Jayde Moon : DMA Platform and Q&A

[indio]

My question basically is, what is your stance on letting Danubus and indio DM in ALFA?

I can't believe I've been lumped in with Danubus, you old scoundrel.

To make the answer easy for Jayde, I'm not looking to DM in NWN2. I want to build, I want to be treated like an active DM, and I want builders to be recognised, as once they were, as sharing an equal status to that of Live DM.

In00b and Squat turfed me out, but since their departure, my contributions have been treated with the utmost respect by the likes of AL, cipher, Rusty, Rotku, Than, Aelred, Rick, Wynna, Teric, the beta testers on 003 and the participants in my beta DM sessions....basically everyone that is doing something to make NWN2 possible.

Good luck Jayde. If you are elected into this role, I hope you pick up from where Rusty has brought us to. It has not been acheved without careful planning, clear thinking and lots of effort.

[Senor T]

OMGOMGOMGOOOOOOMG!!!!!! 4LL TEH NPCz W1LL B B1LL COZBEEZ 4ND SP33K teh H4X0Rz if JA1D IZ ELECTYD1 !!!!!1

Dear Jayde, if elected, would you support players voting for Lead Admin? More generally stated, would you support all direct constituencies as deserving to vote for the admin that represents him/her?

If I understand the current situation, (and I admit, ALFA politics are not something I pay close attention to) this is not currently the case and it takes 3 of 5 admin to change a rule like this.

kkthx, T

[psycho_leo]

Since it is currently in discussion, what's your take in our current system for PrCs? Also how do you feel about adding PrCs for NWN2 that are not shipped with the game, assuming someone puts some quality work together? Not talking about adding 200 new classes or crazy PGed builds.

[JaydeMoon]

Senor T:

I support a wider Lead voting constituency.

How to balance this against what would amount to the same constituency as the PA should be addressed and so it's not as simple as bringing it back up for a vote and seeing if we get the 3 of 5 result.

[JaydeMoon]

PL:

My current stance is that PrCs should be disallowed for Psycho_Leo.



Actually, I think a good breadth of PrCs is healthy. The thought that the quest requirements may cause undue strain on DM teams is one that bears consideration.

As it stands, I have always liked the system as it is. I think more PrCs could have been added, and wondered why many of the 'standard' PrCs offered in the DMG weren't included.

So long as viable methods for including PrCs are available, I think we should definitely look at incorporating them.

[psycho_leo]

PL:

My current stance is that PrCs should be disallowed for Psycho_Leo.

[Brimsar the Wanderer]

Races and classes that we would have to hak in will require more thought and discussion. I am, at first glance, inclined to shy away from including additional races beyond those packaged in the box.

As it stands, I have always liked the system as it is. I think more PrCs could have been added, and wondered why many of the 'standard' PrCs offered in the DMG weren't included.

So long as viable methods for including PrCs are available, I think we should definitely look at incorporating them.

Could you explain the difference why non-prebox races would be "Shied away" from, and PrC's would not be?

oh... and

Your DM team needs you focused on our mission. Why in gods name are you doing this to yourself? Are you insane?

[Senor T]

Correctomundo, thanks!

[Lusipher]

My Dming in ALFA is a moot point as Im not coming back to Dm. I might play but who knows. I was a model DM and had no problems but Mr. Spider (model Alfan that he is) decided my attitude isnt right to be a DM which is total nonsense. It had no effect how I Dm'd or treated players on the forums or in game.

Oh well, Its old news but still its a silly point for banning me from Dming when it had nothing to do with me being a Dm.

[Mord]

[Rotku]

Just a few questions:

Question 1 - NWN2 DMs:
One of the big problems recently with NWN2 is the lack of active builders, with perhaps the major given reason being the perceived difficulty of the toolset . There have been a number of things done to solve this problem, all meeting various degrees of success (or failure) - possibly one of the more successful been Aelred's work in the NWN2 Toolset Forum.

(a) Do you have any plans on doing anything to attract more of our current player base to building?

(b) Also with so much weight resting on the shoulders of so few (so to speak), do you think the Admin and/or DMA Team could be doing anything more to lower the likelihood of burnouts?

(c) We have had a few different outside groups approach us over the last half a year about joining our project and working on a server - yet as far as I know, all have been turned away for one reason or another. Do you think we should be welcoming to such groups? And if yes, what do you think we should be doing extra to get these groups through the next hurdle, from inquiring about joining to actually joining?

Question 2 - Admin Team Workings
The charter clearly states that Admin "shall be specifically elected to, and have responsibility for, a particular domain." Throughout my times in ALFA I have seen two different interpretations of the workings of the Admin. One been that Admin have complete responsibility over their domains, independent from other Admin. Other been that Admin should have responsibility over the day-to-day runnings of their domain but should seek the opinions of other Admin members over major issues, merely acting as the 'specialist' in that area.

What are your thoughts about this? To give an extreme spectrum, 1 been complete independence, no discussion amongst Admin; 10 been complete interdependence in all matters, full team work amongst Admin.

Question 3 - General DMing
(a) What are your thoughts about the 30 Day Rule, where players must be a member for 30 days before applying to DM?

(b) What are your thoughts about the current working on the DM Application system?

Just to quickly explain it to you (or at least how I think it works - please correct me if I'm wrong, someone!). People submit an application. The questions ask include:
-> "-Are you applying for a specific server?";
-> "Why do you want to DM in ALFA?"; "How would you characterize ALFA in as far as the type of "world" it is and the DMing style?";
-> "Please give us an example of the sort of story that you'd like to run here.";
-> "How do you feel about working closely with a Team and sharing all the stories and keeping good shared documentation?";
-> "Will you be able to commit to learning the mod as it exists now and working to maintain continuity?"
-> How would you describe your approach to DMing? If you don't have any DMing experience, how would you characterise your approach to story-telling as a roleplayer?
-> How do you view the Players that you will DM and their place in story-telling?
-> What sort of questions do you have for us?
-> Are you willing to agree to and follow the ALFA Standards while DMing to ensure a consistent experience for the Players?
This goes before DMA, DMA Staff and HDMs. If an HDM accepts the applicant on his/her server and DMA approves, the applicant then becomes a PADM. After X number of days (30?), the person is able to become a full ADM.

(c) EADM position was originally created purely as a Voting position, to represent the server staff. As time has past, this position became a 'Right hand man" to the HDM. However, more recently, voting has been expanded to include nearly include ADMs in every election, lessening the technical reason for an EADM. Do you still feel the position has a use? Do you see keeping it as a formal position?

(d) On a scale of 1 to 10: Server autonomy (1) vs Global consistency (10)?

[Zelknolf]

It seems I can no longer count as a lurker on this thread...

It looks like you're responding to a lot of questions with "I'll think about it." -- most notably with the question of keeping systems running with helpful volunteers and whether to allow previously-booted DMs to DM again. I'm not about to take a hostile approach to an admin for wanting to weigh the facts when making decisions; however, I'd like to know what sorts of criteria would be looked at for these things.

What makes a good standards person? If you somehow, magically, had a choice of volunteers, what would make you point to one instead of another?

What makes a DM worth reinstating that could overcome grievances that removed them from the position? Obviously, both people are willing to work for and contibute to the community (and all DMs are - that's what DMing is), so if outstanding contributions are to be the deciding factor, how much is enough?

[JaydeMoon]

Brimsar:

Core rulebooks. If it's in the Core rulebooks, I'd like to see it included. And definitely before we start trying to include subraces and PrCs from every obscure supplement out there.

Hope that answers where I'm coming from in that regard.

[indio]

A clarification, for all wanting to use me and Danubus as cannon fodder...

While Danubus may well have been 'booted', I most certainly never was. My DM status was deemed 'expired' by Squamatus as I was not a Live DM, and irrespective of my ongoing role as a builder for ALFA.

Thanks for reading and paying attention.

[Rotku]

I do not believe he was 'booted', but that is a matter between him and the DMA. Thank you for clarifying things, but let's keep this thread for Jayde's Q&As, shall we?