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Staff Bulletin - December 30

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Staff Bulletin - December 30 Empty Staff Bulletin - December 30

Post by Syron Mon Dec 30, 2013 9:23 am


STAFF BULLETIN




Multiple Chars per Account
From now on, that wretched rule of only one char per account is gone! Yes, just like that! Go pick your favorite account from the ones you have, copy your character sheets over, and pick whatever name you like, with whatever avatar you like! As long as it isn't insulting or something of the likes, of course. The old accounts will be deactivated over time, not all at once. Unfortunately we can't transfer posts, or at least I currently don't know how, and deleting an account seems to set the author of the posts to "Guest", so all accounts will be kept. For now, at least. Maybe we find a solution at some point.

But, this is only small news compared to today's main topic:


New Site Management System - Big Staff Changes

I've been told that there is a growing discontent about the current staff in the community... Something I figured and thought about before I've been told that. We all realize that we've become too inactive, for different reasons. Partly lacking motivation, partly lacking time, or possibly some other reasons. Normally, the reaction to that would be to simply get new staff... But I don't think that will cut it. I think the exact same thing will happen again and again, and there's hardly any way to change that. The new staff will probably at some point drop into inactivity, and drag the whole site along, as it's happened before. So I've proposed a complete overhaul of our staff and ranking system that is designed to monitor staff activity efficiently and allow for fast paced changes should somebody be unable/unwilling to fulfill the given duties.

Since it is a completely new system, I won't tell you want will change. Instead, I will introduce it from the ground up. Forget what we have so far, this is what we will have:

Member:

Moderator:

Administrator:

Senator:

RP Resource Manager:

Counselor:


Apart from these mostly permanent staff roles, there are two possible positions focusing purely on RP. They won't be appointed with the main staff in the upcoming vote, because they are highly temporary (Story Master) or already are filled and won't change now (VIC Players)

VIC Player:

Story Master:

So, these are the new roles. First question:

Why do I think it will work any better?

Answer:

  • By clearly splitting staff into these roles instead of just having "staff", as it is at the moment (there isn't even a sensical differentiation between mods and admins!), we make better use of the capacities we have. One person might live for doing technical administration work, but finds approvals absolutely tiresome. By essentially being forced to do both, motivation is lost much more quickly. And while that person might still do the technical stuff (which often isn't a lot to do), he is eventually removed from staff because otherwise he didn't do much. Now we'll be assigning the people we have to the stuff they like to do and are good at, and that will be everything they'll be measured at.
  • More importantly: Our main problem so far was that the realization that a staffer wasn't doing a good job anymore came way after the time it had become a problem. Motivation slowly trickles away, work is done more sloppy before it ceases to be done at all. And then, there's already been damage. That's where the counselors come in, the only actually new role I've introduced. Their main task is to observe staff and spot problems before they become one. Should they spot one, and the reason for that problem isn't short lived, the staffer is replaced, or at least backed up. By denying the counselors any decision making rights in staff matters, I'm hoping to get especially those interested in the job who can stay on neutral and objective ground. Those who like to see their opinion being cast down in a vote in staff discussions... Counselor isn't a job for you. Only those who are fine with their voice being ignored (though I hope it won't be ignored if it's actually good advice) should take it up. Counselors are not the ones leading the site.
  • Finally, there is the thing some of you (or many?) might find odd: Counselors are to stay out of big RP roles that bind them for a long time. This stems from a realization about myself. RP quickly tires me out. I'm highly motivated at first, discussing endless possibilities and doing fun threads. But the RP goes much slower than the ideas do. At some point I have fantasized so much about it that it becomes stale, and my RP activity drops. Which only means that the story would take even longer to be completed and I can finally do a new one that I haven't thought over to death yet. And all the while, all the things related to said RP suffer as well, which includes staff work. The restrictions on the RP activity of counselors are twofold in purpose: For one, they are supposed to ensure further neutrality by keeping them out of ingame groups and organizations, as well as ensure that they can completely drop out of RP any time without harming the site. They can switch in and out as they want, participate actively in discussions about the RP without being able to block them (because in the end, their vote doesn't count) and simply enjoy the development that is happening. A lightweight job that is designed to not wear out the one doing it.


So, to make it a bit shorter: We have a neutral watch dog who has little else to do than to supervise staff and skim through different RP roles for entertainment. Yes, I believe that might work.

That leaves the final quesion...

Who's gonna take all those roles?

Well... we do have favorites for one or the other position, and those people will be asked if they have interest. However, most positions are entirely free. That's why we'll simply ask all of you at once: Who of you would like to take staff position, and which one? I'll start with a completely empty list, even though I theoretically already know a few names, so that everybody is forced to think once again about what they want to do. Here are the numbers we want to reach:

Moderator: 5 (less if the job is really taken seriously)
Administrator: 2
Senator: 4
RP Resource Manager: 2
Counselor: 2

VIC Players and Story Masters are handled differently.

ALso, keep in mind that you can take several roles, excluding counselors.

After the volunteers are in, and there are more than two volunteers for Counselor, there'll be a vote for that position. Once the Counselors are in place, they'll take over the process. It's their job after all.

If you want to volunteer or discuss all this, please head here.

That's it from my side. Hopefully we get a fruitful discussion with a good staff coming out of it.


Last edited by Syron on Thu Jan 02, 2014 9:29 am; edited 1 time in total
Syron
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Sweetie Belle
Sweetie Belle

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Location : Germany

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Staff Bulletin - December 30 Empty Re: Staff Bulletin - December 30

Post by Syron Wed Jan 01, 2014 7:53 pm

Update Staff Reformation - Voting begins on Fr, 1/3/14, 5 P.M. GMT

Anybody who wants to volunteer for a staff position, be quick. On Saturday the voting for Counselor position will begin. In case that there are no more volunteers for this position, it will be a simple yes or no vote. Should there be another volunteer, you'll have the possibility to vote for two of them. The vote will go for two days, so please make sure you give your vote in time. Once the Counselors are chosen, the old staff will be dismissed and voting for a Senate will begin, which will also go over two days. Afterwards, it's up to the counselors and the senate to do the next steps, it will all be under their control then.

That's it, have a nice day!


Last edited by Syron on Thu Jan 02, 2014 10:31 am; edited 1 time in total
Syron
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Sweetie Belle
Sweetie Belle

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Join date : 2012-10-21
Location : Germany

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Staff Bulletin - December 30 Empty Re: Staff Bulletin - December 30

Post by Syron Thu Jan 02, 2014 10:02 am

Update Staff Reformation - Voting Procedure

We haven't reached the deadline yet, but you should still know how the voting will work before it actually starts. There won't be a poll, because there are many people with multiple accounts on the site who could easily abuse that by voting several times, so instead you'll have to send in your vote per PM to our newly appointed Election Helper, Fire Ruby (Grayscale). If you want to object to this, please do so quickly with an explanation why.

At the moment, we still have only two volunteers for Counselor, and two Counselor positions to fill. If no other volunteer shows up before the deadline, you will have the possibility to vote either "yes" or "no" for each of those volunteers (me and Mirror Lone (Void)). Whoever gets at least twice as many "yes" as "no" will get the job.

The situation for the Senate is very similar: It's planned to have four Senators in the end, and we have four volunteers. Should there be no other volunteer for the position, we will apply the same system. Those volunteers who have two thirds of their votes being "yes" will get the position.

Should we get additional volunteers for Counselor or Senator, the voting system will change, and instead you'll get votes according to the number of positions to be filled: Two for Counselor, four for Senator. The volunteers with the most votes will then get the position, until all positions are filled up.
Syron
Syron
Sweetie Belle
Sweetie Belle

Posts : 818
Join date : 2012-10-21
Location : Germany

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Staff Bulletin - December 30 Empty Re: Staff Bulletin - December 30

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