Replacing US ffa1

[occasionallydavid]

There is long term unprovoked harassment by the privileged user identified as 'm' on US ffa1. This ticket is to centralize discussion of dealing with governance issues on ffa1 or replacing it with a server under new administration in the game file.

I have no interest in hosting FFA or dealing with moderation issues, but I do have an interest in playing airmash uninterrupted. @arbuckle would you care to comment on the identity of 'm', and why unprovoked exchanges like this are acceptable after a full day with solicitors and the first 15 minutes with my son on my knee all day.

I suggest that anonymity of the moderator user is actively being abused, and has clearly been abused repeatedly in the past. Anonymity has not been necessary for the administration of any other server. I'd therefore propose unless issues involving 'm' can be resolved verifiably and decisively, simply replacing ffa1 with a better maintained server.

[postplatypus]

Huh. You joined as Sam Altman and I thought it was funny. I've been following his situation very closely, and was curious if you worked with AI much. The "yer fired" was, what I thought, a very obvious lighthearted reference to Sam Altman's firing and all the drama of the weekend around his situation. That's harassment?

I wrongly assumed someone joining with the name Sam Altman would have a sense of humor about the firing. Just trying to make conversation. You took it in a very different direction, to say the least.

It sounds like you had a rough day and I'm sorry I made it worse. That was not my intention.

[occasionallydavid]

I'm not interested in explanations, your behaviour constitutes harassment and this is not the first occasion. You can claim it is a joke after the fact, but the reality is you continued to immediately kick me from the server, and mark my IP for repeat kicking, preventing me from enjoying the game for the remainder of the night.

I want a decisive solution to the long term misuse of admin privileges on ffa1, or a replacement of the server with one under the control of more appropriate operators. Interested in hearing from @arbuckle if he is in a position to remedy this, otherwise happy to raise this with the wider community, and solicit someone (ideally other than myself) to host a replacement

edit: Would also like to add that I received some unsolicited explanations from a regular recently appearing to justify historical behaviour of 'm' and myself, attributing it to an imposter. It's curious that yet another incident would occur only a week or two later.

[wight-airmash]

On the replacement topic: we don't practice here replacing someone's running servers without authorization from the owners. If someone wants to run their own, they just run it.

[occasionallydavid]

Hi wight,

With respect for your backend contributions, that is a decision for the community, several of whom I know have also been recipients of abuse by moderators on ffa1.

[wight-airmash]

Once again, I'm talking about the server replacement request and only about it.

There is an owner of the server, they start and manage it, they also set the rules there. Why should we decide for them that their server should not be in the listing? Because we didn't like their terms?

It is also not very clear how to define the community and how it is supposed to make a judgment.

[occasionallydavid]

The server is not "running" by any reasonable definition, legitimate users are randomly banned from it, just as unplayable as it would for them if its DNS entries had expired, much as in https://github.com/airmash-refugees/airmash-games/pull/15 , where you removed a server using a consensus of 2.

It is also very clear how we define the community - the actual users of US FFA, which I do not believe includes you.

[wight-airmash]

I suggested deletion, but the decision was up to the owner. Like here: https://github.com/airmash-refugees/airmash-games/pull/16.

Regarding the reason for the deletion. So we have a server owner, they run it as is (with no agreement/guarantees). For some reason they restrict some players from accessing their server. And then a certain community comes along and says: we don't like it, you're obliged to do as we say. I have a simple question: who gave the community this right to demand something under current conditions? Like, because without community there is no game? But then, if the owner is wrong and it's hurting the game, then the community can start its own server side by side, which must become more popular, because it will be the only possible choice (where to play) of this community. No forced delistings are required here, or where am I wrong?

I also don't understand why you want to take away me from the FFA users, I log on to this server periodically as well.

[arbuckle]

I'm sorry to hear your evening was ruined, @occasionallydavid. I keep the FFA server running as a benefit to the airmash community, without asking for anything in return. Airmash might be unique on the internet in that it's free to play, has no monetization or advertising, and is (mostly) anonymous. It's a rare gem. But there has been a history of abuse and bad behaviors by players on the ffa server, and a 'council of mods' formed organically to raise these issues and help limit the impact of that abuse. They do a great job!

I'll ask the mods to please limit their use of their tools for serious purposes. If you're using a proxy or vpn, or clowning around with joke usernames that pattern-match against trolls, you might get kicked again. But hopefully many more pleasant evenings to come.

[occasionallydavid]

@wight-airmash Your repeat attempts to reframe addressing obvious abuse as a "demand" rather than the status quo as an "imposition" is noted.

@arbuckle box1 was running since birth, at many times with >10 simultaneous users, with no maintenance, cost, or moderation. The regime currently present in FFA1 is oppressive and constitutes an unsuitable default for the Airmash UI. What concrete steps have you taken to address the abuse captured in the screenshots above? Naturally I can provide some more example screenshots, as can others, stretching back at least 18 months. If the task of running a service that fits on a perpetually free VM feels personally burdensome or requires enabling toxic personalities, I have no doubt we have some players who can assist providing an alternative.

[wight-airmash]

@occasionallydavid I originally pointed out that I'm talking about replacement/delisting, not specifically your moderation case. Abuse or not - I didn't touch on that at all, please note this.

And I did point out that instead of actually letting the community decide by providing alternative servers, you are suggesting a forceful solution by replacing the unwanted server. With respect for your contributions, the unwanted one for you, not the community.