Rate the Staff

[ika]

i liked ika thought he did a good job sad to see good honest people have to leave for whatever reasons they have

I saw this post after appley announced that i have stepped down. I sat back and reflected on it. I thought about that post and what it meant to me. I reflected on why i left and for my reasons. After thinking about it i decided that maybe it is best i made this to ask what people think of staff.

I also feel the need to say why i left my keeper status, The primary reason was due to some drama that happened, a lot of the staff said i over reacted to it and maybe i did. But staff knows the primary reason (and is going to remain like that) but there was also more behind it, i looked back as me as a staff, i though back to FM 18 where i was doc, I ranted and raged at titus for being a bad mayor, that was until i found out damus was a drug dealer, i looked back at "into the amazon fm" where i was again, doctor. again i ranted and raged and i look back and said to myself "this is not how a staff should act" that was another reason why i stepped down, i felt like i was giving staff a bad rep with my i want to say "actions." Now along with that and the internal staff drama that stirred up, i had real life drama going on and many other outside factors going on, so when the incident came up about something i was doing was "wrong" i hit my point where i said enough and decided to just leave it.

Do i regret my decision, not really. Did i overreact to the drama, probably. Do i plan on becoming a keeper again, maybe one day. Right now i need some time away from the staff world and have some time alone, when i am ready i will consider asking about becoming keeper again and see what has changed.

I felt like this is needed because it has been some time since it was last done. Maybe the regular players can give advice on what could be improved and who is good and who is bad. I have my thoughts on staff as well and I will say that most of the staff is pretty good but some of the members should understand that words have a powerful impact on a person.

I also would like to hear feedback for me, not so much as a player, but more as a staff, how was i as a keeper, what did you think of me being keeper/staff, was i a good staff or a bad staff? What could staff do to improve, what are they doing good?

[ika]

And i still cant type right.............

can someone fix the poll plz

[powerofdeath]

As a staff that didn't do anything YET, I am abstaining from voting.

[Helz]

Personally I love how things are done here. The staff is light hearted and takes everything with 2 grains of salt. Its all about having fun and if you are not having fun there is no point. On that note I would like to see the forum community lighten up. The reg staff and players take shit way to personal there..

[ika]

Also if you vote do you mind giving reason as well. If you think they are doing bad what can they/I can improve on. I have my input as well but staff is pretty much aware of what i think of it right now.

[Slaol]

The 5 star of options pleases my natural tiers for ranking.

I give it a 3.
It is effectively Police Work and HR, as well as the art of trying to come up with new additions to a pretty complete game.
As far as reports go, they are done more slowly than they should be, but adding more people isn't effective. There is simply a constant factor of how many reports are dealt with.
As far as the HR (or is it PR) goes, it is a pretty delicate balance when the majority of people come to the site entirely based on a high level of 'mad' because of a game violation. Then they get here and most submissions are shot down, sometimes not even by us.
Then we have FMs. Nice little traps of people arguing and debating and, in nearly every case, trying to kill each other.

Really the site is a hot mess of situation after situation where people are intent on forcing their opinion on others for some kind of gain- vengeance (reports), victory (FMs), or impact (mafia discussion). The fact that it doesn't erupt on a daily basis, and is only blown up when people talk about Ash is pretty shocking.

Staff does a decent to good job at keeping people not mad most of the time. Even if there are occasional instances of things becoming out of our control. 3/5

Edit: As staff, however, I won't be voting. And I ask the rest of staff to abstain.

[Raptorblaze]

The 5 star of options pleases my natural tiers for ranking.

I give it a 3.
It is effectively Police Work and HR, as well as the art of trying to come up with new additions to a pretty complete game.
As far as reports go, they are done more slowly than they should be, but adding more people isn't effective. There is simply a constant factor of how many reports are dealt with.
As far as the HR (or is it PR) goes, it is a pretty delicate balance when the majority of people come to the site entirely based on a high level of 'mad' because of a game violation. Then they get here and most submissions are shot down, sometimes not even by us.
Then we have FMs. Nice little traps of people arguing and debating and, in nearly every case, trying to kill each other.

Really the site is a hot mess of situation after situation where people are intent on forcing their opinion on others for some kind of gain- vengeance (reports), victory (FMs), or impact (mafia discussion). The fact that it doesn't erupt on a daily basis, and is only blown up when people talk about Ash is pretty shocking.

Staff does a decent to good job at keeping people not mad most of the time. Even if there are occasional instances of things becoming out of our control. 3/5

Pro-tip: If you come to me calm and reasonable with a problem, lay out your points without getting pissy, and don't call people names because you disagree with them, often times I'll find a way to make you happy even if it inconveniences us a bit. If you demand something, unless you're 100% blatantly right, I'll either ignore you or tell you you're an idiot.

Source: Every conversation with everyone ever since I became admin.

[Glip]

I realize that as a staff member myself, my opinion is rather biased, but I shall give it nonetheless.

I feel that the staff in general are nice people, or at least try to be. There is little actual abuse, and whenever there is a real case, it is dealt with efficiently and effectively.

That said, I feel that we are rather separated from the community. On Skype, we have our own "Staff Chat," and the "Illuminati Chat," while it has a few non-staff members, is also mostly staff. These chats are where most of our conversation takes place. Combine this with the fact that we don't tend to reveal ourselves in-game, the public doesn't really get the sense that the staff are a part of the community, and we become more of a "Big Brother" silently watching the games and passing judgement upon players, rather than just normal people like anyone else.

Another problem with the staff is that when there are large numbers of us in a single game, it tends to get rather circle-jerky, which doesn't help at all to improve our public image.

[kyle1234513]

i voted a 1, i still dont like report process times. i still think there is room for improvement. as far as professionalism goes its "meh" you guys do and say what you should, but i just dont see the point of it if the job just doesnt get done at all... function > wording. always.

[Nick]

This poll is rigged. There is no 0...

[AppleyNO]

i voted a 1, i still dont like report process times. i still think there is room for improvement. as far as professionalism goes its "meh" you guys do and say what you should, but i just dont see the point of it if the job just doesnt get done at all... function > wording. always.

We have been working to get through reports as fast as we can. We did hire several new keepers to help in this goal.

[Slaol]

This poll is rigged. There is no 0...

Here is how I do rankings.
5- exceptional, a true paragon of excellence
4- pretty damn good
3- generally good
2- average
1- negative, bad, like you should be offended by your own failures
0- good god remove yourself from something, possibly existence

Thus, I am confident 1 should cover and failures, also if people split their votes between a 1 and 0, both obviously poor, then neither would look as large. Compressed into the '1' they will look more mighty in their lack of please.

[CmG]

lol, Kyle... anyways. Too much circle jerking in the staff team nowadays and too many staff members at all who do jack shit.

solid 3.

My respect goes to raptorblaze who does an excelent job keeping everything together. I hope creed comes back soon and everybody starts to be more serious again. This would be awesome.

[Raptorblaze]

i voted a 1, i still dont like report process times. i still think there is room for improvement. as far as professionalism goes its "meh" you guys do and say what you should, but i just dont see the point of it if the job just doesnt get done at all... function > wording. always.

The problem is we have a hard time finding people willing to consistently do the reports, hence why we first enlarged the keeper team and then mass fire them. It's nothing against them personally, we just need people to do...things.

Key points of my management style:
1. I will generally try to improve my staff members over firing them and finding new ones, though that is always an option.
2. I make myself available whenever they need to discuss their own behavior or another person's privately. Also if they have any questions on policy.
3. I do not punish people publicly when possible. Sometimes it is "public" in the sense that the staff as a whole is aware but the general public is not. Public embarassment rarely helps to improve behavior in my experience.
4. If they have followed our procedure and have done nothing wrong, I will always have their back. They know they can rely on me (or I hope they know anyway) and I make an effort to maintain that trust.
5. I will kill your ego. This is probably part of why people make comments about me "sexually abusing" people as a requirement of being a staffmember, I do not like egos and I will do whatever it takes to reign them in and break them down. That's not to say devastating people emotionally, but generally to make them less serious about themselves which in turn allows staff as a whole to co-operate better. I have limited success in this area at times but it's always a goal. Also it's all verbal, I wouldn't actually abuse my staff like that ;)

[ypmagic]

1. Fix the leave train problem.
2. Fix the loading problem.

Shouldn't I at least get that as a player? Its been really frustrating that I just quit playing in sc2.

[CmG]

Lol. How we have any power to fix that. Very funny. You can solely blame Blizzard for it or the troll community. There is nothing the staff can do about it and if you would have thought about the issue for 5 seconds you would have come to the same conclusion.

Anyone else with unrealistic problems the staff can't solve?

[ypmagic]

Lol. How we have any power to fix that. Very funny. You can solely blame Blizzard for it or the troll community. There is nothing the staff can do about it and if you would have thought about the issue for 5 seconds you would have come to the same conclusion.

Anyone else with unrealistic problems the staff can't solve?

Here's some nice solutions.

1) Make a standalone game. Its not that hard to find 5 freelance coders and pay them the money we donated.

2) Start punishing people for leaving by taking away their points.

3) If it means the graphics will suck, take a survey to see if people would rather enjoy a lag less and more strict gaming environment than graphics.

4) Actually make some kind of counsel that makes up roles?

5) Cut back on focusing more on forum mafia rather than at least trying to satisfy players in the real mod?

6) Blizzard doesn't do shit, if you want to improve the game, then you do it. Not blame it on the surrounding people and say that the big corporation is being cheap with us.

7) A onetime only vote system for a kick, that can only be used once per game and must have a majority of the vote.

Some kind of report system in game? Again, if you're so lazy to code this for the sake of the players, then hire a freelance coder that knows SC2.

9) If you're going to be so lazy to not code the shit, teach some people that would give up their life for Mafia so we don't have one coder.

I'm just saying, there's a whole bunch of fucking solutions out there while you guys are saying that we can't do shit cause of Blizzard. Of course you can.

[Raptorblaze]

Here's some nice solutions.

1) Make a standalone game. Its not that hard to find 5 freelance coders and pay them the money we donated.

2) Start punishing people for leaving by taking away their points.

3) If it means the graphics will suck, take a survey to see if people would rather enjoy a lag less and more strict gaming environment than graphics.

4) Actually make some kind of counsel that makes up roles?

5) Cut back on focusing more on forum mafia rather than at least trying to satisfy players in the real mod?

6) Blizzard doesn't do shit, if you want to improve the game, then you do it. Not blame it on the surrounding people and say that the big corporation is being cheap with us.

7) A onetime only vote system for a kick, that can only be used once per game and must have a majority of the vote.

Some kind of report system in game? Again, if you're so lazy to code this for the sake of the players, then hire a freelance coder that knows SC2.

9) If you're going to be so lazy to not code the shit, teach some people that would give up their life for Mafia so we don't have one coder.

I'm just saying, there's a whole bunch of fucking solutions out there while you guys are saying that we can't do shit cause of Blizzard. Of course you can.

#1: As we've said (and as a couple attempts have seemingly proven) there just isn't a viable market for such a thing.
#2: Map does this automatically actually.
#3: Irrelevant, see answer to #1
#4: There's not a lot of good role variety left to add to the game outside a couple niche applications already in development.
#5: Lol he thinks I focus on FM at all.
#6: We only blame the corporation for things we are physically incapable of fixing, like their shitty servers. I feel no shame blaming their servers because that last patch screwed up a ton of games besides just mafia.
#7: So....the kickvote list?
#8: You appear to not understand that SC2 maps cannot access outside servers or create files on your computer. They are isolated to the bank files and their own code. How exactly could we implement a report system without accessing our (or potentially blizzard's?) servers? See #1 before you say stand-alone.
#9: If you're going to be so lazy as to not even research the limitations of SC2 maps or read our previous statements on stand- alone platforms then don't even bother responding. You just make yourself look like an ignorant arse.

Well that was more direct than I originally wanted to be, but there's no other way to respond to your tone.

[ypmagic]

I didn't have a tone. That was suggestions from a player with a perspective that the game is corrupted. If you can't take mere suggestions and take all of it as crap, why bother even updating the game?

[Raptorblaze]

I didn't have a tone. That was suggestions from a player with a perspective that the game is corrupted. If you can't take mere suggestions and take all of it as crap, why bother even updating the game?

Your tone is that you think we're idiots who don't care. Believe me, if I didn't care I would not still be here responding to people like you. Anyway feel free to comment on any of my responses but if your opinion is that the game is "corrupted" then you are obviously either misinformed or self-deluded.

[Raptorblaze]

Offered kyle keeper for a week since he's upset with us over report times, why not get him to help out if he actually cares. I'd be game for trying out you too ypmagic though your criticisms aren't reports based mostly. pm me skype info if interested.

[ypmagic]

Offered kyle keeper for a week since he's upset with us over report times, why not get him to help out if he actually cares. I'd be game for trying out you too ypmagic though your criticisms aren't reports based mostly. pm me skype info if interested.

Yeah sure. Why not help out and make a difference?

[Raptorblaze]

Yeah sure. Why not help out and make a difference?

I look at this this way:
If you don't do well, at least you'll be more aware of how staff behaves
If you do well, we get reports done and we'll keep you on longer.

win-win imo.

[cxx]

Ika, however you behave in FM or SC2 doesn't determine whether you're suited as a keeper or not. If you tend to be hot-tempered, you might not be suited as a mod, but certainly I am in no position to judge. Anyhow, I don't see how this conflicts with you being a keeper or staff.

You reviewed some of my reports, and I appreciate your work. Same can be said for most of the staff I've encountered. I won't say anything bad about people who devote a part of their time to improve the game. One shouldn't take that for granted.

[Raptorblaze]

Banned all the smurfs that voted, for the record the original votes list was

Barracks Obamer, drtjdfgjdfgj, dyedfire, Fucking, GayCIA, Im Jesse Ventura, kyle1234513, Landstanders ghost, Mafia is dead, Michael Morhaime, Missile, Nine Eleven, PeachCobbler, Ross Mandell

for 1, which is still displayed, of those the people who were not obvious smurfs were dyedfire (owner of at least 7 of those smurfs), kyle1234513, PeachCobbler

Edited vote count accordingly, though i cannot edit the names list.

[WHITE BOY SLIM AYO]

Wow, so you can lose points if you leave games?

Banned all the smurfs that voted, for the record the original votes list was

Barracks Obamer, drtjdfgjdfgj, dyedfire, Fucking, GayCIA, Im Jesse Ventura, kyle1234513, Landstanders ghost, Mafia is dead, Michael Morhaime, Missile, Nine Eleven, PeachCobbler, Ross Mandell

for 1, which is still displayed, of those the people who were not obvious smurfs were dyedfire (owner of at least 7 of those smurfs), kyle1234513, PeachCobbler

Edited vote count accordingly, though i cannot edit the names list.

Wow someone really hates the staff for someone to do something like that.

[Raptorblaze]

Wow, so you can lose points if you leave games?



Wow someone really hates the staff for someone to do something like that.

Its only like a couple points, and you only lose them if you leave while alive (if you -suicide, you lose them if you leave before the game ends)

dyedfire (owner of at least 7 of those smurfs)

[Gerik]

lol, Kyle... anyways. Too much circle jerking in the staff team nowadays and too many staff members at all who do jack shit.

solid 3.

My respect goes to raptorblaze who does an excelent job keeping everything together. I hope creed comes back soon and everybody starts to be more serious again. This would be awesome.

Says one of the biggest trolls ever to be on staff...

Anyway, I'm going to abstain from voting or stating my views on the matter. So far this thread has mostly consisted of posts by staff/ex-staff and I'd rather give other users the chance to voice their opinions.

[CmG]

Says one of the biggest trolls ever to be on staff...

Anyway, I'm going to abstain from voting or stating my views on the matter. So far this thread has mostly consisted of posts by staff/ex-staff and I'd rather give other users the chance to voice their opinions.

i am rather a troll than a guy who takes everything way too serious... or lets just say i am flexible and i change my behaviour accordingly with the people i work with....

[Gerik]

i am rather a troll than a guy who takes everything way too serious... or lets just say i am flexible and i change my behaviour accordingly with the people i work with....

You want people to be more serious... but also think people are too serious as is?

[Raptorblaze]

Stop it you two. Not the place. Let people vote and discuss their opinions of staff.

[creedkingsx]

I give myself a 5.
I give everyone else a 3 because they are not me.

[Cryptonic]

DR has spoken.
All staff must now be replaced.

[kyle1234513]

i feel like a major component to staff should be reports, greens and oranges for the most part, and blues and reds when something is really important, or just to pitch in when oranges and greens are behind.

sure theres general moderation like move threads, or warnings and infractions, but really, how many of those are handed out a week? and these things arent hard to spot, and are relatively quick with the new posts being on the right hand side. it shouldnt take a whole lot of people to just watch that. whereas any green or orange should be able to handle those.

on my end, im just not seeing progress. numbers.png 20 keepers/mods, at 3 reports a week, for 52 weeks = 3120 total reports that could be done(in a single year), reasonably. i only see ~3500 threads total, and the website has been running for how long now? oldest post i see was from nov 2011, so i assume 2 years. unless ignored reports eventually get deleted. so that tells me that the average amount of reports being done per week per keeper/mod is 1.5 ish. which in my opinion, you should be asking more from them.

so unless someone has an accurate number of total reports in the last year, and number of reports ever, im going to assume my math isnt wrong here.

[Raptorblaze]

i feel like a major component to staff should be reports, greens and oranges for the most part, and blues and reds when something is really important, or just to pitch in when oranges and greens are behind.

sure theres general moderation like move threads, or warnings and infractions, but really, how many of those are handed out a week? and these things arent hard to spot, and are relatively quick with the new posts being on the right hand side. it shouldnt take a whole lot of people to just watch that. whereas any green or orange should be able to handle those.

on my end, im just not seeing progress. numbers.png 20 keepers/mods, at 3 reports a week, for 52 weeks = 3120 total reports that could be done(in a single year), reasonably. i only see ~3500 threads total, and the website has been running for how long now? oldest post i see was from nov 2011, so i assume 2 years. unless ignored reports eventually get deleted. so that tells me that the average amount of reports being done per week per keeper/mod is 1.5 ish. which in my opinion, you should be asking more from them.

so unless someone has an accurate number of total reports in the last year, and number of reports ever, im going to assume my math isnt wrong here.

The number of threads is actually significantly lower than it should be due to database errors, lack of archiving in the past, merging, etc.

About 125 open reports.

20 people, assuming 3 per week.
~2 weeks of work.
During that 2 weeks, we'll receive approximately 112 new reports.

Mind you we actually have around 12 people assigned to reports, not 20. So it's more like we'd get it done in just under 3.5 weeks, during which time about 195 more reports will be generated.

Now, our actual quota is 15-25 a month, which is more like 7.5 a week at best, but this is in practice a burst volume not a constant one, so reports tend to fill up then get torn through, and then fill up again cyclically.

[Slaol]

#4: There's not a lot of good role variety left to add to the game outside a couple niche applications already in development.

Wo wo wo wo wo wo. Dafuq is this? Slaol isn't close to done.

[Raptorblaze]

Wo wo wo wo wo wo. Dafuq is this? Slaol isn't close to done.

I said *good* role variety.

[Slaol]

I said *good* role variety.

I'll update my super secret thread later today.

[SuperJack]

Reat...?

[ika]

Reat...?

post #2

[Cryptonic]

Jack, what is the purpose of that post..... Even if ika didn't correct himself in a previous post, you'd understand what "reat" meant if you just looked at the topic title. Stop trying to start drama, pls.

[Gerik]

Stop it you two. Not the place. Let people vote and discuss their opinions of staff.

Stop what? I was just pointing out some inconsistencies in CmG's wishes. We can't increase AND decrease our level of seriousness simultaneously. Which is it, CmG?!!? What do you want from us?!?!?

[SuperJack]

Jack, what is the purpose of that post..... Even if ika didn't correct himself in a previous post, you'd understand what "reat" meant if you just looked at the topic title. Stop trying to start drama, pls.

Sorry lol, For some reason whenever I viewd this topic, It always started on Page 2 for me, I thought Rap started this post and intentional posted reat, but I have no idea what the meaning of reat ment.

[Damus_Graves]

Stop what? I was just pointing out some inconsistencies in CmG's wishes. We can't increase AND decrease our level of seriousness simultaneously. Which is it, CmG?!!? What do you want from us?!?!?

Private Message System. Hint hint

[CmG]

Well, i am quite sure the topic name has a typo in it. It should be called "Rape the Staff!"

[CmG]

Stop what? I was just pointing out some inconsistencies in CmG's wishes. We can't increase AND decrease our level of seriousness simultaneously. Which is it, CmG?!!? What do you want from us?!?!?

I want to continue this so we both end up getting infractions... Not. So peanut butter would be a nice start!

[SuperJack]

post #2

Sorry Ika didn't read the first page... XD , I think your a coolish guy with the right intentions, just the way you present it is different.

[ika]

Sorry Ika didn't read the first page... XD , I think your a coolish guy with the right intentions, just the way you present it is different.

Its fine. I didnt noticed the typo till it was too late.

[oops_ur_dead]

i feel like a major component to staff should be reports, greens and oranges for the most part, and blues and reds when something is really important, or just to pitch in when oranges and greens are behind.

sure theres general moderation like move threads, or warnings and infractions, but really, how many of those are handed out a week? and these things arent hard to spot, and are relatively quick with the new posts being on the right hand side. it shouldnt take a whole lot of people to just watch that. whereas any green or orange should be able to handle those.

on my end, im just not seeing progress. numbers.png 20 keepers/mods, at 3 reports a week, for 52 weeks = 3120 total reports that could be done(in a single year), reasonably. i only see ~3500 threads total, and the website has been running for how long now? oldest post i see was from nov 2011, so i assume 2 years. unless ignored reports eventually get deleted. so that tells me that the average amount of reports being done per week per keeper/mod is 1.5 ish. which in my opinion, you should be asking more from them.

so unless someone has an accurate number of total reports in the last year, and number of reports ever, im going to assume my math isnt wrong here.

k I'm actually fucking tired of this shit now.

Keepers work for free volunteering their time to a game they love. We hold the keepers to a high standard that they endure simply so that they can help this game not be complete shit, and the staff refined the process to be as efficient and fair as possible. All while doing this for free, of course, none of us ever see the donation money that Rev gets.

So please tell me, who the fuck are YOU to tell the keepers that they need to do more reports or that they aren't working hard enough? What do YOU do for the community apart from trying to piss everyone off and act like you know everything about the process that we go through to punish players and how much time it should take? Reports take a decent amount of time to process and follow through with, and a lot of people on staff are still in school/university. They don't have the time to sit for 8 hours a day doing reports just to appease you, and frankly you aren't helping by spewing this shit that staff then have to take time to respond to because otherwise you'll piss and moan about it.

[Raptorblaze]

k I'm actually fucking tired of this shit now.

Keepers work for free volunteering their time to a game they love. We hold the keepers to a high standard that they endure simply so that they can help this game not be complete shit, and the staff refined the process to be as efficient and fair as possible. All while doing this for free, of course, none of us ever see the donation money that Rev gets.

So please tell me, who the fuck are YOU to tell the keepers that they need to do more reports or that they aren't working hard enough? What do YOU do for the community apart from trying to piss everyone off and act like you know everything about the process that we go through to punish players and how much time it should take? Reports take a decent amount of time to process and follow through with, and a lot of people on staff are still in school/university. They don't have the time to sit for 8 hours a day doing reports just to appease you, and frankly you aren't helping by spewing this shit that staff then have to take time to respond to because otherwise you'll piss and moan about it.

I love you oops <3