Sat Jul 03, 2004 11:42 pm
Before my time on Neo, but I remember people talking on the old chats (as opposed to the new "boards) and once upon a time in the early days of Neopets there were volunteer monitors. From what I can recall, that's pretty much all they did - monitor the chatboards for bad stuff. I don't think they had any other "powers" such as going through emails, etc.
I could be wrong on that though, there may have been people who volunteered to deal with email issues (back when you could actually email someone and *gasp* get an answer instead of nothing or an autoform reply). I also think that any of the volunteers had to be in California. I know now that that all the monitors (last time I saw a job listing for them on the site) you had to be legal age, live in the general area, have high speed internet and they wanted people who actually do play on the site, and yes, all are paid. It may be a legal thing.
As far as taking advantage or abusing any "power" a person has, well that can happen whether you're a volunteer or paid employee. There've been a couple of warn/freeze mad mods on the boards.
I could be wrong on that though, there may have been people who volunteered to deal with email issues (back when you could actually email someone and *gasp* get an answer instead of nothing or an autoform reply). I also think that any of the volunteers had to be in California. I know now that that all the monitors (last time I saw a job listing for them on the site) you had to be legal age, live in the general area, have high speed internet and they wanted people who actually do play on the site, and yes, all are paid. It may be a legal thing.
As far as taking advantage or abusing any "power" a person has, well that can happen whether you're a volunteer or paid employee. There've been a couple of warn/freeze mad mods on the boards.
Mon Jul 05, 2004 4:00 pm
OmniIcyshelf wrote:I say let only 18 months or over handle it, if they're gonna do it. Look at GameFAQs.com! Their system of moderation and feedback is EXCELLENT, and they base nearly all of the moderating decisions off of user's choices! So why can't Neo do this? That's a good question, and one I'd like to see Adam answer.
But anyone could have an 18 months and over account. They just make it and not really play.
Neo can't do it because they are a real limited company. The earn money from what they do. Legally they can't... (Which is really complecated reasons so I wont go into it because I'm crap at explaining online
)
Most sites that use the method are not a buisness and only make money to actually run the site. So really everyone will be wishing for a long time. They are never going to have volunteers again. No matter how good it looks from a players point of view.
You've got to remember it's diferent from the point of view of the staff.
Mon Jul 05, 2004 4:31 pm
I once sent in that question to the editorial..
They never answered me
They never answered me
Mon Jul 05, 2004 7:10 pm
sailor_melody wrote:I say let only 18 months or over handle it, if they're gonna do it.
Nah, it would have to be longer than that, I think. At least 2 years, or something like that. I'd definitely volunteer.
Technically, we wouldn't be doing the same job as the rest of the employees, we wouldn't even have one fourth of the power they have.
Nah, that wouldn't be too fair. I am a mere year now because of my malevolent sister (younger, of course) who got all of my 3 and 4 year old accounts frozen. I would be more than happy to do the job, but because of certain family members, couldn't.
Perhaps sending them (the staff) a letter or Email about it, them reviewing it, and keeping a close eye on the volenteer for a set amount of time. Then, after that, complaints by users on Neopets would warn the NT to check out the situation, and you can take it from there.
Mon Jul 05, 2004 8:37 pm
Shifty wrote:I once sent in that question to the editorial..
They never answered me
They actually posted that question in the editorial. Don't know if it was from you (But I guess a few people asked).
The replyed something like: "Because we are a real company now, not just two students in a bedroom. We have real staff now."
Something along those lines. I'd look for it but I haven't the time.
Mon Jul 05, 2004 8:58 pm
I forget what game I used to play that did this, they gave a little "Helper Trophy" for people's lookups and that was enough to get people to help.
Doesn't have to be real authority like freezing, maybe just sift through the warnings and see which demands real attention (instead of wasting TNT's time with reports because someone said shut up or called them New Member).
Doesn't have to be real authority like freezing, maybe just sift through the warnings and see which demands real attention (instead of wasting TNT's time with reports because someone said shut up or called them New Member).
Mon Jul 05, 2004 9:06 pm
Yeah but the problem with that is. They may end up with more work due to people abusing the system and deleting the wrong emails(Being nice to friends for example?). And if they would be checked after by staff anyway then there would be no point of helpers in the first place... There is just no way to trust someone you are not paying. At least they can sack employees. And trust me the impending doom of being sacked would be far more insentive to do the job right than being sacked from a volunteer job. Most wouldn't really care and try to abuse it anyway.
Most of the online pet games on the net have those. It's just that those sites usually are non-profit organisations. Just look at all the neo-clones...
Scream wrote:I forget what game I used to play that did this, they gave a little "Helper Trophy" for people's lookups and that was enough to get people to help.
Most of the online pet games on the net have those. It's just that those sites usually are non-profit organisations. Just look at all the neo-clones...