It is common knowledge that lots of players that are asked to become Help Desk Operators (HDO’s) have also been writers for the Buzz. I am no exception, so I thought why not bring the two elements together and write an article about my experiences so far as an HDO.
For the majority of the time that I have played Bootleggers, I have always retained a playing style that sees me spending a lot of time in the game forum. I am an opinionated person, and I like to add my two cents so to speak on any subject that has some relevance to my experience on the game. I like to think that by doing that I achieve in assisting players on a wide number of topics.
In regards to my playing style, being appointed to HDO really hasn’t changed my time online in the slightest, I still do, what I have always done.
In this little article I am going to attempt to describe the main duties and requirements of the position from my point of view, and also a few of the good and bad points of being in yellow. This is in no way meant to be egotistical as I am conscious of the amount of times I have mentioned the words “me” and“I” all ready, more an insight to anyone out there who may well be interested in taking on the job in the future.
So first things first, the role of an HDO is summed up by the meaning of the first letter in the acronym in my opinion. Help. Helping other players is really the most enjoyable part of Bootleggers for me, I spend approximately 80% of my time reading through the forums, when I find someone needing something clarified, or asking for help with a specific problem I tend to Bootmail the player, rather than post in the thread, I feel this provides a personal element to the player, and also a direct and quick response. For simpler and generic questions and queries I tend to just post in the thread. Unsurprisingly with the FAQ currently being unavailable the Help Desk does receive a large amount of tickets, and I take care to answer each ticket with a full and clear response, this is without a doubt my favourite part of the duties I am expected to complete.
Like most things, I feel that being an HDO has both positives and negatives, the positives include allowing me to help players in an official way, and being able to help with more complex problems through the Help Desk. The negatives of my new position are fortunately few and far between. The most predominant one for me is the pressure to perform consistently well in public. For the first few weeks especially I was very cautious of making mistakes, I dealt with this by tackling the problems head on, and if I did make mistakes, not being too proud to admit any wrong doing, I think that is an important quality to adopt with this position.
Luckily the positives outweigh the negatives and I am really enjoying my appointment as an HDO, and feel delighted to have been given the opportunity to do something that I have a real passion for, as I am hugely aware that there are some other extremely suitable candidates for this role. Any else out there that thinks they would enjoy the role of an HDO, all I can say is, if you have as much passion for helping the players here as I have, then any negatives you encounter will not put you off.
