Quote:
Originally Posted by Fat Asylum_Rhapsody
I feel like a lot of people that are initially drawn to the concept of a Create-A-Pokemon forum are turned off by the rigidity of the process.
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This exactly. There is just a lot of a feel of a hierarchy here at CAP. Not to call out any specific member of the leadership because they all were just following common CAP practice, but for posts on the first project I discussed (Voodoom) I was infracted many times. Not for posting offensive things or blatantly disregarding the rules of Pokemon, Smogon, and CAP. Instead I had a slightly different and roundabout way of explaining my mental debate and at least 3 separate times it was considered poll-jumping. I actually was directly insulted by one of the mods here by being told my ideas were bad and that I should "lurk more." Lo and behold, and my logic was fairly sound as the things I was infracted for later became serious points of debate.
I know those were my first posts to Smogon. I know those posts may have been technically not exactly what was expected in their particular threads. But I hardly think it is grounds for infraction. For all the mods knew, I was a 9 year old who just had my dreams crushed by a big, bad evil mod. Instead I was a teenager, and I am impetuous enough not to go away. I'm still here (I think) contributing valid points to discussion and occasionally making submissions myself.
Finally, at the same time that CAP should loosen up a bit, it also needs to become more strict in some ways. CAP can never get personal. On this project especially, but on other projects too, I've seen way too many statements that either directly insult another's idea or imply said insult. To clear up what I mean, I'm not suggesting that mods should infract willy-nilly. But pms to the offending individual combined with a firm post in the thread should be enough to calm situations. If not, then infracting is appropriate.
And back to the hierarchy thing, I think a good deal of the old issues should be solved by the creation of the new board. It weighs down the power of individuals who have been on CAP for a very long time with several newer users.
Tomohawk was definitely a great success in altering the metagame and Necturna did the same in playtesting. Time will tell how Necturna fairs in an all-CAP metagame. (Which by the way, I greatly approve of.)
All in all, I think CAP is headed in the right direction. With the new guidance of CAP, I am confident we can take it there.