26 Staff Members and None Online

Discussion in 'Community Discussion' started by emfs_ad, Nov 10, 2013.

  1. Those are logs which would cause the server lag big time I shouldn't have explain to you how much data we would have go through looking for key notes :). Anyways like Stads said "you're given the tools to protect everything in town ;)."

    Like bigdavie said "The reality is that making logs uses valuable resources, more logs = more server lag. Then you have searching the logs for info requires a skill, some staff are good at finding the needle in the haystack but even with Square it requires a lot of trolling through pages of almost identical data."
    Damiensmom11 likes this.
  2. Well... in the introduction to stage thread - it talks about stage having command logs and chat logs; A command log would include someone typing the teleport commands at a certain time frame ... just refine the logs with the people that had the perms, it would show time stamps, and whammo you'd either have or not have evidence.
  3. I know, I was asking what he meant as they aren't logged :p
    Oh, but to do that you'd still have to have the incident logged. Please fill me in if I'm missing something :confused:
  4. I'm pretty sure what Eklektoi is trying to say is that; given you can find the exact time that someone used a command such as for example "/v 8888", it would be easy enough for the staff to just match that time with the time of when the incident occurred. The thing is, the current flags of the residence at that specific time are supposedly not recorded and thus it cannot be proven that the player at question did in fact commit the 'crime'.

    So to break it down:
    Square has command logs,
    Check when player at question used command to get to the incident residence,
    Check the time of command use against time of incident,
    Verify what flags were set at the time of incident, (this supposedly isn't a feature)
    Profit :)

    Regardless as the incident occurred in town, the staff are not obligated to resolve the issue for the reason I had said earlier: You're given the tools to protect everything in town ;)
    eklektoi likes this.
  5. I don't see why it wouldn't be ... if the player that owns the residence tries typing /res pset (name) (flag) - that could also be recorded in chat or command logs ... to try and find out if the entire thing was framed - or if the perms were set a long time ago.
    _Stads_ likes this.
  6. Yes you're entirely correct! I had overlooked that, I had been looking at it from the perspective that the staff would look at that flags were active at the time. I had completely overlooked the fact that they could potentially build a case of what flags were set at the time based on when specific commands were used ;)
  7. Oh, I see. So it wouldn't require the incident to be logged, but simply commands? That's not a good idea though, because there are some problems with it. It's all circumstantial as long as there's more than 2 people with perms:
    • Typing a /v command does not necessarily mean you were there.
      • For example, you could type /v 6666 at 12:10 and the incident could occur between 12:05 and 12:20. That doesn't mean you were there.
    • Multiple people could have visited the residence (eg. it's a large store), or a friend could have visited the person who did it, ect. That doesn't mean they were the one that broke the rules as long as there's more than 1 person with perms, which is rare.
    • There's no way to track what time the incident happened conclusively because it's not logged, you'd be relying on the word of the victim. Many people could have visited it in the time frame, too.
    • If you put the no-valid-time point aside, ff there's one person with permissions, and that person /v'd in the time frame, what's the stop the owner from breaking a lot of the residence to get this player banned and hiding the materials?
    If it was a tool staff used for justice, too many people would be wrongfully banned.
    They are if there's valid and solid proof :p

    I think we may have gotten a bit off track there. :eek:
  8. I see your view on this ... me and stads are just saying hypothetical situations ...but just because people could walk on from the sidewalk and not using the /v command ... that doesn't mean they have perms to destroy stuff / open chests on a res ...

    which greatly reduces the possibilities of who it might be from everyone - to only a select few...

    and players being logged in / logged out would most likely be logged.

    -this isn't to guarantee someone did do it ... it's just mainly to help verify if they did or didn't ... and if there isn't proof then there's nothing staff can do about it ... but if time stamps clearly indicate it was an individual, then there's no reason not to use it.
    _Stads_ and AlexChance like this.
  9. I've never had trouble finding a staff member. I always have the forums open in the background on my computer...I check it occasionally while in game to see what new threads there are. Ive always seen at least one staff member online. There was maybe one or two times that no one was available and then i refreshed and there was a name. It is very easy to click it, then click "start a conversation" and let them know what the issue is. The staff work very hard to take care of everyone on here. click on the leader boards tab and go to the last page...4957 people in the "life" column that have XP points....and as you stated several times 26 staff. i see a big difference that is a LOT of people they have to take care of and watch out for. To expect them to be online on your server when you expect it is crazy. They have a lot more on their plates then anyone realizes. Can you imagine all the /reports both valid and invalid they receive daily? They have to go through ALL of those. They also have to watch chat to see what is going on in case someone is breaking rules and no one does /report. They also have families and an outside life. A lot of them never get the chance to work on their own res's due to all the moderating they have to do....FOR FREE. they do this because they love EMC and the players here. They do not do it for any monetary gain.

    I have been online at all kinds of crazy times sometimes and the staff that is primarily on my server is Torian. I see him in the evening (usa eastern standard time) and then (omg) he goes to bed! I have had/noticed issues when no one was on my home server. If i wasn't sure i could state it in /report format i went on the forums, found a moderator that was online (typically 5weety--an AUSSIE moderator) and pm'ed them. easy peasy.

    ok rant over, but this complaint bothered me.
    Torian42, JackBiggin and RainbowChin like this.
  10. Say we have logs showing Player A's res has container permission for player B. Player B is logged as entering res, opening a chest and removing a diamond block. Player A then reports that a diamond block has been stolen. This appears that it is clear that player B stole.
    What about thing we don't log? Third party communication (i.e. Skype, phone, text). In the above instance Player A and B are not on good terms. Player A changes his res flags to allow player B container. Player A then contacts player B via Skype and offers player B a goodwill gesture of a diamond block which is ready to be picked up on player A's res. After player B recovers the diamond block player A reports the "theft" while manically laughing and rubbing his hands together.
    Being a moderator you need to also take into account things that are not logged. This is why player A would be told "Sorry you gave player B permission, if it was him then it's your own fault".
    jkjkjk182, cddm95ace, mba2012 and 5 others like this.
  11. Guys its up to the staff to pick a few more members to help out emc. When they think the time is right to pick more they will. Maybe this thread will attract some attention to them?
  12. Keep in mind that staff members do have other things to do outside of Minecraft, not to mention the small AWOL portion.
  13. There has always been a gap in terms of GMT Moderators, I don't care what anyone says. Over the last two years I've seen numerous instances of poor behaviour that perhaps wasn't worthy of a report, or was but it was a one-time visitor and so the damage was done with punishment ineffective.

    Square is all well and good but it only works if you have a Moderator able to respond to it!

    Also, there's a lot to be said for the power of deterrence that's provided by having a name in Green on the player list and it provides a sense of security to new players who want to know that the sever is actually moderated.

    I think there's scope to create a new level of moderation for the servers that could be more widely assigned. Community Monitor or some such - someone who has the power to do nothing more than mute someone from Global chat (If that was possible). More a case of damage limitation than punishment.
    cddm95ace and deathconn like this.
  14. I think the main issue is that we have so many servers there cannot possibly be a state where every server always has staff on.

    One thing we could do however is change /who to list what staff are currently online with Square, to give some exposure of who might be around. The only downside is that many of us leave square open even when we are not there... so its still not 100% accurate, but could give a better view on who might potentially be around.

    But ultimately, if you need to 'chat' with staff, its best to send a forum PM with multiple staff in it, or go around to the other SMP's looking for staff.

    We just will simply not be able to have online staff on every server on every various time zone.

    Ultimately, players are going to need to accept we can not respond instantly, and simply /report and PM, and the issue will be resolved as soon as possible.
    jkjkjk182, mba2012, _Stads_ and 3 others like this.
  15. It doesn't look like anybody has mentioned the IRC channel, might be another quick way of grabbing staff attention.
  16. That is also good place to get ahold of us. I always Irc up when I'm on the computer.
  17. what is IRC?
  18. Internet Relay Chat basically a chat room. I use Pidgin program for Irc.

    Here's a link :http://www.pidgin.im/

    Empire Irc address is #Emc
    Damiensmom11 likes this.
  19. Put simply, a quick and simple web chat feature :)
    I like to think to think of it as a text version of mumble, you can often find one or two of the staff on there if you need help. :)
    Head to http://irc.emc.gs, pick a name and good to go :)
    Damiensmom11 and Dwight5273 like this.
  20. don't forget to say our names... I'm on IRC 24/7, I simply never leave, but I won't know someones talking to me unless my name is said as I do not stare at the EMC channel 24/7.
    Damiensmom11 and deathconn like this.