Taking the reins

[David]

Hi all, those who attended the meeting (and from looking at this forum) will know, Raz stepped down as leader today, handing over to me.

 

For those that missed the meeting, here is the link to the recording.

 

So what is changing?

 

As I said in the meeting nothing will be changing immediately, I need to survey properly where our weaknesses are and how we can improve. I will however be looking at the following:

 

Improving coordination between staff members.

 

At present it is difficult to keep track of user records, in particular users who have been warned but not banned, it is easily lost information and tracking will become tedious if it’s not done properly. It won’t happen overnight and it will require careful planning.

 

Improve communication from staff to the community.

 

It was raised in the meeting that quite often things are pushed through without consulting with the community, this is a problem all through the ranks not just between users and admins. I recently made a judgement call which blew up quite spectacularly which highlighted the fact this is prevalent everywhere, we knew it was a problem, but underestimated the extent to which it reached. Consultations will be on the up!

 

Removal of the US server

 

I brought this up in the meeting, it costs us £85 per calender month, was hosting Squad which is not populated and not bringing us any income. It was incredibly quick to resolve, here’s why:

 

<17:39:41> "MessedUpSmiley": Get rid of it

<17:39:44> "Miczils - Decoy": Kill it

<17:39:44> "Chuck": ^^

<17:39:44> "Zissou": get rid of it

<17:39:45> "Miczils - Decoy": ez

<17:39:47> "Brows": let it go

<17:39:47> "Blue": +1

<17:39:48> "Chuck": **** uit

<17:39:49> "Pancake": The only players on it are those tumbleweeds

<17:39:49> "Bodo Sandberg": kill it

<17:39:49> "Glitch 'Bloody Legs'": get rid

<17:39:49> "Miksi": get rid of

<17:39:50> "Fabs": burn it with fire

<17:39:51> "MessedUpSmiley": LET IT GOOOO

<17:39:53> "Copey": get rid

<17:39:54> "GhostDragon": let it gooooooo

<17:39:54> "Icy": It must fall

<17:39:55> "Glitch 'Bloody Legs'": kill it

<17:39:56> "Lost Bullet": F the Americans

<17:39:57> "Duffyman": just 1 sever

 

Graduated offences

 

Something I have been looking at is a graduated offences system, instead of warning, kick and ban for all broken rules there would be 2 or 3 thresholds, racism would be your top tier and get you and instant permanent ban from our servers whereas spamming VON would land you a warning. Another possible avenue was different consideration dependant on membership status. This is just at idea phase.

 

EU3 Mods & Spartans

 

We have all regarded Spartans and EU3 Mods as the same rank, it isn’t clear though. I am not a fan of different routes for different play styles as it may not be equal, one route may favour another. I’m not sure what to do with this as I don’t really want to shake these up too much. Again, this is just an idea.

 

Community engagement

 

Our current community engagement is very low, far lower than it should be. Basically a lot of our admins don’t play on EU1/2 a lot, this means we don’t engage with the non members and that means they don’t become members. My plan is to drive up community engagement, gain members, promote people into the lower ranks (Field Ambassador etc) more frequently to end up with a broader admin team, this spreads out the workload for admins and in turn makes playing on EU1/2 less stressful for them, making them more likely to play. In short, not playing on EU1/2 means it’s more work in the long run.

 

Regular community meetings

 

Something we are lacking is meeting with the members, we do it from time to time but nowhere near enough to really connect, I’m aiming for quarterly.

 

Delegation

 

Both my predecessors got caught up with was delegation. I work away during the week but I keep in contact via the forums, both my predecessors found themselves trying to do so much and ultimately succumbing to stress. I’ve been a part of communities where the owner eventually took his own life, I have no plans to get in that deep. I can’t afford to be trying to do everything, I work away during the week and the rest of the admin team have my complete trust and are more than capable of making educated decisions about their sectors for me not to worry about them. I aim to be guides on the side of a bowling alley and nothing more.

 

Taking suggestions to the top

 

I can’t stress this enough, we will always listen to you, you can come to us any time on TeamSpeak with a suggestion, failing TeamSpeak we have the ideas forum, specifically for this, please don’t be hesitant in bringing things to us, we don’t bite.

 

New website

 

For a while we have been developing a new website and this was discussed in the meeting this evening, it’s not been a matter of urgency and it’s not an overnight job. We were planning for wordpress, it’s on the cards for the future, but it’s not our top priority.

 

---

 

Raz has done a fantastic job for the last two and a half years since Rarek left in which was not a clean break. Leading from this is remarkable and we have made great strides in the years. It truly is incredible. I have known Raz for over 7 years, I am nearly 22, that’s over 30% of my life and he has been nothing but a great friend to me.

Now on to me, I will make mistakes, I am not perfect, I do not have a handbook, I do not have any business or management experience. I got to where I am by making good decisions, but I will no doubt bring some terrible ideas to the table and horrific mistakes. I managed to delete half of TeamSpeak and the entirety of EU3 throughout my time here and I will continue to make mistakes (although I hope these are few and far between) and I rely on you the community, to tell me when I am making errors.

 

 

 

[zissou]

One quick point on the availability of staff to questions. Take into account who you're asking what eg don't ask the site owner what weapon sight would be best on a mg for eu2 or the classic "tker on eu1" then no more info. There are plenty of people around who can help everyone else so make use of that resource rather than taking it straight to the top, who while they are at the top, may not be the best placed for the particular inquiry or question.

[lexota]

Community engagement

 

Our current community engagement is very low, far lower than it should be. Basically a lot of our admins don’t play on EU1/2 a lot, this means we don’t engage with the non members and that means they don’t become members. My plan is to drive up community engagement, gain members, promote people into the lower ranks (Field Ambassador etc) more frequently to end up with a broader admin team, this spreads out the workload for admins and in turn makes playing on EU1/2 less stressful for them, making them more likely to play. In short, not playing on EU1/2 means it’s more work in the long run.

 

Regular community meetings

 

Something we are lacking is meeting with the members, we do it from time to time but nowhere near enough to really connect, I’m aiming for quarterly.

 

these 2 topics are the best topics in my opinion. It's not my job to handle the finances ,management etc. but i do care about our community and i must say, with our ups and downs, we are a great tight community full of great people who love to play and who love to make sure every member/visitor has a great time.

 

The regular community meetings is a big + in my opinion. Good chance to improve the community aswell as getting to know new members and brainstorm around different ideas.

 

As for the community engagement. Thats also 1 point to not be taking litghly. New members who are really going full on are allways nice to play with and create a fun and helpfull atmosphere for every veteran or new player. I don't know what the actual job is as a field ambassador but i am willing to listen to any suggstion in wich i could help to expand our community. Maybe someone from staff can contact me about this for a little extra info and who knows. As a 'normal' player, fun and teamplay are on top of my list and i allways try and help out new players/members because that works both ways. Also, i like to poke the admins all the time if people mess up the eu1/2 servers not only for myself but to create a fun and tolerate game everyone can enjoy. (Sorry for keeping you on ur toes admins )

 

Come and speak to me on TS when you see me David when you have read my request for getting full Ahoymembership.

I have very much confidence i could make a good asset in being 'the allseeing eye' on the eu1/2 servers.

 

Oh and goodluck on this privilege but heavy task assigned to you know

 

See you on TS/the battlefield

 

 

Grtzz Lex

[TheToxicPixels]

Goodluck with taking the reins David! I really enjoy the aspect of the community meetings, with how questions can be asked and events can be made aware to the entire community! I look forward to the future!

[fergie]

Sad to hear Raz has stepped down, however having known both David and Raz for a long long time (although not having seen anyone so much in recent memory, which I know is my fault and not anyone else's) I just want to say Dave has come along way from the slightly annoying kid we met on the internet in 2007. He will definitely do a fine job of bolstering the community for a few more years!

[Titangames98]

Sad to hear about Raz stepping down, but as a newer member of the community (I have been playing EU1/2 since 2014), I wish you nothing but good luck in keeping this running smoothly! Always willing to help if it is needed, and I'm looking to definitely get as involved as I can. Cheers

[Radfahrer]

RAAAAAAAAAAAZZZZZZZ, NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO .

 

Good luck to Captain Dave, steering this awesome ship called Ahoyworld .

 

My <3s for all o´ youses