Eh...
Its not just VTN that needs a rejiggle...
For an effective rejiggle, the
entire ranks system needs clarification.
The
current hasn't been updated since 8th December 2011, and even the information on it is somewhat incorrect.
But lets start at the veteran requirement..
Veteran: You have played long enough to earn the respect and trust of Kreatious players. Veterans are active community members, meaning: Go on Teamspeak, post on the forums, play in game, and help other players.
Lets look at this:
-Long Enough: This suggests some form of hours ingame time,
-Earn Respect and trust of Kreatious players: You are approved by the majority of the player base,
-Active: They are somewhat constantly on, and the current player base knows them and who they are,
-Help Other Players: They are willing to help people, whether it be a new default who has no idea what they're doing, stopping a spammer when no mods are online, and assisting staff in decisions.
What is a veteran now? A winner of a popularity contest. Yes, its the harsh truth, but as it stands at the moment, at least one veteran is picked a month.... Do they deserve it... Sure, some do, but some are less.... VTN like...
Now... The solution to this problem...
For all you VTNs out there who read this...
heres a handy link to a _slightly_ out dated VTN discussion about 2 years ago... For all you non VTNs... Ill also discuss some of the points raised in this thread. (And yes, VTN does get an uber secret foums :>)
I would also suggest some small requirements for veterancy:
1. 400+ hours
2. 6+ months of playing. The fact that some people can get in the votes with 3 months played is dumb. I had to wait a year...
This...
When coupled with my idea of a total rejiggle of the ranks, this makes sense... However reduce the hours played to something reasonable to 300+ IMO, but the point stands... There needs to be some hourly achievement to VTN...
Now, onto some rules about the votes:
1. No giveaways are to be done by people already in the vote.
Side note: This should also encompass bribery, and paying for votes.
This needs to be enforced. End of. It cheapens the rank, and TBH anyone who partakes in this should be threatened with a lengthy ban, and long term exclusion of VTN rank. People who try and do this should be shamed and should re evaluate their morals. Tough I know... But wrong. How do we enforce this? I dunno... Give a tipper a diamond or W/E. Just stop this...
Fed up of reading? Heres a nice picture of an old poll on the VTN forums
Take what you want from this... A large number of people wanted change... And yet the old system remained... Apart from a bimonthly vote...
Now... What we going to do about this?
Like I said at the beginning, changing the VTN rank will require a complete rejiggle to the rank system... Here are just my preliminary ideas.
Default: Keep this the same. Basic commands... Can build, has green text in first few hours.
Resident (RSD): Mostly keep as same. 30 hours base and forum account. For every ban, a certain more number of hours is required... IE. 2 day ban = only another 10 hours, Week ban = Another 30 hours. This remains as an automated system
Resident+ (RSD+): A new rank... Similar to the current CTZ rank... Requires activity and hours (however many hours they needed for RSD + 150), with similar sanctions as getting RSD (Ban = more hours depending on length of ban). This would be also an automated system, however you can also lose this rank if deemed t have done a serious offence. This rank acknowledges you as a long time players, and hence the server would put some trust in you. Most current CTZ's would expect to be moved to this rank, along with most of the current VTN's.
Citizens (CTZ): Similar to the current VTN rank. Other CTZ's, VTN's and staff pick who will be put into the vote, and RSD+ pick people who will get the votes... You can expect this to be heavily moderated, and any accusations of bribery should be taken seriously. Vote for this will occur every month, similar to the old system. A CTZ would be expected to give advice to people, and be a role model for the server, and generally be active. A CTZ who is inactive for long periods of time without reasonable notice would expect to be demoted to RSD+.
Veteran (VTN): This rank would be reserved for only the best. They are decided by staff and other VTNs who would get this rank, and there would be a limit to how many VTNs there can be, excluding ex-mods... Those people deserve it. VTN rank should be discussed every 2 months, and people can easily be demoted as promoted. Such roles a VTN would be able to do is set up events for the server, and be very community focused, doing things that people such as mods do not have time to do. For example, a VTN would be able to run PvP tournaments, build contests and other server wide events, along with assisting CTZ's in helping, and staff in decisions. Ex-mods however can follow their own rules, and as long as they don't TNT the server, will reatain this rank
Cmod+: Do whatever you crazy guys do.. Thats not my area to talk about.
Right... Thats a nice long lengthy post with some random ideas thrown in. Criticism is will be accepted, along with improvements people can think of.