Hi folks, our lock message for the announcement thread addresses some of the concerns that have come up since the festival started.
first. We are still reading and discussing your feedback regarding the Riot of Rot 2020 and plague.
Aequorin wrote on 2020-10-27 13:51:02:
Update: We've made the decision to not unlock this thread and we wanted to let you know why.
First, thank you for your feedback and sharing your feelings with us regarding this year's Riot of Rot. We understand that some of you are not very happy about the apparel item, and it's valid for you to both have and express those feelings. We also recognize that there are a lot of different voices in our community about what constitutes plague's theme, and those might not always align with the small group of us creating content for it. While the team is still actively discussing your feedback for the future, we don't have any plans to make alterations to an item already in wide circulation.
Second, and related to the above, we apologize for allowing the thread to run unchecked overnight. This happened due to an internal misunderstanding and miscommunication. It was not deliberate but we understand how this gives the appearance of not caring and that the end result was a thread no one could walk away feeling good about.
Finally, on why the thread will remain locked:
It ultimately came down to the discussion around the skin contest. We believe it's one thing to disagree with the development team's choices, but that it's something else entirely to call negative attention to the winning skins or accents—all of which are created by your fellow players—because you don't personally like them.
This has happened several times over the life of Flight Rising and, honestly, it's not okay. It bears repeating—the winning artists for any given festival are your fellow players who participated in a site event. When the development team are the judges of said event, it is not appropriate to make very public statements about how the winning players didn't deserve it or that there were much better options, etc.
If there was an entry you'd hoped would win, that's fine! Have that discussion. Elevate and celebrate those entries! But it's not okay to directly and negatively contrast it with a winning skin or accent. Yes, players are competing with one another to win, but we all need to be mindful that this is still a monthly celebration and not bitter rivalry.
If the winning skins or accents just aren't your thing, that's also fine to discuss, if you do it respectfully. Please be careful about using negative adjectives and editorial phrasing to express it. If what you're about to post feels like something you wouldn't appreciate waking up to on the opening day of a party where you're being celebrated, we ask you not to post it at all.
This is really important: When you call out a winning submission in order to tear it down because you don't like it, you're also calling another player out for something that is completely outside of their control once they've submitted their skin or accent. When you call out a submission that didn't win and compare it to a winning submission, you're calling out not one but two players in an adversarial way. That's not cool, and both situations are a form of harassment. Even if that's not your intent—and we realize many of you don't intend or want to harass them—the result is the same. Don't do it.
We've removed some comments under forum moderation that went too far in that direction and those players have been notified. If any other comments are removed, those players will be notified as well.