(06-24-2015, 07:23 PM)Faye Wrote: As an FC leader myself, I think it's prudent to let the FC leader know what's going on and see how they handle the situation before you pass any judgement on their leadership or the quality of the FC as a whole.An understandable sentiment. On the few occasions I have had a bad experience with someone and felt the need to address their FC leader I have done so. But many of the people who play this game and are a part of this community are extremely conflict averse; when pressed they just want to put the situation behind them and not think about it anymore. At that point, lacking explicit details or proof, it would be disrespectful of both them and the FC leader to approach the FC leader.
With all that said, I am extremely unsympathetic to FCs who make it a habit of shifting blame to "bad apples". I come from EVE, where Alliances have codified and explicit rules which are enforced upon hundreds (if not thousands) of members with considerable efficacy. Granted, the communities and players of EVE have significantly more avenues to make a rulebreakers life in game a special kind of hell, but I maintain the opinion that a good FC is differentiated from a decent FC by rigid and strongly enforced rules and a thorough application policy. And I believe that good FC leaders and administrators need to have a strong understanding of not only how their community exists on its own, but how it exists in the environment of the server as a whole so that problems and perceptions can be addressed and remedied.
In short, maintaining an FC's PR is the sole responsibility of its owners and operators. I, nor anyone else, is obligated to find out if a bad apple is the norm or exception. Every member you bring into your FC is a representative of your FC to the entire community at large and I would urge every FC leader or operator to stress that point in bold, italics, and underlined large font.
V'aleera's Wiki - https://wiki.ffxiv-roleplayers.com/pages...eera_Lhuil
V'aleera's Tumblr - valeeralhuil.tumblr.com
V'aleera's Tumblr - valeeralhuil.tumblr.com