We are now in a position to let the members know how the structure of our community will be changing in the very near future. The changes are necessary to allow us to grow and support the community in a multi-gaming environment. Some of the detail has already been implemented but here is a full overview of the new structure.
Community Management
TeaLeaf and OldBloke are the community leaders. They have the responsibility of ensuring that this community is run in accordance with our guidelines and that its excellent reputation for fairplay, mature attitude and teamwork is maintained across all sections. They will be aided in this by a team of 'Section Heads' with specific roles and responsibilities:
Section Head - Hosting (Gandalf)
The Head of this section will look to provide the community with a cost-effective and quality home for the community's forum and gaming servers.
Section Head - Servers (Blueball)
The Head of this section will ensure that we are running game servers that reflect our own community's needs as well as game servers that are specifically targeted to attract online gamers towards our community.
Section Head - LAN (Penfold)
The Head of this section will ensure that we continue to offer community members and guests the opportunity to attend a LAN event to be held twice yearly.
Section Head - Forum (Smilodon)
The Head of this section will be responsible for the general administration, configuration and maintenance duties that a forum of the size and complexity of ours demands.
Section Head - Supported Games (see below)
The Heads of each section will ensure that their section is run in a manner befitting Dead Men Walking. They will have the final say on who wears their associated tag and who is appointed as an admin.
CounterStrike - Whitey
Call of Duty 4 - Armitage
Dead Men Racing - Doorman
World of Warcraft - Sheepy
Forum Structure
We will be introducing a collection of badges that will be awarded to individual members based on their participation within the community. These badges will be displayed as part of the member's forum profile for all to see. For example: if a member is awarded the CounterStrike 'Game Tag' badge it means they are entitled to wear the community's CounterStrike tag when playing CounterStrike. Please note that having a badge for one game does not entitle the holder to wear the tag for another. The badge denotes the permission and is awarded by the Section Head. Badges within a section may be colour-coded to denote admin status.
Badges will also be awarded for being a LAN attendee, a quality forum poster, forum moderator and for being a ...
Community Supporter
We have reviewed our financing model and the conclusion is that the time has now come to make changes. We are currently funded by the collection of LAN fees and a few donations. In an effort to try to raise funds from the broader community we will be introducing a completely voluntary annual subscription. Although the subscription will be entirely optional, only subscribers will be entitled to:
An avatar for use on the forum.
A signature for use on the forum.
An increased PM allowance on the forum.
Gallery upload rights.
A discounted LAN fee.
A 'Community Supporter' badge.
There will be a 'Special Badge' awarded to those members who have achieved the following badges:
Community Supporter
LAN Attendee
Forum Quality
At least one 'Game Tag' badge
It should be noted that the names for these badges have yet to be finalised.
Infraction Process
Unacceptable behaviour by members or guests whether in-game or on the forum will initially be dealt with by an admin/moderator. It is the duty of that admin/moderator to bring to the attention of the Section Head any punishment they have given out along with any supporting evidence. Should the person punished wish to appeal either against the punishment or the behaviour of the admin/moderator involved then that appeal will be handled by the Section Head. The Section Head's decison is final. Should a community admin or moderator wish to make a complaint against a Section Head then that will be handled by both Tealeaf and OldBloke.
It is the responsibility of the Section Heads to ensure that their admins/moderators have clear 'rules of engagement'.
When does this all happen?
We are aiming to have these changes in place for the New Year.
