More admins

[Marty_Deslions]

As you may have noticed, when there is not an active admin on the server, the server can get messy and rules can get broken. I'm not only talking about small violations that don't directly affect others like a Taxidriver without proper taxi, but also more serious violations and annoyances like full blown non-English conversations in the main chat, or new players crashing around in supercars. Sure, you can report such a player when it affects you, but wouldn't it be better if there were more active admins online that could solve these problems right away? Having an admin online to fix these issues could help improve the overall gameplay experience for everyone.

Now I'm not really fond of requiring the current admins to be online more (eventhough that could solve some problems). I guess they are all volunteers, and I appreciate the current team of admins and the work they do.
However, it may be worth considering to significantly expand the TC admin team.
When you look at the information page of the TC gaming team you can see that the team is pretty large already, but some of them you see rarely on the server (no offense). It would be nice if there were many more admins. Not just one or two more, but many more.

I guess there are a lot of players who have been on the server for many years, and they know how it all works. Maybe TC could consider recruiting from that playerbase? Or maybe recruit new admins from other parts of the world so there is a bigger chance of them being online when European admins are offline due to business hours etc.

I know this suggestion is more aimed at the TC team/admins/recruiters, but the community can also have a say in the poll and down below in the thread. Feel free to share your thoughts on this.

[[TC]►Ras◄]

We would love to expand our team of admins and anyone interested already have a way to submit their interest. Sadly, there aren't many candidates around, so it's not something that can be easily done.

[[TC]►BP◄]

You're very much stating the obvious here without going into tangible detail on how this can be achieved. It's not as simple as "get more admins" (1.) or "make your admins go online more often" (2.)
1. Those admins have to come from somewhere, and much of the community is currently unsuitable for a few reasons, but often because they are already in a team.
2. Admins go online as much as they feel like it. We can't force people to come online any more than they do. We are a team of adults with personal obligations and other hobbies or commitments.

As Ras said, people know how to register their interest in joining. We should also be holding an Open Recruitment in the Summer.

FYI the team list you have hyperlinked is not a list of CityDriving admins. That is a list of TC-G members, many of whom aren't even expected to frequent the CityDriving servers.

[Turbo]

(2024-05-02 10:15)Marty_Deslions Wrote:  As you may have noticed, when there is not an active admin on the server, the server can get messy and rules can get broken. I'm not only talking about small violations that don't directly affect others like a Taxidriver without proper taxi, but also more serious violations and annoyances like full blown non-English conversations in the main chat, or new players crashing around in supercars. Sure, you can report such a player when it affects you, but wouldn't it be better if there were more active admins online that could solve these problems right away? Having an admin online to fix these issues could help improve the overall gameplay experience for everyone.

Now I'm not really fond of requiring the current admins to be online more (eventhough that could solve some problems). I guess they are all volunteers, and I appreciate the current team of admins and the work they do.
However, it may be worth considering to significantly expand the TC admin team.
When you look at the information page of the TC gaming team you can see that the team is pretty large already, but some of them you see rarely on the server (no offense). It would be nice if there were many more admins. Not just one or two more, but many more.

I guess there are a lot of players who have been on the server for many years, and they know how it all works. Maybe TC could consider recruiting from that playerbase? Or maybe recruit new admins from other parts of the world so there is a bigger chance of them being online when European admins are offline due to business hours etc.

I know this suggestion is more aimed at the TC team/admins/recruiters, but the community can also have a say in the poll and down below in the thread. Feel free to share your thoughts on this.

While more admins would be nice...

They have work, family and other commitments that obviously should come first.


More admins would definitely benefit the servers but finding people who are both trustworthy and insim savvy is no easy task.

[Marty_Deslions]

I am not saying current admins should prioritize the TC things above real life obligations. I also didn't vote for that on the poll.

But what about personally approaching well known members of the community in a dm and ask them personally if they would consider becoming admin? For instance people who already are much in the TC system, like police trainers or affiliate team leaders (tho this may cause some unhappyness in that team). Or maybe some other mod function where you act as admin online, but you don't handle reports/unban requests and that stuff. Since here there doesn't seem to be a shortage of admins. This could lower the bar for people to join.

[Berni25]

Maybe there are more people interested in joining the team when the requirement of being a cop wouldn´t be an essential point.
Imo a good admin isn´t made by being a cop. There are many experienced cruisers around which could also do a good job as an admin, but maybe don´t like the roleplay as a cop.
Admin work in case of reports about cop issues can easily be done by studying the rules and deal the reports like that.

[Marty_Deslions]

Good point Berni.

Maybe having new admins without a cop license also without the feature of HWA and VCU

[Turbo]

(2024-05-02 13:22)Berni25 Wrote:  Imo a good admin isn´t made by being a cop.

Agreed.

A good admin is made by their ability to be helpful and to deal with situations in a level headed and unbiased manner.

A good admin also should have a clear understanding of the insim and the rules they're enforcing.

Situations where a new player come to you with questions about the server, the insim etc are common.

[Marty_Deslions]

@BP, thanks. I updated the link.

[[TC]►Leon◄]

Getting more admins on TC’s team isn’t as simple a process as you see elsewhere. They’re vetted and extensively scrutinized, as it is a very tightly run ship. The pool of people that fit the criteria we set and can hold up to that level of scrutiny is non-existent at this time.

[Berni25]

(2024-05-02 15:33)Leon Wrote:  Getting more admins on TC’s team isn’t as simple a process as you see elsewhere. They’re vetted and extensively scrutinized, as it is a very tightly run ship. The pool of people that fit the criteria we set and can hold up to that level of scrutiny is non-existent at this time.

That´s exactlc my point! "the criteria we set" ist what maybe is outdated. Doesn´t mean there aren´t enough good candidates in the community.

[[TC]►Dale◄]

Sorry been on holiday hard to admin when abroad getting a tan

[Turbo]

(2024-05-02 16:02)Berni25 Wrote:  

(2024-05-02 15:33)Leon Wrote:  Getting more admins on TC’s team isn’t as simple a process as you see elsewhere. They’re vetted and extensively scrutinized, as it is a very tightly run ship. The pool of people that fit the criteria we set and can hold up to that level of scrutiny is non-existent at this time.

That´s exactlc my point! "the criteria we set" ist what maybe is outdated. Doesn´t mean there aren´t enough good candidates in the community.

I'm of the opinion that the criteria's pretty fair.

I don't know if the structure of how selection goes has changed since I was last in the team but I still think it's fair.


Other cruise servers have more lax selection and in turn end up with a lower quality admin team.

[[TC]►BP◄]

As of some years, CityDriving admins no longer have to be very skilled at driving and copping, unlike "back in the day". The only driving criteria is that you must not be embarrassingly bad at driving/copping (this includes being able to cop within the rules).

Some CD admins rarely cop which is fine too.

While I wish we had more admins, I would personally much rather have too few admins than a team consisting of unsuitable admins.

In an ideal world there would be an admin on at all times, but the reality is that it isn't possible.

[[TC]►Leon◄]

(2024-05-02 16:02)Berni25 Wrote:  

(2024-05-02 15:33)Leon Wrote:  Getting more admins on TC’s team isn’t as simple a process as you see elsewhere. They’re vetted and extensively scrutinized, as it is a very tightly run ship. The pool of people that fit the criteria we set and can hold up to that level of scrutiny is non-existent at this time.

That´s exactlc my point! "the criteria we set" ist what maybe is outdated. Doesn´t mean there aren´t enough good candidates in the community.

The criteria aren’t outdated. You are literally asking that we get worse admins.

[Berni25]

Not at all, Leon! I only wanted to point out that being a cop doesn´t make automatically a good admin. My thought is that there are some people are maybe interested in being admin, but not acting as a cop, not more.

[Turbo]

(2024-05-02 20:18)Berni25 Wrote:  Not at all, Leon! I only wanted to point out that being a cop doesn´t make automatically a good admin. My thought is that there are some people are maybe interested in being admin, but not acting as a cop, not more.

Many people who express interest don't make it past that, either because their not a good fit or for other reasons.

[Marty_Deslions]

Maybe the introduction of a pilot/trail function like a moderator would be something that could solve it? Like people that are known to the server and the system but don't necessarily are cops can have some minor admin rights online. So for instance they can warn people and maybe report them to the "real" admins, so they can properly find a consequence for that player's behavior. Or the mods can return people to spawn, or restrict them to UF1. Or the moderators could even get abit more options by giving them right to kick and ban players, tho this may be abit too much for a pilot. The warnings/kicks/bans made by the moderators shall be reviewed by admins when the admins have time. And they can steer the way the moderator does that, or even discharge the moderator if he doesn't seem to fit the team.
Yes, this trail/pilot may be somewhat risky, and it may cause some over- or underjustified decisions for rulebreakers. But having them not online at all you can almost be sure things are not improving.

What if you implent this as a pilot? Say for 1 month, just to see how it goes. If it doesn't workout well you dismiss the whole idea, and only recruit full-right admins.

[[RDSR] Ali]

Yes, Marty is right because if a member is going to join the team, you need to be knowledgeable about that person and know him/her very well in terms of what he/she does on the server. Being an administrator brings heavy responsibilities and it's not easy. At least you can give rights to players you don't know well but you trust, like Marty mentioned.Yes, it can be difficult for the higher-ups to make this decision because they don't know how and what the results of their observations will be on the server

[Felipe Jardim]

(2024-05-02 15:33)Leon Wrote:  The pool of people that fit the criteria we set and can hold up to that level of scrutiny is non-existent at this time.

*looks at nick and petsu*
Ouch

Marty_des Wrote:Or the mods can return people to spawn, or restrict them to UF1

Yes, that would be a great way to create a halfway position between players and Admins. If a person is being problematic, a moderator can restrict them to a UF1 or return them to pits while being able to add to the URS so an admin can take some sort of definitive action once available