Daniel Forslund Posted September 17, 2020 at 10:37 AM Posted September 17, 2020 at 10:37 AM Since returning from my hiatous, I have been met with some relatively snarky attitudes both online and here on the forums. Each time I have written it off as "one time = no time", ie. sh*t happens sometimes and is best ignored. However, over the last couple of days I took part in a thread I started regarding problems with flightplan filing. Turned out it was user error on my part. But before I could even confirm this I was 1) repeatedly met with a quite snarky attitude, 2) had my topic closed for no apparent reason. Even better, "Matthew" who seems to be an VATSIM team member cannot even receive private messages. Why on earth not? So, here is an open letter to him, or anyone else in an official position. I think it sums up my feelings quite well. Thanks in advance for your thoughts. The response will dictate my future membership. ---------------------- Matthew, May I respectfully ask why you closed my forum thread abruptly? I did not even have a chance to respond to clarify that yes, it was the callsign field that I incorrectly filled in that messed things up. It was indeed likely user error on my part. I must say that this combined with the rather confrontative attitude of Andreas - and some controllers online - have me reconsidering being a member of VATSIM. Not sure where the attitudes are coming from, but they certainly aren't coming from me. I am a gainfully employed professional with a normally positive and happy demeanour. However, VATSIM currently gives off the vibes of a bunch of relatively grumpy and unhappy people. That simply is not for me. Looking forward to your explanation. I might reconsider. Regards, Daniel 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nestor Perez Posted September 17, 2020 at 11:11 AM Posted September 17, 2020 at 11:11 AM (edited) We are not here to confront each other; regardless of who it is, and as such we just don't allow threads to "heat up", because we have seen over and over again how they end up turning into personal attacks: something that we really do NOT want around here. You had also already stated that it had been an error when filling the callsign field. Because of these reasons, leaving that thread open would have served no purpose other than continuing with snarky comments being thrown across, and therefore it was locked. 38 minutes ago, Daniel Forslund said: Even better, "Matthew" who seems to be an VATSIM team member cannot even receive private messages. Why on earth not? Regarding this, I can't really give a response for him, but I can tell you why I have them closed too, and that is mainly because this it is not an appropriate place to reach out to us. If you need to contact a staff member privately you can most likely find their email address in their signature or in the .net website 🙂 Edited September 17, 2020 at 11:19 AM by Nestor Perez Typo + Added answer 1 Me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Shearman Jr Posted September 17, 2020 at 03:42 PM Posted September 17, 2020 at 03:42 PM I don't think that this place is generally toxic, but, I do think there are a few outspoken negative individuals who tend to stand out. And I think the same thing can happen online, too. You might do a flight where you talk to six different controllers, but if one of them had an attitude, that's the one you'll remember. I know that I personally tend to get a bit short sometimes when responding to a topic that has been asked 100 times and is covered in FAQ and sticky posts. I wish that new members to the forum would take a moment to learn how to fish rather than instantly ask someone to hand them one. That being said, I have my good days and bad, and days where I have the patience to soften the response and days I don't. It's just being human, I guess. (And I can't completely swear that I haven't once or twice been guilty of the same thing, if you look at posts I made 10 years ago... LOL.) Personally I think this is a great community and I've made lifelong friends here. If you don't feel like you fit in, certainly there's no benefit in me twisting your arm pleading with you to stay. My opinion is that there is a steep learning curve and it's easy to stumble finding your way, but the persistence and resilience does pay off. Your mileage may vary. 1 Cheers, -R. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nestor Perez Posted September 17, 2020 at 04:33 PM Posted September 17, 2020 at 04:33 PM 50 minutes ago, Robert Shearman Jr said: I know that I personally tend to get a bit short sometimes when responding to a topic that has been asked 100 times and is covered in FAQ and sticky posts. This hits home 😂 Me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Board of Governors Don Desfosse Posted September 19, 2020 at 02:01 AM Board of Governors Posted September 19, 2020 at 02:01 AM Guilty 🙂 But try to do better every day! 🙂 Don Desfosse Vice President, Operations Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matthew Bartels Posted September 19, 2020 at 03:30 AM Posted September 19, 2020 at 03:30 AM On 9/17/2020 at 6:37 AM, Daniel Forslund said: Since returning from my hiatous, I have been met with some relatively snarky attitudes both online and here on the forums. Each time I have written it off as "one time = no time", ie. sh*t happens sometimes and is best ignored. However, over the last couple of days I took part in a thread I started regarding problems with flightplan filing. Turned out it was user error on my part. But before I could even confirm this I was 1) repeatedly met with a quite snarky attitude, 2) had my topic closed for no apparent reason. Even better, "Matthew" who seems to be an VATSIM team member cannot even receive private messages. Why on earth not? So, here is an open letter to him, or anyone else in an official position. I think it sums up my feelings quite well. Thanks in advance for your thoughts. The response will dictate my future membership. ---------------------- Matthew, May I respectfully ask why you closed my forum thread abruptly? I did not even have a chance to respond to clarify that yes, it was the callsign field that I incorrectly filled in that messed things up. It was indeed likely user error on my part. I must say that this combined with the rather confrontative attitude of Andreas - and some controllers online - have me reconsidering being a member of VATSIM. Not sure where the attitudes are coming from, but they certainly aren't coming from me. I am a gainfully employed professional with a normally positive and happy demeanour. However, VATSIM currently gives off the vibes of a bunch of relatively grumpy and unhappy people. That simply is not for me. Looking forward to your explanation. I might reconsider. Regards, Daniel I have replied to you privately via email. You either die a hero, or live long enough to see yourself become the villain. Forever and always "Just the events guy" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Mckee Posted September 21, 2020 at 02:50 AM Posted September 21, 2020 at 02:50 AM I think that some members whose first language is not english can come across as short or aggressive however as this is a global forum we need to be more understanding and try not to see insults or aggressiveness where there is none. If you do not like someone's attempts at assistance then best to just ignore (and by the way "mia culpa, mia culpa", I think every language can understand a bit of Latin😄) And I agree that searching the forum for existing solutions should be the first step but quite frankly when you look at some of the topic titles i.e. "I have a problem" etc it is virtually impossible to locate some solutions to problems but as I suggest one should still try first. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Shearman Jr Posted September 21, 2020 at 04:47 AM Posted September 21, 2020 at 04:47 AM 1 hour ago, Daniel Mckee said: when you look at some of the topic titles i.e. "I have a problem" etc True. Another pet peeve of mine, lol... 1 Cheers, -R. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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