Stop using staff blocks for everything.
 

You guys have a small wall in OSL that was meant for news. Staff blocks everywhere full of text looks very messy, unprofessional, and unnecessary when you can simply post a lot of this in some kind of news post.

They do?

Agreed lol.. there's also a block somewhere with: New GP lougne?

uhggggggg is it just me or does EVERY staff member have staff blocks and live off of them? they put one right in the middle of the road at unstick me and i crashed into it so many times that i can't even count.

I don't have staff blocks.

I've never seen a staff block 'right in the middle of the road'.

GG

last night, it was in the middle of the road, and it said something. i never saw what it said, i was more focused on not dying in the fire that combusted when i drove into it.

I've seem them many times.

I 100% concur with you. I've always wondered why they never use the news wall function. Perhaps, maybe use it in the newspapers...

I know they want the word to be spread out quickly, but that's just unprofessional, and a big mess. Staff blocks should only be used for development purposes only.. or something.

Agreed that the news section should be more utilized.
I would argue that people are more apt to read something out of the ordinary like a staff block "in the middle of the road", but at the same time, the news section should stand out more.
Also realize that many of the staff don't even have access to that news tab. Their only way of communicating to the players is either mass message or placing a big, gray staff block in an apparent location.
The only thing that wall is used for now is seeing the gang scores, and hell, more than half of the wall is taken up by two soda machines.
Perhaps a freestanding bulletin board or something would be more fitting, saying "updated 01/27/09!" or something.

On the other hand, isn't there a whole "news" tab that pops up when you hit N?
By default, doesn't that come up every time you log on?
Is there a point to even having any news indication outside of the news tab?

Should have a super-sized sign NPC interface with news listed there. Everytime it's updated, the post itself should have some kind of animation or so to stand out for a few hours.

I don't know, anything to keep staff blocks off every corner of the populated areas.

Could have a board that scrolls through the news. Sorta like the old message system did.

The news GUI that automatically opens when you connect has little bubbles to notify you when a tab has been updated.

I don't see a problem with staff blocks at all...they're temporary, easily noticeable, and can be used by virtually any staff member. They're a great tool for planting notifications or announcements relative only to a particular area, too.

i.e. the skateshop gets new skateboards, and a staff member places a staffblock on top of the building "Check out my new skateboards!"

Certainly not important enough to make the news GUI, but still something players might like to hear about.

Should have a pretty sign that says it for you then. Staff blocks do not belong in levels unless it's some sort of emergency. The notifications I see are usually minor and event related, stop being lazy people.

Why waste time on a "pretty sign" that would only hold a temporary message? I'm pretty sure the staff team has more important things to worry about right now...

I do agree with you, however, that announcements such as the auctions should have gone in the news GUI.