EVE General Discussion

In general I find online forums to be pleasant places.

Sure they could be better, but if people truly wanted that they would change their forums.

For instance there is no reward system for good behaviour, sure there is usually a copy/paste "Like" system, but nothing really deep.

This extends further than these EVE forums, it's true of media like online newspapers who shy away from Comments sections because it's full of people with opinions and some of them are rude.

To me that indicates that not much thought has gone into the two-way nature of communication that has begun. Newspapers are used to telling people the news, not being involved in discussions about the news. And in the end that news is always opinion.

Same with online game companies, they still have the old models of running a shop and wanting a pristine shiny advert as their online face, but it gets grimy with all the customers' fingerprints typing away on forums.

But more than two-way the conversation has to recognise that conversation is multi-directional, chaotic. Players chat to each other here, then to other game forums, then to games media, then to social media and so on.

I don't see much happening to capture that.

But most importantly for the issues of trolling and bullying etc., I don't see reward systems for good behaviour.

What do you get from CCP for posting deep, funny or insightful posts? Nothing.

What do you get for dramatic posts? Heaps of heart stopping action in the cut and thrust with other people!

So no, players don't bully CCP, they just chat in the ways they find most enjoyable and rewarding.

I agree, but its problematic.

CCP has, commendably, encouraged player/dev interaction on an unprecedented scale. Despite its shortfalls, Ive always found the CSM position in particular to be an outstanding extension of what used to be considered a good thing, in terms of community/company interface, in an 80s mindset :D

This is good, and would be excellent, were it not for the nature of the (EVE) players involved, and the evolved social network we currently live in. Drawing parameters, now, involves complicated social ambiguities. In Finnish, we call it "drawing lines in water". Id be hard-pressed to formulate even a superficial draft for CCP policy to its employees as to define the parameters of this problem.

Its no longer simply a systemic/company issue, its already extended itself into the personal lives and space of its employees.


1) "for years". Things have changed. Very recently. The social media landscape and reddit's prominence in particular, in relation to EVE, is a very new thing. I'm know you understand the difference, just reminding you of it so as to stress its commensurate lack of company oversight and regulation as a "new thing" before they react. Sooner or later, disaster will strike. Better to act per-emptively, now.

2) I certainly hope Devs still read GD and the rest of this forum. I've read reddit, and imo it still pales to what happens and is produced here. Though reddit may be more free in its moderation, GD carries qualities above and beyond. Who wouldn't read this board for entertainment, at least?


I've noticed the same, and miss their input here. Very articulate and outspoken individuals. But there is a rather nasty irony that though they, as CSM, are supposed to represent the community, upon appointment as CSM and thereafter, their actual community involvement and expression takes a huge nosedive. You posit that it has to do with a degree of burnout and realizing that antagonising in opposition against CCP is counterproductive.

My perspective, rather cynically, is that the revolutionaries and "man of the people" stance they once had quickly converts into "closet aristocrat", and that their lack of community communication is simply because they now instead communicate directly and primarily with the source (CCP), rather than their basis (us). Arguably, and admittedly, that may also be exactly the purpose for which they were elected.


Acknowledged.

However, I must again stress that CCP staff on non-official sites are at the mercy of its denizens, in all kinds of convoluted meta-gaming. Its a huge can of worms with all kinds of problems that can potentially escalate so far as to RUIN a company entirely.

I cannot overstate the risk of this severely enough.

Agreed, and very commendable on CCPs part. But people are merely human. And as human, subject to influence and error.

I dont mean to get all military upon in this thread, but a certain professional degree of separation is crucial to fulfilling just about every job imaginable. Its important to remember what your job is and maintain a professional distance from your customers/clients. I myself am working as a nurse, and I dread the day I might have a friend or relative as a patient...

Its eminently important, in almost all fields of work, to remember what your job is, and keep your personal feelings and attachments separate from that. Otherwise, you are, again, opening a whole can of worms you really really dont want to, and doubly so when its people who want something from you specifically because of your job.

There you go. Right there.

Cyber-bullying is just another socjus term used by goonybeards and twinkhairs to insult people who counter their opinions with logical arguments.