Information for Applicants
— the application kit
Thee Liaison: Thee Three Rs
Liaisons have a very varied life, with their operations changing from day to day. What follows is an attempt to give you some idea of the operations of the domain, the roles of a Liaison, and your responsibilities.
Relationships
The Liaison domain can be split into three broad categories: newbies, general staff, and admin.
Admin is made up of the Leader of Liaison, and any Liaison Deputies that the Leader has appointed. These members oversee the management of the domain, including being responsible for hiring and firing, training new members, writing policy, and organising projects for other Liaisons within Liaison and other domains. They also help resolve disputes and complaints, and should be a Liaison's first point of contact if they're unhappy about something.
Newbies to the domain start their career invisible. They continue invisible for some period of time (at least two weeks) until they have mastered the many basic skills required in the day-to-day life of a Liaison. They have the rest of the domain (and creator base) helping them and showing them the ropes, with a member of Liaison Admin acting as supervisor and mentor.
General staff have day-to-day Liaison duties, and may also be assigned to projects within the domain (e.g. Newbie Helpers, Player Helpfiles) or outside it (e.g. Assassins' Guild, Forn Domain)
Roles
General duties (performed by general staff and admin) have day-to-day duties of being a first point of contact for players, helping them with bugs and missing item receipts and after crashes, as well as answering any player query they can.
Liaisons act as the link between players and coders, helping information flow both ways. This is an important role for the continuing health of the MUD. To best advise coders and players, a Liaison must keep up to date with developments and attitudes towards them. It is important to read as many creator and player boards as possible, especially ones that relate to a specific project.
Part of a Liaison's role is to encourage and appeal to players. This is both in the role of helping newbies get started in the game and answer as many of their questions as you can, and encouraging players to apply for creator positions on the MUD.
Specific projects in another domain or guild are long-term commitments, where a Liaison gets to know the coders (and players, in a guild) and assists in any way possible. A Director may have a specific task that needs completion, or a Liaison may spot a valuable contribution they can make.
Liaisons are also expected to get to know players in general, and spend time talking to them. Many ideas and concerns are not raised with reports or complaints, for whatever reason, and a Liaison should be on the ball and watch out for such players who may have important contributions to make.
Liaisons are often asked to take surveys, compile opinions, or summarise idea reports on a particular topic, to provide a helpful report to creators who often won't have the time to sort through so much text.
Responsibilities
Liaisons have a great deal of trust placed in them, and a responsibility not to abuse that trust. Liaisons deal with players constantly, and it is most important to be fair and consistent with all players, no matter if you know them or not.
Liaisons are the public face of creators, and as such, most players will draw their conclusions about creators in general from the Liaisons they have contact with. Liaising can be a thankless job, and while abuse should be reported and not be tolerated, a Liaison must never lose their cool with a player. It is imperative to stay polite and calm.
Liaisons are responsible for keeping the Liaison Admin up to date with their projects and progress, as well as any troubles, concerns, or ideas they have had.
Liaisons are expected to always be available. Unless they have good reason, they should stay visible while they are online. They should also be prepared to SU from a player alt if required, and should log on as a Liaison after a crash, for example.
Reprise
This might all sound like a lot of work. And it is. Being a Liaison requires a considerable amount of time and dedication, as well as patience and a wish to help the MUD. It's important Liaisons log in regularly, and consistently over a long-term period. This position isn't for everyone, however much you might like "helping people".
A better phrase to represent what a Liaison does is probably "helping the MUD". As well as assisting players generally, a Liaison also promotes the well-being of the guilds, advertises the plans and projects of the domains, both to enroll new creators and bolster the work of existing creators, and acts as a link for information to pass between players, creators, Domain Leaders, and Admin. All of these together are the duties of a Liaison and they are all vital to the health and prosperity of Discworld.
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