I thought that we try to introduce the SPSF — or citizenship, for that matter — before users get to the wizard. (I mean, they have to have a forum account to go through the wizard, so presumably they’d want to know what they’re creating an account for.) There’s our welcome dispatch, for example.
I’m not sure what this means. Do you plan for the SPSF to not recruit new members? Otherwise, that information would be ‘complicated’ and ‘overwhelming’ for new members whether you put it in a wizard, a dispatch, a Google Doc… why would it be any less overwhelming if it’s not in a wizard?
Okay, I’ll be more precise.
Why do we have a Minister of Defense nominee saying that putting the SPSF on the wizard is bad for recruitment while we have a Minister of Integration nominee promising that adding more roles to the wizard will be good for recruitment?
I think Trivalve hit the nail on the head when they noted,
How come the SPSF shouldn’t be ‘readily available’ the way, say, becoming an ambassador should be? What’s so different about the military that it needs its own separate applications process (which you have to then ensure people can locate on their own, as Trivalve noted!), compared to other ways to get involved?
I’m going to step in a bit on this conversation, largely because I think there’s a little bit of a game of telephone going on that’s muddying the waters all around. Let me clear things up a bit.
The Getting Involved Wizard as it is is uniquely bad for the SPSF. It fails to educate applicants on what we do, it fails to make clear the requirements to join, and it is somewhat awkward for existing members of our community to access. Additionally, the SPSF would like to move to a public application, so as to make them more accountable in recognition of the long stretch of time when applications sat unanswered.
The Getting Involved Wizard also has some mildly irritating technical quirks. Kringle and I went back and forth for the better part of a month trying to decide on a method that would work. Any overhaul of the system will take creating a detailed plan with a novel structure and then sitting down to work closely with a Forum Admin to actually implement it. It takes time, which is the same reason the that I decided to push forward with the Executive applications in a temporary format.
So, in the short-medium term, we feel the best thing for the Ministry of Defense to do is to pursue an application format on its own terms that meets all of its needs – something we can feasibly implement as soon as next week.
In the long term, the Ministry of Integration will be tasked with doing the work of a significant overhaul of the Wizard to include not only the existing citizenship applications but much of the executive applications as well. If we feel like we can include the SPSF application there in a way that allows it to benefit from the unified space while also meeting its educational and publicity needs, it is not entirely out of the question that it returns to the Getting Involved Wizard.
One of the parts of your campaign that I found most persuasive was the org chart. I don’t agree with every element of the chart (you know how I feel about ambassadors ) but I found it especially compelling to see that new players have an array of options and can (presumably) choose the one(s) that interest them most.
That’s why I’m a little confused why joining the SPSF — which was presented in that org chart as being comparable to becoming an ambassador or joining a project group — is so unique in its “educational and publicity needs” that it requires a separate application entirely.
What exactly are those needs? Why are they so much more involved than informing new players about what a citizen is? What an ambassador does? Why their game about governing a nation by answering issues has ‘projects’ to work on with other players?
Somewhat relatedly, are there any plans to let members help out with the Ministry of Integration? I’m happy to put my money where my mouth is, as I’ve created edits to the wizards before (iterating/revising on my own, if admin just needs a final product to review), but I couldn’t find any corresponding way to get involved on the executive applications form.
As of right now, the only joinable position for the Ministry of Integration is recruiters. However I am completely open to anyone willing to help out with the Getting Help Wizard. I will look into whether I want joinability to be dependant on the executive applications form or just for people to reach out to me about their interest.
) but I found it especially compelling to see that new players have an array of options and can (presumably) choose the one(s) that interest them most.