[ SUGGESTION ] Removing Locked Channels On Mumble

It is written into the instructions in mumble (the note on the main channel) that you are not to use mumble for communication with staff. When a staff member is in mumble, they aren't there to be at your beck and call. They are there to relax and hang out with friends, or players if they CHOOSE to. Upset about locked channels because you can't get staff's attention in Mumble is an irrelevant statement. YOU AREN'T SUPPOSED TO!

If you need staff, seek them out through the proper channels. This is not mumble, facebook, steam, etc. This means either file a report in-game, send a forum message, or file a support ticket. If you can't do that, then it's evidently not important enough. These have long been the rules regarding staff being on mumble, but I seem to have to repeat them frequently, even to people that have been on mumble and can recite everything else in that note verbatim.

What I'm referring to:

While I understand your frustration with this, the fact is that not every event hosted will have mumble communication. If the staff member does not advertise that they are in mumble for the event, then they are there to relax and talk to friends while the event is going on. And as a staff member, I can say that some of the events it is nearly impossible to run while you have 10+ people asking you questions in mumble, even though you repeat 'I'll tell you all in-game soon, please wait' 10x times. When you add that on top of the people in-game not listening, the late-comers that expect you to re-explain everything to their pms, the random player showing up with a grief report they expect you to handle right away, or the SS service that they want done asap, it's frustrating. It gives you a headache, and sometimes even I personally cannot handle it and leave mumble as a result. The staff member in question may just feel the need to stick themselves in a channel with people that understand those limits and don't expect them to actually respond during the event. I cannot and will not fault them for being human.

We did test it. There is a reason that we added in the private channels originally, then added in the temp channels after that fact. I hate to sound harsh here, but if you are one of the people that are feeling left out, you're going to have to learn that not everyone HAS to talk to you. The world doesn't work that way. If someone doesn't want to hear you in-game, then they put you on ignore. In mumble, we have private channels. We're not going to force everyone to be in public channels. If you don't like being left out, then find more people to hang out with, or look at your communication patterns and see if perhaps there is a reason why players aren't willing to be in a channel with you. I'm not going to fault players on their human characteristics either. I'm not going to name names, but I'm going to be completely honest with you guys here: Some players in mumble even I cannot handle some days. So if I join mumble to relax, and someone on mumble stresses me out, I'm going to go into a private channel. It has nothing to do with disliking the player, but there are limits to patience, even mine. If a player doesn't want to talk to someone, then they aren't going to be forced to. Not everyone is going to get along and sing kumbaya by firelight.

As for your suggestion that players can simply ask others nicely to leave: It doesn't work. We tried it. The result was player harassment and rudeness that was completely unchecked and frankly, childish. You can ask someone nicely to leave, but not everyone actually listens and some players felt the need to straight up harass the people that didn't want to talk to them, joining channels and refusing to leave. When players moved channels, they were being followed. Staff reports were numerous and there wasn't a clean way to simply get away. Players left to join teamspeak/discord/etc in order to get away from these people. We added private channels in order to give the players the ability to escape in a way that worked the best. If you need someone's attention on mumble and they don't have it set to allow messages, then honestly it's because they may not want to be bothered by people outside of the group. If you need them so badly, message them on the forums.

/essay
TLDR; Players are human. Staff are human. Staff DO NOT handle official staff business in mumble anyways. We all need a place to get away sometimes and I'm not going to force everyone to listen to people that they simply don't want to talk to, for whatever reasons they have. If you feel left out, then you need to recognize and respect that there may be a reason you aren't included. It's up to you to be mature about it and find people to talk with.

Being in mumble with the 4-6 people in the community channel is plenty enough for a good time. If the 10+ that were in the other channel didn't want to include you, then that's still their right and it doesn't affect you. The number is irrelevant. If you're left out, then make a new group of friends with those that are in the open channels. The private group might have a reason for wanting to only talk with their group of people and you need to respect their right to choose who they talk to. Going back to your original complaint was about staff being available in mumble during an event. Unless they specifically said come to mumble for the event, then they aren't planning on being there for everyone to talk with.