The Role of Specs as Guides

I watched an inexperienced player send Skuttle after Skuttle towards a target. The enemy knew the Skuttle existed. The player did not know that Skuttles can jump. I said

Antelope:skuttle can JUMP

That is it. I was kicked by SirMaverick.

Upon reconnecting, I said

Antelope: that was not a cheat
Antelope: that was a user-needed tactic
Antelope: i have been told over and over by devs to be helpful with new people

To which the reply was

SirMaverick be quiet or be banned

What is the role of specs as helpers? I'm not talking about cheating or revealing hidden information. I'm talking about telling people stuff about game mechanics they should know. Was I in the wrong?

I think specs should talk about anything what is in the current manual.

At least for this they shouldn't get kicked or bananed or something else.

[3:26:05 PM] <[0K]SirMaverick> posted in the thread
[3:26:13 PM] <[0K]SirMaverick> you were kicked for giving ingame info
[3:26:20 PM] <[0K]SirMaverick> never do this as spec
[3:26:32 PM] <[NC]Antelope> They KNEW the skuttles were there
[3:26:42 PM] <[NC]Antelope> He was purposely blasting them one-by-one with the ship
[3:26:53 PM] <[NC]Antelope> he had just killed 3 in a row

Also, I guess it wasn't necessarily the kick that pissed me off. It was the blatant censorship. The threat of a BAN if I talked about it anymore? Seriously, what the actual fuck?

You rejoined and continued talking. The "threat" was more like a hint to remind you that you have been kicked for a reason and should not repeat your miss-behavior. Also, watch your language - this can also be a reason to be kicked.

Rick: That's not true. ZK servers are public and newbies are welcome. Feel free to help them if they are really don't know what they are doing.
This was not the case in this particular situation.

> No other specs were told to stop talking.
The action take was specific to your miss-behavior.

@ALL: This kick was not about tips for a new player.

Your assumption from the first post is wrong.

> The player did not know that Skuttles can jump.

He knew. He used them in past. It didn't work because the target was a ship close to coast. Skuttles can move into shallow water but not jump in water.

> please clearly define the boundary of what a spectator can/cant do to help a genuine new person

It's hard/impossible to define such a border.
can: general advices how to start etc.
cant: help during game deciding combat situations
There is a border "somewhere" in between.

> Licho told me to stop harrasing players

That's right.

Here is why I am passionate about this: no one except you got offended by what I said. No one thought I was spec cheating or doing anything wrong. You were the only one, and kicked me without warning. Ion himself (the person my advice would have hurt worst) didn't care.

I spend a lot of time speccing (more time speccing than playing ATM since I have been doing a lot of work from home) and during that time I help a lot of noobs. I tell them how to set up their econ, how to use fight command instead of move command, and the special abilities of units.

If I cannot non-specifically give information on units (information that is in the in-game manual, no less!!!) then everyone suffers. I don't get to help noobs (something I enjoy) and noobs don't learn about the game. Everyone loses because now they get to play with noobs all the time.

> Ion himself (the person my advice would have hurt worst) didn't care.
Rules apply always, not just when someone complains.

> and during that time I help a lot of noobs.
That's fine.

> If I cannot non-specifically give information on units

You have been kicked because of the combat situation. Not because of giving general advices to new players. There is a difference.