Hello!
Today (2018-04-22), in an effort to improve transparency regarding team decision-making, a meeting of the Quality Assurance Team was held in the osu!dev public discord server for the first time. The major discussion points for this meeting were the implementation and operation of the new "branch" structure of the QAT (where each QAT focuses their work on one or more specific fields) to improve workflow and productivity, and the proposed addition of a badge recognising the long-term contributions of our Beatmap Nominators.
For those who were unable or unaware of the meeting, a summary of the discussion and resulting tasks/outcomes for the team can be found below.
Metadata: 8 Metadata Helpers, 4 QAT, (+KwaN still helps out sometimes), some Helper departures but 2 new additions, activity generally meeting required standard, Lanturn will push people more if necessary
Disqualifications: osu!standard has fallen behind slightly due to pressures of exam season on its members, hope to renew motivation and add new members before the next cycle of probation BNs for osu! are added. osu!taiko, osu!catch and osu!mania struggled initially with new BN influx in March, but have since stabilised. DQs as a whole working as intended. Branch responsibilities now include veto mediation as set out in the new wiki article on Beatmap Vetoing.
Moderation: Leadership will be transferred to Gabe since previous leader Kurai is busy. A spreadsheet record is kept of inappropriate submissions, UserIDs of offending mappers are automatically logged to ensure repeat offenders are punished accordingly. The list of accepted/denied songs will be kept private to avoid promotion of this content, and encourage discussion from mappers asking if their specific case is okay (as set out in the Song Content Rules - QAT will be given access to this to more readily converse with mappers who have questions about the suitability of their song/map. Raiden to leave moderation until June.
BN Applications: osu!standard applications are currently under review and will be released soon, osu!taiko/catch/mania probation BNs have recently been evaluated and promotions to full Nominator made where appropriate. Everything operating as required.
Nominator Subdivisions: Could be expanded, since some divisions are not used actively whereas others utilise highly structured team queues where all members share the same goals. Possibility to automate some aspects of divisions to make them more dynamic and less cycle-dependent - Naxess to investigate during the summer.
Gazette: First article went out a little late due to other news announcements taking priority. Protastic101 and Raiden debuted and their content went down well, less workload on JBHyperion (and more variety) is appreciated. Feerum is interested in reviving the previously proposed "QAT interviews" if there is still interest.
Spotlights: Regular spotlights working on reasonable schedule, themed spotlights falling behind and need extra pushing Kurokami to liaise with the Spotlights contributors.
UBKRC (Ranking Criteria): Current open drafts are metadata overhaul and some minor osu!standard and and osu!catch amendments - Okoratu offered to assist with organising and porting final drafts to the wiki, -Mo- willing to assist if extra help is needed. Traditional usage of RC subforum (public request / suggestion threads) will be revived since the UBKRC (main rework project) is now archived.
Need a log of BN removals (we have additions only for cases from 2014-2017) for everyone post-August 2014 which would require previous members of the Beatmap Nominators to submit their dated removal PM. Proposed timeframe for awarding badge either 1 or 2 years total cumulative service. Badge will typically not be awarded when a BN is forcibly removed due to lack of proficiency or misconduct, as is the case with alumni title for departing GMT/QAT members.
Current ideas for BN badges: Purple colour scheme, single badge for all game modes with a “new” as-yet-undetermined BN logo/icon - hovering over this badge displays text stating their mode proficiency and length of time active as a BN.
JBH:
> Rewrite QAT wiki article with branch info (Fycho and Kurai leading metadata, Gabe leading moderation, Raiden leaving moderation)
Mao:
> Contact old BNs for removal dates, open logging/discussion thread
> Quality Assurance Helper review to be conducted for all members
Gabe: Quality Assurance Helper “satisfaction” survey
To BNs: If you weren't able to attend the meeting but would like to discuss the points mentioned (especially regarding QAH, Subdivisions and Badges), feel free to do so here!
Today (2018-04-22), in an effort to improve transparency regarding team decision-making, a meeting of the Quality Assurance Team was held in the osu!dev public discord server for the first time. The major discussion points for this meeting were the implementation and operation of the new "branch" structure of the QAT (where each QAT focuses their work on one or more specific fields) to improve workflow and productivity, and the proposed addition of a badge recognising the long-term contributions of our Beatmap Nominators.
For those who were unable or unaware of the meeting, a summary of the discussion and resulting tasks/outcomes for the team can be found below.
QAT Branch Review
Metadata: 8 Metadata Helpers, 4 QAT, (+KwaN still helps out sometimes), some Helper departures but 2 new additions, activity generally meeting required standard, Lanturn will push people more if necessary
Disqualifications: osu!standard has fallen behind slightly due to pressures of exam season on its members, hope to renew motivation and add new members before the next cycle of probation BNs for osu! are added. osu!taiko, osu!catch and osu!mania struggled initially with new BN influx in March, but have since stabilised. DQs as a whole working as intended. Branch responsibilities now include veto mediation as set out in the new wiki article on Beatmap Vetoing.
Moderation: Leadership will be transferred to Gabe since previous leader Kurai is busy. A spreadsheet record is kept of inappropriate submissions, UserIDs of offending mappers are automatically logged to ensure repeat offenders are punished accordingly. The list of accepted/denied songs will be kept private to avoid promotion of this content, and encourage discussion from mappers asking if their specific case is okay (as set out in the Song Content Rules - QAT will be given access to this to more readily converse with mappers who have questions about the suitability of their song/map. Raiden to leave moderation until June.
BN Applications: osu!standard applications are currently under review and will be released soon, osu!taiko/catch/mania probation BNs have recently been evaluated and promotions to full Nominator made where appropriate. Everything operating as required.
Nominator Subdivisions: Could be expanded, since some divisions are not used actively whereas others utilise highly structured team queues where all members share the same goals. Possibility to automate some aspects of divisions to make them more dynamic and less cycle-dependent - Naxess to investigate during the summer.
Gazette: First article went out a little late due to other news announcements taking priority. Protastic101 and Raiden debuted and their content went down well, less workload on JBHyperion (and more variety) is appreciated. Feerum is interested in reviving the previously proposed "QAT interviews" if there is still interest.
Spotlights: Regular spotlights working on reasonable schedule, themed spotlights falling behind and need extra pushing Kurokami to liaise with the Spotlights contributors.
UBKRC (Ranking Criteria): Current open drafts are metadata overhaul and some minor osu!standard and and osu!catch amendments - Okoratu offered to assist with organising and porting final drafts to the wiki, -Mo- willing to assist if extra help is needed. Traditional usage of RC subforum (public request / suggestion threads) will be revived since the UBKRC (main rework project) is now archived.
BN Badges
Need a log of BN removals (we have additions only for cases from 2014-2017) for everyone post-August 2014 which would require previous members of the Beatmap Nominators to submit their dated removal PM. Proposed timeframe for awarding badge either 1 or 2 years total cumulative service. Badge will typically not be awarded when a BN is forcibly removed due to lack of proficiency or misconduct, as is the case with alumni title for departing GMT/QAT members.
Current ideas for BN badges: Purple colour scheme, single badge for all game modes with a “new” as-yet-undetermined BN logo/icon - hovering over this badge displays text stating their mode proficiency and length of time active as a BN.
Tasks
JBH:
> Rewrite QAT wiki article with branch info (Fycho and Kurai leading metadata, Gabe leading moderation, Raiden leaving moderation)
Mao:
> Quality Assurance Helper review to be conducted for all members
Gabe: Quality Assurance Helper “satisfaction” survey
To BNs: If you weren't able to attend the meeting but would like to discuss the points mentioned (especially regarding QAH, Subdivisions and Badges), feel free to do so here!