Staff/Player Interactions

[Celean 3]

Hello Shinobi!

 

I'd like to talk to you all about a topic that I've been hearing discussed more recently in the past few weeks: Staff and Player Interactions. I think one of the best parts about Shinobi Story are the interactions the players have with some of the Staff. Anyone who was in Konoha the other night with Giant Dan, roaring for Pizza w/ BBQ sauce, knows what I mean and had a great time! Most of us are in agreement that the game presented is amazing, and we all want the game to continue to grow and thrive.

 

That being said, there are a few sore spots when it comes to Staff and Player Interactions, especially in regards to behavior. There are several elements to these interactions, but the core point is that there are players who are leaving the game or actively not supporting it due to these interactions with certain Staff. There are also players who actively avoid interacting with certain Staff, whether they are on their Staff character or not, due to the Staff acting identically. As a member of the player base, I (at least) think there should be a degree of separation from the Staff while also being able to interact in a positive manner. When Staff interactions are negative, it leaves the player at a disadvantage and can usually hurt the player's desire to continue playing or have interactions with that Staff member. While some of the Staff may be unintentionally hurting the player community, there are times when players are spoken to condescendingly, have their ideas shut down, or are actively griefed/mocked in global after by a member of the Staff. These actions directly hurt the health of the playerbase, in so far as I've said, there have players that have left, or stopped supporting, due to these negative actions taken by Staff.

 

I understand that Staff are players, too, but they need to be held to a much higher standard in terms of behavior. A player can act in a certain way, whether it's griefing new players or acting disruptive in global, with few negative connotations outside of their reputation. Staff members are leaders in-game and representatives of the Shinobi Story team, even if said Staff member is on their "player character." There are certain staff members that players do not want to interactive with, because there is functionally no difference between how they act on their Staff character and on their player character. We are not speaking of character actions, but the actions of the person, the player, controlling the Staff and the player character. 

 

Similarly, if a player is providing a suggestion or feedback in the theorycrafting channel in Discord, Staff members should not immediately jump in to shut down prospective conversations with their beliefs (not game logic). These Staff members can explain they are only giving their opinion, but they have a big indicator that they are Staff, making their opinions feel more heavily weighed. I've spoken to several players about this, across many levels and Orgs, and we all agree that the game's toxicity is too high for the number of new members we are getting. Staff members should be separated from this toxicity in order for players to feel comfortable approaching. They should be Staff members first, players second.

 

Please feel free to provide your own feedback, how you feel about the game, and your experiences with any of the above. Try not to kill me for providing a genuine, honest opinion about how to make the game better. I hope all of us want that.

 

Best,

Cel

 

Edit: Realized I put Shinobis. Oof.

Edited July 29, 2022 by Stormblessed

[sagehyuga 6]

Bump +1

[lupa 1]

I agree with all of the post!

I have spoken to new friends that have posted suggestions to be met by criticism on their idea that shows a certain condescending tone by a staff member and they no longer felt like they could reply to this persons response because they were scared of being seen as combative, In my opinion i believe that a staff member needs to show more professionalism then is currently displayed both in-game and on other platforms and not to refer to their own experiences as a way to deny potential changes that could bring in more players to the game we all love!

As Stormblessed hinted at i would suggest if you were to respond with your opinion on subjects then do so anonymously and keep your Staff statements purely professional or leave it to the developers to comment on subjects that refer to them and the work they do.

What i am saying here does not mean that you cannot have some fun in-game with models and other things, What i am suggesting is that the negativity both in-game and on other platforms needs to be changed.

Thanks

[TheTruePengy 1]

I completely agree! It's difficult to get my friends to play more when their in game experience is already rough due to toxicity from some players. When they ask about it in global and get shut down by some staff or learn it was a staff member they completely get shut down. "Staff member first player second" If as a staff member your fun hinges on making others have less fun, theres a problem

 

[IronhideFire 5]

Alright, I am going to lead off with this, before ANYONE goes and questions my integrity at any point.

I served in the Army, I understand what Good Leadership looks like, I understand what Bad Leadership looks like, and I understand what Absent Leadership looks like.

I also know what this same kind of Leadership examples look like in a Teaching environment when it comes to Administrators.

I agree with what Celean is saying, Staff, you can and should have fun with your players, however, you do have to be careful. My personal belief? Staff shouldn't have player characters if they are in a staff position, feel free to disagree all you like, any of you.

Celean pointed out Theory Crafting, and this is why I mention Staff shouldn't have PC's, is because Kizo, who's PC is a Rogue, was the first to shut it DOWN when a suggestion was made concerning an idea that could effect the overall health of the Game, with very lacking arguments.

Kizo as a GM is great, she's helpful, she goes out of her way to help players, and can get frustrated with certain things which shows that she is human. However, the things she gets frustrated by, is something manageable, because they revolve around her PC.

The odds of Vlad seeing this? I don't know to be honest, but I truly hope he reads this forum and doesn't give some weak PR response, because what we are talking about is serious.

As a Teacher, I have ways to naturally mention this game to hundreds of students (who can and will provide funding because of where they are in town, and who their parents are), but I will not do that unless I can see changes. I have heard horror stories, and I took them with a grain of salt, until I SAW it happening, especially to myself. Rogue Ninja's in other Guilds actively hunt down NEW and FRESH players unfamiliar with the game itself, because of a grudge that nearly killed the playability MONTHS ago. When someone goes out of their way to kill someone that is level 15, who has ZERO idea what they are doing is unacceptable, all because they say the same thing "This is Alther's fault." They take it out on new players that join the Leaf Guild because one person put up and was patient through the worst time on the server and wasn't backing down, in fact, was hitting anyone and everyone back. Do two wrongs make a right? No, but, when you have Staff, who don't do anything, AREN'T doing anything, and then get upset for the victim standing up for himself, there is a PROBLEM.

What experience do I have when it comes to leadership? Where do I get off pointing any flaws out? Why have an issue because it's a game? When I was 13-16, I played as a teenager on a Naruto Role Playing forum. I was there for the inception of the previous cycles of RPG forums before it became the website it became.  I was a Moderator, a Global Moderator, and an Administrator eventually, as a teenager, who was second to ONE person at that point, as a TEENAGER. Activity was anywhere from 150-200 every single day. With 50+ people on at a time actively playing. I was responsible for (albeit, easy) coding, and making sure players were placed where they needed to be, as well as handling day to day account changes. As Staff we didn't take part in playing, and it was fine, and fun, because we were able to mess around with players while they Role Played, or just shot the shit in the Shoutbox. Hell, as an 8th grader I tried my hand at making my own Forum, and on day one, because I did the grind, went around and advertised, we had 2000 players on the FIRST DAY, as a Teen , that was HUGE to me. It was an accomplishment. What happened to it? I merged it with the larger main site, and sent everyone there after a month because I needed the help. That role play style? A GRIND. But it was fun, and worth it. I also personally helped create, and took part in creating additions to the battle systems in the form of "Bloodline Abilities," "Lifetimes," "Weapons," and my favorite addition, the structure and creation of the Tailed Beasts that would replace the originals. And it wasn't a typical "I do this, you have that happen." No, it was complex, it was fun, it wasn't rushed, because the Staff understood it had to be of quality to help retain players and keep their interests. We didn't play, and if those on staff did, they didn't favor their own interests, because everyone had someone that checked them on staff. It wasn't a buddy buddy system that had things swept under the rug "Oh you can keep doing this, it's okay." If we could monitor history of what staff accounts were doing on a forum, especially if we took Reports from players seriously, then a game where you have MONEY trading hands, and take the time to code things into an actual GAME where it has to run correctly, then you need to take things seriously. Because the players are your LIFEBLOOD.

 

You have something here. You have the potential of turning this game, this community into something HUGE, on the scale of NoPixel, but you have to do better when it comes to how staff handles certain things. And who knows, Vlad may not be tracking a number of issues, because he is constantly busy working on making the game better for the people.

Don't take every complaint and rush to give every single person what they want, it's counter productive. Try a strike system I guess, I dunno, I'm not staff.

And please don't quickly shut down helpful suggestions if you have a conflict of interest, if anything, don't get involved with it at all, because whether you favor or are against it, what you have to say, can heavily favor what others are willing to say.

 

Another thing, The Leaf GUILD, and Village GUILDS should be the FACE of your game, not multiple Rogue factions. Because what you are allowing to happen is you are ALLOWING potential players to see that there are all these Rogue Ninja running rampant doing whatever they want, and you're punishing people for trying to guide and help people understand the game. I never played WoW, I don't know what I'm doing for the most part, but to have people and go around and bully people, it's unheard of, and I won't subject my Middle and High School students to it.

As for the Forum, I can't and won't say here lol, because as a Kid I thought it was okay to put my name out there, if Staff need to know, I'll tell them personally, but that's it.

But yeah, for those of you wondering, if you ever were there, I was Chad/Chad Lee/Ironhide.

This has been my addition to this topic. If you have any disagreements, I am willing to have a civil discussion about it, if it needs to, it can be taken to Discord or elsewhere.

Thank you.