This would be so much funnier if it wasn't serious

I don't really understand Muir and Aynen's motivation - Aynen, you post here, maybe you can share your thoughts?

Sam, Matthew and George all got paid to be community advocates and they all left (for varying reasons, but none seemed too content with the way the project was handled). Following their departure from their roles, none of them had cared to stick around in the community to continue to support Godus. That is pretty telling.

The volunteer mods, on the other hand, have been cheerleading this product through thick and thin. I think if PM put out a video which literally said "fuck Godus, I hated that project and everyone involved in it and the very thought of it makes me sick" Muir would continue to optimistically claim that Godus fulfilled its Kickstarter obligations and the future looks bright. I know some people just love the idea of the sort-of-power that being an INTERNET FORUM MOD brings, and I can't imagine either of them have any further interest in the project than continuing to hold that "prestigious" role.

This would also explain the tendency to grab on to any excuse, however tenuous, to dish out warnings. Not that we should complain, because the moderation of the Steam forum now is significantly better and less censored than it was in late 2013 when Muir was looking after it all himself.

The Steam forums in general (not just Godus) are a very peculiar and often unpredictably vitriolic place, and I think much of the oddity of this phenom derives from the vast variations in the backgrounds of users; it's one of those rare places where young & old(er) interact, where hardcore and casual mingle, where world cultures clash, and ideas and ideals coalesce, on a regular and consistent basis. It's truly an accumulation of a global (gaming) populous, and shows just how similar-yet-different we all are. Unfortunately that melting pot culture tends to boil and spoil, rather than brew into a delicious stew.

Interestingly, you get communities - like Godus - where the Mods seem to act like vigilant guards against all-who-would-oppose, while the passionate users clamber and claw at thier shackles despite the wounds. While other communities - like Armello - where the Mods & Devs do everything right, but the majority of (Steam) users come across as entitled juveniles filled with angst and bile because they didn't get as many cookies as anyone else. Neither community deserves to have such polar opposition, and in most places I frequent it isn't like this; but Steam seems to foster a very hostile gathering oasis.

Sometimes I get where the mods are coming from, and occasionally agree with their actions, but sometimes I feel they moderate for the sake of moderation - acting with lack of any real reason to; perhaps out of boredom, self-empowerment, or simply misinterpreting rules/posts. Often times users do a fair job of self-moderating, without intervention, and yet sometimes all it takes is one rogue comment to send any thread into a chaotic madmax thunderdome of terror, from which no mod could contain.

I try not to drink the water there, if I can avoid it.

I almost gave up posting altogether, if not for the much less juvenile and respectful atmosphere here I would of.

I can also see how 22cans do themselves no favours, I had hope briefly with the Q&A and PC Sprint, but that all came crashing down with "The Trail" and the movement of personnel.

The steam forums suck. The moderation is poor and most of the good people left or reduced posting because of this.

Ba'al and Qetesh don't need to punish people here and yet we have no problems. Why do you think that is?

ah but their agenda is there is no agenda to push, except Baal's whisk(e)y and Qetesh's life goal of removing f2p...

Well, to be fair... it *was* pretty transparent. And sort of yellow/brown-ish...

Can they not split threads on the Steam forums?

Poor Muir, always being forced by the magical steam elves to lock threads after 3 warnings. What a world. ),:

Not directly, but if a mod made a thread specifically for the off topic discussion (if it had enough substance/deserves to be its own discussion) and move the relevant posts there. It's a bit more work but it beats having 3 threads locked in the last two weeks, IMO.


Going back on the steam pages within the first 5 pages there are seven locked topics, most of them for going off topic. The closest I've seen to that many locked topic in one (steam) forum is the Towns forum. And we all know the story there. How do the mods not see the problem lies not with the community but with the game and development style?

I know he might not see this, but *grabs megaphone* HEY MUIR! CONVERSATIONS EVOLVE! THE SUBJECT MIGHT CHANGE OVER TIME AND IT WON'T END THE WORLD! YOU DON'T HAVE TO LOCK EVERY THREAD THAT HAS A SIDE DISCUSSION!