New Staff Policy Give Us Your Input.

[Alec 269]

I wouldn't ever go as far to tell a player he's not welcome here for saying something like that as you might hurt their feelings,

You wouldn't tell a player they're not welcome for disrespecting our devotion to the staff? That's not going far enough. If you're honestly bringing feelings into the matter, then forgive me. I almost forgot for a moment that we have no feelings. We are just machines. :P

In all seriousness, I know it's hard to respect staff at times. I had trouble with it myself especially about a year ago. When I saw GMs locked in their channels, I had this stereotypical idea that they were a bunch of snobs hanging around and playing poker, not getting any work done. GMs lock themselves in channels because: Yes. Contrary to popular belief, we do get stuff done, and it's not exactly the kind of fun you could ever really hope for. Other times, we use our teamspeak channels to talk casually and just hang out and have good fun. There is nothing wrong with that.

When we want to be social, we hang out with people our age. But we do not come seeking friendships with the players as much as they should (if they wish to) seek friendships with us. Players should respect the fact that, regardless of us actually being busy or not, we seek friendships or socialization as a regular player would. It just depends on the staff member. We sure don't like being befriended only for our fancy Staff Tags, but because of who we are as people. In the end that's all we are. That's easy enough to wrap around any sized mind, right?

[Secret Lizard President 313]

-Snip-

Just as you have feelings, he/she has feelings as well. Sometimes people don't see their own remarks as disrespectful right away. I don't know about you, but telling someone they're not welcome here is extremely hurtful as this is supposed to be a tight-knit community, especially as most people look up to you since you're the lead developer.

[meg 1994]

When we want to be social, we hang out with people our age. But we do not come seeking friendships with the players as much as they should (if they wish to) seek friendships with us. Players should respect the fact that, regardless of us actually being busy or not, we seek friendships or socialization as a regular player would. It just depends on the staff member. We sure don't like being befriended only for our fancy Staff Tags, but because of who we are as people. In the end that's all we are. That's easy enough to wrap around any sized mind, right?

Exactly what I was saying. We have to remeber that the staff, in the end, are just people like us. We shouldn't be afraid to talk to them, socialize and play games. It isn't right to assume that they should go out of their way to be friends with you, just because they are part of the staff. You have to give a little people, contrary to popular beleif, the staff have lives too, and weren't born to answer all your questions, service you at every waking moment, and fill your modreqs within a second. We need to learn to respect that they are people, and if you want to get to know them and be friends, you have to try. And it really is not that hard, from personal experience, the staff really are a great bunch of people once you really try to get to know them as people. Speaking of which, we need to play some more Feed the Beast Alec! :D

[SkyyoBee 249]

I like these. They are fair and easy do follow for both players and staff.

[Roze 85]

-2 Staff should try not keep to themselves in private channels on teamspeak.

I'm fine with this. However you players aren't allowed to hide in locked channels either.

Right now I see;

- a player hiding in the VAT Private channel, a locked channel.

- a player hiding in the Silver City channel, a locked channel.

- a player hiding in the Teutonic Order channel, a locked channel.

- a player hiding in the Kings Court channel, a locked channel.

Know what hits the hammer on the head?

There's a player hiding in the Hunter channel, a temporary locked channel.

Stop targeting us as bad guys - we aren't sales people trying to sell a product that you don't want.

[Shorsand 2006]

This. While as small and insignificant this may seem, this genuinely is the make or break point for me. Whether the GM that does my modreq is either funny or friendly about it. I like to be in a good mood and I hate it when a GM does my modreq grudgingly and makes me feel bad about askin. Though maybe it shouldnt be as robotic and generic as ‘’Thank you and have a nice day!’’ but just general friendliness, lightheartedness or humour.

My friend modreq'd the other day and the GM left with a "Have a nice night." I forget his name, or else I'd commend him.

[Blundermore 2741]

Number 2 is a must... it is stupid how much GMs spend their time in locked channels at the moment really. I've seen some GMs stay in the same chat with the same group of people for hours on end without once changing at all. Any attempt to contact some of them is not recieved when it is obvious they are not AFK.

No wonder people don't want to aproach GMs, the entire concept of hiding in locked channels all the time just breathes an air of not wanting to be disturbed by "the players".

[Ned Lud 1260]

When rumors are generated regarding members of staff, I want to see our staff man-up to them immediately and publicly. Not several months later, not never. Either claim responsibility or deny it altogether, but let's clear the air. Y'all still have an elephant or two in the room.

[Charlie4vb 26]

-1 Staff should try roleplay more and seek many groups of people to roleplay with.

-2 Staff should try not keep to themselves in private channels on teamspeak.

-3 Staff should try while replying to mod-reqs, reply with a nice demeanor and when ending the modreq should says something in the likes of ‘’Thank you and have a nice day!’’

-4 Players should try to seek out staff, more and not be afraid to ask questions.

-5 Players should try to keep an open mind about the staff.

-6 Players should try to have a nice demeanor while speaking to staff.

I personally disagree with both 1 and 2. As far as i'm concerned, staff should be concerned with what they're there to do. If it's mod req's do mod req's. If it's Coding, do coding. If it's applications, do applications. Anything after that is GM free time and they can spend it how they will. Anything that disrupts a GM from doing what they're meant to as GM is more of a hindrance to the progression of the server than helpful. I don't see what the big deal is about GM's being in private channels. If they don't want to talk to you, then it might be for good reason. If they're blatantly ignoring you and you know for a fact that they're there, that could be a problem.

3, 4, 5, and 6 should go without saying. If you have to be told to be nice, you're doing it wrong. If you have to tell people to be nice YOU'RE doing it wrong as well. Own up to poor administration and management of the staff. Players shouldn't be told to seek out the staff. It's kind of obvious, if you need something ask for it. The staff can't read your mind. If players want to keep an open mind about the staff that's up to them. If they don't want too, that's also their call. We're all people and players here. Number six, really come on. Again, if this is something that needs to be addressed you're doing something wrong. We're all people, players and staff. If you have to address rules like this, maybe we need to walk single file with a child harness on and have parental supervision at all times because this is all incredibly silly.

[Leafwind 38]

From reading how you are speaking to her, I don't blame her from hiding away in a locked teamspeak channel. Shame on you!

Mind you, we are technically players like you. Though we make room of our time in our life to make this server what it is, we are not obligated to spend 24/7 on this server, yet we give up our precious time to make this server something you all can enjoy. If you cannot respect that, you are not welcome here.

Alec, I knew as I was posting this that it would be read as if I was being more critical than I was actually feeling. Also, I would have said, "I respect the fact that you have your own personality because I tend to be the same way (But that's why I'm not a staff member)" but that would depreciate the fact that admins should get out and get to know the players. The statement Liri made, "I don't particularly wish to be in an open channel where everybody and anybody can join it. I personally, am not a social person and have a huge dislike for large groups. Hence why I stick to my own small, social group," was what I based my thoughts on. Am I wrong to bring this to her attention? And if you say I was being rude, I don't know how else to say it without invalidating myself. Also, I did not say anything about the amount of time the staff should spend on the server, and don't appreciate you saying I am not welcome here because it renews the animosity between the staff and us, the players.

Edit: I see a lot of responses saying that the admins shouldn't be required to socialize. I never said that, rather I said it's a responsibility. Why do you think politicians visit all kinds of people? Because then more people will like them! Also, I never said that a staff member should have his or her position removed just because he or she doesn't like to socialize. There's much more to the staff position than that, but I said this because distanced relations are what's really causing all these arguments between the players and staff.

[Roze 85]

That's because GM's are depended on by players, unlike players depending on other players. Someone hiding in a temporary hunter channel? Let them. But players might need a GM's help, and to do that they need to access their channel, they wouldn't be worrying about joining a random guild or staff team's chat unless their question was relevant to their position on the server. Perhaps unlock every staff channel, but not every channel.

Player's can't private message us upon request for help? That must be too much to ask.

[Lirinya 4021]

But players might need a GM's help, and to do that they need to access their channel,

Simply put, false. That's what PMs and pokes are for. If it's an issue that needs to be discussed, it doesn't hurt to say 'Can I speak to you for a moment?'

[VonAulus 2082]

I would like to ask for the demotion of Respiren. He made a comment in the Q and A in which he said he is only sticking around to ban a few people. That is not the dedication of a true staff member. He obviously does not have the server as a whole as a priority, just his own personal schemes. Before you give me a warning or say no evidence, there were many others in the channel that may heard him say that. Do not deny it.

I hope you do not just sweep this skeleton under the rug.

Why was my post ignored?

[Sultan 3953]

Why was my post ignored?

It was not it was brought to our attention.

[Ned Lud 1260]

Nation leaders are only as powerful as the players and characters that support them. If you've got a problem with a GM being a nation leader, rally your mob and challenge them for power or break off into the wilderness and do your own thing. If a leader is successful and powerful, it's because they've earned the respect and the following of enough nationals to call the shots. At any moment they may slip up and lose this favor and it's all over from there. Doesn't matter if they're a GM or an Admin or the owner of the server, whatever. If they botch their role-play, their reign can quickly end.

As for Respiren, I would imagine that the players and staff members that have worked with him on a daily basis for over a year now can better gauge his devotion to the server than a few players that saw him say something on some thing.