Staff Abuse.

[Spock!]

I was in ?go BUG today when I criticized the host, Slaught <ER>, for using a fire bug in the beginning of the event. Apparently in retaliation he turned me into a bug, even though I wasn't killed in any manner. I wasn't specced either, as I didn't go to a spec screen, and was instantly a bug.

This isn't the first staff abuse case either, as before I was constantly warped to the center of the map so that I could be killed easier. (It was in ?go hunt or something, and me and the host where the last ones)

I just thought that others should be notified of this, in the hopes of preventing such occurrences in the future.
Amen

[Shaddowknight]

(RoboHelp)>To register instances of abuse by any Trench Wars staff member(s), please e-mail your side of the
(RoboHelp)>story to twcomplaints@gmail.com

[Ephemeral]

I think that the emphasis that TW places on staff hosting needs to be re-visited. By focusing on the number of events that staff hosts it is rewarding the wrong thing. Simply put this approach assumes that someone hosting something is ‘good’ but this is far from the truth. First, hosting an event poorly actually hurts the game and community. Second, not all events are well attended. Third, events should be a ‘special occurrence’ (this is the definition of the word event) yet we now have events running 24/7.
These three things make using the number of hosted events as a measure of a staff performance a poor choice.
eph

[Aura]

I wasn't there so I can't explain this exact situation, but every host can choose how they want to run their event. Trolling the person who is volunteering their time for free to run these events is not a good idea. He could have simply specced you. Everyone makes mistakes some times though, and two wrongs don't make a right.

Now Eph, the majority of people do one of two things. They either pub and play events or they play TWD(including wbduel/javduel/base/elim) and play events. Events are the biggest population draw besides any sort of league game. Saying that we should remove regular events is completely ridiculous. We do have special events, and those are only hosted on the weekends with the biggest crowds. Yes, hosting an event poorly is not good, but the host has to learn some time. Typically the errors are kept to a minimum since robobots do most of the work anyways. Now you say not all events are well attended....well, no shit. Every single arena has fans and enemies. It comes down to hosting a wide variety of things so that everyone is happy. We aren't just going to host ?go bug 24/7 because its a popular event. Recently, a couple staffers have put together hosting guides specifically for rarely hosted events so that we have a wider variety of events to play.

tl;dr Eph, people get bored extremely quickly without events.

[Ephemeral]

“…the majority of people do one of two things. They either pub and play events or they play TWD(including wbduel/javduel/base/elim) and play events. Events are the biggest population draw besides any sort of league game.”
Do you have access to the empirical data you are using to justify events or is this just your opinion? If you are using real data, is there any data that reflects what happens when events are poorly hosted?

“Saying that we should remove regular events is completely ridiculous.”
I did not say anything like this at all. I am saying they are over-hosted due to the focus they get by measuring staff performance via number of events hosted. It is ‘rewarding’ quantity over quality. I don’t play many events but the quality of the ones I have seen over the last few months has dropped. This includes staff changing rules on the fly* and doing things like is described by the original posted of this thread. I am sure that many others have examples of poorly run events.

“Now you say not all events are well attended....well, no shit.”
My point is about using the number of events hosted as a measure of staff performance. So when a staffer is reviewed for ‘moving up the ladder’ by considering how many events they have hosted, does hosting an event with 8 people count the same as one with 48 people?

“It comes down to hosting a wide variety of things so that everyone is happy.”
I understand your point about trying to be all things to all people. The population has dropped low enough that TW feels every player that doesn’t come back. But I don’t agree with this approach when bringing in new players. IMO trying to do too many things poorly is not better than doing fewer things really well. Poorly hosted events are a sure way to turn off new players, I saw a new player get frustrated with yesterday’s Boki base event.

My opinion is, remove the stupid performance metric of the number of events hosted. Using real data, figure out which events are truly popular and drop those which are not. Set a schedule, even if were loosely done, that helps players figure out which events to expect on certain days/times. Train staff how to host properly (which would be much easier with fewer number of events) to build upon their popularity.
eph




*Like Boki base yesterday when staffer arbitrarily added time to the game because he didn’t like that the terrier was not attacking base in last 45 seconds of the game.

[Shaddowknight]

ER and ZH dont get promoted based on number of hosts. ZH get promoted by showing they are able to host well in addition to being able to handle the other basic staff duties that ZHs are given. As for ERs getting promoted, that happens when a Moderator position opens up and an ER is chosen to fulfill that position.
We have a quota that is primarily used to make sure we arent sitting on staff wasting space. Other than that we mostly use it to mltovate ourselves and each other.

[Zeebu]

staff caboose


chooo chooooooo

po ur olleybu

[Left_Eye]

While I have many opinions regarding events and the quantity/quality of them, I'm just going to stick to the original point of this thread as told by Spock!.

Spock!, those actions done by a host, no matter how much they spend their free time in this game, is really unacceptable if that is what has happened. Staff should treat everyone fairly and the same, whether they like them or not. So, if indeed you were changed to a bug just for criticizing the host, that is very unprofessional and will definitely be looked into. I'm not really investigating it since I am out of town, but I am sure if you make a complaint, a SMod+ will look into it and see what happened.

Hosters, no matter if <ZH> to SysOp should act professional during events, and as sad as it is, being trolled as a host is always inevitable. They should put their feelings aside and focus on just entertaining people at the very least. Hosters do mess up from time to time, but no emotion should have played a part in it. I don't know if it was an honest mistake or something more malicious. Again, I'm sure a SMod+ will investigate it if you report it either asap while in the game or through the twcomplaints email that Shaddow has given you above.

If it happens again during an event, feel free to contact myself or another SMod at the time it happens. I really don't permit things like this happening during events.

Lefty

[Crescent Seal]

oO.Oo fired yet

[Rab]

Just call her a dick and get on with your life. In the grand scheme of things this is really insignificant.