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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 |
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| Comments |
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JP - Academy Pimp 
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Quote: 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. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAAH and as for the rest of it, as a former staff member...AMEN BROTHA!...great speech man, oh and you just proved yourself wrong, you did deserve to be a JAM,just gave us another example why... *dap*  JP _______________ 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#??" |
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SilkMonkey - Distributor of Cold Ones 
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This is the first really long post that I didnt just skim...and I'm glad I didn't. Good stuff fellow bum-master. Take it easy. _______________ |-HK-47 -SilkMonkey: You are receiving a warning for being_too_sexy. If you do not stop, action will be taken against you.|| (11:13:43) � Virtue dances for Silk ||Smiling owner of Smilykrazy's 6000th comment =) ||Odan Wei's Proud Big Brother|| Janus is my official TaruTaru Cuddly Animal Type Person. ||(@Virtue) Or you could just be a man and set fire to your genitals.....you won't fall asleep for days after that.......trust me.||Thomas Skywalker er for sexy for sitt eget beste!!!!| Not changing sig until the JA loosens up. (Started: Aug 31, 2005) |
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AvaloN - Student 
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Quote: I LOVE YOU GRADIUS! now all we do is wait for when this whole place dies down for that is the only thing left after this chaos.... now dont get all pessimistic on me. |
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Pink_Mintaka - Student 
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Unless something special happens.......But i have faith! Great Post gradius!! |
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Raydoe_Mintaka - Student 
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I LOVE YOU GRADIUS! now all we do is wait for when this whole place dies down for that is the only thing left after this chaos.... _______________ There is no dominant stance of power. The Power is in the user.... Holder of Lucky-Adept 222th post and 92 Lucky Charm yay XD.Zadus 50th comment!Pink Floyd Mintaka700th comment Rin_Mintaka 900th comment! ARGGGGGHHH MATEY!!!!!!! Quote: You are pretty tricky with red single heh
 Your style reminds me of 3th's  ~R2D2 This comment was edited by Raydoe_Mintaka on Oct 08 2005 11:39pm. |
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Ataris - Milwaukees Finest 
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What kitmitsu said was false.. There's never a good enough reason to swear or do something else against the rules. Period! And Eica, I don't think you're qualified to lend us your opinion on what other people should and shouldn't do.. You're one of theese people who twist things around to your own advantage, and try to look good in the JAK+ eyes.. I personally wouldn't care what you say in the forums, but whining about what someone else has said is really NONE of your business!  You tell me constantly that everyone's here to get you, even though it seems like you're here to get everyone else.. Clean up the act please! -Ataris <3 _______________ [ Honorable mentions: aph3x | Milamber | Bail Hope Belouve | Jaiko D'Kana | Rosered | JediEthic | Mike/JJ/TheKing | Kensei | Dane | Gradius | Thomas Skywalker | Pink Floyd | Setementor | Steinin | Odan-Wei ] [ Owner of: MetaDust's 500th comment! | Eica's 700th comment! | Pink Floyd's 666th, 999th, 1200th and 1337th comment! | DarkRyu's 400th comment! | Redeye's 1st comment! | Cow's 1111st comment! | Rufusan's 75th comment! | Wicek's 3300th and 3400th comment! | Dash Starlight's 2000th comment! | Piccolo's 3400th comment! | Takaru's 300th comment! | Senor Hat's 900th comment! | Rytandus' 4160th comment! | The first ever awarded, the original, the one and only, Catphin Award!!1 ] "Music expresses that which can not be put in to words but can not remain silent." |
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Serra Keto - Student 
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JA fun-boys are funny, Fact : The place has changed. Fact : Good players left due to the fact of being treated like crap (Luke Skywalker). Fact : People Changed when they got ranks. Fact : The Ja Is a Great Place - When things work well. Hope this place doesn't Die. _______________ You were everything I wanted, but we lost it. I'm Not going away. http://jediknight2.filefront.com/file/Deuces_Wild_Pack_2;45812 |
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Janus - Retired 
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Nicely done Grad, great post! _______________ Be honorable, be friendly, be trustworthy. Show respect to all whom you meet. Don't forget you learn when you win AND when you lose. Be the first to admit mistake AND the first to correct it. Be the shoulder for someone to lean on. Always remember those that sacrificed time to help you. Thank you Odan Wei, Vladarion, 3th, Moridin, n00b, Motrec, Faded, Leif, and Tido, you will not be forgotten as the ones to make you remember, it's all about fun... |
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Mreoton - Student |
Quote: Take this conversation from Foxx: Quote: but there was a threead where someone said f*ck 40 times and another where he posted that said f*ck Bush or somethng and no one says a thing it's the context he uses it in, he was quoting, you were using words to insult a fellow student In my opinion newer students are often unaware of why certain rules are in place, Yes your opinion is wrong, i like how you only quoted half of Foxx's convo, maybe we should see the rest  He completly understands the rules, just doesnt think its fair that when he swears its offending the children, though he has only sworn once or twice with a good reason and when others do noone seems to care. This comment was edited by Mreoton on Oct 08 2005 03:12pm. |
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AvaloN - Student 
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Quote: BTW, the reason dutchies smell is because you never smelled anything so nice before Grad PWN3D!  |
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Kueller - Student 
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I couldn't have such a damn good post even if I sat 2 hours for it. Kudo's to Gradius. I certainly hope this one will make people think about their behaviour some more, but you can't reach anyone but it's worth trying. BTW, the reason dutchies smell is because you never smelled anything so nice before Grad _______________ Personal sleepness-nights-supporter of Virtue. Owner of the 1000th comment of Daidalus and 1943th comment of Gradius! Owner of the 300th comment of Carda! -Taught Gradius all his laming skills
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SaZ - Student 
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/empraise gradius! _______________ playing jk3 since 30th of january (2005), member since 1st of february. [Unofficial Master to Vision and Z�diac ] If you can make a fool of yourself infront of 300 people you can do anything - Jaiko D'kana |
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Eica - Student 
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Here's my general opinion, I really couldn't have put it better, people are forgetting the true meaning of the JA, to learn about the games, to play and to have fun. Apart from an adjustment of classes and big events at the JA nowadays, nothing has changed, and to place the blame on the JACs is as Gradius said, not right. Not that the JA is any worse than it used to be, It still provides what it did since I joined several months back. The problem, as Gradius points out, is disrespect to the JAK+. I might not have been the most obidient student in the past, and some may call me a hypocrite for writing this. But in general I feel there are some general confusion over rules and regulations in the academy, which has lead to two recent bans. Take this conversation from Foxx: Quote: but there was a threead where someone said f*ck 40 times and another where he posted that said f*ck Bush or somethng and no one says a thing it's the context he uses it in, he was quoting, you were using words to insult a fellow student In my opinion newer students are often unaware of why certain rules are in place, I myself didn't fully understand until Jacen made his post, and I think in general misunderstanding why rules are there, lead to disrespect for them. Or, a student could just be complete jerk, like I have recently  Those are my two cents, although I'm probably wrong. Peace Eica _______________ Former padawan of RoseRed This comment was edited by Eica on Oct 08 2005 03:20pm. |
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Ataris - Milwaukees Finest
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Gradius, good to see you're still with us in some way. And good to see you haven't lost your common sense in things, great post.. In my opinion the people who join the Jedi Academy clearly, when clicking 'Send application' or whatever it says, confirm that they've accepted the rules and are willing obey the authority around here. So if some guys make a community like this, and sacrifice their time on making it as good as possible for others and for themselves, and we start criticising their decision, I'd say "Bant and goodbye" immidiately.. If you join 'their' community, it only just states that you feel the same way about something.. If you later find out that you don't like it, heck, there's no one keeping you chained to the place, Is there? I know for sure I wouldn't be able to run this place, but if I had a community of my own, I'd ban most people on the spot! And when you consider how many chances the JAC's give people in the JA, I wonder what all the whining is about. I'm almost certain that most of the people whining would do like I would, ban all who make some mistake or foul comment on the spot, just to try to keep the place like they want it.. Because people like me, and many others in this community wouldn't care after this long, after 10 000+ members, and try to see every small thing from not just your own, but their point of view. I wouldn't have the time nor the enthusiasm to go over a process like that to find out just who to ban. This is where the JAK+ are doing an exceptional job!And that takes me to the final point: It's the JAC's place, they created it, they run it, so they decide how they run it.. Questioning their decisions and you'll have to deal with the consequences. -Ataris <3 _______________ [ Honorable mentions: aph3x | Milamber | Bail Hope Belouve | Jaiko D'Kana | Rosered | JediEthic | Mike/JJ/TheKing | Kensei | Dane | Gradius | Thomas Skywalker | Pink Floyd | Setementor | Steinin | Odan-Wei ] [ Owner of: MetaDust's 500th comment! | Eica's 700th comment! | Pink Floyd's 666th, 999th, 1200th and 1337th comment! | DarkRyu's 400th comment! | Redeye's 1st comment! | Cow's 1111st comment! | Rufusan's 75th comment! | Wicek's 3300th and 3400th comment! | Dash Starlight's 2000th comment! | Piccolo's 3400th comment! | Takaru's 300th comment! | Senor Hat's 900th comment! | Rytandus' 4160th comment! | The first ever awarded, the original, the one and only, Catphin Award!!1 ] "Music expresses that which can not be put in to words but can not remain silent." |
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Nuebus - Student 
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Quote: Wise words. Now make love to me, sir! <3 I always knew you were a queer... and that avatar... OH DEAR GAWD!!! _______________ 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~ |
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O'Liin Onasi - Student 
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Grad,,,,I couldnt agree more.I think some of us have forgotten the joy of this place.Oh,and grad I never thought you were a mistake. _______________ Comments Owned- Darth Mike's100th. Stig's 300th. BDKawika's 400th. Grycen's 200th Ryu's 222th. Kenwan Obiobi/C'au Onasi's 150th. Tidus' 30th. Padawan of Tido. Master to Fox-AJ-Onasi, and Ryu. Brother of BDKawika, and Enoch/Vamushka. Founder of the Onasi Family. Friend to many. |
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 - Student |
Wise words. Now make love to me, sir! <3 |
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Bubu - Hubbub 
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Every once in a while a post like this pops up, everyone leaves "Wow, great post!" comments and then it disappears into the great abyss of the JA forums until someone else comes along and writes a fresh one. But then again, not everyone has been around for centuries like me to make this observation. Good post Gradipus. _______________ make install -not war |
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Setementor - Jedi Master 
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That explained a lot I would have wanted to say in the other thread. Great post, Grad. |
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R2D2 - Staff 
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Looks like Gradius hit the bullseye concerning this topic. Nice to see you dropping by Gradius _______________ "Do or do not, there is no try" Jedi Master Yoda Dual Saberist |
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Dash Starlight - Jedi Instructor 
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Quite an interesting post, and its good to hear from you again, Grad _______________ The name is Bond. James Bond. |
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Henkes - Student 
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Well said! /applauds _______________ Get on your feet and do the Funky Alfonzo! |
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CuZzA - Student 
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wow...nice post...I actually read it all _______________ - Even if Carlsberg made "w*nkers", Christiano Ronaldo would still be the biggest "w*nker" in the world |
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Katan - Student 
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/amagree. _______________ |
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Tallepyon - Student 
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Wow Gradius you havent spoken for sometime. You must have been saving up for this. Thank you for making this post so people can leave the goodbye to Jacen post for goodbyes and squabbling. |
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