SpawnPoint - Where Game Begins

So, during discussions with Alpha yesterday I realised that it's been 2 years since I joined the "Staff" here at spawnPoint....

It really, really doesn't seem to have been that long but, looking back, there's a whole lot of water gone under the "[SP] bridge" in that time.

The [PWND] & [PHXX] clans have gone, together with a whole lot of people I used to speak to on an almost daily basis on the multitude of servers.....Gone to pastures new or just gone...who knows?

The [PHXX] "retirement" was particularly hard.....A few of the clan members thought I was directly involved in "ousting" them from SpawnPoint.....a few of them still hold a grudge....meh get over it. It was a business decision made by people a lot higher up the food chain than me. I just tried hard to be honest and keep the peace....blame me if you like it's no big deal to me......see CSS and gaming in general is just that....a game....I can take it or leave it so ;)

Further to a number of "incidents" that's gone in the past there has been a high turn-over in the spawnPoint staff during the past 2 years....

I miss Bullet...Adrian was always there to answer every stupid question I had regarding server etiquette and what was acceptable on US servers as compared to our UK servers (LOL he reminds me of me). It's sad to see such a great guy struck down by illness :(

I actually miss Hitman...It's funny but Ern's "no sh*t" attitude was funny, effective and damn effective in some cases. OK sometimes his decisions weren't exactly "politically correct" and he upset a few people but I, personally, can't fault his efforts for this community......

I sometimes wonder if SpawnPoints' server rules are "too strict" in what we allow or don't allow to be said /sprayed /done and whether or not things would pick up if we "relaxed" our rules...then I look at who else is on server and realise that there ARE a lot of "kids" play on our servers (my own included) and I'd not like their parents to see / hear swearing and / or porn sprays or suchlike and this be associated with our servers....ok the occasional swear word or curse is fine in my view but constantly? No thank you.......

Would it be possible to have a so called "adult" server or watershed where certain things would be allowed after certain times? See I don't think so...You can't have a "watershed" as we truly are "multi-national" and the time zone differences would make it impossible to run. As for an adult server that's just asking for trouble in my view.

SpawnPoint has built a good name in the gaming market due to it's server rules and, even though it might not suit everybody I still reckon it's the best route to take.

Which leads me on to the new breed of "staff" that we currently have. I've watched from "afar" most of you join the community......all keen and fresh and, slowly mature into a great bunch of people (well most of you LMAO!).

What people have to remember is that folks CAN have differences of opinion and DON'T always need to see eye to eye or even like one another to be good staff members....It's like modern life....as long as your "feelings" don't interfere with your work ethics does it really matter? So what If you don't like or talk to someone else in the staff as long as you deal with each other on a "professional" basis correct?

People in the community "aspire" to become Staff here at SpawnPoint....That's a good thing but in my opinion there's much, much more to SpawnPoint than having an [SP] tag. LOL I don't even wear mine all that much :O  There are some great community members out there who aren't on the staff that I still look to for advice at times....

You latest bunch of guys and gals have a great buch of people to follow down the staff member line but, from what I've seen so far....i'm fairly sure you'll do a great job...just remember though the management are always open to any and all stupid / noob / crazy questions and / or suggestions however "aloof" some of us appear to be....

Now I'm not taking away from the staff roles and people aspiring to be in the staff.....My best advice is just "Be yourself"....I never asked to be a staff member or even what it was SpawnPoint looked for to become a member. it was a great surprise to be asked to join the Server Support Staff two years ago.......

Which brings us neatly to Ventrilo and the "crazy gang....you know who you are ;) I'm fairly sure there are a great many of you missing out on all the fun that goes on in Ventrilo on an almost nightly basis.....ventrilo is FREE to download....SP's ventrilo is FREE to join.....bring along a few of your friends....play on our servers and we'll even set you up your OWN channel in our ventrilo server ABSOLUTELY FREE... Get your @ss on there...it's as much a part of the community as the servers and the forums and, there are times where some of us can spend hours just chilling and chatting and never actually make it into game......

Now to the last part.....Version 4.5 IS coming! most of you will have little idea just how much work the Development Team are putting in and the sheer amount of effort it's taking (Thanks guys I appreciate all your efforts). Yes, they could have had it out by now but.....a rushed version would have been condemned to failure by the "over critical" amongst you...Far better to take their time and get it right....It's a massive task and some things behind the scenes have taken place already....Even I'm not party to everything that's coming so i'm waiting....patiently....like the rest of you!

I'm fairly sure we won't be disappointed and, hopefully we can continue growing and strenghening our position in the gaming world....after all we must be doing something right for so many of those that have been banned from our servers and / or community to want back in!!

Meh....must get back to work now......