Frequently Asked Questions: Admin Edition

[501warhead 1796]

I figured this was a good time to just go ahead and write down some of the questions & their answers that I've been receiving over the past week or so so that these inquiries don't have to be answered so often and folks get an idea about all of these different subjects.

---

 

 

New Map?/Is Atlas close to being over?/Is September Prince going to end the map?

No. The new map's development will be communicated well in advance and we are no where near the time to do such. Atlas will last for a while still. Sorry to rain on your parade Aesopian, wonks are pretty cool though

 

Is X going to be in the next map?

Can't tell you. It's far too early to begin any form of rule rework planning.

 

The server is dying

I already answered this one but the short of it is; it's only dying if you believe it is. We'll take steps to improve the playing of the game but to be gloom and doom about the server "dying" is really just your perspective on things, not a reality.

 

War Rule changes when?

War rule changes are something we'll be talking about hopefully soon when we finish up handling some internal issues (promotion of a few directors and working with the GM team to finish up a few of their projects). You should see more about this but it depends on my schedule & availability. Ideally we can have a nice, friendly conversation about it.

 

Ok, but none of you are pvp admins so you're going to make terrible war rules like you already have

That's harsh. The war rules were an experiment that we've maintained poorly, but we want to expand upon it. Our ideal is that war can happen but we would like to pursue lesser tiers of war and increase the amount of available casus belli, so not every war ends up with one side feeling insane amounts of stress and so both parties can enjoy it more. As stated above, it'll be something we communicate.

 

Also, fight me.

 

Territories when?/Nation Applications when?/Tile applications when?

Territories is on hold until 1.13 is more stable and will potentially launch with 1.13 or shortly after. There will be public posts & the works explaining what the plugin does. In the meanwhile some GMs are drafting up ideas for how to handle a system for claiming land.

 

When are inactive nations being removed?

As soon as we get the tools to prove they're actually inactive because timezones are a weird construct that tend to not line up. We wanted to remove two nations when we launched the map but they were proven to be more active than initially thought due to timezones. So we're basically not removing nations until we can actually prove that they're inactive + give them a warning to improve or be removed

 

When is freebuild being removed?

Likely not this map, though aspects of it will change over time hopefully with territories being released. Territories may be a success, it may not be, but hopefully it is at least something we can try and will work for us.

 

Why is the Administration bad?

Why are you bad? Heh, gottem...

 

Communication?/Wheres the Communication?

You're looking at it

 

For real though

Ok, we're attempting to pursue a new idea that will be hopefully formally announced soon to kind of explain it but we want to pursue having a Community Manager (not an admin position) which will assist us with both communicating over various media (livestream organization, community meetings) but actually yell at us when we need to communicate more. Like a coach for talking. It's probably sad that we need this but it's fiiiine.

 

Limited Creative?/LC?/Can we get a limited form of creative for building?

For this map, likely not. We're trying to pursue a survival-focused aspect augmented with resource island. It's annoying, I know - but LC hasn't really shaped up well (dupe glitches, ahoy!)

 

What about fly?

We'd have to do it on a per-region basis like LC but it's something we're considering if the land claiming thing/territories comes out.

 

The map is too large!

We know

 

What are you doing about it?

Planning for the future, also looking into routes to make foot traffic better without falling into what, we believe, is a fast travel trap that causes some issues. But if it has to be done to improve the server it will be.

 

The rules aren't that good!/I got banned for something not in the rules!

The rules are currently being worked on to add more to them, but at times we enforce the spirit of the law over the letter of the law. It usually depends heavily on context and intent and is not usually applied to random cases, instead you might find that even though you're within the "rules" if you're approaching something in a toxic/terrible manner you may be reprimanded. Surprise surprise, acting like an asshole gets you in trouble.

 

But I feel I was target banned!

You can make an anonymous staff report or contact the Game Team Director.

 

Anonymous reports aren't handled!

Anonymous reports are usually handled in a timely fashion if they're on specific members of a team, we try to sort them as quick as we can (we dont always look at them immediately!). Reports on directors or administrators take longer as a lot of internal discussion has to happen between the directors or the rest of the un-reported administration as to the subject.

 

GMs are shit

you're shit

 

That's not a response

You may not always like them but the GMs are here to help the server. They enforce the rules they think are right and try to make the server a better place. If you think a moderator could do a better job you should provide them or their management with constructive feedback and you might find your words listened to a bit better.

 

It's better to be a freebuild than a nation

You aren't wrong and it's something that we want to resolve with territories which at this point in time is soon to be if it already isn't a meme. In the meanwhile just hang in there

 

Give Aesopian region perms

get off my account aeso and no, you're not getting them

 

New admin?

As stated in my 1.13 post (I snuck it in there, you should read more posts!) we're looking for a new admin. It's from within the staff, so apply if you wish. Being or having been in a moderation position (LT/GM/FM) is a plus. The selection will likely not be for a few months as school is starting soon. We look for candidates who have a strong motivating drive as the first priority as pulling on an Administrator who doesn't or can't pull their weight as part of the team causes us even more delays. No, we aren't looking for an echobox; if you have the work ethic you'll be considered regardless of your ability to type long sentences or click very fast.

 

X should be admin

The requirements for being an eligible candidate is to be on staff. Outside of that we get frequent recommendations but we are watching at all times looking for a proper candidate. It'll be based on those observations, not recommendations

 

Unban X

We stand by the bans we've made. Sometimes we don't communicate the reasonings well enough, and hopefully this can change for the future, but we've pursued bans for reasons we believe are very valid and very warranted. It's unlikely making forum posts will change someone's ban time unless evidence that absolves them of guilt is presented.

 

That's dumb

We wouldn't have made the decision in the first place if we didn't believe it was justified.

 

You're dumb

 

I don't like administrator X

We're sorry that you feel that way but kicking admins off the team whenever there is unrest is counterproductive to what we aim to do. As much as you might dislike a specific administrator replacing such a member will take weeks or months, detracting from the over all work that we do as a team and ultimately causing more issues than the ones usually presented in such a case that is made in this way. Every admin fills a role and is a pick we spend a lot of time discussing, planning, and making; it's unlikely an administrator you dislike is going anywhere soon. Instead; provide constructive feedback to the administrator and do so with an open mind. There may be things you don't know that could change your perception.

 

Oh wait, that's reasonable. Ya nvm, fuck that guy.

 

But that guy is you

Ya? Fuck him still. What did I ever do for myself?

 

All admins have to put in 30 hour days on lotc to make things happen at the rate I want them to happen

Unfortunately, our schedules fluctuate. While it's great to want to expect admins to be present all the time for lotc at the end of the day replacing an admin after a bit of inactivity would mean the team would rotate at a rate comparable to the Event Team. When an admin leaves it creates a massive vacuum of work to pick up for the existing members and constantly having a rotating administration would stall out and crush any hope of progress or change. When it comes to the role we can't value activity over dedication; if someone wants to continue to do the role and they at least put in a fair amount of time then that is preferable to starting the recruitment process over again.

 

NEW: You're all unapproachable

My discord is to the left (in a box to the left to the left). Add me if you need to talk, I usually respond when im not working (5PM EDT - 10PM EDT weekdays, ~8AM EDT - ~12PM EDT weekends). If I know what you're adding me about already and I know you're just coming to me to try to get a reversal of a decision that's valid I might not add you. That's about it.

 

NEW: What does each admin do?

Telanir: Telanir is the Administrative chairman. It doesn't mean he has more authority than the rest of us but it means he focuses the time he has on trying to ensure the administration runs smoothly and oversees the induction of new admins to the team after we collectively vote on our new member

Me: Honestly nothing tbh I'm the guy focused on Strategy, which means how we can grow and improve as a server. New players are a big focus but it's also about improving retention.

Flamboyant: Our lore administrator, he's focused on working on and maintaining lore while being our resident lore expert that we poke when all of us other admins have questions

Knox: Knox has focusing on communication + strategy, filling in for me with my tighter schedule when I have to fly off into devland and fix some plugin stuff.

 

NEW (Not admin but w.e): Bring back nexus

Nexus, as a plugin, is never returning. We may attempt to retry some of the ideas of nexus but do so in a less invasive, more RP-friendly way. Time will tell if the dev team has enough time for this.

 

Why are you still here?

 

We've heard this before

Yes, you probably have. Unfortunately, time is an important and often lacking resource that is taken up quite frequently by trying to micromanage the various explosions and fires that happen both on the server and in the community. Between fixing server problems (3-4 days of headaches and it's still not fixed) to trying to respond to the latest of the forum panics these things tend to drag out quite heavily. As things quiet down you'll notice our productivity usually goes up. We tend to value work over talk, so communication is often poor while we try to resolve things.

---

 

I'm a bit of a sarcastic asshole, but I hope this answered some questions. Have a great evening, I'll be out for a few hours getting some much needed groceries. This may be expanded upon if I think of anything else.

[L0rdLawyer 2272]

Reading!

[thesaintjaleel 792]

Like I believe I said in another post, there should be more war goals other than to displace playerbases for land you're never gonna use - im sure there are many other appealing wargoal choices that could improve the war system.

Other than that I have no problem with this post, oh and maybe add back nexus and tweak it a bit?

[501warhead 1796]

Just now, Licorish said:

Like I believe I said in another post, there should be more war goals other than to displace playerbases for land you're never gonna use - im sure there are many other appealing wargoal choices that could improve the war system.

Other than that I have no problem with this post, oh and maybe add back nexus and tweak it a bit?

 

As stated above, I want to see more levels of war that don't include destruction & support them with increased casus belli + casus belli system revamps. It's a matter of figuring out what those goals are that will take discussion, planning, etc.

[Unwillingly 18096]

HALF OF THESE ARENT EVEN QUESTIONS WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU.

[Vaynth 3005]

This is a good communication post +1

[501warhead 1796]

3 minutes ago, Unwillingly said:

HALF OF THESE ARENT EVEN QUESTIONS WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU.

 

I write rules, not follow them

 

?

[ScreamingDingo 20568]

admins are gay tm

[thesaintjaleel 792]

5 minutes ago, 501warhead said:

 

As stated above, I want to see more levels of war that don't include destruction & support them with increased casus belli + casus belli system revamps. It's a matter of figuring out what those goals are that will take discussion, planning, etc.

Oh ok go off

 

[501warhead 1796]

1 minute ago, GrimReaper98 said:

admins are gay tm

 

agreed

[Medvekoma 2073]

 

Seriously though, I think you should open up a discord chat about the war rules and ideas. Pretty sure there'd be at least a dozen people interested in a civil discussion.

 

On territories, why not let nations claim tiles like they did in Axios?

 

PS: You'll have to wait for the upvote, wasted all my upvotes on people trashing the war system in that other thread.

[501warhead 1796]

 

Stay classy, LotC.

[Dizzy771 900]

Might I suggest an addition to the FAQ? The number one thing I always hear is "What does each admin do?" Sure you can't reveal everything but there must be some sort of break down of what everyone handles within the administration. 

 

[Man of Respect 5471]

I changed my mind and I think that Nexus is amazing now... we should have an official votation to have it brought back come next map or something with all the PvP stuff it had, maybe a little more nerfed without diamond armor. It made up for a healthy economy and great stuff to do besides some stuff here and there (timers were fine and created more value to specific items, my personal issue was energy, but as far as I recall, it was put on existance to counter the lack of crafting timers)

 

[501warhead 1796]

5 minutes ago, Dizzy771 said:

Might I suggest an addition to the FAQ? The number one thing I always hear is "What does each admin do?" Sure you can't reveal everything but there must be some sort of break down of what everyone handles within the administration. 

 

 

Added

1 minute ago, Man of Respect said:

I changed my mind and I think that Nexus is amazing now... we should have an official votation to have it brought back come next map or something with all the PvP stuff it had, maybe a little more nerfed without diamond armor. It made up for a healthy economy and great stuff to do besides some stuff here and there (timers were fine and created more value to specific items, my personal issue was energy, but as far as I recall, it was put on existance to counter the lack of crafting timers)

 

 

Nexus, as a plugin, is never returning. We may attempt to do some of the concepts it had however in a better, more RP friendly way. We will see if this is a reality we have the time for. But ya, nexus' code was like watching a stage 4 parkinsons patient try to paint within lines