Staff Purge

[ski_king3 0]

-snip-

 

Everblue, there was a time where I would have agreed with you. However, I have to say that I pretty firmly disagree. I think part of this disagreement arises from they way you wrote your response, which makes me think that the point of this was a total staff purge rather than an inactive staff purge, but some stands regardless.

 

For one, I would agree firmly that it would be absolutely ridiculous for you to be asked to step down, or remove yourself from all of your various teams. You've been staff for basically forever, done a pretty solid job, and always returned from short interludes with activity and diligence. However, you are a huge exception to the norm, perhaps the only person I've seen grow inactive repeatedly for short periods of time then become active once more.

 

Most staff members join a staff team, enjoy it a lot at first, and have a lot of free time. But as they (normally) get older, they get more responsibilities, get less enjoyment out of being staff, and end up remaining on the team for power and prestige without doing the proper job. These staff members admittedly have not killed the server, and usually the most egregious offenders are eventually removed, but that doesn't mean that they're helpful. The server survives, but it does not excel. It won't excel so long as there is a large number of players with responsibility within which an arguably minuscule number really do anything to help out. I'm probably dramatizing the inactivity of the staff a bit, but you and I both know that there are a ton of staff members who could easily be cut with little to no negative consequence.

 

Anyways, the last thing I have to say is that every staff position I've held has been pretty easy and straightforward. MAT admittedly required a lot of time and knowledge about magic, but that position no longer exists and hopefully never will again. Being staff on LotC isn't very hard, and frankly, most people are capable of serving on most positions. With a good leader to facilitate transitions (which is admittedly something that not all teams have), anyone can conceivably do a good job on any staff position so long as they have the time.

 

I doubt I've swayed you, but I hope that you know both that you are certainly not one of the members highlighted by this, and that you give staff members and the difficulties associated with the positions more credit than they're really worth (although again, you tend to go above and beyond, and are outside the norm). Peace homie.

[DrakeHaze. 2524]

I've watched quietly as the same few GMs are on throughout the week, enjoying themselves and what not. Then I see some GMs that just come on to do their modreq quota. Global Moderating shouldn't be like a job where you just come on to keep your boss happy, and I'm pretty sure if I took a week off from work it'd come out of my sick days (Which staff don't have?). Eventually if I keep getting sick I wouldn't be getting much work done and would eventually be let off because I must have some serious illness. Point is I've seen so many GMs work their asses off at the start, and be all happy about it.. to drifting off and not seeming to enjoy what they are doing or lose the thrill of it. I've actually noticed one or two gms that do just that..

Don't want to purge? Dats fine. I suggest a sick days thing, only allowing 2 weeks per 3 months or so (excluding exams and shizz) to be offline from the server, helping out on the forums does not count as activity, we have forum mods for that.
I know how it works, you don't want to see your friend get removed from the team or whatever because he/she has something irl to do.. but as OP says if they are truly that good at what they did they wouldn't have a problem coming back when they actually have time for the server to reapply again. There was one person that had a staff position saved for them on their return if memory serves me right..

[Chikachu 402]

Okay, I have a bit of a thing to note on this, and since I am a Gm, that's what I'll be focusing on. For one thing, what exactly defines a GMs "quota". Modreqs? Because i can assure you, and any of the others can too, that I certainly try to do modreqs and claim ban reports, but unfortunately I don't always catch all of them. More often than not, when i can do modreqs, i can't type fast enough to get them before one of the others. Same goes for ban reports.

Half of the things gms do are privately requested too. How would you count them?

And in the case of people like me, who work eight hours five days a week, have no computer, no internet, and got to a library every day to type their heart out messaging five people at once then go home and sit on skype and the forums for hours, even downloading mc chat for android just to try and make modreq quota and still can't make it... do they get kicked off of a volunteer position because their real life is crap?

If any of the admins or gms didn't care about the server they probably WOULDN'T be here. Why would they waste time being pmd and pmd and raged at and harassed day in and day out if they didn't really want to help? Believe me, in the case of gms at least I can say that it is VERY difficult to do the job. Not because of complicated commands or difficult judgement calls, though those are plenty tough. But you have to have the right emotional balance. You have to be confidant in yourself, confidance not just bravado, to be able to take it if half the server hates you for something. For people spreading rumors about you behind your back, and ou have to posses that incredibly rare ability to not hold a grudge. If you can find enough people who can do that, maybe you can consider wiping out those who can now.

Piece said. Probably should have waited until the morning but it's too late now.

[Mephistophelian 977]

Is it me, or do I only see staff team members defending themselves on this. The entire Playerbase which has posted here has agreed to the purge....except the 'staff'. I am not saying it's a bad thing, but why should the staff be worried if, when they prove they are still good, they can easily be re-administered into their positions? Do they /fear/ that they might not get re-administrated? If so, are they then just defending themselves because they want to keep the power/permissions/privilege that comes with being a staff? So many questions, but only the staff can answer these....which they will, albeit very defensively and in their advantage completely...

But, on the other hand, we must look at the staff who are genuinely good. Why take the hassle of removing good staff when they are just going to come back, therefor wasting time? For those staff who are good (in my eyes), I won't point out your names for fear of making other staff mad at me, but you know who you are. You are the ones who I have thanked a lot, and said that you were either quick, friendly, professional or all three. Anyway, what I am saying is I am on the fence, but I am falling off towards the +1 side, for this argument.

Sooo....

+1

[Lego XBOX 915]

This is rather quite silly. I would agree to kick off those that are inactive, but that is not the easiest thing to determine.

 

Maybe you would all be happy to know that the Media Team has done two purges in the past few months to remove the inactive?

 

In any case, for those saying this is what everyone thinks speak for yourself.

 

And, for those amused at how it's only staff defending themselves… what would you expect? And as a Media Team member, being staff or not gives me no extra power/permissions, so I think such reasons to defend my position are mute.

 

Everblue made good points, especially the fact that people have to respect the staff more… we are volunteers.

[Valentino MC: Mau5noize 1094]

 

I always find posts like this humorous. Mainly because of the way they are written; as if the staff owes you their time. They don't owe you Sh**. They give up their free time to do something they love to do; help others by maintaining/managing a quality environment for RP. GOD FORBID they take a week or two, or a month off to handle more important priorities in their real life. Sorry your life isn't as bustling at the moment and you feel neglected that on your free time, while you play, someone else isn't sacrificing all of theirs to hold your hand and walk you through your RP/MC problems.

 

Now this is assuming that some of the staff are inactive and not doing anything LOTC relate. But remember, just because you don't hear from a staff member, doesn't mean they aren't doing something for this server. For instance, and this is relevant as the timing and status of the server is the same, when we transitioned to Anthos; there was a period of time where half the staff was thought to be inactive, including myself. Well in fact, we were putting in 6-12 hours a day Voxeling our little fingers away and planting trees throughout the map. That beautiful landscape that oren was built on, you think that was MC generated? No some amazing staff member put hours into its perfection, *cough *cough "me" *cough *cough. So for all you know, they could be putting in hours to writing transition lore, fine tuning/testing plugins, going over the landscape of 4.0, and planning new events for the new map. Not everything is done to your face/computer screen.

 

Now i am completely unbias. I had no problem removing GMs who i considered "friends" that i found as lazy or not putting in some effort. But there is a difference between getting over comfortable in a position/Being lazy and having other priorities arise that take precedent. For the later, it isn't fair to remove someone who has other responsibilities and request some time off. In the real world it doesn't happen that way in a paid job atmosphere, so what makes you think its ok for it to happen in your fantasy volunteer world?

 

For those saying "remove the staff now before 4.0" "nows the time". Yeah lets do that, lets remove experienced staff members who know how to handle map transitions; including bug reviews, region reviews, region issues, exploits, log block checks, land claims, and the vast majority of questions that will flood through Modreq and forum posts. Lets let someone who knows nothing about this, who would still be considered in training, work out the kinks. NO. That is ridiculous, staff shouldn't be replaced, staff should be added. Yes fill in time zones, yes add more staff members to certain jobs, and yes warn/remove those who have vanished without a heads up. But a purge? Get off your high horse. I can promise you this; and i would know as i served for 20 months on this staff, from GM to Admin, that once you get that nice title; you will be super GM for about a week or 2, then you find your maintenance zone and put it on cruise control. I've only seen a couple staff members actually keep it at 100% 80% of the time, the rest usually run around 60% for 99% and put in 100 when pressed for discipline. It is a curse; it happens to GMs to Admins, you burn out. And yes, they should take the responsibility to step down as I did, but a purge is overboard. Warning first, explanations, reasons; if a staff member is just being lazy or uninterested then yes give them the boot. But if they need a break for a couple weeks or a month to rejuvenate the moderating juices or handle some IRL duties then let them, cause i guarantee, unless you have no life whatsoever outside this server, that there will come a time when you will need some time off and a little break to maintain your sanity. 

[Hiebe 2493]

Go Mau go!

[Mephistophelian 977]

-snip-

Good points and writing. You have changed my view!

[Lago 2572]

And who exactly is going to do this "audit", considering you're suggesting the admins are fired (one of which owns the server) as well as the rest of the staff? Some silly "player committee" of people who think they know what being a GM's like with no experience whatsoever?

Let's fire all our experts, guys! And then replace them with... um...

[Draeris 3124]

And who exactly is going to do this "audit", considering you're suggesting the admins are fired (one of which owns the server) as well as the rest of the staff? Some silly "player committee" of people who think they know what being a GM's like with no experience whatsoever?

Let's fire all our experts, guys! And then replace them with... um...

 

You mister, should lower your arrogant writing.

 

Furthermore, I agree and disagree.

The staff should be put on a more higher standard, but I do believe that they have the right to solve their real life issues first.

[Samson Option 9652]

You mister, should lower your arrogant writing.

 

Furthermore, I agree and disagree.

The staff should be put on a more higher standard, but I do believe that they have the right to solve their real life issues first.

*** for tat

The pot calling the kettle black

 

He is speaking from actual experience of the failure that was the Asulon Improvement Committee.

[Dyrr 137]

Do you believe the server is in such a state that something as radical as a staff purge is necessary? So long as the applications get done and the modreqs get answered I don't think this is that needed. At least whenever I log on I only see 1-2 modreqs that need to be answered and I have not seen applications pile up from more than a day or so. I do not believe this is a good idea as the costs of training new staff would far outweigh any benefits that might come out of it.

 

Every time I make a modreq, the only 2 people who've answered them REALLY fast are you and Crayfishchris. I've literally waited hours before, for a modreq to be completed whilst there are up to 4 GM's online.

 

+1 to this post, but I don't feel ALL of the staff should be purged. Only some.

[Dreek 1633]

I've already given my rant on this privately. but if people are not doing their job for more than a month remove them and put in others who are active and already know what to do.

[Heero 4092]

Let's do it.

*Tinfoiling intensifies*

[Campor 28]

I don't have much opinion on replacing for inactivity- If someone isn't doing their job as effectively as someone else could, then fine- But someone mentioned having 'terms' for the staff.

 

No.

 

Terms are absolutely ridiculous and pointless. What that means is if you have a good set of staff who are all active, you'd replace them just because they've been active for a set amount of time. Then, you take a gamble on the next set. You never want to do that and it's a terrible idea. Keep the people on-staff who do their jobs and generally help the server best. Don't replace them just because.