Constructive criticism and backtalking

[Einarsen]

Hello everyone.

 

I want to bring something up, it's not a fun topic and this topic might not fall in good taste with everyone, but it's something I can't keep silent about.

I want to apologize in advance if I do make any statements that is hurtful and/or unwarranted, I promise you it's not intended to be.

 

I've been playing on AhoyWorld for a month or two now, I spend honestly all my playtime on AWE/EU3, so this might not be as relevant for the other servers.

 

Most of the time, it's great fun, the community is really good and you guys really know how to help a new guy out and I have spent most of my time laughing my ass of at all the fun we've had. Some of the time though, it's really not all that fun. I've noticed that there occasionally seems to be a lot of back-talking on local and/or sidechannels about other members and their playstyle, competence and so on. It's mainly one or two guys talking, while the rest of the channel just sit in silence.

 

I've never been a fan of back-talking, I believe that if you have any criticism of a person, you're supposed to either take it up with that person or deal with it in silence.

The fact is that if you never raise your criticism or concerns about a person to that person, that person is most likely never going to hear about it and as such never have the possibility to improve for the better. Instead, if people just talk about this person behind their back, you end up with a hostile environment for everyone and no chance of improvement on any sides.

 

I know, sometimes people just piss you off and I know you just feel like blocking them off and ignoring it, but often those people do it without the intention of annoying you.

As long as we don't take our criticism and concerns to those it concerns, they will most likely just live blissfully unaware about it and continue pissing other people off.

 

That's all, thanks for letting me air that out.

 

Regards,

Sony, the guy with that weird laugh. 

[Ryko]

I'm totally supportive of the sentiments expressed in this thread, my suggestion would be that the time for constructive criticism and debriefing is when the op is done and people are back at base, rather than in the field.

 

Even in the field, it's ok to offer alternatives, suggestions, and advice, but ultimately if someone is in charge, you have to respect the chain of command and ultimately follow orders, even if you don't agree with them.

 

- R

[BloodInTheSand]

I'll admit to being guilty of this from time to time, and I hope others will do the same. Generally in reference to poor piloting to those on the ground around me. I try to offer advice where I can to help rectify things for the future, but unfortunately it often falls on deaf ears - and I'd feel very much like I was overstepping my bounds if I pulled someone aside to talk these things through.

Contrary to what I've said above, sometimes it's all in good fun. Watching someone get defeated by the evil csat ninja tree or slam their helicopter into a hillside because they were checking Facebook is funny enough. It's a shame that too many people say things maliciously instead of in good fun.

Regaling people with the stories of your time on the battlefield should be about sharing the good times, not making others look bad when they're not there to defend themselves. That seems to be something we wholeheartedly agree on.

[Miczils]

I think what often happens is some people being very short tempered in cases of accidents. I often jokingly mention @MoonFire's piloting skills, with or without him being there, but we all know that in the end even he is not always the best pilot, nobody, hopefully, is or was holding a grudge on him for that. Situations like that occur very often because, let's face it, it's often quite funny how some people fail the supposedly easiest tasks, do a 360 flip on the ground with a helicopter run straight into MAAWS' back-blast, fire an AT-4 into a wall in front of them, drive a humvee into a tree etc, im myself guilty of a few mistakes like that. The problem is people taking those things a bit too serious. Im sure im also guilty of that every now and then, i reckon getting pissed off a bit ago when a pair of Vortex Cas Pilots were auto-hovering their Harriers over the AO waiting for orders, we may have thrown a bit too much meat about them in the squad,  but even that, i made sure to let things like that go and just talk it out with the pilots to make sure it doesn't happen again. The worst is people that remember those fails/stupid behavior and intentionally bring it up thousands of times later just for the sake of it.

[Blue-958-]

Its a game, some people need to remember that.

[fir_nev]

15 minutes ago, Blue-958- said:

Its a game, some people need to remember that.

 

It also is a reflection of our personality. That is why @Einarsen felt like that.

[Blue-958-]

It works both ways, although I was agreeing with OP

[BlastaMasta]

On 4/24/2017 at 0:35 PM, Miczils said:

Im sure im also guilty of that every now and then, i reckon getting pissed off a bit ago when a pair of Vortex Cas Pilots were auto-hovering their Harriers over the AO waiting for orders, we may have thrown a bit too much meat about them in the squad,  but even that, i made sure to let things like that go and just talk it out with the pilots to make sure it doesn't happen again.

 

Yep, lesson learned, criticism received, will not happen again. Twas fun though  Props for handling it the way you did. Others would've probably started yelling again.

 

But on a different note: After working 12hr shifts in a fucking ambulance, I come home to play Arma and unwind. Not to get fucking yelled at for slipping up and crashing a helo or if my piloting on that day isn't up to par for some ASLs. Behaviour like that is 100% unnecessary and uncalled for. I sometimes have the feeling that some people in this community take the game and their roles in it waaaay to serious. After all it is what it is: a game. And games should be fun. For everyone. Everyone should do, and in my experience does their best to play their role and work together.

 

I have the most fun ingame playing vortex, so if I can, that's what I do most. I know that I'm not the best pilot out there but you can be 100% sure that I do my best every time I'm in a helo or a jet.

People make mistakes, thats just the way it is. And if I crash or get shot down or don't land at the designated LZ 'cause it's hotter than a ghost pepper and would mean that my precious reinserts would instantly get slaughtered you can be sure as shit that I'll do my best to avoid that in the future. But shit happens, and that's a-ok. 

 

Also I think it would be grand to have more debriefings after long and complicated missions. This would give everyone a chance to voice constructive criticism whilst improving their own skills.

[Ryko]

Hey Blasta,

 

This is the classic problem with AWE, in that people have different expectations of the game.  We do aim for a higher standard of serious gameplay, so don't be surprised if people take it too seriously.  That said, we're not milsim, so hopefully we strike the right balance.

 

Debriefings: definitely.