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Community Advocate Program


Kyp

Community Advocate Election  

62 members have voted

  1. 1. Who will you choose as your first Community Advocate?



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I'd like to ask why former/current staff members are excluded? It seems to me that someone like Alkemmi/Potch/Probuild would be a very good choice. He is very familiar with the game from his time as a beta+, very calm and competent, and maybe most important, he is smart and friendly.

The only reason i could see to not allow someone like that is that you don't want to lose him as a beta+. If that is the case, i fully understand but if it is not, could someone expand on the reasoning for that rule please?

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I got to say while the 1 of ea race thing for a council has its merits, it sounds like what they have outlined in the OP and it's intents that would be too bulky or cumbersome. For a commitee to meet and get a briefing from the devs and then give "their" player advocacy input could be unwieldy...think of it a congress or parliment...rule by commitee is a long process and lots of time to finally hammer out a true concensus. Were the point is of having a focal point...a sort of President of a delegation of players. He hammers out the players concerns and input prior to meetings..the scut work if you will...then "represents" the community as a partner with the devs to speed up and streamline implementation of storyline and mechanics of the game.

The player advocate candidate it seems to me is a attempt to put a face to the name. A person that players feel comfortable expressing ideas (without repricusions) to and can be a entermediary with the behind the scene work the Gm/Devs do each day without viriol spilling over to them for the many times thankless jobs they do. Remember, the advocate while representing the membership as a whole will have to juggle players wants and needs with realities of what is achievable and then express that to both sides (gm/dev and player base).

I think what has been stated as the goals for the advocacy would not be best served with a commitee approach but more with a executive approach..i.e. a president and vice president. It has the advantage of streamlining the process with one representive and a alternate "in the loop" (V.P) to be effectuated in the event the prez. can't make the meeting or must abdicate, then the V.P. can assume the spot to preserve continuety. Thus not having the down time of another election to get a candidate and the "bringing them up to speed"of a new advocate, he can represent and a new V.P. can be sought to fill his former role without disrupting the process.

As to the ability to represent the 3 races, for your consideration: All the hardcore players that everyone seems to be nominating...they have multiple toons, play them on a regular basis, and I would venture that they have more than a inkling of the inherant problems of ea race/class and can well be impartial to the extent they must, after all they love the game as much as we and wouldn't want it thrown off by petty bias either.

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I also like the 3 nominee's. If possible from different guilds just to get that many more ideas coming in. Of course anyone can talk to the reps and express their concerns / ideas, but these reps will obviously talk with their guildies quite a bit due to the guild chat channel. So having them all in different guilds at the least might help to gather "more" useful information. Also, having 3 reps will alleviate some of the potentially upset people because their choice didnt get voted in.

I do not think having a jen rep, progen rep and terran rep is required though. IMO the folks nomiated should have a hopefully braod understanding of all races/classes with a preference to one race maybe? I dunno, I just think excluding someone because "we already got a progen rep" is a path to avoid. Just my 2 cents.

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I'd like to ask why former/current staff members are excluded? It seems to me that someone like Alkemmi/Potch/Probuild would be a very good choice. He is very familiar with the game from his time as a beta+, very calm and competent, and maybe most important, he is smart and friendly.

The only reason i could see to not allow someone like that is that you don't want to lose him as a beta+. If that is the case, i fully understand but if it is not, could someone expand on the reasoning for that rule please?

I'm not speaking for them but perhaps it's to head off even a inkling of the potential of conflict of interest....the advocate as outlined in OP would be a intermediary between fan base and gm/dev. A sort of focal point for player input and gm/dev output. If it comes to a point for game mechanics they have to do something unpopular, it is the advocate that is going to have to explain why/werefore its going on, and help mitigate the fallout. He/She would be ill served in this task if it was perceived by the fan base if they were not impartial, that as a former beta+ or GM or Dev they are part of the "good ol' boys" network.

Also as the advocate..like a judge they would have to recluse themselves from decisions that they formaly were involved in to maintain their impartiality. For instance..would you like to go before a judge that was a relative of the other party in litigation? Or maybe a judge that was a business partner with the other party? This is why judges recluse themselves (even if they could remain impartial) they must maintain even the PERCEPTION of partiality from taking hold.

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I also like the 3 nominee's. If possible from different guilds just to get that many more ideas coming in. Of course anyone can talk to the reps and express their concerns / ideas, but these reps will obviously talk with their guildies quite a bit due to the guild chat channel. So having them all in different guilds at the least might help to gather "more" useful information. Also, having 3 reps will alleviate some of the potentially upset people because their choice didnt get voted in.

I do not think having a jen rep, progen rep and terran rep is required though. IMO the folks nomiated should have a hopefully braod understanding of all races/classes with a preference to one race maybe? I dunno, I just think excluding someone because "we already got a progen rep" is a path to avoid. Just my 2 cents.

Not shooting down your idea..but how about a 4th then? What about the players that don't like guilds? I mave many toons both in and out of guilds and enjoy both...I did that in live also. Sometimes as a guild officer you just want to take some time off from guild activities and solo it. So wouldn't your approach call for a 4th then to get the "good ideas" for those that like the solitary play? In live there was a bias for groups and guild content put in by EA for marketing reasons...I would very much like to see this not be reintroduced into EMU because of "guild think".

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I'm not speaking for them but perhaps it's to head off even a inkling of the potential of conflict of interest....the advocate as outlined in OP would be a intermediary between fan base and gm/dev. A sort of focal point for player input and gm/dev output. If it comes to a point for game mechanics they have to do something unpopular, it is the advocate that is going to have to explain why/werefore its going on, and help mitigate the fallout. He/She would be ill served in this task if it was perceived by the fan base if they were not impartial, that as a former beta+ or GM or Dev they are part of the "good ol' boys" network.

Also as the advocate..like a judge they would have to recluse themselves from decisions that they formaly were involved in to maintain their impartiality. For instance..would you like to go before a judge that was a relative of the other party in litigation? Or maybe a judge that was a business partner with the other party? This is why judges recluse themselves (even if they could remain impartial) they must maintain even the PERCEPTION of partiality from taking hold.

I disagree with the notion that there is a "good ol' boys" network on the dev/beta teams. The whole reason these guys do what they do is because they loved and love the game as both players and devs.

Is the dev/player relationship really so adversarial that we need to worry about "the perception of impartiality"?

And obviously whoever took the position would have to give up his/her staff position to serve as liaison so they would be automatically recused from any actual decisions. Where's the conflict of interest?

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Ill wait for some people to step up to the plate and tell us they would be interested in doing this.

First Magoo said he didn’t have time, I don’t think it is a nominate and then vote sort of thing. What I see is if someone feels they have what it takes to do the job, they need to step up and ask for it.

Second why are we getting all kinds of suggestions on how we all think it should be done, I’m pretty amazed and thankful that the offer for one player advocate was even put on the table.

Let’s see how the idea plays out with the original idea and go from there…remember “baby steps”.

Note: this was placed here because Mai would be a great advocate, but Mai would want it…so how about it Mai?

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I nominate Chain he is one of my Guild mates and is a grate guy. Also he is on most of the time. Also he has played EnB from Beta tell now. He gets my vote! ( also he said that he would accsept if asked to do it )

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Given the flood of interest, but the lack of volunteers, I would like to volunteer.

Why: It sounds interesting, should further the linkage between development and player communities, and result in a better game when we go live. I would love to be a part of the process.

Qualifications:

1. I meet the criteria specified and believe I have excellent communication skills (spell checker often required).

2. I am an active participant online both in the various chat channels and on the forums.

3. I know the game, both from live and emulator. As you can see from my sig I have multiple toons that run the gambit of game experience.

4. I am on fairly regularly,mostly during the US day but often on evening and weekends.

5. I am an active member of one of the largest guilds (Builders Inc)

While I am not on as often, or build as much as Vaden nor talk as much as Magoo I think most of you know me. I try to be neither overly annoying or easily annoyed.

I do not think that I am necessarily the best candidate but hopefully this will get some of you type A personalities to throw your name into the ring.

Lannister

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I nominate myself. (Havilandtuf / Havilandtuff )

I played live almost from the initial release until Sunset, hated to see it go.

Even went to the gathering in San Jose and met the then-devs along with other

dedicated players. I was in the same small guild ( Defenders of Freedom ) on all

the live servers, but currently I am guild-less.

My TT and PS are regularly in-game, and I look forward to trying the 3 new classes

soon.

I am willing to commit the time, as my current job is as a website consultant/

tech support/ web host. My spouse plays too, and joins me in my love of the game.

I would appreciate a little more information on the time needed and responsibilities

expected, but I see no problems fulfilling any demands.

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Not shooting down your idea..but how about a 4th then? What about the players that don't like guilds? I mave many toons both in and out of guilds and enjoy both...I did that in live also. Sometimes as a guild officer you just want to take some time off from guild activities and solo it. So wouldn't your approach call for a 4th then to get the "good ideas" for those that like the solitary play? In live there was a bias for groups and guild content put in by EA for marketing reasons...I would very much like to see this not be reintroduced into EMU because of "guild think".

My idea was specifically so what you are saying did not happen. Requiring someone be unguilded that has vast knowledge of the game will most likely not be possible. I just meant having class/race specific reps sounded less like a good idea, and having 3 (and of different guilds) was agreeing and expanding on a previous post. I definately think all guilded players and unguilded players should be able to speak to any and all of the reps. My point was if all 3 are in one guild, then that one guild may get more representation than the community as a whole. Hopefully that is not the case and the one two three or 10 people chosen will take ideas from everyone and pass them on to the dev team. Hope that clears up what I was trying to say.

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Looks like a few ppl are stepping up. Whether the dev team likes the idea of 1 or 10 reps are we going to have a poll voting type or are they(the devs) going to select from the nominee's? Either way is ok with me. If its one or three or w/e having representation from the community directly to the dev team is a stellar idea. Kudos to whoever came up with it.

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I pick CptGemini or Lannister.

Magoo and Vaden are nice but they tend to take sides, in chats that where its ridiculously stupid, the sides of their "groupies".

Also internal conflicts inside the guild were and are not handled properly.

I pick CptGemini or Lannister.

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I'd like to ask why former/current staff members are excluded? It seems to me that someone like Alkemmi/Potch/Probuild would be a very good choice. He is very familiar with the game from his time as a beta+, very calm and competent, and maybe most important, he is smart and friendly.

The only reason i could see to not allow someone like that is that you don't want to lose him as a beta+. If that is the case, i fully understand but if it is not, could someone expand on the reasoning for that rule please?

Because we want the person to be a full representative of the playerbase and to prevent abuses of the system. Staff both current and in some cases previous already have an inside view of most things and do not need nor desire such a position. This is designed to be a player only thing.

In terms of the other questions about nominations and whether or not we pick anyone:

Unless we have an exceeding number of nominations, I don't plan on any intervention. You will all vote on your advocate in a poll I place once we have at least 3 nominations.

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I disagree with the notion that there is a "good ol' boys" network on the dev/beta teams. The whole reason these guys do what they do is because they loved and love the game as both players and devs.

Is the dev/player relationship really so adversarial that we need to worry about "the perception of impartiality"?

And obviously whoever took the position would have to give up his/her staff position to serve as liaison so they would be automatically recused from any actual decisions. Where's the conflict of interest?

You may have misunderstood what I was driving at. I was not saying there is a good ol' boy network, I was saying that some hotheads PERCEIVE favortism in things if it don't go exactly their way. No way do I think its dev/player adversarial at all either, in fact they quite often go out of their way to help/explain for 0 pay..just the love of it! But you know there are some in every crowd that will nitpick something to death, or go all ballistic over something they thing they are so sure they are right when they are wrong. If a dev is having to hold their hand and coddle them, or spend excessive time soothing their hurt feelings then it becomes counter productive, when I'm sure they would rather be doing anything else but that.

As to former team members: they may (or may not!) have inside info on storyline or direction of how things are to roll out....it's the PERCEPTION that they know "inside info" by the fan base that is a problem..they will have to go through all types of hoops to ensure everyones trust in their impartiality that they spend all their time doing that instead of the intended jobs. As the OP said (KYP) they intend a player/fan to be a rep to the fan base to get fresh blood and be the conduit for which the players pour their good (and maybe not so good) ideas.

If you ever played the game EVE, you would have seen the big blow outs and out right criminal behaviour (or not so..just was percieved as so) of employees and scandilous players. Every time this happened it was a huge problem and generated hundreds of threads and forum lockdowns. So much so that they had to stop game development to handle the new crisis. While some of the mini crisis' was nothing more than a dev trying to help a fella/gal out, it had huge unintended concequences, and by that time so many were hyper sensitive to previous problems that CCP went into bunker mode and players to flame fest. I figure the Dev of this game learned from that and want to head off and possability of it happening here. Look at the mini crisis here over GM created gear for players that wasn't in content yet..the many pages in that thread and that was just a tiny booboo.

/off soap box :)

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To answer some of the questions in this post so far.

1. The person being appointed needs to agree to nomination. There is no reason for everyone to back someone that does not have the time or who does not want to do this.

2. We want someone that is going to keep in the loop with us. If the person that gets in there does not have the time it will not work well and we will be doing a re-election. The idea is to give the players a voice though one person for now (if this works well we will be getting more for each election).

Thanks,

David

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Myself, Id like to nominate Terrell, this individual has been a long time player and always seems to have the 411 on what is new. On the other hand I'd also agree to nominate Magoo. This ones for you buddy! Cheers!

CapnCola.jpg

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