| About the Academy | |
|
Gradius - ex-Student  |
I just thought I'd draw this discussion away from Motrec's thread, so it can be discussed without the whole "this is a goodbye thread, leave it at that" notion. Allow me to explain a little about the JA, how it's changed over the years, the hiarchy, etc. When the JA first started 3 years ago, it was a rather small group when compared to it's size today. It consisted of about 100+ members. This was back when Jedi Outcast was the game to play. Each of it's few members knew that it was going to be something small, something like a family, where they'd get together to learn new things about the game and discuss their Star Wars obsessions. Back then were the Council, the leaders who ran every aspect of the JA, and the Trainers who were the best out of the group, and the best of friends with everyone. They still spent their time helping eachother out, and because of this they were highly respected within the community. So about 6 months pass, the JA is growing into a quite a large group, consisting of about 1000+ members. That's a large growth spurt in a small amount of time. Of course, along came the first troublemakers and general "asshats." These were the people who caused trouble just for the sake of making themselves feel better and proving a point, which they did if their point was that they were retards. More time passed, the community grew, yet the ranks were still highly respected. They still kicked/banned people without explaining to everyone else why, because everyone knew that it was for a good reason. I mean, to get banned from the JA, you'd have to be a moron, unless you're one of those people who do it differently like our friend Jacen Aratan did, in which case you can be excused from the moron list. Even more time passed, the community now consists of 6000+ members, going on it's 2 year anniversary. At this point a 3rd rank has been implimented, Knight. So now you have 5 JACs, 10 JATs, and 15 Knights, give or take a few on either side. That's 30 administrators to 6000+ students. Ok, easy. Even more troublemakers come strolling in between the beginning and now. Only at this point, there have been so many of them, general unwritten procedures on how to deal with them start coming into play. Classes are still going, but by now they have moved to Jedi Academy. The general respect between all of the JA's members seems to be dropping. But that's not the case. Which brings us to the present day. 10,000+ members, and only 12 administrators. How can 12 people, 7 with limited powers, control a community as big as 10,000 members? Not only that, but a large amount of them are tearing eachother's throats out, raising hell on the servers, disrespecting the staff that puts more manhours in than a Chinese sweatshop to keep the students happy. And on top of all of that, when some retard gets banned for repeatedly breaking our simple rules built from common sense, everyone revolts and demands reasons and removal of certain staff members. What exactly went wrong here? Was it the staff? Did they all of a sudden decide that people shouldn't have fun anymore? Did they say it's their way or the highway to begin with? Did they help put together an awesome set of rules just to piss people off? Highly unlikely. Or could it have been the students? Ah, now we're on to something. Could it have been those few who ruined the fun for the rest of us? Could it have been those students who went overboard with bending the rules and forced the hand of the JAK+ to become more strict? Could it have been those few who decided they were better than everyone and started trash talking the rest of us? Is that where the respect went? Yes. You see, the respect within the JA hasn't gone down the drain. It only seems that way because of a few of us students. They decide to make smartass comments and start flaming the rest without a care in the world of what the reaction might be. And that's when others start flaming back. It happens so often these days, it almost seems like the JA is in a huge depression. Staff members even get thrown into the mix of things, and sometimes say heartless things to those who laugh in our faces and call us children. Is being disrespectful to those who disrespect us uncalled for? Is it undeserved? Maybe through the eyes of people who think the JA is a professional community where it's staff members actually get paid, which they sure as hell don't. I'll be the first to admit that there are times when staff members go a little too far with their words and say things they shouldn't have said, but nobody is perfect. You cannot expect someone to be on the staff of a community full of 10,000+ members and be perfect 100% of the time. 90% of the time perhaps? No way. 70% of the time is what should be expected considering the attitudes of some students these days. But they give so much more than that. I always said this while I was on the staff. Most students never notice the good deads, they never notice the things the JAK+ do right. They never notice when people are given 2nd, 3rd, and 4th chances to correct their mistakes. They never notice when they do something good. All they see these days is the bad. Someone gets banned. All of a sudden it's a freaking debate about why, and the people who start the debate know damn well that the person who was banned deserved it. Students stalk the profiles and last comments of the staff members, hoping to find the slightest sign of aggression so they can shove it in their faces. They wait for a JAT to miss one class, and all of a sudden they're not doing their jobs. You, as students, do not realize how much pressure you put on your mentors. With 1 JAK+ to every 800 or so students, it's no wonder they crack every now and then. Some of you think things should be changed. I know for a fact that more JAK+ are in the making, so be patient on that one. Some think the ranks should be whiped clean, including the JACs. Are you freaking kidding me? We just did that, and it's worked beautifully for the most part. I was probably the one mistake they made since the purge, which they'll continue to deny, but we all know it's true. But I'm not there anymore, so what else are you complaining about? Buzz? Most of you don't even know Buzz. You see his few comments on the forums and profiles of others and think "What a dick." Didn't ever occur to you that those people deserved comments like that, did it? Yes, sometimes Buzz goes overboard, but so what. Grow up. Use your head for 1 minute. Think about how long he has been a JAC and has been saying and doing this stuff. Now think about what the other JACs are like. Doobie, rarely around, but isn't too much different from Buzz. Aron, not any different except the fact that he's Dutch and we all know Dutch people smell funny. Virtue, has bad teeth and likes cabbage, most of the time keeps his cool and talks his way out of a room with no doors, but he can also say things to people that the lot of you may see as undeserved. DJ Sith, a Texan. 'Nuff said. But why is the JA run by a bunch of hypocrites? Well, why do a bunch of hypocrites agree to the rules when they join the JA only to turn around and break them? You can't blame your leaders without first blaming yourself. Their "failure" is a result of your own. I put quotations around that word because I really don't believe they have failed at all. They have kept this place going as long as it has, they are not doing anything abnormal. And now some of you want to change the whole ranking system? You see this place as a clan, and a hard clan to get into? You think that the only people with voices and opinions that matter are the staff members? That's because you don't look into the past. You don't see that 90% of the suggestions and opinions people come up with have already been taken into consideration, tried, and failed on several occasions. If you think you can do better, go start your own Jedi Academy. People always talk about the past, and how things used to be. The only thing that has changed is the general attitude of the students, those who think they can run this place 100x better than those who have kept it going, those who think they are 100x better at playing the game, those who think they deserve ranks when others don't. Those are the types of people the JA has become flooded with, and those are they types of people who deserve whatever disrespect comes their way. </rant> _______________ - Proud padawan of Kueller. - We really are at the beginning of it all. The trick, of course, is to make sure we never find the end. - Bill Bryson, A Short History of Nearly Everything - <gen-e-sis-happy> Liek, you can train, liek, a n00b, but he'll just be a trained n00b... --> Wise words! - "daer SOE me likes your a company i am having your some money for letting me do stuff cos mes the best amd i do it all meself" - Slider |
| Login and add your comment! | Previous Comments > |
| Comments |
|
aph3x - Retired 
|
i demand to know how a history of the JA can be written without ME being in it. WTF. /me runs and hides |
|
Nero - Student 
|
I'm not really bothered to start specifying everything I'm about to say here. I'll just list some lines I think are valid here. 1) The JA rules. 2) The JAC probably are better at doing what they are than I am in advising them on doing what they are. 3) Buzz & Arons job is obviously necessary and what they do is a good thing, so are the decissions they make (most of the time). 4) The way Buzz and Aron are working is not always perfect (imo). They start making snide remarks at people allready banned/removed/punished while in my opinion they should be on another level (Aron and Buzz that is). 5) If everybody would just shut the eff you see kay up, have fun and be nice we wouldn't have this discusion. 6) Viva la Academia 7) word! Disclaimer: every statement made can use a 'in my opinion' in front of it. I just put 'zeh punishers' together in this lil thing, everyone can conclude for himself how much this is relevant to one of the two, etc etc. _______________ -Nero Quote: Curious, Smartass, what else? This comment was edited by Nero on Oct 22 2005 11:08am. |
|
AvaloN - Student 
|
Quote: I hate big butts and I cannot lie my other brothers can't deny that when I see a big butt I'm not thinkin' 'bout smut I just wanna say "goodbye" U should pay the 'JA Rap thread' a little visit m8  |
|
Carve - Student 
|
I hate big butts and I cannot lie my other brothers can't deny that when I see a big butt I'm not thinkin' 'bout smut I just wanna say "goodbye" _______________ © |
|
Thomasooo - Student 
|
God-like post, Acey!  _______________ In the navy and LOVING it! 
Recipient of comment no. 1000 and heart-warming words from Ataris! 
|
|
Acey Spadey - Student 
|
you break a rule.. you get banned... live with it don't go complaining to your mom to get her mothers group to start a rally to bring about the end of the academy.. I mean seriously .. I've seen "fools" complaing about the JAC's running of this... take a moment to think of this.. they.. get rid of the "destructive/offencive" people contribute to the game in itself by providing a client that helps with gameplay add special treats to the chat room.. Hell I remember the day we never even had a BOT... we were all over the moon when we saw our first STATS page.. added an absolutely kinky and lovable Website thats only grown and stuff.. hehe.. who remembers the days when you had to bug DJ to get him to upload your profile picture for you. Create special maps so that we don't have to run all over the place to find where people are and are given inserver treats to play the game.. and Most importantly.. THEY PROVIDE THE SERVERS WITH THEIR OWN MONEY... I mean seriously.. if you even ponder and think that they should get a better computer and make things faster or the way you want it.. take a long walk off a short peir.. tell you waht.. who here PAID to join the academy.. who had to go through a strict screening process to join the academy.. comon now.. who.. this is a free server and the only thing you have to pass, is not be a previously banned member to it.. I mean comon.. thats it .. thats all you need to join in the fun.. IF you don't like it... do a server scan in your JK JA servers page.. there are PLENTY of other clans/guilds/ public servers you can play on.. and guess what.. you can lame and swear and generally piss people off all you want there... so in ending.. please excuse the language... take it to the toilet.. cause no one wants to see your shit. _______________ .Lag Bro to Xanatos. Adopted Twin to Bubu. Big-Brother to SmilyKrazy ---- JATSRAD Guru, JASE Member, JA SP Mod Staff ---- The Order of the Stick -- Big thanks to Mango for my avatar -- Quote: Sometimes you've got to specifically go out of your way to get into trouble. It's called fun.
Quote: (Random hella old quote) <Fizz of Belouve> .. in sovjet russia, cereals spit at YOU!
Quote: whats the point of growing up, if your not allowed to act childish!
Padawan - Henkes
|
|
Nuebus - Student 
|
Quote: There's no point in fighting over this anymore! Why don't we all direct our hostility at Jack Thompson? Now there's someone who deserves it. Who the hell is Jack Thompson? _______________ Sanity is for the weak -Let the madness consume you... I'ma moron, i'm the master of morons, i even got a club of morons... so how do u beat me at bein a moron?... and no, not by being u. Ex-Padawan of Chaos~ |
|
Azrael - Student 
|
There's no point in fighting over this anymore! Why don't we all direct our hostility at Jack Thompson? Now there's someone who deserves it. _______________ The first step to knowing everything is knowing that you know nothing. The first step to knowing nothing is thinking that you know everything. If I'm going to suffer, I might as well suffer in a way that makes someone else happy. Never argue with an idiot. They'll lower you to their level and beat you with experience. |
|
Nuebus - Student
|
Quote:
Quote:
Quote: Vee For I think you need to calm down a bit. OKAY I NEED TO BEE SUPER CLEAR!!! BUZZ IS DOING A GOOD JOB AT CRACKING THE WHIP, HE IS NOT DOING A GREAT JOB AT FOLLOWING THE RULES HE ENFORCES!!! You're making this place to be way more serious than it really is. We're all here to have fun, remember?Buzz is the guy who enforces the rules because thats what he's good at and because I do a poor job at it. I'm a big pushover. Give me a smily and I'll agree to anything you say. Buzz on the otherhand doesn't take no mess. He's a hardass because we need a hardass to keep this place from degenerating into chaos. I've talked to him though about how he handles certain cases though and he'll improve a bit. But overall I'm pleased with the job he's doing. He's the "bad guy" so he gets the lion's share of the crap around here. There are some good points raised in this topic. Keep 'em coming. k, and he and I be talkin, he has my respect and any effort he makes to be more the "man" that he can be, he and I are going to get along, fine. Buzz is simply an enforcer. If you go into a bar, you'll see the bouncer getting mean and evil in order to keep that bar a better place. It'ts the same here. Buzz simply wants to keep this place the best it can be even if he does it in a harsh way. If this has been repeated already, my bad. Bouncers give lectures too? _______________ Sanity is for the weak -Let the madness consume you... I'ma moron, i'm the master of morons, i even got a club of morons... so how do u beat me at bein a moron?... and no, not by being u. Ex-Padawan of Chaos~ |
|
Jeramia Adept - Student 
|
well said brother _______________ The Force is my ally, and a powerful ally it is. Padawan Brother to Darth Sirius |
|
monkai - Student |
Quote:
Quote: Vee For I think you need to calm down a bit. OKAY I NEED TO BEE SUPER CLEAR!!! BUZZ IS DOING A GOOD JOB AT CRACKING THE WHIP, HE IS NOT DOING A GREAT JOB AT FOLLOWING THE RULES HE ENFORCES!!! You're making this place to be way more serious than it really is. We're all here to have fun, remember?Buzz is the guy who enforces the rules because thats what he's good at and because I do a poor job at it. I'm a big pushover. Give me a smily and I'll agree to anything you say. Buzz on the otherhand doesn't take no mess. He's a hardass because we need a hardass to keep this place from degenerating into chaos. I've talked to him though about how he handles certain cases though and he'll improve a bit. But overall I'm pleased with the job he's doing. He's the "bad guy" so he gets the lion's share of the crap around here. There are some good points raised in this topic. Keep 'em coming. k, and he and I be talkin, he has my respect and any effort he makes to be more the "man" that he can be, he and I are going to get along, fine. Buzz is simply an enforcer. If you go into a bar, you'll see the bouncer getting mean and evil in order to keep that bar a better place. It'ts the same here. Buzz simply wants to keep this place the best it can be even if he does it in a harsh way. If this has been repeated already, my bad. |
|
DJ Sith - Jedi Council 
|
YESH WE AR A SERIAS BUNCH THE LOT OV US! _______________ My car is made of Nerf. |
|
AvaloN - Student
|
yeah!  |
|
3th - Retired 
|
be serious damn it! _______________ this is the internet, be serious damn it! |
|
Carve - Student 
|
Bahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha internet _______________ © |
|
 - Student |
I DO NOT LIKE CHEESE SO THERE |
|
Sared - Retired 
|
I LIKE CHEESE. _______________ I'm crazy, not stupid. |
|
El Vee For - Student 
|
I'm cool folks I got the right people talkin to me now and I feel better about the future DM - you don't need to apologize for your passion, just your words. Accepted. Peace _______________ “Arguing on the internet is like competing in the Special Olympics. Even if you win, you’re still retarded.” |
|
tarpman - The Tarped Avenger 
|
Quote: AHHH YOU ARE ALL NICE LADS is exactly what I've been thinking for the past few days. Moby, thank you so much for posting that. You have given me at least a bit of hope that this big mess can be sorted out eventually, as well as re-affirming my respect for you. _______________ Saving the world, one kilobyte at a time. |
|
DaRtH-MoBiLiTy - Student 
|
Alright, I am not going to argue about this. I have lots of respect for you Xan, i understand where your coming from. The post actually was not directed towards you, but the attitude in general and over all feel of the thread. The seemingly lack of respect for Gradius and Buzz. Thats it. I saw no one standing up, so I did. Right or Wrong. Went about it the wrong way? Probably. Caught me on a day when my mind poured out exact thoughts on the subject. You know I have a tendency to have a short fuse, hell most of you do. Serious Character flaw I am afraid. Instead of practicing love and patience, like I am supposed to, sometimes I forget I am a Christian who is supposed to be, "christ-like". Yeah, my bad. Sorry and sorry to all of you, again. I guess when you see the same old stuff time and time again, it wears a little thin. Especially from new students who dont realize this crap has been done over and over and over. /me whips out dead horse and masacres it with a chainsaw I don't know why I even let it bother me cause as you said, I am hardly around anymore. I cared about this place for a long time. poured everything I had into it for a long time as well. Even though that might not be the case anymore, it still jacks my jaws when I see the integrity dwendling still. Guess I should'nt bother, or at least not let anger rule. Sorry Xan, sorry LV4. Lets all try to focus on the good here and be constructive. LV4, Buzz is Buzz dude, he is that way for a reason. I suggest offering encouraging words and objective thought when talking to him. I have butted heads more times then you can imagine with Buzz. From experience, he is the most approachable and will listen, when you are kind and objective. Not critisizing and nasty. Just FYI. Alright, enough from me. And so you all know, I dont really feel like I am, "the big man", or "can do what ever I want", bono bob, thanks for your post on my profile btw, :/ I am strong when i am convicted, thats all. Peace everyone, seriously. -DM- _______________ One Day, it will all end. |
|
Bubu - Hubbub 
|
Wow. I'm sure that's what Gradius intended. Keep it up!  _______________ make install -not war |
|
Furi0us - Student 
|
AHHH YOU ARE ALL NICE LADS Edit: gf xAnAt0s, winnah of Moby vs. xAn duelz0r. _______________ You are not your f***ing system specs. You are not your uptime stats, your script file, or your oversized desktop screencap. You are not your broadband connection. You are not your f***ing post count. This comment was edited by Furi0us on Oct 12 2005 12:12pm. |
|
xAnAtOs - Student |
See what I mean? Your post just reinforces what I've said already. I typed up a paragraph trying to get you to cool down a bit and instead I receive a rant from the Big Man. I haven't seen you make a negative post in well over a year? Maybe not as bad as those times you were 'caught with your pants down', but certain phrases like Quote: Don't like how things run? Think the JA Sux0rz? Get lost then, make your self disappear. You won't hurt our feelings, DONT WORRY. and Quote: ...then a whining little jerk who wears his ass for a hat... as well as Quote: GET LOST AND STFU. ...they kind of jumped out at me, y'know? Yeah. Quote: You people with nothing better to do then sit on your pedestal and pretend your looking out for the best interest of the JA. When all your really doing is identifying something that gives you the cliche reason to make your voice heard. You don't care one way or another, but you know that you can pretend to feel "offended" or "utterly shocked" at the actions of a "fellow JAS". OH GOOD LORD, HOW CAN IT BE SO?!, (freak'n disgusting) GIVE ME A BREAK. YOU DONT FOOL ME OR ANYONE WITH HALF A MIND. I don't even know where that came from, but okay Moby. I'm assuming that post is directed towards me though. I don't care one way or another? I'm just pretending to feel offended and utterly shocked to give myself a cliche reason to make my voice heard? Most pathetic reasoning I've ever heard. This coming from the man that's rarely even around the ja and drops by irc once in a while. What you said didn't offend me at all, why would it? The reason I've pulled you out of a long list of people is because, as you've said, you've been caught with your pants down more times than I can remember. And me, creating a world of my own drama? I'm not the one that just posted a rant because someone decided to deliver a little constructive criticism towards me and thereby retaliated. Stop wearing your heart on your sleeve. Quote: Cause God Knows you could never handle anything IMPORTANT in RL. Yea, okay, random. It's not about what the ja wants you to do. It's a little thing called respect and, heck, even civility. If you believe you would only find those traits within the walls of an internet-based Star Wars community, then dayum. As for the friendship thing, that's pretty much why I'm around as well, it's why I enjoy the ja so much. I'd defend a friend just as much as you would. The way I would go about doing so, however, would be completely different. Obviously I can't change the way you would, so whatever. And flaming, I don't really care what word you want to use to describe what you did. You know what you did. I don't have a problem with you at all dude. I actually tried to look out for you. If you want to continue 'flaming', or whatever it is that you do, then be my guest. I mean, I wouldn't want to TELL YOU what to do, would I? lolz. _______________ Brother to Luke Skywalker and (SKX) Dark Blade 
Lag Brother to Acey Spadey 
Jools is my best friend.
<Henkes> nebody feeling like abusing me with a lightsaber?|+Smilykrazy grabs Gradius, beats the living CRAP out of him, then throws him into a huge vat of ACID |
|
JP - Academy Pimp 
|
i love you Moby _______________ Come on now, every Generation X boy wanted to be Luke Skywalker. Is it because he was a whiney farm boy from some backwater hack planet? No, it's because he was a FREAKING JEDI. He could block lasers with his lightsaber. He could levitate droids & rocks & crap with his mind. Come on, he choked two pig dudes with just a simple gesture. He cut off Darth Vader's hand and kicked him down a flight of stairs. He got his @$$ zapped by lightning from the geezer Emperor, stood up and said "s'at all you got b!tc#??" |
|
solitude - Jedi Council 
|
<pointless> _______________ Joined 16 October 2004 | Retired 10 April 2005 | Returned 05 June 2008 | Made Staff 27 June 2008 | Made Council 18 January 2009 Padawan To Odan-Wei Belouve | Adopted into the Belouve family | Twin to xAnAtOs | Owner of the 4th Quesi sexy badge Brother To Roan Belouve, Nomad, Majno, Silkmonkey, Kensei and Jarhok Belouve
Owner Of Virtue's 1000th profile comment, Mr. Doobie's 1000th profile comment, Gradius' 2500th comment, xAnAtOs' 2500th comment, Rosered's 1500th comment, Laziana's 900th comment, Scythus' 500th comment and Echuu's 100th comment This comment was edited by solitude on Oct 11 2005 10:55pm. |
| Login and add your comment! | Previous Comments > |