ranting not allowed???

last I checked, even though forum rules apply, the rants dont have to be useful.

Feels an awful lot like big brother watching. I know forum mods have to watch but...well, lately it feels more like a sci fi novel than a useful and very much needed aspect of forums.

So closing a rant seems very foolish to me. I cna see a point in it at some point, I realyl and truly can, but...by definition no rant is useful. its just whining, complaining or venting at the dismay of others for your own sake.

Fine line, I know.

Forum rules say I cant accuse, so I'm not...I'm saying I feel akward posting now, assuming anything controversial will be removed...much like this post in its entirety.

So before people start saying its getting as bad as EII, I would either

1) be more objective
2) be less heavy handed
3) accept that anti Dev, anti game nad anti player posts will happen and figure out a way best to deal rather than remove them entirely. It makes people like me feel that unloyal thoughts are highly punishable...

Keep in mind, thats just one mans feelings

Others may post on this and give honest opinion for or against myself.

I just think its good for the mods and devs to know someone, likely not just me is feelign very oppressed.

Thats not the goal I know, but it happened.

I sincerely hope I dont get in trouble for voicing my concerns.

I will admit to being surprised that the thread was locked. I think it was placed in rants for the reason that it was a highly controversial topic and as such, it would eventually contain posts that would, by definition, be rants.

I think there is at some level a concern that a poster cannot be honest about his/her concerns for fear of retaliation in some form. Human nature is what it is, and it's easy to hold grudges and take things personally and we are all passionate, in our own way about this game and this world we are in.

Let me give an example. Say a player is very strongly convinced that more hoard should drop off maggots. This player posts opinions that tick off a moderator, who also is a player on that shard, AND a developer. Then one day, less hoard drops off maggots.

Don't laugh, I fully expect maggot hoard levels to drop in the next patch :( (joke)

Anyway, that's just an example of the types of things that players might fear come to pass and is not a criticism of moderation, per se, but outlining the types of things that go through a player's mind when posting an opinion about something in game that a moderator/developer/player might have a strong opinion about opposite to his or maybe just plain old doesn't like the way he posts.

well said, though inevitably this "rant" is gonna be less honest and people are gonna say hting to saty on peoples good sides or it will get removed entirely, I honestly believe that...

I just hope poeple can stay objective and honest long enough to show the higher ups we are concerned.

Cant exactly send a ticket and tell the devs you think they are against you and the sky is falling etc.

All I can say about ranting is that the rumor mill has said some pretty disturbing things about disagreeing and/or getting along with others lately. In the interests of NOT spreading rumors (no matter how true or false I believe them to be), doing finger-pointing, or any of that other fun stuff, I won't go into details...which unfortunately, will make this a very short post.

Needless to say, some people may be overreacting and others may be underreacting, but currently, I feel that if I try to bring up any of the concerns I have (and/or have heard), they're just going to get brushed off. Whether that would be because of the people I enjoy talking with, my sometimes snarky attitude, or my general opinionatedness, I'm not certain, but it's not a comfortable position to be in.

Ranting is allowed. What is not allowed is very clearly stated in the forum rules. In the case of the thread about camping, which I'm assuming is the one Silverblaze is questioning why it was locked, the thread was no longer about camping, but accusations of who is/isn't a camper, flames against other posters, etc.

As far as moderation goes, if you ever wish to question the moderation done by one moderator, you can report the post to the others. The forum moderators have a supervisor, and that supervisor has the head-honcho. Both see all reports when someone clicks the "Report Post" icon that looks like a red triangle. And when a support ticket is submitted through the Customer Support center, those same people can also review if a player chooses to go that route.

Just to be clear, ranting about issues is fine. Ranting about people, their behaviors, their favorite color, their opinions about maggot droppings, is not. Now disagreeing that someone's opinion that dragons would for some reason hoard maggot droppings, that's ok too. That's stating your own opinion. Just don't flame the person you're disagreeing with, or accuse them of in game misconduct here on the forums.

Understood and thank you.

to be honest,
I was much relieved, that this special thread was closed.

It`s no good feeling to see people fighting, you like and respect much.
I dislike all kinds of censoring, as I emphasized often enough.
But in this case..it was goin`to give me a bellyache