Appreciation

[Teleklos Archelaou]

Thanks Geof. I can say that more than one longtime EB member has basically said they are forgetting about the public forum here for a while at least, due to some of this reaction. Surprising to me to see a lot of this considering the overall stability and plethora of new features/units/everything added to it.

[Parkev]

Hear Hear
(the internet told me that was short for "hear, all ye good people, hear what this brilliant and eloquent speaker has to say!" in anyone wants to know)
People seem to think EB team changed things just to spite them, instead of trying to consider the possible well-thought out rationales, and inquiring politely about the reasons for the changes.

And AFAIK the moon as more bugs than EB 1.0.

[Parkev]

New loading screen for EB or maybe just default response by team members for any unwarranted inpolitness.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Europa Barbarorum, as a mod team, has existed for over two years, running on three now. The team members have put a lot into this mod - their time, sweat...battled through illness (at least three members were diagnosed with one form of cancer or another, including myself), and tragic loss of loved ones. A lot of stress and emotions were poured out as positive energy into this labor of love. We don't get paid for it, and we don't have any expectations that this would ever happen. We do it because we want to see the best representation of this ancient time period available to all, including but not exclusively ourselves.

We're human. We are emotionally invested in our mod. We have always welcomed scholarly debate, but we have always rejected aggressive tones or criticism which is not constructive, regardless of the merit of the argument. As we have put more of ourselves in our mod and had less time in our personal lives to devote to it, we have become less patient with those people who would take issue with us in a manner that is not constructive.

So my request is: If you have an issue with our mod, present it nicely. Don't take the attitude that "you're absolutely wrong" or "there is not a shred of evidence to support your position" or any such demonstrative statements. Approach the discussion openly, sources in hand, but willing to listen. If you present sources and ask for open debate, you will get it. If you present your position in the light that there is absolutely nothing to support the opposite position, you will be presented with a mirror of that argument, with additional rancor for having presented yourself that way. If you don't like our skins, suggest how to improve them rather than simply say they're ugly. If you simply call our skins ugly, you will get an ugly response.

In very basic communications classes they will teach you to always consider your audience. If you present an historical argument with sources to the EB team with the goal of helping us change our minds, by beginning your discussion with the attitude that you are absolutely right and we are absolutely wrong is completely counterproductive to your goal. We don't squelch dissentors, we get pissed off at arrogance. There is a very real difference there, and perhaps if we were being paid for this we could afford to be completely aloof and detached and "turn the other cheek." But we're not - we're emotional volunteers who ask only one thing of the people who enjoy playing this mod: To present whatever information, argument, or criticism you have with respect. You don't have to agree, but if you want to have your argument evaluated objectively, you will need to present it objectively.

Finally, we have always encouraged people to disagree with us, given the caveat above. Spouting long diatribes about how bad we are because we don't listen to people is, first of all, completely baseless because we love to be presented with evidence, and second, completely useless because we won't bother to listen; the person making the argument simply doesn't understand us, so why would we bother to attempt to reason with them?

So, please remember the following in your communication to us:

- Present your arguments as presenting evidence, not truth
- Keep in mind that we are completely open to opposing views, but closed to arrogance in presenting said views
- Separate in your mind us shutting off arrogance as opposed to opposing views
- Keep in mind that we are a mod team and our focus is on completing work, not debating; where evidence is open to interpretation, and we interpret it one way, we will likely not change our minds unless brand new evidence is presented
- We're human, we don't get paid for this, and we react badly to both the attitudes I discuss above and people who seem to enjoy nothing more than finding reasons to criticize us

I, for one, wish I were a better person and could simply ignore the attitudes and attacks that are sometimes made here. It would be great to be completely professional in all things (striving to be more like I am in my "real" job), but the truth is that I come here to avoid the stress of daily life, to put my limited time and energy into something I enjoy, and I can't stand attitudes I perceive as arrogant or as a sense of entitlement when all I have ever wanted was to provide something fun to everyone at absolutely no cost.

Honestly, I don't think that requiring someone to suppress their ego before making a critical argument is too much to ask, given what we're doing for free here, no matter how unjust that may seem to people.

As an aside, any and all posts that contain Hitler or Nazi references when evaluating our actions, or anyone else's for that matter, will be deleted immediately, beginning this minute, including recent ones. Unless you survived the Holocaust, you have absolutely no right to make such a comparison.

Thank you.

[Bellum]

I know what your saying, Geoffrey. Several recent posts made toward EB members seemed rude at best.

[cmacq]

As you all know I’m new here, yet reading some posts I’m not entirely sure if some don’t understand that EB is far more than just a simple game? To be able to pull off something like EB v1.0, the design team merits only my deepest respect.

[J.Alco]

I haven't yet downloaded the mod, so I can't really speak first-hand on the problems or bugs there may be, but looking through the topics in the forum it looks like any bugs/errors in the mod can be fixed by someone doing exactly what is said in the FAQ or Read Me (There's a reason it's called a Read Me) and any other minor details, like the new Roman skins being slightly larger than the rest of the faction's old units, are simply that: Minor details that I've no doubt are in the process of being fixed, and which shouldn't really distract from a good EB gameplay session.

And as to the units over/underpowered arguments here on the thread, well, they're the same arguments there were last time about the Celtic factions in 0.8, just to a different tune.

I'm adding my own support for the EB team here. You guys do great work, and I for one love every aspect of EB, and when I've downloaded 1.0, I can only imagine that'll be doubly so. Keep up the great work EB team!