Resource NU Community

[Raseri]

Hi guys, as many of you know, lately the NU community has been struggling with a lot of issues that desperately need to be addressed. People in positions of power have been alienating new users, people have been trolling in the NU room, arguments between people have gotten out of hand and its been spilling into the NU room and onto the subforum.

I don't expect everyone to suddenly become best friends and for us all to hold hands and sing songs, there are a lot of fiery personalities in NU, and I know people will always butt heads and get worked up over things, but we as a community need to learn how to handle this better. Please remember that there is a person behind every name on this website, and the words you say while angry can really effect them. Take the time to cool off and don't try to hurt other people.

I do have a few questions I would like to pose to you guys though. Is there anything I can do as tier leader to make the NU community more accessible to you all? I want people to enjoy NU, both as a metagame and as a community, and if there is anything I should be doing to make this better for you, I truly want to know.

Feel free to share your opinions in this thread, it will be moderated heavily, so any posts with personal callouts will be deleted and potentially infracted. I want this discussion to be productive. If you feel uncomfortable sharing your opinion publicly, you can PM me with anything you want to say. If you don't feel comfortable talking to me and would rather your opinion be anonymous, you can answer these questions here: http://goo.gl/forms/Pb3clTtLrd


The 3 things I want to see discussed are:

What problems are there with the NU community right now?
What can be done to improve the NU community?
What things are we doing right in regards to the NU community?

 

[Raseri]

super big so none of you can miss it

If you want to submit your opinions anonymously you can do so here

 

[Deej Dy]

Alright, Ill just go out and say it.

"Clique-iness" and exclusivity are huge problems in Neverused community at the moment and they have been for a good while.

As Raseri may have alluded to, many players are treated unfairly and condescended on a daily basis for basically disagreeing with the "hive-mind" that recently (Late XY) has become the bane of the Neverused room. I know a good number of players who have quit/left the room/changed their username because of the treatment they received, and frankly it disgusts me as a human being to hear the specifics of these situations.

Many people who are on this site aren't your "Average Joe" as many of you have noticed. Many of us are "weird" or "socially awkward" by peoples' standards and use PS and Smogon as a safe haven to do what we enjoy and freely express ourselves without being heavily judged. These people are vulnerable. Even "ordinary" people who enjoy competitive Pokemon come here as a place to relax and enjoy their hobby. Whichever one of these people you are, no one deserves to treated as an inferior that isn't worthy to speak or post. This is especially true of our young and impressionable user-base.
No one deserves to be called a "haxing retard" or told to kill themselves. You never know the implications that follow...

The same goes both ways... just because you are treated poorly in real life does not excuse you to treat people online like trash because you find yourself in a position of power.

"But, This goes on in every room" - I disagree with this statement, as I have become involved with Auth and users in other rooms (Competitive Tutoring, Challenges, PU) where there isn't a condescending culture and there is a cohesion and trust between the Roomauth and between the Roomauth and regular users, even if personality differences exist.

The first step towards a better community is awareness, so I'm glad you posted this thread, Raseri.


This is a very generic, but meaningful, post on purpose as to not call out any people in particular, but I'm pretty sure you know who you are.

Also this is not only directed at the roomauth, but they should be the model of our room so they should be held to higher standards.

 

[TSM ryan]

Alright, Ill just go out and say it.

"Clique-iness" and exclusivity are huge problems in Neverused community at the moment and they have been for a good while.

As Raseri may have alluded to, many players are treated unfairly and condescended on a daily basis for basically disagreeing with the "hive-mind" that recently (Late XY) has become the bane of the Neverused room. I know a good number of players who have quit/left the room/changed their username because of the treatment they received, and frankly it disgusts me as a human being to hear the specifics of these situations.

Many people who are on this site aren't your "Average Joe" as many of you have noticed. Many of us are "weird" or "socially awkward" by peoples' standards and use PS and Smogon as a safe haven to do what we enjoy and freely express ourselves without being heavily judged. These people are vulnerable. Even "ordinary" people who enjoy competitive Pokemon come here as a place to relax and enjoy their hobby. Whichever one of these people you are, no one deserves to treated as an inferior that isn't worthy to speak or post. This is especially true of our young and impressionable user-base.
No one deserves to be called a "haxing retard" or told to kill themselves. You never know the implications that follow...

The same goes both ways... just because you are treated poorly in real life does not excuse you to treat people online like trash because you find yourself in a position of power.

"But, This goes on in every room" - I disagree with this statement, as I have become involved with Auth and users in other rooms (Competitive Tutoring, Challenges, PU) where there isn't a condescending culture and there is a cohesion and trust between the Roomauth and between the Roomauth and regular users, even if personality differences exist.

The first step towards a better community is awareness, so I'm glad you posted this thread, Raseri.


This is a very generic, but meaningful, post on purpose as to not call out any people in particular, but I'm pretty sure you know who you are.

Also this is not only directed at the roomauth, but they should be the model of our room so they should be held to higher standards.

Ironically enough, the "clique" in the community is to push out the jackasses that are in the room in the first place. Make the room more like the main Skype group, and problem solved. Can't just eliminate people though, so whatever.

 

[Starmei]

Hi, I'm not an NU player or a part of the NU community. I also rarely go into the NU room on showdown. So why am I here? Because I believe that this isn't solely an issue for NU. The problem may be quite prominent in NU but I believe that the main ideas behind your post can be applied to any tier. So I think this is a problem for Smogon in general rather than just for NU

I apologise if you find that this post is wrong or unrelated. Feel free to delete it or hate on it but I'm gonna post all the same.

I'm on Showdown every day (ha nerd) and, as mentioned, am not a part of the NU community but I see this kind of behaviour everywhere. People calling each other names and at the extremes telling them to 'kys' (kill yourself) which I feel is way over the line. I see this behaviour in the Ubers room, which I'm often in, and in other rooms that I pop into from time to time as well as in battle. Most people just ignore it but ignoring it becomes hard when you're in the heat of battle and are getting really into your game so sometimes people lash out.

'"But, This goes on in every room" - I disagree with this statement, as I have become involved with Auth and users in other rooms (Competitive Tutoring, Challenges, PU) where there isn't a condescending culture and there is a cohesion and trust between the Roomauth and between the Roomauth and regular users, even if personality differences exist. '
- Well, as a fellow auth of CT I have to say that, yes, our room is a lot less rude than many others are and we tend to handle things quite well but we attract completely different users to the tier rooms (Ubers, OU, UU, RU, NU, SmogDubs) I frequently go into the Ubers room and a lot of the issues brought up by Raseri can also apply there. But as mentioned, tier rooms tend to attract different users than rooms like Comp Tutoring, language rooms, chess, etc because it's for people who wish to play, improve and help about a specific tier. (or once did and now just lurk n_n) Not all people get along, that's just a part of life but you need to respect people all the same. Whether you know them or not. I feel that being welcoming and kind to the newer users to any room or community is a responsibility that belongs with the regulars and the auth/staff.


What problems are there with the NU community right now?
What can be done to improve the NU community?
What things are we doing right in regards to the NU community?

So imo these questions need to be changed

What problems are there within the Smogon community as a whole and what is being done about it as of now?
How can we, as a community, be more welcoming and respectful to both new users and less 'known' users of the community.

So imo this thread idea should be taken and adapted to speak about Smogon as a whole and not just 1 section of it - NU. Written at around 1AM so forgive any mistakes but my point still stands and I think that this thread is just focusing on 1 branch of a problem instead of the problem itself. I'm very happy that you posted this thread because as mentioned by Deej Dy awareness is the first step towards solving any problem. As you've probably worked out this post isn't NU related but is directed at the idea behind the thread and this is probably the best place to post it.

e: I'm not trying to take anything away from the impact of this on NU as a community I'm just saying that it applies to our wider community as well. It probably has become a big issue otherwise this thread wouldn't exist but I honestly don't believe that there will be a major gain in only addressing NU

 

[Raseri]

Ironically enough, the "clique" in the community is to push out the jackasses that are in the room in the first place. Make the room more like the main Skype group, and problem solved. Can't just eliminate people though, so whatever.

Alright I was originally just going to delete that post, but I think it should be addressed. The clique has absolutely no right to decide if people should be forced out of NU or not. Nobody should have that power. I know that the group has been trying to get people to leave, and that is absolutely unacceptable. If you think that this group has been trying to push you out, please contact me, I will take action.

 

[Orphic]

Okay so some of you may have noticed a giant drop in my activity and that is in large due to the way I feel about the NU community right now, and also down to my busy life outside of PS.

What I'm trying to say is, there is a large group of people high up in the NU community that make it intimidating and unenjoyable for the rest of the users and I'd like to think this group knows who they are, and I'd like to see them change their ways. As deej referred to as 'cliqueness', this is incredibly present to the point where you're shown that the only way to achieve success through NU is to be part of this clique, I've spoken with many people who have noticed this same issue and unfortunately, the blatant favouritism within this group doesn't help but only worsens the problem of alienation and intimidation that haunts the NU community.

You know who you are, and this may come across as an aggressive message but it's meant to be a warning that if some people don't change their outlook beyond the little clique that creates a canyon across this community, it will in time cease to exist and you will continue to drive good and consistent contributors to this subforum like myself away.

Alright I was originally just going to delete that post, but I think it should be addressed. The clique has absolutely no right to decide if people should be forced out of NU or not. Nobody should have that power. I know that the group has been trying to get people to leave, and that is absolutely unacceptable. If you think that this group has been trying to push you out, please contact me, I will take action.

I have never felt part of the group and as such absolutely feel like I've been pushed out every time I even attempt to make friends with anyone in the clique, it's disgusting

 

[TSM ryan]

Alright I was originally just going to delete that post, but I think it should be addressed. The clique has absolutely no right to decide if people should be forced out of NU or not. Nobody should have that power. I know that the group has been trying to get people to leave, and that is absolutely unacceptable. If you think that this group has been trying to push you out, please contact me, I will take action.

I'm glad you did actually, because it's more fair and gives a chance for clarification. There's specific people, who are auths, who are being excluded, and that, is inner conflict that ultimately leads to horrible chemistry within the community's higher ups.

Without higher ups that are on the same page, the community becomes one dimmensional, and extremely selective. The clique that exists is better for the people in it, but on the other side of things, which I'm very aware exists, it is extremely unfair and uninviting. Therefore, creating leadership for the community that actually act like they respect and get along with eachother, would be a huge step towards improving the the way things are. This goes for the real world in many aspects. Acting like you're on the same page as others goes a much further way than making it common knowledge that certain members of your own group are not liked and are being excluded.

 

[Orphic]

I'm glad you did actually, because it's more fair and gives a chance for clarification. There's specific people, who are auths, who are being excluded, and that, is inner conflict that ultimately leads to horrible chemistry within the community's higher ups.

Without higher ups that are on the same page, the community becomes one dimmensional, and extremely selective. The clique that exists is better for the people in it, but on the other side of things, which I'm very aware exists, it is extremely unfair and uninviting. Therefore, creating leadership for the community that actually act like they respect and get along with eachother, would be a huge step towards improving the the way things are. This goes for the real world in many aspects. Acting like you're on the same page as others goes a much further way than making it common knowledge that certain members of your own group are not liked and are being excluded.

You're missing the point entirely. The clique that exists excludes everyone except their own few, and the fact that they hold auth on forums and PS only serves to intimidate and deter the users from being a part of NU, it's not even slightly about internal auth conflict, it's about the fact that in time they'll have no one to hold auth over if they don't stop their stupid little club that just pushes people out

Edit: not to mention they ignore contributions from others entirely so there's not even an incentive to join in

 

[TSM ryan]

You're missing the point entirely. The clique that exists excludes everyone except their own few, and the fact that they hold auth on forums and PS only serves to intimidate and deter the users from being a part of NU, it's not even slightly about internal auth conflict, it's about the fact that in time they'll have no one to hold auth over if they don't stop their stupid little club that just pushes people out

Edit: not to mention they ignore contributions from others entirely so there's not even an incentive to join in

The auth is the problem, because the damn clique is ran by members of the main auth themselves.

 

[Jim E. Russler]

When I started playing NU in BW, one of the things that instantly stood out to me was the overall attitude of the community.

Since I had a basic grasp on the fundamentals of the game when I started laddering NU, I was able to move steadily up the ladder for a few days before I started getting matchups against players who completely destroyed me. I wasn't particularly good at OU, but since the player pool was much wider I had a seemingly easier time of things there.

This was the first time I was finding myself consistently matched against players way out of my element.

It was a drastic shift in gameplay experience, and I almost took it in a terrible way. "What are you doing playing this tier if you're going to let this happen? You may as well give up now if the skill gap is this wide," I thought to myself. Fortunately, most of these players were very friendly, sportsmanlike and helpful to me as I took these losses, and their actions encouraged me to keep at it.

As I started to find more success on ladder, I was able to measure my growth against these players, and I saw myself becoming more capable of challenging them. No matter what the skill gap was between us at any point, these players went above and beyond what is expected of a PS user, treating me with respect and kindness, offering friendly advice, and never letting the game get to them (something that I have a lot of respect for, my gameplay is still affected by stress etc. sometimes). I loved the friendly competition I had with many players in the tier, and it was even fun to lose to them because of the atmosphere they created.

With some notable exceptions, I haven't gotten that vibe from playing in this metagame for a majority of this gen. There is definitely a clique-ish vibe in the community right now. I've never spent much time in the NeverUsed room, and one of the reasons for that is because many users are very distant to you if you aren't already integrated. I feel invisible to most players in the NeverUsed room, and that's a far cry from the community I joined 3 years ago.

There's also a pervasive negative attitude on the ladder. I get frustrated with RNG too, and its something I'm always trying to improve on, but I don't personally attack the other player for a roll that was out of their control. Being constantly told to kill yourself/fuck yourself etc. for randomly generated outcomes is going to drive away new players and reflect poorly on the community as a whole. This attitude is generic and present in every meta, but I can say with confidence that its a much bigger problem in NU now than it was in my first year here.

I'm glad we can all share our thoughts here, because the community is definitely dealing with some issues that need to be addressed. I know that we're capable of overcoming them and creating a fantastic play environment again. I still love playing in this tier and have a lot of respect for many of the users I've met here.

 

[soulgazer]

lets all be friends and concentrate our bullying towards Zebraiken

----------

yes I didnt anything in NU the past 6 months, but as that guy who used to clean this shithole that was the NU room in the beginning of XY and that the people who are active in NU didn't change that much, I think I can post my opinion.

Yes you nerds are in the top50 of the NU ladder: congrats I guess. No need to act like a cocky (BAN ME PLEASE).got just because you are ahead of people in points. I won't name you guys because damn if you don't recognize yourself you are stupid. It's fine to believe you are good at Pokemon, but you don't have to remind everybody about it and shit on new users that doesn't have as much knowledge as yourself. Especially now that you guys have higher power in the room and some of you are badged: you should give the example. Respect eachother. Respect the noobs. The noobs are annoying? Explain them why they are wrong politely. They won't stop? Just do /ignore.

About that Skype group or w.e it is now, keep that shit there ffs. You wanna laugh about someone in their back? fine, but keep that in private. The goal of a Room Staff is to be polite, fair, and inviting to new users. New users that see Driver + spamming dank meme all day long and trashtalk eachother won't think that the NU community is inviting.

Also respect eachother goddamnit. I know you guys don't have the same opinions. I used to have that issue with Teddeh and I decided to have a good talk with him when I realised we were going too far, and I would like to think we fixed our problems and that we respect eachother now.

Sorry Raseri and hollywood for being rude, it just saddens me to see the community that I used to care so much about to be like this :/

I love you all, even you iplaytennislol

- Big Bad Booty Disciple

 

[TSM ryan]

I personally would like some of them to come and address our concerns or I may just name some people.

I think it's interesting Soulgazer apologised to Hollywood considering he's the ringleader in all this, you don't see him posting a thread asking people how the NU community should be fixed because it's his clique that's ruining it.

Someone needs to actually address the concerns of me, deej, etc and all the others that feel subjugated, or I promise you will lose potentially long term contributors.

That's the thing, I'm not even on a different page as to what you're saying.

There are many people that could've contributed to community projects, such as you when getting excluded from the teambuilding project. There's no point to just referring to people on the low really, might as well just bring up specific situations. You weren't allowed to enter it because you weren't part of the core clique, and that indeed is fucked up. It leaves a bad taste in one's mouth when thinking about how inclusion decisions are made in this community as of recently.

 

[Orphic]

That's the thing, I'm not even on a different page as to what you're saying.

There are many people that could've contributed to community projects, such as you when getting excluded from the teambuilding project. There's no point to just referring to people on the low really, might as well just bring up specific situations. You weren't allowed to enter it because you weren't part of the core clique, and that indeed is fucked up. It leaves a bad taste in one's mouth when thinking about how inclusion decisions are made in this community as of recently.

You're right, I might as well say it, I was excluded from teambuilding for the lab and as hyunation says, one can't help but think that this is only as a result of not being part of the clique that runs it, and given a shit excuse that my teambuilding abilities are sub-par

And again as mentioned, it's left me feeling like shit as part of this community. They're always complaining teams aren't being made, consider that maybe if you'd allowed me in at the peak of my activity you'd have a pretty active builder and community member right now, but instead ruined the motivation of someone who loved this community, but not so much as it is right now, as petty cliqueness got in the way of allowing people to contribute.

 

[marilli]

I don't expect everyone to suddenly become best friends and for us all to hold hands and sing songs

i wanna hold your hand ♫

While I'd love to have everything my way and ask why we can't just have everyone at least not being a gigantic dick to each other, openly hostile and talking behind people's back, this unfortunately seems to fall on deaf ears.

"But you're just naive!", you'll say. "Boys will be boys, people'll be mean to each other! It happens in every other community!" The reality is, we can at least follow basic manners all the while disliking the same people that you've been disliking the whole time! Stay classy, please. You're not leaving a good impression on other people. Even to those people you're trying to impress and fit in by shittalking that same guy that you can just easily pick on together. How is it so hard to just have basic respect?

If I could like soulgazer 's post twice, I would. Stop being (BAN ME PLEASE)s to each other. Learn to respectfully disagree and coexist. Someone above said life comes with politics anyways and it's just like real world in many aspects. But life isn't a zero sum game where you have to fight at every disagreement, and in real life if you're being a meanie to someone, you might have it your way the first few times, but whatever goes around will come around. It's possible to just coexist, you know? It's ok to be more friendly to some than others. That's obvious and expected. You don't have to be all nice and cuddly to people you don't really like. But to actively shittalk and alienate is disgusting.

And also stop being a (BAN ME PLEASE) to all these randoms and newer players on the ladder that haxed you. Be a man, move on. Without the noobs, there's no tier. We take them for granted, but with less noobs and less activity, we draw less newcomers, and by extension, less good players. In a dying community with no fresh blood, there's no future regardless of how many talented players we currently have.

Without higher ups that are on the same page, the community becomes one dimmensional, and extremely selective.

Is this not the opposite? With multiple opinion, the community becomes multidimensional.

I apologize for my trolling at times, I'm not an ideal auth, either. But I'll try to improve, and I hope we can get our shit together, as a community.

 

[Django]

As someone who joined Smogon from the outside, forced my way into / created a clique in BW NU, and then after leaving came back to see what the NU comunity has become, I feel I'm pretty well qualified to comment on this. No I haven't contributed in fucking ages but I lurk.

Yes there was a clique in BW. Yes it was the auth (me) involved in it. The difference I can see FROM MY EXPERIENCE is that this sorta shit happened behind closed doors. There are always going to be people that don't get along. I had my fair share of differences with users but you keep it to private channels, don't let it spill over into the public eye. You don't have to like someones internet persona to play pokemon with them jesus.

Another thing I noticed in the last NUPL, and I might be completely misinterpreting the community here, was the amount of fucking inane memes and in jokes spread all over the forum and public channels. This is also the kind of shit which needs to be kept private (to a degree) as it just creates a huge barrier for new users trying to get involved. They see shitty memes and try to emulate other users to be funny and be accepted, but of course then they get mocked for not getting it spot on. And when you have people with badges etc posting this inane drivel what else do you expect from the rest of the community. Keep shitty jokes in firebot and maintain a higher level of professionalism in public forums. Alternatively dismiss this as the ramblings of an old man who doesn't get this young internet kid humour.

Finally, to the people who feel victimised / ostracised: move on. I know it's annoying and people are shits but at the end of the day its internet pokemon. If someone doesn't like you, fuck em. Go talk to someone else and laugh as the vitirol flows off you like water off a ducks back. In the words of our Goddess T. Swizzle: Haters gonna hate hate hate hate hate, players gonna play play play play play, I'm just gonna shake shake shake shake shake, Shake It Off, SHAKE IT OFF

 

[TSM ryan]

Is this not the opposite? With multiple opinion, the community becomes multidimensional.

Not quite. I see where you're coming from, but I wasn't referring to making things more interesting by having multiple opinions, but rather referring to the way they look at how people should be included.

Some higher ups who aren't as involved in the clique, they would say a more healthy way of thinking, such as based on actual ability to battle, build, think, or whatever it may be. But the ones who are highly into the clique will indefinitely be biased and want to have only their "friends", or fellow clique members they like to be involved with their activities, and projects.

 

[soulgazer]

Django i love you, The People's Voice.

 

[Deej Dy]

As someone who joined Smogon from the outside, forced my way into / created a clique in BW NU, and then after leaving came back to see what the NU comunity has become, I feel I'm pretty well qualified to comment on this. No I haven't contributed in fucking ages but I lurk.

Yes there was a clique in BW. Yes it was the auth (me) involved in it. The difference I can see FROM MY EXPERIENCE is that this sorta shit happened behind closed doors. There are always going to be people that don't get along. I had my fair share of differences with users but you keep it to private channels, don't let it spill over into the public eye. You don't have to like someones internet persona to play pokemon with them jesus.

Another thing I noticed in the last NUPL, and I might be completely misinterpreting the community here, was the amount of fucking inane memes and in jokes spread all over the forum and public channels. This is also the kind of shit which needs to be kept private (to a degree) as it just creates a huge barrier for new users trying to get involved. They see shitty memes and try to emulate other users to be funny and be accepted, but of course then they get mocked for not getting it spot on. And when you have people with badges etc posting this inane drivel what else do you expect from the rest of the community. Keep shitty jokes in firebot and maintain a higher level of professionalism in public forums. Alternatively dismiss this as the ramblings of an old man who doesn't get this young internet kid humour.

Finally, to the people who feel victimised / ostracised: move on. I know it's annoying and people are shits but at the end of the day its internet pokemon. If someone doesn't like you, fuck em. Go talk to someone else and laugh as the vitirol flows off you like water off a ducks back. In the words of our Goddess T. Swizzle: Haters gonna hate hate hate hate hate, players gonna play play play play play, I'm just gonna shake shake shake shake shake, Shake It Off, SHAKE IT OFF

The thing is sometimes you can't quite escape..these auth are the people who create and host tournaments/teambuilding labs/NUPLs for everyone, so it's not just words you are evading you almost have to evade the entire community.

I would happily ignore all these users if they didn't have such a strong presence in the NU community.

 

[Django]

The thing is sometimes you can't quite escape..these auth are the people who create and host tournaments/teambuilding labs/NUPLs for everyone, so it's not just words you are evading you almost have to evade the entire community.

I would happily ignore all these users if they didn't have such a strong presence in the NU community.

Yeah I hear what you're saying. This kind of description reminds me a lot of last gen RU (Sorry to all the people I'm about to call out LOL) which was pretty openly hostile towards new users. It was really hard to get involved in that community without part of the "in" crowd and understanding all their jokes, and on top of that new players to the tier were often put down for trying new things etc. It led to what was, IMO, a pretty stale tier and if you look at stats BW NU consistently had a way greater number of battles every month, at one point actually doubling it if I remember correctly?, and I put this down to the nature of the community we had.

Basically don't become last gens RU pls.

 

[Disjunction]

OK so I've been on and off with this post for a while, struggling a bit to find the words to use to describe my own unique experience with the room. I've been on both sides of the argument here at one point, being someone frustrated at what seems to be the impossibility of being accepted by the majority of the community to now being a moderator in the PS NU Room and friends with just about everyone in the room maybe excluding a user or two I have minor disagreements with. My experience throughout the time I have spent in the room has shaped my moderating policy, trying to be fair and inviting to new users, even if they may be mildly obnoxious because I, and all of you, were there at some point too. I can really only imagine how much soulgazer wanted to tell me how much of an incompetent ass I was when I was running the first ORAS NU tour, but he kept a level head and got me through it step by step. When nominations for promotions come through the Moderator chat, I do my absolute best to stay objective and not let my personal bias toward a user dictate whether they should or should not get that promotion. I've had to deny friends and advocate twerps before and I'll keep doing it if I think it's the decision that will help shape NU chat in the best way.

I'm not saying I'm perfect because I'm far from it, but I am saying I hold a standard to myself on how to behave in the room and on forums. To anyone who may have felt like I made you feel unwelcome in the room in some way, I will apologize to you right here because that's the complete opposite of what I want to accomplish in the room. The room is the most enjoyable when we're all exchanging ideas, helping each other, and having a good time.

I'm getting a bit off topic talking about myself lol. I just want you all to know that even if there are auth out there who may seem to exclude you, there are auth out there who are looking out for you, and we're gradually getting better at that as time goes on.

But, yes, I will agree that a large part of this problem is applicable to Smogon as a whole. As it stands, we have a number of cliques within the community itself, such as contributors, firebotters, analysis writers, new users, tournaments players, among many many others and even cliques within those. Hell, even between tier subforums we have different standards and curves to be accepted into the community, and it IS just a simple fact that you have to be patient, active, and agreeable when trying to make friends. If you're a consistent contributor, things will come with time. It'll be hard, you'll be rejected from and lose in a good number of things (I'm a walking reject story let me tell you), but as long as you truly enjoy contributing, enjoy the time you spend with the friends you make on this site, are open to criticism, etc, you will find yourself in a good position here, somewhere, someday.

Well, most of the time. I've seen a number of amazing users who have a wrong step and set off some kind of chain reaction that tagged itself to their reputation and that, I think, is where a lot of this frustration and anger in the community is coming from. I know a couple names in our current auth list who have had to overcome a terrible handicap of just not getting along with 2 or 3 of the higher auth, despite being amazingly active and positive contributors. And just, beyond this, I have seen blatant disrespect to players consistently, everywhere on the website.

Undermining achievements, outright insults, shit posting, and discouraging new ideas are some of the first problems that have come to mind. I've had one particularly stellar user tell me that my battling was "insulting his intelligence" because the battle was posted in a private chat. Drama spilling over from important battles into NU chat is a common occurrence as well. Belittling ladder achievements is a big one too due in part to some bullshit stigma that the ladder isn't skill-based (which is another big problem with the Smogon community, but I don't think it's as relevant in this discussion). General disrespect for an opponent who may be feeling awful about a loss in tournament threads are also a big one.

I'd say if there was anything to do, it'd be to outline a plan of what is acceptable for posting on forums/in nu chat and being strict about it. Get all the mods on board (you know I am) and be objective with punishments instead of just giving friends and regulars a bye when they misbehave. I'm not saying to make this a dictatorship (though I know you'd love it, ras) but there should be rules in place to protect these new users from players who don't respect anyone outside of their clique. Even if we can't bring rules like this outside of our subforum (for now) it will make our experience better and might set an example for others.

And finally, if any of you are frustrated about something someone said to you, are upset that you can't get anywhere, need help with a team/the tier in general, or have any questions about how you can get into the community easier, I will do my best to help you out. You can send me a private message here on smogon, write on my profile, or message me on PS (I'm a huge nerd so I'm on a lot of the time). There will always be dicks in a community like ours, so try to get along and make friends with all the people who aren't dicks :)

 

[Marikeinen]

I'm going to echo what has already been said here, but most likely from a different perspective.
I've been playing NU for the past 2 years, suffered through the spikestacking that was gen 5 NU and am continuing to suffer in the hands of the GEARS, so I've seen alot, even if I didn't partake in the community until a few months ago.

While I'd like to believe that many people in the NU chatroom recognize my name these days ( mostly due to spamming weather in what has been like thousands of ladder games haha ), I never felt and still don't feel like I'm a part of the community in a way. At first, especially, I had to try to awkwardly get to conversations where nobody paid any attention to me, even if I legitimately thought that I made a good point ( rare I know ).

Without knowing the intricate relationships between the higher ranks, I started to notice that there was a certain group of guys who systematically seemed to ignore anything that anybody else said; it felt like back in highschool where there weren't real bullies, but some guys just got left out all the time. Those guys being mostly everyone in the NU chatroom.

Of course there were some cool guys who always helped the noobs ( honorary mentions to Teddeh , Adaire , marilli ), and I think that NU owes thanks to those guys, among other unnamed ones, for the new players that stuck with the tier after getting positive feedback. I know one of those guys inspired me to really get into NU after chatting him occasionally during battles.

If this post wasn't of any use feel free to delete it; I know that everything I said has already been said. I just thought that it was appropriate for everyone to hear thoughts ( although very similar ) coming from a lesser user and hence from a different perspective, since most of the posters here are well-recognized.

 

[soulgazer]

yeah nobody is perfect; myself first. I shat on some guys in c&c (and then caught one of them on a forum alt, making him quit smogon) and on ps! when they were acting like idiots when I shouldve been more respectful. I also am in multiple cliques: you probably remember how obnoxious the Amazing Ainsleys were 2 nupl ago for example.

Nobody is a saint. Even Raseri hates some people and he never show it. You simply have to ignore the aids and focus on the positives. Like right now I'm sure those people targetted by this thread might feel bad (or maybe they are laughing it off like a bunch of douchebags, who knows), but it doesn't mean we hate you guys. Raseri just wants you guys to improve so that everyone's experience in the community can be better. If I could do it and we could make Cased stop calling Raseri ''skilless trash'' every 30 seconds, you guys can do it too!

 

[Mr.378]

So I'm not exactly a part of the NU community but I still feel like saying something about this because this isn't the first time something like this has happened.

This thread is obviously inspired by this thread that the ubers community had a few months ago. The problem that community had/still has is similar to the ones that this one seems to. Namely the formation of cliques and the aggression towards new users. While at first the thread was helpful and everyone got to talk about the problems the community faced and possibly how to deal with them it eventually derailed and turned into flaming and toxicity which is exactly what the thread was made to prevent. Although that isn't to say the thread was unsuccessful because it still got the community do start being more active in an attempt to unify the community and give them something to do. Something this community probably doesn't need though because NU is already pretty active and more dynamic then ubers is. Then again discussing solutions to solving the problems to the community is exactly why this thread is here.

I kind of rambled on for a bit but I guess what I'm saying is that discussing the problems of the community in threads like these is always helpful, if only because they become prime examples of those problems.

 

[Brawlfest]

What things are we doing right in regards to the NU community?

Apparantly keeping me out of a seat of power.

On a slightly more serious note, I definitely feel the presence of clique-ness in NU. While most of us aren't willing to admit it, these Cliques and acceptance of users into such have led to users gaining more power than they deserve in the tier. We can all stand on our high horses and ignore it, but frankly it exists. I also personally feel it is the general view of said clique that if you aren't / haven't been in it you are clearly trash, which obviously discourages growth of new and upcoming players.

I propose a couple of changes.
1. Possibly open a "New User of the Month system", highlighting a lesser known user in the community who has played some form of role in the community bringing them to light.

2. Host more tournaments, promote more activities. I'm not going to lie as a community we suck at hosting activities, and when we do 99% of the people who participate are already in the clique. We need to promote participation.

3. Possibly re-open tutoring to bring new users to light

4. Ban more cancerous users such as marilli or Blast who fail to contribute to our humble community.