Help Island Communicator Policy

FREE COOKIES TO ALL WHO VOLUNTEER!
Free cookies AND cookie gestures to all who wear the communicator while volunteering!
(ya hafta save the gestures for M area's tho)
A communicator cookie festival!!! Whheeeeeeeeee!

Remember, using M rated gestures while the volunteer title is showing would violate the proposed statement of principles, even if your were on your own Mature rated controlled access private island, by yourself.

I ask again;

Can we please have use of the communicator by the Mentors who are at Help Island made policy? This would not be forcing anyone to do anything. People 'volunteered' to follow the standards by choice. This would not be forcing people who have been volunteers longer than H.I. has existed, to wear it. They can still do what they did prior to H.I. and mentor in the wlecome areas, infohubs and other public / newbie friendly mainland areas.

This would be using a tool that was designed to support the special needs of a new area to help with the orientation and guidance of new residents. We already have mentors where all they do on H.I. is sit at the center hub ignoring the calls for assistance because they 'choose' not to wear the communicator and they 'choose' not to even look at the BIG BRIGHT particle beams emmited from the Volunteer Kiosks. Same mentors put on titles such as "Special ED Liason" *WHILE ON HELP ISLAND* further confusing and frustrating the new residents.

Im not asking the lindens to FORCE any volunteer to do anything. I'm asking the Lindens to acknowledge that VOLUNTEERING to be on Help Island comes with a responsibility to meet its special needs.

Until then, and even regardless of the decision, I will continue to tell any Mentor on H.I. what the benifits of wearing it are and where they can recieve their copy if i see them without one and apologize that they were accidentally not given one. If they know what the communicator is i will kindly mention that they must have "forgotten" to wear such a useful device. And i will politely point out they 'forgot' to wear it as many times as it takes till it is worn.

EDIT:

Has anyone else noticed that when you compare the people who wear the communicator, vs the group who does not, its generally the same groups that you can reliably know they either patrol the island helping out people who wander around, vs the group who sits at the center hub (which *IS* against current policy). I'll note that there are a select _Few_ who dont wear the communicator who still make an Active effort to ensure new residents are getting oriented but they are sadly the exception. And for people who DO wear the communicator, at least they will GET the calls for help and be able to react as needed.

So, if you can't talk some of us into wearing them, you are suggesting that we be forced to wear them if we want to go to Help Island? When all else fails use force. That is very inspiring.

Explain how MANDATED in uppercase means "by individual's choice, with no pressure to conform, and no attempt to suggest that people who want to do things their way rather than your way are behaving incorrectly".

Simple. If its policy then your choice to go to H.I. means you understand that choice includes wearing an item integral to that area. Thats how. Same way that by CHOOSING to play in sl you understand you are bound by the CHOICE to uphold the TOS. They are inseperable. Its your choice.

Reality Check Isle 5 please

Emotionally disturbed, grouchy, hateful bossy people with an insane need for control, driving good people off Help Island and out of the volunteer program throught the sheer power of their extreme and unrelenting unpleasantness is not good.

Hmmm I have been a mentor for a long time, but I have never heard of this communicator what does it do ??

And why wasn't I told it excisted, furthermore why do I need to wear it ??

Does it make me a better mentor ??
Is it easier for me to help people ??

If not, I don't want one.

As a mentor I am a volunteer, and I volunteer NOT to wear it. period.

Sadly the whole tone of the thread feels like "if you wont wear it then you are not welcome if i get my way" it seems to me a new breed of mentor is surfacing recently that seems to only want to criticise fellow mentors it seems getting a mentor tag changes some people and they become self appointed and self styled interpretors of the rules.

Vortex, it is a device used on Help Island and not out in the general mainland. Around help island are various stations, each helping to instruct a new resident in how a certain feature of Second Life is used. At each of these stations are notecards with some basic information. There is also a large red Kiosk at each station with the label "Click me to Summon a Volunteer for Help". These kiosks when clicked send out a message that has the name of the newbie needing help and the location of which of the various kiosks were clicked. These messages are recieved by the communicator. If time elapses, at 1 minute intervals the kiosks will send out additional messages that include how long the newbie has been waiting for someone to come assist them. Because of a relay system in place on the island these messages will be delivered regardless of where on the island the Communicator wearing volunteer is located and regardless of which kiosk is sending the message. It ensures that a new resident has a ready means to get help when they are confused or feel lost. All it takes to 'acknowledge' the message is for a communicator wearing individual to click the kiosk as they arrive to offer assistance.

This gives the residents the power to get assistance as needed without feeling they have to search the whole island to find someone. This gives the volunteers the power to recieve these requests in a manner that doesnt spam the general population on the island, nor spam the entire Mentor or Live Help group IMs which include people not currently volunteering at H.I.

This makes you a better mentor by the tools you have to help others. It makes it easier to find the person needing help and locate them as need arises. When you choose to leave the island a simple click on the HUD device (the communicator is hud attached) gives you a list of anyone else on the island wearing one. Thus you can quickly see how well manned the island is and determine quickly if you need to send a message on one of the group channels to see if anyone else is available to provide reinforcements. By using the communicator you can do this WITHOUT having to manually fly around and take note of who there is. By using the communicator this is a nearly instant process making life easier for you without having to needlessly use 'shouts' to find out who is around.

And the communicators are available at Volunteer HQ 2 pedastools over from the entry gazebo. Feel free to grab one, try it on and see how well it helps or hinders you. USE it and then come back here and tell us your opinions of how YOU believe it helps you as a volunteer while on Help Island. Since you have not yet used one your opinion is most important and desired as it will be the least biased.

Herassed, yelled at or ordered to do anything no. Reminded of its features, usability, and where it can be convienently aquired yes.

here here! noted, motioned and passed!

Sounds like there is a new fuhrer in our midst

Sorry to interrupt but I do wear my communicator but find the whole attitude and level of this discussion intimadatory and offensive.

I motion that LL takes steps to resolve this issue or lock this thread completely as it is not only a disgrace that this inhouse bickering can be seen by new residents but that it has not been dealt with earlier.

It takes a better man to rise above the situation and accept all peoples opinions.

Ok I've read throug all the posts carefully. Now to start with, until Marv told me about the communicator a few days ago, I didn't even know it exsisted.

While it may be a useful tool, the use should NOT be *MANDATORY*. Why? HI was up long before the communicator was even out and we survived then.

To me, yes it seems like "if you don't wear it, don't show up on HI...period". Sorry, like some others here I've been in SL for quite AWHILE, MY retired AV was around from Dec,2003 until June 2005 when I made this one.

Back then there were no volunteers, everyone had to learn for themselves. Now, some of the newer mentors, you act like this is a RL job! HI at the start....I remember bring there for hours, and going to OI to help because NO one was there, not a mentor...new resident... nothing.

Remember folks we're *VOLUNTEERS*!!!! As long as we help.... going to HI or not, wearing the communicator or not, as long as we actually teach the new residents what they ask of us, then there's no wrong way. Some may choose to wear a communcator, fine... I tried it, think it's ok but I won't be forced to wear one.

Ooooh no...I don't think that would be allowed. Its not in the current Terms of Service is it?

Actually, this about the third furor over this topic in the forums, if you check back. Frankly, I'm getting a little weary of seeing the same people, posting the same things.

Again, I ask...can't we all find something useful to talk about? Or are you all having too much fun repeating this thread over and over?

Locking the thread isn't, alas, going to help all that much. What we have here is a social problem - that we apparently cannot resist saying things that would be better off left unsaid. We lock it, and a new thread comes back around because people can't resist the fight. And that is what is unseemly.

Nobody's saying anything that's particularly new here. It's obvious everyone feels strongly enough about this that no amount of discussion will sway any of the participants anyway. And besides, this was ultimately posted to the wrong forum - being directed to LL, it should have gone in Second Life Answers.

As the creator and maintainer of the tool that is under debate, I've got little opinion on the matter. It's an optional and experimental tool, as I've said many times before.

If the majority of volunteers on Help Island don't use it, then it should be removed - experiment failed. If new residents call for help and volunteers on the island don't answer, it makes us all look like we don't care, and makes the new residents frustrated and unhappy.

Right now, the majority do wear it, but it's only a scant majority. If that slips, then I'll remove the volunteer call system, because it will be doing more of a disservice to the new residents than a service.

If anyone from either side of the debate would like to send me any criticism for trying (perhaps unsuccessfully) to make some sense of a discussion that historically goes nowhere, by all means email me or send me a forum PM or something. I'm always happy to listen to valid criticism.

Tateru my friend your communicator is not the problem at all. It works fine if a person chooses to use it. The problem is someone starting a thread called "Help Island Communicator Policy" like it is an official policy which it isn't. I personally feel this thread is nothing more than some newbie mentor trying to impress the rest of us with his importance.

I never even heard of this fellow until now and he has done more to convince people not to wear one than most of us could do in our wildest dreams. I am not impressed.

Yes, the attitude being adopted in this thread -- attempting to mandate how people do their Mentoring -- is very unattractive.

You know I respect you Tateru, and I like using the HI communicators.

I used to wear it at times. Not anymore.

Sorry if we havent met =-) Been mentoring for some time and have spent a significant portion of my time in SL teaching and helping new accounts prior to being a mentor. Most of that time is on Help Island though with the recent greif issues due to registration i've been spending a bit more of that back at New Citizens Plaza keeping greifers under control. Also been splitting my time between Live Help as I consider that a time effecient way to help out.

I've quite clearly stated multiple times that its NOT a policy and I'm not TELLING anyone they have to wear it. But I am asking them to be worn. I am showing people where they are and explaining benifits vs deficits, and how to overcome those few deficits so they are a non issue. That is what I do in-world. If someone is NOT wearing a communicator i WILL point it out normally in IMs, especially if there are current calls going ignored. Because of how useful it is i do BELIEVE it should be policy. Thus I am doing my part to help that happen.

The reason the thread is titled as such is because there is a lot of true benifit and merit in it BECOMING official policy. I understand that it probably will not. LL doesnt like to mandate much. Thats fine. But if nothing else having the thread exist will allow others to see that there is a tool readily available capable of making their decision to help, easier to do.

As far as self importance? The game could easily go on without any one of us. No one is individually more important than any other. But If you are going to volunteer to begin with, I would hope that ALL VOLUNTEERS actually think about the tools available to them and try to find ways to improve something about those tools or methods. It doesnt make anyone more important if they make a suggestion that works. It DOES make the volunteer corps as a whole more important and self improvement should be EVERY groups goal. Anyone who does not try to improve themselves at all times is actively neglecting their life.

Tateru:

I do have one suggestion as far as the communicator is concerned. You could consider that when worn the communicators will send out a ping once a minute. If no ping is detected then the kiosks could switch modes to change their llSetText() message to something along the lines of:

"There are currently no volunteers on the island. If you have a question please try the F1 Help option. If you are still having trouble please use Live Help from the Help menu and someone will be able to assist."

Yeah its long but at least they know clicking (which could be disabled temporarily) wont result in someone immediately showing up. Maybe just have that be the llDialog() message instead of setText.

To any Lindens:

I still ask that some comment be made here. People have stopped offering counter suggestions and have limited to mostly complaining the are offended by policies. I believe all systems NEED policies to ensure that the purpose of that system is done as effeciently and thoroughly as possible, but that effeciency is not always the deciding factor. If you deem this policy proposal as unfit I then ask that you consider adding one scripting feature suggestion.

integer llHelpAvailable();
llHelpRequest( string message );

These proposed LSL functions would only work if it is in an object thats group is one of the volunteer groups. So said object would need to be worn by an avatar currently with group title on, or rezzed on land and assigned to that group.

llHelpRequest would send the message, prefixed with the object name, to all volunteers in the current sim (and preferably each immediately connected neighbor sim). Only volunteers with their title currently active would recieve such message.

llHelpAvailable would be able to get the current number of avatars in the current sim that are wearing a volunteer title. As checking neighbor sims would require further communications I understand the number in neight sims would not be avialable within the scope of a functions return value.

With these two functions the entire communicator relay system could be removed. The kiosks could be scripted to not require anything to be worn at all while still delivering the messages for help to the people who need to hear those messages. When no volunteers are present the kiosks could detect this without a communicator and update its state to not be misleading the new residents.

I would still like to see the communicators mandatory until those two functions become available. But that is a personal preference with as many other volunteers both for and against the issue.

That's odd.. I could of sworn you met Ms. Boffin when you told her she wasn't needed.

No one is listening to you and trying to appeal to those who you've insulted and attempted to control is too little too late.

Go about your own way and maybe get some mentoring done. Leave us alone.

Really do you READ the forums? Me calling arguing on the net stupid is hardly inflammatory and is quite accurate.

How about "hey I love an idea so much I'll skew it's purpose despite the presence and object of its creator".

It's time to shut this thread down.

If you kept up in all areas, you would have noticed that comment was made in the Answers area. There is no point in continuing this thread, since it is doing nothing but assisting people to decide it is not worth the effort to help.



So, if you can't get it a policy, try to shut out the volunteers this way? You appear to have a comprehension problem. Tateru has already stated her opinion.

Please, drop this thread. It is serving no purpose other than to inflame people. Each person will have their own opinion, and own way of helping. There is no "One True Way" - but it is always better if everyone at least tries to appear to get along.

I was a mentor in Dec 2003, and an instructor... and still am.

There was no Live Help then, but there were certainly volunteers...