Si +1. I see a lot of conflicted interest between staff and player in the complaint sections these days and this will help fix that.

 

Agreed. Nicely put, Thomas.

 

+1, don't know why this wasn't already in effect...

 

Agreed.

 

+1 good idea, like chundi said, I'm surprised this isn't in effect :p

 

This is supposedly in effect, however sometimes not everything is enforced properly. What xx3 and I are approaching is that ANY degree of relation should be a barrier to something, and it should cover ANY involvement of a complaint, whether it be just completely handling it, or even just responding to a reported item.

 

I may not have been here for long; but this should be a given. :S 1+

 

Agreed.

 

+1

 

That's an issue with vague staff guidelines and inconsistent punishments then. This isn't what the suggestion is about. This is suggesting to add something that already exists to the staff guidelines. What we should really be aiming for is a suggestion that makes the staff guidelines more explicit and has staff enforce the rules/follow the guidelines more consistency. This suggestion is literally just the tip of the iceberg of a much larger problem; Vague staff guidelines and inconsistency.

 

The staff guidelines recently got updated, so I imagine this is an issue of either poor staffing, or the guidelines, again, being to vauge. (I must say, however, the new ones are better.)

 

Guidelines vague or not, there is a huge lack of common sense, decency, and professionalism from Staff members if they are handling anything they are related to. (And don't try making an excuse along the lines of "we are under Staffed" or "people are busy." Do it RIGHT or WAIT. Common sense...)

I find it concerning that anyone would even think to handle something they are related to.. To me, that just seems like they are trying to hide something or abuse their position and Staff abilities (which is really wrong).

If Staff members are handling things related to them even in the slightest, they should be slapped on the wrist immediately and the task reassigned and started over, from the beginning, by a non-related/non-involved Staff member. There are plenty of Staff members to handle things. EDIT: Also, a Staff member who isn't a great friend, involved in other common interests/projects (those can relate to things like loans), etc. Common sense... Really. Remove as much bias as possible.

(Roughly, you only need one person per 15 online and one per 5 threads/forum sections. Assuming you actually have ACTIVE Staff...)

 

Good suggestion

 

I haven't seen staff enforce punishments consistently which is why I'm doubtful. Recently today we had a user warned for something that should've been a ban. (Yes, this user was banned at the end after a complaint was filed, however the user should've been banned on the spot instead.). It's either that the new guidelines don't go far enough, or that staff members simply don't care.

Yeah, I'd attribute that to the fact that the administration is generally unwilling to demote/talk to staff members who aren't doing their job properly. I agree, the staff team is in serious need of changes. Wholesale reform is needed - far beyond the usual prescriptions of talking to a staff member or changing up the staff guidelines a tiny bit.

 

I thought this was already a thing.
+1

 

Aren't you involved with VoE?

 

He is,
But VoE haven't been guilty of this from my understanding.


+1 Never-the-less

 

This used to be something that was at least mildly enforced, from what I can tell there are more than enough staff members to ensure that it doesn't happen.

 

+1 Absolutely yes. This shouldn't even have been a necessary suggestion, which is damn sad.