Information For Applicants
— the application kit
Liaison: The Three Rs
Liaisons have a very varied life, with their operations changing from day to day (an impression, we hope, you also got from the daily life section of the main liaison page). What follows is an attempt to give you some idea of the operations of the domain, the roles of a liaison, and your future responsibilities should you get hired.
Relationships
The liaison domain can roughly 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 the domain (as well as helping them with the contacts should they wish to get projects in 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 (about a week), and move on to only being visible when an experienced liaison is around to supervise, for a while. During this time they learn the many basic skills and knowledge required in the day-to-day life of a liaison . They have the rest of the domain (and, up to a certain extent, creator base) helping them and showing them the ropes.
General staff have day-to-day liaison duties, and may, if they have the time and willingness, also be assigned to projects within the domain (for example organising newbiehelpers, maintaining player or creator help files, or other projects like the ones described in the project page). They can also join projects in other domains if they want to and the leadership of the other domain agrees with this.
Roles
General tasks are the day-to-day duties of being a first point of contact for players, helping them with bugs and missing item receipts and after crashes, talking over bug- and ideareports as well as answering any player query they can (without revealing information that is not supposed to be given out to players, since asking a creator something should generally not be a replacement for player research and interaction with others).
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.
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 positions on the MUD, write bugreports or otherwise help the mud.
Liaisons are also expected to get to know players in general, and spend time talking to them, on the talker and outside. Liaisons should act visible and approachable to players. Many ideas and concerns are not raised with reports or complaints, for whatever reason, and a liaison should take care to give people the feeling that they can come to us.
Liaisons are sometimes 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, or otherwise for projects withing the domain.
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 be available when they can be. 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. This doesn't mean they always have to liaise whenever they have time for Discworld and there is no other liaison on, but if you get hired your liaison character is considered your main character.
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.
