Staff Contact board

[Bluelatios]

On Serebii forums, there is a board that serves the purpose of hosting private conversations between a member and all the staff of the forum. Nobody can see the posts except the poster and staff. So I thought, why don't you guys do the same for BMGf? It would allow for better communication between members and staff over an issue. I think its a more open solution than the board of appeals since any staff can jump in and give feedback when necessary, rather than everybody relaying pms. This way the original poster can discuss the issue with the staff instead of the staff going and talking about it, but leaving the concerned member in the dark as to how its being handled until the final decision is reached.

[Shiny Celebi]

I actually support this alot. I would rather have a conversation with staff over an issue this way than through PMs if there ever was such an issue. I dont want to just sit and wait for a reply, but rather be involved in an actual discussion over an issue. I hate hate hate being left in the dark to sit and wait, I just think this would be a really great thing, and would be a lot better and help a lot of users here.

[Xenidal]

I don't really like this idea. I don't see much of an advantage over PMs... with a PM you can already send the same message to multiple staff members (for a group conversation). I guess what you're saying is that posting in a thread would allow for better involvement between the user and the staff... which may be the case but it would really only work if the staff views the threads often. You could do that through PMs if the staff members chose to keep you updated frequently... the fact that they often choose not to or simply don't have time to indicates that probably the same thing would happen if this forum was made (people would post stuff to the staff, and maybe the staff would view it, maybe reply, but probably not post any more often than how he currently responds to PMs). Maybe it would work slightly better, maybe not... I personally don't see anything wrong with the current system, therefore I don't think a change is necessary.

Not to mention that if such a board was made then staff members would need to continue to use PMs as well as that board... which would increase the amount of work (or amount of effort as all concerns aren't located in a single place anymore).

And I simply don't think such a forum would be all that useful. Usually if you want to contact the staff its because of one of three reasons:
- You want to report something (there's a Report button for this)
- You want to ask a specific question about the board (this would be best handled through a PM)
- You have been warned / penalized for something by a moderator (the moderator would send you a PM in this case, and you should reply to it if you have a concern. It doesn't make much sense to start a fresh topic about something that is currently being discussed in PMs)

[TheMissingno.]

Well I mean it sounds cool and all but... Actually yeah, I really like this idea. Another advantage is that you know that all of the staff definitely has the opportunity to see your post, instead of just the staff member who you PM. I'd definitely support this, and it would be something that I would put to use if the need arose.

[Baron Brixius]

Or you could just use AIM.

[Taliesyn]

Or you could just use AIM.

Which not everyone has.

I do support this, and I think it'd be really helpful. With PMs you don't have any idea who knows, whereas with this you're closer to what's happening and who's been talking about it.

[Pokemaster97]

I think this is a really good idea. If we could figure out a way to do that it would be a very good way for users to see that their issues are being handled. It's much more convenient than trying to relay PMs back and fourth with everyone. I support this idea.

[Nick of Time]

I support this. I've experienced getting in trouble by the staff in the past, and this would really help things turn out more fairly for people.

[Musashi]

This really wouldn't be any different than PMing staff members. Don't think it needs a whole board.

[Archaic]

I can see some of the reasons this might be preferable to using the PM system.

Firstly, it means that people can have a conversation, rather than having to quote every message from every previous PM every time.

Secondly, it can potentially speed up the process, given that we can clearly see if an issue hasn't been addressed. If a user PM's a staff member who's currently busy or on break, they might go days before receiving a reply. This way, a user should get replies quicker.

One thing it won't do however is necessarily make things more "transparent", like the original poster seems to want.

This way the original poster can discuss the issue with the staff instead of the staff going and talking about it, but leaving the concerned member in the dark as to how its being handled until the final decision is reached.

The concerned member is still going to be in the dark to some extent, because while you'd be able to discuss things with the staff members, we wouldn't be holding our deliberations in those threads.

At this point, colour me intrigued, but not yet totally convinced.

[Musashi]

The concerned member is still going to be in the dark to some extent, because while you'd be able to discuss things with the staff members, we wouldn't be holding our deliberations in those threads.

Which is why I said it would be no different than PMing a bunch of staff.

[Iteru]

It would at least let staff see what other staff have said in response (in case they missed out anything), I guess, and reduce the amount of PMs in our inbox given that we might not even get to the PM before a different mod does. It would save us a bit of space and effort.

[TheMissingno.]

One thing it won't do however is necessarily make things more "transparent", like the original poster seems to want.

Well it would be transparent in the sense that we would at least know that every mod has the opportunity to see the thread, whereas with PMs we never know who it's going to be sent to and who's going to see it and who isn't. Of course your deliberations would be kept private.

[Musashi]

Every single staff doesn't need to see every problem. This would just make thing more of a hassle for everyone.

[Iteru]

Every single staff doesn't need to see every problem. This would just make thing more of a hassle for everyone.

If they're threads then we don't particularly have to enter them; I'm not gonna enter a thread that is labelled "Video Games help" or "Entertainment Inc. question" We could also just edit "Solved" or "Answered" into the titles so that mods don't waste time browsing a solved issue.