Request for ideas about the Request Tool

[Morgenes]

Hey folks, we're working on some ideas to help improve the Request Tool and want to get some feedback from you guys before we implement it.  We're considering doing the following:

First, we're going to expand the request tool so that staff can ask questions or ask for clarification about a request without resolving it, which will get mailed to you along with a link to go to where you can reply to the staff member.  This will all be tied to the request so that a history is maintained.

We're talking about adding the following options to the request tool:

Account Related:
  Multiple accounts on same network
Clan Related:  [All require you specify what clan]
  Weekly Report
  GMH Item Orders
  Preview Docs
  Clan Question

The Clan Related items would become the new way to handle those instead of sending email directly to the clan emails to cover these items.  We're looking to make these changes so that we can maintain a centralized repository of these that is easily searchable, as well as to make sure that they are responded to in a reasonable amount of time.

Feel free to comment or ask what you want here about this, and please make suggestions on other ways the Request Tool could be more useful to you guys.

[jcljules]

I really like this idea. The only concern I have is that many of my clan questions relate to things specifically in my report--what happens if the clan staffer who reads my report isn't the same one who answers my questions?

[Cutthroat]

Seems like a great idea.

Could the "Clan Report" option be similar to the original submissions in that you can format the request? I tend to use bold, italics, underlines, colors, etc. a lot and I think it would be more useful than the usual plain text request.

[mansa]

Is it possible to use the request tool in game?


As in:

write request weekly report
BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH
~



Also, to be able to view certain weekly reports in game?

[Morgenes]

I really like this idea. The only concern I have is that many of my clan questions relate to things specifically in my report--what happens if the clan staffer who reads my report isn't the same one who answers my questions?

I would assume you could still intersperse questions in with your report, the question is more for the emails that we get that are specifically questions about the clan, and not related to the report you submitted. 

Could the "Clan Report" option be similar to the original submissions in that you can format the request? I tend to use bold, italics, underlines, colors, etc. a lot and I think it would be more useful than the usual plain text request.

We can add formatting to the weekly report portion.

[ibusoe]

Hey folks, we're working on some ideas to help improve the Request Tool and want to get some feedback from you guys before we implement it.  We're considering doing the following:

First, we're going to expand the request tool so that staff can ask questions or ask for clarification about a request without resolving it, which will get mailed to you along with a link to go to where you can reply to the staff member.  This will all be tied to the request so that a history is maintained.

We're talking about adding the following options to the request tool:

Account Related:
  Multiple accounts on same network
Clan Related:  [All require you specify what clan]
  Weekly Report
  GMH Item Orders
  Preview Docs
  Clan Question

The Clan Related items would become the new way to handle those instead of sending email directly to the clan emails to cover these items.  We're looking to make these changes so that we can maintain a centralized repository of these that is easily searchable, as well as to make sure that they are responded to in a reasonable amount of time.

Feel free to comment or ask what you want here about this, and please make suggestions on other ways the Request Tool could be more useful to you guys.

I want to say that I'm a --HUGE-- fan of the request tool.  I like the new ideas.  I'd like to comment that nearly half of my problems as a player of the game have more or less seemed to evaporate once staff started using the request tool.

If I had to suggest an improvement, maybe the staff could automate the kudos tool just a little bit more.  I've heard of a couple of staffers grief a little bit about the time it takes them to route kudos from one player to another.

[Thunkkin]

I'm very excited about this idea.  I'm sure some people would prefer just a big blank box to insert everything into, but the more "guided" this is, the easier it will be for staff (and people like me).  In other words...

GMH Order Request
============
[Item Number Field]  [Amount Field]  [S-Desc Field                 ] [Comment Field      ]
[123456              ]   [2                ]  [A glowing magic sword ]  [I know I'm limited to one per IC month, but I received approval for this double order from Morgenes]

Merchant Fantasy:
Of course, even better would be a big drop-down list of every item per clan.  I believe that it's common for items not to be included in the clan list of goods and this would solve some basic problems.  Obviously, some items should be hush-hush but I've observed basic parts of item-sets being omitted and so the merchant has to guess if it exists.  I've observed merchants saying, "No, never heard of that" when it's a basic item that their GMH sells.  Maybe they're poorly trained, but more likely, the list of goods is out of date.  A big dropdown menu with all the basic clan goods that automagickally filled in the item numbers would be droolable, but probably too much work.

[Reiloth]

I believe this is a great idea.

The request tool has given me relief for one thing; proof of transaction. When I finish the request, I know that it's timestamped, and it'll be dealt with in the order it's recieved. For some reason -- With the emails -- For every nine emails, the tenth would somehow fall through the cracks for over a month, if not longer, and i've had to send 'nudge' emails to which I get a flustered "Oh, man, sorry I missed that one, okay, i'll fix that."

I think this'll, for some reason, make it easier for me to send in weekly reports / questions regarding clans.

Yar.

[Thunkkin]

I also like the "weekly report" as part of the request tool ... since it really does encourage people to send in reports, makes it easy to review all reports at once, check when your last report was sent, etc.

[Lizzie]

Unfortunately, request tool + web proxy = rejected 3rd-party cookies = can't use request tool.

So as long as the staff doesn't mind me continuing to e-mail everything, I think this is a great idea for the vast majority of people who can use the request tool. I did finally get one through once recently. But that was after dozens of failed attempts over the course of the last couple of years. I personally would rather not be forced to use it. E-mail might not be as neat and tidy as the request tool, but at least it works for me.

I would LOVE to use the request tool, there have been times when I've felt so left out just because I couldn't use it. If there was some way of using it in-game, or via the main login menu, I think that'd be awesome. Now that I got one to actually go through, I know what I'm missing.

[Eloran]

I believe this is a great idea.

/\/\

Ease of navigation does wonders. This has a lot of potential to streamline the mud. I like it.

[Morgenes]

Unfortunately, request tool + web proxy = rejected 3rd-party cookies = can't use request tool.

So as long as the staff doesn't mind me continuing to e-mail everything, I think this is a great idea for the vast majority of people who can use the request tool. I did finally get one through once recently. But that was after dozens of failed attempts over the course of the last couple of years. I personally would rather not be forced to use it. E-mail might not be as neat and tidy as the request tool, but at least it works for me.

I would LOVE to use the request tool, there have been times when I've felt so left out just because I couldn't use it. If there was some way of using it in-game, or via the main login menu, I think that'd be awesome. Now that I got one to actually go through, I know what I'm missing.

Lizzie, please email me, I know we've covered this before, but I could have sworn we did some work to fix it so that if cookies weren't accepted we tried alternate means.  Please try and submit a request and see if it does work, if not, let me know and I'll work to make sure it does work for you.

[Morgenes]

I'm very excited about this idea.  I'm sure some people would prefer just a big blank box to insert everything into, but the more "guided" this is, the easier it will be for staff (and people like me).  In other words...

GMH Order Request
============
[Item Number Field]  [Amount Field]  [S-Desc Field                 ] [Comment Field      ]
[123456              ]   [2                ]  [A glowing magic sword ]  [I know I'm limited to one per IC month, but I received approval for this double order from Morgenes]

Merchant Fantasy:
Of course, even better would be a big drop-down list of every item per clan.  I believe that it's common for items not to be included in the clan list of goods and this would solve some basic problems.  Obviously, some items should be hush-hush but I've observed basic parts of item-sets being omitted and so the merchant has to guess if it exists.  I've observed merchants saying, "No, never heard of that" when it's a basic item that their GMH sells.  Maybe they're poorly trained, but more likely, the list of goods is out of date.  A big dropdown menu with all the basic clan goods that automagickally filled in the item numbers would be droolable, but probably too much work.

While I agree this is an exciting idea, my main concern would be security/access to that from a player side.  Since the list of available objects per clan would be a highly valuable asset, we would have to have some way to handle it.  Perhaps a new clan job or a password or something.  I'd love to hear your guys thoughts on how to secure it.

[Thunkkin]

While I agree this is an exciting idea, my main concern would be security/access to that from a player side.  Since the list of available objects per clan would be a highly valuable asset, we would have to have some way to handle it.  Perhaps a new clan job or a password or something.  I'd love to hear your guys thoughts on how to secure it.

Oh, yeah, I was definitely thinking that only a merchant of GMH X would have the drop-down of items for GMH X and no other items (well, unless they were in multiple clans, I suppose).  I have no idea how to code this.  But, as Xygax suggested recently, I'll just throw out my fantasies and you guys can decide if it's code-able.

[amish overlord]

I noticed today when submitting a request in regards to submissions it told me to post on the gdb instead, could this be put back as an option?

Amish Overlord 

[Thunkkin]

I wonder how hard would it be, if you could work out a way to only let people with certain permissions order clan items from their current clan only (etc. etc.)... then, since the item numbers are set and automated, for all items that don't have special restrictions, could they just automagickally be loaded into the proper warehouse without imms having to do it by hand?

[Reiloth]

I'm very excited about this idea.  I'm sure some people would prefer just a big blank box to insert everything into, but the more "guided" this is, the easier it will be for staff (and people like me).  In other words...

GMH Order Request
============
[Item Number Field]  [Amount Field]  [S-Desc Field                 ] [Comment Field      ]
[123456              ]   [2                ]  [A glowing magic sword ]  [I know I'm limited to one per IC month, but I received approval for this double order from Morgenes]

Merchant Fantasy:
Of course, even better would be a big drop-down list of every item per clan.  I believe that it's common for items not to be included in the clan list of goods and this would solve some basic problems.  Obviously, some items should be hush-hush but I've observed basic parts of item-sets being omitted and so the merchant has to guess if it exists.  I've observed merchants saying, "No, never heard of that" when it's a basic item that their GMH sells.  Maybe they're poorly trained, but more likely, the list of goods is out of date.  A big dropdown menu with all the basic clan goods that automagickally filled in the item numbers would be droolable, but probably too much work.

While I agree this is an exciting idea, my main concern would be security/access to that from a player side.  Since the list of available objects per clan would be a highly valuable asset, we would have to have some way to handle it.  Perhaps a new clan job or a password or something.  I'd love to hear your guys thoughts on how to secure it.

Just make a new clan page subset in "House Salarr" or whatever GMH it is titled "Item list for Merchants and Agents". Give it a password, stipulate to the player that they'll be bufu'd if they give the password out, and you're all set.

[jcljules]

What is preview docs? Is that like seeing clan docs so you can prepare an application?

[Fathi]

I'm very excited about this idea.  I'm sure some people would prefer just a big blank box to insert everything into, but the more "guided" this is, the easier it will be for staff (and people like me).  In other words...

GMH Order Request
============
[Item Number Field]  [Amount Field]  [S-Desc Field                 ] [Comment Field      ]
[123456              ]   [2                ]  [A glowing magic sword ]  [I know I'm limited to one per IC month, but I received approval for this double order from Morgenes]

Merchant Fantasy:
Of course, even better would be a big drop-down list of every item per clan.  I believe that it's common for items not to be included in the clan list of goods and this would solve some basic problems.  Obviously, some items should be hush-hush but I've observed basic parts of item-sets being omitted and so the merchant has to guess if it exists.  I've observed merchants saying, "No, never heard of that" when it's a basic item that their GMH sells.  Maybe they're poorly trained, but more likely, the list of goods is out of date.  A big dropdown menu with all the basic clan goods that automagickally filled in the item numbers would be droolable, but probably too much work.

While I agree this is an exciting idea, my main concern would be security/access to that from a player side.  Since the list of available objects per clan would be a highly valuable asset, we would have to have some way to handle it.  Perhaps a new clan job or a password or something.  I'd love to hear your guys thoughts on how to secure it.

I know in the past, there was a separate "salarr_merchant" login that provided a threadbare and out-of-date item list for new Salarris on the Salarr docs page.

It might be feasible to revamp these lists so they're a little more modern and complete, then set up the separate login and give that login information to players after they've proven themselves ingame for a while, rather than giving it to them right after character creation. If security is that big a concern, I imagine it wouldn't be that difficult to track the IPs of people visiting the pages and see if the number is disproportionately high compared to the number of folks you've given access to.

As far as what I'd like to see for the request tool:

Character Related
- Mastercraft Submission
The player could input their item's sdesc, mdesc, recipe, attributes, and any additional OOC commentary.

Account Related
- Karma Review
Currently you have to email the mud account and ask for a karma review if you think your karma's a little low. I think making it a request tool option would streamline things.

This idea gets two big thumbs way, way the hell up from me.

[Morgenes]

As far as what I'd like to see for the request tool:

Character Related
- Mastercraft Submission
The player could input their item's sdesc, mdesc, recipe, attributes, and any additional OOC commentary.

Account Related
- Karma Review
Currently you have to email the mud account and ask for a karma review if you think your karma's a little low. I think making it a request tool option would streamline things.

This idea gets two big thumbs way, way the hell up from me.

Thanks for the ideas.

[brytta.leofa]

Clan Related:  [All require you specify what clan]
 Weekly Report

Three thoughts on this one:

- Can you specify multiple clans?  I've often had occasion to CC a report to at least one clan besides my primary.

- Sometimes you guys do probably want an immediate update, rather than waiting for the weekly.  ("Joe Rinther tried to backstab me today, and I killed him.")  Would this be submitted through the weekly update tool, or by email?

- A possibility: automatically siphon all non-spam-flagged emails to clan addresses into the request tool in an "uncategorized clan business" bin.  You could even allow people to presort with tags on the subject line ("weekly_update", "clan_question", etc.).

[valeria]

Would it be at all possible to have a 'help' button or link, that would tell you what all the options mean and are for?  I've submitted under the wrong heading at least once, and had to be told they didn't have the right info for me, to do what I needed.  It could save some time.

[flurry]

For the weekly reports, it might be helpful to have separate fields designated for entering new hires, deaths, bank activity, and so on.

[mansa]

I noticed today when submitting a request in regards to submissions it told me to post on the gdb instead, could this be put back as an option?

Amish Overlord 

Game Related -> Submission
Request Details • Step 3 of 5

Please post your submissions and related ideas on the submissions forum of the General Discussion Board.

Hyperlinked to http://www.zalanthas.org/gdb/index.php/board,55.0.html


This leaves people confused.  If someone has a submission to the game, the request tool says to post it in the GDB.

Perhaps a better description should be:
Request Details • Step 3 of 5

Our current policy is that if you want to have an item put into the game, you must go through In-Game steps to order the item from one of the Master Crafter characters that are members of the Merchant Houses.
You can also see some current Staff requests for item submissions in these threads:
http://www.zalanthas.org/gdb/index.php/board,55.0.html - Current Game
http://www.zalanthas.org/gdb/index.php/board,65.0.html - Armageddon Reborn

[Morgenes]

I noticed today when submitting a request in regards to submissions it told me to post on the gdb instead, could this be put back as an option?

Amish Overlord 

Game Related -> Submission
Request Details • Step 3 of 5

Please post your submissions and related ideas on the submissions forum of the General Discussion Board.

Hyperlinked to http://www.zalanthas.org/gdb/index.php/board,55.0.html


This leaves people confused.  If someone has a submission to the game, the request tool says to post it in the GDB.

Perhaps a better description should be:
Request Details • Step 3 of 5

Our current policy is that if you want to have an item put into the game, you must go through In-Game steps to order the item from one of the Master Crafter characters that are members of the Merchant Houses.
You can also see some current Staff requests for item submissions in these threads:
http://www.zalanthas.org/gdb/index.php/board,55.0.html - Current Game
http://www.zalanthas.org/gdb/index.php/board,65.0.html - Armageddon Reborn

Thanks for the suggestion, this has been implemented.

[mansa]

w00t thanks!

[mansa]

Perhaps an 'Other' section?  To keep people -inside- the request tool, rather than forcing them to send an email to the MUD account?

Immortals can change the subsection that requests enter, right?

[Jdr]

I'd like to know how you would go about getting a password reset (presuming you lost it) via the request tool. That'd require some skill getting ONTO the request tool without it.

[mansa]

I'd like to know how you would go about getting a password reset (presuming you lost it) via the request tool. That'd require some skill getting ONTO the request tool without it.

One way is to make it so that you don't lose your password.  How often does the game reset your password?  When you change your email address.

There's a slight problem with this, though, where if you TYPO your email address, you can't get into the game anymore.   Example:


Choose thy fate: e

You are about to change the email associated with your account.
When you enter your email, a random password will be generated
and mailed to it, so it is very important that you don't
typo your email address.

IMPORTANT: hotmail.com no longer accepts e-mail from armageddon.org addresses.  Until they do you should not change your email address to anything at hotmail.com as you will not get approval emails or other information sent from the game.

Press RETURN to abort

Enter a new email for your account:  ***************


That email is already registered to another account.  If you already have
an account, and have forgotten the password to it, mail
mud@ginka.armageddon.org.

Enter your e-mail address:  ***************


We have received your request to change your email.
We have created a new password for you and mailed it to the address
you provided.

Press RETURN to disconnect


It would be better if it asked you to retype your email to verify it, so you never send your password to a scrambled email address you typoed.

[FantasyWriter]

Uggg... i remember that locking me out of the game for two weeks once.