ID:1405896
 
Redundant
Applies to:
Status: Redundant

This feature has already been implemented, or is already achievable with existing methods.
Notice:
I couldn't really click "Applies to:".. I dunno. Wasn't working.

Introduction and Explanation:
Yes, a "Noobie Squad." But let's not really have that name used. I was talking to someone about advertising to get BYOND more noticed. But one thing I also realized that people dislike is confusion when they step in to a new place. Whether it's a house, a game, or anything else of the sort they will be confused. Why? Because they're not used to that setting just yet.

How will we find people?:
So, why not create a team of hand picked people who are respectful, experienced, and have no history of problems (very little misbehavior, profanity, or anything else that would come off as bad to a new BYONDer)?

This team will have no extra benefits other than the opportunity to guide new players. They can show them how to explore the forums, how to ask questions on the forums, teach them some skills in game development, introduce them to some good games, or just chat with them to show them a good time. I'm sure if you had a friend you'd be more likely to stay somewhere.

Edit: They can have 1 extra benefit. An ability to chat with other BYOND Helpers to ask questions they they can't answer on their own for the new player. Perhaps a DreamMaker Utility or a built in web chat. If BYOND doesn't really want to do that, I don't mind hosting a special place that can do just that. Just like isbyondmember() it can be isbyondhelper() and they can only log in if they are one.

How it will work:
All the new players have to do is click a button to ask for assistance. The button can be presented in the pager and on every page on the BYOND website. It should be easily visible and will disappear after a certain time length (probably 3 months) has passed. Or it could also be removed by 3 BYOND Helpers stating that this player understands how to navigate through BYOND. If they like the person who is assisting them, they can choose to add them to their friend list. If they don't, they can request a new person.

Procedures before chatting with a BYOND Helper
Before they can chat with a BYOND Helper, this new player is presented with a message stating the job of these new players, security measures they should take with their account (because these guys aren't moderators or BYOND Developers. Even then, they shouldn't be asking for your password.), and they should be reminded to be respectful as these people are doing it out of courtesy.
I'm not entirely sure BYOND should be assuming that it's new developers are incapable of say ... posting on the developer help section.

A kind of development chat hang-out is never a bad idea though, that newer developers might pop into and see if people will help them. Essentially what Chatters used to do some years ago.
It's not entirely targeted at developers. It's targeted to BYOND as a whole. Both gamers and developers. So if someone is having a hard time finding a good game to enjoy, then the BYOND Helper could invite them to a game they're playing and help them understand how to play.

The chat would be mostly for the BYOND Helper to ask other BYOND Helper's questions like, "Hey, I have this new player here. He asked me a question about ...bla bla bla... and I can't seem to answer it. What should I tell them?" And the more experienced people will in turn help out. No new player should be allowed to enter this chat nor should people who aren't chosen to be a BYOND Helper. It's basically a private place for them to converse about certain questions or to talk about ideas.

But, it can also be a place to hang out, if they want. Who knows, a little feature could be added where they can "invite" players in to talk. Or create their own chat rooms. This can be effective if there is a group of BYOND Helpers that talk to that one new player and they're all friends. Or they're all talking about how to do something. :)
Mmm, the chatroom thing can be quite happily done without being integrated or BYOND centrally run. I'm really not entirely sure I understand where/why/how what you've proposed is meant to be integrated into BYOND as a software platform or website.

It on the surface of it, at least, sounds like it could be organised without having to be handled centrally, by BYOND developers.
A general dev-chat room might be best implemented as an IRC channel; it's an existing system that's well-developed, and has a very low barrier to entry if you set up a java applet client. Additionally, any good IRC network will include services such as messaging, chat moderation, and more.

In fact, it's so easy that irc://irc.freenode.net/#byond exists already. (##Byond on irc.freenode.net)
@Stephen001: Yeah, I can handle the chat room portion. What's needed, however, is a way for new players to contact this list of "BYOND Helpers." That button I was talking about that should be easily accessible wherever the new player goes. So they don't have to look hard for it.

And they, the BYOND Helpers, should be recommended by BYOND Moderators. If they receive a certain amount of recommendations for their kind behavior and generosity, they then get a request asking them, "You were recommended by several BYOND Moderators, stating that you were helpful in the BYOND community. Would you like to become a BYOND Helper?"

And then an IsByondHelper(), similar to IsByondMember() would be a nice addition to help determine if they are one. Or a file with a list of keys in it could be created and used for reading. That would work too. I just think it's best that these people be chosen by BYOND Moderators who think they deserve it! :)

@Topkasa: I already constructed a chat that can be easily used. All that needs to be added is a check for people who are allowed to join it.
Which chat would that be?
It's integrated in to my Shell Server utility. You can PM and it wouldn't be hard to do group chats either. All it'd take is to change the output user to a list of users. It tells the users status (Away, Online, Player, Moderator, etc) and there's a handful of customizable verbs to use.
Hm. Honestly, I think a non-BYOND solution would work best - by lowering the barrier to entry and making it available to anyone with an IRC client, you're not only targetting people who already use Byond, but making the channel easily accessible to prospective users. Byond helpers can still be easily identified (i.e. by voicing them on the channel, as #freenode does for freenode staff), as well.
The thing is, I really don't think new people are going to be so god-awfully stuck, that they need a button in the software to actually call a person over.

There's also an obvious staffing issue with it, in that we have 10,000+ non-members, and realistically, not all that many people who'd be up for doing this or particularly available. For instance, I'm the only non-US moderator at the moment (although Ter13 apparently doesn't sleep sometimes). I suspect it'll go the way of a lot of volunteer efforts, and end up way under-staffed, then abandoned. However the BYOND developers will have put the effort into the integration.

A non-BYOND solution at least means this isn't at cost to the BYOND developers, who have the bill of support in these things if it's integrated or done centrally.
Also, in terms of ease of access, an IRC channel like I suggested is as easily accessable as clicking a link
There is that. Also goes that Freenode in particular has quite a developmentally minded population, and IRC is more preferred by developmentally minded people. Those are the kind of people we need to attract for more and better quality games.
Well, it's up to the person recommended if they want to be one or not. And they're not obligated do to anything once they become one. They can decline the offer to help and pass on the new player to another helper. As for Moderators, it's not like they have to go hunting for people to do this job. If they see someone who is very helpful in either a game or the forums then whenever they're free they can just recommend them. After 3 recommendations, the user will be asked if they want to join as a BYOND Helper. It's just voluntary work.
I can't really imagine a scenario where someone would have a problem that wouldn't fit into one of the subforums we have here. It seems like you're asking for someone to hold people's hands step by step as they learn how to do individual things with the software, because other than that, I don't see what else it would really provide.

What I imagine it being used for is when someone clicks the host button and their game isn't visible on their hub. Their first response would be "better click the help button," and then some random guy has to help them set up port forwards for their firewalls. (or links them to a post on the forums)

I don't see it being useful in more practical scenarios, where you have a genuine problem with the software and need to consult people who work on the software, or have a question that could be answered on the forums by the myriads of people who already post there and give useful advice.

In those cases, I think you'd be doing a disservice to not have them post on the forums. One of the great things about the forums is that resolved issues are essentially cataloged, and instead of going through a 3 page response to a question we can refer them to an existing post that has the issue being resolved. So information garnered through the medium of a chatroom or these personal messages are entirely limited to the people involved.

So if someone is having a hard time finding a good game to enjoy, then the BYOND Helper could invite them to a game they're playing and help them understand how to play.

I can imagine someone like this in, I dunno, a daycare. When kids are just stumbling around unsure of what to do. But I mean... if you're on BYOND, you already know what's here to do (ie: play games).

I also don't see it being very practical to have a bunch of people sitting around waiting for newbies to ask for help on a game, and then have some BYOND Helper go show them how to play it.
So... Kind of like the little "Click Here to Chat With a Live Helper!" things that I see cropping up on websites these days?
Nah. Just a small "?" button. And when you click it then it tells you what it's for and gives you the standard warnings that I posted in the original post.
I feel like if BYOND had a dedicated "customer support" team, it would actually do more harm than good. Just imagine all the raging trolls and complaints that would likely result! BYOND just couldn't support something like that right now.

However, I do think it would be cool if the website had something like an embedded Chatango box in BYOND style.

If only we had the flash client...
Trolls... I think you should just get off the internet as a whole if you can't deal with a troll. Lol. So, complaints isn't really something that should prevent anything from happening. If anything, it should provoke it. Why keep issues bottled up? If there is nothing to complain about then that means everything is just lovely, right? :)
Well, anyhow. Let's check this out: http://tinyurl.com/ircbyond . Let's see how it goes for a week or month. :)
It wouldn't be so much the trolls as it would be the bad impression BYOND would give any potential new users. The complaints would result from BYOND as a whole simply being incapable of supporting such a service. It's just too weak right now, and can barely stay afloat. What you are suggesting might be enough to sink this ship.
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