Ugh, Ask the Admin Time.

[Infamous]

Krissim Klaw

Meromictic

Krissim Klaw

They should only allow questions about praying mantises.

That would makes things a whole lot easier.

They might even be able to streamline the questions/answers that way. emotion_kirakira

Yes, it would be a win, win for all involved. emotion_awesome

Too bad anything that could solve world problems isn't allowed in this reality. whee

[Bowie-Spawan]

JRandom18

Little Dead Soldier

How would you make ATA better and suggestions about it?

What if users sent there questions or concerns in a head of time. The admins could discuss the most important ones. The other one's that don't get answered during the ATA could get answered in some sort of forum or a blog.

Right when I read the OP this was exactly my thought as well.
Seems like the best solution.
Maybe there could be an official thread where users can post their questions every week ahead of time and have that thread have a feature for users to vote on every post in there so the most popular questions get to the top or something.
I don't like the idea of sending the questions in and then relying on the admin to make their pick, would be nice if the community had influence over that in some way.

[Adnama Lavode]

Some people are justified in being a bit snippy. I go on as my mule, because that's the account having an issue. I reported this rather large problem I'm having with my inventory about 8 months ago in the proper way, I go to the ATA and ask if this problem can be resolved because someone in the GCD said people have had similar problems fixed by Admins during those, and I've pretty much tried every other possible thing to resolve the problem. So this ATA thing was a bit of hope for me.

I post two weeks in a row and get ignored both times. I got there pretty early on too. Both times within the first 10 pages. I have never used the ATA before this, and I'm finding it to be useless to people that have actual concerns/problems.

[Vampurrrrr]

How would you make ATA better and suggestions about it?
When I view the AtA, a lot of questions people ask could be sent to a moderator.
I would start by getting people to check if their questions could be answered simply
by asking a mod first,
that way there's no flood of questions that could be asked in an easier manner,
and less flooding.

How do you feel the Admins do with that time?
Very good.
I see a lot of people being answered there.
And if people don't - well, they can always ask in the next AtA

Do you find it hostile or reasonable reactions?
Some people are hostile, but overall I think it is very nice and charming.

[Anabaena]

Adnama Lavode

Some people are justified in being a bit snippy. I go on as my mule, because that's the account having an issue. I reported this rather large problem I'm having with my inventory about 8 months ago in the proper way, I go to the ATA and ask if this problem can be resolved because someone in the GCD said people have had similar problems fixed by Admins during those, and I've pretty much tried every other possible thing to resolve the problem. So this ATA thing was a bit of hope for me.

I post two weeks in a row and get ignored both times. I got there pretty early on too. Both times within the first 10 pages. I have never used the ATA before this, and I'm finding it to be useless to people that have actual concerns/problems.

But I think for problems with your account, or rather, problems specific to your account, it might be better to just personally contact a mod or something. They do sometimes answer such specific questions, but usually it's better to try using PMs.

Because the AtA has always been more of a thread to ask questions about plot/site features/general things.

Just a tip! wink

[Nyadriel]

What annoys me the most is when the same questions keep popping up week after week after week even after the question was answered multiple times.

No means no.

"we are getting to it" means "we are getting to it".


and all like that.

[Whip]

Random non-admin/site/question related chatting should really be against the rules in that thread.

Too much chatter clutters the thread up.

[Whip]

Bowie-Spawan

JRandom18

Little Dead Soldier

How would you make ATA better and suggestions about it?

What if users sent there questions or concerns in a head of time. The admins could discuss the most important ones. The other one's that don't get answered during the ATA could get answered in some sort of forum or a blog.

Right when I read the OP this was exactly my thought as well.
Seems like the best solution.
Maybe there could be an official thread where users can post their questions every week ahead of time and have that thread have a feature for users to vote on every post in there so the most popular questions get to the top or something.
I don't like the idea of sending the questions in and then relying on the admin to make their pick, would be nice if the community had influence over that in some way.

No voting system. That way, only popular users will get their questions seen to. I'd like to think we're better than that, but I know the prominent users will get theirs upvoted, just because they're more recognisable.

Where, users who are unknown will be less likely to get votes, even if their question is a legitimate one.

I'd much prefer each person get one post in that thread, one post to make their statement/question. Has to be a question, query or statement or it becomes reportable/spam to be removed perhaps?

Heading/title line to give the gist of what the query is about would help admin skim better, and find out what people want to know.

That way, there's less to skim, and good questions get fair chance.

[Ma Ajmala]

I don't have anything to really ask them most of the time

If an answer goes over there head that I ask, so be it

All I ever see when I go there is:

I was hacked
I was scammed
Ticket info about something
What about Zomg
And something about Rigs/Eis ]

[Bowie-Spawan]

VVhip

No voting system. That way, only popular users will get their questions seen to. I'd like to think we're better than that, but I know the prominent users will get theirs upvoted, just because they're more recognisable.

Where, users who are unknown will be less likely to get votes, even if their question is a legitimate one.

I'd much prefer each person get one post in that thread, one post to make their statement/question. Has to be a question, query or statement or it becomes reportable/spam to be removed perhaps?

Heading/title line to give the gist of what the query is about would help admin skim better, and find out what people want to know.

That way, there's less to skim, and good questions get fair chance.

Oh bah~, so cynical gonk
I guess that could be a real problem though :/ Which is sad, but human nature.

But I guess as a general concensus, preparing the questions beforehand in a collected thread seems like a good idea overall, instead of spamming the ATA when it gets up and the thread blowing out of proportion in a matter of moments (which I'd think must be stressful as an admin trying to answer, as well as for a user trying to keep track of where the answers are).

[Whip]

Bowie-Spawan

VVhip

No voting system. That way, only popular users will get their questions seen to. I'd like to think we're better than that, but I know the prominent users will get theirs upvoted, just because they're more recognisable.

Where, users who are unknown will be less likely to get votes, even if their question is a legitimate one.

I'd much prefer each person get one post in that thread, one post to make their statement/question. Has to be a question, query or statement or it becomes reportable/spam to be removed perhaps?

Heading/title line to give the gist of what the query is about would help admin skim better, and find out what people want to know.

That way, there's less to skim, and good questions get fair chance.

Oh bah~, so cynical gonk
I guess that could be a real problem though :/ Which is sad, but human nature.

But I guess as a general concensus, preparing the questions beforehand in a collected thread seems like a good idea overall, instead of spamming the ATA when it gets up and the thread blowing out of proportion in a matter of moments (which I'd think must be stressful as an admin trying to answer, as well as for a user trying to keep track of where the answers are).

Cynical? Realistic and observant. I've been on Gaia long enough to see how even this forum responds to someone they don't recognise doing something that is usually done by a prominent Gaian.

Two RIG threads. One posted first by user who is unknown. Second posted by prominent user. Second one gets posted in more even though it's the repeat.

That enough tells me voting is a baaaad idea if we want fairness wink

Absolutely up there in raised hands agreement with you on the idea of a pre-quiz.

[Bowie-Spawan]

VVhip

Cynical? Realistic and observant. I've been on Gaia long enough to see how even this forum responds to someone they don't recognise doing something that is usually done by a prominent Gaian.

Two RIG threads. One posted first by user who is unknown. Second posted by prominent user. Second one gets posted in more even though it's the repeat.

That enough tells me voting is a baaaad idea if we want fairness wink

Absolutely up there in raised hands agreement with you on the idea of a pre-quiz.

You can be cynical AND realistic XD
I guess I find it sad that it's the truth that a voting system for questions wouldn't work. I know that intellectually, but I still expect better from people :C I'm not jaded enough!

[Magical Cat Party]

VVhip

Random non-admin/site/question related chatting should really be against the rules in that thread.

Too much chatter clutters the thread up.

This is what I think angers people sometimes and why they get pissy in the thread. If I have a legit question, but am skipped over so a staff member can talk about a sandwich with the guy who posted after me, what is the point of having a question answer thread if they aren't even going to even acknowledge your real question. I have seen people who post things and get no answer for three weeks in a row. They get skipped so the staff can say hello and how is your day to random people. While I cannot be mad they are being friendly, some people just want acknowledgement that the staff has read something they said they would...

[Zemalia]

VVhip

Random non-admin/site/question related chatting should really be against the rules in that thread.

Too much chatter clutters the thread up.

I agree, this can sometimes be very frustrating. Sometimes it seems like a lot more chatter gets answered than legitimate questions. Some admins are better at answering the real concerns than others, but it goes all ways.

I think it would be nice to have a monthly 'Chat Time' with the Admin staff instead of having all the chatter clog up the thread on a weekly basis.

But I also agree that many of the questions asked during AtA can be taken care of by Mods or by filing a report. I've been tempted to point people in the right direction their question can be answered at a different outlet but the hostility makes me nervous. Lately I've just been lurking AtA instead of posting questions because of how upset people get when their question isn't answered.

[Adnama Lavode]

Anabaena

Adnama Lavode

Some people are justified in being a bit snippy. I go on as my mule, because that's the account having an issue. I reported this rather large problem I'm having with my inventory about 8 months ago in the proper way, I go to the ATA and ask if this problem can be resolved because someone in the GCD said people have had similar problems fixed by Admins during those, and I've pretty much tried every other possible thing to resolve the problem. So this ATA thing was a bit of hope for me.

I post two weeks in a row and get ignored both times. I got there pretty early on too. Both times within the first 10 pages. I have never used the ATA before this, and I'm finding it to be useless to people that have actual concerns/problems.

But I think for problems with your account, or rather, problems specific to your account, it might be better to just personally contact a mod or something. They do sometimes answer such specific questions, but usually it's better to try using PMs.

Because the AtA has always been more of a thread to ask questions about plot/site features/general things.

Just a tip! wink

I really have tried everything at this point. I've PMed a few already and they PMs have gone unread. I suppose I just need to PM the entire Dev/Admin team, even though I was trying to avoid bothering people unnecessarily, but I'm starting to just not care.