nu.kanga.list.mud-dev

7561: [MUD-Dev] Re: A little help

> [Marc Bowden]
> > 
> > On Tue, 29 Sep 1998, Robert Woods wrote:
> > 
> > I find this 'tried-and-tested' heirarchy ironic, given that most (large)
> > businesses strive for an open management style, as flat as is possible.
> > Bear in mind what management knowledge I know is from various lectures
> and
> > videos I've been forced to take in as opposed to first hand experience.
> > 
> > One mud I visited admitted they used an internal numeric representation
> > for 'wiz levels', not because it is actually useful but so they can
> award
> > them to wizzes for actually doing something.
> > 
> > I personally find this distasteful, I hope never to use anything like
> > this but deep down, I know this horrendous Victorian approach works. 
> > 
> 
>   Yeah, well.
>   Your cast members are no different from the players in that they need to
> feel like they've achieved something, and need ways to benchmark those
> achievements. If they don't they drift lethargically away, or turn to
> more anti-social activities.
> 
> 
> I would have to say that most "staff" members tend to act this way.  They
> feel the need for advancement, even if there is no logical reason why they
> should be advanced, regardless of the merit of the promotion.  In most
> MUDs I have worked at, promotions tend to give more access to
> administrative commands, which can easily be abused.  In addition,
> promoting immortals tends to make the hierarchy very top heavy.  "If
> so-and-so immortal is level 80, why can't I be level 80?"  It doesn't
> matter that they do more work than the higher level person, or perceive
> that they do (someone earlier in the thread stated that the initiates and
> lower creators do most of the "real" work or something like that).  Though
> if they are an excellent builder, what recourse does one have?
> 
> The hierarchy that I want to create will be a little different, in that
> there are no real ranks, only jobs.  A person cannot be promoted from
> initiate to senior creator to elder, but instead, they have the job of
> "builder", where that is their main assignment.  Specialized jobs will
> have different commands and such, but there is no way that you can be
> promoted unless you enter one of those jobs.  Since there is a limited
> number of specialized jobs (quest master, guild master, etc), there is a
> more even hierarchy.  I will, however, retain some measure of rewards.
> Not all builders, for example, will have the same authority.  Builders who
> have been working for a while and have proven themselves will receive
> access to additional commands, which should serve as a reward for their
> labors.
> 
>   What are people finding is the life-cycle of the average immortal, etc?
> Over the last ten years, my perception of it has dropped from 18 months to
> closer to 6; why work your way up somewhere when you can start your own?
> 
> 
> I have also found that jobs don't last very long anymore.  On the first
> mud I was immortalized on, there was an average turnover of about 5 months
> for a given staff member, and they also tended to run in groups (that is,
> about 4 or so would leave at once) and also be replaced in groups.  
> 
> One thing I have been wondering is the hiring of immortals.  On the MUDs
> I've been at, we tend to hire immortals from within the ranks of
> established players, instead of from outside sources (such as adds on
> Mudconnector).  Is this the exception or the rule?  I'm sure there are
> advantages and disadvantages to each method, and I'd like to hear what
> some of the more experienced members have seen.
> 
> 
> Matthew Peck
> No ICQ
> No Homepage to speak of
> x96724@exmail.usma.edu or 
> valatar@mb2.mudservices.com
>