A Question to SQUAD

[henryrasia]

Hello everyone, I just wanted to ask a very quick question to the developers (or anyone at SQUAD) and woud rather not having users speculate on this.

I was browsing around the KSP website and found this page: https://www.kerbalspaceprogram.com/about.php.

In it there was, at the bottom of the page, a list of the people working on KSP. One detail that caught my eye, though, is the legacy section. I understand legacy as prominent figures that have left the team for one reason or another, the question here is: why did some just disapear?

For example, NovaSilisko is in that legacy section and no official announcement and/or comment has been made on his situation. He was "on leave" and then just dropped off the radar. Another one would be Artyom, who was hired into the team and now was, erm, unhired (once again without any clues)?

Another detail is the silence in the KSP Weekly (or Daily Kerbal) about those new developers. Are they just not working?

I apologize in advance if any of this was inaccurate or if I missed something else. I highly appreciate the team and the game they're making. But seriously, after the Steam release and the inflood of new players SQUAD suddenly became a whole less transparent and connected to the community. So I just want an answer from someone that can actually answer this, and I'd imagine other do too.

[Luis]

Squad are a very open company but I think it's unrealistic to expect them to discuss staff issues of that sort. I have absolutely no inside info to offer, but I believe that some of the names on the legacy list are students that were taken on as part time interns and have now returned to their studies.

[Rowsdower]

Hi, henryrasia. Please allow me to defer to Maxmap's statement in a recent post on a similar subject.

It is company policy and professional courtesy to not disclose this sort of things.

I know that it's kind of a short answer, but it's the most "to the point" one.

[henryrasia]

I agree they are very open, but I argue that they have been closing in recent times. Also, staff issues were discussed very openly when the former community manager had to leave and when they hired some mod developers. I am asking why has SQUAD's comunity interaction been so streamlined? It isn't devs talking openly in the forums, it's a weekly report and that's it.

On another note, the forums moderators used to have personalities and be members of the comunity more than just moderators (SalVager, Cpt Skunky) and now it's just a bunch of random moderators that lock threads, state the rule they're enforcing, and leave. What happened?

[rkman]

It is company policy and professional courtesy to not disclose this sort of things.

It is understandable that Squad does not discuss the details as to why an employee is no longer with them.

But it is hardly a reason to make no announcement whatsoever when an employee leaves. I think it looks a bit strange when people sort of just disappear.

[Scrogdog]

To the assertion that devs don't post; demonstrably not true. HarvesteR himself just posted in a topic commenting about new releases breaking saves.

Everything in life evolves. By nature of how this game has grown, the community is no longer very small. The game is getting its legs and that is a good thing.

I would not be so quick to dismiss the moderators as impersonal, I think they do a great job. Not only that, but at least one that I know I of has made a pretty good mod and another created a collection of tutorials for new players. That is not valuable to you? Or makes them not a valuable part of this community?

I swear these guys are damned if they do or don't. Post too much and then we'd get posts wondering why they play around on the forums instead of working on the game. Sheesh!

Play the game and enjoy the new releases. My guess is that .23 comes to us in record time. That's bad?

Edited December 5, 2013 by Scrogdog

[razark]

It is understandable that Squad does not discuss the details as to why an employee is no longer with them.

But it is hardly a reason to make no announcement whatsoever when an employee leaves. I think it looks a bit strange when people sort of just disappear.

Honestly, how many companies do y'all interact with on any given day? Do you expect each and every one of those companies to inform you about changes in their employees?

[henryrasia]

I am just saying that these things accumulate over time, raising suspicions. I am just asking that the devs do a clean up, very open and clear (not with that official undertone) in the form of a post, a blog, or maybe even a video. That would be inmensely alliviating for this side of things. Also, because of the membership growth I am afraid SQUAD has forgotten that many of us understand real life science and physics as well as game development in many of its ways, but they do not make post explaining their progress in (a bit) of depth as they did before.

The concerns I raised above are just examples for them not to forget were they to answer after reading this.

[henryrasia]

Do you expect each and every one of those companies to inform you about changes in their employees?

Honestly, SQUAD is a somewhat small team. For this reason every single employee is very influential and important, different from most companies.

[jsfalconero]

What Scrog said. Personally I think SQUAD can do what they want with their company and they don't owe me one whit. I suppose it speaks to their credit that the community cares enough about the team to wonder about that sort of thing, but we need to be careful not to demand so much that the team fails to function properly because of it.

As for the moderators, I'm fairly certain they are kept plenty busy with all the threads in need of moving and necro threads to kill (and who doesn't appreciate someone skilled at killing zombies?) to do a bunch of posting not related to that. I know I couldn't keep up with what they do and still talk as much as I do.

So basically, it's OK, the Devs are working feverishly to bring you 0.23, and the Mods are real people just like you (I think at least, maybe SQUAD unlocked MechMod in their programming tech tree... lol... *don't ban me*)

[rkman]

Do you expect each and every one of those companies to inform you about changes in their employees?

Squad does have a habit of making an announcement when there's a new employee, just not when that employe leaves.

[stupid_chris]

I agree they are very open, but I argue that they have been closing in recent times. Also, staff issues were discussed very openly when the former community manager had to leave and when they hired some mod developers. I am asking why has SQUAD's comunity interaction been so streamlined? It isn't devs talking openly in the forums, it's a weekly report and that's it.

On another note, the forums moderators used to have personalities and be members of the comunity more than just moderators (SalVager, Cpt Skunky) and now it's just a bunch of random moderators that lock threads, state the rule they're enforcing, and leave. What happened?

I am a moderator and a player. I'm also a mod maker. I'm an active member of the community. I have a personality, yes thank you. I think the problem resides more into forum users looking at moderators as implacable figures of authority and as people who are here to tell you everything you are doing wrong.

And if you are, you're totally missing the point.

As you said, moderators have a personality. We're people. We're memeber of this community before everything else. We are simply keeping a watchful eye on what is happening here. None of us is here to give as many infraction as we can. We're all here to help you guys.

I've been on the mod team for nearly half a year now, and I pretty much know personally every single one of them, and I can assure you they are all fabulous people with brilliant personalities.

Our goal is not to close every thread. Our goal is not to infract everyone. Our goal is not to sit every of you guys in the corner. Our goal is to try to push this community in the best direction possible. We're here to help. We're here to make a more pleasant atmosphere for you guys. We're all volunteers. No one forced us to be moderator. We're doing this because we love this community, just like you, and we want this community to be as healthy as possible.

Please reconsider your thoughts on the moderation team, and look at each moderator in his whole instead of just looking at when he needs to use his moderator powers before judging them. You are missing a whole lot my friend.

Now that this is said, Squad can reserve all the right to not divulge employee matters. Squad is in no way oblidged to even make an announcement when someone leaves the team, even if they are a small company, and even if they are close to the community. Buying the game does not entitle you to this information, as per the terms to which you agreed by buying the game. Employees come and go, and so is life. We understand that KSP is dear to you guys, and we understand that you are worried when you see Squad employees leaving, but you do not have access to the information sadly.

N3X15 no longer works for Squad. We deeply thank him for his time, effort and passion and we wish him the absolute best, but we do not talk about employee matters.

Edited December 5, 2013 by stupid_chris

[Sapphire]

On another note, the forums moderators used to have personalities and be members of the comunity more than just moderators (SalVager, Cpt Skunky) and now it's just a bunch of random moderators that lock threads, state the rule they're enforcing, and leave. What happened?

I resent that! I was an avid KSP player and partaker of forums before, and I still am, despite the utter horror that is college exams right now. Now I just happen to be able to lock things that could make this place less fun, while I have fun. I'm still me. I didn't really do anything that special, I didn't ask, I'm not paid for it. Someone asked me to do it, and since I really like this place, I said yes.

[Superfluous J]

It's not surprising at all that a forum that has grown as astronomically as this one has, has to streamline its moderation. Same goes for a company streamlining its interaction with the community. They don't talk to us as much because they're making the game we love and want more of. The moderators post short posts about why they lock a thread because it's quicker and they can get back to playing the game. Also, putting a blunt face on those kinds of posts allows for a more consistent experience on our parts.

I frankly prefer it this way. Threads get locked when they're no longer doing their job of informing us of what their subject lines say they're informing us of, and trolls and spammers are being so well kept at bay that I'm totally unaware of them.

Sounds like everything's going well to me

[Specialist290]

As (EDIT: one of) the friendly neighborhood moderator(s) who happened to be passing through, I thought I'd drop by to add a little something to the thread myself.

As for the moderators, I'm fairly certain they are kept plenty busy with all the threads in need of moving and necro threads to kill (and who doesn't appreciate someone skilled at killing zombies?) to do a bunch of posting not related to that. I know I couldn't keep up with what they do and still talk as much as I do.

This is very true; monitoring the day-to-day activities of the forum as a whole and ensuring that they run smoothly does take up a fair bit of our time. In addition to locking and shuffling threads, there's a fair bit of activity that goes on behind the curtain: Scrutinizing and approving posts from new members, zapping spambots that try to breach the filter, and other things of that nature.

That being said, I personally do make a point to try to contribute something positive to the community by answering the occasional question and greeting new members, as well as maintaining the Drawing Board (as Scrogdog has already mentioned). I also know, as the others have mentioned in their posts, that the other members of the staff each also try to contribute something of their own to the community as well, such as chris's and asmi's mods, Vanamonde's tutorial trainer ships, Yargnit's work for KSP-TV, and vexx32's fiendishly clever riddles in the Forum Games, to name but a few.

And, as mentioned before, we're all volunteers here. We took this job because we wanted to help make the community a better place, and the moderators who were already there approved of us as people they felt were qualified to do the job. We're fans and players of Kerbal Space Program, just like y'all are, at the end of the day, and we've chosen to take on the responsibility that we have to make sure that this community is one where players of all skill and experience levels feel welcomed and are encouraged to participate and cooperate to the utmost to stay awesome

So basically, it's OK, the Devs are working feverishly to bring you 0.23, and the Mods are real people just like you (I think at least, maybe SQUAD unlocked MechMod in their programming tech tree... lol... *don't ban me*)

At the very least, I can pass a Turing test on a good day.

EDIT: And it looks like, as is traditional, I have been ninja'd once again by my peers.

Edited December 5, 2013 by Specialist290

[M5000]

What about Mods not having personalities? We were all regular members at some point! D:

I mean, maybe you SEE moderators as being "the ones who show up and lock threads" because, you know, that's the last post in the thread and everyone looks at that. What's to say you wouldn't have skipped it over had we been normal players pleading for the thread to get back on topic.

Point is, respect your fellow players, moderator or otherwise. c:

-M5K

Edited December 5, 2013 by M5000

[vexx32]

Wow, we're just taking over the thread here, eh fellas?

I think it's worth saying that it is fairly common amongst most of humanity to cease thinking of certain individuals as individuals once there's a certain degree of a difference in power between oneself and the other. It is always good to remember that these individuals are still people, no matter how much power they wield -- although they can often forget that those they perceive as 'lesser' are human, too. It's kind of weird, when you think about it.

[razark]

So, we're supposed to be treated as equals by a company, but the moderators on the forum are just faceless drones?

I am truly amused.

[Tataffe]

N3X15 no longer works for Squad. We deeply thank him for his time, effort and passion and we wish him the absolute best, but we do not talk about employee matters.

*any more.

And that is what confuses us, as the former "open-ness" is what made Squad so loveable. Of course they are not required to do this, but the weekly updates (or, before that, the live stream) were the icing on the cake. And apparently Kerbal Comics are over, as well.

[stupid_chris]

*any more.

And that is what confuses us, as the former "open-ness" is what made Squad so loveable. Of course they are not required to do this, but the weekly updates (or, before that, the live stream) were the icing on the cake. And apparently Kerbal Comics are over, as well.

That is their decision and their decision only. I don't ever remember Squad announcing a departure, apart from Damion's departure, and we all remember the reaction of the community. Not something anyone wants to see again.

As for Kerbal Comics, they were never affiliated with Squad in any way. That was Skunky who did them. If he stopped, he's the one to ask to why.

[blizzy78]

N3X15 no longer works for Squad.

What does that mean with respect to SpacePort 2?

[KasperVld]

No word on that yet unfortunately, blizzy.

I'll say a few words about the moderators having lost their personality, because I can see where the sentiment comes from. Every moderator here is an active member of the community who has stood out because of their personality. They were helping people, bundling information and constructive in their remarks. Some moderators have slightly different tasks than others, that's why you'll mostly see 'green names' closing threads or giving infractions and it's also why you'll see 'blue names' post less frequently. I spend most of my time here overseeing the moderators and helping out behind the scenes. I don't post as often as I used to, or as often as I'd like to but there's only so many hours in the day and I can't spend them all on the community. Despite that you can often find me in the IRC channel or during the KSP-TV streams and the same goes for a lot of the moderators here.

Moderators do police the forums but as the people before me have said (and I think this is a very good point) we're here to guide the forums and to provide a place where everyone can share their enthusiasm and vision for the game. The moderation team consists of roughly 30 awesome volunteers I'd hire any day of the week. The fact that we're able to run this community so well is not only down to the moderators though: the community itself is fantastic! It consists of almost 100,000 people (5,500 active) who treat eachother and the developers with respect. You'd be surprised how few infractions are actually given. So there, that's a big compliment for you!

[pxi]

There is a small bit of this that I can agree with, we're encouraged by the weekly/daily to know who the devs are, this is a good thing. It's nice to know something about the people that are involved with the project. The downside to this is that when they leave the project, you do tend to wonder what happened.

I work with a number of small companies, and I've seen a lot of employee turnover - people I have face to face interactions with on an almost daily basis. When that happens, sometimes you are told why, sometimes not. I might be curious, but it's not my place to push the issue. Many companies pretty much have a policy of not talking about ex-employees. It doesn't surprise me that Squad may have decided to go down that route, and from a legal standpoint it's probably the thing to do.

As to the moderators, you guys are doing a good job.

[Beachernaut]

A company not discussing former employees is standard procedure. This follows every company I've ever interacted with. Heck, the only reason I know when an employee in my company leaves is because user administration and employee access is part of my job, so I have to know. However, I'm never told why they left. I think the difference here is that with Squad interacting with the community as much as they do, and the community itself being more personable than most, we as players are more concerned about the well being of both the developers, and the community as a whole. You don't generally see this with the larger game developers. I play quite a few EA games, and the thought about their employees has never crossed my mind.

As KSP grows and gets more involved as a game, I would expect that Squad will not be able to put the personal touch on the community that they did in the beginning. Having been involved with a small company growing very fast, I've seen first hand how difficult it is to keep that personal touch.

I usually chuckle a bit when I see someone complain about moderators. Having moderated on a couple forums (large and small), I understand that 1 thread lock, 1 infraction, or a deleted post will completely negate the last 50 reply's you made assisting other members. Moderating is a time consuming and thankless job. Since it is usually volunteer work, most moderators do it out of a desire to assist the community. That alone should be worthy of our respect. Although I have seen bad moderators, they are very rare.

[NovaSilisko]

For example, NovaSilisko is in that legacy section and no official announcement and/or comment has been made on his situation. He was "on leave" and then just dropped off the radar.

I wish I could tell the full story, but I don't know if I can. It was my decision, though.