Hello Dear Otlanders!
Not long from the last announcement, I have some piece of information that you might find interesting!
It is my pleasure to introduce Support Team group to Otland.
1. What is it?
Support Team is a new group of members on Otland, just like Administrators, Community Managers, Global Moderators and so on.
It consists of skilled members who have been around here on our forum for a while and feel comfortable providing in-depth, technical support to all community members on the Support Board, write tutorials and guides for newcomers as well as advanced users and perform other tasks in order to share the knowledge about OpenTibia in our community.
Support Team members serve as a close link between regular members and the Staff (if we weren't close enough) and are also a role models for the OT community. Comparing to the Tibia world, we may call them Tutors.
2. What are the duties of Support Team members?
As mentioned before, primary duties of Support Team members is to provide high-quality answers for any OT-related problems that members have on the Support Board. The goal is to not miss a single thread and solve every problem. It will be difficult in some cases, so we at least aim to provide hints and guidance. This support is not a free slavery service, though. The Support Team members are equipped with moderation permissions on the Support Board to keep it clean and organized. They also work to maintain the history of solved threads by marking them appropriately and making the information reusable to other members. This leads to creation of a large FAQ collection out of solved support threads.
Alternatively or in addition to the above, Support Team members might work on tutorials and guides (basic and advanced) that go into our Articles section or can contribute to the TFS documentation (or other projects).
It is possible that they might perform other individual duties instead and those will be approved on a case-by-case basis.
3. What are the benefits of Support Team members?
Support Team members are rewarded for their hard work for the OT community. Support Team members get all the Premium benefits without donating even a cent, because we value contribution more than money.
Apart from all the Premium members perks, Support Team members receive forum-wide recognition, access to a private board where they can discuss and coordinate support-related matters, own group color and other yet-to-be-determined rewards.
4. How to apply to be a Support Team member?
You don't. Yes, there is no application process. I (or other Staff member) will appoint Support Team members myself. Members with recognizable reputation (not necessarily reputation points) will receive offer letters (private messages) from me. They will be able to accept or reject participation in this project.
After they are appointed as Support Team members, they have to keep minimum activity according to the rules (vacation periods are possible though) to maintain their status (otherwise they will be demoted). Permanent (life-long), honorary memberships might be awarded in future for extraordinary members and those do not have to maintain the minimum activity.
There are no guidelines how to obtain an offer letter, nor we publish any requirements or appointment methods. However, if you hold skills mentioned in first section and are known to the Support Board users and moderators, post politely and professionally, there is a good chance you might get an offer.
There is no limit to the number of users we can appoint. I would love to appoint all of you and give you all the benefits if you satisfy the requirements. However, there is some capacity to what we can keep control of. Don't be sad if you don't get appointed despite your hard work. We might offer you participation later or we might have missed you (probable if you are a ninja). This is why sometimes it is acceptable for other members to nominate someone for the participation in this program and such nomination will be evaluated.
5. End Notes
This week I will be preparing and evaluating standardized rules relating to expected troubles that might arise. We also need some time to tune up the technical stuff (Talaturen is very busy with work and study). I expect to start sending offer letters next week and this is probably the time when things start changing, hopefully for better. Isn't it worth helping others now?
Please post any comments, suggestions or concerns you have!
Not long from the last announcement, I have some piece of information that you might find interesting!
It is my pleasure to introduce Support Team group to Otland.
1. What is it?
Support Team is a new group of members on Otland, just like Administrators, Community Managers, Global Moderators and so on.
It consists of skilled members who have been around here on our forum for a while and feel comfortable providing in-depth, technical support to all community members on the Support Board, write tutorials and guides for newcomers as well as advanced users and perform other tasks in order to share the knowledge about OpenTibia in our community.
Support Team members serve as a close link between regular members and the Staff (if we weren't close enough) and are also a role models for the OT community. Comparing to the Tibia world, we may call them Tutors.
2. What are the duties of Support Team members?
As mentioned before, primary duties of Support Team members is to provide high-quality answers for any OT-related problems that members have on the Support Board. The goal is to not miss a single thread and solve every problem. It will be difficult in some cases, so we at least aim to provide hints and guidance. This support is not a free slavery service, though. The Support Team members are equipped with moderation permissions on the Support Board to keep it clean and organized. They also work to maintain the history of solved threads by marking them appropriately and making the information reusable to other members. This leads to creation of a large FAQ collection out of solved support threads.
Alternatively or in addition to the above, Support Team members might work on tutorials and guides (basic and advanced) that go into our Articles section or can contribute to the TFS documentation (or other projects).
It is possible that they might perform other individual duties instead and those will be approved on a case-by-case basis.
3. What are the benefits of Support Team members?
Support Team members are rewarded for their hard work for the OT community. Support Team members get all the Premium benefits without donating even a cent, because we value contribution more than money.
Apart from all the Premium members perks, Support Team members receive forum-wide recognition, access to a private board where they can discuss and coordinate support-related matters, own group color and other yet-to-be-determined rewards.
4. How to apply to be a Support Team member?
You don't. Yes, there is no application process. I (or other Staff member) will appoint Support Team members myself. Members with recognizable reputation (not necessarily reputation points) will receive offer letters (private messages) from me. They will be able to accept or reject participation in this project.
After they are appointed as Support Team members, they have to keep minimum activity according to the rules (vacation periods are possible though) to maintain their status (otherwise they will be demoted). Permanent (life-long), honorary memberships might be awarded in future for extraordinary members and those do not have to maintain the minimum activity.
There are no guidelines how to obtain an offer letter, nor we publish any requirements or appointment methods. However, if you hold skills mentioned in first section and are known to the Support Board users and moderators, post politely and professionally, there is a good chance you might get an offer.
There is no limit to the number of users we can appoint. I would love to appoint all of you and give you all the benefits if you satisfy the requirements. However, there is some capacity to what we can keep control of. Don't be sad if you don't get appointed despite your hard work. We might offer you participation later or we might have missed you (probable if you are a ninja). This is why sometimes it is acceptable for other members to nominate someone for the participation in this program and such nomination will be evaluated.
5. End Notes
This week I will be preparing and evaluating standardized rules relating to expected troubles that might arise. We also need some time to tune up the technical stuff (Talaturen is very busy with work and study). I expect to start sending offer letters next week and this is probably the time when things start changing, hopefully for better. Isn't it worth helping others now?
Please post any comments, suggestions or concerns you have!
Back then all I always saw was scripting, compiling and PHP/HTTP problems >.<
