OSGrid survives simply because is has so much support. It's quite amazing it has the support that it does really, given the contemptuous attitude that has been shown towards residents on occasion. When the asset server went down in 2014 taking the grid offline for six months many were incensed that not only were there no proper backups for those servers, but that the grid was hiding behind its status as a test grid. That's fair enough when they allow people to connect for free, or to use the grid fro free, but the fact remains that the grid is constantly soliciting donations to keep going. Nothing wrong with this at all, but surely with this comes a quid pro quo to do the utmost to secure people's inventories? Since that 2014 disaster, I am unsure that the grid has implemented a comprehensive plan to ensure the safety and security of resident's inventories.
Many left the grid at that time, and many very talented people did not return, and many of us who still use OSGrid no longer contribute financially as it's felt that this just rewards the entitled behaviour of those who run the grid with a seemingly cavalier attitude towards residents.
Then there are the seemingly arbitrary application of the rules. I get that often we only hear one side of a story, but the fact that so many have very similar complaints warrants that some note is taken of them. I know of some residents landing in hot water with a senior admin as the result of completely hearsay accusations where if that admin hadn't been so gullible and actually read the screed, (that had been widely distributed beforehand) it would have been immediately obvious that the complainant couldn't string together a logical thread, and that some of the claims were ludicrous. I also know of someone who was banned simply because an admin suspected that they were an alt of someone - merely suspected that is, not proven. Okay, according to the rules, the grid can do that, but I do feel that when a grid runs on resident's donations then residents themselves should have some say on how the grid is run.
If OSGrid were to face a defunding campaign there would soon be changes. It wouldn't take much, and whilst I doubt a democracy would be established, I do think that something like that could result in clearer terms of service, actually written down and hopefully also implemented fairly and equally without fear or favour.
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