GM Positions Available

[Jirato]

CLOK has grown a LOT over the past several years. Much more than we really ever anticipated. It's gotten to the point where a small team of GMs can't really keep up with the day to day. To put it blunty, CLOK is overgrown and understaffed.

Rias has been a HUGE help over the past several months. Although it was made clear when he returned that it would only be a temporary deal to fill the hole left by the two recently departing GMs. Though he's stepped down as DEV to spend more time with his family and that whole "real life" thing, with him coming back to help out, he's continued to spend equally as much time in CLOK as before, only with the added frustrations of not having full server/code access and the almighty "DEV Card" (which we both agreed was in his best interest, though that doesn't negate the frustration). In short, it's been pretty unfair to him, and he's really stepped up to help the game through this difficult time, but it's time to give him the break he wants and needs.

Even with Rias here, it's still been apparent that we need more GameMasters. I feel, for a project this size to continue to flourish and not just sit stagnant in a "maintenance-only" state, ideally there should be around 6 active GameMasters with various guruships and 2 or 3 active Event Staff.

Now, I've been involved with various stages of game development and administration for over 17 years now, and I've always been of the paradigm that it is always better to hand pick your potential staff than to just solicit help and take what comes in. The world, lore, content, and mechanics of CLOK are great, but it's the staff in a game like this that makes or breaks it, and I've always felt those who are picked based on long-term observation and careful evaluation of one's character are much more likely to succeed than those that just approach you and ask, "Dude, can I be a GM?"

However, CLOK is at an all-time low, and I don't really feel like I have the luxury of just watching people over the next six months or longer before approaching them about a potential GM position. So, I'd like to ask, if you genuinely love CLOK, want to see it grow, and are able to commit to working on the project, please let me know. Send an email to my jirato at contrarium dot net email address expressing your desire for a staff position with as much detail as possible. Including any past experience, expectations, story about your life as a MUDder, that one customer service job you had in high school, etc.

There are some things to know, should you want to be a GM:

-We're looking for self-motivated, driven, people here, not someone to just do what they're told when they're told and then standby for further instruction. While we do have a strict quality control process, you will still need to be bringing new ideas and changes to the table.

-While being self-motivated and driven, you also need to be a team player and be expected to work with others, take constructive feedback and review/approval of work prior to release, and participate in periodic meetings with the rest of the GM team.

-There's a very strict non-disclosure agreement. Your shouldn't disclose your GM position to anyone, or any information learned from a GM position. Even your best friends, your family, or your pet hamster. I wouldn't even tell people "So, I applied to be a GM..." if I were you.

-There's also a slew of other guidelines, which you'll be sent after you express interest.

-It's not all fun and games. Players aren't even always going to love you and the things you do. You need to have a thick skin while GMing and be able to separate personal opinions formed from OOC observations as a GM from IC interaction.

-While there's no hard-set requirement for GM activity, expect to be spending at least 5 to 10 hours a week as a GM. That means 5 to 10 hours a week less of player character time, family time, hobby time, or whatever you spend your time doing.

-This isn't a fast-track career. You're not going to go through orientation and then immediately be given the keys to the universe and told "OK, you're in charge of this, this, and this, have fun!". It could potentially take months to earn a guruship, if ever. This all depends on the individual and can vary from person to person. There's a good chance that CLOK GMing just isn't right for you.

-CLOK isn't taking on new Coders, ever.

-The DEV has limited time for CLOK. This is far from a full time job for me. I will not be available 24/7 to review/approve a project. You will likely have to poke and prod me multiple times to review something, and anything mentioned outside of the GM section of the BBS is most likely to be forgotten entirely unless you happen to catch me at an extremely opportune time.

[Jirato]

Just want to add, if you do send an email, please don't get discouraged if you don't hear back right away. I'm not really going to jump and make the first three people who ask a GM. This is going to take time and careful consideration. The rest of the GM team will be involved in the process as well. We'll likely meet about it some time after Thanksgiving, and it won't be until after we meet about it that I will be sending any responses.

[Kunren]

Mind if I ask why the strict no new coders thing? I would think it would take some of the stress off of the current ones.

[blindndangerous]

If I had to take a wild guess, probably because it's custom-built, so you'd kind of have to learn it all from scratch.
Also, seventeen years hurts my head for that long of a period doing this. hmm, though I guess that Dentin has been running Alter Aeon for 21 years now, and I don't know what he did before that...

[Jirato]

There are various reasons. The large part of it being how massive the project is, being all 100% custom built, and mostly undocumented. There are other factors as well that I'd rather not discuss.

And yes, I compiled my first MUD server when I was a teenager. Can't say it was ever even remotely close to being as successful as CLOK has become or anything, but I have been working on MUDs in one form or another for quite awhile now. A few of the collaborations I've worked on with friends were a Final Fantasy Tactics themed SMAUG MUD (Totally forget the name...), and two custom MUDs named Silver Crescent and Three Worlds that you've likely never heard of of played.

[Jirato]

I've sent a response to everyone who has applied, but we still haven't made any selections yet. Just a heads up that we will likely be making a decision before Christmas, so if you have been thinking about applying but haven't yet, you should probably get it in in the next couple days.