*General Disclaimer : This is opinionated, and I am writing this to see the view of the community not to bash on any specific staff member or the staff team in general.
I wanted to address and discuss some of the reoccurring staff issues seen without making a formal complain to get the communities view on this. The current state of staff is very biased and faulty in the way that it works right now. I feel that recently staff has made a huge impact on the enjoyment and health of the general player base for many reasons.
I consistently see mods giving out warns and punishments off of rules that were made by a SSL member, but the mods are not to blame because of many of the "invisible rulings." In my eyes SSL need to be more on top of the rulings they decide even having them published on the forums, or it needs to be publicly announced that this is a new ruling to prevent misunderstandings from happening and lower ranking staff overturning decisions that were made by people higher then them. Invisible rulings in my opinion are completely bs as any SSL member can decide to on the spot create a ruling that is not stated anywhere causing users to be eligible to be warned and with the new 3 months expirations users can possibly face a ban. *Note there was a suggestion about removing Invisible Rulings which was concluded by saying if you disagree file a complaint
Another issue seen on the server as a whole is the strictness and biasness that persists within staff. The problem with this is that it is not consistent in how punishments are dealt. Punishments seem to be flexible depending on the staff member. Although in my opinion the root of the problem leads back to the punishment index. It is usually seen that TMods -> SMods highly follow the punishment index like it is the holy grail giving no wiggle room for players who have made an honest mistake due to staff member being scared to get in trouble for not giving the correct punishment, but from the rank of HMod and above that fear of making a mistake doesn't seem to apply which is good in some situations as when the player does not mean harm and receives a verbal but in others could lead to a power abuse / power tripping problem. There is also evident biasness in sits due to staff members mood, feelings towards a regiment, or harmful opinions about specific people which can cause misjudgments for punishments and the severity of punishments which could be rather unneeded.
I lastly wanted to address the severity of RDM warns. Recently in late May NL had decided to change the expiration date of basic offences from 1 month to 3 month expiration and change the RDM warning punishment from Class A -> Class D meaning that if you make two mistakeful RDM's within a 3 month period you are eligible to be banned which is horrible, which could make you lose ranks or whitelists you have on the server.
As you can tell for a new player who is not as familiar with the rulings it is very easy to receive a ban nowadays which stays on your record forever for any application you make. I understand the good intentions on trying to make the server less mingy, but all I have seen is driving more and more committed players who love this server away. I have been here for almost two years, and I am slowly watching this server decline more due to the staffing truly ruining it and making the game unenjoyable at times. I wish the best for staff trying to resolve this issue, but at this point in time its something hopefully many people can agree on needs to be fixed.
I wanted to address and discuss some of the reoccurring staff issues seen without making a formal complain to get the communities view on this. The current state of staff is very biased and faulty in the way that it works right now. I feel that recently staff has made a huge impact on the enjoyment and health of the general player base for many reasons.
I consistently see mods giving out warns and punishments off of rules that were made by a SSL member, but the mods are not to blame because of many of the "invisible rulings." In my eyes SSL need to be more on top of the rulings they decide even having them published on the forums, or it needs to be publicly announced that this is a new ruling to prevent misunderstandings from happening and lower ranking staff overturning decisions that were made by people higher then them. Invisible rulings in my opinion are completely bs as any SSL member can decide to on the spot create a ruling that is not stated anywhere causing users to be eligible to be warned and with the new 3 months expirations users can possibly face a ban. *Note there was a suggestion about removing Invisible Rulings which was concluded by saying if you disagree file a complaint
US UNGOC can bomb their own base when being raided!
Using shields to create pixel peeks is not allowed! (good one)
It is FailRP to instantly begin info breaching as CI or GOC after failing a Main Raid! (another good one)
Calling out a fake with the reason being there being more than ONE Commander or LTCOM is not Metagaming!
It is NOT metagaming to call out a Jr. Researcher disguised person that has a Sr. Researcher keycard! (if they have the same model)
CI can use dimensions to get into SCP-008 but cannot use dimensions to exfiltrate syringes out of the CC.
22415 cannot beam any SCP's unless there are combative doing the same nearby! (who did this?!?)
22415-3 cannot use his main ability to throw SCP's into teslas / turrets (the whitelist is usesless now)
22415's can not chase SCPs.
A TB can be cuffed when his hands are lowered
Rangers are to act as non combatives inside the foundation.
Using shields to create pixel peeks is not allowed! (good one)
It is FailRP to instantly begin info breaching as CI or GOC after failing a Main Raid! (another good one)
Calling out a fake with the reason being there being more than ONE Commander or LTCOM is not Metagaming!
It is NOT metagaming to call out a Jr. Researcher disguised person that has a Sr. Researcher keycard! (if they have the same model)
CI can use dimensions to get into SCP-008 but cannot use dimensions to exfiltrate syringes out of the CC.
22415 cannot beam any SCP's unless there are combative doing the same nearby! (who did this?!?)
22415-3 cannot use his main ability to throw SCP's into teslas / turrets (the whitelist is usesless now)
22415's can not chase SCPs.
A TB can be cuffed when his hands are lowered
Rangers are to act as non combatives inside the foundation.
Another issue seen on the server as a whole is the strictness and biasness that persists within staff. The problem with this is that it is not consistent in how punishments are dealt. Punishments seem to be flexible depending on the staff member. Although in my opinion the root of the problem leads back to the punishment index. It is usually seen that TMods -> SMods highly follow the punishment index like it is the holy grail giving no wiggle room for players who have made an honest mistake due to staff member being scared to get in trouble for not giving the correct punishment, but from the rank of HMod and above that fear of making a mistake doesn't seem to apply which is good in some situations as when the player does not mean harm and receives a verbal but in others could lead to a power abuse / power tripping problem. There is also evident biasness in sits due to staff members mood, feelings towards a regiment, or harmful opinions about specific people which can cause misjudgments for punishments and the severity of punishments which could be rather unneeded.
I lastly wanted to address the severity of RDM warns. Recently in late May NL had decided to change the expiration date of basic offences from 1 month to 3 month expiration and change the RDM warning punishment from Class A -> Class D meaning that if you make two mistakeful RDM's within a 3 month period you are eligible to be banned which is horrible, which could make you lose ranks or whitelists you have on the server.
As you can tell for a new player who is not as familiar with the rulings it is very easy to receive a ban nowadays which stays on your record forever for any application you make. I understand the good intentions on trying to make the server less mingy, but all I have seen is driving more and more committed players who love this server away. I have been here for almost two years, and I am slowly watching this server decline more due to the staffing truly ruining it and making the game unenjoyable at times. I wish the best for staff trying to resolve this issue, but at this point in time its something hopefully many people can agree on needs to be fixed.