Demson's PA platform

[Demson]

Reading through the forum and looking at #alfa, I have the sense that the role of the Player Admin is the least coveted and possibly the least respected position available. It is in a way also the most difficult. The Infrastructure, Dungeon Master, Technical and Lead administrations have at least some professional or hobbyist tradition to model itself after. With the Player Administration, it is not that simple.

Still, I choose to run for the position. I will try to explain this as well as a forum post allows me, and as briefly yet conclusively as possible. Though (at the time of writing) no one else seems intend on a platform and while I doubt a speech to rival Martin Luther King's “I have a dream” is necessary, I will still attempt to make this read worth your while. Why?

Because if I am to administrate for the coming year, I will need your support. In a community like ALFA, authority, responsibility and accountability all come together. It's the holy trinity of the internet community.

The Player Administration is here to administrate the players. Not the servers, not the roleplay, not the scripting or building, nor the website or hosting, but the players; the actual people that make up for this community. As Player Admin, I take up responsibility of these persons as being members of this community. From the moment they apply to to the moment they walk out the door, their stay and dynamics here are my concern.

The necessity of the Player Administration is not in question, but I will speak a few words of it regardless. ALFA is here to provide a rich and rewarding roleplaying experience according to the Forgotten Realms campaign setting. This is a gigantic task, and even those with a marginal understanding of the history of ALFA (or any online community) will know how the dynamics between players deserve a special consideration and a special effort.

It is for good reason that this community has called for a Player Administration. In my administration, I would have to administer the spirit and word that the community set out in the Mission statement, Charter and Code of Conduct. But I believe that above all, it should be prudence and reason that reigns.

Though I believe the PA to be the least vital of the administrations, it is certainly the most volatile. That is the nature of human beings, certainly when they are anonymous and amongst an international community. Add to this the deep passions and high ambitions that fuel the community effort to make the ALFA dream come true, and it should be obvious that the Player Administration is one hell of a job.

So why the hell would I want to do this?

When I applied for membership, it was not merely for the roleplay experience. It was also because of the community and the creative environment that ALFA offered. I enjoy roleplay first and foremost, but the creative aspect of a semi-professional, self-sustaining, volunteer-based roleplay community is a joy onto itself. DM-ing, building and scripting are the most obvious joys, but the community management and PR are just as worthwhile in my opinion.

There are many more things I can say on this subject: my background with PR&M and community management with MMO's; my efforts for the admissions process so far; the admissions process in general; my feelings on the forum drama; the current moderation policy; why I believe an international community like ALFA is so freaking awesome. I will leave it to you to pose me the relevant questions, so that everything that needs to be said can surface within a proper context.

I hope I have done an adequate job of explaining the spirit of my nomination. As for my agenda – it has been only three days since I even considered running. The past two days I've spend writing this platform. I have not had much time to consider what exactly I will do. I do however know what I will want to achieve.

As I said previously, I will have to administer the spirit and word that the community set out in the Mission statement, Charter and Code of Conduct. I hope to do this with prudence and reason, and intend to further the effort that has been put into the Player Administration so far. I will do this in dialogue with the community as a whole, including the administrations, and determine my agenda accordingly.

My premises for this dialogue are as following:
- The need to moderate ridicule and spiteful arguments on the forums.
- The need to protect creative talent from suffering under non-constructive criticism.
- The need to promote politeness in forum discussions
- The need to maintain a liberal discussion platform that does not strangle passionate debate under the strain of too much or too little politeness
- The need to 'polish & oil' up the excellent work FI has done with the admissions process. Though this receives only one mention, I believe it is as important as the subject of the forum drama. A great deal of my attention will go to the applicants and new members of our community.
- The need to explore the subject of arguments and drama within and between members of the Administrations and staffs. This is not an issue for the Player Administration, but as an Admin I will make it a special consideration.
- The need to explore common grounds with the PR staff.
- The need to address ease-of-use of the forums.

[edit - 5th of August 2008] I will adjust this list according to the needs the community and administration will voice throughout my administration. These are however what I find to be the most important subjects for my Player Administration to begin with, and are at the core of what I will concern myself with the most.

As you can see, it is quite a list. What I will do exactly will depend on the outcome of my dialogue with the broader community. Thus I'm looking forward to the questions posed in reaction to this.

Lastly, I want to say a word of thanks to the support and encouragement I have recieved so far. I wouldn't have nominated myself if it wasn't for your support. Thank you for the honour.

[Lusipher]

Hey Demson! Glad to see your running. I had a few questions Id like to ask :

1) What changes will you make if you become PA in regards to the OAS1 and 2. Do you think we need the OAS1? What can we do as OAS Dms and app reviewers to make getting in new players an easier task, but still using the degree of checks and balances we currently use.

2) PR and PA should work closely in hand. Since we are both trying to bring in new players and keep them here. Tell us some of your ideas in regards to the Application process. What changes need to be made to the Acceptance email and rejection email? What kind of things can we do to allow new players more access to information to get them started? What can we do to keep player retention?

3) You have extensive background in PR and community liason of MMO communities. Could you share what you have done so our community can better understand what you have done, seen, and think will help you make our community better?

4) Any changes you want to make to the player disipline system? Do you think it currently works well? Just curious about your thoughts here.

Thank you for your time and Im sure ill think of more later on. This should get your started

[Vendrin]

Planetouched.

[Demson]

1) What changes will you make if you become PA in regards to the OAS1 and 2. Do you think we need the OAS1? What can we do as OAS Dms and app reviewers to make getting in new players an easier task, but still using the degree of checks and balances we currently use.

At the moment I see little need to change our OAS setup. I will look into the use of the OAS as a promotional tool, but the prime purpose of the OAS is to determine the suitability of an applicant. This has been decided upon in the past and I agree with the wisdom of this.

What will happen with the OAS1 will depend on what the community as a whole will decide to do with the NWN1 spectrum. Now that our NWN2 act is coming together, there seems to be more breathing space for the NWN1 aspect of our community. Should the NWN1 HDM's and the PR staff get an effort going for new NWN1 membership, I can see a potential role for the OAS1 again.

Until then we'll just keep it around, should we need it.

As for what the OAS2 DM's and app reviewers can do, I've posted on the subjects of admissions here and here. I haven't figured out the specifics yet, but overall we need to give the applicant some more respect. An application playing on the OAS is as much a test of us as it is a test of them. It's mostly a question of attitude and how we present ourselves. There is no need for this to conflict with the already established purpose and function of the OAS. It simply comes ontop of it.

2) PR and PA should work closely in hand. Since we are both trying to bring in new players and keep them here. Tell us some of your ideas in regards to the Application process. What changes need to be made to the Acceptance email and rejection email? What kind of things can we do to allow new players more access to information to get them started? What can we do to keep player retention?

The admission mail needs a major update. There is a great amount of information and documentation avaible to the admitted member. I intend to combine all the new member needs to know into one single resource, probably this will be the acceptance mail.

The principle of the rejection mails fine - I might change the wording to suite my own personality and polish the presentation, but I will not change the setup of admissions. Notice that there are two rejection mails: one for written applications that refer to the OAS2, and one for those declined after an OAS2 session. The latter has a tone of 'ALFA is not right for you' and that is something we ought to maintain. Declining membership is not an insult. In a way, we protect the applicant as much as we protect our community,

As for player retention, what I feel is vital is that each and every admitted member has someone to go to and rely upon. A liason or mentor, if you will. There has been a mentor system in the past and there has been interest in reviving this. Paazin is on this right now. But as PA, I would of course put effort into this.

3) You have extensive background in PR and community liason of MMO communities. Could you share what you have done so our community can better understand what you have done, seen, and think will help you make our community better?

My background is extensive in that I have touched a broad spectrum of MMO Public Relations and Customer Service. My efforts in this sector have been on a basis as volunteer or freelancer, and always on the lower echelons. Marketing research, moderation, in-game customer support, etc. Mostly tedious stuff, but it did give me the oppertunity to discuss and learn from actual professionals.

I feel the experience would empower me as PA, as this sector is as close a model the Player Administration can look to for inspiration and sollutions. ALFA is still a very different beast from all that though.

What I have learned exactly? I would prefer to show that in action and deeds rather than words. There is allot to be said on this subject, and it's best explained in practise.

4) Any changes you want to make to the player disipline system? Do you think it currently works well? Just curious about your thoughts here.

It is not my responsibility of PA to make changes to the player discipline system itself. This should be done by the Constitutional Community in dialogue with the broader community. I might advocate certain changes, at most.

The actual enforcement of player discipline of course is my concern as PA. It is a relatively straightforward process, requiring integrity, prudence and patience. I hope I have shown to possess these qualities in my dealings in this community so far.

Does it work well? Well enough. The threat of discipline is enough to detter the worst kinds of behaviours. But how well it actually works I will find out first-hand during my term. I have not had to deal with this in ALFA before, so I really can't form an educated opinion on it.

Thank you for your time and Im sure ill think of more later on. This should get your started

Thanks, keep them coming.

There is allot to be said, I'll let you people decide the relevancy of it.

[Demson]

Planetouched.

Thank you.

[Nalo Jade]

Excellent statement.

Really well thought out, and I think we were able to glean a bit of who you are at the same time.

One question.

Do you think standards that relate to Players should fall under the Player Admin instead of the DMA?

[Demson]

Do you think standards that relate to Players should fall under the Player Admin instead of the DMA?

No, I do not think so. The actual roleplay experience is the concern of the DMA. I could step up and offer a voice of reason as Admin, but the actual issue lies in the domain of the DM administration, in my understanding.

[edit]The charter is a bit vague about this responsibility. I do feel it should be the responsibility of the DM administration. As an admin I will look into this matter, however.

[zicada]

What is your stance on the status quo of how ALFA is organized ?

Do you think it is the best way to organize an online PW community taking into account the real life size vs the mission/scope ?

Considering how well Exodus has proven simplicity to work, should ALFA look into reorganizing to adopt a similar system ?

Do you feel like centralizing building and DMing efforts is superior to the current model of a framework of individual server entities all running their own teams ?

Basically what i would like to know is, would you be onboard and support a rather major re-think on how we organize and run things, in the interest of improving many aspects of the community ? Even though these questions do not fall specifically on you, you will be an admin, and as such have alot of say on the matter.

Thanks


[edit]

Im interested to know how all the candidates feel about these things. Please copy/paste a quote to the right thread to reply to this.

[Demson]

What is your stance on the status quo of how ALFA is organized ?

Do you mean the charter, or the current people in charge?

On the former I will say this: the current charter and organisation developed out of neccesity. It was a result and product of a certain situation and vision. That ALFA is still here and still progressing says enough about how it has been organised so far. That is all I can say on this without being given more specifics.

On the latter I have nothing so say here.

Do you think it is the best way to organize an online PW community taking into account the real life size vs the mission/scope ?

I think the distribution of responsibilities is spot on. The administrators can branch their administrations out as neccesary, by employing staffs. Five people 'in charge' is not a whole lot, and the distribution is accurate and practical.

I believe the way ALFA is organised has everything a community like ALFA needs. The leadership can be held accountable by the actual community, which can't be said of most PW's.

Is there room for improvement? Always.

But how ALFA operates is an unique product of it's own history and challanges. Over the course of years, many people have asked the same question you are asking to me now and the result became what we have today.

Considering how well Exodus has proven simplicity to work, should ALFA look into reorganizing to adopt a similar system?

I do not think we should reorganise merely because of another PW. ALFA is it's own creature with it's own ambitions and difficulties. We can look to them for inspiration, but not as a role model. Each organisation has it's own difficulties and what might work for Exodus, might not work for us.

Do you feel like centralizing building and DMing efforts is superior to the current model of a framework of individual server entities all running their own teams?

How are the building and DMing efforts not centralised under the current 5 administrations?

I've been involved with building and scripting. Each server is it's own effort, but it is not it's own team. There is allot of traffic of talent going on between these different efforts, based on what I've seen. And if people decide to stick to a certain server, this is their right to. ALFA is a volunteer-based project, after all.

Each server effort is of course led by a HDM. I believe this is the framework you are refering to. I think this is for the best. This way, each server has someone to rely upon. But in my view they do not run their own team. They run a team effort, sure. But if you build for one server, there is no barrier that prevents you from building for another server. And any script or model that is worked out for one server, can carry on to another server. That is the beauty of having a Technical Administration.

Basically what i would like to know is, would you be onboard and support a rather major re-think on how we organize and run things, in the interest of improving many aspects of the community ? Even though these questions do not fall specifically on you, you will be an admin, and as such have alot of say on the matter.

The organisation and functioning of a community is something that requires continuous evaluation. Yes, I am all for constructive discussion on how ALFA functions, to the purpose of improving it. As an admin, it would be my duty to listen and take it into consideration.

But the way you word yourself, I recieve the impression that it has already been decided that ALFA needs a major re-think and even rebuild. To that I say this - it would be best to build upon the work that has already been done, instead of breaking it down and starting over again.

I hope I answered your questions adequately, Zicada. What you are bringing up is not an easy subject and I imagine it has been an issue since before I joined. Indeed, since the days the ALFA community took shape. And becoming an admin does make it one of my responsibilities.

How I would deal with it? The same way I will deal with the Player Administration.

Dialogue.

[Vendrin]

Planetouched.

Thank you.

*sighs* As in, how do you feel about them? I.E. That they are not currently allowed, etc, etc.

[Demson]

Planetouched.

Thank you.

*sighs* As in, how do you feel about them? I.E. That they are not currently allowed, etc, etc.

I do not believe that gameplay balance should be a prime concern of the PA. That is what the DM administration is for. I realise the charter does not cover this, but I feel that the DM administration is best equipped to deal with this. It fits their responsibities best.

That said, as an admin I will of course offer a voice of reason within the decision-making process.

And the way things are handled in this community? Sure. The players are my concern. If you are concerned with how things are handled by the administration, that becomes my concern too.

So if players are concerned with how the subject of the planetouched is being dealt with, you can bring it to me as PA. But I will not make a promise here to include it or not, since it are the DM's that have to deal with it the most. It's not the call of the Player Administration.

[Veilan]

Hey Demson,

does, in your eyes, lying to a DM constitute cheating? Feel free to add qualifiyers if you feel they are necessary.

Thank you and good luck,

[Demson]

It can be. It depends on the context. Keeping important information from a DM to protect your character would qualify as cheating, for example.

Lying as a whole is intolerable to begin with. It breaks down the trust we have to rely upon to make this community work. Lying does not have to be cheating to be inexcusable. It's a matter of respect.

[Nalo Jade]

Clarification of the "player standards"

It was recommended by a few during Rick/Rusty exodus... that the DMA has too much in the positions portfolio.

So would you seek a change to the charter from the LA that would define and place "Player related standards" I.E. playable races/classes and needed adjustments to their out of the box set up to be explicitley listed under PA's platform.

Currently the PA's platform is one of representing the players, it really does not matter to the DM's what the players are allowed to do...they control the game world. It would make sense to some that things that have to do with the players be dealt with by the player rep.

[Demson]

Clarification of the "player standards"

It was recommended by a few during Rick/Rusty exodus... that the DMA has too much in the positions portfolio.

So would you seek a change to the charter from the LA that would define and place "Player related standards" I.E. playable races/classes and needed adjustments to their out of the box set up to be explicitley listed under PA's platform.

Currently the PA's platform is one of representing the players, it really does not matter to the DM's what the players are allowed to do...they control the game world. It would make sense to some that things that have to do with the players be dealt with by the player rep.

I will not run my platform on seeking this change. I am willing to hold a dialogue on it, but I will not press for such a change.

If the current DMA believes he has too much in his portfolio, then the community as a whole will have to come to a solution for this. I agree that an obvious solution is to grant the responsibility of player standards to the Player Admin.

Still, I feel it fits the DM administration much better. Traditionally it has been the DM's that made campaigns and worlds happen. With D&D, it isn't uncommon for DM's to set 'standards' for player characters in order to make roleplay possible. Take Vendrin's recent Underdark campaign for example, where you need to be of a specific race and background in order to be able to participate.

This approach of DM's being able to set such standards is a great strength of D&D gameplay. Coming from a MMO background, the strength and impact of a DM is what intrigues me the most about D&D. I think MMO's still have allot to learn from D&D in that regard.

DM's have to make the roleplay happen in-game. What better person than the DM Administrator for player standards? They are not required to DM themselves, after all. Their role is to oversee the DM's and the actual roleplay.

There are just my thoughts on the subject. Regardless of what I think, I am willing to hold a dialogue on this with everyome involved. I would be willing to take on such responsibilities, but this would of course depend on the other admins and if they deem it neccesary. I will not move for a change myself.

On another note - I am of course willing to tackle any subject thrown at me. The premises I've posted so far are just those I have come up with so far and will give my attention to. During my administration, this agenda of dialogue will change and update according to the needs the community and administration will voice.