Cloud's Nomination Question Thread: Lay on!

[CloudDancing]

The letter of the law or the spirit of the law?

I am for the letter of the law practiced with an unbiased and measured hand.

If the law has become obsolete in the face of general logic, it may need to be redefined.

[dirsa]

1. how much wood could a woodchuck chuck is a woodchuck could chuck wood?

2. what lead admin really does?

3. why do you want to do that, and how can we help you?

[Rotku]

2. what lead admin really does?

3. why do you want to do that, and how can we help you?

That's a really good question. There are many different interpretations of what an LA does - all are right in some ways. Veilan has made it very clear what he believes they do. My view is vastly different from Veilan's. Where do you lie?

[CloudDancing]

1. how much wood could a woodchuck chuck is a woodchuck could chuck wood?

2. what lead admin really does?

3. why do you want to do that, and how can we help you?

1. *chucks wood at dirsa*

2. Well I assume they are the figurehead in the process of promoting and seeing that Alfa's admin stays focused and has realistic and predictable goals with a natural progression toward the common goal of supporting a diverse and vibrant player base and said Dms to provide interactive content.

3. Hit the restart button. Reboot Alfa. Upgrade for 2011. Revive interest. And show Bioware that they need to make a new game with current technology and support this innovation.

[Teric neDhalir]

3. Hit the restart button. Reboot Alfa. Upgrade for 2011.

Can you be more specific about what this means, please?
Ta,
Teric

[NESchampion]

I'd like to start by noting that I'm willing to stay on and help with Rule Documentation regardless of who takes the reins, at their discretion of course. That said, I have a number of questions below.

To start with preface, the role of LA according to the charter is as follows: "Lead Administrator—Oversight of Administration, Veto & Referral Authority, Election Oversight, and Public Relations. Also responsible for resolving disputes over domain classification of any particular issue."

What (if any) areas of ALFAs administration do you find most in need of oversight presently?

What (if any) areas of ALFAs administration would you seek to change?

Should the Charter be changed to allow elections for Infra Admin, Tech Admin, and DM Admin be open to all members of ALFA to vote, instead of being limited to "all seated Administrators, all HDMs, vote-eligible Administrator Staff as defined in section 3.5, and all DMs"? Why or why not? If not, what purpose do you feel the restricted voting constituency is useful in fulfilling?

---

Before the next question, a bit more prefacing. Advertising ALFA is one thing entirely, but one important aspect that feels lost is player retainment. However I've not seen much information available about our player numbers and trends, information which could be highly useful in indicating any problems with retainment. Details about how many players ALFA brings in each month; how many stay for a month, three months, and six months; and how regularly players trend towards logging in would be useful information for the playerbase and Admin to decide on possible changes and problems.

While player retainment is not explicitly listed under any Admin, would you be willing to pursue gathering information about player retainment available for everyone to look at? Additionally, if player retainment is a problem (something I personally feel is but lack data to support), would you be willing to take initiative, perhaps with DMA and PA, towards finding out the causes of a low player retainment rate and possible solutions?

Thanks for your time,
NES.

[CloudDancing]

3. Hit the restart button. Reboot Alfa. Upgrade for 2011.

Can you be more specific about what this means, please?
Ta,
Teric

We have enough smart people here degreed and not, young geniuses and old, to sit down at a virtual table and take a HARD look at what the players want for their gameplay.

The players ARE THE KEY!

There is no other reason to be doing anything in Alfa but for the players.

So with the data in front of us from sucessful vibrant servers, there are certain achingly obvious truths laying out upon said virtual table which I pointed out above that will both encouage our servers to become populated with vibrant diverse players and retain said players.

What we have:

1. Beautiful canon servers, some still in development. Each one a pen and papers virtual dream and with every person that works to make them canon, the grow even better.

2. Interesting people who can DM past the boring and predictable "Ahh go kill a monster, get some loot"

3. Fantastic roleplayers who consistently find themselves alone with nothing to do.

What we need:

1. Let go of the hurts and scars of the past. Simply "let go" of the mindsets that are strangling the last bits of life out of Alfa.

2. Accept and encourage people's excitement and momentum and use it to teach. And that includes a careful application and redirection of said momentum. For example, TSM is a complete server. It could use a few tweaks always. but it doesnt need it as much as say Skullport or MS. So we send the new builder to the paitent teacher DM instead of someone who simply does not have the time or inclination to support their need to contribute.

3. Accept that world of D&D has changed and we must accept their market data and their retooling of the game as a reflection of market data and years spent researching what the new gamer has come to expect and want. That does not mean lower our standards but it does mean letting go.

4. Learn to enjoy a little chaos. I personally HATE chaos from inside an infrastructure BUT I love the idea of setting up a world to function, dropping in fantastically random chracters with all sorts of diverse operating perameters, and watching them go to work. I would love to DM like it was in NWN1. So many interesting characters to get to know, to watch dance out their own little dances, being a DM and facillitating that dance, guiding it sometimes, and presenting them with challenges. I have'nt felt that way since April and May of last year on TSM.

[CloudDancing]

[CloudDancing]

What (if any) areas of ALFAs administration do you find most in need of oversight presently?

What (if any) areas of ALFAs administration would you seek to change?

Should the Charter be changed to allow elections for Infra Admin, Tech Admin, and DM Admin be open to all members of ALFA to vote, instead of being limited to "all seated Administrators, all HDMs, vote-eligible Administrator Staff as defined in section 3.5, and all DMs"? Why or why not? If not, what purpose do you feel the restricted voting constituency is useful in fulfilling?

---

Before the next question, a bit more prefacing. Advertising ALFA is one thing entirely, but one important aspect that feels lost is player retainment. However I've not seen much information available about our player numbers and trends, information which could be highly useful in indicating any problems with retainment. Details about how many players ALFA brings in each month; how many stay for a month, three months, and six months; and how regularly players trend towards logging in would be useful information for the playerbase and Admin to decide on possible changes and problems.

While player retainment is not explicitly listed under any Admin, would you be willing to pursue gathering information about player retainment available for everyone to look at? Additionally, if player retainment is a problem (something I personally feel is but lack data to support), would you be willing to take initiative, perhaps with DMA and PA, towards finding out the causes of a low player retainment rate and possible solutions?

Thanks for your time,
NES.

What (if any) areas of ALFAs administration do you find most in need of oversight presently?

I think the admin is fine. I think the rules, the pillars, and everything is very well made and structured. The support to the system operators is excellent. The maintaint of this website is fabulous and responsive (such as when it came time to honor zicada and give him a break at last)

The main thing they need to work on; Dm and player retainment. And with that comes a retooling of Alfa, reconizing, (as Galadriel speaks of so stunningly as Cate Blanchette) "the world has changed."

What (if any) areas of ALFAs administration would you seek to change?

I don't understand why people keep returning after one year plus abscences and are being handed copious administrative roles with zero playtime or getting to know the players/dms from a DM vantage

But I find everything is a bit kneejerk in regards to dealing with conflict and player issues.

I also find that the "put up or shut up" attituide has got to go along with anyone who obviously and literally hates working with people and is in a position that normally would require them intensely work with people for the betterment of Alfa.

Should the Charter be changed to allow elections for Infra Admin, Tech Admin, and DM Admin be open to all members of ALFA to vote, instead of being limited to "all seated Administrators, all HDMs, vote-eligible Administrator Staff as defined in section 3.5, and all DMs"? Why or why not? If not, what purpose do you feel the restricted voting constituency is useful in fulfilling?

At this point it would make more sense for all of Alfa to vote.

*Too many Admin are just not present enough to even remember to vote and these days, its pretty much a win by default everytime because only one person runs.
*As well they don't know the new players or people well, they haven't played with them OR Dm'd them, so they feel more secure voting for an old friend.

While player retainment is not explicitly listed under any Admin, would you be willing to pursue gathering information about player retainment available for everyone to look at? Additionally, if player retainment is a problem (something I personally feel is but lack data to support), would you be willing to take initiative, perhaps with DMA and PA, towards finding out the causes of a low player retainment rate and possible solutions?
Data is a funny thing. I personally have messed around in the logs and seen an eyeful of that data.

But if you are only looking IN at Alfa you can say a lot of things about the data showing we have lots of people. But I look at our pop daily. Its really nothing compared to the rest of the "worlds."

If you are going out, seeing what other PW's are doing, watching daily their server pop, and interviewing people who play there, and on occasion meeting other HDMS from these servers you learn a great deal more than just our login data.

The question stands; If you don't play and you don't Dm, why are you here? If you hate people and like to torment others, if you crush peoples dreams, and can't collaborate, why are you here? If you have lost the love of the game, the joy of creation why are you here?

[Dorn]

Do you think we should upload a large portion (not the most terribly broken parts) of community things like Kaerdins to expand the variety available to players and add another 'reason' to choose alfa? Does the fact that the vanilla cleric is so overpowered in a low/moderate magic world mean that the arguments about some of kaedrins less balanced 'fixes' become slightly obsolete?

Do you think we should speed up time in ALFA? For example make 1 IG year equivilent to 3 months RL to introduce the capacity for ageing if people wanted to?

Given you, and every other potential admin since time began, note the need for more players and particularly more DMs because of the lack of willingness to curb new server numbers....what active steps are you going to propose to other admin to do about it? How are you going to LEAD alfa towards another of the RP servers out there which regularly has 20-30 people on each of at a time with many DMs?

Can you see a better online way tool for scheduling events like a noticeboard? It's almost impossible to find out wat may or may not be happeneing. Maybe this is a question for Hialmar.

good luck cd

[CloudDancing]

Do you think we should upload a large portion (not the most terribly broken parts) of community things like Kaerdins to expand the variety available to players and add another 'reason' to choose alfa? Does the fact that the vanilla cleric is so overpowered in a low/moderate magic world mean that the arguments about some of kaedrins less balanced 'fixes' become slightly obsolete?

Not really. I think the broken things need to NOT be put into game. HOWEVER there is a process we should be following: The artist/builder builds the area (to a working standard that Curm has set remarkably well) and passes it to the scripter/builder, who adds scripts and statics and spawns, who passes it to the HDM, who goes through the Area Contents and checks each section for errors, tests the mod live, and then links it to the mod.

We have lots of areas. Sooo many areas..so much items. Its insane. If you DM its unorganized and it takes months to weed through it all. And we have plenty of things ingame are broken/mispriced to deal with removal.

Do you think we should speed up time in ALFA? For example make 1 IG year equivilent to 3 months RL to introduce the capacity for ageing if people wanted to?

Time is fine for people who RP it. I think what has come up before is the "Rathalan is Dead" issue as Rath well had overlived his human life potential with the current time conversion so it limits one to make interesting older pcs. It would speed up pregnancies and child raising, something that is well needed RP wise.

Given you, and every other potential admin since time began, note the need for more players and particularly more DMs because of the lack of willingness to curb new server numbers....what active steps are you going to propose to other admin to do about it? How are you going to LEAD alfa towards another of the RP servers out there which regularly has 20-30 people on each of at a time with many DMs?

I can't lead anyone anywhere if they are in denial and firmly wedged in a non-working business model.

I also can't do much to impress upon Admin that we need more players if they don't play or Dm because everything looks fine from the front of the bus. It totally sucks if you are sitting in the back alone.

There really is only one way to up the player base and that is no more applications and more scheduled set Dm-times people can depend on. Dm's need to Dm and only be allowed to build after they pass muster and create an area up to Alfa's highest standards.

Can you see a better online way tool for scheduling events like a noticeboard? It's almost impossible to find out wat may or may not be happeneing. Maybe this is a question for Hialmar

I'd love to see a nice big calendar of our scheduled events and more special events. We havent done a fun special event since Ravin did Greengrass with help from her friends and Me and Wynna. It was player driven and Dm facillitated. And lighthearted fun.

With Viigas starting up again and all current Dm's trying to have a set time so we don't overlap with other servers Dms, well I see us moving foward.

[quote[good luck cd[/quote]
Thanks!

[Hialmar]

I'd love to see a nice big calendar of our scheduled events and more special events. We havent done a fun special event since Ravin did Greengrass with help from her friends and Me and Wynna. It was player driven and Dm facillitated. And lighthearted fun.

With Viigas starting up again and all current Dm's trying to have a set time so we don't overlap with other servers Dms, well I see us moving foward.

We could use google calendar.
It's free and it manages timezones automatically.
We could make one calendar for each server and then I would embed the calendars in a page.

Edit: I'll create some and post in the DM forums.

[CloudDancing]

Er..by the way. I withdraw. I don't believe I can do any of this.

And I have three months to firm things up while helping Velian with a more structured plan.

Plus RL requires that I must go out and have a RL, perhaps even moving this summer. So I can't manage to rankle and goad and be a drama queen if I am trying to have the things I want in RL.

I am 35 years old and I have NOT had the best sex of my life. I have not tasted the best cheeseburger or the best steak or the best sushi. I have NOT met someone who will be my best relationship. Maybe I haven't met my best friend even? I have not owned my own home or lived in the best place in the world for me. I have not sung a torch song dolled up in a burlesque show. I have NOT seen Paris or Vanatu. I have not swum in the ocean, where I learned to swim before I could walk, for over ten years. I'd like to see a coral reef! I'd like, for once, to buy a new car. I'd like to publish a book.

So..well gaming and DMing is great, but I had better put a little more time into the other things as well.

[hollyfant]

Thank you for the good intention, and don't forget the sunscreen.

[Castano]

Thanks for running. You brought up a lot of good issues we all need to think on.

And yes RL first. As they say in Russia: "you don't play game, game plays you!"