people are and that Kamie and Ferret had to show a side of themselves I don't think they wanted or needed to show. I just felt bad even though I don't know who what where why and when but I still feel ashamed.

[blue]

Hrmm I qwas more like what happened who did it? and I am very sad that Kamie had to get pissed off about it...

perhaps it would be wise to tell us what happened? i mean, darien has punished the entire community for something perhaps only a few offenders have done. again, im still not upset... i like not having to catch up with 300+ posts.

kamie, ferret. wish you the best. hope that you guys step away if its driving you insane. there is no reason for it. take a vacation from gamehavoc ok?

[Doc Wattson]

Blue, I think that the forums going to crap and chasing people like you away is why Ferret got upset. A vocal few wouldn't listen to him and started destroying the forums. Personally I would of just banned them but this definatly gets the point across.

-Gary-

[Nub-Shtrike]

right thing to do

[acme420]

i felt like i was being wrongfully punished for something i didnt do. i assume most of what led to this was all the useless spam in all the forums. I dont spam threads, in fact i dont even post unless i have something to say, i scan through maybe 30 - 40 threads a day and post in maybe 5. what i felt should have been done was hand out a timeout card to the offenders on a per offense basis and then they wouldnt have felt they could just walk all over you and the rest of the mods until it came to this drastic act.


thats all i have to say about that.

[Haplo]

Personally, I think that the people who caused this are utter ****ing retards. The reality check was the right thing to do, and hopefully it will bring all of these egotistical ****alls back down to earth.

In short, leave Ferret alone and don't blame him for your own inadequacies.

[The_Lemming]

I agree with bullet_sponge completely, and I hope ferret and Kamie had a good time off.

[squeak]

What blue said. Word for word.

[[NAKED]DesolationAngel]

I came in wonder WTF was going on.... mostly confused was my first feeling. After reading what went on I understand why people were pissed and how feelings were hurt. All in all I feel it was a bit of an over reaction.

Ferret you work here does not go unappreciated. I love this place and hope it stays around a longtime.

DA

[WangChung]

yea, i agree with stick. when i saw the closure, i was thinking, "what happened? what's up to make darien have to post something".

after reading, i think it was the right thing to do. ferret shouldn't have to take any of our crap because we should be able to stay in line and be respectful and grateful for all the stuff he's done for each of us. some times people thinkn oh yea spam lots but it'll be funny; it's not too funny because someone else has to end up cleaning that crap up.

<3.

[Nefarious]

can we please unlock the permaban thread in the admin forum so we can keep our servers hacker free? thanks.

[YolkFolk]

I agree with blue. When the forums are reopened, the moderators should be able to do their job and prune the crap away from the non off-topic forums.

[Ness]

After first reading the post, I'd realize how much this community means to me. Everyone in the community is unique and special and I think that's what makes this server/community so great. Like many other stated, it was the right move.

[SavaThePriest]

Everyone in the community is unique

Yes, everyone is unique. Just like everyone else.

/sorry, I had to :)

And to make this on topic, just like to disagree with blue: Giving all this up shouldn't be necessary. Just ignore/get rid of those who cause problems.

[unrequited]

When I first saw that the boards were closed, I was expecting it, and actually glad. There are really three or more issues which somehow got jumbled into one huge one leading up to this.

First off is the signal/noise ratio which blue posted greatly about. I won't go back into that.

Secondly are the outspoken members (such as myself) who have felt that this community has been slipping for quite some time now. In my case, and I'm sure in others, enthusism and excitement has turned into activism, which has turned into frustration, which is slowly rotting into apathy. I'm in that last group. This community's focus is not really about gaming anymore. It hasn't been since our 24/7 full started slipping, and regs started playing elsewhere, or playing other games altogether. GH ran game servers which are more popular than CS/NS, where I'd venture to guess that maybe turned into less than 10 new members on the forums. So what do we have then, a place to hang out, speak our minds, and enjoy each other's company. Maybe people think I'm being a hardass when I say none of what I just described includes reading roflcopter 100 times in a handful of separate threads, or wading through a sea of postwhore to get to a couple comments worth reading. If in fact, that's what this community has turned into, and what it really wants itself to become, then I don't think I belong here anymore. What you don't realize is that just because I'm one of the few who open my big mouth, or write a long post about it, doesn't mean that I am part of any sort of minority at all. I won't tell you how many people PM'ed me, or AIM'ed me, wanting to talk about this to let me know that they too are on the road to apathy.

A third probably not final issue is ferret getting frustrated and upset. Ferret is a figurehead, he is the leader of this community, so when people complain, they complain to him. So when I and others complain about GameHavoc, I am not criticising him, I'm criticising the way he's running things. Ferret and I over the past year have been in constant PM contact debating back and forth, arguing back and forth, and also working together back and forth on the way things are run here. What I really felt these past two days was actually hurt that we've done so much together and against each other behind the scenes, that when I call him out for what I saw as completely unfair (given what I saw and read in that thread), he blows up at me and tells me to take my comments and opinions elsewhere. I didn't understand where that came from at all, and I was actually taken aback by it.

[unrequited]

Since I can't edit, I wanted to add, this is the second group of moderators, and we still have the same problems that we had before... namely moderators aren't locking/pruning threads, and not punishing those who keep doing it.

[Zer]

My thoughts and feelings are the same as Stick's, and Wang Chung's.

At first, it was all like WTF? But after reading why, I think it was a good thing to do.

[kael]

We are doing better than before and are getting new members more than ever. I read just on this thread new people to the community. Not only are we exapnding by servers but also games such as WoW. Everyone likes it here and I have to say that its not just people who admin the boards and games but the people who are apart are responsible too. I just did a quick poll in IRC. And I must say we are not having problems with servers at gh.

sorry about spam but i am posting this


<Kael> kanami, cs
<Kanami> Server Name: GameHavoc.com - Counter-Strike 1.6 FF. Host Name: cs1.gamehavoc.com. Ping: 1. Players: 16/16. Map: de_dust2. Mod: cstrike.
<Kanami> 12 [NAKED] Loki, 12 <'',,)~pad * Guss, 12 <'',,)~pad * figz., 10 i | Stick, 10 draft dodger, 5 cade, 4 {BbK}KILLERK1116, 4 The Preacher, 3 Smeg, 2 [NAKED] plain rice, 1 empty -winamp-, 1 got-cronic?, 1 Q, 0 pawn, 0 Chronic, 0 Rooster
<Kael> kanami, cs2
<@Soxmls35> wc3 is like full 24/7
<Kanami> Server Name: GameHavoc.com - Counter-Strike 1.6 WC3. Host Name: cs2.gamehavoc.com. Ping: 5. Players: 9/16. Map: de_aztec. Mod: cstrike.
<Kanami> 10 vodka - stu, 5 SiDViCiOuS, 2 KroniK_migraine, 1 Evil Homer, 1 BINGok!!!, 0 bg.maniaca, 0 NewName, 0 BlackMagic, 0 X-soldier
<Kael> kanami, cs3
<Kanami> Server Name: GameHavoc.com - Counter-Strike 1.6 Deathmatch. Host Name: cs3.gamehavoc.com. Ping: 6. Players: 16/16. Map: de_dust2. Mod: cstrike.
<Kanami> 65 Edd, 49 dos equis, 49 blackman, 33 HOMO |2ABBIT, 29 unlucky, 25 Braindead Moron, 23 OnLYOnE1223, 17 RGA, 17 solidsnake, 14 {A}E} | Axel Foley, 8 sucky_fps, 8 Sexy| Along, 6 MDK Boomstick, 5 itchy a$$, 0 beer
<Kael> kanami, cs4
<Kanami> Server Name: GameHavoc.com - Counter-Strike 1.6 Customs. Host Name: 67.18.29.253. Ping: 3. Players: 0/16. Map: as_oilrig. Mod: cstrike.
<Kanami> The server is empty.
<Kael> kanami, css
<+acme-away> even in the fcs days it was rare for the server to be full 24/7
<Kanami> There was no response from the server.
<Kael> kanami, ns
<Kanami> The server is empty.
<Kanami> Server Name: GameHavoc.com - NS 3.0 Beta 5. Host Name: ns.gamehavoc.com. Ping: 42. Players: 15/16. Map: ns_tanith. Mod: ns.
<Kael> yeah look at all those
<Kanami> 53 [rF]^squeak[TG], 12 Spurty [gamehavoc.com], 6 Dr. Zarkov, 6 ]|v|[eta| ]|v|[arine, 6 seal, 6 Vadim the Fiend, 5 George the Gorge, 3 NSPlayer, 3 Jeagonator, 2 Bobbert006, 2 FootballKA, 1 ., 1 [gh] r u s h, 0 caddiewumper, 0 [2iD]~Sykin~

[TheShaft]

My emotion to the lock was "Over kill, but it's cool. Ferret has been abused as of late."

My "emotions" to this thread? "What am I, a 12 year old earth child?"



In addition, I feel that a number of people need to understand something. The more people you get, the more posts you'll get. If you piss and moan about having "too much to read" or whatever, you need to stop and think about what you really want. Because if you like, I'm sure its possible to create a community and peg its max members at 100 so you can get your forums read in 5 minutes like you want.

I'm sorry, its just a fact of forums. You grow, you get more people, you get more posts. To alwasy expect to read EVERYTHING on the forum is unrealistic. If you change that attitude, a lot of the "meaningless" posts you speak of won't bother you.

[[NAKED] Young DVP]

I have only read the first of four (4) pages of this thread so far. I was otherwise detained and unable to be here when the forums reopened at - I assume - 11:00.

this is the first thread I've opened, and I am not sure if the rest is active yet or not. I am acting as if it is not opened until I have resonded to this question. As I have stated, I have only read the 1st of 4 pages so far, and to be honest I am somewhat disappoionted in what I've seen thus far.

Now I am sure that there are going to be responses in the pages to come from likely people that will reaffirm my belief in the collective bond in this community. But the lack-luster comments of members like canon, J.A.C. and Doc leave me... well disenchanted. These are two guys that I respected and to hear that it scarcely could have mattered less to them makes me feel like ferret truly IS wasting his time here.

What's my reaction to what happened? I was embarrassed for the community as a whole. If only a small percentage of members made it bad enough here to cause such action from someone we all admire as much as darien, then just imagine how much damage a few more of us could do. This community is a gift to most of us. By gift I mean something that is given freely with little or no expectation of reciprocal action. Donations made to the server does not imply any more ownership than anyone else. It is more like a 'thank you note' of sorts for a gift recieved and appreciated.

When someone donated so much of his time to creating and maintaining something that we all use and enjoy, it can can be assumed that a certain amount of respect and appreciation would be in order. Certainly, ferret also uses this venue as a means to generate business. That is his right. But he also has given this forum and servers to us to use as often as we like. For that I am grateful. Would I survive without this place? Yes. Of course I would, that is silly. But I would also be sad to see it go away.

So if it was no big deal to you that actions had to be taken to shape things up, then I say you can go pound sand. The community will survive and quite possible be better off without you.

As for me, I'm for GH!

DVP

[Village_Idiot]

when i first found out i was in first then shock and wondered what happened?

then i went into the forums and read...

overall it was the right thing to do that we all know that ferret does need a break and that we do ask a lot from him.....

all i think we all simply do is respect ferret and what he does for OUR entertainment...... he does it for his too but it contains a lot more stress.... and we all forget that.....

[4matic]

i wondered what happened because everything seemed fine 7 hours earlier. i was kinda sad the people were really pissed about some of our behavior.

[Princess]

When I first saw it, I wasn't all that surprised. I saw the argument leading up to it and knew something was going to happen. I'm not really "for" shutting down the forums over it. I think ferret needed a break. I think maybe a few people needed a break. But I don't think that 80% of the community did. The way the rebuttles were stated on the forums were obviously filled with emotion that, in my opinion, should not have been expressed. Giving that kind of attention makes things 100 times bigger and gets way more people involved who don't need to be. It makes everyone give attention to one situation and forces them to choose sides. Then it becomes an all out "you took this side??? You're such a jerk!" Creating overall disunity of the community (as you can already see people upset at other people's opinions in this thread).

Regardless, that's my answer for how I responded when I saw the thread.

As for ferret's mental state, I am sympathetic to him, but that doesn't mean I have to agree with how things were handled.

[Canon]

DVP, don't mistake my meaning. I enjoy coming to these forums and I do so quite often. However, the fact that they were shut down for a few days didn't seem to slow anything down for me. I could still talk to everyone on IRC and vent... and I could still play on the gamehavoc game servers.

Now, if I didn't have irc... well, I would have been pissed. I love talking to you guys.

[blue]

I'm honestly suprised to see that darien hasn't responded yet to anything in this forum... i expected alot more than "Let's have a great year!". I'm left with a little bit of confusion, and a little bit of a feeling of "what good did that do"....

[TheShaft]

What do you want them to do?

[[NAKED] sidark]

Great Idea,

[Dark Knight Zer0]

Note i havent really read anything in this thread beyond the 1st post.

I was expecting it, honestly I was a little supprised it took as long as it did for something major to happen

DK0

[Tech]

eventhough i was mia during the shutdown, it seems that people are happier. so, i would have to say it was good.

[Chill]

To all the people who keep GH running...

よい運

There's nothing harder than keeping a bunch of geeks happy...

[[gh]Spurty]

To all the people who keep GH running...

よい運

There's nothing harder than keeping a bunch of geeks happy...

I'm finding reading your Chinese a little perplexing on the grey cells.

Wassat mean ?

[Nefarious]

chinese? all i see is 3 question marks

[Tech]

its nothing, its half arabic half chinese

[Dank]

k but why is it that the forums need to be shutdown because ferret is upset with the complaining and abusement. i still dont get that. and have seen no explaination to this (kinda waiting like blue is)

i have done what ferret is doing (running a community)..... there will always be people who complain, people who abuse.... what you have to realize is that its text. someone typing at a computer. You cant get frustrated by it because no matter what you do, there will always be people who abuse/complain. Never take it into your real life. And if you find yourself frustrated... walk away.

why punish everyone.

and a side note, if there are threads that people dont find 'good', dont you think its easier to turn away then complain about the crappy thread and HAVING to read it. no one is forcing you to.

(if this post doesnt make sense its cuz i havent slept yet tonight and its 6:15am)

[Dank]

since i cant edit....

i just read about some of the stress.... so ya

[Smeg]

I'm a little late putting my two cents in here. Any way....yeah I was a little ticked off cuz I don't feel like I'm a part of the problem. I'm getting so sick of wadding through BS And come on people ...knock off the post s that are merely qoutes!!! In fact I start in the technical forum and don't bother much with other sections now because I know most of the idiots stay out of there. The posters genuinely want help with or suggestions about issues I enjoy; and thats fantastic.
As far as Ferret is concerned;I've Modded/Maintained/Admined similar communoties and if ya take it seriously;it's a lot of F ing work. Ferret you and Kamie do what ya need to keep your sanity... Nice job

And on another semi-related note: I grew up with a disability and let me tell you..IT PUTS AN UNBELIEVABLE STRAIN ON THE ENTIRE FAMILY!!!! they don't need your F ing immature whinning... grow up people and gain a little perspectice here.