Volunteer Program

Discussion in 'Archived Topics' started by Tigey, Apr 5, 2013.

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  1. Astrobia

    Astrobia Avatar

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    Every MMO that has tried this has had it backfire on them. It's not the idea is inherently bad, it just their no viable protections for when things inevitably go wrong (which they will, people are involved).
    Though someone made the point early on, what special abilities are really needed to help people out? If the devs go through and figure out what tools they can give the community "as a whole" to assist each other as desired without affecting game balance, that would be one way to allow people to give their time helping the community without actually having to go through any formal volunteering process.
     
  2. Duke Gréagóir

    Duke Gréagóir Legend of the Hearth

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    I don't support volunteers if they also have a normal playing account. It can happen where retaliation occurs if they were wronged in their normal account and take backlash on their volunteer account. No way to audit that either.
     
  3. High Baron O`Sullivan

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    is everything.


    Yea if volunteers are used, their IP should be logged to prevent them switching to a normal account.
     
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  4. smack

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    I'd imagine everyone is logged anyways, as this would also apply to any employed GMs. But the multiple account loophole can't be stopped and IP logging can only go so far. They'll just jump on Tor to do their evil deeds.
     
  5. Duke Olahorand

    Duke Olahorand Localization Team

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    This lawsuit ... I remember well. One of Microsoft's programs for volunteer supporters in their newsgroups at that time was the MVP program. I was a still new Microsoft MVP at that time. Shortly after that suit happened, Microsoft decided, they want to close their program as well.
    But they did revert this decision after a huge protest wave from the communities.
    And since then I have been annually been honored with the renewal of the MVP title for support given first in newsgroups, now in forums to users of certain Microsoft products.
    Of course there is one difference to the counselor tasks, Microsoft doesn't enforce me to perform activities - they only measure what I did and decide, if it was good enough to get the MVP title for another year.
    So there are ways around ...
     
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  6. 3devious

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    In the game that I volunteered everything your volunteer account did was logged. My player account was kept separate because each accounts were on different servers from the volunteer account. Of course there was the occasional jerk from the global forums that you would see while on your volunteer account. It kind of sucked having to be nice to them when I hated them so but I figured the volunteer on my server was probably rolling their eyes whenever they encountered my main so it all works out.
     
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  7. Mishri

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    I would just get 2 modems. or better yet, 1 static and 1 dynamic.... or vpn in to my other computer at work.. and play from that one.
     
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  8. Jynx

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    Wurm Online has a very nice volunteer system. They're called CA's (Community Assistants) and their function was purely advice and they acted as a screen between players and GM's. There's a separate help chat channel where no casual chatting where allowed. The CA's were logged in with their normal accounts and gave advice where needed. Almost like a real time FAQ. If a problem arose that the CA couldn't advise on, they would tell the player to log a call to the GM's or would help the player to do so.

    This system worked great for Wurm seeing that they only had a limited amount of staff. The volunteers helped to screen most of the common problems without them having any special abilities in game.
     
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  9. lanica

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  10. Zathris

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    That is an encouraging trend. I hope to see volunteer programs repopularized.
     
  11. enderandrew

    enderandrew Legend of the Hearth

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    That lawsuit hasn't stopped companies from employing unpaid interns. That still happens everywhere. And it doesn't stop community volunteers for being moderators on forums like this.
     
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  12. Umbrae

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    Maybe not all companies, but most of a certain size. My company doesn't hire unpaid interns for that exact reason. In fact they cancelled our high-school intern program to save the payroll (they are paid like contractors), and now we only have a limited internship for college students. Even contractors and other temporary positions have special restrictions to ensure they are "obviously" not employees like special badges, special name plates, special cube locations: even their names in outlook are labeled differently. All this to avoid the scenarios determined by this and similar cases.

    Sure smaller companies that don't have their own legal departments probably don't think about. They also aren't big targets for lawsuits. However, I guarantee any company familiar with these cases takes them into consideration when building their policies around volunteers at the least.
     
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  13. enderandrew

    enderandrew Legend of the Hearth

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    Larger companies don't have interns?

    You mean like Google?

    It is not impossible for a company to have volunteers or interns.

    In the AOL case, the Department of Labor didn't find AOL at fault, even though they were forcing volunteers to go through three months of training and keep time cards. AOL settled out of court because it was cheaper than paying legal fees for a lengthy court case.

    Please don't spread false information that it is impossible for companies to have volunteers.
     
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  14. Lord Vulbrig

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    I was a counselor also and would love to help as a volunteer in SotA.
     
  15. Anosa Saycosie of Gilnea

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    I agree, sometimes after playing a game for some time, we forget the struggles many of use endured in the beginning. I would not mind being able to sign up for some mentorship/volunteer role to help newer people acclimatize as guides.
     
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  16. Zathris

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    QFT

    I remember playing many a game then going back to the beginners and giving them a helping hand. Then discovered volunteer program in a few companies and have loved the experiences ever since.
     
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  17. Malimn

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    IF this issue is going to move forward in the future, please add my name to the "Volunteer" list. Been in gaming since the early 80's, been involved in numerous Alpha/Beta testing programs and have always wanted to be a volunteer. Unfortunately the UO Volunteer program was cut as I was trying to get in and would love to be able to help out.
     
  18. Browncoat Jayson

    Browncoat Jayson Legend of the Hearth

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    I was a guide in EverQuest, which is very similar to the UO Moderators; we answered questions, shadowstepped people who were stuck, ran quests, told stories, and got things out of the GM queue that we could solve. We had some special commands or items, for teleporting to characters, teleporting them, granting a resurrection, changing our appearance and names, etc. Lots of fun. We didn't get paid, but we did get our play account (on another server) for free, and full veteran rewards regardless of how long you had played. Unfortunately, I had to drop out due to lack of time when my son was born.

    If there is a volunteer program, I would be happy to be involved!
     
  19. Logain

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    Nearly same story here, different game, slight difference in position (we used to handle rule violations and issue bans), but yes, I'd throw my name in as well.
     
  20. GamerQuest

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    Ah, the good ole days. I was a counselor on Lake Superior in Ultima Online until they pulled the program. :(
     
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