if i may...

[Undertaker]

""Contacting staff
I seem to have problems getting this across, but the problem I am facing (and I suppose any high level staffer as well), is that I am constantly overrun by private messages, either in the game or on the forum. At the end of the day i look back and realize that all i have been doing was replying to messages and doing small tasks. We would really like to be available for direct contact, however if this continues like this, I would start considering turning off my PM possibility.
1. If it's a general question about UO: google it, ask other players
2. If it's a question about our shard: look on our website, codex, wiki, forums, or ask other players
3. If nobody knows, or you are in need of staff assistance, USE THE PAGE SYSTEM
4. Only PM me if you need me specifically and there is nobody else that can help you

5. Try to resolve as many issues as possible using google, asking your friends, etc.

- Do not, never ever, I'm serious, PM a text that goes like "coli do you have a minute" or "coli can i ask you something" or "coli can you come here for a little?". I might be offline, and it's really time consuming to reply to all these messages with "yes, what do you want". I can handle a few a day but after a year it gets really boring State what you need clearly, provide any info you think is necessary. If i need to access any items, put them in the top level of your bank so that when i come, even if you're offline, i can quickly access and fix/apply/edit whatever needs to be done.""


if i may add a small bit of info-- if 1. and 2. fail, and move on to 3. you get ahold of a GM, and THEY cannot help you... simply ask "do i have to take this up to a higher power?"whatever the situation may be... i had a bit of trouble with something, an the lower level staff werent sure, an i asked that question, (btw he even asked the other gm that was online), and he replied "Yes" and i did, but if we could avoid the admins for awhile, im sure they would appreciate that, unless it results in needing their wonderful powers

an please dont skip to the higher power, try your best to avoid admins... i hear theres alotta goodies coming in, but as colibri wrote, at the end of the day, he spends so much time to reply to all the pm's he gets, the goodies are just being pushed off ... ok im done

[+Osiris]

To add to what Undertaker has written, If you try to always ask your questions on the forum, this will also cut back on people keep asking the same old qustions.

Also don't forget if you have important information you think should be added to the WiKi please go right ahead and add it, it's there for everyone too add stuff

+Osiris

[+Neptune]

And again, just to reiterate, you all know that some Staff members have a player character as well. And may often will be on both accts. If you Pm a staff, it may be a long time before they see it plus if more than 1 staff member is on, they can't see it.

if you page, the staff's player chara get's a notification that there is a page and can address it...

SO PLEASE, use the paging system.. it is there to help YOU more than anything, that and it helps us not to forget you need help if we are helping someone else at the time you make the request

[+Colibri]

Hehe, well yes, to become a staffer you first need to play so we all have player characters, just a question of, whether we ever play them

And as Undertaker said, yes there are things that i would like to do here, but when i come online, a large portion of my time is consumed by misc messages going back and forth, a few hours pass, i get tired and all of the new features are in the same stage as they were before.

[Undertaker]

if your still over runned colibri, i would really recommend/advise you do shut off the pm's for about a week, or even better, every few days have it off, then turn it on, an see whats up in the uoex, hehe... i guess my point is, the people that have been here for awhile that know abuot these new features coming in, are getting a little tired of waiting?, Not your fault, you could accomplish so much if you didnt have pm's or questions that us the people, or the other staff can answer, unless like i mentioned befor if it needs to be Your powers, or even Rayne's powers, then thats where we need a moment of the admins times... unless its donations then thats your area, we understand that

especially the new comers here that dont know about these really cool features coming in, an its not their fault cuz they dont know when they first start, but in other words, more people need to read the forums, an ask their questions there (or look for the same question cuz it prolly been asked befor) ive noticed that the [chat questions arent getting answered alot of the time, cuz either were afk, or to busy to reply, or anything really, hehe, dont feel like replying, etc... then they pm you...

Keep up the awesome work! an dont give up! an if you have to, meditate!

[+Rayne]

i guess my point is, the people that have been here for awhile that know about these new features coming in, are getting a little tired of waiting?

I simply have one quick thing to mention in regards to this statement, as it just popped out at me.

There is never a time frame in which things will definitely be completed. There are so many things that are on the "to-do list" and we need to complete them in the order of which they came about. Things that have been asked for and have been approved in the last couple of months are much farther down the list the those things that we have wanted to add since last April. So, I don't feel it is entirely fair to say that anyone should be "tired of waiting" for these new things to pop up. The bottom line is that, they will be in the game when they are. So once something is 'approved' it is best to put it very far in the back of your mind, so that you are pleasantly surprised to see it added down the road.

Even though we as staff care very much for the people on this server, the lands we have created, the items and creatures that fill it, the work we have done, there is a fact that will remain; there are other things that MUST come first. I would encourage the players to remember this in their own lives as well. We must all keep our priorities in check to avoid becoming 'burned out' or 'living in an illusion' or neglecting things we should not.

As much as we would love to snap our fingers and create everything that is wished for, there is a large amount of time put into the 'design', 2-3 meetings between admin as to the pros and cons of the addition, scripting and the testing, alterations, 1-2 meetings to determine exploits and loop holes, more scripting and testing, adding to the game, testing with players, adjusting, possibly more scripting and testing. Not to mention that the reintroduction of the renewed scripts only happens when the server is restarted, which could be anytime ranging from 2 weeks to 1 month.

So if you can for a moment imagine:

Working an 8-10 hour day or going to school for 8 hours, coming home to work on a project or do homework while 80% of the time simultaneously scripting for the server, answering pages, offering help for custom situation in which you need to be present for 30-45 minutes, trying to squeeze in a meal if you can break away long enough to heat up something quickly to eat at the desk, try to watch a TV show you enjoy, however you are still at the computer answering pages or fixing a bug or handling a dispute or 'enforcing the law' or responding to forum post about the server being down, or waiting on the server to come back so you can reassure everyone, or personally greeting a new player...... Before you know it it's 2-3am and you have to go to bed to get 5-6 hours of sleep so you can repeat this again the next day. The weekend is also meant to be a nice break for most ordinary people, however, I know Colibri and I both find ourselves working just as hard, if not more intently then we did during the work/school week. We do not exactly 'break away' on our days off but quite the contrary, we attempt to get more things done on the server and conduct our staff group meetings and plan or host the auctions.

The grammar in that paragraph is nothing to be desired, however I want to relay the 'chaos' we truly experience everyday. This is not meant to cause those to feel badly, or guilty, as we have chosen to do these things by our own free will and we gladly do it as this is just as much apart of our lives as it is yours. We would simply ask that you think of this post before you submit a page for answers you could find elsewhere. Or the next time you wish to request an audience with a staff member, think to yourself Do they really need to be here for this question/concern or can I let it go, or post it to the forums or ask a player or check Stratics or Wiki .

I would even challenge you this (when applicable): when you have a problem to solve and think to page a staff member, at that moment, give yourself 5 more minutes to figure it out on your own. You would not believe the pages we handle where they player says "Oh duh! I cant believe I forgot that/didn't try that!"

We really do not ask for anything in return for our work, except that everyone would be both kind and considerate to each other and to the staff and simply enjoy this place. After reading this post I hope you might be able to understand where you might not have before.

+Rayne