I've just been talking to someone on my server who was against the master server rules. Seemed respectable; he typed properly, and he was actually good at match, which was the gametype we were playing. But he had no idea what a "master server" was until a player and I just explained it to him.
Not everyone who understands the workings of the master server is a "noob", as I think we stereotype too often. Clearly this was a person simply into casually playing SRB2 online; he had no interest in the forum community, and he probably only visited srb2.org every once in a while. Actually, not probably -- that is the case, or else he would already have known about the master server rules before our discussion. The question is, how did he not know about the rules?
The answer is simple. Where do you see "Master Server" on srb2.org's navigation? You don't. Here the SRB2 download is in plain sight, with ms.srb2.org as its default master server address, yet from the main navigation of srb2.org and their own game, they have been given no clue as to how the master server works, or that there are even rules. Since the reason why most hosts don't agree to stop hanging out is they are convinced no rules exist, I think one of the biggest problems clearly is the fact we don't have Master Server in srb2.org's navigation; a stupidly obvious mistake that could have been fixed in a matter of seconds.
So while we're at this whole radical master server revival thing, can we please add a link to the Master Server in srb2.org's navigation? Also, we might as well add a notice on the master server page that says "You will need to be approved before you can host games on this master server. If you disagree with these rules, here is a list of other master servers:"
Because apparently organizing our community documentation is totally our strong point.