Staffing Posting Speed Complaints from Members Who Aren't Caught Up On Their Own Posts

[Clockwork Galaxy 0]

That's a super long title, but I didn't know how else to make it understandable.  

 

Here's the deal: in the past several months, we've had three separate members complain loudly about not getting posts fast enough - even going so far as to harass specific members in the cbox to reply to them NOW or complain in public that EVERYONE on the site posts super slowly - when they, themselves, are leaving threads hanging for many, many months.  We've had more than one person leave in a huff, saying that replies are too slow anyways, when there were members responding to their threads regularly (AND QUICKLY - several times per day), right up until the members who were complaining about posting speed stopped responding to those threads.

 

I'd go so far as to say that if they're not responding to their own threads, making their RP partners wait months for replies, then they have no right to complain about the posting speed of anyone around them.  Other than that assertion, however, I really don't know what to do about this.  Really, if this is our site's only major complaint - something that seems to ultimately be the roleplayer's own fault - that seems to be pretty good, right?  

 

Really, I guess I'm looking for suggestions about how to avoid this problem or commiserations, because I'm getting frustrated with the prevalence of this issue and have no idea how to address it.  ...or, I guess, if it even should be addressed.  

Edited December 3, 2017 by Wanderlust

[Uaithne 543]

It should be addressed.

 

These complainers will make the other members feel bad and unwanted.  They'll make the people whose threads the complainers are ignoring feel like mush because the thread means "nothing" to the complainer.  So for the sake of the innocent members, something has to happen.

 

I don't know how many people are involved or what percentage of the board are involved, but if it were just a couple people, I'd PM the complainers with the following information:

 

- Acknowledge that they have a concern about the posting speed.

- Tell them that you would like to hear more about their concerns in a private manner and to tell you what, exactly, is bothering them about the posting speeds.

 

Do the above without accusing them of anything.  This will allow you to gather information about the situation.  Once you have the information, you can try to figure out if there is an underlying issue that's going on (maybe something that isn't actually related to the posting speeds, or that is manifested through the posting speeds).  Chances are, they're just complaining because they aren't getting what they want, but you never know.  Then, once you have the information, you can send them another PM addressing the discrepancy between what they expect from others and what they themselves show through their own posts.  Explain that they can't expect other people to cater to their whims and wishes while neglecting the needs of those other people.  And if they can't pull their crap together, it's better to send those people off to another site.

 

As a note, not everybody replies to all threads at the same speed.  Maybe some characters are harder to RP with, or some situations are more exciting than others.  The concern isn't so much about the fact that people expect to roleplay more quickly in some threads than others but that they lack the communication skills to respect their partners and set reasonable expectations for posting speeds.

[Anonymous 234]

Okay, as a rapid fire poster I'd say that the issue is the quickness but you have to choose what you prefer as the site preference and a member preference. Whether it's quickness or quality. Regardless of quickness, if their preferred threads are getting neglected any member is going to feel neglected and eventually punished through any level of quickness and they will neglect and punish other thread through that as well.

 

I know everyone wants to feel like a a special awesome person but EVERYONE has their preferences and they show it through their quickness in posting.

 

As a personal thing... you have to take this into consideration as well as you have to take your site into consideration. What is more important?

 

 

 

Anonymous poster hash: 8c0f8...c04

[Clockwork Galaxy 0]

Huh.  Uaithne, I hadn't considered it before, but you mentioned they might be complaining because they're not getting what they want.  In each and every case, we had to either reprimand the member for something or tell them 'no' regarding something within a month of said complaint.  I hadn't considered that because... well, I've had to tell other people 'no,' and they don't react this way.  So it's possible that this is all just a tantrum on their part, which... yea, is just not something I had considered.  

 

I had considered whether it was just not a good character for them, but in every case the person has had one or two characters max and the complaints were regarding threads for the characters who owed posts so... I'd tossed that out as a reason.  Still... it's something to continue to consider.  

 

The PM addressing what's going on on their end is a good idea, though.  Ordinarily, I just let them know that they need to find a more constructive way to ask if they're going to post in a public area, and that any harassment on their part is not permitted or warranted towards any other member.  We're super not down with anyone harassing anyone else on the site; ever; for any reason.  

 

And, yea, Anonymous, we specifically prefer quality over quickness.  That said, each of these people has OWED posts to others - often to those who DO reply quickly.  I'm not entirely sure that point stands, given they were actively ignoring threads with people who responded rapidly.  There are quality posters on the site who can post every 10 to 20 minutes when they have time and are motivated by a thread, while others take several days to a week.  It genuinely depends on the member and the character.  I know this, AND it's listed in everyone's posting preferences, which we ask them to fill out upon joining the site.  

Edited December 3, 2017 by Wanderlust

[Quell 249]

Assuming it's a small number of players being rude, I would do a general rules update. I don't know what kind of rp speed your site promotes, but something like.

 

"Reply Speed is varied by player. We suggest discussing before beginning a thread what your preferred thread speed is if you have any strong preference. Regardless, harassment publicly or privately for posts is not allowed." 

 

If you've got a warning system, toss in its official warning.

 

If it continues, then send the PM.

 

My reasoning is that this way it is all transparent. You aren't punishing them for something that isn't in the rules. Poking about posts is acceptable in some forums. They might just not know it's not allowed in yours. ^^ plus the people being poked will also know that you have their backs and are solving the issue in the long term

 

--

 

Edit: I just saw that you have reprimanded them and the results remain unchanged? Sounds like an official warning or short suspension might be in order. (Maybe from the cbox for _ number of days?) As like a... "You need to chill. Harassment isn't okay" 

Cause if you just say it and the action doesn't change but there is no consequences, it's just a phrase that means nothing.  

Edited December 3, 2017 by Thyme

[Elena 546]

And how to keep your interest in the site and in the story if you are waiting every time for a reply several weeks? 3, 4, 6... This from characters yours is connected with and has to thread with, and from people who say they are interested in the story, but they post only when the elusive muse strikes...

 

I can understand their frustration, but I don't think there is any solution, if the will to write doesn't come from inside the person. No exterior stimulation would help.

 

[Morrigan 1,826]

It's all give and take really. I'm the sort of person that goes where the story is. And even if I have posts to reply to sometimes I won't because I sometimes don't have the time or energy to do so knowing the general speed of the site. Nothing even to do with individual players. This is primarily due to the fact that I dread that I'm going to have to wait like I have for other threads on the site.

 

I personally can lose interest in a thread if it goes unreplied to for more than 24 hours let alone days or weeks. And again, that has little to do with the partner.

 

My RP partner here on this site we can tag back and forth all day and we have threads on another site that haven't had posts in them for weeks. It's not because we don't have an interest in those threads or those stories they are just moving slower because of outside elements and missing other players.

 

Hell, I've neglected threads before unintentionally because I accidentally closed the tab (or FF ate it) and I didn't have the notification anymore. Out of sight, out of mind.

 

So if your core member base doesn't mind the speed then there really is no issue. You don't need a million members to have a site just a story that progresses.

[CovertSphinx 710]

I've always contacted the complaining member through PM to try and discern what exactly the issue (It's usually more complicated than speed of replies alone. IE; I'm just really excited about this particular plot moment and this other thread I'm ignoring I just don't want to be part of but can't figure out how to neatly end the thread or explain to my partner there that I'm bored of that plot. So if I hound this person in this thread for a reply I can make it look like i'm too busy to respond right away when I get reminded by the other thread's partner that I owe him/her posts) is and try to come up with some ideas for resolution that way. 

 

If they continue to complain in public without making any strides to work WITH their fellow members instead of generally being a pigeon shitting on the checkers board, I would then call them out publically in the cbox when they start up. I might get called names and badmouthed in other circles, but I don't let my members bully each other around - the problem causers usually remove themselves at that point. 

[Icewolf 258]

I'm not sure what the solution to this is, really, as I've been in the situation where I was waiting for someone. In the end, it sort of became a pattern with this person - they would happily reply to you when the writer whose character they were shipping with was around (or wanted to ship with!), but the character had a 'family' relationship with mine which they would just ignore when the ship/potential ship person wasn't around. I just found they weren't interested in my characters because when I tried making a starter for them, they just ignored it (repeatedly!). On the other hand, they were always complaining that people weren't rping with them and there I was, waiting for them to respond to what we had, or send me starters (which they never did, and it seemed unbalanced to me.) I've been both the one who was waiting for someone to respond (and the complainer about the waiting) and the one who had a writing partner who was complaining about not having any rps when they did... Sometimes, writers just aren't right for each other and want different things from it.  In the end, I decided that the best thing would be to just not rp with them anymore.

[Rune 1,099]

Call them on their shit. Next time they start whining simply point out "You could always post to me/Tim/Edmund/Horatio." If they say something along the lines of "Naw" then you've set it up for a "Well, then quit complaining."

 

Phrased nicely, of course.

 

 

[Phear Lap 6]

Leave them be and maybe they will disappear? They got warned, they can’t be dim, so they must know what they’re doing is shitty and prob’ly think acting impatient will get them what they want faster. A site dan’t bend to a single player xD I wouldn’t worry about them too much. Either they sit back and accept the site’s slowness, or you tell them to find another, more suiting rp haunt.

[Raven 18]

I personally really really really dislike when people complain about posting speed, especially if they are one of the sorts to complain, disappear, come back, and repeat. It drives me nuts when people complain about posting, and it makes me quite anxious when people ask me for replies, especially when those people haven't been replying to our other threads. I definitely understand being excited about a couple of threads more than the others, but it's not cool to complain about it, especially not to the level you're describing. =/ I would say that begging for posts might be something to put in the rules as being not allowed, as well as complaining about posts in the chat, but ultimately it's up to you. 

[VirusZero 176]

Even if someone didn't owe any posts I don't think it'd be fair to complain about posting speeds. (Especially not if posting speed hasn't changed since they joined and/or they knew what that speed was going in.) Complaints about post speed in public places cause a negative appearance and can drive potential members off. So it's like sabotaging a site to complain about that stuff. A prospective member may not know/see how often posts are made all they're going to see is someone complaining. And in the world of roleplay that can be all it takes to turn people away. Even if it's not an issue of post speed, the fact someone is complaining about it can turn people away.

 

To me, it's even worse if the person actually owes posts to others and is holding them up. (It's like saying those people don't matter.) If that's the case and someone complains about posts I usually remind them that they owe posts and that they shouldn't complain. Though if it becomes a problem where I've had to tell them a few times to stop... they're either getting asked to leave or banned. Because if I have to repeat myself on the same subject it's clear they aren't listening and don't care. 

 

Also, the "let them be and they'll go away" mentality is one that I hate. If there is a problem on site you, the admin, deal with it. Don't force the members to take care of your problems. Letting members deal with it creates an undue strain on the community. Some people are that dense that they don't understand what's going on and will linger around. And that takes time... for them to realise and the community to get through to them. Which I very much find to be cruel and nasty. Plus if this situation creates too much tension then good people may leave also because the issue isn't getting resolved. 

I mean here's the thing, it might suck to have to tell someone they aren't a good fit or that they have to leave. But it's much worse to lose 3-4 good members because they got fed up with staff not dealing with one misbehaving member. (And if you're a small site, losing 3-4 members can be catastrophic.)

Edited December 5, 2017 by VirusZero

[Bass 26]

If it is more than one person, I would suggest a general rule update and a personal pm to each offending individual letting them know that while I understand their concerns and empathize with their situation, it is unacceptable to put other members on blast in the cbox. Personally, because of how you say there were many and they were vocal enough to lose the site members, I would also make an announcement about the rule change, make it clear that harassment is not okay period, public or pm, and encourage all of the members to make a introduction page that details them as a player. This includes how often they post, what times they are most active, the kind of plots they enjoy, any limits they may have, etc.. A lot of times, these sorts of complaints come from an overall lack of communication and only get exacerbated when someone actually responds to their complaints in the cbox. Like a throwing gas on fire.

 

In the end, it comes down to what kind of community you want to have, and how you are going to enforce rules to help foster that community.

[CovertSphinx 710]

@Rune I'm pretty sure I'm blacklisted in certain circles because of handling things exactly the way you stated lmao. But at the same time, I have absolutely ZERO regrets.