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Have you ever tried joining your site as a new player?


Anonymous
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On 3/4/2020 at 1:50 AM, Anonymous said:

So I've RPed in ways with a more volatile group lately and for the first time as a non-admin (since I joined and nearly became an admin immediately) decided to create a non-admin character.

 

I've watched the more nasty nature of this RP group happen almost immediately. From asking for help and the snarky comments like "I should already know" to comments about how "my request to find RP" was unfounded and that I should reach out to more players before asking for other players to reach out to me.

 

From the player end... I certainly feel like the group has a clique where I don't see it from the admin side because I'm apparently part of this clique. The difference is that the answers/information/whatever is happening when I'm not there or other people are there.

 

I don't need advice on my site. I've got that handled.

 

The point of the post is to find out if you've ever tried to undercover boss your own site to see how it is joining it. I mean creating an anonymous discord is easy. Creating an anonymous email is easy. By all means you can secret into your own site without even your best friend knowing that its you.

 

If you have tell us your experience.

If you haven't tell us if you plan to now that you have the option.

 

After doing it, I found it was a great way to determine some flaws in my member conversation systems and the information they provide. It also pointed out some key members that I needed to talk to about their negative behaviors when new members joined the site.

Anonymous poster hash: a5011...bfc

 

*cringe* 😬

 

First of all, let me start by saying that I love 'Undercover Boss'. Mostly because this involves a business where conversations aren't all typed out in what should be a community setting where the admin can see what is being said and how others are interacting with each other - even when they are not around because its there waiting for you when you get on so you can read through and catch up. I am puzzled by how you have your site set up if you have a lot of your community interactions happening one on one behind closed doors? Otherwise, shouldn't you already know how new members are being treated? UNLESS... you were sending dm's or personal messages to members without invitation to do so and overall just being a very weird new person. 

 

Do I plan on doing this now that you have gifted me with this idea to fly in under the radar and deceive my members? 

 

LOL... no.

 

1. It's underhanded and creepy. 

2. I understand members have a hard time mentioning things that are bothering them because let's face it, there are some fucked up admins out there that do weird shit... ( 😒 ) . But here's the deal... relationships are things you build on. I am not going to ever expect my members to trust me enough to come to me about issues if I am skulking about and putting energy into secretive games. You do it by giving them avenues to report or bring things up and point things out. AND by being a genuinely nice and approachable admin - which takes time and effort by building relationships with your members and offering your guests the same courtesy. 

3. I am an active member and LEADING example of behavior in my community. And new members are invited to ask questions and chat in open areas where I can very clearly see if someone is being a dick. I do not need to play spy games to figure this out.

4. Doing this and risking my members finding out is a betrayal of trust.

5. The "hey let me pretend to be someone else and trick all my members who I suspect (know) are being mean so I can pretend to be surprised by their behavior" idea and mentality is so strange I can honestly say I would have never even thought of doing it. Not because I wasn't aware of the ability to do it, but because that type of slimy stuff is not on my moral compass. 

Edited by Lavi
  • Preach it! 2

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While I don't think this would go over well with my site... I can kinda see the thought process behind it. Seeing your site from the eyes of a newcomer can be very helpful in identifying why you are not getting and keeping new members. It can also allow you to identify spots in your lore or rules that you may need to update. 

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I've never had a chance to try it due to not being a staff on any sites before. I might try it with my site when its gotten bigger. My site has a lot of lore so it might help me spot holes in it.

Ramis Fatorum

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  • 2 weeks later...

I personally wouldn't do this -- both for time constraints, but also because I just don't see the point when you can directly address your member base and get the needed information a different way. Maybe I just don't understand the situation enough to justify that pretending to be someone else is a good idea on any grounds.  

 

 

In my experience, members will often follow how the staff greets and acts towards newcomers. For my site, we didn't really have to do much to train our members this way except for always being polite and kind to newcomers, always welcoming them and offering assistance even when it wasn't asked for, and even if we felt like complaining, we did so in private, amongst ourselves (to staff only), and did not outwardly express that to any normal member of our site. From doing this, no matter if a staff is online or not, our members now greet newcomers with the same respect and ask / answer questions politely.

 

We've also used anonymous surveys to gauge potential problems with the site, and so far, they've actually been very useful! I'd recommend building one to gauge your members on your biggest concerns, while also doing what Figment suggested and just going through your policies, talking to your co-staff, and maybe even releasing a friendly reminder to all that they should be welcoming to newcomers and as helpful as possible! If there are specific problem members that you find are rude, you can always send them a private reminder in PMs to be more friendly and helpful to others. 

Edited by Sammiie
actually answered the question

 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Its an interesting idea and certainly has some merits. I've always checked out a new player 'journey' from application to first post before.

 

But I can't say I've ever done it myself.

Commander Gabriel Reyes

Commanding Officer, USS Tesla

TF72, Obsidian FLeet

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It has been something that has been thought about before but at the same time decided against doing it. At the end of the day as an admin/ owner of a site you shouldn't have to sneak around on your site or discord or whatever to "see whats going on". No one has time for that for one, and that probably just adds to the toxic nature of everything else. Make sure other members know that if they see things that are uncomfortable that they can come to you. Much better than sneaking around I guess. 

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