A Semi-logical view of the Staff Problem

[Tigerex]

I think you are missing the point here, It may be good to have events hosted and your questions answered all the time but think of the poor kids answering them. I mean Take Dimboy as the extreme example, he is 13 and he hosts lots but think of how mentally inept he is going to be after so many years of neglecting school. People will probably call him Trench Geek and kick dirt in his eyes. Then as he gets older and he remains the withered pale child with a permanently crooked back from bending over his keyboard who hasn't seen the sun since 2003, then people will mock him and maybe attach some name to him such as "Pidgeon Lady" "Cat Man" Or some other name with an animal in it indicating his unhealthy lack of co-existance with humans. He will probably be beaten up for the next few years before he reaches this stage of decay but all the same this is the direction in which his life will lead.

So have a little pity for staffers and share a bit of love. Staff is a bit of fun to play with not a life style.

[Zerzera]

Poor me

[ZeUs!!]

We need to take dimboy drinking

[Zerzera]

I only drink alone...

[Tigerex]

<insert obvious comment about Zerz having no friends>

[TajaUk]

Originally posted by Jason
Stop hiring newbies. I'd be willing to bet the majority of the current crop of ZHs haven't even taken the time to scroll through the F1 help listing and read it in its entirety.

This makes sense!

Never never never hire someone who wants to be on staff. There is nothing worse than a powerhungry newbie staff member which make up 75% of staff these days..

really the people who run TW need to think whats important.

[Jerome Scuggs]

as opposed to hiring someone who doesnt wanna be on staff

[pv=nrt]

teh title says semi logical, wtf?

[Jerome Scuggs]

well it isnt logical, nor analytical.

[Acidmouse]

Originally posted by Jerome Scuggs
as opposed to hiring someone who doesnt wanna be on staff

No there are lots of Vets / Respected pilots that have no desire to be on staff (or dont lick arse to get on staff like it seems is the norm these days) but would make great helpers/staffers/contributers to the zones well being in general.

Would it take so much effort from those higher up in staff to look around at those type of pilots and try and recruit some of them, instead of all the arsehole 13 years old's having ego trips when they make staff who know absolutly jack shit about anything.

The culture of rewarding really annoying kids onto staff is mind boggling to say the least.

[Eric is God]

Re: A Semi-logical view of the Staff Problem

Originally posted by Jerome Scuggs
First off, I have noticed through and through that the players seem to think the Staff are horrible. This is only half true. The lack of proper Staff is a DIREC impact of Veterans. Yes, Veterans.

Think about it. You're a newbie in go base listening to Veteran A and Veteran B talk about the good days and TW.

Vet A> damn, staff sucks.
Anon> lol Vet A thats only because u never got on it
Vet B> duh he never did, staff is so shitty being on it would be an embarrassment.
Newb> Oh boy! if i get on staff, i'll be made fun of! better go read forums and turn into Annux, ppl LOVE Annux!

Now, any self-respecting person or someone who wants to be 'popular' will follow social norms. And right now, the social norm is fairly Anti-Staff. And the problem is perpetuated by the anti-staff rhetoric flowing around these forums, in the game, everywhere. I have a Extremely accurate example: myself. I've wanted to be on TW Staff a number of times. But recently, I'm sure someone here can find a quote that I posted, somehow flaming the Staff.

So Folks, to summarize the chapter:
-"Vets" are in part contributing to the TWStaff ("TWS") downfall; instead of contributing their wisdom as a <ZH> or <ER> they simply harass the TWS.
-Newbies who are most potential for TWS are seemingly 'driven off' by these Veterans. (Ex: I'm sure some newbie is trolling these forums reading about Icey <ZH>.)

Most of us "veterans" are fully aware that for the most part, the staff is doing a solid job in TW. There are more leagues than ever, they run quite smoothly compared to some in the past. Hosting frequency is decent if not great and the percentage of abusive staff is down, mainly because they are given very little discretion on what they are allowed to do.

Yes we constantly talk about the "good old days", but rarely does that have anything to do with the quality of the staff. What we do realize is that being a staff member used to be a symbol of respect, a message that you had been around a while and knew what you were doing in TW. Because most of the events were manually hosted and it was within our discretion to silence or spec cheaters (mostly teamers and such in elim), it was important that you were someone who was somewhat well known and respected so people actually listened to you. Right now if someone on staff warns me about something I just laugh because they probably dont know the difference between bending and breaking the rules; what is and is not enough to get you in trouble.

If you want to help out this zone and are willing to put up with a lot of crap for it, then by all means try to get on staff. Dont expect to recieve anything but your own sense of self satisfaction though. Staff members (even smods) do not deserve any respect based primarily on their position. They volunteer their time willingly and should be fully aware of what they were getting into. When I see someone like Epi, 2dragons, or Weaver, I respect them because they are good players and decent guys, its just a coincidence that they happen to be high ranking staff members because I could care less.

I read the rest of your post and I agree with the majority of it. ZH's in general dont really serve a huge purpose, thats always been apparent. Anyone who has played in TW for a significant amount of time could probably answer most any question a new player has about the zone. ZH's seem to be more of a test to see whether or not you are:

A) active enough in the game to be a good staff member
B) can handle staff commands so you can host later on
C) know enough about the game and the rules to know what is and isnt allowed

Now I question how effective the system is at accomplishing those things, but overall I think the staff still does a solid job.

[Eric is God]

Originally posted by Acidmouse
No there are lots of Vets / Respected pilots that have no desire to be on staff (or dont lick arse to get on staff like it seems is the norm these days) but would make great helpers/staffers/contributers to the zones well being in general.

Would it take so much effort from those higher up in staff to look around at those type of pilots and try and recruit some of them, instead of all the arsehole 13 years old's having ego trips when they make staff who know absolutly jack shit about anything.

The culture of rewarding really annoying kids onto staff is mind boggling to say the least.

There are some of us that would love to help out the zone in some way but, have been banned from doing so. Also, being an "advisor" to the staff or any part of this game is meaningless without the power to back it up. I personally have made suggestions (politely and not so politely) to staff for years and Ive accomplished the sum total of nothing. The higher ups in staff usually make the decisions they want to make, regardless of what the players want. There are some exceptions like some league smods that have used player input to make decisions or when they allow players to vote on a new pub map, but these are the isolated instances.

Most people are probably aware of how long it took to finally get shrap taken out of baseelim or how long it took to even get the split of elims. How long have people begged that levs be toned down in any number of ways? Finally we have 1 arena that doesnt allow levs, exactly how hard would that have been to put in 3 years ago? How about the spawning problem everywhere?

Most of us are very pleased with the way TW has turned out. What frusterates us is the path we took to get here and how long it took. Thats why I personally dont feel like congradulating the staff, yes they do a decent job, but there has always been such HUGE room for improvement.

Btw sorry about getting off on a rant there Acid, only the beginning part had to do with your post

[Downdraft]

Originally posted by Melo
There is 2 dean of staff for a good reason its very hard to recruit because there is no one that everyone likes (maybe except Pasco and Abyss that never talks :P)

i talked to abyss once $

[Downdraft]

Originally posted by wark <ZH>
again, im trying to stay away from staff-bashing on this forum.. cause I want staff to read it.

even if they do, the ability to accept critics does not exist in upper staff. They'll say your not constructive

[destruct]

I personally think that the staff right now being recruited earned what people call "rank" and that requires some sort of respect from others.

am I correct?