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User:Tut/DP
Demi-Pharaoh Questions and Answers
| ===Question #1: What do you feel the role of a DP is and what traits about yourself make you a good fit for it?=== |
| Ariella: The 'ban stick'. I think for the most part there is now a better way to determine when to use it by going through a vote and getting the support (votes) to ban a griefer. This is obviously preferred rather than the individual DP making the choice by themselves. Although, usually most banning situations were discussed in the DP guild or with other DPs and in the egyptwide chat to get a consensus of opinion before the voting ban law came into existence. We learn better ways as the tales progress.
DP is Demipharaoh, which has visibility as pharaoh's representative in game. As for leadership ability I have owned my own business for over 30 years. Since it is a service business (window cleaning with 5 great men as employees) I resolve conflicts between employees and with customers in way to gain the best outcome in most cases. Listening and taking time before acting keeps quick judgement from making mistaken actions. Having grown up in a large family and raised my own and being a Nana now I have learned much about interpersonal relationships during tense emotional situations. A leader should be a servant, hence the interest by fellow players in a potential DPs service to the game community. I am in the 7L for Life guild and work with other players in the 7L community to complete techs. Egyptwide, since a major interest of mine is in genetics, with those techs (and the techs that are precursors and seemingly unrelated to genetics) I help complete in every region because wheat, sea lilies, roses, mutagens are unique in each region. Calmness is my general personality, but firmness has been learned through having my own business. Sometimes the unpleasant decision has to be made and acted on for the benefit of all. I have been a DP in every tale since T3 and played in every tale except for T1. Payment this tale was full tale. I have played through every tale except T6 and that was because of family health issues I needed time to take care of. I observed that a major reason for players staying in the game longer was the wiki help. So each tale I add guides to the wiki in the hopes that players will stay longer and enjoy playing ATITD more. My main guide is Dear Ariella which is used by old and new players alike. Other guides include all the genetic guides, a vineyard guide, a cooking guide, etc. I decided to make a guild, Garden of Eden, to be a learning guild on any system and encourage older players to join to help teach the different systems. New players are encouraged to join so they have a support system and friends. Eden also is a great way to coordinate donations for techs. In one of the tales I won a mic and made TLC - The Learning Channel where I did lessons on a variety of the game systems and even had live homework as the lesson progressed. I found it was a great way to see what was missing in a player's knowledge or most frustrating in game for new players. One bonus for passing any DP test is the ability to carry more petitions! I have lots of ideas and limited petition potential. I am also hopefully Oracling in Leadership. In this tale, I have not had a chance to go for the final round of the DP test yet but have always done well. I think I would do well again and if elected DP I have always worked very hard. But if I am never a DP I would do exactly the same things as I would do if DP. |
| LuluDivine: |
| Nekojin: |
| Steel: The role of a demi-pharaoh is symbolically represented in the hieroglyphic symbols of the crook and the flail.
The crook, like a shepherd's crook, is used to help guide and take care of the people. A DP should make themselves available for anyone to talk to them about their joys and their troubles. Although conversations may distract from Tests or character growth, a DP that takes time out of their day to listen to someone would likely have a rippling effect on the greater community. The flail is used for discipline. Currently this entails the ban powers; however, I hope eventually a different power could be adopted to the DP role. Temporary exiling (jail) might help remedy some of the more drastic situations without having to ban someone thus losing a paying customer. During times of conflict, a DP will likely exercise both the crook and the flail qualities to settle arguments or research potential problems. Finally, a DP is a leader. They should be organizing events to help inspire the greater community. I feel I would make a great DP because I deal with the above described roles at the student/community center where I volunteer on a regular basis. Almost every day I am putting out a fire; whether simply character clashes or an event problem. On the rare occasion, i also am apart of deciding whether or not someone needs to be banned for the well-being of the organization and the people that meet there. I have done this role for about five years now. Further in my history, I also was a successful guild leader with both social guilds and raid guilds in other various online games. |
| Tut: To me, the most important and most obvious role of a DP is one of service to the community through conflict resolution. This includes both mediation in day-to-day conflicts when players aren't able to resolve them with each other, and also in extreme conflict situations like a griefer situation as described below. Having the option to ban someone and also having the public vote as someone who is a leader and role model for the community gives the DP authority and clout in conflict resolution; demanding more respect and adherence to their words than just a neighbor or friend. Using that effectively together with good conflict resolution and interpersonal skills would lead to very effectively resolved conflicts in all but the most extreme cases. The second role of a DP that I'd like to touch on is one of general leadership in the community whether organizing group projects, mentoring newer players, or just leading by example in day-to-day activities. To me this is a less-important part of a DP and not required, but someone who utilizes their position as a voted leader of Egypt to further some of the above activities would be a plus.
Now for the second part and why I believe I fit that role well. I have an RL background as a project manager which has equipped and trained me to think clearly and quickly in crisis situations. From that I got to put into practice the steps of gathering information, discerning potential options and their costs and benefits, and choosing the best route. In a potential ban situation I see that experience as being invaluable. For general conflict resolution / mediation, I have strong communication and inter-personal skills which allow me to talk easily with everyone while being sensitive to what they may be feeling or needing at the time, which would allow me to effectively walk through the conflict resolution process with other people. Strong observational skills are also included and a huge part of those-interpersonal skills. I'm also available quite often in-game and will be playing through the end of the tale. Most of all though, I think one of the most important traits that I see as being critical for the DP role is that I genuinely care about the people behind the computers. I will be one of the first to enjoy some good competition, but the moment it turns to disrespecting the person behind the computer is the moment it's gone too far. As for the more optional role of a DP in community leadership, I am actively involved in the 7L research and have been a key player or the only person involved in several of the techs. |
| ===Question #2: If you found a situation of someone being a griefer, would you be willing to ban him? And if so, what steps would you take?=== |
| Ariella: I think I answered that above. I am a peacemaker at heart. The public voting ban law is the best way as stated above.
I was in an unusual situation in T2 where my husband (before we were allowed divorce) was banned near the end of tale. He had gone rogue unexpectedly and was vowing to grief as many players as possible and as much as possible and asked to be banned. He was banned by one of the DPs. I was asked by the DP if I thought he should be banned. After listening to fellow players (I was a relative newbie) and seeing that my game husband was proving true to his words I said yes, ban him because of his actions and because he had asked to be banned. Is it worth losing other good players to hope at length that a severe griefer might stop? No. I later learned (months later in the next tale) that he had gone through a very bad sudden divorce right after losing his job and he had lost the right to see his children. He apologized and said it was stupid to have acted that way. I haven't heard from him since. Steps to ban, ask in egyptwide chat if banning is the general consensus. If it is not a DP better think twice before taking quick, emotional action. Then put the ban up for vote. The voting ban was also made to make the ban take effect immediately (after a vote) to keep from playing a no-win tag the griefer with the ban stick game. A smart griefer can evade easily. |
| LuluDivine: |
| Nekojin: |
| Steel: If the situation was dire enough, yes, I would initiate a ban. However, I feel banning is the least effective way to deal with a problem. Modern technology makes it too easy to evade a ban. Partially because the ease of ban evasion, I wish either game staff acted more in griefing situations OR DPs were given additional powers (examples: warp, exile, move buildings).
The steps I would take to decide on banning someone are the same in-game as they are where I volunteer. (1) First, talk to the person that made the complaint. Listen closely and ask questions until I understand the complaint. (2) Then talk to all other parties that are involved in the same fashion. Get their story and try to figure out their intentions. (3) Compare all the stories similarities and differences. Possibly ask more questions about any differences. (4) Ask everyone if they would be okay with a group talk so everyone would have a chance to hear each other's perspectives and express their feelings. (5) Propose a resolution. (6) If the resolution is accepted by everyone, thank everyone for their time. If the resolution is not accepted and the complaint is valid, decide the consequences involved. In the case of an in-game griefer, tell the other DPs the situation and ask their opinions. Depending on the DP conversations, potentially ask others for their opinions too. (7) Attempt any other brainstormed solution first. (8) If the problem still exists, give the griefer one last warning to stop. (9) If still no change, initiate the ban process. |
| Tut: In the right situation, such as the one with Geodude, yes I would be willing to ban. Obviously that's easy to say since he's already been banned and he also woodplaned my cp's, so let me explore the hypothetical a little more. In a potential griefer situation where someone chats me to notify me that griefing has occurred, I think there is a lot of information that needs to be gathered. Obviously gathering facts (first-hand if possible, such as viewing the wood-planes from Geodude in person or talking with the involved parties / witnesses to hear their stories) about what has occurred is the first step. Then finding out things like "Will the griefing get worse so that concluding this is urgent, or can I take my time figuring everything out?" and "Is the griefer willing to stop after being talked through / threatened with a ban if needed?" would be a good second step. Ideally there would be a solution without needing a ban if the griefing is not extremely destructive and the griefer is repentant (legal and social action could be taken in that case and would be sufficient in my opinion). In a situation where the griefing was ongoing and a conclusion was urgently needed, I would still give the griefer a chance to respond to a chat, but a ban would be following shortly if I was not heeded, and after I took as many of the steps as needed above in order to make certain of what was going on. |
| ===Question #3: If you could give a new power / authority to DP's, but at the cost of never being a DP yourself, this telling, would you do so? If so, what sort of power / authority would it be?=== |
| Ariella: A player with more power/authority than his fellow players than a DP already has? After playing this many tales, I would hesitate giving DPs more power or authority. I have seen bad DP behavior (albeit rare) and heard many suggestions on this subject. It hasn't happened. I think it's for good reason. If someone came up with a good idea I'd listen. Maybe access to an extra egyptwide channel dedicated to helping answer questions and discussion on possible ban worthy griefers. |
| LuluDivine: |
| Nekojin: |
| Steel:Yes. Since some issues seem unresolved due to lack of action from game staff, a DP might make a good alternative option. In other games, GMs had the ability to temporary "jail" people, move a building under certain circumstances, or warp to investigate a situation. Before a DP was extended these powers, of course the actual powers would have to be further developed and scrutinized by the majority of Egypt. However, if a DP had these powers and held to detailed guidelines, the DP role of mediation could become more successful.
Example: Hypothetically someone reports someone else as griefing their campsite. The DP could warp to investigate (to reply in a more timely manner). Then if the individuals were online but ignoring the DP, the DP could exile everyone (including the DP) to decrease any distractions that were in the way of having a conversation about what's going on. Then if all parties decided that some buildings were indeed maliciously built, the DP could move the griefing buildings. |
| Tut: As Ariella stated above, adding more power to the position would be pretty risky and could easily be abused. If anything, since the DP role is one of service to the community, the kind of "power" that could be added would need to be enhancing their already-existing function as peacemaker and conflict mediator and not adding new roles. Perhaps something like having a limited use ability to jail themselves along with one other person, indefinitely. This would see use in the urgent situations where a ban stick might normally be applied to stop something quickly and instead you could force them to stop and give you time to sort through what was going on. Jailing yourself along with the person would help reduce abuse of it, but before I'd truly get behind an idea like that I'd want to put it in front of the community to see what kind of holes they could poke in the idea and assess its weak points. If I felt that it was something that was truly needed and helpful to the community, I would definitely give up being DP to enact it. DP to me is just that, serving the community. |
| ===Question #4: This one is optional, but I (Tut) thought it was worth discussing since most of us in the group will probably be DP's at some point and it can be hard to decide between the multiple good choices. To help make that decision I think it's a good idea for us to try and put someone through who has a good chance of being elected, and not just a good DP candidate. So, what are some of the specific pro's and con's that you see for each individual's chances for getting elected in the general election if they make it through this DP round?=== |
| Ariella: |
| LuluDivine: |
| Nekojin: |
| Steel: Slight detour from the question... Since I have seen "new player" referred to as a negative a few times, I really hope that is not the case and I hope present and future DPs are not adopting that stance. We should be working to make the game a welcome place for veterans and new players alike.
I feel each of us have enough strengths to make a good DP. Ultimately our choice this round will likely come down to which personality we each feel will do the best at DP. |
Tut: I'll preface this by saying this is not an attempt to sling mud (I've included the major challenges that in my opinion I would face), but an honest attempt at assessing the challenges each person would face (I've probably not been successfully fully objective, so add in your own post with yours and others pluses and minuses).
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Steel's initial comments can be seen in the screenshot below:
