Aion Volunteer Program

[bravoman]

Originally Posted by Cocowoushi

People will take advantage of this.
People will feel they have more a of right to play than others if they are in this program.

The best way to volunteer is to report accurately to the GMs.
Posted via Mobile Device

QFT. Unfortunately, it "appears" that NCWest is currently understaffed and can't field the proper number of GMs. If we knew reporting would be addressed in a timely manner (i.e. less than 8hrs), reporting would be all we needed.

I, for one, wouldn't mind being a "Mod"-type person. Heck, I don't even care anymore if I never make it to 50 or into the abyss. Just give me a Ban-Button whenever I see those spammers in the channels. Hell, all the icons/emotes make them easy enough to spot

Originally Posted by Cocowoushi

...
I want to believe a system like this would work. I do. I would even volunteer for it. But I highly doubt NCSoft can cross that trust barrier at the risk of even more unhappy people and headaches they will need to fix after they sack them.
Posted via Mobile Device

Again, yes, QFT...

[Aelo]

Originally Posted by Xare

With the right people it would be a fantastic idea i dont really think there is any other answer.

Oh and doesnt this need to be posted in a suggestions thread somewhere on the official forums or something?

I posted it Here first because i felt it would reach more people.

[kitsunegirl]

I will be one of the first to apply! I have a craving for banning spammers and bots.

[Adoniel]

I'd volunteer myself and thus that's what I voted.
But when it comes down to it, the "volunteering" would have to come with some fringe benefits to be worth it to me. For example, free game time, special equipment, etc. Call it a carrot for those willing to give up play time to GM in essence for free.

[Mortrialus]

I would gladly volunteer myself to assist with dealing the Spam / Botting issue.

[Aelo]

Originally Posted by Cocowoushi

You can call me a cynic but people just WILL abuse this - regardless of which server they are on. Yes, I'm sure there will be some good apples, but NCSoft is not willing to put their already tarnished reputation on the line to have it further defamed more.

There are some sick sick people in this world. People who would LOVE to see Aion go down in flames. Some people who you wouldn't expect - who would happily play the role of an upstanding player to get the chance to be in this program just so that they can abuse the power give to them and make NCSoft look even worse.

I want to believe a system like this would work. I do. I would even volunteer for it. But I highly doubt NCSoft can cross that trust barrier at the risk of even more unhappy people and headaches they will need to fix after they sack them.
Posted via Mobile Device

But you'd rather let bots run wild like L2? These players would have very few privileges like "global mute" or "temp ban". Plus these players can host mini events for players like arena contests or in game weddings. I just dont see how this is a bad idea at all - I've seen it work many times before.

[Daemian]

I wouldn't even care about getting "fringe benefits".

Just being able to remove these parasites from a great game before they drill it into the ground is enough of a benefit for me.

[gaelicvixen]

It's a wonderful idea, and as Krystalline points out, there are ways to avoid abuse.

For example, give these volunteers an NPC character that can't buy, sell or trade items or kinah, can't get drops and can't attack or be attacked. With a character like that, on a different server than the one they normally play and where they can't make any other characters, and you would eliminate a lot of the potential abusers from the pool of volunteers because honestly, someone in it for the phat lewt isn't going to accept conditions like those.

EDIT: If they implement this, I'll be right there with everyone else volunteering.

[PerfectByNature]

I understand the immediate reaction of "people will abuse this". But the fact is, other games, several others in fact, that were fantastic games, with company's that had outstanding reputations, did it with success.
It's not a new idea.

Obviously there's a screening process.
But in my other post I'd like to reiterate, that UO recorded ALL actions the Moderators took.
So very very quickly a GM could see if someone was abusing ther powers.
The watchers were watched.

And it's far far easier for the GM's to watch say 30 Moderators, then 5000 bots.
Let the players monitor the 5000 bots. Let the GM's monitor a few trusted players.

I could do more good for Triniel in a single 5 hour gaming session, then the entire NCWest GM staff has done in the 160+ hours they've been working on the problem so far.

[kitsunegirl]

Originally Posted by Cocowoushi

You can call me a cynic but people just WILL abuse this - regardless of which server they are on. Yes, I'm sure there will be some good apples, but NCSoft is not willing to put their already tarnished reputation on the line to have it further defamed more.

There are some sick sick people in this world. People who would LOVE to see Aion go down in flames. Some people who you wouldn't expect - who would happily play the role of an upstanding player to get the chance to be in this program just so that they can abuse the power give to them and make NCSoft look even worse.

I want to believe a system like this would work. I do. I would even volunteer for it. But I highly doubt NCSoft can cross that trust barrier at the risk of even more unhappy people and headaches they will need to fix after they sack them.
Posted via Mobile Device

There are ways to counter this. You are being cynical, but not without good reason. They could have legally binding contracts for the volunteers, NDAs of a sort that if you violate them youre banned from the game, and could suffer legal repercussions. The kiddies who would scam there way into these positions arent going to read the legal print, and will just say what they want to get the ban tool. And then when they are slapped with legal fees for the litigation they will whine and cry.

No this could work. Its worked well in other games before. It just depends on how NC handles it. Making players full GMs without any sort of background check or whatnot would be a huge mistake. But I doubt the GMs they have in the games now are actual developers for NC. Probly just people they hired to do GM work.

Aelo, while I think Cocowoushi has valid concerns, he seems to be for it, but is being devils-advocate. Just my observation.

[Cocowoushi]

Originally Posted by Adoniel

But when it comes down to it, the "volunteering" would have to come with some fringe benefits to be worth it to me. For example, free game time, special equipment, etc. Call it a carrot for those willing to give up play time to GM in essence for free.

Adoniel - I don't mean to make a spectacle of what you said, but hopefully you don't mind I use this as an example.

What Adoniel said is probably what many people who sign up for this will feel. They want to be rewarded in some way for the work - free work - they put in. This is not an outrageous claim. They will feel they need to be "better" than others.

But if for some reason this privilege is taken from you for what ever the reason may be (abuse, downsizing, whatever) those that are cut will feel offended for having their benefits taken from them as well. And they might leave. And they will complain on forums and stir up much more drama.

When you work as an Official GM you are getting paid to do the job. You don't do the job, you are fired. You are no longer paid. This is the punishment in itself. You are also required to agree in your contract not to speak about the processes you do as a GM to others, and if you do, the company is within rights to file a law suit against you.

Such insurance if you will does not come with hiring volunteers - who having nothing really to lose.
Posted via Mobile Device

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Originally Posted by Aelo

But you'd rather let bots run wild like L2? These players would have very few privileges like "global mute" or "temp ban". Plus these players can host mini events for players like arena contests or in game weddings. I just dont see how this is a bad idea at all - I've seen it work many times before.

No, of course not. I never said I support bots. But having been a GM in the past for another company makes me very wary of this. There are many accounts of corrupt GMs - people who can lose their income - so I don't see how people who are doing it for free will be any different.

Allowing for every-day people to do Temporary bans or events make me cringe at the thought. It's VERY important to a company to uphold a sense of consistency - and with a program like this it's very hard to maintain that.

If Volunteer Jim chat bans Player X for saying something they find offensive but Volunteer Bob doesn't find it offensive, then they complain about it, you can see this world of a mess starting to unfold. The Volunteers will need to be trained - which takes more time away from the GMs who are already overworked as it is.

Again, believe me, I really wish something like this would work. But when you play games and see how easily people abuse them, you become much more wary.
Posted via Mobile Device

[kitsunegirl]

Until they get visited by NCs legal team, then they will wish they had followed the rules. Just because you dont have a job to loose from NC doesnt mean you are out of the woods as far as loosing things...

I would like to say most of us just want the satisfaction of laying the smackdown on the offenders, but I cant. Speaking for myself, I could sit in Poeta for a few hours kicking bots and spammers. Im just wondering as a GM, do they get to fly around on that giant air-whale? ^.^

I dunno about the having to serve on another server... I would if thats what was required, but I would like to be able to stay on Zikel and Lumiel and ban bots there. As bad as it sounds, I dont care about those servers (sorry), I have a vested interest in these two however.

[darkalfx]

I was an ARK(Advisor of Rubi-ka) in Anarchy Online which is basically the same thing as the idea proposed here.

It was a great system, If they implement one of those here I will join in and help.

[vech]

Adoniel - I don't mean to make a spectacle of what you said, but hopefully you don't mind I use this as an example.

What Adoniel said is probably what many people who sign up for this will feel. They want to be rewarded in some way for the work - free work - they put in. This is not an outrageous claim. They will feel they need to be "better" than others.

But if for some reason this privilege is taken from you for what ever the reason may be (abuse, downsizing, whatever) those that are cut will feel offended for having their benefits taken from them as well. And they might leave. And they will complain on forums and stir up much more drama.

When you work as an Official GM you are getting paid to do the job. You don't do the job, you are fired. You are no longer paid. This is the punishment in itself. You are also required to agree in your contract not to speak about the processes you do as a GM to others, and if you do, the company is within rights to file a law suit against you.

Such insurance if you will does not come with hiring volunteers - who having nothing really to lose.

Everything Cocowoushi has said is true. Great idea in theory but this won't work.
Ever heard of psychological egoism?
Anyways give up on the idea NCsoft will never approve.

[darkalfx]

Originally Posted by vech

Everything Cocowoushi has said is true. Great idea in theory but this won't work.
Ever heard of psychological egoism?
Anyways give up on the idea NCsoft will never approve.

Maybe they'll never approve, but this idea has worked with awesome results in many other games.