Pinging

[Michi]

As mentioned previously, it is an expectation (not a request) that players avoid pinging staff teams or the Administration unless it is an emergency.

What is an Emergency:

• The site has been hacked.
• The site is no longer working.
• I cannot post on the site and this is the only way I can contact a staff person.
• Someone is posting porn or something illegal/above our site rating and it needs to be removed immediately.
• Someone is freaking out and we need the banhammer.

What is not an Emergency:

• "I have a question..." We have a HELP Forum for this.
• "I have an idea..." We have a SUGGESTION Forum for this.
• "I need a new banner, a name change, someone to look at my OCR, kinjutsu application, etc." We have appropriate areas for all of this, a staff person will take care of you. Just because you see them online does not mean that you can have their time, every staff person allots a portion of their free time to the site in a staff capacity but remember all staff members are also players.
• "Rolling, sitting on, touching, poking, hugging, etc" followed by a PING is the epitome of a frivolous ping.
• Saying 'hi' with a ping.

Why are we making this Announcement?

• There has been some resistance to this concept and passive-aggressive comments have been made regarding this policy. Also, some users have continued to ping staff groups despite the previous requests that have been made.

Why Don't The Staff Members that Dislike Being Pinged Remove Their Ping Feature?

• Many have because frivolous pings have kept them up at night (many of us feel compelled to see what the ping was over because it might be an emergency).
• If enough staff members remove this feature on their Discord, pinging a team would become ineffective and it would be no better than mentioning their name in a sea of words (and it will get lost).
• Many staff members are highly dedicated to the site and keep their pings on in case of an emergency (like the ones listed above, myself included). That said, many of these staff people (again myself included) will likely remove their ability to be pinged if people continue to use it as a way to get their questions answered immediately, to announce their need to have someone look at their request or because they decided to playfully roll a team someplace because we work full time jobs, have hours we need to get solid sleep unless there is a TRUE emergency, etc.

Isn't DMing Someone The Same Thing As Pinging Them?

• Yes and no. It will notify them and make their phone, watch, tablet or computer ding. It is a lot more personal and private than a ping. I suppose the question here would be: Is it OK to DM someone in place of pinging them? Think of DMs as PMs but a bit more intrusive. Would it be considered bad form to PM a staff team a few minutes after you made an on site request for someone to take care of your request. The answer is yes. That would include DM. Should you hesitate to contact a staff person to chat? No, but you should be respectful of them, their time zone and give them the same consideration you would expect for yourself. Should you be DMing someone with a question? Sure, but make sure that you did your research on it first. If you send a DM and less than 2 minutes later you have the answer because you failed to read an entire jutsu, perhaps you should reconsider asking future questions because you should make a basic effort on your own.

Well, I Do Not Know How to Get in Contact With Staff Teams Without Discord.

• This site has been around since 2003, we predate Discord. We have forums for staff members to speak with other staff members. We have channels dedicated to staff groups where they can communicate in real time. We have general discussion areas, help and suggestion areas for users. We have forums and threads dedicated to every request need one can conceive of. Use these resources.

Some Staff Teams Say It Is OK to Ping Them? Is It OK to Ping Them?

• No, no it is not OK. One person does not speak for the entire team. I know from personal experience that there are members on every team that do not want to be pinged unless it is absolutely necessary. No, I will not give names to even their peers on these staff teams. In addition many Admins have these staff groups attached to their Discord Account as well (they can see everything and they are a part of every group).

If the Admin Were Not Attached to The Various Staff Groups Would it be OK to Ping The Teams that Had the Group Lead State That They Would be OK With it.?

• No, I have been told this by actual members of the staff team of the staff teams that have mentioned that they would be OK with it if it was not for this rule. Again, I am not giving out names nor are these users expected to 'own up' to this preference/source of frustration.

Is It OK to Individually Ping Staff Members of a Team?

• What an individual staff person elects to state is OK for them without including their peers is up to them. But if they are being frivolously pinged for a protracted period of time it is likely that they will withdraw this benefit so please take that into consideration. Should you ping staff members individually because you see them online to do something staff related? Again, this is up to them, but this is considered rude by many people in many circles. Many staff members divide their time between being a player and a staff person. Often staff members burn out because they are not allowed to be a player (it is how we lose a lot of Admins) because whenever they show up someone has 'work' for them to do. They will get to your request and if they do not another members of the team will. Remember, staff members are players too.