What SOE should do to keep the community involved

[cashfoyogash]

CCP games has been known to take care of their players, time after time releasing what are basically free expansions for EVE. Now SOE should implement this same respect for their game but what I am getting at that CCP does right is the Council of Stellar Managment. If youve played EVE then you know what CSM is, if you havent its a group of players just like you and me who dont work for CCP who is voted on by other players who are in close contact with CCP about EVE. The CSM will propose ideas to CCP about making the game better whether its adding content or nerfing something. CCP then listens to them and either does it or does not do it but they put some serious thought into what the CSM says. They also let the CSM be privy to upcoming events in new expansions that will change the EVE universe and ask for their input.

I think if SOE really wants to make a great game they need to do something like the CSM made up of a few players from every faction and get together with them to receive quality input on how to make the game better for us all.

Every term for the CSM is either six months to a year, so every six months or so there is a new vote for new CSM members to take place of the old ones. Also every term CCP flies the CSM members to CCP headquarters where the developers sit down with the CSM and talk about the EVE universe. I would love to see SOE take this step to ensure they always have a quality game.

[SavageB]

Ya , or they could just visit forums like they have been and kinda get the just of what the opinions are of the current player base, but that CSM idea is def. more personal and theres nothing like talking face to face.

[Soothsayer]

Well, its a better idea than an entertainer class...

lol

Yeah, they have decent success with this. The main objection to it is that the big alliance that has publicly stated that their mission is to ruin EVE will take over (they will remain nameless)... this hasn't really happened.

Candidates platform on their playstyle and reputation. You aren't necessarily voting just for your CEO (in PS2 would be outfit leader), you're voting for the person who best represents your interests.

[cashfoyogash]

Originally Posted by Soothsayer

Well, its a better idea than an entertainer class...

Lmao, i seen that post about SWG.... def not the way to keep PS2 strong. I just really think they should take one person from every faction on every server which in my mind would be 12-16 people and receive their input (im not sure on how many servers there will be, I assume four).

They can just check out the forums all day or they can use a more face to face method that also shows they are doing everything they can to make sure the game they are creating is the game its players want to play. EVE doesnt have 300,000 players for no reason.

[Operations]

Originally Posted by cashfoyogash

I think if SOE really wants to make a great game they need to do something like the CSM made up of a few players from every faction and get together with them to receive quality input on how to make the game better for us all.

So you want to actively promote the idea of a vocal minority?
The forum community will already be just a fraction of the player base, but you feel that is still too many voices?
Cant say I like the sound of this myself.

[Soothsayer]

I don't even know if I'd divide by server...

Your candidate will advocate your playstyle, if your playstyle has enough votes, your issues come forward.

I don't know how I'd get around the popularity contest idea, but certainly it is a concern.

I'm not one to bust out lengthy quotes or anything, but here's one from an academic that I copied down years ago that really resonated...

"Consistency requires that those who propose that world politics is run by world laws behave lawfully themselves and that those countries who proclaim democracy should be willing themselves to live with being outvoted." -Ken Booth

If you went this way, you have to be content to have the system work the way it works regardless of whether your guy won the race.

[WarChimp130]

I actually like this idea. The other thing to mention is that the CSM changes yearly I believe, so it's not like you are forming some sort of hegemony of players that shape the game for years to come.

I think more important than getting per server would be getting per empire. Maybe a council of 9, 3 per empire. The people selected would have to be pretty consistent with one empire in that respect, which I'm sure SOE could tell.

This would be a good way to get concentrated message to the Dev's as opposed to having them sort through every screaming loony on the forums. Not that they shouldn't pay attention to those also, but this way the team could specifically talk over issues, come up with recommendations and present them to the Dev's in a clear and concise manner.

[cashfoyogash]

I understand your concerns about this. This is how CCP has it set up.

Topic Presentation and Management by the CSM

Anyone with the right to vote can start a topic on the Assembly Hall, which is a forum on the official EVE-O website, and comment on any number of existing topics. Moderation rules for posting in the CSM section of the forums are the same as all other boards in MyEVE. In addition, voters are also provided with the technical means to indicate their support of a topic. Players may support any number of separate topics, but may only support each topic once.

A topic can be anything that a player considers important. The goal is to either gain the support of a Representative, or gain a 25% public support level on the issue from the number of voters of the last election. If either of these conditions is met, the topic must be addressed by the CSM. Regardless of the support method, topics cannot be adopted by the CSM unless they have been open for community discussion for at least seven days. This includes the act of a Representative putting forth a topic, as he or she must present the topic to the voters and cannot bring it forth to the Council unless it has been up for seven days or more.

Upon reaching the CSM, all topics must be discussed by Representatives and voted on to determine if escalation to the CCP Council is necessary. A simple majority vote is required for passage. Topics which do not pass this vote must be accompanied with a summary explaining why. Time is the only constraint to the number of topics that can be voted on.

This is the link to everything about the CSM from eligibilty to voting for CSM members and also the term lengths, basically everything: http://wiki.eveonline.com/en/wiki/Wh...te_Eligibility

[Sovereign]

They should take the arena.net approach in being level headed and objective as possible with every sect of their base..

No more oligarchy for PS2 please...

[T-Ray]

We will always be here for the players. No doubt about that. We listen and learn thats the only way we'll get better at what we do.

[Raymac]

Originally Posted by T-Ray

We will always be here for the players. No doubt about that. We listen and learn thats the only way we'll get better at what we do.

The level of interaction since Fan Faire has been extremely encouraging. Either you guys are just really good at spitting game and telling us what we like to hear, or you are on your way to making my all time favorite game. It's feeling like the latter.

Keep up the great work. We are devouring ever morsal of info you guys can release.

[SavageB]

Originally Posted by T-Ray

We will always be here for the players. No doubt about that. We listen and learn thats the only way we'll get better at what we do.

Ya that's the onething that really stood out for me T, when you mentioned that in the QA vid, about now it's time to give back to the players, just hope that attitude and mind frame can stick throughout the project. Hopefully the investors and politics wont sway your ways.

[WarChimp130]

Originally Posted by Raymac

The level of interaction since Fan Faire has been extremely encouraging. Either you guys are just really good at spitting game and telling us what we like to hear, or you are on your way to making my all time favorite game. It's feeling like the latter.

Keep up the great work. We are devouring ever morsal of info you guys can release.

I've gone beyond devouring and have begun snorting, smoking and main lining every piece of info they release. I injected the last two screen shots between my toes so my boss wouldn't get suspicious.

[T-Ray]

"I'm yo pusha"

[CutterJohn]

Community involvement idea: Hold a design contest for a vehicle like EVE has done a couple times. Something common pool if any exist.