Buzz Writers and Help Desk Operators are contributing a fair amount of their time on Bootleggers. The Help Desk Operators answer help desk tickets and keep an eye on the Forums. The Buzz Writers are writing several articles for the weekly Bootleggers Buzz. At this moment both positions are volunteer work. The Buzz Writers and Help Desk Operators are not being paid for their time and do not get any game-play benefits. Do they deserve this or is their job a typical volunteer job? We wanted to know the opinion of the Bootleggers Community and therefore we introduced the following poll: Buzz Writers and/or Help Desk Operators deserve game-play benefits for their dedication to the game.
This week we gave you four options. The first option was clear; Buzz Writers and Help Desk Operators should both get game-play benefits. The next two options were that only Buzz Writers or only Help Desk Operators should get those game-play benefits. Finally, the last option was that both groups do not deserve any game-play benefits. Four interesting choices and once again, the Buzz Poll resulted in an interesting discussion at the Game Forum. We absolutely grateful for all the useful replies and in case you have a suggestion for the Buzz Poll, please let us know! So, what did we witness in this week’s Buzz Poll? The answers of the most players on the Game Forum were clear; Buzz Writers and Help Desk Operators do not deserve game-play benefits. Fair enough, but why?!
The first discussion about the Buzz Poll was on the looks of these ‘game-play benefits’. What kind of benefits and how extreme are these benefits? In the topic I named a few examples, such as: a weekly money reward or reduced timers. Nearly everyone disagreed with the reduced timers, but some players did agree with a money reward. A player named SphinxN4, even came up with a solution to determine the amount of this weekly money reward. He stated: ‘I think they should get payment for how much they actually do. Rather than any sort of set payment. More help desk tickets answered to a higher quality? More rewards’. A good solution, but is it a good idea to reward the Buzz Writers and Help Desk Operators? According to the Bootleggers Community it is definitely not a good idea. The results of the poll show that the plurality of the Bootleggers Community is against rewarding the Buzz Writers and Help Desk Operators. Here is a small summary of the results of this week’s poll:
Both groups deserve game-play benefits. 25% (15)
Only Buzz Writers deserve game-play benefits. 3% (2)
Only Help Desk Operators deserve game-play benefits. 8% (5)
Both groups don't deserve game-play benefits. 55% (33)
The conclusion of the Buzz Poll is clear; no game-play benefits for the blue and yellow players. Still, is there any difference between a Buzz Writer and a Help Desk Operator? You can easily apply for becoming a Buzz Writer, but you cannot apply to become a Help Desk Operator. Does this mean you can attract players to apply at the Buzz? Obviously you can always attract players with offering the right things. If players would receive $10,000,000 for a freelance article, everyone would write a fancy article. But do we want this? Players join the Buzz, because they want to contribute something to the game and/or because they like to write. Do we really want writers which are motivated by the money only? Would you accept someone at a job interview who only wants the job for the money? Would you as Buzz Editor accept a player who writes article for the money? That brings us to my opinion of this week’s poll!
I personally would never accept someone who wants a job just for the money. At this moment we have a very small Buzz Team, which means I obviously do not mind new writers. Attracting writers with a payment might increase the amount of writers, but it does not mean the quality of the Buzz increases. The Buzz is a team effort and written by players who work together. When there is a writer who is just here for the money, the team effort will most likely decrease. When you apply for a real life job, you have to look at the organisation. Your job is not always the most important factor, it are the people where you are working with. Anyway, to keep on topic; I also voted this week. I believe Help Desk Operators should not be rewarded, because it is a request by the Elite Guard. You get asked for the job and you agree for contributing something for free to the game. You help people, which is more a principle than a job (if you know what I mean). Now, about the Buzz Writers… I am part of the Buzz Team for one year now (yeah, I had my anniversary last week) and I know how much time it takes to write an article. I believe the Buzz Writers deserve a small weekly payment based on their performed work of the last issue. If the articles are crap, the writer gets no reward and when the articles are absolutely great a reward is more than fair. The Buzz Editor (that would be me) should determine whenever a Buzz Writer deserves a reward and the amount of it. What about the Buzz Editor? Well, I am fairly sure he does not want a reward anyway!
