This is in the sleep mode thread and what I have to say has nothing to do with sleep mode so I'm going to reply here instead of clogging up that thread with off-topic stuff.
Turnip2k is absolutely correct in saying these forums are not an accurate representation of the opinions of the general playerbase, and that is the fault of the mainly the veterans that post in these forums.
Most of you probably have no idea who I am. I've only posted one or two other times in forums. Because of this you will probably either ignore this post or flame it until it's original topic is completely lost in all the insults and e-penis waving.
And that's the problem. That is why these forums do not accurately represent the playerbase for this game. So often when a newbie (whether new to the game or just new to forums) has the audacity to post something it gets such a negative response they don't dare do it again.
Nobody is perfect, and yes, you are going to get suggestions that don't make much sense to you or that seem dumb, but the person posting them didn't write that out just to personally offend you, so stop acting like they did. It takes no effort at all to just calmly explain why their suggestion wouldn't work or perhaps suggest an alternate idea to address their problem if you have one. Or just keep your mouth shut. So you don't think someones idea is good. So what? At least they're trying.
So many of you go on and on about needing to increase the playerbase, but when a new person dares to get involved all you care to do is shoot them down and make them feel like crap. A bit counter-productive don't you think?
It's just like people using "it's just a game" as an excuse for using tactics that clearly go against the spirit of the game. Unless Azzer specifically makes a rule for every single action that could possibly be used in an immoral way (impossible and unreasonable to expect) you people seem to feel it's justified to behave however you please. No, there aren't going to be direct consequences for that attitude, but it is going to cause the player base to continue to dwindle and it is going to make a lot of the problems you have with this game worse.
It's just a game, yes, but it's a game played by people. We are not a bunch of robots put here for your amusement. We're going to take the things you say and do personally because *gasp* we're PEOPLE! When you say someone is stupid it's a personal attack. When you spy or ship-jump repeatedly or gang up on the little guy over and over again you are being a jerk to other people. It being in the context of a game does not make the action any less offensive and you should not expect people to just be ok with that kind of behavior, on forums or in game, simply because it's "only a game." It is still bad behavior, regardless of the context.
I have NEVER seen Azzer flame anyone on these forums. Know why? It's not because he's such a nice guy. I have emails that prove otherwise. It's because he's an adult and he knows it isn't going to fix anything and in fact it's going to hurt his playerbase. Those of you who are veterans of this game need to get on board. Knock of the childish behavior and either stay quiet or start actually helping. Stop being mean and insulting, both to each other and to the new people. If people aren't so afraid to express their ideas maybe some the things you have such a problem with will actually get fixed.
