General Admin Suggestion/Complaint - Bad Communication

[spheretech]

Your Byond Key: Spheretech

Your character name: Ivan Lukov

Their Byond key: -

Approximate time and date of the incident (Central Us Time for best results): -

Which Admin Protocols (http://goo.gl/fBUQGG) were broken: Nothing was technically broken.

Description of the incident: Since on the suggestion thread its states that all admin related issues go here I am posting this here instead.

This has been a problem for probably as long as ss13 had admins and has been discussed on many servers before (and by me myself, but it failed to give a result every time due to the nature of forums, nothing is usually accomplished); Bad admin - player communication. I will try to keep this short because in reality I don't expect anything to be done since such is the nature of how things work.

One of the most frustrating things for me (and other players) this server, and on other servers is not being able to communicate with staff properly. Alot of admins simply choose to not respond to an ahelp because they don't want to deal with a fair point, don't want to waste their time preferring somebody else does it and other situations. This can be EXTREMELY annoying for players, I specifically dislike being ignored very much. No matter what the question is (besides not answering a question like "is X antag" which would give IC knowledge), I believe it should be answered. A very simple answer of yes/no, or "we are busy", "handling other things" would actually suffice. Yes alot of players and including me ask stupid questions, maybe questions admins simply don't have the answer to ("Don't know" would do), but still these should be given a response. I often try to reach out via ooc/deadchat and attempt to get an answer to question so I don't flood ahelp, but this usually doese't grab a response from admins unless its something it directly interests them. So at that point I would usually move on and write something properly via adminhelp. I sadly have to say that 80% of the time I get no response whatsoever to a question that could EASILY be answered. The anticipation of an answer can be tedious, for me often frustrating knowing that the message has been seen but ignored on purpose. And of course I know staff is sometimes busy dealing with things, which is usually the response players are given when they complain about being ignored when in reality its obvious theres plenty of staff and the team could not possibly be busy, just an excuse as to why the player has been put on hold (They could just be afk though).

From personal experience I've actually dealt with 60-80 people completely by myself on "staff-dead" timezones. Yes it was difficult but I managed. Some rounds are actually surprisingly quiet relative to the population. What I am trying to say is the staff should always find time to give the player a response. The ticket system some servers use is very useful for dealing with many ahelps and distributing issues amongst the staff, I am unsure which system you use for ahelps though but I recommend it. With it no ahelp goes forgotten and unanswered because it stays unclaimed until the end, the server being unable to move into the next round until everything has been solved and preventing unanswered problems.

This issue is really not exclusive to colonial and I don't know why I'm trying to change peoples opinions again. Staff often shuts themselves in, they stand behind other admins and usually let them actually get away with things they shouldn't be doing, they don't like to confront eachother (I've seen this happen in the team I was on as well). I wouldn't say admins think of themselves higher than the players because that would probably offend some, but thats the feel most give out. This can be noticed usually because a lot of staff chooses to simply ignore some questions, making it difficult for an ordinary "peasant" of a player to reach them (ahelp being the major issue, however not getting a response in other chats is frustrating too). I decided to post this now in particular because for the past day and days before I've ahelped many times, trying to get an answer to some things, but I haven't gotten a response since. I tried using ahelp multiple times throughout a round at which time multiple staff members were online but visibly chose to ignore my message, responding to other things in OOC/deadchat in the meantime and even playing the game - I know you are people too but that is the sacrifice admins usually have to make.

I am not naming anybody because yes some give responses and communicate better with players better, but the majority of admins (not exclusive to colonial, again) have very poor communication with players. If I were to name someone they would have a biased opinion towards me (which is probably inevitable at this point), I am not seeking enemies. Communication is key, and hopefully we can improve it. My voice feels quiet and meaningless when trying to speak to high ego admins with power I can't fight and don't want to provoke. Players should not be ignored no matter who it is. This wall of text was probably a massive waste of my time but I really hope at least one of you understands what I'm talking about and at least a bit acknowledges it.

Evidence (screenshots, logs, etc): -

How you would punish the accused: -

[kurugi]

This also gets upsetting while playing corporate liaison. It's a job that relies very heavily on admin interaction even if it is just to tell you to recover the station blueprints from the vault on LV-624. Especially when I have a format for my papers and keep my messages professional and my boss just calls me a fucknugget.
PS. This would probably be better in general discussion.

[DesFrSpace]

>.> Admin/Mod jobs are hectic, it's close to what you would call "Customer Service". But then again, no one like that job. Off course I've met dedicated Admins, before. but that's when the player get abusive, and attention-grabby.

[kurugi]

>.> Admin/Mod jobs are hectic, it's close to what you would call "Customer Service". But then again, no one like that job. Off course I've met dedicated Admins, before. but that's when the player get abusive, and attention-grabby.

I've owned game servers before. Games like this are the worst because damage logs mean nothing without context. I know they're busy, but there's times staff will answer your stupid questions and times where you can play corporate liaison for 8 hours straight and not get a single fax.

[kurugi]

I also want to note that I'm not complaining about the current administration. I'm just noting a few things that as a player would make my time more enjoyable.

[DesFrSpace]

Honestly I play CL before for once, and I'd fax a partial report. Unfortunately, the Fax machine broke .

[kurugi]

Honestly I play CL before for once, and I'd fax a partial report. Unfortunately, the Fax machine broke .

It broke for me once before too. I think it has to do with how the game handles it like an ahelp. It told me in chat that an admin had marked my message and was preparing to respond. After that I got a fax and wasn't able to use the fax machine until I sent an ahelp then it fixed itself. I haven't been able to replicate it so I didn't make s bug report.

[DesFrSpace]

Believe, and PRAY<<<

[spheretech]

It's a very general issue, not exclusive to one situation really. Even though alot of ahelps may be stupid alot are not but are still ignored. If the player was simply told to stop asking or that theres no answer to that, it would be appreciated. I think problems like this are usually the kind that players are afraid to agree to because nobody wants to confront someone with alot more power, and admins don't want to come out in a bad light denying a player suggested problem.

[Felkvir]

One day, when that motherfucker BYOND pulls its shit thogeter and stops locking my chat to the bottom when i try to scroll up ... One day, i will be able to answer every ahelp. Somehow...


You have no fucking idea how frustrating that chat is for me.



Like this


*ahelp 1* (MARK) (JMP) griff over at da dome

*ahelp 2* (MARK) (JMP) Hello i'm new here, are there any guides to playing here?

*ahelp 3* (MARK) (JMP) So this doctor is trying to saw off peoples legs are you gonna handle it or what



*FRANTING FUCKING DESPERATE CLICKING FUCKINGMOTHERFUCKERGODFUCKINGDAMNITFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKSAUFDVJKFAFVUSGF*

[spheretech]

One day, when that motherfucker BYOND pulls its shit thogeter and stops locking my chat to the bottom when i try to scroll up ... One day, i will be able to answer every ahelp. Somehow...


You have no fucking idea how frustrating that chat is for me.



Like this


*ahelp 1* (MARK) (JMP) griff over at da dome

*ahelp 2* (MARK) (JMP) Hello i'm new here, are there any guides to playing here?

*ahelp 3* (MARK) (JMP) So this doctor is trying to saw off peoples legs are you gonna handle it or what



*FRANTING FUCKING DESPERATE CLICKING FUCKINGMOTHERFUCKERGODFUCKINGDAMNITFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKSAUFDVJKFAFVUSGF*

This is why I recommend the ticket system Yogstation uses. Its very useful. Basically you get this little menu with a UI and all with all the tickets listed. They have all the info you need, all the buttons like JMP, Player Panel etc. An admin can "claim" a ticket as they prepare to respond to avoid multiple answers at the same time. The tickets chat can only be seen by the admin who claimed it (There is an option to see all tickets though) to prevent spam. This way there is no way you can get spammed and lose ahelps this way, making it alot easier.

[LordeKilly]

We have a mark system that works kinda well, and anything from yog scares me. What would be ideal is a different tab for ahelps, ic, ooc and looc.

[Infernus]

A mentor system wouldn't be bad in this situation. While they answer simple questions and liason's fax messages, admins will have time to deal with player reports. It is not hard to answer those questions, it is hard to mark it, keep playing IC and hope that your chat doesn't flip shit and keeps sending you to the bottom to get that PM button.

[apophis775]

Do you have a time/date?

[spheretech]

Do you have a time/date?

No, it happens all the time and usually I don't give it much thought.

[apophis775]

If you can give me times, and take a screenshot of which admins are online, it would GREATLY help in tracking down which staff members are not doing their jobs, which can free up space for us to hire more staff.

[DesFrSpace]

One day, when that motherfucker BYOND pulls its shit thogeter and stops locking my chat to the bottom when i try to scroll up ... One day, i will be able to answer every ahelp. Somehow...


You have no fucking idea how frustrating that chat is for me.



Like this


*ahelp 1* (MARK) (JMP) griff over at da dome

*ahelp 2* (MARK) (JMP) Hello i'm new here, are there any guides to playing here?

*ahelp 3* (MARK) (JMP) So this doctor is trying to saw off peoples legs are you gonna handle it or what



*FRANTING FUCKING DESPERATE CLICKING FUCKINGMOTHERFUCKERGODFUCKINGDAMNITFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKSAUFDVJKFAFVUSGF*

TIP: Hold your mouse and HIGHLIGHT the first text you want to stop at, the text box WILL STOP.

[Ordukai]

Our mark system only solves the problem of two admins answering the same question (And some people don't use it because they say it lags them).
The main issue is not multiple admins jumping on the same ahelp, which can be easily solved. (Msay "Yours). The problem is that no admins answer a given ahelp, which I think the ticket system would help with.

Also, for the chat scrolling problem just select a portion of the chat and "Climb" (If necessary) upwards as far as you have to.

[Lostmixup]

I think we're usually pretty good about answering a-helps. We've just had low moderator activity lately, so people can't get to them all.

[Dyne]

Wont hurt if admin-created USCMC HQ messages also look more professional, as now at times they look written by drunk Esteban the Gunner.
Hurts mah immersions.

[kurugi]

Wont hurt if admin-created USCMC HQ messages also look more professional, as now at times they look written by drunk Esteban the Gunner.
Hurts mah immersions.

And WY too. If I called anyone at my work a fucknugget I'd get in trouble.

[Lucyz]

Well a Mentor system is now in place so hopefully this should help greatly with general questions that people are putting into adminhelps.

[Dyne]

Just an example of what was spoken earlier:

Command Announcement


Id like to poin out that you all asked for it when you provoke the fucking thing while in confined quarters. command wats it captured, and they want us to head planetside to colect the nuke disk.

Admins, professional Command messages, when?

[apophis775]

I will look into that message.

I'm just getting back from a LOT of work at my old job. I'm going to be spending a BUNCH of time clearing out inactive staff, getting new staff, and hopefully increasing our professionalism again.

[Dyne]

I will look into that message.

I'm just getting back from a LOT of work at my old job. I'm going to be spending a BUNCH of time clearing out inactive staff, getting new staff, and hopefully increasing our professionalism again.

Re-reading the logs that particular message might have been player- typed, my mistake.

Anyway, it will likely help if the admin/mod team set up a pre-typed database of USCMC Command messages, so they both look the same and feel real.