We need to talk

[Alexandru Stanicu]

Folks,

If you have a problem with a member of the Avlis team there are only two things I want you to do about it:

1) Contact the team via the staff email (or me directly via PM) and present facts and details to support their complaint
2) Don't talk about it with other players or team members

See what happens is that a problem gets talked about amongst a few people and never brought to the attention of the team as a whole, the Head DM, the Lead Producer or myself. Then when the problem has grown way out of proportion it will come to my attention and I will deal with it.
Why is this a problem? Many times things are way out of hand by the time the get to me, and we end up loosing players and even team members over something that could have been fixed early with little difficulty.

Now I know that we as a team are very quiet about what is done about team members that are out of line, this is by intention.
I can only tell you that over the years, Avlis as a whole has fired 6 team members, some of whom were also banned. These people ranged from builders to DM's to very senior DM's. Some are further back than others, but I have been part of the investigation and discipline of all of them. (the first 1 I was only peripherally involved)

In my time on the Avlis team, I have always made an effort to be as fair as possible when investigating and disciplining both players and staff. If anyone has a doubt about this, please feel free to ask present/former team members who have seen the process from the inside. I also have made it a policy to take all complaints seriously.

One of the problems we have from time to time is someone on the team will tell me "I heard from a player, that such and so DM did X.". My typical responce is "Who complained?"
"Did they have logs, screenshots, witnesses etc?"

Why do I need to know who complained? Because I want to be able to contact them directly and ask them questions as well as getting their side of the story.
Can I promise that the person they complained about wont find out who they are?
Not really as I always present the accused person with the facts and ask them for their side, and this is where the logs, screenshots etc come in.
Do you have to have evidence to complain?
Nope, but you do need to remember that I have to have something to work with while investigating, after all I'm not Horatio Caine and this is not CSI

Why do I want you guys to not discuss your concerns/complaints with other players or with team members?
Not only does this sometimes derail the issues getting to my attention, but it also has the effect of creating a negative reputation that may not be deserved, and one that can ruin player/staff interaction. This is even more so since we do not make public investigations or their results, so something may have been cleared up (error or punishment already given) and no one outside some/all of the team, but the person who was investigated/disciplined will know.


So let me wrap up:
1) All complaints are taken seriously, provided that they are reported to the staff email, the Head DM, the Lead Producer or myself
2) Evidence is preferred but not mandatory
3) Please don't discuss your concerns with other players or directly with team members
4) Keep it out of IRC and/or Rants

Thanks and please remember that I can't fix what I don't know is broken.