Thank you for the Admins.

Steingrim

I feel like when I come to the forums that things by the admins are so rushed that if I sit back to see how things are starting to play out, they will have committed to a path.

So over the years, I mostly only come here where there's some 'crisis'.I wanted to make this thread because there's a bit more beating up on the admin then usual and when players are in fire-fighting mode it has to be at the very least not fun to be our targets.

I had been thinking about making this post for the last couple of weeks, but earlier today something really cool happened so I figured why put it off?

@Faragan placed in the Knowledge Quiz. In part because whomever was running @Avechna understood the situation. I can't tell you how much that moment was a huge deal for me.

@Estarra a lot of us our holding your feet to the fire and clearly part of that time should be other people's slippers. But I wanted to say, that over the years you have greatly impressed me in the few personal dealings we've had.

@Orael I feel like we're a bit alike in the sense that we want people to make a case for a change. I have seen a willingness on your part to course correct when given good reason.

@Ein I don't ever seem to get to interact much with you (my fault and not yours), but I regularly see your fingerprints on things and the words you whisper around the City bolstering morale. It has not gone unnoticed. [Yes, for the other thing, it is still being worked on. After ascension I promise!]

@Weiwae I may have already mentioned this in a tweet, if not I haven't forgotten Your wise words when I stumbled across You one day at the Pool of Stars.

@Darvellan I don't think I can every express enough thanks for the impact You made on an alt of mine. It just didn't seem fair to to have a split focus and it was never my plan to get so swept up in Your order. Please do not feel like any time You spent on that character was a waste. I did try to pass it all on.

To all those who work in the background or within other orgs, You really are the best, well except maybe Shikari who is the beast.

Lastly, to the quest team for kicking ass.

Maylea

I would like to thank you, Steingrim, for the small amount of recognition and positivity you have sent on the way of those who work in the background of the game. Any small part helps.

Though an admin myself, I would like to speak a word on behalf and in recognition of the volunteers who work in visible and invisible ways for Lusternia.

As volunteers, in the very name itself, it is implied that we volunteer to help build this game. We often do so due to our love and our belief for this game, and our desire to make the game better and more enjoyable and endure, knowing what the game has given to us, in our lives.

There has been much talk about wishing for the producers to treat the volunteers better. As a long time volunteer (spanning more than a decade from beginning to present), I can say for myself that I stay because I wish to, because I believe in this game and our ability to continue to make it better. Volunteers leave if they are not happy; many do, for that reason and for other reasons. I would like to refute the claim that many volunteers leave because of how admin are treated by other admin. It certainly happens; I have also seen it, but it is not as major a factor as somethings:

Unfortunately, many times volunteers leave (and I have witnessed this also again and again) because they lose the drive, the love they have for the game, because of the negativity received over time, over and over and over again, over real or perceived slights, missteps, missplaced claims of bias, misattributions, misunderstandings from players who may have genuine complaints, but who may also fall victim to losing sight of who sits at the other end of the screen. We have lost many bright stars, people who contributed amazing things to the game, whose loss continue to be felt.

This is not a attempt to say woe-is-me, but an attempt to point out that a large portion of the work and interactions of the game are supplied by volunteers like myself and others named. We stay on and we create and we put hundreds of hours in because we believe in the game and the community. But if we lose that belief, just like players, we lose interest, and we leave. We spent hours and days debating and working and fine tuning ways to keep and engage players so that players, the lifeblood of the game might enjoy and stay. But at the end of the day, we too, I would argue, play some small part in making the game happen, and if we go, then much of the spark of the game also goes.

We would like to create more content, engage in more RP, make more accurate helpfiles, make all those little magical moments that cause you and us delight. But we too are human, and need encouragement. We are not in this to take your money or trick profit out of you. We are not paid a single dime. The game is better with a community of players, and the game is also better with a dedicated community of volunteers who feel like their work is making a difference.

I can testify that sometimes just the tiniest bit of positive comment from a player, any player, can send me into a realm of joy and delight. And yet, such moments are hard to find. 

We treasure our ephemerals, and hope that they can retain the spark of drive and hope that they start their roles out with. The training is so long not because we want them to fail, but because we fear what they face when they step into full godhood and into the target of barbs flung one after another. There is a reason some of us do not join certain social media formats, despite invitations.

Most ephemerals do not read forums, a large part because... how can we help them retain their delight, their drive, their love for the game, when more sentences than not cut as barbs wherever one turns? We pick out the comments of encouragement, and we show them that there are rewards and appreciation for what we do. We spend so long training for events, in building, in every admin interaction IC and OOC, because not just ephemerals, but full gods, sometimes break out in cold sweat from making a single typo in an event or interaction, for fear of the barbs or reprisals that come; every move scrutinized, every decision second guessed, every creation torn apart despite the hours put in and love shown. And we spend days, weeks, months trying to train the bias out of ourselves, second guessing our own moves, though accusations of bias remain. That is a lot to handle, and THAT takes a long time of training to handle, and despite best intentions, many still leave, because this is not our job, and the burden of taking harsh comments, understandably largely unintentional and often with good intentions, becomes too much. And so, we are few, a happy few volunteers. We do what we can with the RL work we have the free time we donate; never enough, but sometimes a single kernel of positivity can fuel us for another month or two.

I would like to place that shoutout to the volunteers I work with. I appreciate you. Thank you for your time. 

Let's make Lusternia a better place.

Kagato

I'd like to put some thanks myself and name a few individuals that have stood out to me in the past.  This post will be quite lengthy, but bear with me, I have quite a few I want to recognise

Firstly (and somewhat obviously) @Estarra - The amount of work that you have put in over the years is nothing short of staggering at times.  Sometimes I have messaged you over something that may have seemed inconsequential or paltry, but you will pretty much always take the time to respond, even though I'm sure you have quite the hefty workload.

@Orael - You were given big shoes to fill with @Iosai, @Ieptix and @Ianir in turn stepping down and you have done a terrific job of filling them so far.  You take the time to keep up a dialogue with players in the interests of trying to make sure that changes are balanced and that the playerbase is satisfied - plus from what I've heard in the past through @Ianir, the position of Anomaly can require some fairly gruelling hours.  Thank you so much for your work.

@Ianir - Even though you have officially stepped down, you have apparently stuck around in some capacity - I don't know what extent you are still working behind the scenes, but your work was and is still greatly appreciated.

@Weiwae - Where to start... Weiwae is easily one of my 'favourite' divine ever since Eventru stepped down and retired.  He is kind, patient, He lends an ear to pretty much ANYONE in the basin that is not openly hostile to Him or the Order... I could probably give enough examples from myself and that I have heard from others in Lusternia to fill a small book.  It is kind of a pity that He has gone quiet lately, I hope He will return to full duty soon.  He is definitely missed at the moment.

@Darvellan - It is great to have Darvellan active once again within Celest - the interactions I have had with Him have been a blast so far and I look forward to more interactions with You in the future.  I never thought that standing at the Pool of Stars, 'shooting the breeze' with a Divine would rank so highly in my favourite interactions :P

@Drocilla - Being in Your order on one of my alts was easily the highlight of having an alt in Magnagora.  Similar to what I described with Weiwae, You have always been a blast to interact with, whether it be providing useful words of wisdom, putting him in his place after he got a bit ahead of himself, or simply encouraging your Order members to be the best they can be.  Retiring my magnagoran alt was one of the hardest things I ever did, but it unfortunately had to be done.

@Maylea/@Lisaera - My interaction with the two of you has been decidedly less than that of other divine, especially given that these divine shells have changed hands a few times if I am not mistaken, but your kind, gentle natures when interacting with you are a pleasant contrast to some of the other Divinity that I have interacted with.  Serenwilde is certainly in good hands.

@Nocht - I haven't had much interaction with you due to a long-lasting grudge that Kagato has held over an interaction a long, LONG time ago now, but I've enjoyed the OOC conversations I've had with you.  Perhaps Kaga needs to leave the past in the past and pay a visit to the fulcrux >_>

(Also pretty much all of the inactive Divine deserve some recognition for the work they did in the past - while they may have stepped down and gone on to other things or even just returned to their mortal characters, their work won't be forgotten!)

Lastly, as @Maylea mentioned in her post, a BIG thank you to the Ephemerals that are working behind the scenes - they are rarely, if ever, seen in the basin itself, but the work of all of you is most certainly appreciated, whether it is constructing new areas, coding or helping @Orael with his bug squishing, all of these tasks mean a lot and keep things running smoothly and Lusternia an enjoyable place to be.

Estarra

Thank you so much for your kind words! It really does make a difference as it encourages us to do more and better!