Post by Clarky on Aug 17, 2018 18:17:42 GMT -5
So, here we are. I believe everyone who has been in this community for some time now understands that every community (NA, EU, etc.) and their respective servers will go through typical PW/PK cycles.
Well, we have arrived to one of those milestones in the NA community's cycle and it makes up a factor of multiple different things. Before I begin, some background information is required so that people may understand certain decisions that were made.
A few months ago, Taleworlds proposed and then implemented a new policy which restricted any and all Mount and Blade: Warband multiplayer servers from taking donations and returning donation rewards to those individuals personally. Reaching from currency, cosmetics, equipment, etc., those things no longer being allowed as rewards. This was implemented (supposedly) for multiple reasons. One of those reasons having to do with TW not wanting people from possibly making monetary gain off their product in which they worked hard to create. And also, a more controversial reason (in my opinion), would be to get rid of the “pay to win” atmosphere that donation rewards propose (and for arguments sake, I disagree that element of “pay to win” is introduced via donation rewards).
This policy, while not even fully initiated yet, received quite a deal of blowback from the MB:W community on the TW forums – from common community members, administrators, and server owners all which spanned across various mods of the MB:W multiplayer community. Some claiming that this policy would be “the shot in the foot of the multiplayer community” for MB:W. And arguably, it has been. Being a Server Owner for some time now has allowed me to understand how imperative donations for donation rewards truly plays a role in the continuation of a server’s lifespan. Even being more imperative in that of a community which is in NA because most people from this region will not spend a dollar without expecting something in return for it – and in my opinion that is perfectly understandable. In addition, others finding it a low blow of TW to implement a policy which would restrict so much – including from being able to sell a product, such as a script, in which you personally worked very hard to develop. Why is this detrimental to the community? Because creative development will cease to exist due to no true reward being sustained from it.
As said before in early points, this policy received a great deal of negative feedback from the various communities while TW deliberated on whether or not to fully implement this policy. And as you can tell, they ultimately decided to indeed do as such. Now what would be the consequence for the community/server/server owner that was found out to be disregarding this policy and continuing donations for donations rewards? That server of course would be blacklisted by TW if they refused to respond to their direct warnings proceeding a probable discussion between the server owner and the TW administrators. As for reasons I believe you can fathom, I chose to adhere to this policy the day I found out of its proposed existence (which came before its actual full implementation). A large amount of community members can attest to the situation of me having to unfortunately turn them down after they inquired about donating (for currency in return) to the server. Regardless of this policy being followed 100% by the other communities, after many conversations I can tell you for a fact that the after effects of the policy are indeed taking their toll on the multiplayer scene across various mods.
Which brings us full circle to the actual intention of this announcement.
Due to me making a choice on closing out on any and all donations from the community for months, the end is most likely in sight.
So, we have three options as a community.
1. The community decides they want to prolong the life of Infinity NA and donations are sent in to pay for the server’s expenses. But, no donations rewards will be given in return. The only thing to be gained from the donations would be the server itself and the ability to play the mod/game.
2. The community decides now is the time for the NA PK/PW mod to finally reach its end. No donations are sent, and the date of 8/26/2018 will be the last day to ever play on a NA PK/PW mod server (until the release of Bannerlord). And you choose to live out the remainder of the server (or the final NA server) within the next week playing how you'd like while still following the rules.
3. The community attempts to decide that now is the time for the NA PK/PW mod to finally reach its end. And by this I of course mean that although no more donations are sent in for this specific server’s survival, but inevitably another server decides to surface. I would be the most self-absorbed, egocentric, naïve individual to think that there wasn’t another person among the NA community that could take on the immense responsibility of being the SO for the NA community. However, it comes down to that person (or persons) to act upon wanting to take their shot at SO and stepping up to the plate while dealing with the new policy which will most certainly make it hard to sustain the life of a server while fully adhering to the TW policy’s requirements (and having an amazing amount of patience through that server’s lifetime).
In the case that I did not adhere to this policy, I can guarantee you that we would have enough donations to pay for this server’s expenses through January of 2019. And remind you, we pay $170 a month for the server box alone.
So, who is at fault (in my opinion)? None of you, being the community. No one in this community is at fault for the end of this server. This server has had great times and bad times, but none of that dictates the end of this server. Not a pub, a clan member, a clan leader, or an admin that worked under me – none of you are at fault. And to be quite honest, I’ve enjoyed my time as SO with every single one of you. Whether you though of me as a “benevolent” server owner or the worst server owner in NA’s history, I sincerely thank you for the opportunity to be the SO and hope at some point I made you all enjoy your time on Infinity at least once. (Of course, all in the case that this is the end of Infinity NA on 8/26/18).
Quickly, I apologize to everyone who put up with any of my heated moments firsthand. I always attempted to conduct myself maturely and professionally. In addition, thank you to everyone who has admined on this server for me for any length of time. From TA to HA, I greatly appreciate all the assistance you have given me and the community in the time you spent on the admin team.
A common question asked of me, “will you be the Server Owner for the NA community when Bannerlord is released?” Well first of all, I hope my great grandchildren enjoy the beta when that is finally opened to the public. So, unless they find a way to prolong human life or put a human’s conscience into some form of AI – its not likely. In all seriousness, if people want me as the SO for the NA community when Bannerlord is released, I’ll consider it.
I intend to leave the comment section open for this announcement, so anyone is able to ask questions underneath the post and make comments (appropriate comments please).
Again, if this is the end, thank you for the opportunity as SO and for all of your time!
Well, we have arrived to one of those milestones in the NA community's cycle and it makes up a factor of multiple different things. Before I begin, some background information is required so that people may understand certain decisions that were made.
A few months ago, Taleworlds proposed and then implemented a new policy which restricted any and all Mount and Blade: Warband multiplayer servers from taking donations and returning donation rewards to those individuals personally. Reaching from currency, cosmetics, equipment, etc., those things no longer being allowed as rewards. This was implemented (supposedly) for multiple reasons. One of those reasons having to do with TW not wanting people from possibly making monetary gain off their product in which they worked hard to create. And also, a more controversial reason (in my opinion), would be to get rid of the “pay to win” atmosphere that donation rewards propose (and for arguments sake, I disagree that element of “pay to win” is introduced via donation rewards).
This policy, while not even fully initiated yet, received quite a deal of blowback from the MB:W community on the TW forums – from common community members, administrators, and server owners all which spanned across various mods of the MB:W multiplayer community. Some claiming that this policy would be “the shot in the foot of the multiplayer community” for MB:W. And arguably, it has been. Being a Server Owner for some time now has allowed me to understand how imperative donations for donation rewards truly plays a role in the continuation of a server’s lifespan. Even being more imperative in that of a community which is in NA because most people from this region will not spend a dollar without expecting something in return for it – and in my opinion that is perfectly understandable. In addition, others finding it a low blow of TW to implement a policy which would restrict so much – including from being able to sell a product, such as a script, in which you personally worked very hard to develop. Why is this detrimental to the community? Because creative development will cease to exist due to no true reward being sustained from it.
As said before in early points, this policy received a great deal of negative feedback from the various communities while TW deliberated on whether or not to fully implement this policy. And as you can tell, they ultimately decided to indeed do as such. Now what would be the consequence for the community/server/server owner that was found out to be disregarding this policy and continuing donations for donations rewards? That server of course would be blacklisted by TW if they refused to respond to their direct warnings proceeding a probable discussion between the server owner and the TW administrators. As for reasons I believe you can fathom, I chose to adhere to this policy the day I found out of its proposed existence (which came before its actual full implementation). A large amount of community members can attest to the situation of me having to unfortunately turn them down after they inquired about donating (for currency in return) to the server. Regardless of this policy being followed 100% by the other communities, after many conversations I can tell you for a fact that the after effects of the policy are indeed taking their toll on the multiplayer scene across various mods.
Which brings us full circle to the actual intention of this announcement.
Due to me making a choice on closing out on any and all donations from the community for months, the end is most likely in sight.
So, we have three options as a community.
1. The community decides they want to prolong the life of Infinity NA and donations are sent in to pay for the server’s expenses. But, no donations rewards will be given in return. The only thing to be gained from the donations would be the server itself and the ability to play the mod/game.
2. The community decides now is the time for the NA PK/PW mod to finally reach its end. No donations are sent, and the date of 8/26/2018 will be the last day to ever play on a NA PK/PW mod server (until the release of Bannerlord). And you choose to live out the remainder of the server (or the final NA server) within the next week playing how you'd like while still following the rules.
3. The community attempts to decide that now is the time for the NA PK/PW mod to finally reach its end. And by this I of course mean that although no more donations are sent in for this specific server’s survival, but inevitably another server decides to surface. I would be the most self-absorbed, egocentric, naïve individual to think that there wasn’t another person among the NA community that could take on the immense responsibility of being the SO for the NA community. However, it comes down to that person (or persons) to act upon wanting to take their shot at SO and stepping up to the plate while dealing with the new policy which will most certainly make it hard to sustain the life of a server while fully adhering to the TW policy’s requirements (and having an amazing amount of patience through that server’s lifetime).
In the case that I did not adhere to this policy, I can guarantee you that we would have enough donations to pay for this server’s expenses through January of 2019. And remind you, we pay $170 a month for the server box alone.
So, who is at fault (in my opinion)? None of you, being the community. No one in this community is at fault for the end of this server. This server has had great times and bad times, but none of that dictates the end of this server. Not a pub, a clan member, a clan leader, or an admin that worked under me – none of you are at fault. And to be quite honest, I’ve enjoyed my time as SO with every single one of you. Whether you though of me as a “benevolent” server owner or the worst server owner in NA’s history, I sincerely thank you for the opportunity to be the SO and hope at some point I made you all enjoy your time on Infinity at least once. (Of course, all in the case that this is the end of Infinity NA on 8/26/18).
Quickly, I apologize to everyone who put up with any of my heated moments firsthand. I always attempted to conduct myself maturely and professionally. In addition, thank you to everyone who has admined on this server for me for any length of time. From TA to HA, I greatly appreciate all the assistance you have given me and the community in the time you spent on the admin team.
A common question asked of me, “will you be the Server Owner for the NA community when Bannerlord is released?” Well first of all, I hope my great grandchildren enjoy the beta when that is finally opened to the public. So, unless they find a way to prolong human life or put a human’s conscience into some form of AI – its not likely. In all seriousness, if people want me as the SO for the NA community when Bannerlord is released, I’ll consider it.
I intend to leave the comment section open for this announcement, so anyone is able to ask questions underneath the post and make comments (appropriate comments please).
Again, if this is the end, thank you for the opportunity as SO and for all of your time!