Armageddon Brainstorming - Get it while it's hot/

[FantasyWriter]

Talia,

Just to play devil's advocate with you on this point, let's say there's no real way to eliminate some of the boring stuff that's out there without negatively impacting the game, or requiring enormous amounts of time building automation solutions.  The only solution is to spread out the boring stuff so each staffer is doing less of it in a given week.

A "routine stuff" staff role might not be the most exciting thing in the world, but the key part of my suggestion was that they weren't expected to contribute nearly as much time as a Storyteller.  If someone is willing to donate 5 hours a week of boring routine work, because they're retired, an insomniac, or they have a job that affords them a lot of downtime...  Why not let them?  If there are two or three of these people on staff, and 15 hours a week of routine work is removed from the queue, it could make all the difference.  Look at how much amazing stuff has gotten done since the staff roles were all filled out a few months ago?  Think how much could get done of those talented/creative-type staffers could focus purely on Storytelling?

With that said, I agree that the low hanging fruit on this is eliminating boring work wherever possible.  But in the end, there's going to be some stuff that can't be eliminated.

Make the role a stepping stone before storyteller.  It would probably help with the high turnover of storytellers.
You would get less access to IC sensitive documentation and weed out the people to whom staffing the game doesn't live up to their expectation.
This is how most jobs work.  You have the shitty job and then, if you want it bad enough to stick around, you get the good job.

And again, some of us that are not able/willing to devote the effort to storytelling can still help out in streamlining this game that we all love to be a part of.

[FantasyWriter]

Just an FYI on account notes - they already redact all the info like other peoples account names etc, the time that it takes is that often there just aren't any notes there. People want a -review- they want to know if they can get karma. And that is where the time comes in. If there are no notes, then we have to go hunting. So for example, if I'm doing the resolving I will ask other staff to comment if they have been staffing that player. So that's a bunch of other folks leaving a note there. If no one does, then I'll spend time going through the players old requests, I'll go into mud mail to see if they have any old emails in there, I'll do a quick board search to look for posts about them. Basically I'll try and find some information that I can use to give them some feedback and do a karma review. That's where the time comes in for their account notes.

Maybe we can do away with reviews!  

I don't think anyone is really happy with the way account notes are handled Before or with reviews. There are periods of over a year or two with no notes on my PCs. Some of my sponsored roles don't even have anything other than the initial setup notes.  Has staff ever looked into revamping the way account notes are handled so that more information is there?  The way I understand it now, most decisions that could be handled using a "good" set of account notes requires going back through the request tool log to review interactions there or input on the current request by staff who are handling that the players current or past PCs.  If they have input to add now about a PC they staffed two years ago, why was it not noted on that Pfile two years ago?

It seems that it would make request that require upper level staff to approve easier, quicker, and more efficient if they had instant access to comments on players and their characters rather than having to solicit for it with each new request.  Not to mention all the possible feed back is lost when a staffer leaves.

[Adhira]

Yeah - I think the main issue is that account notes don't really fill the need that players want. They don't give a good review, that isn't what they are designed for.  They don't provide a good forum for staff to do that. They're a very simple text field in an in game editor, that we read on the screen. Typing too much in there means that we clutter up our screen view when we look at your account info in game, it's horrid. The simple fact with doing account notes right now is there is generally not a lot of information there. Most people have very few notes and will go through character without a single note on that character. As to why there aren't notes - I can't comment as to why people aren't leaving them, only that they have a broad swathe of PCs to cover and ultimately many of them fall through the cracks, or they are commenting only on specific items that they wish to remember for staff side purpose.

[Delusion]

I'll add my voice to the crowd suggesting that GMH item orders should be largely automated. Put a bunch more NPCs into warehouses, carrying every non-restricted item that the GMH sells. That would make the merchant role vastly more enjoyable and probably make everyone dealing with merchants much happier too.

Side-note, not much of a suggestion, but I've never requested account notes because I've half-convinced myself they'll be all embarrassing.  

[Riev]

Yeah - I think the main issue is that account notes don't really fill the need that players want. They don't give a good review, that isn't what they are designed for.  They don't provide a good forum for staff to do that. They're a very simple text field in an in game editor, that we read on the screen. Typing too much in there means that we clutter up our screen view when we look at your account info in game, it's horrid. The simple fact with doing account notes right now is there is generally not a lot of information there. Most people have very few notes and will go through character without a single note on that character. As to why there aren't notes - I can't comment as to why people aren't leaving them, only that they have a broad swathe of PCs to cover and ultimately many of them fall through the cracks, or they are commenting only on specific items that they wish to remember for staff side purpose.

Is there a way, then, to use something similar to the webpage Bio entry system, to write to the pfile? Like an armageddon.org/admin.php page that allows access to the database? Or is that like superduper not a good idea?

[James de Monet]

I agree with FW that a template for character reports is probably a good idea. I feel like I'm definitely a person who errs on the side of too much information, rather than too little.

Having a fill in template, or really encouraging a bottom line up front format, highlighting things requiring response, would probably help players write better reports, and limit staff investment, as they would only need to read the report detail if the BLUF part wasn't clear.

Even just a few prompt lines, like the spec app request currently has, could probably help streamline things a little.

(Fill in questions with "yes" answers as needed, giving a one sentence synopsis first, where feasible)
Did your character kill anyone?

Did your character make any enemies?

Did your character make any friends?

Did your character accomplish any major goals?

Did anything happen that is likely to cause repercussions later?

Do you need anything (information/help) from us?

Anything else we should know?

Something like that, maybe.

[Norcal]

Speaking from experience, I fully agree that automating the process by which GMH merchants/agents can browse and order items would not only make the roll 300% more enjoyable, but make just about every player who's ever ordered something from the merchant houses happy.

I imagine there would be a handful of people who would love to help with things like crafting recipes for all the uncraftable items too.

This is the thing.  

And as was suggested elsewhere, make sure that all folks with the need to know, have a full list of inventory available.

Also for approving normal applications, let the playerbase help.  They could handle this fine. And there are a lot of us that would be happy to help out with some of the other stuff that is mundane or boring for staffers. I would do it in a heartbeat if I knew it would increase my storytellers direct activity in clan life. Lots of questions could be answered IC instead of submitting a request.

Account notes: Staff seem to hate them, but the whole karma system is linked to them so decouple karma from account notes.

I think that for every ten days played on a PC, there should be a mandatory tete a tete with the persons storyteller.  The results of this meeting could be put into a system that would automatically credit or debit karma based on a set of indicators, once certain levels for each indicator had been attained. The point for longevity could be added for example, after the total days played on an account was 10.

Automate the CGP system so that staff set up is no longer required.


Oh!  And move the jail closer to the criminals.

[Reiloth]

Thanks Adhira and Staff for opening up this feedback discussion specifically on how to lessen work-load, both for players and Staff. The recent Character Report thread Nyr started is a great first step (in my opinion). Offering a Template can really reduce the stress -- Sometimes I sit there trying to come up with more 'topic points' because the report doesn't cover enough ground, then I look at my report and say "Man, that is too long", and spend more time going back and editing stuff out.

Overall, it takes me about 30 minutes to an Hour to write a report -- Something that I enjoy doing to some extent (I'll include IC correspondence if I am playing a PC that can write, or little snippets here and there throughout, or pictures I grep from the internet. The report has to be a little fun, too, not just REPORT REPORT REPORT.) I try to make my reports informative, yet entertaining. I think having a template to go off of will definitely help in that regard, so you aren't trying to invent stuff out of thin air sometimes, when it's late and you know you need to submit a report, but don't have much steam.

That being said, an idea.

----

Player Account Notes:

These requests seem to be low priority, but also don't seem to necessarily accomplish what a player wants, and is more administrative/pedantic work for Staff. Staff goes through and edits pinfo's that aren't necessarily relevant to the player, or might be taken out of context (Something that sounds mean when it's just literally a note, that can be easily taken out of context).

The player is intending to have Staff review them as a player -- And to see if they are deserving of more karma based on their play.

What I think might be more fun -- and helpful to both Staff and players -- Is allow players to submit a Karma Review Request, once a year. They must have already been playing for one year in order to unlock the request.

When the request is submitted, the player's account is flagged for actual review -- Not that silly toggle left over from the DIKU Days. It's posted on the IDB, 'watch this player and give some notes (They did this thing really great, that was a good scene), they could use some improvement here (Noticed they crafted non-stop without any emotes or thoughts or motivations behind the character), and basically just a general "Checking up on this Player, their karma, and if they could improve their karma during this review period. A thread could be started for each player account that submits the request, and could be locked when the request period is over (Call it a month).

Some might say -- But when people submit a Karma Review, it would be biased! They would be acting on their best behavior.

Well, good I say. If everyone were acting on their best behavior, because they think they might get karma out of it, we might have an even more enriched RP environment suddenly. The Karma Review is not a guarantee for karma, it is a guarantee for thoughtful feedback, and actual Staff eyes watching over you and your RP, and a more personal chance at receiving Karma.

I will say that over the years that i've received my karma, sometimes it felt totally out of the blue -- Undeserved. Other times, I felt I deserved karma for really well played characters, and didn't even get a head nod. The purpose behind a Karma Review Request would be to clue Staff in that a Player is interested in real feedback, and it might be a more fun exercise for Staff to follow players around, possibly animate for them, and see where the RP Rabbit Hole leads.

As many people know, sometimes you are playing a character and nothing is clicking. You feel a bit more twinky, or just spammy, and your RP just doesn't really click. Othertimes, you are playing a character and it all just makes sense. Every action you do is IC, you are just ON. You might submit a request during these periods, to show Staff your true Maximum potential, which should be a major point behind karma and trust.

By limiting the request to once a year, you eliminate the threat of 'favoritism', or overloading Staff with too many requests of this nature.

[Eyeball]

I suspect it's a relatively small part of the player base which accounts for the main part of the demand for items on Nyr's list.

Maybe each demand through the request tool could have a point value (different types would have different values). Players only get a certain number of points per month to use up.

A point system could filter out requests people make just because they can and focus them on what actually matters to them.

[Dresan]

Account notes- stop handing these out. I can already hear the cries  from people wanting to see what you think of them, and the already missing soft tingling feels people get when they see little positive comments. But no. Put in a policy that old account notes are deleted periodically, so people can feel past action are forgotten and they can change. Something like notes from 2 years back or something. And I agree, once a year people can ask for karma review if they've been playing over a year and their karma is two or under. At the end of the day I feel people get more bitter and pissed off at seeing these notes than anything else and sometimes it is for good reason. It has really hurt other games that do this and left people feeling more butt hurt than anything else, and I think ARM is no exception to that, except for the fact that handing out account notes to people comes with more work and effort from staff.

Description changes- If we are talking about PC description changes I think you can trust STs and the players to be able to handle it. Not sure who'd want to go walking around with a typo in their desc or a sentence that doesn't make sense. Might increase complains slightly regarding such descriptions but those would probably be funny to read at least and not any serious harm.

Ext Subguild / skill bump --  I feel that if this could have been automated easily it would have been already, not like anyone on staff or player side hasn't been wishing for that.  That is why perhaps coming up with other solutions that can be done using existing code might be worth considering. For example opening up extended subguilds for players with the karma, in the same we can select d-elves, yet still need staff approval to make one. This way we could pick on, and ST could double check that we haven't gone over the three year limit before approving the desc, which really if we are 3+ karma players we should be keeping track of ourselves, otherwise perhaps we shouldn't be 3+ karma players. That way admins would only have to deal with any addition skill bumps and handle applications where the player doesn't have the required karma. Dunno, just feels with more thought there could be a better way that wouldn't lead to any serious abuse.

Item orders- I do like the idea of this being done in-game through NPC, and despite it being a big project it would be worth it.  I think even special non-custom orders can be loaded up too periodically, in the same way player pay is handled. Once a timer runs out, the npc loads that once a year item, etc etc.

Character reports- I like the direction its going too.

While I think these small ideas might not free up huge amounts of time, by reducing the amount of admin+ work the overall work of everyone is reduced, since the admin+ can then have more time help in other areas or just enjoy themselves better.

[Erythil]

My suspicion is that there's a lot of internal reporting and permission-getting for storytellers when they want to do things.  Red tape.  Much in the same way leader characters endure through character reports.  So you might want to focus on how to cut down not just on time dealing with player paperwork, but cutting down on your own internal communication.

You could make a list of the kinds of plots even newbie storytellers can run without any approval whatsoever.  Low level things like raiding camps to be knocked over, wild beasts appearing in unusual places, scam artists hustling people, etc.  Make it so that these kinds of plots are always 'ready to go' without any need to get approval in advance.

(As an aside, this could even include running basic plots that give tangible rewards to simple tasks.  There's lots of things to 'do' in the game, and rare items to get or discover, which people simply don't pursue because there's no rewards.  So, maybe So-and-so Uaptal commands a player to procure 12 kinds of fruit and 50 leaves of a specific tree.  Stuff like this would give leaders easier ways to keep their minions busy with non-PK activity.  Basic stuff like:  Get X of Y item made or acquired, and we'll add Z to your estate, or issue special reward Q.)

(As a further aside, I'd really like to see some low-grade military targets that people could fight over like Haven's buff-giving points or Shadows of Isildur's mini-fort system.)

Also, I agree with barz's suggestion about revamping GMH warehouses.  There's no reason why any items but the most extremely exotic need require admin intervention to load.

[Down Under]

I don't think plots operate within a vacuum like that, unfortunately. Even the 'smallest' Plot like that can lead to a city-wide series of RPT's before you blink an eye.

I do think having an extra pair of eyes on your project/room approvals/item approvals is great. One might say 'do it later, do it in retrospect', but everyone who has a job knows that if you say 'i'll do it later' you'll probably never get around to it. Having that sort of front-end attention to detail is exactly why ArmageddonMUD stands heads above the rest (in my book, and yours too, you illiterate heathen!)

That being said, Zalanthas has been an unpopulated desolate wasteland for quite some time. While I know this thread is about Staff Overhead and how to keep attention to lightening their workload, I might call in to attention (Hey you asked for random feedback) to what I like to call the Skyrim/Asheron's Call Explorer Syndrome, and the idea of 'quit safe' anywhere.

-----

People like discovering stuff.

When I played Asheron's Call for the first time, what I loved is that you climbed up a hill after running around in your starting town, and you found...Huh, an abandoned house. Filled with monsters! Oo, i'm going to kill all the monsters, and then live in this house! Lo and behold, I found out I was an idiot, and the monsters of course respawned.

I would go adventuring with my friend (Galdun, who I later ended up playing Armageddon with). We would go hunting and hunting and hunting, just constantly pushing the borders, and log off at 2 am, and decide to log in again at 8 am on a Saturday, and pick up our adventure where it left off.

When people play games like Skyrim or Oblivion, they (or at least I) love making a left turn and finding some abandoned ruin. Some artifact of the Age Before. Some item that boggles the mind and can't be figured out.

I understand that "Quit Safe" is a dangerous thing to hand out wholesale. But if it were tied into a camp-fire, or some sort of flag that could be applied to a room, so people could literally go backpacking and ranging throughout the known world without having to find 'the cave' or 'the bluff' or the one room that is quit safe...Well, I think it would  appeal to those people who have that 'Personality Type' that explores the Known World.

It might be a fun side-project for Storytellers to come up with these sort of random encounter places -- And once they're explored, cave in the entrance. That ruin is gone -- The items found, taken. The monsters killed -- Dead, just like your PCs. But random encounter stuff really breathes life into the world, makes the stories more real, and gives a visceral sort of twist to the PC's existence.

What bothers me the most about Armageddon is how static it can feel sometimes. Wandering through the city, seeing the same NPCs, no PC's at the tavern, and nothing going on. If Storytellers could spend more time on animating the world, I would do anything to cut back their administrative tasks.

[wizturbo]

.....
People like discovering stuff.
..........

It might be a fun side-project for Storytellers to come up with these sort of random encounter places -- And once they're explored, cave in the entrance. That ruin is gone -- The items found, taken. The monsters killed -- Dead, just like your PCs. But random encounter stuff really breathes life into the world, makes the stories more real, and gives a visceral sort of twist to the PC's existence.

I would love this.  So much. 

[FantasyWriter]

That being said, Zalanthas has been an unpopulated desolate wasteland for quite some time. While I know this thread is about Staff Overhead and how to keep attention to lightening their workload, I might call in to attention (Hey you asked for random feedback) to what I like to call the Skyrim/Asheron's Call Explorer Syndrome, and the idea of 'quit safe' anywhere.

-----

People like discovering stuff.

When I played Asheron's Call for the first time, what I loved is that you climbed up a hill after running around in your starting town, and you found...Huh, an abandoned house. Filled with monsters! Oo, i'm going to kill all the monsters, and then live in this house! Lo and behold, I found out I was an idiot, and the monsters of course respawned.

I would go adventuring with my friend (Galdun, who I later ended up playing Armageddon with). We would go hunting and hunting and hunting, just constantly pushing the borders, and log off at 2 am, and decide to log in again at 8 am on a Saturday, and pick up our adventure where it left off.

When people play games like Skyrim or Oblivion, they (or at least I) love making a left turn and finding some abandoned ruin. Some artifact of the Age Before. Some item that boggles the mind and can't be figured out.

I understand that "Quit Safe" is a dangerous thing to hand out wholesale. But if it were tied into a camp-fire, or some sort of flag that could be applied to a room, so people could literally go backpacking and ranging throughout the known world without having to find 'the cave' or 'the bluff' or the one room that is quit safe...Well, I think it would  appeal to those people who have that 'Personality Type' that explores the Known World.

It might be a fun side-project for Storytellers to come up with these sort of random encounter places -- And once they're explored, cave in the entrance. That ruin is gone -- The items found, taken. The monsters killed -- Dead, just like your PCs. But random encounter stuff really breathes life into the world, makes the stories more real, and gives a visceral sort of twist to the PC's existence.

What bothers me the most about Armageddon is how static it can feel sometimes. Wandering through the city, seeing the same NPCs, no PC's at the tavern, and nothing going on. If Storytellers could spend more time on animating the world, I would do anything to cut back their administrative tasks.

There use to be many more wilderness quit rooms than there are today.  Some were destroyed by a in-character plot a few years ago in a plot to do away magicker hidey-holes (which was which made little sense, since it ignored the virtual world and all the additional safe places that it would provide), some had their quit-safe status ret-conned (probably either for the same reason or for the sake of 'player consolidation').  I personally think it was a bad direction to go in for a game that features a "post-apocalyptic desert world."  We have one, but we want you to play in the cities, instead!  I like playing explorers, but it's just not feasible unless you want to play a solo ranger or gick with movement magick.  Otherwise, you are limited in your exploration to what a group can do in one stint (and still have time to get everyone home).  The ability to truly set up camp (and have all but the toughest predators be afraid to enter a camp room with a lit fire in it) would rock.  Or bring back more quit-safe desert/cave rooms to use as rally points.

[Tisiphone]

It's my personal opinion that we could retain staff better and longer, and do a better job for players, if staff was simply having more fun. So...that's sort of where the focus for the question is. Can you guys help us figure out how to make this entire game more fun for everyone, by reducing or eliminating routine and boring stuff?

You're actually going to pull me out of the woodwork to respond here. Congratulations.

The biggest administrative help I could see is to make a web-UI for building new objects, NPCs, and especially rooms. Wasn't Raesanos already working on something for rooms, years back? Revitalize that project, if you haven't already. Having worked on the wizard-side of DIKU MUDs before, I can't over-state the clunkiness and tedium of building these things inside the game. An absolute must for these web-tools would be the ability to do some simple checks as well, e.g. with NPCs: do they have descriptions? Names? tags for ease of finding? Clans? (which could then reveal a list of standard tags to help the staffer make the NPC easy to find, if you have those) etc. If they have code attached, do they have the necessary bits and bobs for that code to function? Have you messed with the skills? And so on. Extra bonus points if you could not only create, but modify existing entries, and load them in some room or other for you to pick up when you log on.

Limit reimbursement requests. Make it clear that a game crash doesn't need to be fixed in every particular, but only in those things that are truly difficult to impossible to replace, or that without your character may very well die/cease to function. I can't imagine what any reimbursement request would be like that's replacing all the particulars in the Kadian hunters' storage.

Automatically flush anything in the bug/typo/idea queue older than 2 years. At that point, it's very likely either fixed, outdated, or duplicated.

Offer staff R&R time. I imagine some of you guys already take regular breaks from the game. Make that a policy for everyone. (Not that you have to, but you're encouraged to spend a few weeks off every three months or something. Thrash it out, figure out what intervals work for yourselves.) Crucially, allow staff R&R time to be spent playing the game 'guilt-free', i.e. with the explicit expectation that no, you're not intended to do staff work. Yes, this would likely require more staffers to cover the workload. That's not a bad thing.

Yes, that's a lot of work to set up. Yes, I think the staff-side benefit would be worth it, if you don't already have some such thing in place.

[LauraMars]

You're actually going to pull me out of the woodwork to respond here. Congratulations.

<snip>

Me too, and I agree with a lot of what you said.  A web-based building app would be amazing.  Raesanos had that for Armageddon 2 iirc and it worked quite well.  Wonder what happened to that project?  Either that or make a Builder position for staff (also ala Arm 2) so people who don't like futzing with the in game building interface can fob off their projects on those who can tolerate it.

Also, someone mentioned a report template for weekly reports.  I can't express how absolutely amazing such a thing would be, for both staff and players, especially if it was mandatory or enforced in some way so everyone had to use the same thing.  It'd cut down on processing time staff side, and headaches/stress about oversharing or undersharing player side.

[Desertman]

I really like the idea of making all special order Merchant House items craftable in-game.

After this is done, provide a list of recipes on the clan forums for each Merchant House so the House's crafters know what they need to send hunters out for in order to fill orders.

Certain items would only be craftable by certain "levels" of crafters in the House. Starting crafters would have access to only base items (and their recipes). The higher up the ranks you go, the more items you have at your disposal.

Right now most House ranks for crafters have two ranks. "Crafter" and then "Merchant". Cut that into five or so ranks with each new rank giving them access to more in-game House specific crafts they can make and market to other PC's.

Now you have almost eliminated the need for staff assistance on loading Merchant House item orders. You have maintained in-game realism. You have given Hunters in Houses an actual role that is necessary (since some really aren't) so their enjoyment/sense of accomplishment is increased. You have also managed to increase crafter's sense of accomplishment and at the same time further the current efforts of creating more lateral promotions within roles that let people "move up" without pushing them into the glass ceiling.

The only downside? How much work will it be to get it off the ground initially and is it worth it? I have no idea.

[Tuannon]

Make Talia and Calavera staff GMH exclusively.

And then implement what Barz was talking about..



#oldschoolCalavera

[Lizzie]

Complete revamp of the roles and responsibilities and privileges of staff.

1. Find people who are suited to tasks that others might not typically enjoy. There -are- people who would love typo fixing and building - have a Senior Builder, someone who is not in charge of any specific clan, but whose primary responsibility is to oversee all aspects of building and text changes (including typo and bug-fixes such as faulty exits, things that builders are usually responsible for creating/handling). They can do other things, but they are primarily the go-to person for all things involving change of game text, and the person all other staffers go to when they are doing game text changes, and need another pair of eyes to ensure quality of the final result.

3. Remove (if you haven't already) the restriction for people to build only within their own assigned zones. Instead, structure the building based on the skill of the builder. Give your best builder the Senior Builder job - he oversees the others, does last-minute touchups OR delegates those last-minute touchups to whoever he trusts to do so. Allow everyone on the building team the privileges involved in saving a zone. The Senior Builder can assign tasks to people he feels are good at building and who enjoy the work, as needed. And builders who are not assigned anything at the moment can volunteer for any pending projects on the builder list, and be trusted to do it (with redundancy via another builder to check for QC, since most builders make typos and sometimes it takes another builder to notice it). If a Kurac storyteller is out in the tablelands watching Kurac PCs doing stuff there, and notices that there's a typo in Tablelands room #4973, then he should be able to fix that typo. Typo fixes should be auto-logged with a from:to, so there's oversight by the system itself to ensure that no one's claiming to fix typos when they're actually making changes they shouldn't be making.

4. If you don't have it already, create redundancy in backups. Every time a staff member saves a zone or an item or any kind of change, the system should be saving a copy of how it was before any changes were made, AND a save of the new incarnation. It's an extra step from the staffer - I can't remember the syntax but it's just a single command to save an area; all areas should be saved immediately prior to a change in the area. This, in addition to any automatic system saves and backups. This should result in a lot of time saved with regards to reimbursements if the game crashes due to "user error".

5. Some people like digging through files looking at peoples' stuff. Hire a staffer who likes that kind of thing, and put them in charge of reimbursements. They can do other stuff too - and other people can do reiimbursements too, but make this his "thing." He's the go-to guy when there are reimbursement requests  and the admin is too busy to handle it (or if he's not busy and volunteers to handle it anyway). This person can also be very useful in finding typos and bugs that other staffers might not notice, because other staffers aren't looking through peoples' stuff. He could fix on the fly if he has time, or pass to a "fixer-builder" to do at a later time.

6. Make it so EVERY staffer can change sdescs and mdescs on the fly for PCs. Let them know this is so they can fix typos as they see them, or if they're reported. There's no reason why a player should  log in with half his mdesc missing, cut off in the middle of the third sentence, and stay that way for a month. You <send> to the player "Hey your mdesc is missing the last half. What did you want for it to be?" and the player wishes up the answer. You make the change, save the character, it's done. If they don't know or can't remember, add a note to their pfile and make sure their clan staff and an admin is aware that it needs to be done as soon as the player sends a request to fix it. If you typo, you can fix it.   ALL staff members should be able to do this, and ALL staff members should be trusted to do this when they run into a character whose descriptions have errors. This will make the game more playable, and it'll free up admin time because they won't have to spend their time dealing with things that anyone -should-  be able to do. Having staffed on a diku game before I know it takes seconds to change a sentence in an mdesc. No one should have to wait a month to have it done, unless that's how long it takes for them to be logged in at the same time any available staffer is also logged in.

6a. I don't know if this is possible, but it should be: allow trusted staff members to log PCs into the non-playing part of the game long enough to make any requested desc changes. It'd be a special toggle on the login screen. When the player logs in, he still would log in to the last place the *player* logged his character out of, but the change would be made on the builder port or in the non-playing area (such as a staff member's room). In some game codes this is an easy thing to do. I have no idea if it's doable, or easy, for Arm. If it's doable and not complicated, then yeah I recommend it and encourage it. When it's done, the system would kick a note to the player's e-mail letting them know the change was done, and which staff member did it.

7. Allow all staffers to create their own "plotdriver" NPCs who are NOT part of any clan. These NPCs would be exclusive to those specific staffers. These plotdrivers could be something as mundane as a lost child who needs someone to help them get back to the orphanage, and if they don't get killed, they become part of a mini-quest to find out who their mom is, and she happens to be a Rennik noble. You can do all kinds of stuff with this, and if you start out boringly mundane as just a method of giving an off-peak solo player something interesting to do for a half hour, it could turn into a zone-wide "event" weeks down the line. I had a little kid character in a game once, who I created for this same reason. She ended up in a plotline to roll out a new hunting zone, and was rescued by the citizens who she'd met in the previous weeks. As a result, she ended up being the catalyst for "storytelling time" in her city. She'd go to the public spot during a busy but uneventful time, maybe once every 5-6 weeks, plop herself down on some important person's lap, and demand a story. The next hour would be spent learning about the history of the city, and you'd end up with a dozen people sitting there enraptured by the tales being spun and recreated. You can use devices like this to move plots, but you don't have to. They can get involved in clan stuff if they coordinate with the clan staff (or if clan PCs cause their clans to be involved, which is more organic and more fun for the players), but they don't have to and aren't intended for that purpose.

8. Regarding player reviews - I like that they're available even though I rarely ask for them. Maybe something like this would be helpful:
The first character report that any staffer sees of a character in their clan (or non-clan as the case may be), they are required to "sign off" on it in the pfile. Put in a note that says they ARE that person's staff member, and maybe a line or two of any impressions the staff member had. That line or two would need to be something that can NOT be redacted if the player asks for a review. If the character lives for a RL month or gets involved in some significant plotline before dying earlier than a month, then when they die, someone on their clan (or unclan) staff should add a line in their pfile with final impression. Again - something that the player can see, should he ask for a review.

My reasons for #8 - it would take a lot less research on the admin's part if there was *something* to see in the pfile for every character who has either been involved in something OR has lived for awhile before dying. Even if that something is "I've found nothing of note to comment about this character." Knowing that someone took a moment to check long enough to put a comment down, I think would go a long way to reducing the work on the Admin's side. It also means that players will know NOT to expect any notes about characters who didn't live very long, and didn't get involved in any plotlines. If they happened to get noticed doing something really cool, or really unkosher, they'd see a note about that short-lived uninvolved character. But otherwise, no expectations.

My reasons for all of the above: Not to make MORE work for staff, but rather, to spread out the responsibilities, reducing the tasks that ONLY admin can do. Give staff more coded permissions to do a wider variety of things, and ensure that there are staff members who can do, and have permission to do, and the coded ability to do, things that might not be popular but that they happen to either not mind doing or actually enjoy doing.

For instance: I personally love building and typo fixing. I don't like creating mobs, but I like creating rooms. I also happen to be good at it. I like popping into NPCs from time to time to animate them, but my forte is in non-interactive text changes. So I shouldn't be a clan staff member. I should be on the builder team, and I should be allowed to create a random unimportant nobody special NPC to wander around interacting with characters, as long as I'm not interrupting existing clan plotlines. I could have that tregil who shits on some hunter's boot before the hunter kills him. Or the sneaky warrens brat who steals a long muscular tube from a Byn recruit's pack and waves it around making vulgar gestures with it before getting the shit beat out of him for his efforts. Or the rinthi child who manages to escape the rinth but feels so lost and scared and just wants to go back home. Those are things I'd enjoy doing, if I were on staff. I wouldn't want to be involved in clan stuff, and I shouldn't have to be. I should be allowed to be just a generic storyteller, and builder. I have to assume there are other people who have ideas of what they'd be good at, that they'd like to do, that don't fit into the neat, tight structure Armageddon staff adheres to.

That's why I feel a restructuring might be useful.

[Thunkkin]

This has been addressed from various angles, but here's my idle thought re: GMH:

Kurac used to have a list of the common goods posted in the clan forum. It included database numbers for most items. Whenever my Kuraci ordered something that didn't have an database item number, I would ask for the item number with my order and add it to the post for future merchants. Staff seemed to appreciate this. It made everyone's life easier and kept certain common but not always ubiquitous items in circulation.

Then the post was deleted. The deletion didn't add flavor to the game. It didn't add mystery. It just added a huge pain in the ass.

I think clan compound merchants with the most common house goods is the best solution, so that orders can be handled entirely by PC merchants and they can get common goods to their customers quickly and seamlessly. It saves EVERYONE time and headache and hassle. Barring that, perhaps a GDB subforum for each GMH that PC merchants would have access to that lists the goods and their item #s. The current GMH item-ordering system is why I will never play a GMH merchant again and it even tarnishes my interest in other GMH roles.

[aeglaeca]

If we're supposed to be accounting for clan coin in our weekly reports, can we please just have it automated I honestly can't remember why or how much I deposited in the week by the end of it if I'm not writing a note to myself immediately.

Suggested:

deposit/withdraw <amount> <account> <reason>
balance <account> log <1-50>

[Semper]

I'm not sure how it would work in the current implementation of teams, but why not just add one more ST in general who's there simply to support the teams when the smaller stuff need to get done, help run plots, and so on?

Better yet, an extra admin, and keep the same number of ST currently? So long as admin get to help run plots too.

[Rokal]

.....
People like discovering stuff.
..........

It might be a fun side-project for Storytellers to come up with these sort of random encounter places -- And once they're explored, cave in the entrance. That ruin is gone -- The items found, taken. The monsters killed -- Dead, just like your PCs. But random encounter stuff really breathes life into the world, makes the stories more real, and gives a visceral sort of twist to the PC's existence.

I would love this.  So much. 

Yes. Random encounter stuff. Adventure!

[Malken]

Make Storytellers in charge of enhancing the world's atmosphere and emoting random stuff to players AND JUST THAT.

Don't make some storytellers in charge of clans where there's only like 2-3 players who mostly never really need them (I'm thinking d-elves and tribals) but put them in charge of globally enhancing the world by answering wishes for NPC animations or just randomly animating things.

Those same storytellers should also be in charge of flipping around popping beasts and flowers, so that a map that we make five years ago with where the plants will still be good today. Flip where goudras pop once a month or something, do the same with plants and herbs and foraging spots. Reduce or augment the number of gems one can find in one spot at a given time.

I think it's a shame that we have some staff that are in clans where they barely need one while other areas of the game desperately needs more staffing power.

Even if it means giving a little more trusting "power" to storytellers in what they can do, this would be the best publicity you could get, that the world isn't just "static" any more but full of life and goes with the flow.

I know that my "reshuffling" stuff around once a month or so will probably be answered with "You need an admin+ to do changes to a room like this and it takes time" and I totally understand, but why not just have a "monthly staff do-over" day, like on a Saturday, where you shut down the game for a few hours and where all the staff are given enough powers to do changes like that and you all get together, put a few hours into the game and completely changes re-popping spots, obsidian deposits locations, plant and flower locations, etc..?

It would make sooooooooooooooooo much good for the game and keep it fresh.

[Semper]

Since I like the idea so much right now:

http://gdb.armageddon.org/index.php/topic,49003.msg872665.html#msg872665

This would require a complete restructuring though... so it might be too much of a stretch? But instead of teams organized into GMH, INDIES, SOUTH, NORTH, instead organize each into a political party "X, Y, Z". I feel like this would be easier to generate plots and allow STs more leeway into getting things actually moving along in the game.

[sorry for so many edits:]
I think the problem that comes up is what if like, House Oash moves from one party into the other, does that ST follow the House? I think that would make sense, but I don't know how that would work out logistically if ST's are moving between teams.