Art3misZA

F/A-18C Hornet
 
Lots of A/G, less so A/A.
Probably going to get the Typhoon day 1, though, for a slicker A/A platform.
 
For PvE, I also enjoy dynamic and procedural missions, but lately I've been looking into pre-briefed operations gamenight-style with some people from a popular YouTuber's server. To coordinate strikes from different IPs but still hitting at the same time while the CAP kept us safe was very satisfying.
Haven't done much PvP, but I can see it tickle me.

F/A-18C Hornet
F-16C
Ka-50
UH-1H Huey
Flaming Cliff 3
MiG-21Bis
A-10C II
 
Dynamic PVE missions

I own the F-16 & F-18, prefer PvE ground attack/SEAD and play once or twice a week at most currently

During the community meeting last night the desire for a DCS server came up.
 
I'm curios to see how many of us play DCS, what modules/aircraft we fly & what type of mission(s) are liked. 
 
So please feel free to fill this thread with what you fly & mission styles you love (from gamenight style operations to 24/7 game modes) 
 
Disclaimer: 
This is just myself looking to see how many are interested in a DCS server & what would be wanted so if one is to ever happen decisions can be made that best suit desires.
The other goal is to perhaps bring us virtual pilots out the shadows & go fly together.
 
 
 
 

Right. As I have nothing to lose, I am going to set something straight right here. I filed that that report. I do not mind who knows this anymore. Tiptoeing around these things has not done anyone any favors. I have done my level best to keep this from the community and to wear a happy smile and continue on, business as usual.
 
I did not not expect the whole situation to blow up as it did. But it has and this is due not the situation itself, but to lack of communication, allowing the gossip mills to turn. Did people approach me after they saw my resignation form Pub Mod? Yes they did. Did I answer them with my reasons why? Yes. Because Norris was gone. Because I believed things were not ok. 
 
I feel that my report, based upon personal accounts, observations and screenshots, was indeed an accurate representation and I will stand by this. It was not done in the manner of a witchhunt or because I had some grudge. To even assume that is an insult to the integrity I feel was part of the reason I was Staff in the first place. In fact, the two people are members I held in high esteem and considered friends at a stage. Therefore this was not an easy thing for me to do and I sat on a lot of what I knew for a long time before I felt it because necessary to do this. If not for immediate action then to provide an official record should it become even more necessary to do so.
 
I have 19 years of online community moderation and administration experience. I have walked these streets and knew the warning signs. I could also see the ever-growing fractures in the community long before taking action. Does this make me paranoid? Maybe. I still believe I was acting in in the best interests of the greater community and there was no malice from my side. Nor has there ever been malice. I was a Moderator doing my job and following due diligence.
 
I have lost a community that in part saved me the past few months. I have lost friends. This result could have been avoided and there is so sole person to blame for this. Perhaps I can too be blamed for my role in this.
 
Make me your villain (to quote Shadow and Bone) if it makes things easier to manage. I am tired, my health has gone to shit and I want to just move along. 

I haven't read all of this thread so it may have already been said.
 
I believe one good thing that AW needs to return and stay is regular staff and player meetings. Host this regularly, have staff and community members work out points of discussion and stick to the routine.
 
In the past when AW had a rather large divide, this was a decision that was made and we managed regular community meetings where everyone had a chance to share their thoughts on improvements, have debates and also provide a time for staff to provide regular news for the community with real time feedback on what they thought.
 
I think fostering an environment of regular discussion and feedback in real time during regular meetings will help to reinforce that "stand by eachother" mentality that is seeming to be lacking recently and help to bring about new ideas on the regular to maintain focus.
 
I feel that this could all be planned out with a community meeting to let people take the stage and talk about what they would expect from these meetings and the best ways to do it. It may also help to get people together to chat and just have a fresh start if needed.
 
This was something that @PiranhA did a while back and I believe the fresh start then was one of the best things to happen. Just let bygones be bygones and let the community shape the way forward.

The way this thread is going is grand. That's something to appreciate.
 
From what I read, a good part of the dissatisfaction about the unit stemmed from the mission makers for the drop in AW players. I understand that and I think I can relate to the feelings involved.
To slowly lead that into a suggestion, I would mention that I didn't play those missions because the themes didn't interest me. Vietnam is not my cup of tea, but I played a couple for the banter. Star Wars was three standard deviations removed from what I like, as was Halo. About Star Wars, at least, I let Siege know after a TS poke that it wasn't for me. I think a similar thing held true for other players, in that it just wasn't their interest.
 
So my suggestion is to have regular polls and meetings. Have polls to gauge interests in future campaign ideas. If you are satisfied with the responses even if small, everyone involved can set their expectations correctly. If you're not, lead that into a discussion about why the interest is low and be open-minded to drop or adjust the idea.
 
Similarly, in particular for staff, have regular meetings. Monthly.
Most people avoid confrontation. That's natural and probably relatable. To foster constructive confrontations, the absolute best you can do is to foster a safe, supported platform for communication. Allow members of staff, perhaps even Vet-FA, to submit points for an agenda prior to the meeting, then go through them. If there's nothing, grand, you've spent a few minutes to leave the meeting in the knowledge that you're right as rain.
 
In the vein of safe communication, foster good feedback philosophy. The gamenight debriefs are once again a marvellous illustration of that, but it can go further: Praise in public, criticise in private. People experienced in HR are rolling their eyes now.
Over the years, I have been told that I don't look like staff, that I'm too nice. Good! That means you haven't been invited to a private chat by me.
The rules only allow for so much direct action. You have your hackers and your teamkillers, but situations like the topic at hand are not rare, as uncomfortable as they are. The elephant in the room was difficult to navigate around, so I can wager it was easier to stay in one corner with the people already there.
 
Artemis noted that the division was apparent long ago. Sadly, it wasn't to me. I was frustrated with some AWE decisions, which I aired, and I just reckoned that some animosity from the sidelines stemmed from a disagreement about creative directions. There was some pushback to an unconventional gamenight idea, plus the minor squabble about event sign-ups.
 
The rest of it, the real of it, was not once brought to my attention besides a salient question by a dev in #mission-makers about using Discord Rich Presence of our own.
 
A meeting could have cleared this up many months ago. What's done is done, but just perhaps that's something to take forward.

Right. As I have nothing to lose, I am going to set something straight right here. I filed that that report. I do not mind who knows this anymore. Tiptoeing around these things has not done anyone any favors. I have done my level best to keep this from the community and to wear a happy smile and continue on, business as usual.
 
I did not not expect the whole situation to blow up as it did. But it has and this is due not the situation itself, but to lack of communication, allowing the gossip mills to turn. Did people approach me after they saw my resignation form Pub Mod? Yes they did. Did I answer them with my reasons why? Yes. Because Norris was gone. Because I believed things were not ok. 
 
I feel that my report, based upon personal accounts, observations and screenshots, was indeed an accurate representation and I will stand by this. It was not done in the manner of a witchhunt or because I had some grudge. To even assume that is an insult to the integrity I feel was part of the reason I was Staff in the first place. In fact, the two people are members I held in high esteem and considered friends at a stage. Therefore this was not an easy thing for me to do and I sat on a lot of what I knew for a long time before I felt it because necessary to do this. If not for immediate action then to provide an official record should it become even more necessary to do so.
 
I have 19 years of online community moderation and administration experience. I have walked these streets and knew the warning signs. I could also see the ever-growing fractures in the community long before taking action. Does this make me paranoid? Maybe. I still believe I was acting in in the best interests of the greater community and there was no malice from my side. Nor has there ever been malice. I was a Moderator doing my job and following due diligence.
 
I have lost a community that in part saved me the past few months. I have lost friends. This result could have been avoided and there is so sole person to blame for this. Perhaps I can too be blamed for my role in this.
 
Make me your villain (to quote Shadow and Bone) if it makes things easier to manage. I am tired, my health has gone to shit and I want to just move along. 

At this stage there is little to do or say that will make this situation better. All I know is that rules are supposed to be clear and concise for all to follow and adhere to. If there is this much division between what breaking the rules actually entails, then perhaps this needs to be looked at.
 
it also took Core Staff far too long to respond to the issue and I feel that the statement issued by Core Staff is not only erroneous but doesn’t show the big picture and how the awareness of this situation has been going on for months now.
 
it doesn’t matter what I say. I feel like this whole thing blew up the way it did because of avoidance and poor management. I feel like the resignation of many staff was not addressed and instead their opinions dismissed. 
 
Cheers Ahoy. It’s been a blast and I do hope some of you will still be in touch.

A regular review if set rules is excellent in any case. The wonder of the internet is that it is everchanging and something new will always pop up. Times change and events arise, like this one, that will require us to review the rules we have set in place.

A clarification in regards to what constitutes recruitment, and how Admin reports are handled are some straight forward points.
I think some guidelines on how to address and convey these types of reports publicly should also be considered.
 
I'm very glad this post was here to air our grievances, listen to each other and now move forward from it. Props to everyone for their contribution. Your efforts are greatly appreciated! (by me, but I'm sure I'm not the only one.)

Yesterday was the first I heard of this, so I dont have all the facts and all of that.
I've been trying to comment on this since yesterday, but I find it really difficult and I don't know what to say. 
It kinda feels like i'm the child of some messy divorce

That being said, its important to me that AhoyWorld is an open community where you are free to roam between here and other places, even as staff.
No one can force anyone to stay here.
As long as you are doing your job as staff here as well as expected of you, then you can do whatever you want wherever you want as long as you are not representing AW.
Whether you can take on staff roles at other places aswell, might be a different story, but I don't think that has happened here? 
 
I would also like to say that no one can blame the one making the report.
A report is simply saying that "Hello, there is something here I think you should have a look at. Here is what I see, do what you would like with this information".
It's then up to the ones who receive this report to decide what to do with it and how to deal with it.
 
I cannot say anything about how the case was handled, as I first learned of it yesterday.
What I will say is that I think there should be a full postmortem with a blameless root cause analysis where you go over why this happened, why the outcome became as it did (And what the outcome is, I don't feel like this has fully played out yet), and what we should do to prevent this in the future.
This has to be led by corestaff (Or a mediator, but they would need full access to the report and all the closed forums involved in this).
It would also have to include the reporter, the one being reported on, all the corestaff and anyone who decided to step down and leave, in order to get the full picture.
 
I would like to challenge all the involved party members to participate in this as it will help not only AW grow, but the whole arma community. (It might also be good for all the parties to get to talk together with everyone having good intentions)
 
Lastly, I would like to say that while this sucks, there are a lot of people here showing a lot of emotions, which tells me one thing:
WE ALL CARE DEEPLY FOR AHOYWORLD!
We might not always agree on the path we should take or how to get there, but in the end, I see a whole lot of people that care a lot and that is good.
It also means that tempers flare sometimes and feelings get the upper hand.
We are all humans, we all make mistakes, including staff.
 
 

Alright, now that this has calmed down a bit: What can we learn from this? What steps can we take to avoid such situations in the future?
 
For instance, it seems to me(*) that some of the rules should be reconsidered, updated, adjusted and clarified (after appropriate community discussion).
I am also under the impression that it would be beneficial to define mandatory procedures and requirements for Admin Reports and Staff Demotions, ideally as part of the rules.
 
What do you think?
 
(*) I was not involved in this conflict and did not know it existed until yesterday.

Unfortunately that now seems like a necessity.
 
Realistically it should have been in place (and might have) from the start but it now seems inevitable that it is needed.
 
(I'm also in the same boat and don't know all the details as I can only see the fallout.)
 
As I was going to check out the discord before reconnecting and playing for a bit I noticed people were missing. And that should be the first tell. People shouldn't be missing. Just a thought.
 
That being said I hate to see old friends and people I respect fighting and bickering like this.
 
I really hope you all manage to find a solution here and return to something like it used to be.
 
Just my 2p

I would have been ok with any outcome. I was just doing my job. I also do not feel that my report was placed with gut feelings as I had sat on it for close to two months and presented what I felt was a succinct picture of the situation. Whether or not Core Staff agreed is not the reason I subsequently decided to step down from my duties. This was before any outcome had been concluded and well before Norris left the community. 
 
I felt like I was treated like I didn’t know what I was talking about. I felt invalidated and that my understanding of the rules was wrong. I was cut off and not given time to speak when pulled into a meeting. I am a proud person and do not appreciate being treated like I am a child people don’t have patience for. At least, that was my experience at the time.
 
The way I see this is no single person as at fault as it has been a series of badly handled events and people waiting around for other people to talk about the elephant in the room. This falls on the people the report was made about too. The divisions were seen well before all this blew up.
 
I was in the middle of this storm. There are many things people have said here that I feel are simply not accurate nor respectful of those who opted to leave. making statements about things  after the fact does nothing to better what has happened.
 
It’s done. And I am sorry to comment again but this be the last I say on this matter and urge everyone to just move on. Bickering and pointing fingers is not going to bring people back here.

I would have been ok with any outcome. I was just doing my job. I also do not feel that my report was placed with gut feelings as I had sat on it for close to two months and presented what I felt was a succinct picture of the situation. Whether or not Core Staff agreed is not the reason I subsequently decided to step down from my duties. This was before any outcome had been concluded and well before Norris left the community. 
 
I felt like I was treated like I didn’t know what I was talking about. I felt invalidated and that my understanding of the rules was wrong. I was cut off and not given time to speak when pulled into a meeting. I am a proud person and do not appreciate being treated like I am a child people don’t have patience for. At least, that was my experience at the time.
 
The way I see this is no single person as at fault as it has been a series of badly handled events and people waiting around for other people to talk about the elephant in the room. This falls on the people the report was made about too. The divisions were seen well before all this blew up.
 
I was in the middle of this storm. There are many things people have said here that I feel are simply not accurate nor respectful of those who opted to leave. making statements about things  after the fact does nothing to better what has happened.
 
It’s done. And I am sorry to comment again but this be the last I say on this matter and urge everyone to just move on. Bickering and pointing fingers is not going to bring people back here.

Right. As I have nothing to lose, I am going to set something straight right here. I filed that that report. I do not mind who knows this anymore. Tiptoeing around these things has not done anyone any favors. I have done my level best to keep this from the community and to wear a happy smile and continue on, business as usual.
 
I did not not expect the whole situation to blow up as it did. But it has and this is due not the situation itself, but to lack of communication, allowing the gossip mills to turn. Did people approach me after they saw my resignation form Pub Mod? Yes they did. Did I answer them with my reasons why? Yes. Because Norris was gone. Because I believed things were not ok. 
 
I feel that my report, based upon personal accounts, observations and screenshots, was indeed an accurate representation and I will stand by this. It was not done in the manner of a witchhunt or because I had some grudge. To even assume that is an insult to the integrity I feel was part of the reason I was Staff in the first place. In fact, the two people are members I held in high esteem and considered friends at a stage. Therefore this was not an easy thing for me to do and I sat on a lot of what I knew for a long time before I felt it because necessary to do this. If not for immediate action then to provide an official record should it become even more necessary to do so.
 
I have 19 years of online community moderation and administration experience. I have walked these streets and knew the warning signs. I could also see the ever-growing fractures in the community long before taking action. Does this make me paranoid? Maybe. I still believe I was acting in in the best interests of the greater community and there was no malice from my side. Nor has there ever been malice. I was a Moderator doing my job and following due diligence.
 
I have lost a community that in part saved me the past few months. I have lost friends. This result could have been avoided and there is so sole person to blame for this. Perhaps I can too be blamed for my role in this.
 
Make me your villain (to quote Shadow and Bone) if it makes things easier to manage. I am tired, my health has gone to shit and I want to just move along. 

I think the filing of the report was a perfectly reasonable thing to do and I would say you did the right thing. I doubt most people are mad about the report being filed but instead bothered by the way the report was ultimately handled and discussed.

Right. As I have nothing to lose, I am going to set something straight right here. I filed that that report. I do not mind who knows this anymore. Tiptoeing around these things has not done anyone any favors. I have done my level best to keep this from the community and to wear a happy smile and continue on, business as usual.
 
I did not not expect the whole situation to blow up as it did. But it has and this is due not the situation itself, but to lack of communication, allowing the gossip mills to turn. Did people approach me after they saw my resignation form Pub Mod? Yes they did. Did I answer them with my reasons why? Yes. Because Norris was gone. Because I believed things were not ok. 
 
I feel that my report, based upon personal accounts, observations and screenshots, was indeed an accurate representation and I will stand by this. It was not done in the manner of a witchhunt or because I had some grudge. To even assume that is an insult to the integrity I feel was part of the reason I was Staff in the first place. In fact, the two people are members I held in high esteem and considered friends at a stage. Therefore this was not an easy thing for me to do and I sat on a lot of what I knew for a long time before I felt it because necessary to do this. If not for immediate action then to provide an official record should it become even more necessary to do so.
 
I have 19 years of online community moderation and administration experience. I have walked these streets and knew the warning signs. I could also see the ever-growing fractures in the community long before taking action. Does this make me paranoid? Maybe. I still believe I was acting in in the best interests of the greater community and there was no malice from my side. Nor has there ever been malice. I was a Moderator doing my job and following due diligence.
 
I have lost a community that in part saved me the past few months. I have lost friends. This result could have been avoided and there is so sole person to blame for this. Perhaps I can too be blamed for my role in this.
 
Make me your villain (to quote Shadow and Bone) if it makes things easier to manage. I am tired, my health has gone to shit and I want to just move along. 

I really don't know how to respond to this tantrum.

You never shared any of your reasoning or even how you reached your conclusions. I saw very little transparency and a lot of trying to ignore the problem. I'm glad if you have released a final report by now, although it is way way too late. 
 
Did you imagine this was every only privy to Core Staff only? I can understand why Norris left if this is the tone you use when communication within Core Staff.
 
I do not have a victim complex, I am following what I believe is true and morally right. I believe one of the corner stones of Ahoy World was for the longest of times that the rules apply to all. I guess if believing that is undermining the application of Ahoyworlds principles then I am guilty.
 
My decision to step down was not taken lightly nor was it easy. It was taken due to the utter lack of proper communication from core staff. Quite frankly in the end I do get my way, since I do not want to be an administrator in an environment like this.

At this stage there is little to do or say that will make this situation better. All I know is that rules are supposed to be clear and concise for all to follow and adhere to. If there is this much division between what breaking the rules actually entails, then perhaps this needs to be looked at.
 
it also took Core Staff far too long to respond to the issue and I feel that the statement issued by Core Staff is not only erroneous but doesn’t show the big picture and how the awareness of this situation has been going on for months now.
 
it doesn’t matter what I say. I feel like this whole thing blew up the way it did because of avoidance and poor management. I feel like the resignation of many staff was not addressed and instead their opinions dismissed. 
 
Cheers Ahoy. It’s been a blast and I do hope some of you will still be in touch.

Successful after Chicken's first Zeus Op on I&A Prairie Fire.

The side missions are randomly spawned and I have noticed that the CBRN ones are not always so popular. 
 
However you may find a Zeus or Mod online who might be willing to build a Zeus mission in this theme. All you have to do is pop a request in side when you are online and maybe one of us will put something fun together.  

I feel that this adds variety to the challenge of these objectives. If everything were to be cleared in the same way, things would feel repetitive. Loading with explosives and planting them adds more than just pure pew pew.
 
I have said this before and strongly feel it is important to consider when making changes but if one spoonfeeds players too much they will get bored and either leave or look for their own entertainment. 

I've never seen a situation where we have all the FOBs and from what I understand there is an actual end-game if we complete all the missions.  I don't know what happens, probably we all get nuked.
 
So here is my dumb/brilliant idea:  We have an event that runs on a weekend day, we hype it and try and get the server full right from server restart and maybe try and coordinate so the really early/late slots are full, but the idea is we want all slots full for the event.  We could try and see if the Arma3 Twitter account would boost the event and isn't there some popular Arma podcast we could pitch this to?  It seems like a fun way to try and get the community together for a common cause and see if we can actually beat I&A3, and since Invade & Annex is at least semi well known, get some free advertisement that Ahoy is where I&A was born and maybe get some new players.
 
What inspired this idea is the motorsports endurance race where drivers/crew/etc... take stints to try and get their car over the finish line first.  It would be an endurance race... of murder!
 
There's probably all sorts of other fun ideas that could be incorporated into this, but I'll leave that to the AW community if anyone thinks this idea has merit.  But really, I think it would be fun to try and band together to beat I&A3.  Nothing would make me happier than being unable to find a open slot for this event as long as someone streamed it.

Successful after Chicken's first Zeus Op on I&A Prairie Fire.