Questions and Answers - Ask the Admins

I really don't think there is one right answer to how all admins (or even one admin) views the whole community. I also think it's odd that you say the admins themselves have formed a community, because it isn't true! We're a group of people with more powerful banhammers and other scary powers than the rest of the staff. We're no more of a group or community than any other usergroup. You might as well have asked "How do you view the suspect test voter community"? —Mekkah

I believe IRC is a key to it, particularly the large amount of different channels. We have an official Pokémon channel in #stark, which also has off-topic chats occasionally (which is necessary). But then there's channels for other aspects of the site, official or not, such as channels to discuss several of the subforums, channels for different tiers, and worst of all, channels because some people want their own channel. Whenever I connect to IRC I connect to about 13 different channels because I don't want to miss activity and I have no idea where people are going to chat next. Many of these channels largely overlap in userbase, which I think is a waste. This is also why I'm generally not very fond of the hyped World Cup, since it adds about eight splinters to the list. But you can consider this a rather personal answer. I could think of one or two other admins who are likely to have a whole different view of IRC splinters.

Besides that, you'd think the Congregation and Firebot forums would bring people together, but for a long time now both seem to be the base of permanent feuds with different aspects of the site, be it "core Firebotters" vs "WiFi-ers" or "right wing" vs "left wing". Sometimes I wish people would just get along, but in these forums I get the idea it's never going to happen...if you're someone on either side of this conflict and you're reading this, please stop fueling the fire. If you're someone who doesn't understand how Firebot works, sit back and lurk more like the rules tell you to. If you're one of these people who gets caught up in a flame war in Congregation over something political, maybe you should get what the infraction message is trying to tell you and stop making debates so personal.

Principally, all admins can have the final say in almost anything, but within reason. All of them are admins because they know what "within reason" means, and know to talk it over with others before doing something controversial. Priority among admins is only really there for aspects of the site. You can't expect, say, Misty to overturn a decision by Jumpman16 on the Suspect Test Process. Not that he'd ever do that.

The same goes for other staff members to large extends. The lower you go on this ladder, the more people you will see occupying a rank. Rarely will you see one super moderator changing a rule all by himself: generally they'll create a discussion about it first, and other people weigh in. If it's not controversial at all, then the change is made. If it is, then it's discussed for a while until an admin decides to make the call. Oftentimes controversial discussions are the ones that require a large change, which means that the outcome of a debate can often be to remain status quo.

It was Brain's IRC nick once, chosen on a whim, and then later they decided to call the site that. If there's a deeper reason, I'm not aware of it.

I used to laugh with some friends about some of the ridiculous things that would pop up in the spriting threads, but when I look now it seems a very organized concept with some very original and aesthetically pleasing results. It's definitely changed for the better. I like looking at sprite projects better than some people's artworks... but I also still love a lot of the "scratch" artwork that's been put out there, too!

Some don't, because they don't play Pokémon. Most of us do play once in a while, generally laddering under alts. Because we're that modest (and because nothing is more annoying than people bragging they beat admin so-and-so).

Come on IRC! Talk to the people in #stark or #smogon or whatever tickles your fancy! Don't be shy about joining the place where all the action happens. Keep a lower profile at first, be nice to people, and you'll find you'll have a bunch of cool chat partners in no time.

I could swear there was a Policy Review thread on this, but I don't see it anywhere. There is still plenty of time to think up a new process if needed. The main complaint about the current one has been the time taken to do it, but the reason behind that is obviously that we want the Suspect Test to be thorough and accurate. You might just see something about this pop up in Stark or Policy Review in the near future.

Most intimidating might be #smogon. It's got an operator list of "big names" and it's quiet half the time, so to chat there you have to break the silence.

For most friendly to new users, I would say #stark. It's easy to lurk there, and they'll likely be discussing something you have experience with even as a beginning Shoddy battler. And then the off-topic discussions are usually quite friendly too.