This is already part of the guidelines from what I remember, or at least it's encouraged greatly, many people don't follow this one though :/
This Where did you get your mind reading skills from! Also, there has been countless times where I have seen staff having fun in global while a new player is asking and asking to the point where it gets annoying for me. In my original post I forgot to mention that staff should NOT BE IN VANISH. Sure, they bought the feature, but if they really do want to help the community they should at least be available to be contacted if there are any questions or concerns. However, if they are a Server Owner (there isn't one atm) or Andrewkm you should, all the other ranks should be out of vanish. Why is it that I have to ask another staff member if there's a GA or an SA on?
Worth noting that with these higher ranks, more work is not exactly in-game. When GA's are handling applications or an SA is handling an interstaff issue/application/etc I would think it preferable that they're in vanish as opposed to not - they're technically in game but their attention is focused elsewhere and it's better that way. They can stay focused and not worry about PMs while handling apps, and that way less mistakes are made. I'm not trying to make excuses if that's what it sounds like, but 9 times out of 10 if I'm in vanish it's because I'm working on something that requires me to be in-game with my attention focused elsewhere. Not saying that I'm innocent mind you, but there's a reason why vanish was a staff power before it was a purchasable perk. I do like this thread and will have the @Moderator team look through it so these concerns will be addressed.
Totally agree with what your saying. I'm my defence, I have seen times when they are speaking in global while in vanish. It doesn't happen often, but there has been times when this has occurred.
Yes, my note about afk-ing was directed more at the lower staff ranks, I understand that when doing some more "intense" server things it would be better if you don't get bothered while doing it.
Glad to know you like the thread @Nicit6 . I'm currently making a list of all of this so that if I were to become moderator, I could complete everything on this list one by one. Or if I don't become moderator, I can at least still give the list to a moderator for suggestions. -Raymond
Also guys, I would like to give you all another friendly reminder that this is suggestions for staff to improve your experience! I want to make a list so that I can help you guys have a better time. Please make sure that you leave your suggestions and problems staff could fix. Thank you! -Raymond
@29dude generally, speaking from a GA, as nicit said I tend to be vanished for apps or other staff reasons. Generally if you ask for a GA and I'm free I will respond, even if in vanish :3
Hey current staff team, here is the list that I have so far, including 3 from my staff application in which I was also asking for suggestions. (@SuburbSomeone 's comment) "More talkative, maybe? And maybe they could be a bit more attentive to chat and more willing to help. I like how you're taking initiative in figuring out what you could bring to the team." (@ScarabCoder 's comment) "Hmm... Maybe if staff cared more about the individual users and were willing to sacrifice more. Seems to me that don't take their responsibility too seriously." (@FuryFudge 's comment) "Yes, I also think staff should be involved in the actual community more and interact with users more, as well as showing more initiative instead of (mostly) only helping when asked. I still think the staff are great, but this is something that they could work to improve on." (@7amoodw 's comment) Before I put in 7amoodw's comment, I'm just letting you know this isn't his exact words here, but basically what he means. 7amoodw was saying that some of the cases that staff handles isn't fair and not of justice. (@Cheorex 's comment) "I think moderators are already very busy and they are pretty great. Though there's definitely room for improvement. So as long staff keep doing what they're doing, they would be doing a great job." (@BuildsByGideon 's comment) "Well, one thing that could use some improving about staff is that they don't try to get out of there way to help you, like if I ask a question while a builder in global, no one answers, so then I had to ask each person I could find the question in pm till I found an answer. And also there where plenty of staff on and talking but none would help me in the least little bit. Also at that time I didn't know that I might get my question answered if I went to spawn and asked, but that shouldn't have mattered. The one main problem about staff is that they just won't help you if you are a lower rank. Also another think, when I was looking for a home or place to live in I asked at spawn (because it was when I first joined) if I could find a place to live/stay, and I think that one of the mods could have found something for me but ignored me. And yes, that's another problem the mods just ignore you if you are a low rank ;( And this is just my opinion." (@Starleana 's comment) "Actually answer questions in global. The few times I am on, I'll have a question because I forgot how to do something, how something works etc. I'll ask in global when mods are on. They have time to advertise their shops, and talk to their buddies but apparently not answer a question. I just end up leaving because asking multiple times is useless. Edit: op wanted an solution so here it is: a mods job is to help the users and apply the rules. It's that simple." (@29dude 's comment) " They could pay more attention to new players (or anyone for that matter) questions in global. It's almost like a cycle of questions. They ask, no one answers, ask again, no answer, finally they decide to spam the question, he staff member finally decides to take the liberty to answer the question while telling them not to spam as well. Sometimes regular players such as myself answer those questions, but sometimes it seems like staff just wait for me or other players to answer them. Another thing is that the whole staff team in general needs to treat their friends and enemies the same while completing certain situations concerning staff. My final statement is they need less rules for staff. It happens all the time, players that were really good at being a staff member step down and break every rule in the book because they aren't used to the freedom. I even heard a well known player say in global: "I wish staff could be fun again". More freedom means less former staff trolls, and more fun socially on ECC." (@ModEdit 's comment) "Probably pay attention to chat, it's one of the most important things a staff member has to do but so many seem to slack in that area leaving 1 or 2 mods to deal with onpeak chat." (@oxwood2 's comment) "staff tend to single out players for warns. warns are not even at all. you can troll and spam and harass users and some staff don't care at all, but add one extra character to your chat and youll get a warn from some staff. Some staff truly have no clue how the server works. This is mostly blue mods and a few smods. Today I was trying to ask a question in global and then by pming staff and it took 2 hours to get it answered. They either just flat out ignored me or were afk. Not good. This is just the surface." (@Hoboz4dayz 's comment) "I think staff could not enforce something another staff member already had. For example, I always see one staff member be like "blah blah stop doing blah blah" then 3 more staff members repeat the exact same thing and it makes the staff seem a bit hostile and like their ganging up on the person." (@Naereniv11 's comment) "I think the staff application process should be more advanced and go more in-depth, however, I may not know how staff is picked. This is just from a players standpoint without knowing if anything happens behind the scenes while picking staff." (@SantaBurgerClaus 's comment) "I think that staff should be always be cheerful and try to be the main role models of the server. They should be like your illegitimate bigger brother and encourage fun and creativity. Staff should think more about you than themselves. Sadly, it isn't as I really dream of though, with most staff turning immature and causing more harm than good. The only way staff will be able to be the best it can be is to not slack off and put there full heart and soul in to the role. But alas, it won't work out with the way staff are." (@CrazySwagMaster1 's comment) "I think the application process needs to be revamped. A staff position is a volunteerered for, full time job (basically). We need a more professional way of selecting members. other than simply posting an application that looks like 20 or so other replicas of it." (@jwpwns 's comment) "what could staff do to improve Stop being lazy its crazy how long things take and how simple tasks are messed up and missed due to pure laziness." (@MoofinK 's comment) " Treating people as equal humans would be a good start... Get rid of the friend-, enemy-, trouble-maker-, rule-breaker-, special-snowflake-...biases. Someone breaks a lot of rules? Follow those damn warning/punishment guidelines appropriately. They are on a tighter leash - that is it. Someone who has never broken a rule? Follow the guidelines, warn or punish in the same tone, attitude, etc. Heard something bad about someone or personally have a bias? Communicate with Staff and have someone else deal with it in a non-biased, appropriate, fair way. Staff not responding, even to a bright PM, when you can't appropriately handle something or are confused? Give them a kick for AFK - and if they come back pissed, show them screenshot proof of them not responding or helping. Eventually Staff will learn to pick up subtle cues like bright PMs and pay more attention, even when busy. Training the mind is easy if you care enough to learn. On the topic of laziness... TBH, Staff are probably less lazy than they appear. Yeah, they are probably playing the game, and there probably is some laziness, too. But that is super easy to fix... It's called communication. As a Staff member getting online in-game - having no particular forum or high-ranking work to do - all you have to do is ask in Staff chat who is active/not AFK and what they are up to. If everyone says, "farming/mining/building/some other thing," then you discuss who will take a "shift" and spend extra care watching chat, moderating, and helping users. After a while you chat again and switch. It really isn't that hard, so what I don't understand is why that hasn't been done consistently or well enough to actually be noticed or effective..." (@Exilenela 's comment) "Most staff are great, but I have seen countless cases of bias (ranging in every department). Some situations have been handled very unfairly." (@xboyfernz 's comment) "They could treat everyone the same don't just be out for one person" And that is all the suggestions I have from everybody to staff! Glad to hear everybody's suggestions! This is in my computer notes and saved! Thank you all for letting me know your suggestions and problems with staff. If some of your problems have been taken care of , let me know so I know which ones so I know to let staff know which ones don't need to be focused so much on.
I think staff could not enforce something another staff member already had. For example, I always see one staff member be like "blah blah stop doing blah blah" then 3 more staff members repeat the exact same thing and it makes the staff seem a bit hostile and like their ganging up on the person.
Ok, thanks for your feedback @Hoboz4dayz ! I will edit my last post now and put yours up in there! Thank you all for posting your suggestions. Please be sure to put any suggestions for staff you have. Thanks @Naereniv11 for the post. I will be also editing your post in my other one with the quotes from other player's requests to staff.
I think the staff application process should be more advanced and go more in-depth, however, I may not know how staff is picked. This is just from a players standpoint without knowing if anything happens behind the scenes while picking staff.
Okay guys, let's see if I can answer some of these questions from my point of view XD Usually our first mission is not to communicate with the others first before responding, but to respond as fast as possible. This means that someone is already typing when another person might be hitting enter. While this might seem hostile to others (MOD ATTACK!!!) it shouldn't be taken that way. It just means that all of us want to answer the question. In addition sometimes it's hard to spot whether one of us has already addressed the question/concerns, especially in a fast chat. We don't know if someone else will get the question, so if we see it we go for it. It might surprise you, but while some staff people own active towns or know people who do own an active town, I don't. I'm a builder, and while I have manged towns in the past, I'm currently working on a huge personal project that takes up all the time I have not answering questions/talking in chat/doing staff work, and even then I often watch chat while building. As for your concerns about us listening to older players more than newer players, I did notice it myself when I was a builder, but I try to answer any questions I might come across, no matter what rank. I don't pretend to know everything about the server, and there are some things I can admit that I am definitely lacking in. I don't know about SG, or SG kits, because I don't play SG at all. I also don't know about most market prices, and don't keep up with that sort of stuff since I don't own a market stall (though I do try to remember ores/mining materials/Quartz). Some of the donation feature functions (such as Gates and pets) I have to look up because I've never used/don't have them. When I do find myself in situations like this, I usually ask other moderators before looking it up myself. If, by any chance, no one online knows, I try to look it up myself. This does take time since I have to look up the process on the forums, or go to the store for an explanation. As for the vanish comment earlier (can't find it to quote T_T) I'll admit that while I do forum work, I vanish. Sometimes I'll see something in chat, and when other mods miss it/are also busy I'll answer. I hope this answers some of the questions that you guys have. Of course, I can only speak for myself and not the other moderators. I hope you guys know that I'm always available to answer questions, and if I don't right away it probably means that I'm helping someone else first or asking someone with more experience than me on the team for advice.
Im happy with most staff members, and I also consider the fact that are doing this on a volunteer basis, and I imagine that ECC must feel like a job or doing chores some times for staff members. So all in all im happy with the staff and how they handle most situations, great job keep it up.
This pretty much sums up my opinion. Some of our staff members just don't really seem to like helping people.
I think that staff should be always be cheerful and try to be the main role models of the server. They should be like your illegitimate bigger brother and encourage fun and creativity. Staff should think more about you than themselves. Sadly, it isn't as I really dream of though, with most staff turning immature and causing more harm than good. The only way staff will be able to be the best it can be is to not slack off and put there full heart and soul in to the role. But alas, it won't work out with the way staff are.
Andrew is the Owner.... This, honestly. Many staff are just AFK or doing their own thing. We generally have a good amount of staff members online at a time, but if we were to take off the ones who are AFK or not attending to ingame issues, I wonder how many we'd have online then.
I'm not saying that the things that have been mentioned are wrong, because I do agree with a lot of them in principle. I do however, want to say something which is perhaps seeing it from the other side of the table. Ultimately, staff are people just like you. In the space of one day, someone can go from being your average teenage player to being staff. You can't expect them to drop the game that they have loved for months/years completely to solely be staff members. Similarly, it takes time, sometimes weeks/months, to adapt to staff and to get used to and learn how best to be a staff member. Sure, staff members should prioritise staff responsibilities, but the reason we say that staff are players too is because they are allowed to play the game as players too. Staff are volunteers at the end of the day. Secondly, the fact that staff also play the game benefits the server. What would you prefer? (1) A professional, paid staff team who don't play the game, don't understand the economy, don't fully understand the various groups of people/personalities etc. acting very robot-like; or (2) the opposite of that and people who are a part of the community themselves. Of course, everything that I'm saying is speaking generally, I just feel like someone should bat for the staff team's side
Hey everybody, I just wanted to say the staff is trying. I think we should all be at least a little bit more appreciative for what they do for us. Some of us may have problems with certain staff members personally, but they don't have to do this. I'm very content with what staff has done, but there are some things they could improve on. I'm simply saying that we should at least be appreciative that staff does what they do. Don't forget to keep leaving suggestions for staff I can add to my list.
