So, I wanted to make this post earlier but, as it’s now been publicly made, I was banned for 3 months for toxicity, and ultimately I didn’t want this post to seem like it’s came from me being annoyed about my ban 
, this isn’t going to be some complaining post or rant about how I don’t believe my ban was deserved, no matter my thoughts, but a ban is a ban at the end of the day and personally I’m thankful for the signup ban and not a full ban as previous iterations have garnered me. Instead, a lot of my thoughts have been gathered upon the look back of the game of Singers FM just in general and what it means for FoL, ironically enough, it certainly is the game of all time here. The case in point here, is talking about the removal of the humanitarian aspect of FoL.
I’m going to be completely honest, half the time I’m on the site playing FM, it feels like I’m forced to play as a robot because doing anything else is discouraged by the site, and particularly the moderation team, (E.G: The removal of AtE, the classifications of which are not nearly specified enough that you could end up considering anything AtE if you ultimately think about it beyond enough). I try to enjoy myself on the first day, I’m discouraged immediately by other players due to how they react to it, in other games? It’s perfectly fine, it doesn’t exactly matter too much, FoL is a community, not a ground to control people on leashes.
It also got me to think about how forced it is to not exhume any sort of emotion in that regard, you cannot show frustration, you cannot show anger, you cannot show sadness, you cannot show anything, that’s one part that is getting to me, I enjoyed the removal of AtE from games, AtE is something that sucks and as recently as singers FM, it got a player townread in that game just because of it, I won’t point fingers, that’s not what I do. But it has made me think about how much more professional the site has been tempted to move towards, despite the original approach of people just enjoying themselves. Almost every game ends with an argument, almost every game has people complaining throughout, you can’t please everyone, that much is obvious, but it feels like this lack of being able to hold enjoyment in the forums is something that contributes the most to it.
I loved the previous FAM games, FAM1-FAM3 were great, they were some of the most fun I’ve had on the forums, but then FAM4 just felt… lifeless at times, you have all these people in the game enjoying themselves and then to that same regard you still have incidents of players lack of enjoyment or fulfillment, you still have people who can’t get themselves to enjoy something like this. And yeah, you could use the argument of if you’re not enjoying yourself, don’t play anymore, but it’s never that simple, this is a place where there’s a lot of people who are friends.
I can sit here and talk on perspective for hours, about how long I’ve been here and the amount of people I’ve seen come and go, the new people who I don’t know all to well, and all those different factors, I can sit here and talk about nostalgia and the “Good old times” or something, and have a laugh about it, but it’s hard for me to say. I’m passionate about FoL, I love this place and it’s what keeps bringing me back no matter what occurs, I’ve grown up with this site, both the new and old one and honestly I’ve never seen the place so robotic at times, there’s a few threads that allow me to see the human side of FoL, there’s a few games that allow me to see it along with it, but even in those regards, it feels constrained and tightened because one wrong statement and it feels like things are all wrong for you.
The most enjoyment I have in this website is when talking about random things with people in threads that aren’t FM at all, I feel more relaxed and happier, hell even in some games I’ve made friends with people I ultimately wouldn’t have talked to otherwise, I can make jokes about stuff, but if any of these things are done in game it feels more kicked upon, like I shouldn’t be allowed to do it, but instead I’m forced into that regard and it’s massively disappointing to see from a perspective of someone who cares, or at the very least, did care about this site. One of the greatest moments I’ve had on this website was being tricked by Windward in an FM game who used a careful approach to befriend me in game, and sure I may consider myself friends with Wind regardless, but if that same thing were to occur today, it would be punished and frowned upon as an example.
Sure, it’s a social deduction platform. But social deduction games are best played with friends, people who care for one another, the removal of that aspect is another topic on my mind when I look at how I see FoL, the amount of friends I’ve made on this website is unreal, I’ve even met a few people irl who are on here and they’re some of the greatest people I’ve spoken to, but if I were to show a care or anything in a game, it feels ostracized almost immediately, it feels more like every single word is being policed, and I found that out more upon my discussions with other people on this website, it feels like an enclosure at times, and I’m not sure if too many other people that I didn’t discuss with feel this same way, but FoL feels trapped at times, I honestly feel I can’t exhume the joy I once held in the site, I will always joke about how I hate it here, I will always joke about anything I dislike, but the love I held for the site at one point was real, and it still is, I want to see improvements because of that.
The consequences of this are quite apparent, I believe most people can tell what occurs when a site feels dead, or when a site feels like there’s a lack of care between friends, people go at each others throats far too often when at the end of the day, it’s just a game, we’re all here to enjoy it, I’m not going to say I’m not a problem ( I’ve just been banned for 3 months for toxicity for crying out loud) and I also make mistakes, but ostracizing players critically for misplays or anything is not the way to go around it, you shouldn’t make people feel uncared for here, whatsoever. Toxicity upticks from the lack of human approach, and I’ve noticed it endlessly, and that’s no way to exist.
Honestly, I can’t sit here and say I know what could be done to remove this dread feeling, perhaps I’ve just been here for too long and other people don’t share this regard, but the way I see it, FoL feels lifeless, like robots playing a computer game, like programmed chatbots discussing with one another. I miss the life in it, I miss the joy in it and I miss FoL.
