Staff Feedback: June 2017

[Gamov]

Level of Site-Wide Activity:

Overall I would say the staff is both visibly present and active in their duties. Notably, content submissions seem to be handled quickly, preventing a backlog of user submitted content from languishing for months on end in limbo. The only exception to this seems to be the Tech Boards, yet I am in between sentiments with regards to this. On the one hand, the Tech Boards are by far the most active of the content submission boards. So by virtue of the sheer weight of content, it is understandable to have backlogs from time to time. On the other hand though, it is the only board with three dedicated Moderators and two pages worth of unapproved content still awaiting verdicts.

Whether this is because reviews have been submitted by the Mods and people just haven't gotten around to answering them, or a lack of activity on behalf of the Tech Mod team, I can't really say. Even so, with the recent rule changes the Tech Boards are nowhere near as backed up as what we saw during the last Timeline or even the beginning of this one. So there has been at least some decent progress with regards to trimming the fat.​

Level of RP Activity:

Much improved form what I have seen in the past. During the last Timeline I could scarcely recall a handful of threads where staff members were actively participating in the RP. And of those threads, most of their activity was confined to important story threads and seldom did we see them interacting in the wider RP. Now it is not uncommon to see one of our resident RP Admins participating in anything from run of the mill faction missions, to social threads, to main battle threads. So here I would give the staff top marks for drastically improving over past examples.​

Effectiveness:

Overall I would say the staff is effective as a team: which is important. Even though everyone has their own assigned areas of expertise, there seems to be a fair deal of overlap in shared knowledge.​

Member Relations:

I'll admit, even after three years here I still view some of the Administrative staff as a tad unapproachable. I won't name names, and much of this perception could simply be chalked up to my own lack of interaction with the staff overall.​

Overall Performance:

Overall, I would say the staff is doing an admirable job of keeping things in order.and running smoothly. There is, however, on area which I would recommend adjustments be made which I will outline in my next comment.​

Suggestions for Improvement:

With regards to suggested improvements, I wouldn't call this an improvement so much as it is an adjustment to practices.

With the recent time skip I noticed a bit of disorganization amidst its roll out, most notably the lack of a refined battle system at launch. Even now this system is undergoing tweaks and modifications, and furthermore none of the main factions seem equipped with the write ups and content necessary to support it. In effect, this has hobbled the war story and prevents factions from doing overly much until they can implement the organization necessary to be up to the task of working within the framework of this new battle system.

My suggestion to curb issues like this in the future: don't tie yourself to a deadline. Don't say, for example, "May 4th will be the launch date for our timeskip!" Not only does this set expectations and place immense burden on yourselves to churn out a product to meet those expectations, but it reflects poorly when you launch the timeskip with a system which is still (by the staff's own admission with regards to the battle system) a work in progress. A tenet which I have long held myself to is "quality takes time, and I'll be done when I'm satisfied."

I feel that if the staff were to take a similar approach in the future, then you can give yourselves crucial leeway to produce a quality product that everyone can enjoy on day one. You can announce your intentions, certainly, but I personally wouldn't announce any concrete launch dates until you are satisfied with the content you have. Then you can make the announcement of an intended launch date to give the community time to make the necessary adjustments.

Think of it this way: if a game developer announced the release date for a game, but then didn't have any multiplayer modes included at launch, then a month later allowed you to download a "trial version" of their multiplayer mode to be implemented in the game in full at a later date, I doubt that developer would be in business for long.

Just something to think about.​

 

[Sreeya]

@Gamov couldn't agree with you more on the suggestion. However, I disagree that we shouldn't implement a deadline. The reason being that the battle system isn't meant to be perfect when it rolls out. It's meant to be a completely new and experimental thing we're trying because it's so fundamentally different than what we've done before. We knew it'd be more of a pilot than anything else going in. If we didn't impose a deadline, tbh none of us would have been on top of it. At the end of the day, we volunteer our free time for the site and staff have other engagements/priorities. Without deadlines, it's easy for us, just like for anyone else, to have things slip. It's not fair to us or the members to have it completely fluid on when to drop it.

The battle system is supposed to have flaws and cracks in it because we want members to flesh it out more than just dictating everything. The reason the last concept didn't work so well was because we said "this is how it's gonna be" and that was it. It ended up becoming a chore and boring for everyone involved despite people following the guidelines. This time we wanted to roll out a pilot and add more things as we figured out what works/doesn't. We want to have a finger on the pulse a lot more than we've ever had before. I'd rather have a system that develops from trial and error than a complete package that everyone collectively hates. We've had consistent updates since the original launch, so I honestly think this has been working out better than the past.

Thanks a lot for your feedback though, I'm glad you brought this up. If you'd like to continue discussing this, feel free to PM me! I'd definitely like to hear your thoughts.

 

[Logan]

I think the staff overall does their job(s) very well. I feel like since the adding of additional staff (Malon, Arc, Phoe, etc) that the leadership teams have also given us more transparency into what they're thinking/doing/working on and most importantly: why they are doing so. Can't say that's always been the case, and it makes me happy to see that change in particular. The willingness to put an idea out there that isn't totally fine tuned with the hope and expectations that the users break it so we can see the flaws and fix it (the battle system) is a great idea and not something I think the site would have done in admin-teams I've seen prior. So kudos to that.

One thing I can note that does need a visibly marked improvement is related to the tech boards, but it has to do with the faction tech approval process. The HoL faction tech approval thing takes, even now, a crazy long time. I understand that faction tech might be a little more stringent and there's only one person looking at it, but (and I can't say this with certainty since I'm not longer a FL) it would take many months to get an answer on tech there. That's a little tough.

Perhaps we should change the faction approval process from the HoL and to the faction leadership boards (just an idea). It's still shielded there but it gives the AFL's an opportunity to comment/edit according to suggestions and I think it may speed up the process there.

Outside of that one thing in particular though, I love the staff here on SWRP and it's one of the reasons I've made my home here for the past four years. Keep it up y'all.

 

[Drop Shock]

I like it here.

 

[Ulysses]

I like it here.

What he said

 

[Black Noise]

• Level of site-wide activity

As active sitewide as can be expected. They have this as a taxing job plus their real life jobs, so what they're doing seems to be the most they can put in and I don't feel the need to ask for me. The team as a whole is doing well.

• Level of RP activity

This has been my number one complaint over the years I've been here on SWRP, "Admins don't rp, they don't get involved in the story, they're out of touch, etc." and I am happy to say I've been very pleasantly surprised with the amount of activity from the admin team so far this year. All the admins RP, all the admins are involved in factions. They seem to be putting their fingers on the pulse of SWRP, and it's a welcome and enjoyable change. Keep it up girls and guys.

• Effectiveness as a group

Every group has people who don't get along all the time, it's good to have that lest people fall into the trap of 'group think,' but no matter their opinions or relations to each other, the admin team acts coherently and effectively. I possess no complaints here.

• Member relations - do you feel the admins are accessible, nice, fun, etc?

I neither expect nor want an admin to be 'besties' with any member on this site while they do their job. If I can slip Phoe $20 and he rules my character survives some bullshit then we have a problem. When admins pick favorites while doing their job is when the trap of 'admin bias' becomes more than a joke and turns into a real monster.

But we don't have this kind of attitude. Admins treat everyone equally when they do their jobs. They're welcoming to new members and forgiving to first offenders of rules and other nonsense. Because of this fantastic, friendly, equality attitude, we naturally develop people who complain because they don't get special treatment. Your demeanor and professional relationship with the members while doing your jobs is excellent, good work.

• Suggestions for improvement

I'd like to see a pull away from so many strict rules. This is a general trend I've been seeing on SWRP over the past years as we move away from free form rp and towards more a heavily structured environment. In some ways, it's good, especially for battles and pvp, but in other ways it's restricting, such as force powers, ghosts, personal storyline restrictions etc.

It's not a crazy horrible trend that's ruining everything and 'I literally cannot even ya'll gotta fix this right now.' I'm not even asking for change in the immediate short term. But I am seeing an observable tread. The only suggestion I'd give is this, keep in mind that this site was founded for free form rp, rp that means a member who joined yesterday could be RPing with the dark lord of the sith tomorrow. We don't count words or demand certain amounts of threads before rocket boots or lightsabers can be earned, so let's keep away from that and with our free form roots.

• Overall performance

Excellent, especially from our newer mods and admins @Dark child @Zenya @Arclight @Malon @Phoenix keep it up.

• Anything else you want to comment on

Don't get bogged down in the naysayers, and don't listen to people who say 'go back to the old ways.' History is viewed in rosetinted glasses by those who hate how things are today. They're always be people who disagree with things you do, and sometimes I'll be among them. But in the end, most of us have the best in mind for the site just like you. Sometimes that means we members need to be told 'no, that's stupid, we aren't doing that,' and sometimes that means you guys have got to listen when we say 'no, that's stupid, don't do that.'

Ya'll walk a fine line of doing the right thing to keep the peace and keep people happy, and ya'll been doing better and better at walking that line every year. Keep it up.

 

[Darasuum]

Hi everyone. Every once in awhile, we post feedback threads like this where we want to know how you think the staff is doing and what suggestions you have for improvement.

In this thread, you can review the overall staff and give us your suggestions for where we could improve. If you want, you can also comment on the individual administrators. If you're going to comment on individual administrators with your feedback, I would recommend reviewing every admin. That way, you're not singling anyone in particular out.

We are looking for feedback on:

• Level of site-wide activity
• Level of RP activity
• Effectiveness as a group
• Member relations - do you feel the admins are accessible, nice, fun, etc?
• Suggestions for improvement
• Overall performance
• Anything else you want to comment on

We want your honest and thoughtful feedback on everything we do as staff, whether that's in public or through our interactions with you. We want to know what you think of our performance and what we can do better. We may also choose to respond to your feedback, and we will do so with the same respect and civility we expect of you.

Remember, this is for your benefit as well as ours. We're here to provide you with a great website, so we want your honest assessment of whether we're living up to that. You will never be banned for giving your honest feedback. So, please feel free to post your feedback in this thread. Thanks!

Alright. Time to crack these finger joints and put my rant cap on. Not really much bad stuff to say though overall.

Level of site-wide activity
I'm assuming this is referring to overall activity which i must say is pretty good. It's nice to see various people welcoming new members, taking part in multiple sub forums and helping one another. Most of the time people are able to reply to any sort of subject within the week if not within a few hours even. So not much complaining there.

Level of RP Activity
This past week or two it's been pretty high and even before that it was good. I think when the Time skip was on the horizon and had just recently passed it was dwindling but that was because of the uncertainty of the changes and so I can't blame anyone for not being as active. About a month before the TS happened I wasn't taking part in any new rps really. Still I'm glad to see many open rps, new ASK ones and various ideas coming to fruition. tons of people have been coming up with ideas and want to get into threads so that's good to see. if only everybody replied within 48 hours (>_>) but that's not anything i can really complain about since THOSE people have always been like that. (n_n)

Effectiveness as a group
...not really sure what this means...hmmm...
"A team that trusts is a team that triumphs?"

Member Relations
As always things don't happen as quickly as desired. Sometimes I ask if there are channels to go through that I might be missing. If there was a sticky about these sort of things like a "level of escalation" or something so that way nobody goes straight to an admin without checking with a mod first. OR if people tag an admin when they should be reporting it instead. that sort of thing. I've been able to deal with it by being told by fellow members but sometimes it isn't clearly stated. But I think things aren't bad with admins and normal members as far as I can tell. I haven't had to deal with anything like that so...yeah.

Suggestion(s) For Improvement
I think I had something for this but I actually can't come up with it at the moment. They are mostly minor things that if I think of anything I'll either post again in here or just do it in the suggestion/bug fixes sub forum.

Overall Performance
I'm amazing. I'd give myself a 10/10
wait...you mean I'm supposed to give an opinion about the site and everyone else? idc about anybody else...
jk everything is all good in the hood as far as i can tell.

Other Comments
have a dancing potato and have a nice day.

 

[Dmitri]

OR if people tag an admin when they should be reporting it instead.

I would like to make note that if you need an admin involved, either send a PM (with other parties in it too) or report the thread; tags can easily be missed (we can get several notifications) and sometimes they won't be responded too as it should be reported.

 

[Panda Hermit 98]

Well, I've only been here like, a month, but already I know that each and every one of you are an extremely friendly and casual bunch. It's wonderful to get to RP with you all and I especially like the fact that characters can actively progress with each story, that there's no specific status quo that needs to be adhered to, it gives me a lot of hope for where my characters might go.

As for the Mods themselves? I haven't really interacted with them much outside the odd PM, but I would really like to get to know them more, perhaps throw a few threads around, I've admittedly been feeling a tad aimless with each thread I go into, I'm still trying to just establish my character.

 

[The Living Daylights]

On top of the fact that the mods are fairly energized and handle their tasks diligently, I'd suggest that the fact that they do involve themselves in casual RP gives them a stronger insight into the way this site is headed (IC and OOC) which in turn helps them direct our site and its RP better. Just mentioning that because I think it's wonderful that we've got such an active mod team.

I kind of agree with @Black Noise on the issue of strict rules, only I don't have much of a solution to them myself. Force powers and character restrictions probably could be eased (I think the acceptable character boundaries could also be better defined, at least through examples), but I feel like the rest of it is part of what provides our RP structure and integrity, so removing it would make our RP kind of anarchic, if you will.

 

[Clayton]

I think the staff overall does their job(s) very well. I feel like since the adding of additional staff (Malon, Arc, Phoe, etc) that the leadership teams have also given us more transparency into what they're thinking/doing/working on and most importantly: why they are doing so. Can't say that's always been the case, and it makes me happy to see that change in particular. The willingness to put an idea out there that isn't totally fine tuned with the hope and expectations that the users break it so we can see the flaws and fix it (the battle system) is a great idea and not something I think the site would have done in admin-teams I've seen prior. So kudos to that.

One thing I can note that does need a visibly marked improvement is related to the tech boards, but it has to do with the faction tech approval process. The HoL faction tech approval thing takes, even now, a crazy long time. I understand that faction tech might be a little more stringent and there's only one person looking at it, but (and I can't say this with certainty since I'm not longer a FL) it would take many months to get an answer on tech there. That's a little tough.

Perhaps we should change the faction approval process from the HoL and to the faction leadership boards (just an idea). It's still shielded there but it gives the AFL's an opportunity to comment/edit according to suggestions and I think it may speed up the process there.

Outside of that one thing in particular though, I love the staff here on SWRP and it's one of the reasons I've made my home here for the past four years. Keep it up y'all.

The HoL is something that sort of slips my mind since 99.9999% of tech isn't located there, and I normally have no real reason to look in the HoL and see what the FLs are up to unless something is brought to my attention. So what I'm saying is, pester me more if there is stuff sitting there.

As far as tech generally goes, I'm not sure if we will ever truly get rid of a backlog. The simple truth is a dozen or more people can submit tech faster than three people can review and approve tech, especially when some submissions can take pages of back-and-forth even before we even look at it. We try to review tech on a FIFO basis, so the newer submissions are going to wait a while before we get to it. Again especially if we have older subs that need more attention than usual.

 

[Dmitri]

Tip: wait to submit a second tech after first is approved.

Greater tip: look at past tech and see if something already approved works for your needs

Even greater tip: Slip Clayton $200.00.

 

[Outlander]

Tip: wait to submit a second tech after first is approved.

Greater tip: look at past tech and see if something already approved works for your needs

Even greater tip: Slip Clayton $200.00.

Both good tips. My biggest tip would just be to have patience. Tech boyos aren't magic; it'll take some time to get around to your stuff. But they will get to it eventually, and things will go a lot smoother if they're allowed the space to do their jobs. It's also a good tip in general when submitting stuff, or in general.

Just my two cents. I'll post my own little admin review thing later tonight <3

 

[Clayton]

I am from Chicago, so Machine Politics are not generally something I don't know about, and on an unrelated note, mysterious Amazon Gift Cards appearing in my account would be a pleasant and complete surprise to me.

 

[Dmitri]

Greatest tip: realize not every idea will get approved. It's not an admin being hostile or mean or unapproachable; it's us doing our job. We seek what fits in story and rules, and what does not. We try to be accepting and will work to modify something so it works, but we won't just cave into demands. An admin ruling is not a friendly suggestion; do note that many rulings, especially controversial issues that need rulings tend to have some form of consultation between admins on the matter; that is one of the reasons some rulings take a while. Be patient. Examinations may take some time though don't be afraid to message us if it's been a couple days; we all are human and prone to forgetfulness (except GABA because she's a centaur). Don't be afraid to tell us ideas or suggestions or constructive critiques (and I do mean constructive; just like any person, being told something sucks will not convince us change is needed and instead defend your stance). Want more story? You don't have to. You can put story in anything (even personal stories in battles). Work with faction leaderships to tie things together. Thread scenarios aren't set in stone; customize threads to maximize everyone's stories. Do not wait for some to hand deliver you a personal story. Seek it out; work with others; be proactive!

 

[Dark child]

I don't feel the need to rehash any statements already made so I'd like to say that I agree with the collective and overall views of Gamov, Undine, and Black Noise.
I'd also like to personally thank Aberforth for taking the time to sift through all those bugs several months back when the site got hacked to retrieve our missing data.

​

 

[Ulysses]

One thing came to mind (you can take the fact that I only thought of it just now as an indication of how important it is :) )
under the heading of: Member relations - do you feel the admins are accessible, nice, fun, etc?
Although there are some truly great new member things (e.g. the Leth pack), I remember being a new member on the Jedi funeral thread and feeling like there were established groups who were interacting and that my posts were being ignored.

I know now that everyone would have been totally fine with someone butting in, but it was quite intimidating at the time. I also appreciate that this is about whole site culture (and/or may have been an isolated incident), but if it comes from the top, it is possible to change a culture by being as welcoming to newcomers IC as much as OOC.

I hope this is helpful

 

[Prudence]

Admin bias

none of you RP

@Sreeya admin bias x2

PvP sucks.

...oh wait sorry I was reading last year's script. Anyways, overall things are going pretty good. I like the new battle system, it isn't as easy to exploit (or doesn't seem so) as the old one (which was pretty broken) and it facilitates a lot more in my opinion. I'm also enjoying the new setting of the timeskip

• Level of site-wide activity
  • Overall y'all are doing pretty good with this. Some of you are more active than others, but you work well as a team and get everything covered, and that's all that matters. Plus considering this is all volunteer, and some of you have some pretty hectic things going on IRL, makes sense.
• Level of RP activity
  • I'd go to say that out of all the owners, admins, and mods, most of you RP, and that's pretty great. In the past that has been an issue, and this is the first time in my 4? years on SWRP that I've seen this happen - so good on you guys for RPing!
• Effectiveness as a group
  • It's pretty good in my opinion. There has always been a problem in the past of the admin team kinda having a steel curtain of secrecy and being a bit aloof, but ever since Phoe Arc & Malon joined the team, that has eased off a bit and everyone feels more approachable.
• Member relations - do you feel the admins are accessible, nice, fun, etc?
  • I do. It's good to see them cutting up, making jokes, pvping, etc in public is pretty nice. They're also more active in public chats, which again makes the admins feel less aloof. 10/10 on that front.
• Suggestions for improvement
  • I'll echo what BN said. The site was making leaps and bounds in my opinion in moving away from such strict rules that we've had in the past, but I feel like there's been a bit of backtracking on that, especially when it comes to the lock on ranked PCs, ESPIONAGE (@Phoenix ), etc. Not necessarily a huge oh my god I can't deal with this thing, but at the same time it's a bit annoying. I'd like to see things loosen up a bit in that regard.
  • I'll echo the "tech is absolutely slow" too, that could be a bit faster IMO, especially in concerns to faction tech because, having been leadership twice now, I know that it can take months to get that approved (we were having stuff from like October/November go up for approval during my time in Sith Leadership). I understand Clayton has an intensive job, so I'm not trying to slam him here, and I echo what Logan said about maybe moving things away from HoL and into the faction boards for that?
  • While I'm mentioning it, I disagree with the way that HoL is run. It's a very closed door business, and the fact that AFLs can't access it and assist the FLs in doing things there is frustrating. We're supposed to aid the FL in their jobs, and help out with faction management, etc, but having this closed doors board that not even the AFLs can see seems... counter productive.
• Overall performance
  • I'll say this with confidence, its the best i've seen the admins work in my time on SWRP.
• Anything else you want to comment on
  • PvP OP pls nerf only story no combat kthxbai

 

[Dav Wren]

In general, having come from other boards, I get the impression the staff (and faction leaders) are a lot more approachable. I like that I feel like I can bring a problem before one of you and not be concerned about being ostracized for daring to speak up. Personalities vary but I have no bad experiences with anyone.

RP Activity, if you mean do staff participate in missions and events? Yes, a lot more so than other places. Which makes me feel staff are more approachable when I can see them as RPers/fellow SW nerds. It humanizes 'the boss'.

Effectiveness-wise, things seem to get done fairly quickly. Given that we all have other things to attend to, it's not really a problem. Nothing is perfect and I'm sure if I have some issue I will PM the appropriate individual and get a reply quickly enough.

What can be improved, honest answer, I haven't been around a long enough time where I can accurately comment.

Overall, most of my boxes are checked off for being happy with the state of things.

 

[Wit]

I don't like it here.