Feedback from the community - Please Read.

[Carmen Miranda]

I don't quite understand the Ventrillo setup he/she proposed.

If I had my druthers, I wouldn't even have a vent room for TF2 (for example).
We used to have Vent. in the Buxoms and I never used it. Why? Because it was like a glorified (or worse?) alltalk. Unless it's just for buddies to hang out in while they played TF2, potentially on different servers, I dunno. To me it gets confusing - remembering which key to hit for which mic signal to send.
Unless you had one for Red and one for Blu... but then, alt-tabbing out of TF2 to change your vent channel is the computing equivalent of Russian Roulette.

On a positive note, however, the post indicates to me that there is an active Vent community and reminds me that I don't ever use it. Could be I'm missing out on some good stuff... In fact, perhaps that is why I feel left out of the "cliques" I mentioned to you in that other PM you got from me.

 

[ToiletPastries]

Really great ideas. I don't agree with mandatory meetings. Some people (like myself) have two part time jobs, full-time school, and a social life that seems to be dying off. I do, however, believe that people should be responsible enough to know what goes on during meetings though.

I totally agree with the Vent channels. I used to talk on a different vent channel quite a lot and I stopped going for un-related reasons. I'm hardly ever on the eGO vents for three reasons:

1. The rooms are either empty
   
2. or they're filled with their own cliques (I've seen groups leave the vent room because someone they didn't know joined in)
   
3. or there's just one person in each general room (I came into vent once and every General channel had one person in it).

I agree with the process of how we recruit. I don't think binding a key to say "Join eGO! We're looking for admins!" gets us the best possible members we can have. I've seen people that just want to wear the tag or the prospect of being an admin as their only incentive for joining. Whenever I recruit people, though I'm not an admin recruiter, I recruit people I see as people who will make good members and eventual admins. I play with them a few games and after 2 or 3 games I ask if they're interested in joining eGO. Almost everyone I've talked to ask me questions and discuss what the pros and cons are before joining the clan. I always have a conversation with the person I'm recruiting before I give them my "soap-box" speech of why they should join eGO.

Leadership meeting quotas? I agree with this. Tell us what you're doing, don't leave us in the dark.

As for promotion process, I totally agree. There should not be favoritism and no one should be overlooked. It's not about who talks the loudest or the most or kisses the most ass, it's about who can handle admining a server and who wants to admin a server.

 

[rtdriver]

I Agree

 

[eje007]

Just to clarify, promotions ARE earned. We don't put anyone on the list that doesn't deserve it.

 

[ToiletPastries]

Just to clarify, promotions ARE earned. We don't put anyone on the list that doesn't deserve it.

I don't want to go against you. But as an admin in TF2, it seems lately I've been in a constant state of watching admins do nothing. Typically I ask in admin chat: "Any G's want to handle that?" and I'm normally responded with silence. An example is a few days ago I was playing in a server with (eGO) Madpistol and someone cussed. There were 3 or 4 other eG's in the server and I asked who wanted it and after a minute no one responded.

I was quite frustrated when I had to handle it myself and MadPistol commented in adminchat: way to step up, G's. Finally a G responded and said something to the extent of "sigh, I guess I'll take it" after I already warned the offender in all chat.

Seriously? If they don't want to admin, take that tag off.

And in a different situation, some people see that people get promoted within days, weeks, or months to their O and people view this as favoritism. Maybe that's the case and maybe it isn't. I don't think that's the reason because I do like to think those that are promoted to O (or higher) so fast deserve that. A good example of this is ScrappyDoo. He went through the ranks like a hurricane and those promotions are promotions he deserved. He's a great leader and a go-to kind of guy.

 

[eje007]

I don't want to go against you. But as an admin in TF2, it seems lately I've been in a constant state of watching admins do nothing. Typically I ask in admin chat: "Any G's want to handle that?" and I'm normally responded with silence. An example is a few days ago I was playing in a server with (eGO) Madpistol and someone cussed. There were 3 or 4 other eG's in the server and I asked who wanted it and after a minute no one responded.

I was quite frustrated when I had to handle it myself and MadPistol commented in adminchat: way to step up, G's. Finally a G responded and said something to the extent of "sigh, I guess I'll take it" after I already warned the offender in all chat.

Seriously? If they don't want to admin, take that tag off.

And in a different situation, some people see that people get promoted within days, weeks, or months to their O and people view this as favoritism. Maybe that's the case and maybe it isn't. I don't think that's the reason because I do like to think those that are promoted to O (or higher) so fast deserve that. A good example of this is ScrappyDoo. He went through the ranks like a hurricane and those promotions are promotions he deserved. He's a great leader and a go-to kind of guy.

No no, I want you guys to speak out and voice your opinions, that's what this is about.

But that being said, keep in mind it's hard for us to determine if someone is ready for admin judging solely on our experience with them in game. But if there are G's that aren't doing admininning tell a Leadership member, because they're not going to have it if they don't use it. But it can be difficult to select who should get admin based on text we see them type and a few things they say over the mic, so a few may slip by.

 

[Sharpe]

Vent Idea is good. As well as the registering part. Mandatory meeting? No.

Some people have work, School, Or other places to be. It wouldn't work out.

 

[RobInactive]

I agree with the ventrillo part, the idea of the general rooms at the bottom is good.

With the whole quotas, i would say it might be better to bring to the communities attention more what the leadership do rather than the idea of keeping tabs/targets for them to meet. That way people would soon realise what leadership has to do on a daily basis. Maybe just an update very now and then about what individual advisors/dl's/council members have been doing this month.

The application thing is a hard one, becuase on one hand we do want numbers, becuase the larger the clan the more likely you are to find more quality people. Also the bigger the clan the more donations and support allowing the clan we love to stay together. But at the same time it is fustrating when you see so many e members who don't know the rules ect.

More intensive ego/eg entry is an interesting idea, i think eg should be kept as it is, but ego could do with being more difficult the achive i agree.
And lastly i dont think compalsory meetings is the best idea, i think the meetings are fine as they are now.

My thoughts anyhows.

 

[ToiletPastries]

No no, I want you guys to speak out and voice your opinions, that's what this is about.

But that being said, keep in mind it's hard for us to determine if someone is ready for admin judging solely on our experience with them in game. But if there are G's that aren't doing admininning tell a Leadership member, because they're not going to have it if they don't use it. But it can be difficult to select who should get admin based on text we see them type and a few things they say over the mic, so a few may slip by.

Yeah I totally understand where you're coming from. The leadership can't get to know every single member in the community so you guys rely on us O's and each other to determine who gets the added responsibility of being an admin. Just throwing out some thoughts

 

[Jarrod_38]

My thoughts

1) Mandatory Meetings - Not a good idea because eGO is a world community and everyone lives in different time zones and would be next to impossible to get a set date and time for a meeting. Like others have said people have other more important things to worry about.

2) Quotas - Worst idea ever. If that ever happens is the day I give up my Admin Rights and leave eGO. I admin on my free time and don't want to make this like my job.

3) Application Process - I like it how we have it now. If we make it harder for people to join the less people we have that will join.

4) Promotion Process - Promotions should always be earned and not given.

5) VENT - The easier to use the more user friendlier it will be more people.

IMO
6) Forums - Needs to be cleaned up. Merged the Tech Help and Tech Talk and rename it to Electronics Arena. Merge the Real Time Strategy and Role Playing Games into one and call it the RTS/RPG Forum. Merge the Access Request and Uncategorized Request and call it Request Help.

 

[Gvt.Spook65401]

The only idea I like is putting the general rooms on the bottom. But to be perfectly honest and in reality we actually do not have enough rooms. The reason I end up in a general room is because people use the ava channel for example for a game that there is no channel for. Therefore when I want to play avalanche I have to sit in an empty general room just so I don't have to listen to all the chatter. Also I'd say 75 percent of the time when an advisor locks a general room it's because we are playing a left 4 dead game and don't want a bunch of chatter. In other words...we need more gaming channels. Everything else suggested is a bad idea. Most everyone is not going to be able to make mandatory meetings, because most of us have lives outside of these games...it's just not feasible to have these meetings. Also like someone else said quotas are only going to pressure all the admins. As for application interviews....Who the heck is going to have enough time to interview every single applicant? For that matter who is going to qualify the interviewer to make the decision if the applicant is worthy or not? All in all I just don't feel like any of this other than repositioning the general rooms is a good idea. I think it will waste more time and create more problems than it solves.

 

[featherfoot07]

I dissagre with mandatory meetings. We all have lives outside of edge and having a MANDATORY meeting would mean that we would have to re-arrange our life schedule to attend the meeting. As I tell and have told many a members;

LIFE > eGO.

We are an ONLINE GAMING COMMUNITY. We should all remember that before we rush to do so much and get so much done. Before we know it we'll all be living in our computer chairs and have five -o'clock shadows all day long.

The recuitment office is something that I take personally. I spend a great deal of time in the new office....and the process of processing the applications is a matter that takes a lot of time and effort. Also, the applicants sign off on a set of rules that we direct them to before posting an app. if they have not, we send them to them.

And Finally, Vent.
I don't spend much time in vent but I do agree that we have FAR too many rooms. Plus, it is crazy to find a room that someone is in to get aholdof them. So, I do and do not agree with him.


just my two cents.

_Matt "FeatherFoot07"

 

[iGreen]

On the application side of things; I think some credit is taken away from the recruitment division for processing and trying to manage the massive number of applications we receive, but there really does need to be a greater understanding between the clan and the applicant in order to avoid taking on dead-wood.
I like to scroll through the 'Contest Ban' section for 2 reasons, 1) they usually make a good read, but more importantly 2) I see a lot of admin situations that are handled well and some not so well.
I read and try to learn how to be a better admin from all of these examples.
I recommend many of you do the same.

This also brings me to a worrying conclusion;
I now see an increasing number of not only e's, but eG's as well, that are being banned by their fellow admins for breaking the very rules they are there to uphold. It's almost shameful. I know we all get frustrated at times, but there really is no excuse for some of the stuff that eGO members get banned for. So you have to wonder how did some of these guys get in / get their admin rights anyway?


The same sort of thing goes for promotions. There are a lot of e's that I speak to and a good number of them have deservedly picked up their G's, one or two others have been promoted and as far as I can see are not ready for that sort of responsibility and in some cases I can see becoming a liability.
I don't think it would be fair for me to go pointing out newly promoted members and crying 'wolf' without giving them a chance to prove themselves, but I think that at all levels G's and O's should be vetted more so that the e's are guided properly and follow the experience of the guys and girls that not only understand, but appreciate what eGO really stands for.

I know that the drop box was put in to help with this, I know I put in a request for an award for person 'x' and I got a quick reply and it seemed to work great, so +1 for that.
However if I continually put in recommendations for people that I GENUINELY thought deserved a promotion/award, I don't know how well it would be received by Advisor/DL/Council. So although I think it's a great idea, I'm just a little hesitant to use it so often.

Vent +1. It could do with an overhaul and especially with the TF2 division (i know this point is brought up a lot) is always being empty, we tend to use the General Rooms instead etc. So it should hopefully encourage the more frequent use of the TF2 vent channels.

 

[yellowbadger52]

I really like the vent idea. it will help members interact with each other more often.

I dont feel mandatory meetings is a good idea. As stated for the same reasons many have already stated.

Quotas could end up really bad. because there are plenty of people like me who dont play much because of school, work, or w/e reason. These people would not be able to meet their quota.

One way to maybe make this work would be to create a number of "Ban Assists" that are needed to be promoted from eG to eGO. This would mean that anytime an eG is involved in a ban they are to be included in a catagory to say they were the admin that requested the ban. Once they have a high number of them it will demonstrate they have the idea of the rules and how to take care of people in our community. MAUL could keep track of this and only the people who work on MAUL would know what the number is. Then there could be a list only dl's can see that shows all the eG's and it will tell them who is eligable to be promoted. -If an unwritten system exists like this im sorry didnt know about it

I do think the recruitment process could have more interaction than a few messages. I think the program should assign community mentors, that assist the new recruit in interacting with other members and help create friendships.

 

[Captain Canuck]

Honestly, I will have to respectfully disagree with most of that. However, I agree with the points regarding to vent. My thoughts on each topic.

1. Mandatory Meetings
With thousands of members from around the globe, it is impossible to pull this off. Besides as Focus mentioned, a recording is usually available.

2. Quotas
I strongly disagree with the idea of quotas. The banhammer is not always necessary. Many times a polite warning is all that is required to solve an issue in the server.

3. Application Process
First, I'd like to point out that alot of info is posted in the Start Here thread, which must be read before filling out an application. The logistics of 1 on 1 meetings with each and every new applicant would be extremely difficult. There is a background check done on each new recruit by the recruiter team that is as in depth as is realistically possible. Besides once a new member is accepted they are now held to a higher standard than a pub.

4. Promotions
I don't have much to say on this topic, though I have to say that the current system seems to have worked well for the most part.

5. Vent
I have to say that I pretty much agree with everything when it comes to vent, our vent is pretty messy and could use a good tidy up.

 

[Darkshade]

I love the vent idea, but the mandatory meetings, I don't think they will go well. I think ti will be to hard for people to get to with school for people, sports, and so on.

 

[steel]

im going to be plane here i dont really agree with any of it and for sure not the meetings thing i mean i know i would never make it between trying to find a job and keeping things working right around my house for my parents theres no way i could that doesnt mean im a bad eg im on all most all night keeping the baddies out of the servers and as for the vent thing i dont see why the uppers cant lock a channle if they want its just so they can talk without having a bunch of random ppl in there ears i see nothing wrong with that


in a nutshell i disagree with all of it i think ego is fine the way it is thats why i love it so much and i dont want it to change like that

 

[Icarus]

Put quotas for leadership and watch every advisor burn out at an extreme rate.

Just sayin'

 

[DeMan06]

My thoughts:

Mandatory Meetings - As has already been said it's impossible to expect everyone of any group (e's, eG's, eGO's) to be able to make any meeting given this is a worldwide organization. That being said eG's and up should be held accountable to being informed of what was discussed in a meeting. Maybe that's as simple as making a poll thread with a recording of the meeting and requiring all eG's and up to "vote" that they've listened to the recording (with this info it should be pretty easy to also see those eG's and up that haven't voted.. and thus can be proded to make sure they know what's going on)

Quotas - In general this is a bad idea... but at the same time eG's and up need to be held accountable in that they should be admining when playing. Yeah, if someone played a few hours or less in a given week then they may very well have had nothing to admin... fine... but then there are admins that play 20 hours a week and, if a log were kept of their actions you would find they've also done nothing... this would be an indication that they're not admining. By admining I don't mean just banning or kicking... even warns and afk check's should be logged (maybe they already are, I don't know).

Promotion Process - These should certainly be earned and not given. I believe right now it's based on recommendations by eG's/eGO's. I don't know what goes on behind the scenes so I can't speak that intelligently about it... but it might be worthwhile to
A) Have the recommender be able to give reasons why they recommend that person
and
B) Have kind of an interview process, where the responsibilities and expectations are laid out and they have to acknowledge they even want to be an admin and make sure those extra few people feel good about promoting that person.

Vent - Some reorganization really wouldn't hurt. Also it wouldn't hurt if the eG's/eGO's wore tags in vent IMO... I've seen you guys say "if there's a problem contact an admin in vent" but when there's no one in the eG/eGO rooms it makes it rather difficult to know who's an admin.. I could always jump form room to room going "is there an admin around here?" but that's not all that much fun either. Also I like the idea of general rooms in each division rather than they be divided by map like they are now.

 

[!Woodstock!]

Vent needs a rework. The only thing I would add to that G's vent tree are maybe 2 eG and eGO private rooms:

-eG Private
-Room 1
-Room 2
-eGO Private
-Room1
-Room2

I now see that this would make 3 rooms for each admin level. Which would be nice.

Quotas - I see this, if it is implemented, as a way to see if O's or higher are actually still participating in the clan. Not sure what type of thing this would be in addition to signing into the forum to keep your MAUL account active. But it would not be anything overly intrusive to the non-gaming part of your life. I don't see quotas as meaning that you MUST ban x amount of players in x amount of days, OR you must play x amount of hours in a week/month. If I am not mistaken, the leadership is already highly encouraged (read as almost required) to play for a certain time each week. (I may be wrong, but I think in the past this was true.)

I personally would like to see a reworking of the admin training system. I attended a basic admin class earlier this summer and was quite disappointed. It was basically a run through of the commands and how to use them. This is all good and necessary information, but there was not intel on when the admin should take action. (i.e. bad names/sprays, griefing, F10 jokes, ...) I know that the advanced admin class probably covers these issues in depth, which is good. However the personal lives of the advisors who can teach these advanced classes prohibits them from teaching enough of them. That is perfectly understandable.

Here is my proposed solution to the problem I see in the current admin training program: Leave the classes as they are. In themselves they are not an issue. I would like to see a "Be a Mentor" program for the eGOs. All new G's would need to find an O who would be willing to answer all of their admin questions. This mentorship would last for two weeks. Then the G would no longer be required to report to the O. Of course any questions that would require an immediate answer could be asked to any available O, but this same question should be sent to the G's mentor so that the mentor can see if and in what areas the new G is struggling and be able to offer more general advice.

Also a quick 10question multiple choice test would not be too demanding for a new O to take to actually get his O powers. This could either be done with a member of leadership via forum PM, vent, steam chat, vent chat, IRC p-chat.... Post the test in the eGO private forum and the new O would simply list the question number and letter answer in any of the aforementioned means of communication.

Finally: I would like to thank this eG for making such a list of recommendations for this community. I can see that this G has had plenty of previous experience in running either a small business or other gaming clans.

To everyone else: Things need to change for eGO to stay at the top of its game. So don't just settle into your comfort zone and resist change. Some change is good.