Long Form for 10 TPE:
#3
When given the opportunity to choose something about the NSFL that interests me, the first thing that immediately came into my mind is tampering. I think it’s fair to say that this is a league issue that’s hotly debated all over the community. Should it be legal? Should we make it more strict? What’s the right answer for it?
In my opinion, we need to find a middle ground. Hot take, I know. You can’t strip the league of tampering completely, because I fear that while most people would do it privately, some would just constantly post on the boards “OMG FUCK TEAM X COME TO MY TEAM YOURE BETTER THAN THEM”. It’s sad that I think that way, but it’s even more sad that you can see that happening too. As a result, the boards have the potential to be a lawless, toxic wasteland with arguments happening everywhere. So that answer isn’t found in a “No Holds Barred” thunder dome atmosphere.
Tampering as it is now, is over the top. People are losing their chances at becoming a GM simply for making jokes. Head Office, and the appeals committee that will undoubtedly hear from the offender, are a bit tied because the rules are pretty black and white on this. And with the ever looming specter of precedent being there, the punishment will be the same for someone that says “come play with us” as opposed to someone that literally offers a 5 year, $10 million a season contract illegally. Those aren’t the same things, and it’s a shame that they get treated as such.
It isn’t fair to our player base that they have to feel like they’re always on their toes. Tampering is almost used as a weapon for some, as though they could blackmail a person with it, or even worse straight up try to get them fired. And don’t think people aren’t that petty in this league. There was one instance where someone screenshotted someone in a discord FROM ANOTHER LEAGUE saying “come join us” to another NSFL player who was on their team in that league. They tried to use that screenshot saying the person was tampering. No, the person was asking them to join the fun voice chat they were in. Had nothing to do with tampering or NSFL or anything. And that’s the world we live in right now. Some petty people will use tampering as a weapon! The fact that two people in the league who are on different teams can’t even say to one another “oh man we should play together someday” without having the feeling that they may get tampering penalties is wrong. We should have some freedoms in the NSFL.
So how do we go about that? What is the middle ground that can prevent serious tampering, but can let others breathe a little bit easier? Here’s what I would do:
First thing I’d do is completely eliminate the punishments from being black and white. The biggest problem here is how hamstrung those that decide on the punishments are. Yes, when the league was younger and tampering was much more of an issue, this is how it needed to be. But now that we’ve grown into a league of pretty awesome people and we’re much more of a community who has found its way, we can loosen things up a bit.
Second thing I’d then do is point out that the punishments will be reviewed on a case by case basis. For tampering, honestly, fuck precedence. We need a clean slate. Nobody should get in that much trouble for making a joke. Honestly, it should just be a slap on the wrist where they get a warning. If someone creates a history of “jokes” that becomes more than a joke? Well, then we can take the punishment up a notch or two. The worst take a community can have is that all punishments must be equal. Every case is a different scenario. Yes, repeat offenders should be punished harsher than others. And no, just because it’s someone’s ‘first time’ doesn’t mean they should get off easier if they tampered to the extreme.
The people in Head Office and the Appeals Team aren’t looking to ruin anyone’s lives. And they fact that they’re a diverse group with different ways of thinking should dispel any notion that “Oh this person in HO doesn’t like the offender, so THAT’S why they gave them a horrible punishment.”. The idea that everyone on those committees would universally be like “oh, you hate so and so? Yeah, let’s smack them around then.” is crazy talk. They do, however, have a job to do. And the current way we do things really handcuffs them from doing that job. All they’re pretty much allowed to do at this point is treat every instance the same and give the same punishment to everyone. That isn’t how things should work here either.
Tampering is absolutely one of the most hotly debated topics we have in the NSFL. Everyone has an opinion on it. While we can’t eliminate it completely, we definitely need to consider changing how its currently being punished. Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk. (870)
#3
When given the opportunity to choose something about the NSFL that interests me, the first thing that immediately came into my mind is tampering. I think it’s fair to say that this is a league issue that’s hotly debated all over the community. Should it be legal? Should we make it more strict? What’s the right answer for it?
In my opinion, we need to find a middle ground. Hot take, I know. You can’t strip the league of tampering completely, because I fear that while most people would do it privately, some would just constantly post on the boards “OMG FUCK TEAM X COME TO MY TEAM YOURE BETTER THAN THEM”. It’s sad that I think that way, but it’s even more sad that you can see that happening too. As a result, the boards have the potential to be a lawless, toxic wasteland with arguments happening everywhere. So that answer isn’t found in a “No Holds Barred” thunder dome atmosphere.
Tampering as it is now, is over the top. People are losing their chances at becoming a GM simply for making jokes. Head Office, and the appeals committee that will undoubtedly hear from the offender, are a bit tied because the rules are pretty black and white on this. And with the ever looming specter of precedent being there, the punishment will be the same for someone that says “come play with us” as opposed to someone that literally offers a 5 year, $10 million a season contract illegally. Those aren’t the same things, and it’s a shame that they get treated as such.
It isn’t fair to our player base that they have to feel like they’re always on their toes. Tampering is almost used as a weapon for some, as though they could blackmail a person with it, or even worse straight up try to get them fired. And don’t think people aren’t that petty in this league. There was one instance where someone screenshotted someone in a discord FROM ANOTHER LEAGUE saying “come join us” to another NSFL player who was on their team in that league. They tried to use that screenshot saying the person was tampering. No, the person was asking them to join the fun voice chat they were in. Had nothing to do with tampering or NSFL or anything. And that’s the world we live in right now. Some petty people will use tampering as a weapon! The fact that two people in the league who are on different teams can’t even say to one another “oh man we should play together someday” without having the feeling that they may get tampering penalties is wrong. We should have some freedoms in the NSFL.
So how do we go about that? What is the middle ground that can prevent serious tampering, but can let others breathe a little bit easier? Here’s what I would do:
First thing I’d do is completely eliminate the punishments from being black and white. The biggest problem here is how hamstrung those that decide on the punishments are. Yes, when the league was younger and tampering was much more of an issue, this is how it needed to be. But now that we’ve grown into a league of pretty awesome people and we’re much more of a community who has found its way, we can loosen things up a bit.
Second thing I’d then do is point out that the punishments will be reviewed on a case by case basis. For tampering, honestly, fuck precedence. We need a clean slate. Nobody should get in that much trouble for making a joke. Honestly, it should just be a slap on the wrist where they get a warning. If someone creates a history of “jokes” that becomes more than a joke? Well, then we can take the punishment up a notch or two. The worst take a community can have is that all punishments must be equal. Every case is a different scenario. Yes, repeat offenders should be punished harsher than others. And no, just because it’s someone’s ‘first time’ doesn’t mean they should get off easier if they tampered to the extreme.
The people in Head Office and the Appeals Team aren’t looking to ruin anyone’s lives. And they fact that they’re a diverse group with different ways of thinking should dispel any notion that “Oh this person in HO doesn’t like the offender, so THAT’S why they gave them a horrible punishment.”. The idea that everyone on those committees would universally be like “oh, you hate so and so? Yeah, let’s smack them around then.” is crazy talk. They do, however, have a job to do. And the current way we do things really handcuffs them from doing that job. All they’re pretty much allowed to do at this point is treat every instance the same and give the same punishment to everyone. That isn’t how things should work here either.
Tampering is absolutely one of the most hotly debated topics we have in the NSFL. Everyone has an opinion on it. While we can’t eliminate it completely, we definitely need to consider changing how its currently being punished. Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk. (870)