Test is a small town

[Kehawin]

I know this has come up many times before, but I am going to try to say this a little differently, maybe.

Test is a small place. Even with new testers added, it doesn't take long before most everyone knows most everyone else, if not personally then by reputation.

That word is the key thing I wanted to post about. Reputation.

In the last 3 days, I have seen behavior that I consider rude, selfish, or inconsiderate. I am not talking about "for test". I mean this behavior would be upsetting to me no matter where it was.

Episode 1:
My friend had just gone sad trying to solo a small building in the brrgh. She had one laff point and started running around to get snowflakes. As she took one, another toon ran up and told her "You stink!" My friend remembered the toons name, because it was similar to another friends' name. (Later, seeing that toon again, it turns out that toon was working in DG, with laff in the 30s, my friend a 103).

Episode 2:
I was working the DG sell HQ tasks. Seven toons were standing in the pit, varying from 57 laff to 105, all sf chatting up a storm. I get bombarded by cogs, say "oh no!" as my lure misses yet again, hold my breath as I get down further and further in laff, down to 3 laff points, before thankfully the last cog dies. Not ONE even paid attention to the fact that there was a toon working tasks who could use some help. NOT ONE. Sure, if they were about to go into VP, I can understand not really wanting to help. But...
I went back to the shop, turned in my finished task and saw that another toon was there just starting the same task. I offered to help him. MAde friends, went and got gags, came back... Same seven toons, still chatting away in the pit. We killed off another 7 or so cogs. Nearly went sad again during one battle, until the other toons friend TPd in and tooned us.
As we left sell HQ, they were STILL chatting away, seven of them, oblivious to anyone else.

Episode 3:
I asked a friend if he was ready to CFO. He asked me if there was room for 2. I said yes, we have 2. Making a long story short, we ended up with 9 toons trying to go into the elevator. Ok, that happens.
As we go to fight the cogs, I am with toons I don't know, from 87 laff to near 100. First round went fine... except for the constant sf chat. Next round, they all picked elephant. Ok, me too (since I don't yet have fog). Cogs don't die. Next round... Elephant again. Ok. Cogs die. Next round, elephant again? I told my friend on the other side to please tell them I didn't have fog. He did, but it didn't do any good. They wanted to work toon up. The Sf chatter made it so I hardly could see what gags they were choosing. Not one speedchat phrase was said to me, except the ONE TIME I got to toon, one toon said thanks. All the rest of the time, I was treated as if I weren't there (unless I needed a toon up, of course.) My gag exp at the end of that round was around 20 for each gag except sound, which was 54. If you know the CFO, you know how INCREDIBLY low that is for gag experience. ( I guess I could have had much higher sound pts, if I had brought more sound... but I don't bring a whole lot of aoogahs to the CFO, especially when my intention is to do a 4 man.).

My point to all this, is that if this had happened on open, I would have been upset, but honestly not very surprised. The fact that this is happening a lot on test is surprising, because I know that bad behavior doesnt happen that often there. Even more surprising is the fact that except the first example, this behavior is coming from toons who are past LOM, past the CHQ parts tasks. These toons aren't a week old. So, it ISN'T only this weeks batch of new testers.

I will probably have many people disagree with how I feel. But I do know that when I have been upset, my friends have always asked me what the names of the toons were. I feel the same way. If someone is being inconsiderate in a small town, I want to know about it before I get burned by them too. If you have never lived in a small town, I guess you can't understand how your reputation preceeds you.

[Peaches McSnoop]

Wow, I would definitely like to know the toons' names because I don't want to be associated with this kind of behavior.

That's so sad Epona, I wish I were there to help

On a better note, today on test I met up with two of the nicest toons; one 99 and the other 105 - the three of us did a bullion and worked our gags it was awesome and we ended up with some 150 + on our gags - excellent!!

CFO isn't the place to work your gags, from my perspective. Go to mints and factory -

My two cents

[Dynotoon]

i agree with you, im not new to test, but newer than some and i have come across some really rude toons, because im not in their clique or in any clique for that matter. . i just need to complete tasks . i am thankful for the few friends i do have whom are awesome toons.

[Crazy Sadie Blubbermuffin]

I agree, rude toons indeed. I know the whole "it is not your building until your in the elevator" therory. How ever, I never had an issue with it on test until lastnight. My friends and I were at a 4 story law in dock. Waiting for our 4th friend to arrive. All the sudden these 2 red cat ran in to the building. I think that is so rude. Not like it was a rare building. It took me less then 60 seconds to find another one. I will always remember the names of the cats and I will never help them.

[Big Tom Supernugget]

In your "Episode 1" incident, so your friend received one measly "You stink"? Is this supposed to be a big deal? Sure it's unpleasant, but c'mon you've got to be prepared to laff those off every once in a while. "Sticks and stones..."

In your "Episode 2" incident, did you ever actually ask for help? (i.e. "Help!", "Can you help me?", or "I need a Toon Up.") I don't play Test much these days, but I've been known to chat for a while in the pit with my friends, and I can be pretty oblivious to other toons unless I see that they're asking for help, in which case I'm glad to run and help.

[LexieTwinkletoes]

Epona,

While I am completely on your side wishing that Test was a slice of paradise with nothing but kindness and friendliness prevailing, in reality it never will be.

Test has a LOT of friendly and helpful toons that go out of their way to help others.
Test has some toons that are oblivious to the consequences of their actions.
Test has some obnoxious toons that go out of their way to hinder others.

The good news is that (in my opinion) the nice toons greatly outnumber the less-than-nice toons. We've all had experiences with each of the types of toons, and have had to learn to shake off the annoyances (and remember that it is just a game), and move on.

Try to enjoy yourself - and if you find that you are not enjoying yourself, I can only recommend that you take a break.

If there is anything I can do - just ask ... I like to be one of the "helpful" ones.

[seajypsy]

I've not had a bad experience in test yet. Course, I'm not there very often anymore as I'm trying to max a toon on open first. It's a shame these things are happening. I was looking forward to getting back there to max my test toon. Test town is a small community and a bad rep there will surely come back to bite ya.

[Kehawin]

Originally Posted by Big Tom Supernugget

In your "Episode 1" incident, so your friend received one measly "You stink"? Is this supposed to be a big deal? Sure it's unpleasant, but c'mon you've got to be prepared to laff those off every once in a while. "Sticks and stones..."

In your "Episode 2" incident, did you ever actually ask for help? (i.e. "Help!", "Can you help me?", or "I need a Toon Up.") I don't play Test much these days, but I've been known to chat for a while in the pit with my friends, and I can be pretty oblivious to other toons unless I see that they're asking for help, in which case I'm glad to run and help.

The whole context is, this is a change from previous experiences on test (except during the time when everyone was all bent out of shape to get as many CFO victories as possible while it was "free"-- there was a lot of ugly behaviour then too), and the first two episodes in and of themselves would have been blown off without a second thought (after venting to friends, I mean)... it was the combination of all that blew me away and instigated this post.

No, I didn't "ask for help". And no, on test OR open, I don't stand around at the pit and hear cogs attacking another toon without checking laff levels and jumping in if needed and if possible. YES, I DO THAT ON OPEN TOO. And until I hit the brrrgh on Epona, that was the kind of thing I saw most toons doing on test as well.

As for the "you stink" incident, I get told "you stink" all the time on my open toons. Sometimes it is because I have a full friends list, sometimes it is because I ignore toons who are spamming me, sometimes it is just a random out of nowhere thing that makes no sense whatsoever. I just attribute those to people who have read something on here they didn't like and shrug it off. But, I have NEVER been told I stunk in an empty playground after having just gone sad and trying to get laff points back by a toon whose tasks are two playgrounds down just for taking one treasure. The friend this happened to is one of the nicest, most helpful toons I have ever met, and tho I wasn't there I can't imagine her deserving it. Yes, she could have just shrugged it off after venting - - - but then these other things happened within 2 hours.

These were just examples from one day.

Originally Posted by LexieTwinkletoes

While I am completely on your side wishing that Test was a slice of paradise with nothing but kindness and friendliness prevailing, in reality it never will be.

Test has a LOT of friendly and helpful toons that go out of their way to help others.
Test has some toons that are oblivious to the consequences of their actions.
Test has some obnoxious toons that go out of their way to hinder others.

agreed. The point of this post is, number two (above) is getting disproportionately bigger than one... and it didn't seem to be like that before.

Thanks for the offer of help. Most usually when I am on test it is because someone has gone to open and told me in no uncertain terms that I am to go to test (LOL). But certainly, if you ever see me around, know that I would love to play with someone who would rather fight the cogs than another toon.

PS - we did get a chance to repay the "stink" toon. I was headed to clear a bldg off of DG (it was a 4 story in both districts, and I needed that shop on Strange Mallardy) and I saw this toon who had stunk my friend. I decided to repay her in kindness, as an example of what I like to see. I asked her what task she was working on, she was on the sprocket task. Just as I engaged a cog to help her, my friend signed on. I asked her if she could tp to me, she did, and we helped this littler toon get her sprocket. Just wanted to let you all know the end of that story.

[Kehawin]

So, I went onto test last night to CFO, to finally finish the last of my DL tasks (80 12+ cogs). Saw two toons standing at CFO doors, so my friend and I asked them if they needed any help...

to make a long story short, 8 were in the lobby, and it took 3 tries to keep everyone on. A 104 laff toon shuffled. Same toon trapped nearly every cog, even 12s when there were 3 already lured... Then said (to I have no idea who) over and over again "Please disable the goons" (even though none of the toons there were SC1's, and HELLO is test likely to have anyone not knowing what to do at this point?)

Although there was no stinking or begging going on, I did get the feeling that if I got knocked off crane one of the toons hovering around would probably jump on. To give the benefit of the doubt, if someone wants to try their hand at craning for the first time, going with friends on test is probably a great way to do that. However, between my friend and I, we took up one crane and we seemed to be the only ones able to take his numerous helmets off.

At the dance, turns out the trapper was maxed (not working trap, but it sure seemed that way!!!) and she was still saying things like, "Are you new here?" "Don't have a cow" and "Please disable to goons"

When I was getting gags, she said "Don't have a cow" again. Not sure if she was talking to me, since I didn't vocalize ANYTHING about what I was thinking so my behavior was far from "having a cow"...

Anyway, the point of resurrecting this old thread is this:
I may not be a really old tester, and I may not play on test as often as some others. But it seems to me that the people who are what most people state test "used to be" are the ones who "used to be there". The toons I have met who are most helpful are the ones who were "big toons" when I started in December. Seems that I am running into the behavior we most often associate with open EVERY TIME I sign onto test.

So, I guess maybe I was wrong. I think our small town has become a medium suburb now.

But that doesn't change the fact that you can still get a bad reputation!!!

[lilackitty]

just tonight me and a friend were working our lower toons thru final gag training in MM when we were rudely attacked. Both of us are dedicated testers and like to help as we can. As we exited a building that we had claimed we hear a cry of "HELP!" not once but three times before we were free to move. I quickly ran over there, my friend right behind me to lend a hand.

We dispacthed the 2 cogs that were lined up and as we were dancing we got a very rude "that wasnt nice" followed by "you stink" and "please go away"!

I am sorry but if you call for help and get it, dont be ungratefull! to me that was extremely rude. we left that toon to stew onhis own. We had better things to do than stand around and yell at each other like its open!

[LexieTwinkletoes]

I wasn't a witness to any of these acts, but I have had experiences that may be similar to what happened today. Sometimes when helping a friend, I have found myself in a situation where I had caught a cog type that my friend needed - and when I called them (having to use the SOS method) it appears to other toons that I am calling for "HELP!", even though I really am not.

When this happens to me, and another friendly toon comes to help me, I try to explain to them "Let's wait for my friend". Sometimes they get it, and sometimes they don't.

Unfortunately, sometimes it just takes the other toon too long to get there, and we all get tired of waiting.

It's really good to see that there are still so many SUPER NICE toons around that take the time to stop and help a toon battling in the street.

[allicat]

I started my test toon just before CBHQ came out so I didn't really get to test it much but I worked diligently to build my toon so I was ready for the next big release. At the time I started there were never more than 10 people on at any given time in either district. I made it to the brrgh quite alone with the exception of a couple of particularly wonderful toons who helped me with bldgs when tasks required them.
In the past couple of weeks I too have noticed an increase in bad attitude and the commrodity doesn't seem to exist as much as it used to. More toons are taking bldgs with less than full loads even when I ask them to wait for my friend and I see an increase in the "you stinks" which really saddens me.
I still consider myself quite fortunate however. I have a wonderful group of friends and we help when we can. I think once the playground is released and we start testing it things will start to go back to "test normal"....especially once it goes to open.
See you in test!

[lilackitty]

Originally Posted by LexieTwinkletoes

Sometimes when helping a friend, I have found myself in a situation where I had caught a cog type that my friend needed - and when I called them (having to use the SOS method) it appears to other toons that I am calling for "HELP!", even though I really am not.

When this happens to me, and another friendly toon comes to help me, I try to explain to them "Let's wait for my friend". Sometimes they get it, and sometimes they don't.

I know what you are saying, but this toon did not reply with the "lets wait for my friend" , or i would happily have waited. No this toon cried for help. When doing the SOS for a friends help, one can only say help in turn. This toon cried it out repeatedly, even as the cog was hitting him. Thus he was using speed chat.
There was no other toons around (or none that we could see with radar) so from what i saw he was calling out to us. Anyhow, I have just chalked it up as "one of those things", and moved on. What really bothers me is just as Epona states a whole decrese in the Commradery that should be test!

[TwistWITHaSHOUT]

Yeah, many people on test haven't been very helpful or kind although every now and then I will find a few toons who are willing to help instead of sit around and chat.

[littleloopyjb]

One would think that test account holders would go the extra mile to be nice and helpful to other account holders. Test is a small community and we are all there for one common goal.

I have only been playing test about 3 or 4 months; but when I am there, I am more than willing to help other toons that need help. I created a new toon on my test account yesterday, so needless to say he has very low gags and laugh points.

I started working tasks this morning; and as always, I needed to make a friend. YIKES! I never knew people could be so rude! I asked EIGHT (8) different toons before a green dog with 35 lps said okay. Thank goodness I had just turned in the completed task for a friend, because as I was exiting Toon HQ, he dropped me!

I have met some awesome toons on test also, and I am glad that those are the toons I most run into. Some are incredibly helpful and kind, just as test toons should be. You can best bet I wrote down all nine names this morning - the eight that refused to be my friend and the one that dropped me within 5 mins of making friends - what goes around comes around....somewhere along the line, you will need help from me or some of my friends