On Server Management

[NegInfinity]

In my own opinion it is just unfair to complain, that something is not done and it should be done, something takes too long etc. These complaints can only annoy their recipients.

It is fair, when attempting to add anything to the server or get access to something requires two weeks of throwing pms back and forth, discussions and heated arguments and results in nothing.

That leads to frustration in people that could produce something useful.

Every I tried to submit anything to dev side(it included xp_craft plugin, 2 years ago) it was like trying to move mountain everest to another continent and usually resulted in nothing happening. It is frustrating, annoying, and kills desire to try to assist with anything for good. Hell, even mentalist said something along the lines of "nothing ever happens fast on bgtscc".

So, whoever was that guy/girl quoted by Maecius, they are right. Bgtscc has a big problem that greatly slows down its development probably by a factor of hundred. No amount of arguments about "unpaid volunteers" and "free time" is going to be enough to deny that.

I'm going to leave this thread because I annoy more people. Have a nice day.

[metaquad4]

Using unpaid volunteer to excuse something that would constitute a poor work ethic, an inefficient system, etc is unacceptable in my eyes. If you've ever volunteered at any respectable organization, you'd know it is a terrible mindset to have. Regardless of if you aren't being paid or are doing something in your free time, when you volunteer you commit yourself to what you are volunteering to. Not delivering the best quality labor you can reflects poorly on your character.

That whole "I'm an unpaid volunteer doing this in my free time so I don't have to be efficient or try to do my best" really shows how much people care about the work they do, when they use it. It is a wonderful display of a lazy "give me something or I won't do it" attitude, despite the fact that you've (by volunteering) promised to help your cause in what-ever way you can.

If you don't enjoy the work and/or believe you require incentive to do it efficiently or do it right, leave the work for someone who will enjoy doing it and will be able to have a positive work ethic despite no monetary compensation. You really aren't needed or wanted.

I'm not directing this at anyone in particular. But, whenever any of you staff (or indeed, anyone who volunteers) members use this in an argument to justify a poor work ethic, just be aware of what you are signaling to everyone else. Additionally, it does a disservice to both the cause you are volunteering for and yourself.

I've seen this argument tossed around before a fair bit, and it irks me to no end that someone thinks it is a decent thing to say about themselves or a justification in any manner for any poor action.

[vbaddict]

You really aren't needed or wanted.

Just speaking for myself, I need/want/appreciate those that volunteer here, in all their various levels of commitment. I cant pay to play an online game, so BGTSCC is a blessing for me. Perhaps if I were paying a monthly fee, I might feel entitled to a higher level of excellence, but I doubt it.

[Martius]

...

We can discuss what "unpaid volunteer" definition is, what the "work ethic" definition is, but this has nothing to do with the NWN module. These real-life terms and the example you have mentioned are not even comparable with this free PC game server.

Forcing someone to leave the team, because he hasn't just time or isn't in the mood to develop new things, make quests etc., is just bad. An example, DM is tired of questing and hasn't new ideas, so it will be kicked out of the team, because it doesn't fulfil the plan. How exactly would this help? Who can say, that DM won't get back after one month of the rest with a great global quest idea and realization? The same with the WBs.

Bgtscc has a big problem that greatly slows down its development probably by a factor of hundred

I don't think it is a problem. The "problem" would be, if the server went offline. But, if it runs, there are so many things you can do. At least roleplaying, which is the main purpose of this server, isn't it?

[metaquad4]

There are a myriad of other excuses for a poorer output.

"We don't have enough time."
"We don't have enough manpower."
"The materials we are working with are inadequate."
etc.

These excuses can be used to make the system more efficient by actually identifying and (hopefully) addressing problems.

If poor labour is justified by "we don't have to be as efficient as possible because we aren't getting any monetary incentive" aka "we are unpaid volunteers", then that is only telling of the fact that you don't care enough to put in the effort. And worse, there is no way to solve that problem, unlike with the above excuses. This excuse isn't worthwhile to use. It doesn't allow for any problem to be solved, and it does signal a lack of care about the work being done.

Just. . .stop using it, and start finding out why things aren't run at peak efficiency and how we can bring ourselves as close to that as possible. That is all I am saying.

[Valefort]

Baffling post metaquad. When you volunteer you obviously do your best in the time you have. If you're unhappy with the quality of some things chalk it up to the lack of time or knowledge, not ill will or poor work ethic.

I can't stress enough how far-fetched and out of touch your statement is, no one is doing things for a reward. Also it is not work, there is no reserve army of hungry would be volunteers around the corner eager to take your place (oh and if there is someone in the corner, please come, there is enough work for plenty of people).

Reading your post it seems some volunteers are holding people hostage with their imaginary laziness, get real.

[metaquad4]

If not enough manpower is the problem, then say that! That carries none of the negative connotations that "just unpaid volunteers" carries and allows for avenues to solutions to open up as well.

If you don't have enough people to test content, then open up QC a bit. Create a separate (copy) of BG areas on a test module (or perhaps even a test server?) and allow anyone to test content and provide detailed (public) feedback.

If you don't have enough people to integrate content, allow more members of staff the ability to put content onto the server. (I don't have a whole lot of technical know-how in this field, perhaps only one person physically can update the server at a time. If that is the case, then that is fine.)

If you don't have enough active DMs, encourage more people to DM. Lessen the requirements of becoming a DM, if this is a huge enough issue.

If you don't have enough moderators or people who enjoy dealing with crummy people either find people who do enjoy it (tricky) or adopt a harsher policy around metting out punishments (not as ideal, but if it makes the job easier with fewer people then I'm all for it).

Oh, and if you need more people feel free to use the two personnel goldmines: Unpaid Interns and Chinese Nationals

[Maecius]

I think it's fair to hold the staff accountable, because it's a community project that players themselves contribute to. Even if you've never donated work or money to the server, you're still donating your time as a player, which does (usually) contribute to the enjoyment of the other players.

If I didn't believe that I wouldn't host conversations like these.

And I don't mean to suggest that having a volunteer staff means that staff can't be held accountable. But it does mean that time and ability are commodities that we can't really schedule or "budget" for. People will work when they feel inspired to work. They're not showing poor work ethic, in my opinion, if they decide they'd rather spend the evening with family or friends instead of fixing bugs or running quests or building maps.

Personally, I'm grateful for just how much time and effort people do volunteer to us. We've had 70 updates with changelogs this past year (not counting the update we just had this past weekend, since its changelog is not up yet). That's more than once a week updates on average, and even pros would be hard pressed to keep up an update schedule like that over the course of a year.

That being said, there is content that isn't packaged for an update, that's fallen through the cracks, or that's been submitted to us and not implemented (either because it was deemed inappropriate or unnecessary or because we just didn't have anyone to work it). We probably could do with a spreadsheet or tracker of some kind to manage bugs and content submissions. It's a great idea.

If you feel you've submitted content that wasn't released this year, anyone really, I'd encourage you to follow up with me about it. I can definitely look into what happened to it if we never got back to you about it.

Keep the ideas coming. As long as this thread is productive, I'm happy to keep it going.

[Martius]

...

These are good sounding proposals, but that is unfortunatelly all. Testing isn't always about quantity, quality plays role as well. I think it is better to have one well-done tested location, than ten medium-rare. And the requirements on DM post are one of the things, which must keep their level and where you can't make compromises.

[metaquad4]

...

These are good sounding proposals, but that is unfortunately all. Testing isn't always about quantity, quality plays role as well. I think it is better to have one well-done tested location, than ten medium-rare. And the requirements on DM post are one of the things, which must keep their level and where you can't make compromises.

You can keep what you have as is, this doesn't involve tearing down what is already established. Simply adding onto it. You gain more information, of which you can do with what you will (and hopefully use to improve). And you can keep the current information sources as they are.

As for DM requirements, I don't such is necessary right now. We have DMs who are fairly active as is. If we say. . .didn't see a single DM event for a few months, then we might need to worry. Better to have some DM presence and quality than none, after all.

[Valefort]

Where you see closed doors I see rather opened ones metaquad, if you want to volunteer send a PM to the concerned group. Not saying everyone would be accepted obviously (manpower is not a problem everywhere like you pointed) but I'm sure they would be looked at and answered.

Chinese nationals and unpaid interns

To be clearer and to speak about what I know best now, if you're willing to code some scripts, squash bugs and make small changes then make yourself known, there is much to do.

[Steve]

All I can say is that there is a difference between being a critic and being a jerk.

I made some new/updated transition screens for BGTSCC from last summer until December. They are finally uploaded, but need to be selected "on" and applied to some areas.

Should I complain that my "work" wasn't implemented like...yesterday?

Look, every system can be made better, IF you are a died in the wool progressive that has a healthy ego. Or, you can get deep into the weeds and just do what you can, and be content that you applied yourself.

For one, we should all seriously thank Maecius and Endelyon every.bleeping.day, if you game on BGTSCC. Then, once you're done with that, you should actually thank—between the disagreeing —every Scripter, new and old, every QC person that crunches the content, and every Developer that spends a second on making new content.

Appreciation goes a long way, EVEN WHEN you might offer a different view, and/or a critique of the outcome.

So, thank you Staff for the current management of the Server. Without each and every one of you, I'd have nothing greater to waste all my RL time on!!! *hugs*

[Akroma666]

I will say my biggest requests for change are as follows:

Full QC transparency. All the topics and archives should be viewable and readable by all forum members. Posting is another story. Leaving these locked creates means of abusing the systems for one's personal gain. Not going to point any fingers, but I believe that any topic in development should be able to be seen by the community. Bugs and exploits should be dev team only. We should be able to vote on major projects.. everyone would vote crafting.

DM voting other DMs in. I think this whole system needs a change. Originally i liked the idea of community voting for DM popularity.. but since have decided it might lead to exploits. Not sure what to do, but I think the community needs to be able to offer some voting feedback as well.. maybe on a couple of the finalists.

Head DM term limits. Head DMs need to cycle and have a term limits. People begin to hate the staff and conspiracy theories arise when a HDM sits on the throne too long.

That's it!

[Tantive]

I will say my biggest requests for change are as follows:

Full QC transparency. All the topics and archives should be viewable and readable by all forum members. Posting is another story. *snip*

I understand the sentiment, but I can already see response threads popping about on the other forums relating to the QC discussions viewed.

[Akroma666]

I will say my biggest requests for change are as follows:

Full QC transparency. All the topics and archives should be viewable and readable by all forum members. Posting is another story. *snip*

I understand the sentiment, but I can already see response threads popping about on the other forums relating to the QC discussions viewed.

Then that's moderation teams job. Or QCs if they wish to get feedback from the community. I don't mind taking on more work as a mod knowing we can all have a voice or see what's in the pipeline.