Player/Staff Meeting Discussion Thread

[Malifaxis]

http://www.zalanthas.org/gdb/index.php/topic,44916.0.html

This.  By the Gods, a thousand times, this.

I've been an open critic of the lack of open, honest communication for a while.  I'm not talking about emails, I'm not talking about requests, I'm talking about live fire sitting there and talking.  I pray to the elder gods of the unknown realms that this works, and continues to happen.

One of the many things that truly hooked me on Armageddon was way back in the depths of time (when Pentiums were climbing out of the primordial silicon soup) was when I just happened to be fucking around with my Bynner and all of a sudden a notification came across that there was to be a player/staff meeting, and anyone who wanted to come could wish up.

What the shitfuck... a player/staff meeting?  This had never happened.  I'd been mudding since 92... first found Arm sometime around 95... but had NEVER been part of a P/S meeting on any game.  Fuuuuck yeah I wished up!!

They gave topics, they answered questions, there was a talking stick, tons of cool masks and hoods, and at the end of it an open question session for any topics that hadn't been covered.  The staff were cool, laid back, informative, and the players were respectful, mindful of the rules, and intelligent in the way they asked the questions they desired to be answered.

Player/Staff meetings help the community, as a whole, to bond.  It can help to stitch closed the us/them mentality that has formed over the years, as things got more and more impersonal.  It can help bring a sense of understanding to both sides, and to help piece together what some view as, if not broken, at least severely cracked.

Please, when this happens, I beg to all of you, go in to it with an open heart, an open mind, and a desire to move forward in a positive direction.  Be mindful of what others are thinking, of what others are feeling, and try to see any answer given to you from all sides of the equation, not just yours.

[Nyr]

And since then players have had the ability to do the same thing you describe via the general discussion board.  There's virtually no difference except the expectation that one person (a player) says something and another person (a staff member) replies in real time.  It's the GDB, except sped up for instant response.

You've had the ability to be an open critic here and on the request tool to your heart's content, within reason.  Not doing so doesn't mean we're preventing you from doing it or that we don't have open, honest communication.  We've had player/staff meetings plenty of times; I'm sorry you weren't able to make the previous ones.  This is a chat utilizing voice.  We've been in the Teamspeak before. 

Again, there's no difference between this and the GDB...and again, we're doing this for a few reasons.  We're just trying something out here and we have some other ideas...

...but for the love of God...stop treating this like it is the Holy Grail of Armageddon!  That's probably one of my biggest pet peeves about anyone with a kick for "open and honest communication."  What are you missing out on?  Ask about it.  You might not like the answer, but not liking the answer doesn't mean communication isn't happening.

[Nyr]

But this will be fun, fo' sho'.  Make no mistake.

[FantasyWriter]

One plus is that this draws in people who may not participate in or even read the discussion board.

Anything that adds to a sense of community is awesome.
it is also something that -may- grab a new or potential players attention and make them stick around a while longer if done on a semi-regular basis.

I was a very casual and hack-slashy player here until I went with Kronibas to my first APM, and got to hear old stories about the game and -hearing- people talk about the game in the same way you might a favorite book sieries.  

Humans are social creatures. Gathering in one place at the same time comforts people and add to the sense of community that you just can't get from a discussion board.  Imagine a club where one group of people could only discuss things with one another through a giant bullitain board where you could leave notes and strings of notes for one another.  Now imagine getting into one room together and talking about the same subjects.  Which group will be 'closer' and stick together for a longer period of time?



Also, it would be great if you guys wanted to tell us some cool arm stories or something else to that effect, maybe some Armageddon Reborn Spoilers since that is behind us now.
Years later, I still get the urge to go to Youtube and watch Sanvean and Nyr's vidcasts

[Malifaxis]

Nyr, I'm really happy for you, an Imma let you finish, but Open Communication is the Best Thing of All time.

Yep, we can ask whatever we want on the GDB.  It's there.  No problem.  It allows communication.  But saying it is the exact same thing, or even sped up for instant response, is an unhealthy view.  Sorry if you don't see it, but every response that is posted in AtS to every question posted is thought over, sanitized, formulated, and then shared.

It's the same difference between text messaging and face to face communication.  Both things allow open exchanges of ideas.  Both allow, in different ways, social interaction.  But in face to face communication, the people you speak to can tell when you take a while to think about something.  They can tell when you're carefully considering your response, or if you're responding on the moment.  

I wasn't aware that there had been teamspeak P/S meetings before, I certainly would have attended and spoken my piece(s) during them.  I'd be there for this one if I wasn't already bound for a Masquerade ball this weekend.  

"Open and honest communication" involves not sanitizing every answer.  It is the difference between fruit picked off a tree and bitten into, and fruit gathered by a machine, cleansed by a chemical bath, cut into sections, canned, and shipped to a different continent.  Does it still have the same stuff at a core?  Yep.  Is it as good for you, does it taste as good, does it smell the same?  Nope.  And everyone who has sampled both can tell.

I'm also not saying this is the Holy Grail, but thanks for downplaying my enthusiasm about seeing what is perceived as a massive rift between the players and staff potentially closing.

[Adhira]

Obviously we agree - real time talk is awesome and cool, and we hope it'll be a really good thing. That's why we're giving it a go.

Let's not start a debate here that may instead see me waylaid by a nice bottle or Cab Sav instead of chatting with community.

[Malifaxis]

Agreed.

I've recently stopped drinking.  I have 3 bottles of wine I wish I could "mon un whira XXXXX XXXX" to your residence.

Cheers!

(And again, from the bottom of my own heart, and the hearts I have collected through my career as a vicious killer of newbies, I thank you for doing this.)

[Nyr]

Every response in the chat will be thought over, sanitized, formulated, and then shared.  Even if we don't have to do it right then because we agree on the answer (in this case, the three Producers will be present, so we have already have a bit of a working knowledge of what we are prepared to discuss and what cannot be discussed), we are doing the thinking and sanitizing and formulating before sharing the response.

We do have to sanitize the answers we provide.  This is part of playing a game in which some things--maybe even a lot of things--are kept behind the scenes.

I'm glad you're excited about this--we are, too, we're going to have fun--but you're not actively playing the game and you're not going to be at the meeting, so there's not really a point for this thread.  We'll open a specific thread for actual questions for the thread at the time that we're taking questions.