Hey everyone, thought I'd give a blurb about what it was like being dean of staff during the term that I undertaken for the year+ on the job.
I started on September 3, 2006, which is also my dad's birthday, therefore I remember it vividly. I didn't do anything revolutionary that prior successful deans of staff have done before me. I just made sure that we were constantly supplied with staff that are willing, active, and participating members of our Trench community. There were a lot of inactives when I first took the position, and after a month of cleaning house, necessary promotions took place. Rehiring left_eye back to staff was controversial at the time, but it proved to be one of our finer decisions, as her abilities really speak for themselves. Numerous staffers were given their 1-time chance for returning to staff while I had the position...many of which not so fruitful. But hey, they deserve one more shot. They were also once excellent staff. Guys like Cylor, zzLifezz, Cpt.Guano, Lunar Crescens, Demonic, Dim, S4j3n......at one time they did their job, but their second coming was not so fantastic. I never regret giving them their chance to return. Some players tend to take their 2nd chance of returning to staff with a more humble heart, which usually ends up better than joining just trying to prove a point. If you guys are reading this, maybe you should've gave your decision on returning to staff some greater thought before dedicating time back into this game, or you just end up disappointing us all.
Strikeball failed yet again during my term as dean of staff, and its pretty clear now that the community should have a semi-competitive but self-automated system similar to TWD where one SB squad can challenge another. Maybe in time, this could happen. Jumping right into leagues was not a good decision. Development for more casual play would've been the better choice (and can still be, if it is continued to be worked on)
Some very excellent staffers quit staff during my term as well including: Jacklyn, Worstplayerever, Kyace, Mantra-Slider, Shayde, Scoop <ER>, Leaf <ER>, Twerp <ER>, Superted <ZH>, Subjugation <ZH>.
Reaver quit staff, even though he did an excellent job with TWD Staff, coordinate the team extremely well, proved to be our best department consisting of only the most experienced moderators. There are never any problems with that team of people, and was great being part of it while Reaver was in charge.
Weaver, having quit staff recently, has had a great impact to all staff, including myself especially. When I first became dean, he helped me through it all; many decisions that were hard to make, he would put in a helpful word here and there, and it has really paid off. Many hires, promotions, and projects were discussed with him personally before they were finalized. He'll be greatly missed, but at least we can still see him around the game, and I can bother him some more about this sysop position .
When I first got the position, I thought you had to force yourself to be the greatest organizer of all time in order to control the busy TW Staff. There are just so many that it seems an almost impossible task keeping tabulations on what each of them do, day in and day out. Needless to say, the easiest way I did my job, was to just fit in as just "another mod" on the team. The ability to listen to what each staff member has to tell you helps you make sure the goals and directions of every staff member is on track, they essentially help you organize your thoughts on things. On a personal level, you get to know more about each staff member, some can say that they learned things about me as well, and it has been a very fun experience. Getting to know every staff member better than before makes this community of players into a tighter cohesive unit, working together for the betterment of the zone.
Some players tried for a period of time to get into staff but didn't keep up with the interest after a month, some players didn't even try to get into staff but were invited, while others tried as hard as they could, knowing their heart is in the right place, but we felt that they did not belong with our staffing community, and it really puzzles them. Its like managing a TWD squad, just because someone has all the experience in the world with a history of being in the squad before...these things don't guarantee your invitation. Because of this, many players reacted negatively when their application to staff was not received well. I'm sure most of you meant well, but still, we can't accept every person that comes knocking.
Making Falk and Nycle deans of staff were a long time coming. I knew these guys for a long time. They have extremely good compatibility, and are friends even outside the game, halfway across the world! Preda was a very capable dean of staff, and his experience made it so all staff had a certain level of respect for him, but due to time restrains for his new job that he started in September of this year, he cannot uphold the level of commitment and activity that he would expect of himself to be a decent dean of staff. He chose to give it up. Preda is still around, he'll be unassigned to a position for a while until he can gather up some more time for this game, which by then he'll for sure take up something ambitious. In the mean time, my wishes go out to the new deans of staff, and I hope the staff situation that Pred and I have passed down to you will be smooth sailing for yaz (at least a couple months =p)
Kim
I started on September 3, 2006, which is also my dad's birthday, therefore I remember it vividly. I didn't do anything revolutionary that prior successful deans of staff have done before me. I just made sure that we were constantly supplied with staff that are willing, active, and participating members of our Trench community. There were a lot of inactives when I first took the position, and after a month of cleaning house, necessary promotions took place. Rehiring left_eye back to staff was controversial at the time, but it proved to be one of our finer decisions, as her abilities really speak for themselves. Numerous staffers were given their 1-time chance for returning to staff while I had the position...many of which not so fruitful. But hey, they deserve one more shot. They were also once excellent staff. Guys like Cylor, zzLifezz, Cpt.Guano, Lunar Crescens, Demonic, Dim, S4j3n......at one time they did their job, but their second coming was not so fantastic. I never regret giving them their chance to return. Some players tend to take their 2nd chance of returning to staff with a more humble heart, which usually ends up better than joining just trying to prove a point. If you guys are reading this, maybe you should've gave your decision on returning to staff some greater thought before dedicating time back into this game, or you just end up disappointing us all.
Strikeball failed yet again during my term as dean of staff, and its pretty clear now that the community should have a semi-competitive but self-automated system similar to TWD where one SB squad can challenge another. Maybe in time, this could happen. Jumping right into leagues was not a good decision. Development for more casual play would've been the better choice (and can still be, if it is continued to be worked on)
Some very excellent staffers quit staff during my term as well including: Jacklyn, Worstplayerever, Kyace, Mantra-Slider, Shayde, Scoop <ER>, Leaf <ER>, Twerp <ER>, Superted <ZH>, Subjugation <ZH>.
Reaver quit staff, even though he did an excellent job with TWD Staff, coordinate the team extremely well, proved to be our best department consisting of only the most experienced moderators. There are never any problems with that team of people, and was great being part of it while Reaver was in charge.
Weaver, having quit staff recently, has had a great impact to all staff, including myself especially. When I first became dean, he helped me through it all; many decisions that were hard to make, he would put in a helpful word here and there, and it has really paid off. Many hires, promotions, and projects were discussed with him personally before they were finalized. He'll be greatly missed, but at least we can still see him around the game, and I can bother him some more about this sysop position .
When I first got the position, I thought you had to force yourself to be the greatest organizer of all time in order to control the busy TW Staff. There are just so many that it seems an almost impossible task keeping tabulations on what each of them do, day in and day out. Needless to say, the easiest way I did my job, was to just fit in as just "another mod" on the team. The ability to listen to what each staff member has to tell you helps you make sure the goals and directions of every staff member is on track, they essentially help you organize your thoughts on things. On a personal level, you get to know more about each staff member, some can say that they learned things about me as well, and it has been a very fun experience. Getting to know every staff member better than before makes this community of players into a tighter cohesive unit, working together for the betterment of the zone.
Some players tried for a period of time to get into staff but didn't keep up with the interest after a month, some players didn't even try to get into staff but were invited, while others tried as hard as they could, knowing their heart is in the right place, but we felt that they did not belong with our staffing community, and it really puzzles them. Its like managing a TWD squad, just because someone has all the experience in the world with a history of being in the squad before...these things don't guarantee your invitation. Because of this, many players reacted negatively when their application to staff was not received well. I'm sure most of you meant well, but still, we can't accept every person that comes knocking.
Making Falk and Nycle deans of staff were a long time coming. I knew these guys for a long time. They have extremely good compatibility, and are friends even outside the game, halfway across the world! Preda was a very capable dean of staff, and his experience made it so all staff had a certain level of respect for him, but due to time restrains for his new job that he started in September of this year, he cannot uphold the level of commitment and activity that he would expect of himself to be a decent dean of staff. He chose to give it up. Preda is still around, he'll be unassigned to a position for a while until he can gather up some more time for this game, which by then he'll for sure take up something ambitious. In the mean time, my wishes go out to the new deans of staff, and I hope the staff situation that Pred and I have passed down to you will be smooth sailing for yaz (at least a couple months =p)
Kim
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