Department Initiative & Recent Events Explained

[Telanir 6975]

Over the past few months complaints about staff underperformance or incompetence have been growing and if we are to continue operating as a server these are claims we must take seriously. For several years LotC staff has been running in largely the same fashion, and will likely continue to in the general fashion you imagine. Year after year we have improved on our protocols, on our methods, and community expectation of the staff has grown similarly. We hold each other to far greater standards than we did years ago, and this doesn’t imply that we respect one another—it simply means we expect more from each other to get the same respect.

 

In a way these changes are a response. We are not looking to employ revolutionary change, to empower you to dream bigger and innovate, to metamorphose the mortal plane for greater dimensional capacity or some philosophical rubbish. We are trying to help our staff continue to progress and meet the increasing demand of a growing community. For the greater part of this year every team has more or less functioned this `new` way regardless yet needed greater definition as many members were simply lost for what to do in tricky situations.

 

Clarity and transparency is the goal here, that each member of the community is aware of how our staff works. Efficiency so that our staff can meet the demands of the growing needs of our community. Direction so that our staff is consistent in policy and in enforcement.

 

CLARITY AND TRANSPARENCY
There was a point at which we recognized that players can’t really tell how the staff works, where the orders come from, and why certain decisions are made. This was a good observation, primarily because we realized that neither do we as a staff understand how exactly we work either. It didn’t take a keen eye to figure out that staff appeared directionless and largely personally goal and/or motivation driven.

 

It began with a restructuring from top-down, with first the Administration undergoing policy reforms, then minor shifts in the GM department, and now global structuring for the majority of LotC staff. The next few points explain how this new staff process works.

 

ACCOUNTABILITY
Our highest priority is staff accountability. Tythus is (as I see it) a very reasonable owner and is not keen on strong-arming his staff to suit his wishes. Instead we are allowed to largely self-operate and self-moderate, beginning with the Administration team. A while back I introduced a set of reforms to the Admin team as can be seen in this document (yes I realize it is strongly worded and takes itself pretty seriously, it wasn’t meant for general eyes anyways) that introduced hard set rules as to our operation.

 

From there on we began to put into effect similar changes to the GM Department and furthermore, the majority of existing staff structure. Since late 2015, we have started to take on more trials, and in addition, more trials failed as well (something that never used to happen, but is now common). GM’s are held to higher standards and players are applying greater pressures for them to match in spirit and conduct. The members of staff that act as problem generators rather than problem solvers will be addressed assertively rather than passively as happened before.

 

STAFF EFFICIENCY
For the greater part, efficiency here is addressed in regards to communication. It used to be that filing a complaint or suggesting a change meant approaching any GM you could trust and hoping that they would a) respond b) communicate this to other staff c) put raw hours into making it happen. You would be correct in assuming that `c` should be happening, but the first to are not necessarily guaranteed and can leave you in limbo.

 

As a community member, if you’ve got an idea or concern that pertains to a certain department, you may now simply address the leadership of that department. From then on, it is their duty to pass on your wishes to their department and discuss it with their management, it guarantees that at the least your concern was heard (as usual, this does not mean the department and/or leadership does not reserve the right to disagree with you).

 

With the progression of these changes, it is possible that we will eventually implement a communication policy, where department leadership would (with their management) document their performance and possible areas of improvement. I believe the first step to improvement is diagnosing the issue, and this has potential to help with that.

 

DIRECTION
A simple experiment to do is to take a jar of various screws and spill it out on a table—notice that pretty much every single screw is going to be pointing in a separate direction. When the staff is internally experiencing this kind of tug-of-war between members (who have equal authority) a painful rift is created. This rift affects not just those members, but their entire department, which in turn affects the well-being of our server as a whole. Implementing a more hierarchical system of management means an increased pressure that previous administrative departments could not handle (sometimes they enjoyed luxuries such as being largely inactive).

 

At this point in time, I physically leave my home to go to an office for work on LotC each weekday. In addition, Pandann & Fireheart work overtime each week to attend to administrative matters. We have administrators that are more active than ever, and it’s time we put them to use.

 

Does this mean that we now enforce tyrannical rule and staff can go rip? No, this is not our goal, this is rather us coming out of shadows and murdering the excuse of past admins that `oh yeah I do a lot of work in the background`. Being a leader does not mean always being right, it means that you love your work enough that swallowing your pride and taking on feedback is more important to you. This is what we are doing as the Administration, we are opening up the floodgates to allow all members of staff (and non-members!) to influence other departments. We are opening up new venues of criticism and feedback (such as the staff complaint forum) where you can voice your concerns.

 

GAME DEPARTMENT
And of course, I would like to make a statement regarding the department we received the most complaints about. There have been issues regarding modreq wait time, bias reports, or otherwise unsatisfactory encounters—as suggested, please report these incidents. But at the same time, you must recognize that the Game Moderators are working long hours and have got a vast array of responsibilities. This kind of daily pressure has put a stress on individuals in the department that has been unfairly critical to them.

 

When a duty central to their job such as modreqs is taking hours to complete regardless of who is in the department, the issue is not in the members! It has to do with the policies, and as it stands an overwhelming amount of decision-making was placed on their shoulders on a day-to-day basis. This is why we are separating roles of department leadership and allowing teams to pick non-GM leadership (with guidance) to run them.

 

Additionally, we are going to be placing a stronger focus on their central duties as in-game enforcement and allow GM’s who want to be further engaged to join multiple departments (yes that’s a thing now!)

 

THE FORUM DEPARTMENT

Truly our forum overlords are not at fault, believe me. Please show them your love and respect as they work hard to keep these forums clean. They accepted orders from above only in relation to a specific post that was being reposted and did not overstep their duties in any other fashion. Thank you for your hard work, keep it up folks.

 

MITTO’S POST

The reason why this is an issue is because mitto’s post is in direct confrontation to staff credibility and direction. As a staff member he commands a certain authority and his posts are attributed some level of legitimacy. As a result, when such a mistake is made it hurts the entirety of staff, both our image and motivation (and therefore productivity), regardless of where we stand.

 

Valid criticisms by staff members are allowed, and generally so as not to promote forum flames or drama the policy is that we discuss these in internal channels so that we can resolve it together quickly and efficiently. A good example of a valid criticism by staff would be Arik’s post, a reasoned and proper argument in a non inflammatory format. However, we most certainly prohibit our staff from making purposefully inflammatory content, especially when it provides no sense of improvement or compromise.

 

As such, mitto’s post was removed.

 

It then came to our attention that certain individuals thought it would be appropriate to begin reposting this to the forums on their accounts. In fact, I believe they knew it wasn’t appropriate, but it could’ve been worth the giggles it generated.

 

These people could not control themselves from reposting and had to be helped cool down with a 10 hour content restriction. (one that has since ended)

 

`NON PROFIT` DISCLAIMER

No, we are not a non-profit. A few people took Dan’s remarks in literal fashion, I ask that you revisit the meaning behind that post. This isn’t our official disposition, this is what we effectively are. LotC doesn’t make nearly enough money to pay out for work, we exist here as a staff exclusively to make sure this server keeps going and in the best ways we know how.

 

For those who have skipped ahead, go back, there’s no tl;dr.

 

 

Thank you for your support and understanding,

~Telanir, your Systems Administrator

[tilly 5115]

First. Yaaaaaaaaaas.

[mmat 7460]

Just now, Telanir said:

MITTO’S POST

 

The reason why this is an issue is because mitto’s post is in direct confrontation to staff credibility and direction. As a staff member he commands a certain authority and his posts are attributed some level of legitimacy. As a result, when such a mistake is made it hurts the entirety of staff, both our image and motivation (and therefore productivity), regardless of where we stand.

 

Valid criticisms by staff members are allowed, and generally so as not to promote forum flames or drama the policy is that we discuss these in internal channels so that we can resolve it together quickly and efficiently. A good example of a valid criticism by staff would be Arik’s post, a reasoned and proper argument in a non inflammatory format. However, we most certainly prohibit our staff from making purposefully inflammatory content, especially when it provides no sense of improvement or compromise.

 

As such, mitto’s post was removed.

~Telanir, your Systems Administrator

 

'Internal channels', are these the same internal channels that are leading half of the GMs to say that they don't care anymore because their opinion feels like it doesn't matter?

 

Your internal channels are literally nothing and the only way to get anything done is to get it into the public. I wish more GMs had Mitto's testicles.

[Shalashask 1112]

3rd for a UK free from the EU

[lemontide331 1615]

does this mean we can start to expect new maps at the start of summer and not after

[AGP 3169]

4 minutes ago, Telanir said:

The reason why this is an issue is because mitto’s post is in direct confrontation to staff credibility and direction. As a staff member he commands a certain authority and his posts are attributed some level of legitimacy. As a result, when such a mistake is made it hurts the entirety of staff, both our image and motivation (and therefore productivity), regardless of where we stand.

Removing the post did more damage than the words written on the page.

 

Also would've been nice to actually notify the people who got a 10 hour post restriction of their post restriction instead of shadow banning them.

[Telanir 6975]

Just now, iMattyz said:

~snip~

 

These internal channels weren't even used. When used, a tangible difference is seen and many staff members can attribute to this. You have to know how to put across your points in a respectful manner to get a job done, that's the way life is.

[mmat 7460]

Just now, Telanir said:

 

These internal channels weren't even used. When used, a tangible difference is seen and many staff members can attribute to this. You have to know how to put across your points in a respectful manner to get a job done, that's the way life is.

 

You and I both know that's not how LoTC works when there's a blissfully unaware upper level. When it comes to this I'm not a person you can BS.

[mitto 2312]

Just now, Telanir said:

 

These internal channels weren't even used. When used, a tangible difference is seen and many staff members can attribute to this. You have to know how to put across your points in a respectful manner to get a job done, that's the way life is.

Don't lie

[Telanir 6975]

1 minute ago, AGiantPie said:

Removing the post did more damage than the words written on the page.

 

Also would've been nice to actually notify the people who got a 10 hour post restriction of their post restriction instead of shadow banning them.

 

Perhaps so, perhaps not, what has happened has happened and we all have learned from it. Both sides have done wrong and now we must both reflect.

 

Just now, iMattyz said:

 

You and I both know that's not how LoTC works when there's a blissfully unaware upper level. When it comes to this I'm not a person you can BS.

 

We both know how LotC used to work, luckily things have changed.

[mmat 7460]

Just now, Telanir said:

We both know how LotC used to work, luckily things have changed.

 

Prove it instead of talking about it then.

[Chaw 964]

G-g--god bless the usa.https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/first_amendment

[AGP 3169]

10 minutes ago, Telanir said:

Our highest priority is staff accountability. Tythus is (as I see it) a very reasonable owner and is not keen on strong-arming his staff to suit his wishes. Instead we are allowed to largely self-operate and self-moderate, beginning with the Administration team. 

 

Does this mean that we now enforce tyrannical rule and staff can go rip? No, this is not our goal, this is rather us coming out of shadows and murdering the excuse of past admins that `oh yeah I do a lot of work in the background`. Being a leader does not mean always being right, it means that you love your work enough that swallowing your pride and taking on feedback is more important to you. This is what we are doing as the Administration, we are opening up the floodgates to allow all members of staff (and non-members!) to influence other departments. We are opening up new venues of criticism and feedback (such as the staff complaint forum) where you can voice your concerns.

I'll believe it when I see it. From my point of view, the primary issue with the way that lotc's staff is structured is that administrators are basically untouchable and complaints about them will never go anywhere as there is no oversight over the administration, except, I suppose, the rest of the administration? How do we deal with a failing administrator? If you don't have any faith in the administration and their "moderation" then your faith in the entire system breaks down and it's safe to say I'm an atheist at this current point in time.

[lawnmowerman 3040]

We're not toddlers I don't know who you think you are fooling here.

[Wrynn 1349]

All going as planned, they don't suspect a thing!

(jk, we're actually trying to make the server better)