Rotational staff and renaming of the department

[UnderSeven]

So I'm going to start with a short real life story.

Where I work we recently got a new director and not long after that I was told we were to call ourself informatics instead of data systems.  I thought huh, okay.  I wondered why but didn't really care.  Later I learned that this renaming was common. It was because we had a new director and one of the first things they did often was to change the name of their departments, that infact this happened to us the last time we had a director change.  I learned it was not uncommon for new directors in jobs like this to want to change things and the name was just the first and easiest thing to do to sort of leave their mark.  Now jump onto Arm.

The rotating staff system is great.  The reason behind it is clear, but so I understand it ensures clans get fresh perspectives, avoids developing favoritism amongst staff for clans or players specifically.  Ensures that some clans don't get all the benefit from staff who really spend all of their time on the game.  So on so fourth.  But there are surely cons.  I'm not accusing any staff, or all the staff of anything, only stating that I think this is something that need be guarded against.  That being the director changing things syndrome.  Some things do change when new staff come and that's good, but sometimes I wonder if there is a policy in place incase a new staff wants to do sweeping changes.  This can be quite frustrating to the player and I think in some cases, at least where clan structure is involved - where players are not complaining - it is best to maintain status quo.  Furthermore I think that if clan changes must be implemented for one reason or another, someone other than the rotating staff shoud be involved.  Other staff who arn't involved but familiar with the can.. and maybe some players.

Anyway I admit to not knowing the policies in regards to this that staff might already have written down, but I thought I might bring this up as it came up in a discussion I was recently having. 

[The7DeadlyVenomz]

In the clan I play in, we've gone through three rotations. Now each staff managed to do just fine, but they are all different. In some cases, NPC attitudes changed and other such tiny but slightly strange things. I'm not against rotation, I just hope that communication is a priority in these changes. I also think detailed logs of even the smallest interaction with NPCs and the world as a whole should be kept, so as to keep attitudes and policies and so on and so forth consistent from staffer to staffer.

[Kiri]

Sometimes, the change is a good thing for some clan members, and bad for others. Policies that are loosened or tightened, for instance, depending on the viewpoint of the new clan IMM.

I think there should be some sort of... diary/log of interactions between NPCs and clan PCs kept so that changing staff has something to catch them up, for consistancy sake, but otherwise, change is okay with me.

[Shalooonsh]

In the clan I play in, we've gone through three rotations. Now each staff managed to do just fine, but they are all different. In some cases, NPC attitudes changed and other such tiny but slightly strange things. I'm not against rotation, I just hope that communication is a priority in these changes. I also think detailed logs of even the smallest interaction with NPCs and the world as a whole should be kept, so as to keep attitudes and policies and so on and so forth consistent from staffer to staffer.

Communication is one of the highest priorities during staff changes, however it is exceptionally difficult to seamlessly take on a new NPC persona, especially with the amount of personae that are in the game.  Some staff specialize in animations, others have a bit more difficulty.  Some prefer male NPCs, some female, some prefer creature animations and even others prefer environmental manipulation/bringing the atmosphere to life.  It would be impossible to have a rotation without some hitch and burr in the mix, but we do our best.

While the detailed logs idea is a good one, it's just not really feasible.  The sheer amount of information gathered through example logs would be staggering, and honestly would be a bit difficult and boring to read through.  Most rotations to include an adjustment period where the old staff take the new staff around and show them the NPCs, give a few lessons on how they act, allow the new staff to take a peek at them in action, and then eventually the old staff step back, allow the new ones to take over an animation while the old staff give pointers and guidance.

We do our absolute best without making it into a full time job, which is potentially what it would be during rotational periods.  Until we come out with Cranial Flashdrives, we'll continue to do the best we can.

[Kiri]

I mean more of a notes sort of thing, not a detailed sort of thing. Like, "NPC Amos the Mastersergeant said NO MORE WIRE HANGERS."

Though, as a player, I have no problem with offering to "upate" a new staffer on previous interactions my PC has had with a certain NPC if it's pertinant.  Not that I've had that many.

[mansa]

One way that could help is this idea I posted in code discussions:

http://www.zalanthas.org/gdb/index.php/topic,33009.0/wap2.html

Its not the be-all and end-all solution to this problem, though.  My solution requires that people document each and every exchange, which I extra hard work.