All by Jacksonian, not my work.
Once again meant for Necropolis Rp, yet there is no major differences.
This guide is mainly purposeful for Basic Administrators and their day to day duties on the server. It may seem that I don't have the authority to write such a guide because I'm not an admin, but to that end I'd remind everyone that you don't need to be an administrator to have common sense. That being said, I hope you'll pardon my abruptness on this once again as it may seem quite sudden to a few unaccustomed readers. I'm not assuming that anyone doesn't know any information here- this is simply a set of reminders. As before, this is just my opinion. I'll lay it out in numbered steps for convenience.
1. Always prepare to sacrifice time from roleplay in order to tend to administrative duties
Some BAs might say they're too busy RPing to respond to complaints sent through !a or otherwise. However, if you're an admin you must be prepared to put the community before yourself, as the purpose of administration should be to protect the integrity of RP and help the players on the server to have an enjoyable experience by protecting them from minges, trolls, what have you. To put it quite simply, if you're not willing to take time out of your RP to deal with administrative issues, you should not be an admin. I've played, several times, with a few admins who often break away from the RP for a minute or two at a time in order to deal with problems elsewhere, and I find it quite acceptable. Administrators that aren't taking time out of the RP they're so attached to, in order to deal with administrative issues, are only hurting the very RP they like, as problems that aren't tended to (notably, poor RPers) will only get worse.
2. Respond to reports sent through !a
This point cannot be stressed enough. Too often on the server there is a total lack of acknowledgment or response to reports sent to admins via !a. All BAs should know why to respond to these reports, but if that isn't the case I'll clarify. Reports sent through !a are a way of the players doing half of the BAs work for them, saving administrators the time of going out and finding each problem; rather, the players do it for them. So, aside from the sake of the players, these reports facilitate for the admins as well; there's no reason not to respond to a valid, thoughtful report. And even for the player's sake, responses to !a will have an effect on the players; they will realize that something might actually get done when they use !a, they won't have to resort to complaining in OOC and annoying everyone as it so often happens. Administrators should strive to aid the players and the integrity of the server, and the BAs should be the foot soldiers of this.
3. Prioritize with other administrators
Now, I haven't seen the communication that goes on between administrators (obviously), but I have seen a considerably large lack of response to the !a system, which means something's not right. And I know this typically goes without saying, but I'll explain how it'll help BAs enact the previous two points. I'm aware of the inconveniences that being a BA can lead to on the server, putting RP on hold is never enjoyable. Such interruptions, however, are necessary for efficient administration. To minimize these interruptions, administrators should communicate with one another, and determine who's going to respond to a certain problem.
4. Communicate with players
Turnoffs of responding to player reports are, perhaps, lack of information, poor grammar or lack of seriousness within some reports. Whatever the reason, BAs need to communicate with players in order to determine the nature of the report if they are unable to do so. If a player is unclear in his/her report, PM them and get more information. If a player sends an unserious report, warn them or kick them. No report should go unnoticed. Additionally, if you discover a player doing something that is adversely affecting the server, tell them what they're doing wrong when you take action. Too often I've noticed BAs simply kicking players with no communication whatsoever. Even though a player may seem incompetent and troublesome, there remains a chance for improvement and it should not be taken for granted in any situation.
5. Make roleplay accessible
It's quite obvious, to a significant number of players, that the most in depth, canonical and plot-central roleplay is reserved for administrators and friends of administrators here at Necro RP. Most organization occurs out of character, most resources are provided for through out-of-character means (weapon spawning, item spawning etc.) and most of the events happen without any awareness whatsoever by common players. I'm of the understanding that the problem of self-centered roleplay is nothing that can be fixed with kicks or bans or any sort of punishment, but what can fix this problem is a change in the attitudes of administrators. While the problems of secluded or "private" roleplay are seen in the playerbase as well, administrators hold the power to make examples of roleplay. In order to set decent examples, administrators need to maintain the will to roleplay with those that aren't on their friends list or the admin roster, they need to not spawn weapons for themselves and their friends, and they need to rely on something other than their administrative access to enhance roleplay. Seclusion from common players leads to nothing good and nothing of it will change as long as it's propagated on the server.
Mon Feb 22, 2010 7:25 pm
