What is the role of GMs

[Pip]

Ok hear goes.

 How many do we have, do they work on a roster system, or pop in and out when they feel like it ?

 Why  is it to get a GM normally in game you have to go on IRC to find them ?

 The only time you see more than two is when there are new features being added, or a Role Play drama going on.

 At the moment there are three regular GMs on line, who do their very best to keep things running smoothly. Hats off to those three.

 But the question is why should only three do this , when there are more who could be on line ?

 To be honest most of the time there is no GM on line at all why ?

 

[Thoronador]

Well, I\'m not a GM, but some answers to this questions are obvious:

To be honest most of the time there is no GM on line at all

Yes, that is  problem, but GMs are -to some extent- only \"normal\" players, too, just like you and me. I can understand that a GM (like every other PS player) cannot be online several hours every day, even if that is what we want.
A possible way to solve that problem would be to have more GMs, this increases the possibility that at least one of the GMs is online when you need one.

do they work on a roster system, or pop in and out when they feel like it ?

I guess the later one is the case.
An exception may be the times when GM-organised RP events take place.

[Drey]

Originally posted by Pip
Ok hear goes.

 How many do we have, do they work on a roster system,

9. Uyaem, Kerol, Hafael, Cha0s, Bakuun, Cerejha, Frostmorn, Noxide and myself.

Originally posted by Pip
or pop in and out when they feel like it ?

more or less whenever we can.

Originally posted by Pip
Why  is it to get a GM normally in game you have to go on IRC to find them ?

normally there is always one online.

Originally posted by Pip
The only time you see more than two is when there are new features being added, or a Role Play drama going on.

not true... i can post guild chat to prove it.

Originally posted by Pip
At the moment there are three regular GMs on line, who do their very best to keep things running smoothly. Hats off to those three.

thanks, we aim to please.

Originally posted by Pip
To be honest most of the time there is no GM on line at all why ?

believe it or not we have lives (in most cases at least.)
 
want to tell us who these marvelous three are and we can clap them on the back blah blah.

also you complain about having to join IRC to find one of us... just think of it as your way of dialing 999 ;)

[Pestilence]

I believe there are 8 GMs now. Around that number anyhow. Should become a bit more over time but you can\'t just pick them of the streets ofcourse as it has to be a suitable person.

Anyhow the first priority of a GM is finding bugs and making sure the devs know about it and helping us and enforcing rules second and roleplaying events third even if not even lower

So you can imagine that with reorganizing the GM structure and changes in what GMs may do and what not they are busy a lot of the time. But when new things are implemented thats when most bugs appear so thats when they try to be online as much as possible.

*edit*

K 9 GMs then . or is it 10 already? I don\'t see Tarel in your list yet.

[Drey]

m\'yeh forgot him... 10.

on the online front... i drop in a few times everyday, ill check the petition list, check the names ingame... anything i can deal with i\'ll sort out. maybe have a quick skim around the world... if theres nothing that needs doing i\'ll then logout.

[Karyuu]

IRC is just the easiest and quickest way of reaching a GM. If something doesn\'t require an immediate right-now-can\'t-wait action, posting something on the forums works just as well.

As everyone else highlighted, GMs too have lives (and often many tasks they are trying to balance) so it\'s not like they were chosen for their amount of free time and willingness to serve during it ;) Every one of us pops in from time to time to check petitions, observe the Help channel, run through the list of online names, and if things are well, pop back out after a few minutes. There are times when we stick around for hours. It just depends. Though rest assured that if something needs to be taken care of, it will be. We\'re really sorry that we can\'t be around during every conflict between players right now, but that is why you have petitions, too.

It would be really nice to have at least one or two GM members online all the time, but we\'re a small team at the moment so this is just very hard. Once there will be more of us, you\'ll see it :)

[Tarel]

Yes, i am number 10 in the luist of the GM\'s.

I dedicate 2-6 hours a day as GM to planeshift.
When i am not working fulltime, then i am together with my wife and little girl or am i online in Planeshift.

So don\'t have much spare time for myself.
But i feel it\'s worth it for Planeshift.

[Pip]

Originally posted by Thoronador
Yes, that is  problem, but GMs are -to some extent- only \"normal\" players, too, just like you and me. I can understand that a GM (like every other PS player) cannot be online several hours every day, even if that is what we want.
A possible way to solve that problem would be to have more GMs, this increases the possibility that at least one of the GMs is online when you need one.

If they are in IRC (and most of the time there are more than three) gassing about nothing in particular, they could be in game being useful.

Originally posted by Drey
want to tell us who these marvelous three are and we can clap them on the back blah blah.

also you complain about having to join IRC to find one of us... just think of it as your way of dialing 999

If the GM guild keeps a log of who is online when; you will know from the records who the three most online are.
As for calling on IRC in case of an emergency.... I thought you were GAME Masters NOT IRC Masters

Originally posted by Karyuu
IRC is just the easiest and quickest way of reaching a GM. If something doesn\'t require an immediate right-now-can\'t-wait action, posting something on the forums works just as well.

As everyone else highlighted, GMs too have lives

And I don\'t dispute that, what I do not understand is why so many GMs can be in IRC so much but spend very little time in game by comparison.

Originally posted by Tarel
I dedicate 2-6 hours a day as GM to planeshift.

And my hat is off to you.

[stfrn]

Quoted in reverse order!

Originally posted by Pip

Originally posted by Tarel
I dedicate 2-6 hours a day as GM to planeshift.

And my hat is off to you.

There are, as stated earlier in this thread, 10 GMs. Assuming all of them are ingame 2-6 hours everyday, which you considering a good amount, that would be a total coverage of 20-60hours. That would mean in a best case seneario you could expect to see 1-2 GMs at any time of the day. How ever, that\'s just not realistic.

Originally posted by Pip

Originally posted by Thoronador
Yes, that is  problem, but GMs are -to some extent- only \"normal\" players, too, just like you and me. I can understand that a GM (like every other PS player) cannot be online several hours every day, even if that is what we want.

A possible way to solve that problem would be to have more GMs, this increases the possibility that at least one of the GMs is online when you need one.

GMs are only human, so they have to sleep occasionally. Plus, they also have families, who may want to do things on the weekend, or have jobs/education that limit their hours. Add in time zones, and you will be lucky to know when to expect a GM ingame.

Originally posted by Pip
If they are in IRC (and most of the time there are more than three) gassing about nothing in particular, they could be in game being useful.

If the GM guild keeps a log of who is online when; you will know from the records who the three most online are.
As for calling on IRC in case of an emergency.... I thought you were GAME Masters NOT IRC Masters
And I don\'t dispute that, what I do not understand is why so many GMs can be in IRC so much but spend very little time in game by comparison.

as Karyuu said:

Originally posted by Karyuu
IRC is just the easiest and quickest way of reaching a GM. If something doesn\'t require an immediate right-now-can\'t-wait action, posting something on the forums works just as well.

As everyone else highlighted, GMs too have lives

For myself, and I guess most other Devs, being ingame just isn\'t an option. We are too busy working on things behind the scenes, and if something needs testing it is much easier to test this in our own way without players seeing us. That said, it is much easier to log into Irc, and even without being ingame for around a month now, I have constently been on irc. Add to this the \"cost\" of running the game, as opposed to just a chat program.

[Karyuu]

Pip, I\'m really not sure what to make of your posts and thread in general. Is there a specific complaint you\'d like to raise, or does the presence of a Game Master make your gaming experience better, or...?

Originally posted by Pip
If they are in IRC (and most of the time there are more than three) gassing about nothing in particular, they could be in game being useful.

That\'s a very rude statement... GMs certainly don\'t talk about \"nothing in particular\" in the #planeshift channel, and if you have no idea what goes on in the GM channel (and you absolutely don\'t), stay away from assumptions.. No one can direct their attention to IRC or the game all the time, and though there will always be some talk about nothing in particular, more often than not when something is said, it\'s a serious matter. This is not #planeshift. When someone can be in-game, they will be in-game. That is why they were made Game Masters in the first place - it\'s not for some sort of \"prestige\" or title. We have a job, and we know it needs doing.

If the GM guild keeps a log of who is online when; you will know from the records who the three most online are.

We don\'t have such logs.

As for calling on IRC in case of an emergency.... I thought you were GAME Masters NOT IRC Masters

I\'m getting a really aggressive vibe from all this, and I honestly can\'t understand why. Isn\'t it understandable that we can\'t patrol the game all the time? We do it as much as possible. Trust me, no one is sitting around twiddling their thumbs.

[...] what I do not understand is why so many GMs can be in IRC so much but spend very little time in game by comparison.

They are not always at the keyboard on IRC either. As you are aware, many people often leave their clients running when they are off doing other things. So the GM channel is not full of people hanging around chatting their heads off about this and that - I\'ve no idea why you would think so. If someone is awake and can be around for more than just a few minutes, they are in-game. The only time someone would not be in PS but on IRC is when they have other things to take care of, that demand a bit more attention.

[LigH]

Originally posted by Karyuu
Pip, I\'m really not sure what to make of your posts and thread in general. Is there a specific complaint you\'d like to raise, or does the presence of a Game Master make your gaming experience better, or...?

I hope I understand:

There are times when people need a GM, and no one is online. This is a fact, I don\'t rate it hereby, I only state it.

So what may happen in the worst cases during this time?

- Some player may be stuck or crashes while logging in, and the character would need to be moved: There is a thread in the forum if one can\'t log in, or the possibility to write a petition, log off afterwards, and hope that the case is solved when returning.

- Some players may misbehave and threaten other players: Make a petition, and use \"/report Playername\" (I was recently told that it had been fixed during the last months).

More presence, and maybe a \"schedule\", may reduce the times when no GM at all is online.
__

And - a second issue for Pip seems to be, that specific GMs are not afraid to tell people in IRC that they prefer to play different games instead of being in PlaneShift, even that they are \"not interested in PS at the moment\".

[Karyuu]

Thanks, LigH :)

I don\'t think there is anything wrong with playing other games, even when you are a GM. As long as there are other GMs available, does it matter if one or two do other things for a while? Will it upset people if I say \"I have no interest in being in-game at the moment, I want to work on art\"? Or \"I\'m going to relax in Ryzom for a bit\"? We do our best, but we don\'t have strict contracts and I\'m happy about that - organizing a schedule is impossible, because as people know, everything done for PlaneShift is done during free time - and there is no way to estimate when you will have that free time, daily, or weekly, or monthly.

[Pestilence]

hmmm this might come as a shock but agree with Karyuu. I feel GMs are some of the best people who help people and although I don\'t know this for sure of all (other times I guess) but the ones I know I know do a lot.

GMs don\'t get paid and often have to give up actually doing anything in PS with a character. Unless I hear otherwise I feel we should be proud to have such dedicated people.

(Karyuu stop smirking )

As I said before more GMs is a solution that is being worked on as you can see with Tarel just joining, but they have to be active people that know enough about PS and are willing to be GM instead of player and have the right attitue of helping. Finding such people takes some time if you want to do it wel.

[Drey]

Originally posted by Pip
If they are in IRC (and most of the time there are more than three) gassing about nothing in particular, they could be in game being useful.

infact whole days sometimes go by when no more than a few lines are said O.o

[...] what I do not understand is why so many GMs can be in IRC so much but spend very little time in game by comparison.

like kary said... irc just lives in the background, and many of us are not in the habbit of turning our computer off. im real sorry that im not glued to the chair with ps permanenlty open as you seem to wish.

and gag,

And - a second issue for Pip seems to be, that specific GMs are not afraid to tell people in IRC that they prefer to play different games instead of being in PlaneShift, even that they are \"not interested in PS at the moment\".

if thats in anyway aimed at me... i always make time for ps, if i couldnt or didnt want to why would i be a GM? in fact some times im logged on to both at the same time >.>

[r.guppy]

Just before Pip went to bed with a smile still on her face i asked her what she was getting at.

 The answer was simple, we seam to have a lack of GMs.

 She wonders why? so do I.

 She is not complaining or moaning just asking.