Change, and the Staff Team

[William Hayes]

Hi all,

This is a topic I wanted to speak about for a while, because I think some things are lost in translation or aren't always known to people, and I wanted to provide some insight to our process in the Staff Team especially when it comes to major decisions.

Decisions that effect the community in a significant way are never ones that are easy to make. The two most recent examples of these decisions would be the time progression/tech lock and the removal of the pump action shotgun from the store. Neither of these decisions were made lightly, and we went into it knowing that we wouldn't be able to please everybody. That being said...

We will always do what is best for the community. From the very beginning we have made decisions based on how they will effect the community in a broad way. Do these changes always bring on good results? No, we're certainly not perfect by any means. But I do believe that even if we take two steps forward and one step back sometimes, we're still on the steady march forward.

And I want to say to those who oppose these changes - we hear you, and we know you exist. Right now the decisions have been made, but no decision is ever made in concrete. There's always room for re-evaluation, but the time immediately after change happens is not this time. I can't ask you to not state your grievances, but I can request that you folks keep those grievances IC, and understand that these things are happening.

There are thousands of Whitelisted members in this community, and everybody has a different opinion. I'm asking that you folks be considerate and not see this as Staff trying to ruin things or don't care about what you have to say. Many who know me know that I try and solve as many problems as I can and meet in the middle so that people can come together. I'm sorry that you may not agree with these changes, but humor me, take a deep breath, give it a month or two and see if this is really as big of a deal as you see it right now.

Lastly I want to remind you folks that there are real people behind all of the fake names we take on. This is certainly something I think about when communicating with folks, and I think it's sometimes missed. We're all here voluntarily, and nobody deserves OOC hate for things like this. There's a time and a place for constructive conversation, but there is no place for OOC hate/toxicity.

Everyone in Staff (and many others too!) care deeply about this community. For many of us, this is our home. I'm asking for consideration, and I'm asking for some patience as we work through the changes. I know some folks will disagree. Nothing is changing back in the next month, so see how things go with the change.

Keep things IC, and keep WWRP the awesome community we've come to love dearly and call home.

Hayes.

 

[Aero Vaughn]

My sincerest thanks goes out to you for your transparency and love for this community. While everything you've stated was true facts, what had captured me was when you added this to your response:

"Lastly I want to remind you folks that there are real people behind all of the fake names we take on. This is certainly something I think about when communicating with folks, and I think it's sometimes missed. We're all here voluntarily, and nobody deserves OOC hate for things like this. There's a time and a place for constructive conversation, but there is no place for OOC hate/toxicity."

I can't stress how this is so true and the fact that we sometimes forget that we are real people behind the masks. These efforts are all for the greater good to a pleasant mind escape and of course, passionate for roleplaying. We all came here to simply do that. Building a great community of virtual friends (unless you actually know each other) is what really is true. Hard decisions are made not to be unjust, but to improve the experience for all in the long run. This was well said and I appreciate all that you and the staff do for this community. I've only been part of this community for about 2 weeks and I can already feel such love from you and the staff. Thanks again!