Community Q & A

[SpikedRocker]

It has come to the attention of myself and the other BD's that people have been confused and/or concerned by several decisions we've been making or have allowed to been made. I have asked people to send me their thoughts, questions, concerns, and/or gripes about how things have been going. Here are the following questions and responses. This is a wall of text, no there will not be a TL;DR, appreciate the time and effort that was made to make this happen.

 

How much inactivity does it require to warrant a warning/demotion?

While we do not have any strict written down formula for demotions on any rank, the AO rank has a bit more complications to it than say SA or CA. For specifically AO's, we typically reach out via PM or meetings in TS. Get an idea of what is going on with said person. Sometimes they know they've been slacking due to personal reasons and stuff but know they are moving on from that and can resume full activity soon after that meeting. Other times they've been so into something else they didn't even notice and just needed the reminder. If said person seems to continue the lack of activity we will then be more direct and saying hey you need to get "such and such" done or moving or we will seek to remove you. We obviously do a more diplomatic route but in the case of explaining it, brevity is necessary. Then after that we will seek a vote to remove if necessary. We typically would like to have a unanimous vote amungst the BD's in this matter as it is kind of a big deal and if its not unanimous there are cases where we will allow small extensions to hopefully correct the matter.

 

It is never good that we have to remove an AO from their position. They do have a vital role to fill and removing someone from it creates a void and many times a tension within the community that we would much rather avoid if we can. We know that this is not at all possible for every scenario but it is a last resort method in dealing with many situations.

 

Why is having a slight excess of AOs bad? It's not like they need to be paid or anything. More workers = more ideas and effort being put out

It is my belief you can have "too many cooks in the kitchen". In the several times of me running a community I have had too many cooks. Someone would go and make a change in a server, maybe forget to document it, something breaks and then the person's responsibility it is for that server has no clue what happened or why and it may be longer than usual to get it fixed. Yes documentation would help in that scenario too but if its not necessary to have I'd rather deal with less. This actually was the case when I was an AO here and there was plugins that I had no clue what they were doing, the guy who put them there did, but I did not want to mess with something that I had no clue of what was going on to where I could make it worse.

 

As far as the ideas part of this, this is where the CA's do become the factor. It kinda is their primary role to give the ideas as well and many ideas that we've put forth do come from the CA meetings.

 

Why won't we just finally let TTT kick the bucket?

This was actually brought up in the most recent CA meeting. There are a few people who do want TTT to succeed as it was a long standing server for SG. There was a few ideas brought up from within the meeting to give it one last chance. More details will come out on that as they get developed further. I can tell you that we are struggling with that decision and we do want to give people who do enjoy TTT the opportunity to help it.

 

Is the only possible way for a BD to get demoted is stepping down?

No this is not the case. It is extremely rare, but it has happened in the past. There has been times where the lack of activity of one BD has resulted in their demotion. It may have not looked as such from the view point of members or admins, but it happens.

 

Why are BDs selected by BDs?

While this may seem to be the case, it really is not. We do reach out feelers to AO's to get opinions on the matter. I guess the point here is that they don't get a strong vote? Well that is the case. There is a ceiling here at SG and at some point there is going to be where a few people get to select a person to a role. The points get made and voting still occurs. We try to make it a fair decision for everyone involved. There is not been any kind of bullying or posturing involved when decisions like this come up and we do take in to many opinions into account. Its kind of like the admin application process, a lot of input is given but ultimately few people actually make the decision. Its what we are comfortable with.

 

What specific qualities turn someone into being BD worthy?

From my perspective and I believe others share this, they need to be well rounded both in the servers and the forums. They also need to be really good with working with others and wording their thoughts correctly and in a professional manner. While this hasn't always been the case in the past due to needing more focus in one particular area, it is my belief that the BD needs to be able to handle any type of problem in any given situation. This takes a lot of experience and effort in several areas. The phrase I like to use I've modified to reflect this stance is "Jack of all trades, master of them all." Yes there are things that we aren't going to know or do well with, but that's where the others help teach and support each other. Not everyone can do this role, not everyone is suited to do it, some people need to be trained in some areas.

 

Can you describe the weekly work that the BDs must do to keep the community going? What are the specific differences between the PO and the BDs in how they work/manage/do things?

Most of the work we end up doing is managing the AO's making sure they have the tools they need to do their jobs. We organize them so they know where they need to be going and help if needed. There are some things that AO's cannot do and this is the other half of the job. Example being the website stuff. AO's have no access to the website end of things. That is kind of where a ton of my effort recently has been with the domain move. We also do have to manage the subscriber system a little bit (more recently with plugins breaking), which is confirming payments and setting up on the forum and server end of things.

 

There is little difference with PO and BD other than the one who handles the money. They also are the main contact between hosting sites. PO can veto BD decisions, but this is rare and I don't think it has happened since I've been back.

 

Will the Legends vote ever become a community decision instead of just one made by the higherups?

This was brought up when we started designing the current system and it was ultimately rejected as we did not want to have popularity to be a factor. We wanted it to be more distinguished by their actions than whether they were well liked or not.

 

The SA inactivity rule is a complicated topic for many peeps. What is the main reason behind actually reinstating the old admins. Part of the problem with reinstating old admins who haven't been active in years is that it appears grossly unfair to new admins who must show current and regular activity.

This was brought up also in a recent meeting. We are rolling out changes in this method. More details to be released soon.

 

Is there a point where inactivity in this role can call for a demotion?

It has been brought up and has been exercised recently. TA role is a deep behind the scenes role where most people will not see what they do. So for you to know they are inactive really cannot be determined. We had asked some TA's to do more and they have said they did not have the time and have stepped down on their own. Again, we don't like to forcibly remove people.

 

Do you guys have any plans on bringing people into the community?

There are no major plans that we have coming down the pipe so to speak just as yet. But that's what the community suggestion box is all about.

 

Can we have a way of posting suggestions in a forum thread format to AOs+ that can only be read by those who made the post and the higherups?

Setting up sections like our Admin Complaints section is a bit of a pain in the ass and does take up room on the forum. Honestly, if someone is not comfortable discussion their suggestions or ideas in public they can schedule meetings on TS if they wish or do it through PM's.

 

Why does TS activity matters so much?

It doesn't matter as people may think. It helps us communicate faster and more efficiently. Plus it allows you to participate in community meetings. Which we are going to work on increasing the amount we hold, mainly due to this kind of stuff.

 

Does BD have the final say in admin application?

Yes. The method we are using is taking everyone's input at once and reading and weighing the opinions of everyone. Yes not everyone's opinion is taken seriously and depending on what is said can be easily skipped over.

 

Will I get demoted if I questioned a BD?

No. However, if you push the line of harassment then yeah that's when action would occur. We have pretty thick skins, kinda have to, and we don't take everything that seriously.

 

AOs rarely play... why?

Most of the time when you are an AO you are doing something each day for the community and sometimes you just run out of time to actually play. Could more help make it better? Probably, but some things just do take time to do. Example, me, pan and Retro rebuilt the MC server from scratch and just getting it up took a whole day, but we weren't done for nearly 2 weeks. Most maintenance, takes a few hours depending on what is going on regardless.

 

It's just that most members now a days are easily offended. Hell I've seen some people getting mad for being called a fag. So what do you guys think of that?

We want everyone to feel welcomed here at SG. Sometimes other members do this cause they know each other and they aren't offended by it, but with new people it could be a turn off for them. The best thing we are telling people when it comes to this if they are offended they must tell the person directly what offended them. If they continue, then they are being a trollish ass-hat and they will be punished appropriately.

 

 

Obviously this may only be a tip of the iceberg with questions you may have for us. We are looking to hold a Community-Wide Meeting on TeamSpeak here soon. Date and Time still to be announced. Stay tuned for when that announcement will come down.

[Caution]

 

Will I get demoted if I questioned a BD?

 

 

No. However, if you push the line of harassment then yeah that's when action would occur. We have pretty thick skins, kinda have to, and we don't take everything that seriously.

 

 

 

^^

[Psyche]

When are we getting the appeal bans officer rank in pink

[Caution]

Only if you bring back cop caller

[Goku]

This was actually brought up in the most recent CA meeting. There are a few people who do want TTT to succeed as it was a long standing server for SG. There was a few ideas brought up from within the meeting to give it one last chance. More details will come out on that as they get developed further. I can tell you that we are struggling with that decision and we do want to give people who do enjoy TTT the opportunity to help it.

 

Not sure if it's been brought up yet, but iirc the css servers used to have an automated message advertising the ttt server. Maybe bring that back?

 

Also TTT is what really got me into SG. It's without a doubt my favorite game and anything I can do to help it out I'll be willing to do.

 

Edit:

Not sure if you want me to post it here or not, and again don't know if it's been brought up already, but while the idea is still fresh on my head since im at work, what about scheduling some events where we just try to keep the server populated most of the day. As far as I can tell, atm the server being active relies on randies joining or a reg or two hopping on and spamming invites (not that I'd ever do such a thing ;) ). Just think maybe if we setup a few days here and there of people keeping the server mostly full we might get some randies to join and favorite the server and maybe join the community.

[Neptune]

It is my belief you can have "too many cooks in the kitchen". In the several times of me running a community I have had too many cooks. Someone would go and make a change in a server, maybe forget to document it, something breaks and then the person's responsibility it is for that server has no clue what happened or why and it may be longer than usual to get it fixed. Yes documentation would help in that scenario too but if its not necessary to have I'd rather deal with less. This actually was the case when I was an AO here and there was plugins that I had no clue what they were doing, the guy who put them there did, but I did not want to mess with something that I had no clue of what was going on to where I could make it worse.

 

 

TOO MANY COOKS WILL SPOIL THE BROTH

[Toyz]

Fuck me sideways.

[Nuclear Onion]

Again with the TS. If there's a meeting about the community, why not just announce it? So everyone that cares would join it?!

-Steam announce would be good for the admin group.

 

There's too many cliques in that place, not many people will have a chance to join because people will just invite other people THEY like.

 

I'm not pointing fingers or anything, but it seems unfair to people that don't go to TS.

 

But...they are announced? I'm kinda confused with this post. We just haven't had one since Xeno was BD.

 

Also of course there's gonna be cliques, but we are very inviting when there's someone new around so I don't see the problem with that.

 

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[Toyz]

damn im not getting any of it. Fuck steam then.

[Zsoki]

There's too many cliques in that place, not many people will have a chance to join because people will just invite other people THEY like.

 

I'm not pointing fingers or anything, but it seems unfair to people that don't go to TS.

 

As a recent member that actually saw this in teamspeak yeah I was a little upset and thinking "greeeaaaat" but honestly all it took was a little *poke* and I asked if I could join, pretty much everyone dragged me to the channel. This was before they knew I was female, don't pull that stupid gender card on me.

 

Besides recently with new people joining I've been seeing more and more members leave the private channels to go talk to them and make them feel welcomed. *cough*potatoesflirtingwithallthenewgirls*cough*