Danae Melios
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Posted - 2007.11.07 22:04:00 -
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I know why they are doing this-- it was part of their rehabilitation efforts after the scandals that gave us an IA guy.
It sounds like they want it to be more than an audit team though. I find that to be good, because I don't know anyone who could do a meaningful audit over, say, a weekend, when it concerns 100+ devs, outsourced GMs, a huge block of code, etc. So it has been reworked more into an official sounding board and funnel for "official" suggestions and feedback.
My two cents is, if CCP feels it is worth it to pick up the tab to get people together like this, then it is, to them. Even if all it does is make them feel better about their communication. They've been taking a horrible beating in the past year, something they as a company are not used to. They need something touchy-feely, even if the individual devs might reject that analysis.
Right now their primary means of communication with the playerbase is through the forums. This is NOT a healthy environment, not conducive to reasoned debates, and has largely been undermined by anonymous alts. The article refers to the huge number of threads and posts that one has to wade through to keep up.
It is something that is largely founded in realpolitik and history: the masses simply cannot be relied on to make big decisions. Why? Too many voices and too little understanding, taken as a whole. I'm an American, I know from history that our much-balleyhooed Constitution was written by a bunch of rich landowners shut up in a room over one hot summer, in secret. Because there were so many issues, so many disagreements, that the necessary compromises never could have been debated reasonably in public. It wasn't perfect, it still isn't and it never will be, but the fact that it exists period is only because just a handful were involved in hammering it out.
I see this community in much the same light. We all know what we want, but how do we get there? Who decides how much one person has to sacrifice from that wish list for everyone to get enough of the pie?
If CCP is serious about getting feedback, about getting community input into possible game design elements to forestall the kinds of conversations (or shouting matches) we've been seeing recently, they have to distill it down into just a few voices or nobody will get heard.
The manner of selection is more than likely simply bowing to the inevitable out of game manipulation and back door dealings that would take place anyway. I don't think it is a positive way to start things out, but it is their decision.
Frankly, I think the needs of BoB and RA and GS and SMASHKILL are probably very close to the same, in terms of logistics and gameplay. I think that industrial and fleet and small gang and pve will all be represented even with the electioneering that will take place. I think that players will select people with enough experience and understanding to know valid whines from invalid whines. Whether they exercise discretion in consideration of those whines is another matter, of course.
Sorry this turned into tl;dr but you know us grad students and writing
Originally by: game box
Conceive a new life without boundaries, where murder, plunder, betrayal, and delusions of grandeur will lead you to boundless glory or to the brink of ruin.
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