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State of Stratics- March 2017

Riyana

Operations
Administrator
Professional
Governor
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
Event Coordinator
UNLEASHED
Campaign Patron
Hello Stratics community! It's been far too long, but here at last is new State of Stratics for March 2017.

It's been over a year since the site went up for sale and the community pulled together in an amazing crowdfund effort to purchase it. While we have admittedly and regrettably not made as much progress as we had initially envisioned, the Save Stratics thread in which we outlined our expectations and plans for the site still functions as our primary guiding philosophy. We do and will continue to push to make full reality of the vision we presented for which you, the community, placed your trust in us.

WIKI

While not explicitly mentioned in the campaign thread, one of our major goals which was heavily discussed was the addition of a Stratics wiki and the migration of much of the old Stratics content to a newer and more accessible format. We have indeed opened that wiki, headed by @BrianFreud .

So far, the wiki has been populated with:
  • Hunter's Guide, 100% imported plus most other mobs. The mobs still missing are listed here.
  • Rares, 100%, up to date with the latest drops. Still ~300 old rares MIA and missing info until someone can find and update them. (Most recent list of still missing items located here.)
  • Atlas is largely done, though there are still some dungeons to finish. Added Malas, which was missed the first time around.
  • Patch notes are still a work in progress, but are gradually being filled in.
  • All the known HoC transcripts are now in the wiki, located here.
  • All "Gimme 5"s from IanStorm added here.
  • All "Storm Chat"s from IanStorm added here (except #1, which could not be found).
  • All "Stratics QA5" have been added here.
  • All "Ask & Answers" have been added here.
  • Celebrity Chats, the couple of Support Chats, the UO:9 chats, and the UO2 chat are in the process of being added.
  • Other various interesting communications and interviews from UO staff are being added to the Official Communications page, mostly on the "Other" tab.
  • All meet and greet transcripts that could be found are now in the wiki. The missing M&Gs are listed here.
  • Adding dev credits is underway and mostly complete.
  • Hues and dyes are up to date with the recently added dyes and cloth colors.
  • Newsletters are all now in the wiki.
  • All old Town Cryer and BNN news reports, for global events and all shards, have been migrated from the Stratics archives. They can be found at Official Fiction as well as on the shard-specific pages (linked from the Main Page)
  • A page with information on the event moderator program, as well as the older Interest program, has been created. It also includes lists of every known EM, Seer, IGM, and Troubador, for every shard, at The Interest and Event Moderator Programs . If anyone knows of any EMs, Seers, IGMs, or Troubadors, please add them!
@BrianFreud plans to keep working through the patch notes, 5 on Friday, and whatever other dev-related communications. Also planned are pages for the EMs and devs.

While we have every intention of bringing as much appropriate information over from the old Stratics site to the wiki as possible, we need more wiki editors! Anyone can help with the wiki. If you'd like to contribute to the wiki please check the Wiki Forum for details and guides, or apply to serve as a wiki moderator!

RULES OF CONDUCT AND DISCIPLINARY ACTIONS

The Stratics Rules of Conduct were updated on March 29, 2016, and the Progressive Points Discipline System was updated and infractions made viewable to the individuals who incurred them on May 9,2016. These changes were generally well-received initially, and we believe they have been successful in both clarifying the rules and in keeping posters aware of their current standing.

All old points were forgiven when the new Progressive Points Discipline System was implemented, though the old warnings remained as documentation and reference. As of February 26, 2017, the following actions have been administered by our moderation team:

  • 16 accounts have had 10 or more total points issued, resulting in permanent bans; of these:
    • 2 resulted from points accumulation, were appealed, and reinstated at 9 points;
      • one of these has since gone over 10 points and been re-banned for continued violations
    • 4 resulted from pure points accumulation and have not been rescinded
    • 1 resulted from inappropriate distribution of pornographic imagery on the Stratics network and immediate suspension evasion, and has not been rescinded
    • 9 were ban or suspension evasions, including 5 from pre-points overhaul bans and one open admission of such
  • 1 account has had 8 total points issued, at which point a 30-day suspension was issued
  • 1 account has had 7 total points issued
  • 1 account has had 6 total points issued, at which point a 7-day suspension suspension was issued
  • 3 accounts have had 5 total points issued
  • 7 accounts have had 4 total points issued, at which point a 3-day suspension was issued
  • 15 accounts have had 3 total points issued
  • 16 accounts have had 2 total points issued
  • 32 accounts have had 1 total point issued
Additionally, 1 very old ban has been rescinded upon appeal.

Each point expires one year after it is issued, so points issued near the beginning of the new system will begin expiring soon.

The purpose of the points system is not to punish community members for disregarding the rules--rather, it is to protect the members who DO follow the rules. While we have heard rumors that excessive bans are being issued, only 7 permanent bans have been issued to distinct users since the new points system was implemented, two of those rescinded, and one re-instated due to continued infractions.

All permanent bans and appeals are reviewed by the entire leadership team. Most warnings issued have not resulted in even temporary suspensions. As always, any account owner who wishes to appeal or clarify upon a an account action is welcome to contact [email protected].

TECH

Since the last State of Stratics, numerous technical projects and updates have been taken including:

  • Maintained Xenforo with current security releases.
  • Stopped a DDoS attack on the site.
  • Recovered data from closed Stratics portals, this information is in place and will be available in the upcoming Stratics Central.
  • Decreased spam on the site. Stratics had long had a major issue with spambots. With adjustments to the protocols on the back end, we have not had to ban a spambot since November 27, 2016.
  • Installed and set up Mediawiki and integrated it into Xenforo
  • Worked on a few quality of life improvements directed towards making record keeping easier for staff.
STAFF

We have recently taken a critical look at our current staff and made quite a few adjustments. Several staff moved to Alumni status (all with the option to come back as their schedules permitted) and some moved to other postions. We are still making adjustments, but for now we're pleased to announce the following:

We have created a new staff position. Shard/Forum Liaison is a new position that will represent the unique needs of liaisons' home shard/forums without the complication/conflict of also being responsible for discipline in that forum. Liaisons will seek to engage their forum communities, monitor their forums for ideas for improvements to the forums and site as a whole, and work with their home community to keep calendar and event listings up to date.

@spin has accepted a position as the Asian Forum Liaison. He will be working on outreach to the Asian shard communities and on rearranging the Asian forums to be more useful and accessible.

@Lady Kittie has accepted positions as Stratics Event Coordinator and Great Lakes Liaison. She will be creating and posting Stratics events and contests as well as maintaining the Great Lakes forum.

@Archnight has joined our moderation team. He is learning the ropes and you'll see him out and about soon. Please give him a warm welcome!

We are always looking for active and interested volunteers to keep Stratics moving forward. If you are interested in joining the Stratics team please submit a volunteer application! We are in particular need of reporters, wiki editors, and shard/forum liaisons.

As always, thank you for being part of the Stratics community!
 

petemage

Babbling Loonie
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
UNLEASHED
Please focus on making it work on mobiles too. Like I appreciate the effort like with the Meet'n'Greets, but then you can't access it on my mobiles at all and have to go back to some desktop machine.
 

petemage

Babbling Loonie
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
UNLEASHED
Also, I hate to be that guy, but there are over 10 Shard Online forums completely empty with no interest in them at all so far. Any plans how to progress with that situation?
 

Nexus

Site Support
Administrator
Moderator
Professional
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
Wiki Moderator
UNLEASHED
Also, I hate to be that guy, but there are over 10 Shard Online forums completely empty with no interest in them at all so far. Any plans how to progress with that situation?
Yes once they do a full lift on their NDA, which hasn't happened, you can stream etc.. but it's not completely waived.
 

Keith of Sonoma

Grand Poobah
Stratics Veteran
UNLEASHED
I like it all. Except for that @BrianFreud guy! He NEVER does any work. J/K He works his rear end off from what I can tell. Keep up the good work @BrianFreud :)

FYI, I think the bans/suspensions/warnings policy is very well thought out, understandable, and fair.
 

petemage

Babbling Loonie
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
UNLEASHED
Yes once they do a full lift on their NDA, which hasn't happened, you can stream etc.. but it's not completely waived.
So people are not allowed to talk about it at all? I just thought this was already public given how long its in development. Didn't know it's still private.
 

Nexus

Site Support
Administrator
Moderator
Professional
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
Wiki Moderator
UNLEASHED
So people are not allowed to talk about it at all? I just thought this was already public given how long its in development. Didn't know it's still private.
They've allowed people to stream the game, but going in and doing the stuff we'd want to do where on Stratics might not be in the clear, I don't want to risk violating the NDA all things considered.
 

DJAd

Stratics Legend
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
I think shards will pickup when it hits steam. It's gone very quiet in game due to the forthcoming wipe. I think once this is done it will be rockin' again.
 

BrianFreud

Lore Keeper, Wiki Maker, & Doer of Crazy Things
Professional
Stratics Veteran
Wiki Moderator
UNLEASHED
Campaign Supporter
Wiki Editor
Please focus on making it work on mobiles too. Like I appreciate the effort like with the Meet'n'Greets, but then you can't access it on my mobiles at all and have to go back to some desktop machine.
That's a longer term project. Realistically, UO's a game for computers, so the wiki's css is currently designed for computers.
 

Deaol

Certifiable
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
Campaign Supporter
@BrianFreud doesn't get the recognition he deserves for the amount of time he dedicates to the community. Actually I should say.. him and his clones don't, I do not know how he does what he does in 24 hours a day. :ten::thumbup:



oh and ps... everyone else at stratics is real great too, thanks everyone. :D
 

Snakeman

Grand Inquisitor
Alumni
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
So no Alumni status for myself after Modding for a few yr's on Napa.
 

The Craftsman

Certifiable
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
I probably deserve a special mention for lasting a whole year. The bookies gave long odds on that ;)
 
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