A Few Changes...

[Ace Trainer]

Alright.

So, obviously, we've been a little low on staff lately. And things have been running smoothly, but slowly. I can't very well go out and try to advertise and increase our memberbase if I don't have the staff to support it. So, I've made a few changes.

I've gotten rid of any mods that haven't made any mod posts in the past 2 weeks. Plain and simple. There were some that were pushing it that I elected to get rid of as well. I, as a leader, base the forums ability to support a member size based on the size of my staff. Having staff members that aren't doing any work offers me no support and makes the job ridiculously difficult for other staff members. If you can't handle being staff, don't waste my time and ask to be staff.

Additionally. All events are suspended, with the exception of the June, and if it lasts this long, December events, which are our member appreciation events. I don't have the staff capacity to support doing monthly events, nor the increased workload they bring, and my staff isn't reliable enough to delegate total responsibility of an event to a single staff member.

On top of that, I'm removing the official capacity of the OOC/Village Moderator position. Those currently in the OOC position will remain in the position, but will no longer act as the core enforcer of the village's standard. All moderators will be responsible for being knowledgeable of all 5 villages, and the general standards of the world, and will be responsible for enforcing this standard across applications. This means "Pending OOC approval" will no longer be acceptable. If you believe that there is something in the history that demands the attention from an OOC, you'll need to read the lore on the village to determine if its acceptable, or specifically contact the ooc yourself to determine if its acceptable or not. This does not mean that you can simply approve all questionable histories, and repeated errors getting past the same mods will be met with consequence.

Also, hence forth, all members will have permission to post on applications unless otherwise stated. While the apprentice position will remain in place (due to their capacity to 1/2 apps), members will be permitted to post and suggest changes to applications. As members, you should be wary of how frustrated you would be if you were given wrong information, and should avoid suggesting any corrections unless you are absolutely sure that the problem you're correcting is being corrected properly. If I find members are intentionally abusing this/being rude/disrespectful/etc, this privilege will be revoked either individually, or globally. Note that you are not required to follow the guidance of members that post on your app, but you should always take it into consideration.

Finally, moderators, global moderators and lead mods will be allowed to 1/1 any type of application. This, as with the member permission, should be treated as seriously as it is, and not abused. While I won't set any defined parameters, you should only 1/1 things that you are absolutely confident will not require a second set of eyes on them. If you have any doubts about the app, do not 1/1 it, and simply 1/2 it as usual. If an application has been waiting longer than usual, this is not permission to simply 1/1 it to get it through. If I find that moderators are doing this, or are otherwise acting lackadaisical with this responsibility it will be revoked either individually or globally.

Any questions can be directed to me, in this thread, via Skype, pm, cbox, slack, facebook, etc.

Thanks,
Ace Trainer

[Willoria]

Also, hence forth, all members will have permission to post on applications unless otherwise stated.

Welcome to the confusion, where members will confuse the newbies with giving constantly shifting/changing answers which will encourage fighting with the mods when they finally give rulings.

Finally, moderators, global moderators and lead mods will be allowed to 1/1 any type of application.

Welcome to a mess seeing as many mods haven't received a whole lot of help when they came up as apprentices and last I knew we still had a few who had no idea what they were doing.

AKA, Welcome to the cluster-fuck saigen has now become. Our already dwindling activity will continue to die with something like this in place. I really never thought I'd see you make such a stupid decision, Onu.

[Tsedas]

So... Being Ooc means what at this point? Just tend to village lore and handle village yhings like npcs and orgs?

[Ace Trainer]

Also, hence forth, all members will have permission to post on applications unless otherwise stated.

Welcome to the confusion, where members will confuse the newbies with giving constantly shifting/changing answers which will encourage fighting with the mods when they finally give rulings.

Finally, moderators, global moderators and lead mods will be allowed to 1/1 any type of application.

Welcome to a mess seeing as many mods haven't received a whole lot of help when they came up as apprentices and last I knew we still had a few who had no idea what they were doing.

AKA, Welcome to the cluster-fuck saigen has now become. Our already dwindling activity will continue to die with something like this in place. I really never thought I'd see you make such a stupid decision, Onu.

To point 1. Yes, that was the argument I put up against this change for years. Even the debate I gave myself when I was considering this. But, if its seen to be causing too many problems, its an easy enough problem to remedy by simply not allowing it again. There are many forums, some of which I've participated in myself, that allow members to give feedback on applications, so this isn't really a new or revolutionary concept. I'm short handed, and this was the solution that came to hand.

2. Mostly the same thing. Saigen is complex, the staff members know this, and I've already seen 3 staff members say they won't be 1/1ing anything beyond the stuff they could 1/1 before. I mostly announced it so that it was slightly more official and could be more readily deferred to. Ideally, this will be temporary.

So... Being Ooc means what at this point? Just tend to village lore and handle village yhings like npcs and orgs?

The job of the OOC is the same, nothing about it has changed. Simply, mods are now expected to be knowledgeable on the content the OOCs have put out, rather than passively deferring to them, which was slowing things down. You as an OOC have the same roles and responsibilities, but, there's less pressure for you to be in every single Suna app, because the mods should be able to read the histories, recognize and issue, and if they can't properly resolve it, actively reach out to you. Really, this should have already been happening, so, again, this is more of an official-izing of the process rather than a change.

[ThatGuy]

Okay this is probably a dumb question but I'm going to ask it anyways. The whole mod approving histories thing goes for MN too right? Or would MN be the exception where the OOC gets involved? I seem to remember MN histories being pretty important for an OOC to approve before.

[Ace Trainer]

Okay this is probably a dumb question but I'm going to ask it anyways. The whole mod approving histories thing goes for MN too right? Or would MN be the exception where the OOC gets involved? I seem to remember MN histories being pretty important for an OOC to approve before.

It goes for MN too. Same logic, the mods should be knowledgeable enough on the villages to recognize when something doesn't line up right. If they feel something is off but can't pinpoint it, they should read the lore on the villages, and if they're still having trouble, reach out for the villages OOC.

[Takumi]

Additionally. All events are suspended, with the exception of the June, and if it lasts this long, December events, which are our member appreciation events. I don't have the staff capacity to support doing monthly events, nor the increased workload they bring, and my staff isn't reliable enough to delegate total responsibility of an event to a single staff member.

I feel like this is a little rash. I imagine having small things like training+ or "post in this thread/country for double points" can't be that terribly difficult to manage (albeit the latter more difficult than the former). I like the idea of events, and think it encourages RPing, which is especially good with the end of school year lull. The mods have done a great job with keeping the registration/mods/grading up to date, and I bet they could handle something simple. Just my $0.02.

[Taiga]

We could... let members run official events? Not ones that require modding, but host game tourneys, or a quiz show contest etc