Staff Discussion Updates & Member Input

[cygnus]

100% understandable. i sincerely hope this will all be put behind us soon and we can move together as a whole unit. i’ll pop in with another update as soon as i can, if the big one isn’t posted before then. hang in there guys!!

[hxniebee]

and i just wanna say i’ve still yet to get a response, cygnus, on discord. it’s been over a month. i’m trying to be patient but given it’s going to be a month to date tomorrow since the interaction, it feels intentional to not respond. so i’ll just resend what i said here, below, in order to add onto the others.
[spoiler=proof][/spoiler]

[cygnus]

i assure you that a lack of response on my part is not intentional! things you brought up in that dm will be talked about in the update

[hxniebee]

regardless if it was or wasn’t intentional, the fact that a staff member was sent to answer my concerns and ultimately ghosted me for a month only seems to further push my belief that staff just don’t care. it’s expected of staff to do the jobs they were given, not just walking away.

if my concerns are able to be ignored for almost over a month then it just gives the impression that you don’t care.

all we’ve been wanting is for at least someone to give us an update. a quick “thank you for raising your voices! we have heard you and staff are working to write a thorough explanation that can hopefully help solve a lot of the concerns brought up.” would’ve sufficed about like 15 posts ago and we would’ve accepted that and been patient. but instead, the silence drove us to the mutual mindset that bearbones staff just don’t care and would rather walk away from a problem.

[cygnus]

i hear your frustrations. all i can say on the matter as of rn is to keep an eye out for the update.

[dame]

[div style="width: 450px; margin: auto; text-align: justify"]Okay, holy hell there is a lot to go over here.

Re: Truce's Ideas I think you've got a lot of really awesome ideas, Truce! I'd love to see just about everything you suggested, though I likely won't for reasons I'll discuss later in the post.

My Group I wanna clarify since I don't think it was clear, the new group was not going to be a staff run group whatsoever. It was a group that I came up with with inspiration from Crows (for the mutation) and Van (for the new biome) that needed staff approval to exist. I was still gonna do the same thing members do to get a board and garner support. Sadly, it's not going to happen, even if there was enough interest for it.

Re: Fae quite frankly, the staff team's ability to process things has been shot when compared to where it used to be and where it should be. I'll get into the why in a minute, but as far as what you've been told thus far, I doubt that answer will change. We take complaints (especially like what you've lodged) very seriously, and I find it deeply regretful that the slow response makes it appear as though we don't.
EDIT: I hadn't actually realized that we hadn't responded, I thought that the matter was wrapped up. Responding will be added to our to-do list.

Survey Last Sunday staff reviewed the survey for the first time. (I didn't even peek at it in advance). 9 people responded, and they had a lot to say. The two biggest takeaways are that the new world needs a hell of a lot of work, and so does the staff team. Moving forward, those will be the priority.

What's Really Going On I'm not gonna beat around the bush, my heart isn't in bb anymore. It hasn't been for a while. This past summer has taught me where my personal true priorities lie, and it's not here. It's my family, my girlfriend, my education and my mental health. I can't name anything more important to me than those things, and that's where my attention has been this summer. I tried to bring it back to bearbones, but I have failed. I was feeling this before the influx of feedback from members last month, but that brought it into sharp relief that I simply do not have it in me anymore. Bearbones clearly needs so much more than what I have to offer it, so I think that it will be the best for both me and the site for me to step down.

But here's the thing. Crows has been feeling the same way as me. We both want and need out, and it's unfair for either one of us to dip before finding suitable replacements, or worse, leaving bb to fend for itself. A couple years ago, this wasn't a problem because we had a senior moderator ready to step up (Crows c, but right now the site does not have that. By the time someone is a smod, they've been around for a while, know the mechanics of the site and how to moderate it. We've had the chance to vet them during their "career" as staff. So the two of us are having to work out how to make up for that while still finding someone new to fill our shoes. We've got ideas, drafts, but progress is slow. The internet gives us both a lot of anxiety these days, to the point where they're not around much and I'm able to keep up conversation with a hard, generous max of 4 specific people and 1 specific server.

That's why nothing's getting done. I've been trying to get myself to write this post since the beginning of the month, but the only thing I wanted to do was write my stepping down post. Which is why I said a bunch of stuff that I was planning on putting in said post. I wish this could be it for me, but unfortunately it's not.

I'm asking for your patience as we figure out what the hell is going to happen to the staff team. Pretty soon it'll look very different, and I hope from there the team and the site will be able to thrive again.

Well we got a bunch more posts after I initially wrote this so. I probably won't have much to add, since I already wrote this well before the influx of replies.

Leader Tryouts Updating this at 5:30pm pst on 8/24/20, someone was supposed to reply to the tryout thread this evening. Since people are asking here, though, I'll answer here too. Simply put, we were waiting for more applications. Usually how this thing goes is that we get some apps and let the community vote. Right now for LS it's a vote between Timothy and getting absorbed into BL and Truce, Scully and Finny vs no one.

The @ "Not only that, but some staff members have made characters to seem "invested" in TNW, but then immediately dropped them after a couple of posts."
I recognize an @ when I see one. Yeah, I joined FL as a genuine attempt to get back into the game and back into the site, but take all the stuff I've been dealing with and combine it with a distinct feeling that only one person actually wanted me there, it was hard to muster up the motivation to continue.

Transparency I want to see staff be more transparent too. I have a strong desire to do that personally, but that is sometimes overpowered by intense anxiety. It's not just for logging into bb, it's for just about any communication that is with people that I haven't known for years and/or aren't p much family to me. Even with people that fit that criteria! This year, the numerous changes and events that have happened, have changed me. I'm sure anyone that's known me for a while can see it. I refuse to hate the person I've become, but I recognize that I have new shortcomings.

I've very much become the speaker of the staff team. Not because anyone else can't do it, but because historically I've often done so (particularly after my promotion to admin) and because I've felt that it's my responsibility. Not to mention my schedule usually let me be around when others weren't, but that is changing. I don't think that becoming "speaker of staff team" was good for anyone, let alone me. People look to me for answers I don't always have, and I fear that me doing this has made others feel their voices don't count as much as mine, so they don't use them. What's more, years ago people used to come to me to be their voice on staff. People don't really do that anymore. I think that when I exit the team, that will be my biggest regret. That somewhere, somehow along the way I stopped being someone people could talk to.

But those aren't the only issues with how the staff team communicates. I fully recognize that the whole thing w messages requiring approval thing exists for a reason, and a good one at that. It ensures little things like grammar and big things like tone. It forces discussion to make sure that we are making the right decision. But oh my god if it doesn't slow the process down. Once upon a time, when we had 6+ people on the team, one or two people not being available wasn't that big of a deal. We could still get something out and feel confident it was as it should be. Now there is the sense that we need minimum 4/5, if not 5/5. Frankly, I still don't feel entirely confident posting some things without Crows' reviewing it. This post being one of them, I didn't even want to show the rest of the team without their input.

On BB's problems (ok this ended up being a little bit of an unrelated tirade) One person alone isn't going to save bb. It's taken me far too long to accept that. This site has deep issues, and always has. No one person is responsible for causing or fixing it. Everyone has to. One of the problems is that we look to one or few people to take care of everything - leaders, staff - and just. Leave it to them. I've been on both sides of it, I'll admit it. I haven't fought against it perfectly, but believe me when I say that I know what it's like to have it all on you to fix. Look at the groups I've led, look at the site itself. I know I'm not the only one. And yeah, the staff team, the leaders, they have to take the lead. But acting like they're the only ones that have to contribute to the solution isn't right. And no, I am not talking about this situation right here, it is clear that it is the members that have the ideas, members that have the drive, and staff have failed to demonstrate the same. I'm speaking generally about a problem that makes the site toxic to those in leadership, to the point that 2/5ths of the dwindling staff team can't wait to leave and Truce is the only leader left in TNW.

Writing this, I know not how much more I will be on this site, let alone in an influential position. I don't know if I'll get another chance to shine light on this issue that has only gotten worse. BB won't have the diverse leadership it needs until there is support for its leaders (this very much including staff leadership). Again, I'm not trying to cry that there is a lot of distrust and dislike of staff right now. I don't agree with all of it, but I know it is there for a reason and I'm not here to invalidate that. I can't tell you how many times I have asked what people want only to get silence or vagueness. I implement what people want when they do tell me and am rewarded with little to no engagement. Something I'm sure everyone else who has ever had any position of power here can relate to.

I'll be the first to admit that I am part of the problem. I tried to change and learned two things: it will never be enough, and I have much more pressing things I need to care of. At the first opportunity I will get out of the way and let someone else that still has the investment in bb have a go.

ok y'all went off I think I've already covered the most important stuff with this, so I'm just gonna go ahead and post this rather than writing more and waiting even longer for approval. For clarification's sake, I drafted the first half of this on 8/23, waited for Crows' response and wrote the rest on the 24th. I got to show the rest of the team last night.

[truce.]

[align=center][div style="width: 430px; text-align: justify; font-family: verdana; font-size: 6pt; letter-spacing: 1.5px; word-spacing: 0px; line-height: 12px; color: #000"]Thank you staff for the update! I appreciate it as now I know where everyone stands currently.

Firstly, as for my previous ideas, if everyone thinks they're ideas that they would be interested in seeing in TNW, perhaps I can make a separate plotting thread for everyone to pull together a solid idea for the future! How does that sound?

As for the situation with staff, I'm sorry to hear that you're feeling that way, Bryne. I know of multiple people who may be willing to step up to take the reins, including myself, if you and/or crows feel you ought to step down; we will respect and support your decision either way.

A lot of us would like to work on BB and see it flourish in the way it should, and I think in order for that to happen again there needs to be a stronger sense of guidance and communication - a connection between staff and the member base is vital to keep a site thriving. Whether it be the current staff team with the drive to do so, or a new staff team (which I am sure we can figure out now that we know of the current situation), BB does have the potential to do well, I am sure of it.

Personally, I agree that it should be a group effort in order to maintain the liveliness of the site and the main game. Nobody is perfect and I understand I am not always the most active as a group leader currently, but I really do try in order to keep some sense of activity rolling over. I love the responsibility as TNW is something that I am dedicated to, but it would be lovely to see effort from members too in contributing. With that being said, I have been so pleased and excited to see members returning from hiatus' to start writing again, and I am certain that they will all be more than happy to contribute to the groups more. This isn't my game, it's our game, after all! I am genuinely excited to see what the future brings us in TNW as I feel like it will be good.

I would be willing to step down from any groups if I can be reassured that the next leader has the commitment to ensure the group can thrive. I am more than happy to support a greater diversity of leaderships once activity returns to the game as that was originally my intention with taking on ND, then FL and now BL - giving the groups the resources and devotion for activity to return. If anyone is interested in taking on any groups that I currently lead in the future - if it helps with muse or whatnot - don't hesitate to shoot me a DM so that we can plot something! I would not like my leaders to step down without a valid IC reason personally.

Also, I would like to expand on Hoot's point about allowing members to have more of a say on the site. I understand what staff do in order to maintain a lot of the site, but currently I feel that the approach isn't the most efficient way to get things done. Instead of staff either taking on ideas or dismissing them entirely, I think that there should be member-led discussions which are run by staff for members to express what they would like to see, and then it's up to the staff to ensure it happens for the members to take and roll with. Otherwise, things will never get done.

I know that I can perhaps be a little bit pushy in enforcing new ideas in my groups, but I know that it's the only way it'll get done otherwise - my responsibility as leader is to listen to my member base and ensure I do whatever I can to make sure their ideas can be implemented in one way or another as that is what interests them and therefore keeps them around. And, I'd like to think that I have gotten a lot done in the groups I lead. I can't see why the same thing can't be implemented between staff and members, too.

Also, I've brought this up to a couple of people today, but I think to help with activity on BB, it would be nice to see what we would usually do on the Discords being transferred to BB. For example, I suggested that a sub-board be added beneath "OOC Discussions" for group boards which is dedicated to "Character Channels" where we can dump info and chat with people about our characters openly! I mean, hopefully that can help with some OOC activity for the site. Even if you don't want to make extra sub-boards, I think I'm going to do that with my own characters regardless, and encourage other members to do the same, too.

Regardless of any current stress or tension, I hope that I can reassure everyone that we will sort things out eventually if we all make an effort to work together. I'd hate for any resentment to simmer on the site as this isn't what BB is about. Let us all put our differences aside and get our shit together ya know HJFKL ily all and I hope you're all doing well!!

[dame]

[div style="width: 450px; margin: auto; text-align: justify"]First of all, thank you for the offers to step in! It's good to know that if there was an emergency, there'd be people there. However, Crows and I have devised a plan for vetting a new set of admins. I've already been working on a google form to serve as the application, which will be open for each member of staff to take. It's very long and detailed, with questions I hope will prepare the future admin for what lays ahead. Depending on how many members of the team decide to apply, there will be a thread on bearbones with their ideas for the site and another form that members can vote in. I'd compare it more to an electoral college that will help inform me and Crows than a popular vote, though. There's a lot that goes into deciding who will be the next admin, and we definitely want community support to be one of them.

When will all this happen? Well, we'd like to give everyone a chance to settle into their new roles before dramatically shaking things up again, but I expect it to be within the next few weeks. I feel like a weight has been lifted off my chance by telling everyone my intentions to step down, it feels like before I was hiding something and now I'm not. It's given me something of a second wind for bb, enough that I can ensure a smooth transition and tie up lose ends. I still have every intention of stepping down, however, this is not to say I've changed my mind about that. I haven't, and I look forward to seeing what the new admins do with the site as I have the utmost faith in all of our potential candidates.

Also, [member=10980]venus.[/member] , I know I said we'd be getting back to you asap, but Cygnus has been having a lot of wifi issues and is in the middle of moving. She should be able to respond in the next week and a half, or if you'd prefer someone else, we might be able to reply quicker. It's up to you, but either way, you'll get a response.

Finally, the other staff members are gonna chime in and respond to different parts of the discussion. I'm sorry this took so long, it's been a busy week for everyone but we have not been ignoring you.

[hxniebee]

I'll just take another member of staff then, due to the wait time prior. Thank you, and I hope for the best with Cygnus' stuff as well and understand that it can be hard.

[truce.]

[align=center][div style="width: 430px; text-align: justify; font-family: verdana; font-size: 6pt; letter-spacing: 1.5px; word-spacing: 0px; line-height: 12px; color: #000"]As Bryne mentioned yesterday, other staff were going to chime into different parts of the discussion. I'm going to quickly chat about the idea of members taking more of a lead in the site, and also about better communication between staff and members.

Firstly, we completely agree with the notion of members taking more of the lead on the site. After all, the site isn't here for staff, but it is here for everyone to enjoy! Since the 27th August, I believe that it has been proven that members are very much committed to keeping the site alive and vibrant, which I think is very exciting! I am incredibly proud of our member base in their effort to bring the OOC community back to life once more.

This has only gone to show that - yes - members should take more of a lead on the site. After all, the site is nothing without its member base! Whilst it is the role of the staff team to set an example and supervise, this does not mean that it is our role to do one hundred percent of the work, purely because that means that members cannot efficiently have their voices heard, which is the very last thing we would like.

We ought to definitely encourage more member-led plotting threads, I agree. There should be more threads in which staff can act as individuals rather than a collective team to add to conversations and ideas.

So, from the staff team: please don't hesitate to share your creative ideas with the community. Whether it be a new discussion thread or a quick reply to someone else's thread, everyone deserves to be heard. What do you think staff can do to ensure members feel content in posting their creative ideas and take more of a lead in the site? Should staff create threads which outright encourage members to share their ideas for what they believe will benefit the main game and/or the site as a whole? I'd be interested in working alongside members for all of us to figure out what works best for us all!

Secondly, we also agree that it is very important that there be more communication between staff and members. Communication is vital in fostering good relations between two parties, and also it ensures that things which need to get done will be done! So - yes - we entirely agree and we are actively working on becoming more transparent as a staff team. Please note, though, that change does take time - this is not something that will happen overnight, nor is it something which we will be able to perfect instantly. With that being said, changes are being put in place in order to ensure that the staff team comes across as more open and transparent.

I hope that you have noticed that a handful of staff members have tried to bring the community closer together by replying more frequently to OOC posts and creating OOC threads, so there has been progress! And, this will only become more prominent in the future. Additionally, I hosted a survey recently which asked about what members would like to see in order to make the OOC community more inclusive and welcoming; I will be discussing results in another thread later today, so hopefully this will also help with the communication between staff and members. As for the speed in which staff reply to threads such as this one, we are actively working on different methods in order to speed up replies, but please understand that it will take time to find what works best for the team in order to most efficiently communicate with members. We are listening to your concerns and taking each and every one into account.

Lastly, although we appreciate your concern and understand entirely, for now we are not planning on reconsidering the admin tryouts. I can see where you're coming from, and we are making sure that measures will be put in place to ensure that, one, the tryouts will have a prompt outcome and, two, bias will be removed from the tryouts to the best of our ability. As well as this, the tryouts will help with encouraging members to take the lead, as we have just been talking about on this discussion thread, so it isn't solely staff's decision on who will become the next admin(s). I hope you can understand where we are coming from, and measures will be put in place to ensure the tryouts run as smoothly as possible.