It is the first of October, and thus time to begin the process of electing a DM admin for ALFA. I hereby open self-nominations for the position of DM Admin.
The self-nomination period will last for one week.
The successful candidate will serve until April 2008.
Please do not post in this thread unless you are self-nominating.
Self-nominations for DM Admin are now closed
Moderator: ALFA Administrators
Self-nominations for DM Admin are now closed
Last edited by kmj2587 on Tue Oct 09, 2007 3:40 am, edited 1 time in total.
Platform
NWN1
At the last election I said: ‘as long as there are hosts, DMs, and players, then ALFA ought to support NWN1 servers.’ That remains my position. Brokenbone will continue in his role as NWN1 DMA Liaison, and will take an increasing amount of responsibility for managing our NWN1 servers, including handling DM Applications. The continued strength of a number of NWN1 servers has lead me to initiate a DM Training programme, which is underway as we speak. The first limb of this training covers the topic of ‘Wealth’ generally, which includes not only how to price items and PC inventories, but also how to calculate appropriate rewards. Award consistency is one of the fundamental requirements ALFA makes of its DMs – now they are finally being given the opportunity to learn how best to achieve that. After all servers have completed this first element of the training programme, we will proceed to a discussion of Experience awards. It is also our intent to run a consultation exercise with the DM corps to brainstorm the tips, tricks, and difficulties of DMing various situations, such as RP spells, encounter levels, and the various other ‘soft’ skills that are key to a good Dming experience. As well as creating an opportunity for inter-team discussion, this will also prove invaluable information for the development of the DM Training section of the Wiki, which is relevant not just for NWN1 but also NWN2. It was to provide more opportunity for general DMing queries and discussion that we shifted the focus of the current ‘DM Helpdesk’ away from its more limited ‘Item Helpdesk’ origins. Finally, when the training exercises have been completed, we will be in a position to consolidate the various strands of DMing documentation scattered across ALFA into a single, easy-to-use document and Wiki page.
NWN2
Managing our NWN2 development has been the single greatest ongoing concern during the previous six months. I have held regular NWN2 meetings, publishing both updates on our homepage and minutes in the NWN2 Team forum. Wherever necessary, I have worked closely with our builders and tech staff in order to ensure that we have what we need in place for NWN2 Live. I have been active in encouraging our teams to work ever closer together, and I have been encouraged at the willingness of a large number of builders to do so. As a result of this, we have been able to focus most of our building efforts on a smaller number of servers, thus expediting the date of their eventual arrival at Live. It is my intent to hold a major NWN2 Team meeting at MotB +1 week, at which we will set out the ‘Path to Live’, covering everything from RP DMs to server testing. At all times, I have attempted to provide our NWN2 teams with the tools and guidance they need to guarantee quality and consistency throughout ALFA NWN2. Alara has agreed to take responsibility for the Standards Review of our NWN2 servers. Currently, the aspects of NWN2 development that are being considered are the use we will make of a webpage frontend for our NWNx4 database, server log access, scripted static XP, CC integration at character creation, and server-level controls. I am in regular communication with both Cipher and AcadiusLost – and, indeed, most of our NWN2 builders, either via the forums, #ALFA-Builders, or both. I remain confident that we are on course to deliver a consistent, immersive, and exciting NWN2 iteration of ALFA, and that as soon as we have OAS2 and our first Live server there will be a rapid growth in interest and involvement, both inside and outside the community.
Policy Developments
The overriding objectives for all considerations of DM policy are threefold: Does this place an undue burden on our DMs? Does this ensure equality of treatment for all our DMs and Players? Does this compromise the balance and integrity of our game world? It is with those three principles in mind that all policy decisions are taken. We are currently developing a new DM Application tool, using a form on the website that Hialmar is kindly coding for us. When this is complete, it will not only make the process of becoming a DM considerably clearer, but it will also indicate the mechanism by which our Provisional DMs qualify to full status. The training programme that is being developed at this very moment will be intrinsic to this exercise. As noted above, upon completion of our various consultation and training exercises, we will be consolidating and amending the innumerable posts, pages, and documents covering DM policy in ALFA. Moreover, I will also be clarifying the role of DMA vis-à-vis players, to ensure that a route for player feedback is always available. I reiterate my commitment to a consistent standards-based ALFA, in which we provide our DMs and Players with the basis they need to derive maximum enjoyment from the game. Finally, my staff and me will remain available to all ALFA DMs - via #ALFA-DMA, PMs, or the DM Helpdesk - to assist them in any way we can, from answering pricing questions, to offering advice on how to handle various situations, to simply chatting about DMing in ALFA.
NWN1
At the last election I said: ‘as long as there are hosts, DMs, and players, then ALFA ought to support NWN1 servers.’ That remains my position. Brokenbone will continue in his role as NWN1 DMA Liaison, and will take an increasing amount of responsibility for managing our NWN1 servers, including handling DM Applications. The continued strength of a number of NWN1 servers has lead me to initiate a DM Training programme, which is underway as we speak. The first limb of this training covers the topic of ‘Wealth’ generally, which includes not only how to price items and PC inventories, but also how to calculate appropriate rewards. Award consistency is one of the fundamental requirements ALFA makes of its DMs – now they are finally being given the opportunity to learn how best to achieve that. After all servers have completed this first element of the training programme, we will proceed to a discussion of Experience awards. It is also our intent to run a consultation exercise with the DM corps to brainstorm the tips, tricks, and difficulties of DMing various situations, such as RP spells, encounter levels, and the various other ‘soft’ skills that are key to a good Dming experience. As well as creating an opportunity for inter-team discussion, this will also prove invaluable information for the development of the DM Training section of the Wiki, which is relevant not just for NWN1 but also NWN2. It was to provide more opportunity for general DMing queries and discussion that we shifted the focus of the current ‘DM Helpdesk’ away from its more limited ‘Item Helpdesk’ origins. Finally, when the training exercises have been completed, we will be in a position to consolidate the various strands of DMing documentation scattered across ALFA into a single, easy-to-use document and Wiki page.
NWN2
Managing our NWN2 development has been the single greatest ongoing concern during the previous six months. I have held regular NWN2 meetings, publishing both updates on our homepage and minutes in the NWN2 Team forum. Wherever necessary, I have worked closely with our builders and tech staff in order to ensure that we have what we need in place for NWN2 Live. I have been active in encouraging our teams to work ever closer together, and I have been encouraged at the willingness of a large number of builders to do so. As a result of this, we have been able to focus most of our building efforts on a smaller number of servers, thus expediting the date of their eventual arrival at Live. It is my intent to hold a major NWN2 Team meeting at MotB +1 week, at which we will set out the ‘Path to Live’, covering everything from RP DMs to server testing. At all times, I have attempted to provide our NWN2 teams with the tools and guidance they need to guarantee quality and consistency throughout ALFA NWN2. Alara has agreed to take responsibility for the Standards Review of our NWN2 servers. Currently, the aspects of NWN2 development that are being considered are the use we will make of a webpage frontend for our NWNx4 database, server log access, scripted static XP, CC integration at character creation, and server-level controls. I am in regular communication with both Cipher and AcadiusLost – and, indeed, most of our NWN2 builders, either via the forums, #ALFA-Builders, or both. I remain confident that we are on course to deliver a consistent, immersive, and exciting NWN2 iteration of ALFA, and that as soon as we have OAS2 and our first Live server there will be a rapid growth in interest and involvement, both inside and outside the community.
Policy Developments
The overriding objectives for all considerations of DM policy are threefold: Does this place an undue burden on our DMs? Does this ensure equality of treatment for all our DMs and Players? Does this compromise the balance and integrity of our game world? It is with those three principles in mind that all policy decisions are taken. We are currently developing a new DM Application tool, using a form on the website that Hialmar is kindly coding for us. When this is complete, it will not only make the process of becoming a DM considerably clearer, but it will also indicate the mechanism by which our Provisional DMs qualify to full status. The training programme that is being developed at this very moment will be intrinsic to this exercise. As noted above, upon completion of our various consultation and training exercises, we will be consolidating and amending the innumerable posts, pages, and documents covering DM policy in ALFA. Moreover, I will also be clarifying the role of DMA vis-à-vis players, to ensure that a route for player feedback is always available. I reiterate my commitment to a consistent standards-based ALFA, in which we provide our DMs and Players with the basis they need to derive maximum enjoyment from the game. Finally, my staff and me will remain available to all ALFA DMs - via #ALFA-DMA, PMs, or the DM Helpdesk - to assist them in any way we can, from answering pricing questions, to offering advice on how to handle various situations, to simply chatting about DMing in ALFA.
Self-nominations are now officially closed and voting has begun in the following thread.
http://www.alandfaraway.org/phpbbforum/ ... 875#444875
Best of luck to both candidates.
http://www.alandfaraway.org/phpbbforum/ ... 875#444875
Best of luck to both candidates.