player council
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EA meets with gamers to help curb toxic behavior online
EA knows online harassment is a problem with its games like anyone else's, and it's taking some (small) steps toward creating a less toxic space. The publisher used the recent Gamescom expo to hold the first meeting of the Healthy Communities Player Council, a group of gamers teaming with EA to address vile behavior in online gaming. While EA focused on sharing updates on its own efforts (including improved harassment reporting tools and research into disruptive behavior), the Council offered feedback on what EA could do better -- and it apparently had a few ideas.
DDO player council members offer testimonies
Turbine carted out Dungeons and Dragons Online's player council for a bit of sun today and made an attempt at more transparency by allowing the representatives to give testimonies as to what the experience is like. "We have been asked feedback on things that are at a very early stage of creation (if not only on paper) and there's a real interaction between us and the designers/developers," council member Flavilandile wrote. "Yes, it doesn't means that in the end what we suggest will be implemented, but there's is a real interaction and I feel that they are listening to us when we voice our concern on a topic." "I'm enjoying it, having fun. Though I'm hard pressed to say we're having the impact we might. The dialog I expected (perhaps unrealistically) is there, but it is more limited than I would have liked," council member IronClan added. For the full range of testimonies, check out the post on the official site.
Lord of the Rings Online accepting applications for its second player council
Turbine has opened up the doors for fans to apply to be part of Lord of the Rings Online's second Player Council. The studio will take the best of the applications along with its own picks from the community to be part of this influential board that meets with the devs and discusses current issues and upcoming content. Applicants for the Player Council have to be 18 or older, have played LotRO for six or more months, and be able to converse in English, among other requirements. Members will actively serve for an entire year and be under an NDA during that time period. Turbine will announce the members of the second Player Council on April 24th.
Dragon's Prophet EU creating player council [Updated]
Dragon's Prophet players in Europe will soon have a new way to influence their game: the Osiran Council. This player-elected body will give the community more influence over Dragon's Prophet EU's future development. Those who want a seat on this council in order to weigh in on game-relevant decisions, assist in the development and publishing process, and submit suggestions and criticisms directly need to send an email to community@dragonspropheteurope.com with the following information: Character name and server Forum name Spoken languages (English skills should be present) Level of the highest character, Previous MMO experience Values and expertise Reasons why you want the candidacy Today's patch also introduced the Dragon Compendium for the European community. This feature contains valuable information on all dragons that can be captured as well as resources to upgrade your dragon with other elite skills. SOE also announced a new zone, Olandra, as well as updates to the treasure hunt, mounted combat, and class systems. [Source: Infernum Productions/SOE press releases]
Dungeons and Dragons Online announces 2014 player council
Dungeons and Dragons Online now shares one more thing in common with LotRO: its very own player council. Today, Turbine announced that the 2014 player council has been established with 30 hand-picked members. The player council members are listed by forum handles and will serve the studio and the community by providing feedback and testing for DDO throughout the year. According to Turbine, the council is representative of "a wide diversity of players and playstyles" and is under an NDA while serving. DDO also posted a FAQ about the player council and its NDA for those with more questions.
The Daily Grind: Are player councils a good idea?
Turbine recently announced a new Player Council for Dungeons and Dragons Online. The company previously put together a similar panel for Lord of the Rings Online, but thus far we've not heard much in the way of initiatives or results. Back in the day, Star Wars: Galaxies had its own version of player representation that never seemed to actually accomplish anything. EVE Online's Council of Stellar Management has been meeting for years now, and it's probably the most impactful of the ones listed here, though whether that's due to the actual CSM or the fact that EVE is one of the few MMOs permanently affected by player action is up for debate. The question I'm coming to is this: Do you think player councils are a good idea? Would you like to serve on one? Why or why not? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
Turbine announces DDO Player Council
Want to make your mark on Dungeons and Dragons Online? Then you'd best apply for the newly announced DDO Players Council. Like its counterpart in Turbine's Lord of the Rings Online, and like EVE Online's Council of Stellar Management precursor, the Council "is a group of players selected to provide targeted feedback and valuable suggestions to the DDO Team." Applications are due by January 20th, and Tubine hopes to launch the Council during the week of January 27th. [Thanks Ehra!]
LotRO gives 100% XP boost to everyone for a month
Lord of the Rings Online is granting everyone in the game a 100% boost to XP gain in the month leading up to Helm's Deep. From now through November 17th, the boost will give players a helping hand in getting their characters up to the starting line for the expansion. The boost was announced on the LotRO website's front page. Turbine also said that seven members of the player council will be visiting the studio on October 31st to discuss community, localization, development plans, and customer service issues. The studio said that photos and "comments" from the visit will be shared that day.
Turbine: 'We plan to support LotRO for many more years to come'
Twenty questions is one of the oldest car trip games known to humanity. Turbine likes to think that it's the best at it, especially when it comes to Lord of the Rings Online. In a new post, the devs answer 20 pressing questions that the community had this month. These questions range from the possibility of live events with developers, how horses are made and animated, the future of PvMP, how Turbine tunes zone difficulty, mailing more than one item at a time, and the proposed PvMP zone that ended up getting scrapped. Turbine also addressed the future of the game and said that its relationship with Middle-earth Enterprises is still strong: "We plan to support LotRO for many more years to come." The community is understandably curious about the seldom-heard player council, but Turbine says that the council is doing its job: "The council has been very helpful. It gives us the opportunity to have very focused conversations. The threads don't go on in to 40-plus pages and the topics are very pertinent to current development. So far it has been a great and responsive sounding board."
EVE Online starts Council of Stellar Management elections
Elections are live for EVE Online's Council of Stellar Management 8, and players are invited to wade through the nominations to choose their ideal candidates to represent them to CCP. The full list of candidates along with their campaign promises are now posted for all to see. The 28 31 32 candidates listed have all managed to gather enough endorsements to be put on the ballot. Instead of voting for just one candidate apiece, players will pick and rank their top 14 choices. These votes will be tallied and weighed accordingly, and 14 members of CSM 8 will emerge as the player delegates. A player can vote for CSM given that he or she has an active account that's older than 30 days. But if your taste for drama leans more on events than politics, then this link's for you: CCP has also just posted the details on streaming for the upcoming EVE Fanfest.
EVE Online makes big changes to CSM elections
EVE Online is laying the groundwork for the upcoming elections of the 8th Council of Stellar Management, and significant changes are in the stars for how the process will proceed this year. Candidates now have to file an application to be considered, and these applications will be voted on with each account given a single vote. Twenty-eight of the top-voted candidates will then be placed on the official ballot. Players will rank their top 14 choices instead of voting for a single player. Finally, the newly elected CSM will vote for positions internally instead of being assigned according to the final tally. The CSM is EVE Online's player council tasked with representing the playerbase to CCP.
Slap a rocket on a pig: WildStar's modding and PGC community
At January's WildStar press event, I had the opportunity to chat with several of Carbine's developers about something near and dear to my heart: modding. During my personal demo, Jeremy Gaffney remarked offhandedly -- twice! -- that people don't really want to play the UI; they want to play the game. I know that he's right about some people, and I'm glad game developers are devoting resources toward designing a seamless blend of UI and gameplay that makes actually healing party members as fun or more fun than playing Grid-style healer whackamole. But whackamole or not, I do want to play the UI. I want to tinker. Fortunately, WildStar intends to accommodate me in a huge way. Read on for the scoop on WildStar's planned modding tools, player councils, and player-generated content.
Giving players the control stick in EVE Online
We heard yesterday that EVE Online is set to start elections for the player council in May, and James over at Kill Ten Rats echoes pretty well the same thoughts that I (and others) have had about this whole idea: is it a good one?It's an interesting idea, to be sure, and if you listen to the people who had it (in our interview with them), it's a great idea. Instead of worrying about the vagaries of forum feedback and CM involvement, the devs are really hoping to have the game really run according to player concerns, allowing "emergent behavior" to appear on a vast scale. But there are lots of problems that could easily arise -- as James says, the players' roles aren't too specifically defined, so what if they decide to ban a corporation from the game, or purposely unbalance the economy?
TurpsterVision: Don't tell Adam but I've been fooling around with EVE
Every Tuesday think "T" for Turpster and take the "a" in "day", capitalise it, remove the little bit in the middle, turn it upside down and you get a "V". Put the two together and you'll have TV for TurpsterVision -- the best Internet video podcast on Massively! (Never mind that business about it being the only video podcast on Massively...)It's Tuesday! Hooray! If you like having intellectual discussions about current political events and their impact on the everyday life of the brave men and women serving abroad fighting for our freedom then I am afraid you have come to the wrong place. I don't have a clue about the wars going on here on planet Earth. What I do know about however, is a MMO universe so vast and EPIC that I makes the petty struggles of this world seem insignificant. That is right folks; today we are flying and fighting for our very lives in the turbulent universe of EVE Online!Join us after the break if you think you are truly hardcore enough to play in a universe where you can Alt-Tab while you are meant to be working.
