Time for a bit of a break (zephyr1)

According to Discourse, today is my 631st day in a row visiting the Forum, though I know I started a bit earlier than that, when I didn’t have an account.

I’ve been fairly active on the Forum ever since, including in my 16.5 months as a moderator.


When I first became a moderator, I referred to a well-organized and cogent statement from @Gryphonknight, which included this gem:

While I’ve continued to find it rewarding to contribute to the community, as I noted in my interview with @JonahTheBard, I’m feeling the burden of that grief tax more so lately.


Whether just from long exposure, or an increased mix of player frustrations and complaints in response to recent game design decisions, I feel more aware of the negativity which is sometimes carelessly lobbed at content creators, guide creators, and moderators.

I speak here not just of myself, but things I’ve seen said to other people who work hard to contribute to the community, some of whom have recently left the Forum and game.

I frankly need a break from that.


Our community is much of what makes this game successful.

And as I step back a bit, I reflect on past evolutions, like @cap stepping up to take over @Mariamne’s work when she retired from the game, the evolution from @Mai’s farming guide to @hotdamnmess’s to @BarryWuzHere’s, and the growth of calendars being something mostly just @Jamir and @Novo posted to having a full cohort of half a dozen contributors making calendars in a variety of formats and languages.

Whenever someone in the community has stepped back, someone else had stepped forward to fill in.

I think when that stops happening, we’ll know the game is on its way to ending.


To that point:

@Guvnor has offered to take over some of the normal thread creation I do for events and new Heroes. He’d already taken over the Class Trials and Raid Tournaments for me, after I maintained those for a year or so, and I appreciate his help greatly, and caution him to be careful it doesn’t become too much work.

@DaveCozy last week took over the Hero portion of Beta Beat, as some of you may know. That helps me spend less time, and allows me to focus on the portions of Beta I find more interesting, like new events and functionality.


I don’t intend to fully leave the Forum now, and I will still be maintaining the main Beta Beat, as well as information on non-Hero Beta updates.


However, I will be taking a break in these additional ways:

I won’t be monitoring notifications (for now).

I get tagged dozens of times each day, with a mix of questions, requests for moderation, complaints, and (occasionally) something fun.

I’m going to take a break from following up on those, so please forgive me if I don’t respond to you.

For the sake of the other moderators, I’ll point out this suggestion from a while ago, and hope some Forum members choose to follow it:

I won’t be moderating vitriolic threads (for now).

To reduce my exposure to complaining and negativity for a while, I’ll be avoiding wading into threads that are in need of moderator intervention due to inappropriate posts.

The other moderators will still provide support as usual, at their discretion, and Small Giant has also started ramping up part of their Support organization to provide additional moderation coverage.

And I’ll still help with other parts of moderation at times.

I won’t be reading and categorizing every new thread (for now).

Since becoming a moderator, I’ve made a point of looking at every new thread on the Forum.

I reply when I can help, and also often move threads to a different category, clarify their titles, or merge them to an existing discussion when appropriate.

Forum Regulars, who’ve earned the right to recategorize and retitle threads, can help tremendously with this — and I really appreciate when I see that someone has done so.

And everyone can help by flagging posts that need some organizational help, using the “Something Else” option to explain. If a thread needs to be merged, including a link to the destination thread in your flag message is like an ice cream sundae for moderators. :ice_cream:



Much like my reduction in gameplay, this is an evolving process, not a fixed plan.

So I’ll see how I feel in the coming weeks, and adjust as needed.


This is not a goodbye, just a “see you less nonstop.”

:wink:

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:frowning_face:

While I personally hate this I completely understand. Sometimes the expectations become more of a burden than they are an enjoyment despite the best of intentions.

And for what it’s worth; I personally think that nobody has contributed more to the EP community in recent years than you. Your threads and guidance has not just made the forum a better place but has filtered down into the many other smaller communities like Line, telegram, discord etc…

You be you; find the fun again and we’ll all be here waiting for you when you come back :slight_smile:

This quote is 100% spot on @Gryphonknight

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Wow Zephyr.

I am not surprised to read this. As I see how much time and effort (I don’t think you will sweat or bleed using the keyboard) into keeping us informed, updated and calm and relaxed, I wonder how you keep your energy levels up.
I respect all the time and effort you have been putting into this and I really see that the informtion flow has drasticly has been improved under your wings. And if some questions where not clear, you are the first to check with staff and find out.

Take your time, relax and enjoy a bit of the world around you, you deserve this as well.

I am happy to see you not leaving completely and still llinger around some more.
Thnx Zephyr!!!

16 Likes

All my best to you selfless souls, active or semi-retired. Thank you.

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@zephyr1, I knew this day would come, and I’m happy for you to find joy in other ways and places. Do what you can/want/enjoy when you can/want/enjoy. You have definitely earned it.

Thank you for everything you have given to us, the community! You have been the main forum moderator influence on my time in the game, and I have never understood how you did it all.

15 Likes

You deserve the break. And the praise.

I’ve proposed in the past a separate category of the forum for the negative crowd, like a smoker’s section, and I’m still on board with that today - if SG could make that happen. I feel like that would reduce a lot of burnout from the Greats.

Glad you’re taking care of yourself after taking care of others for so long.

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“Il troppo stroppia” - too much stifles

Everything, forum included, should be taken with the right amounts!
Enjoy your new low-stress era @zephyr1!

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I agree with this so much.

For the longest time I could never understand how you could spend so much time helping so many and contributing in the ways that you have here.
You are definitely a superhero in my mind and one of the reasons that I am still hanging around.

I just want to take a second and personally thank you for all that you have done for me.

Where ever your journey may lead you.

What ever Road you choose to take

May the wind fill your sails.

And if somehow you slip off into the abyss

Your soul, Wisdom, and kindness will certainly be missed.

Thank you for giving so much to me personally, and to all graciously.

May smooth sailing fill your days captain. :pirate_flag::pirate_flag::pirate_flag:

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If there is one who most especially needs a break, its you @zephyr1 because of your work for the community.

12 Likes

A well-deserved break. Thank you for everything you do.

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Sad to read this words but expected…
Better reduce before a burnout! (idk how mods handle so many negative posts many times accusations agains our volunteer moderators)
Thanks for all the great work you’ve done for all the E&P comunnity (and i belive you’ll keep doing).
Take it easy and (maybe) you’ll get drilled again!

You are a really legend and took this forum to a greater level!

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Really SG should rewards all mods for 100,000 gems for all their hardworks.

Tags: @Petri

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Thank you and enjoy the free time.

Had the moderating been a full time job I would have thought you were exceptionally productive. Considering that it is an unpaid, voluntary task that is supposed to fit around your real life it was insanity defined.

Wishing you the best and that you find something more rewarding to absorb your time and talents (be that emotional rewards, economic rewards or, better yet, both).

You threads were helpful, insightful and enjoyed, thank you.

12 Likes

Definitely a well-deserved break, you do so much around here. And kudos to Guvnor and davecozy for taking over some of the bits.

glad we’ll still see you around here - hope the break gives you more time for fun. (and thanks for informing us of the terms of the break in such a well-organized way :smiley: )

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The amount of time, patience, and desire required to do what you have done here is something I will never be able to comprehend, let alone possess. Your service to the community can not be quantified. Thank you is not enough but I’ll say it anyway. Best of luck. And for what it’s worth I think this is an incredibly wise decision as much as I hate it. Thank you once again.

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Community

Click for feedback

+1000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000x :heavy_heart_exclamation:

Beta Beat

Mortals. Bow down and listen. As the Legend himself explains the origin of . . . Beta Beat ( clicky, clicky )

You will always be the Legend of Zelda, er, Beta Beat.

Especially HotM Beta Beat discussions letting players save resources for an HotM that fits their play style.

The #1 thing that ever happened to Empires is Beta Beat, and I am including Atlantis Rising as #2 on that list and the setting up of an Empires and Puzzles forum as #3 ( 4 to 10 are our great forum staff, moderators, and content creators).

@zephyr1

I STRONGLY recommend signing out of your forum account and just lurking on the forum for 1x to 2x weeks.

Every time I have come back from a lurking break, I have felt refreshed.

Mainly because lurking makes it hard to follow the negativity.

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Thanks for all the hard work. You deserve a break!

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Psh…not active enough since we still eeked out wins in the counting threads…

Clearly you need to practice your finishing at the rim if you’re struggling with lobs

Our community['s money]…

So now the targets are to exasperate @Guvnor & @DaveCozy bot…got it.

…Ooooh Mr. Popular over here…I get tagged dozens of times too…twice a year…usually on Cakeday or Birthday threads…most of the time when it’s my own one…

You still have me on line…so are you reducing it that much?

…An ice cream sundae for people who are lactose intolerant maybe…

What are you a Pokemon?

Clearly I hope this made you laugh…we’ve already conversed at end about many of these things and considering you were near the brink of retiring when I joined the Pirate horde, I can say I appreciate you stinking around and getting to know you better. This makes me and I know most of the Pirate leadership incredibly happy just like you starting BotW finally. Hopefully the reprieve is kind to your soul.

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One thing I’m surprised you didn’t include @voidstrike is some allusion to this not actually a “break” but instead is a cover story for the fact that @Zephyr bot is actually getting taken offline for maintenance, repairs and of course an upgrade to his source code?!?

Oops… Cats outta the bag now… #soznotsoz

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You’ve been a helluva pilot Zephyr. I hope you enjoy your well deserved break.

And for the record, I still think SG owes you a tropical island vacation.

Take care.

Volunteer

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