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Lyft forms yet another group to address passenger safety
In another attempt to make its ridesharing service safer, Lyft is forming a new Safety Advisory Council. The group will advise the company on its current and planned safety initiatives. In a blog post, Lyft said the council will provide a critical perspective on the work the company is doing.
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!
Google bringing extra bytes to Hawkeye State with $300 million data center
You're a multinational search company that has just rolled out a new cloud storage offering. You've also just given your millions and millions of email users an extra 2.5GB of storage, free of charge. What do you do next? Build another data center. The big G has announced its intentions to raise a $300 million information barn in Council Bluffs, Iowa. Construction on a 1,000 acre plot will begin immediately and, for its efforts, the Search Sultan will be gifted with a handful of tax incentives totaling over $9 million. Google is no stranger to the mean streets (we're not sure if they're actually mean) of Council Bluffs, though, as the company already operates a $600 million data facility within that city's limits. For those of you keeping track at home, that's a $900 million stimulus for the Hawkeye State.
EVE Evolved: CSM 7 candidate roundup
EVE Online is unique among MMOs, and nowhere is this more evident than in the political struggles that take place every day in New Eden. Just this weekend, I spent long hours negotiating the surrender of a friend's wormhole starbase with an Elysian Empire diplomat, only to have his CEO overrule the decision because he wanted to get the killmail for blowing the starbase up. For EVE's more ambitious political machinists, perhaps the greatest challenge of all is to be part of the democratically elected Council of Stellar Management (CSM). The council functions as an advisory board to CCP and a mechanism through which players can get their views and ideas across to developers. Last year's CSM was instrumental in forcing CCP's hand and making the company refocus development on EVE Online. With this year's ambitious plans to revamp all ships and forms of PvP, and DUST 514 due for a summer release, the stakes for this year's council are even higher. Voting is now underway to select the team of players who will represent the EVE playerbase to CCP for the coming year. In this week's EVE Evolved, I round up all of this year's candidates to help you choose whom to vote for.
A Mild-Mannered Reporter: Spotlight on the 5th Column and the Council
There are certain villains that just resist all logic and refuse to go out of style. Case in point: Nazis. Despite the fact that they were a political party in a war that ended about 70 years ago, somehow it's still satisfying to beat them up. That was the basis behind the initial placement of the 5th Column on the launch of City of Heroes... a position that was later usurped, then reclaimed, and now remains in a sort of back-and-forth limbo. You can't talk about the 5th Column without talking about the Council because the two groups are almost the same. Of course, one is a lot more reprehensible than the other, which oddly makes them far more interesting. Put simply, it's a tangled web of subterfuge and backstabbing, and the two organizations are still struggling for dominance on the streets of Paragon City. They're like a slightly more accessible version of Nemesis for one another.
The Daily Grind: Should devs listen to player councils?
EVE Online's Council of Stellar Management started as an idea with good intentions, as a way to bring the players' ideas and wishes to the development staff. But the scandals surrounding EVE's CSM seem to undermine its potential for constructive feedback. Few gamers seem to believe that the Council, dominated as it is by megacorps with their own agendas, truly acts in the best interests of the game or the playerbase. And in spite of CCP Games' declarations of cooperation, few players believe that the CSM is much more than CCP's way of paying lip service to the community. But perhaps that's as it should be. What say you, Massively readers? Should games bother with councils of players reps? Are players simply too narrow-minded or corrupt to be trusted with such power? And should devs be strong-armed into listening to the mandates of such players? 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!
Addon Spotlight: Distribute right with LootCouncil Lite
Each week, WoW Insider brings you a fresh look at reader-submitted UIs as well as Addon Spotlight, which focuses on the backbone of the WoW gameplay experience: the user interface. Everything from bags to bars, buttons to DPS meters and beyond -- your addons folder will never be the same. This week, loot without the numbers and randomness. One of the areas of addons that I haven't touched on in this column with any real depth is loot addons. It's not because loot addons are not important or necessary but because my past experience with loot addons were never impressive or positive. The first guild that I was a part of that actually used an addon based loot system put their stock in EPGP, a loot system based on effort and gear points. To me, EPGP was a convoluted mess at times; the addon would bug out, and it all just left a nasty taste in my mouth. Plus, I had come from a guild loot culture developed around the famous "don't be a jerk" system, in which people would make judgment calls based on who really needed items over others. This worked 90% of the time. I've steered away from loot addons because of my poor experience with EPGP, much as I originally strayed away from an Addon Spotlight on Tidy Plates because of my bad experience with that addon. Granted, that wasn't Tidy Plate's fault in the least, but my own addon configuration problems. Suffice to say, I'm giving loot addons another shot, mostly because the guild I am currently raiding with uses LootCouncil Lite -- and I've fallen in love.
EVE Online's sixth CSM election results are in
The elections for EVE Online's sixth Council of Stellar Management have come to a close, and earlier today the results were revealed to both excited Fanfest attendees in Iceland and players at home. In previous years, the CSM's role was to collect issues players had with the game and bring them to the attention of developers. This role has morphed over time into a more advisory form, with CCP running ideas by the council and using them to help prioritise the development backlog. This year's elections were heavily influenced by political voting from EVE's nullsec alliances. Organised voting secured spots on the council for several big players in territorial warfare, and a few old faces returned for a further term. Political voting isn't necessarily a bad thing for the CSM, as players who are heavily involved in EVE are still the types of people we want to see on the council. CCP employees can't also be power players in the game, so they miss out on the perspective that alliance leaders and other heavily involved players will have. Participation was huge this year, with a total of 49,069 votes being cast in a two-week period. This represents 14.25% of the total accounts eligible to vote, an increase over last year's 12.67%. Read on for a full rundown of the elected members of EVE's sixth Council of Stellar Management.
Massively's EVE Online CSM 6 candidate roundup
Starting life as a humble indie MMO development studio, CCP Games was always noted for its close relationship to the players of its flagship game EVE Online. That relationship diminished a lot over time as both the size of the playerbase and the scale of EVE's development grew to immense proportions. Today CCP relies on players to guide development more than ever, but it needs a lens through which to focus feedback from such a large community of players into a form that the team can use. The democratically elected Council of Stellar Management (CSM) is that lens. Fifty-seven players submitted their applications to join EVE's elected player council this year, and all this week, players have been voting to decide who will represent them in discussions with CCP. With so many candidates in the running and only four more days to make up your mind, it can be hard to pick one individual from the list. To help you decide, Massively has compiled a full list of every applicant in the running along with a short message about his or her campaign and handy links to available campaign resources. When you're ready to vote, follow this link to the voting page, log in, and click the vote button to the right of your chosen candidate. Remember to get your vote in before March 23rd when polls close! The results will be published on March 30th, and we'll find out who will be representing the EVE playerbase to CCP for the coming year.
Ankhesentapemkah removed from EVE's Council of Stellar Management
EVE Online's democratically elected Council of Stellar Management has been the cause of a great deal of controversy since the programme's inception. The idea that players can bring their concerns on game design issues to a player-elected representative has been popular with forum-posters. Council members work tirelessly to compile lists of issues that are important to the player-base, then present them to CCP in the CSM Summit every six months. While the council has managed to push through some very important issues and work on key features, it's been the focus of several scandals and a great deal of EVE drama. Controversial council member Eva "Ankhesentapemkah" Jobse was removed from the council today. The official reason given for her dismissal was "a breach of the non-disclosure agreement (NDA)." The exact nature of the breach has not been publicised as the sensitive nature of the data involved renders the issue a private matter between Eva and CCP Games. As usually happens when information isn't available, the forums have exploded with speculation over what exactly Eva did that breached the NDA. Although Eva has yet to comment publicly on the issue, fellow council member Sokratesz was quick to allay suspicions that it was due to information posted in her personal CSM blog. When reached for comment, Eva had the following to say: "All I can say at the moment is that out of respect for the CSM, the players of EVE, as well as the good people at CCP, I cannot give any details besides my personal conviction that CCP's statement is not in relation to any of my recent publications, and that I do not share CCP's conclusion that there has in fact been an NDA breach. I am currently engaged in following up this situation with CCP." Eva plans to keep her followers updated on her situation via her CSM blog as the situation develops.
EVE CSM delegates voice disapproval of CCP's attitude to council summit
In recent years, CCP Games have made significant efforts to get players involved in EVE Online's game design efforts. In addition to pre-releasing features on a test server to collect feedback, CCP have involved players more effectively in the development process through their innovative Council of Stellar Management. The council members are voted for by players, with the highest-voted member securing the chair position for the year. Players bring important EVE-related issues to their council representatives, who meet with CCP developers in Iceland twice per year for a week-long council summit. During the summit, all the most important issues backed by the council are posed to developers and discussed. Previous council sessions have made a significant impact on the game, getting features like the skill queue implemented and providing key feedback on expansions. This year's council had a record voter turnout, with confidence in the team at an all-time high. At the conclusion of their first council summit meeting with CCP, however, two key delegates have begun to voice concerns at the dismissive attitude with which they were met. Skip past the cut to find out why two council members are annoyed with CCP's approach to this year's summit, and why it's not all bad news and negativity.
WoW.com's Guide to Blood Prince Council
The Blood Princes can be a difficult fight for many raids, forcing folks to move, react and adapt throughout the entire fight. The issue with the Blood Princes isn't that the individual parts are so difficult. The challenge is that the Council is actually three different fights that swap phases according to which of the San'layn is empowered at the time. Table of contents Composition General strategy Abilities Tank strategy DPS strategy Healing strategy Other resources
EVE Online's fifth CSM election results are in
Voting season is over in EVE Online's fifth CSM elections and the results are in! The Council of Stellar Management is EVE's democratically elected liaison council between CCP Games and the game's player-base. It's their job to collect a list of some of the best ideas and game design proposals suggested and voted on by players in the council forum. Once every six months, the council will meet with CCP for a week of rigorous meetings in Iceland to put forward those ideas and discuss their feasibility with EVE's development staff. There's no doubt that the CSM has had a legitimate impact on EVE's development and with this fifth term, they're even being given the ability to assign some development resources as they see fit. Skip past the cut for a breakdown of this year's voting statistics and to meet the new members of EVE's CSM.
Massively's EVE Online CSM candidate roundup, page 2
Corporation: Galactic-Empire(GAL-E) Alliance: None Useful links: Campaign blog, forum thread, interview
Massively's EVE Online CSM candidate roundup, page 3
Navy Lady is a relatively unknown pilot with no statement of intent or campaign website.
Massively's EVE Online CSM candidate roundup
This week is voting week for EVE Online players as the fifth edition of the democratically elected Council of Stellar Management (CSM) gets underway. 49 approved candidates are in the running for just nine seats on the council, with an extra five alternate candidates agreeing to step in should any members of the council be forced to leave during their term. The council's job is to act as a go-between to help EVE players communicate major gameplay issues to the development team. In the two years the council has operated, they've become an essential part of CCP's development methodology. The CSM plays a vital role in EVE's development and it's important that the right people for the job are elected. For those that don't normally vote in the elections, figuring out what each candidate brings to the table can be a difficult and daunting task. In this absolutely massive three-page feature, we give a run-down of all 49 candidates entered in the current election, from previous CSM members to new active campaigners and the relatively unknown pilots with little to no campaign. When you're ready to vote, follow this link to the voting page and click the vote button to the right of your chosen candidate. Remember to get your vote in before May 19th when polls close! The results will be published on May 28th, when we see who will be representing the EVE player-base to CCP for the coming year.
EVE Evolved: It's election time in EVE online
The month of May is election time for EVE Online as players vote for members of the game's democratically constructed Council of Stellar Management. Voting opened on May 5th for all players with an account older than 30 days and continues until May 19th. Once assembled, the council is tasked with bringing the concerns of players and ideas for game improvements directly to CCP. Players propose issues on the official EVE forums and the rest of the player-base can give the thread a thumbs up to show their support. Issues that get enough support from the general EVE community are elevated to the regular CSM meetings, in which the issue is discussed and voted on by the council members. If the council deems the issue important enough in a meeting, they'll add it to the list of items they plan to discuss with CCP. In this week's politically charged EVE Evolved, I look at the role of the CSM, how it's changing with this fifth term and the impact the council has had on EVE's development.
Important Norwegian consumer reads Amazon Kindle's EULA, sends angry letter
Remember that legal dealio with Apple that erupted after the Norwegian Consumer Council, Forbrukerrådet, read the iTunes EULA? Right, that toothless complaint that waffled on for years until it was finally rendered moot by Apple going DRM-free -- long after Apple benefited from the iTunes-to-iPod lock-in. Well, it's brewing again only this time the council has focused its meticulously crafted aluminum spectacles, often highlighted with vibrant reds or blues, upon Amazon's practice of tying its content exclusively to the Kindle's new international reader. According to a critique published by the Council's boss, Hans Marius Graasvold, the fine print in the Kindle's terms of service, "violated several provisions of Norwegian consumer protection law." He takes exception with Amazon's ability terminate the terms of service entirely should customers violate said terms. In other words, Amazon could deny you access to all your purchased books if you make an illegal copy of just one -- unimaginable by brick-and-mortar standards where a Wal-mart could take your entire CD collection should you decide to rip a single disc. Graasvold's also miffed at Amazon's ability to change the agreement at any time without advanced notification. The Council does not currently have official support from the country's Consumer Ombudsman as it did when it went after Apple. For the moment, the council says that it's awaiting feedback from Amazon and Norwegian publishers before proceeding with what Graasvold calls, "an iTunes 2 case if we are not satisfied." Good luck with that.
PTR quests show hard-mode progression, Ulduar storyline, Val'anyr
We've been wondering for a while how exactly the Ulduar storyline plays out in 3.1; this may seem a bit silly or lorelol, given how much time is going to be spent running the instance itself or its myriad of raid bosses and hard modes, but I like to know what's driving me to complete an instance beyond phatty purpz.You can obviously infer a lot from the instance itself and the names of each respective room, but for those seeking a little more information, Wowhead's PTR page has you covered. There were a few quests added in this most recent PTR build that give us tantalizing bits of Ulduar storyline and show Blizzard's intention to create clear progressions -- not only in the 10- and 25-man versions of Ulduar, but a reward and progression path for those blazing a trail in the hard mode versions of each instance. A fine notion indeed. Oh, and if you wanted to know just how to forge that new legendary mace... This writeup will be spoiler-heavy! If you don't wish to know anything about the secrets that lie within Ulduar, don't click the link below. You've been warned.
Ulduar on the 3.1 PTR: The Iron Council
Last night was round 2 of the Ulduar encounter testing on the 3.1 PTR, and after last night's attempts at Hodir, my guildies and waste-of-a-raid-spot coworker were excited to get back into the beautiful Titan dinner party and sink our teeth into another new encounter. And if we wanted a snack, we got ourselves a three-course meal: The Iron Council, a veritable Three's Company of dudes made of metal. Except Three's Company really had one dude in it regularly, and the other two were women. And none of the Iron Councilmen are Councilwomen. Clearly Iron society is not as progressive as ours. As expected, the server couldn't be convinced to just let us get in and do what we needed to do, so we spent an inordinately long time logging in, stalling at the loading screen, getting in, crashing out, getting stuck in queue, swearing loudly in Ventrilo, and getting alcohol to ease the pain.But we did manage to try the fight a few times. This writeup is spoiler-heavy! If you don't wish to know anything about the strategy for this or any Ulduar boss, don't click below. You've been warned.
