Continued from: https://www.bungie.net/en/Forums/Post/206788488?page=0&sort=0&showBanned=0&path=1
Apologies for being so late, I know I said this would be up sometime over the weekend but I've been busy and feeling under the weather. (That's also a disclaimer for any grammar errors. >>;; )
I'll be PMing the link for this post to those from the other thread who were in support of this so that they know its up finally.
Just to recap, last time I re-proposed the Guardian Council as suggested by Cozmo. Got a lot of good feedback from folks and have made extensive notes. What I present isn't anything written in stone, its essentially just me offering a "base" that can be worked with and built upon. At some point I'll be revisiting that and providing all the possible revisions that everyone put forth for discussion and what all should be amended.
But for now I wanted to see about trying to push this forward a bit into the actual planning stage. Trying to figure out how the Council will function. To start things off, I'll be presenting another draft for folks to freely discuss and then go from there.
First, its important to point out that this isn't exactly some new concept. Other communities for other games have also done something similar and they proved very successful such as the [b]Warframe Design Council.[/b] Of course, from what I have seen for myself the largest and most influential of these player driven organizations is the [b]Council of Stellar Management (CSM)[/b] from EVE Online: https://community.eveonline.com/community/csm/
I would also like to present this article as well: http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/165825/giving_your_players_a_voice_.php?print=1
For those who might question "why even bother having something like this?" the article above goes into great depth concerning the benefits of having a Council. It doesn't just serve to benefit the Community, but also the best interests of the Company as well.
Now, do I think the Guardian Council should be the same thing as the CSM? Hell no.
As others have already pointed out in the previous thread, there are plenty of potential problems that can come from this such as Council Members trying to further their own personal agenda, censoring certain topics and otherwise inviting a sense of tyranny. That is why I take this VERY seriously. I believe we need to be very careful with how we go about designing the Guardian Council and ensure that the majority if not all the power stays with the Community at all times.
We can however use the CSM as a good starting point.
Personally, I think we can do away with the whole notion of delegates getting flown out to meet with developers. That really doesn't sit right with me. I also don't like the idea of just electing someone and then trusting them to handle all the rest, more so when you don't know what all is being said behind closed doors. I mean it really hasn't worked out all that well for us Americans, especially in recent years.
So how do we go about making this work?
Obviously, a lot of this is going to hinge on Cozmo. If we're able to manage this and get the Guardian Council put together, the rest is going to end up being on him to motivate those at Bungie to actually participate. Because otherwise it won't be any different from what we got going on now. The CSM is really only possible because that company acknowledges it, a decision which has worked out quite well for them.
That being said, hopefully he will weigh in on this and give his thoughts as well. I invite anyone from Bungie to participate in these discussions, I mean this is basically a joint venture anyway that is intended to build a bridge between us and them and advocate better communication.
At any rate, this is what I have been able to come up with regarding how the Council will function:
[quote][u]Submitting a Proposition[/u]
Unlike the normal feedback posts you see, Propositions which are submitted to the Guardian Council will use the following template that MUST be included and filled out. All posts must also use the #GCouncil Tag, otherwise they won't be seen.
[b]Title: (Should be the same as the Post Title)[/b]
[b]Regarding Topic: (Choose One: Gear (Weapons, Armor or Both), Classes, Cosmetics, Gameplay or Bungie)[/b]
[i]-Gear: If your Proposition is regarding Weapons and or Armor this is what you choose. It could you feel something is too powerful and think it should be nerfed or vice versa and believe it should be buffed instead. If you have new ideas for Perks or have a problem with pre-existing Perks, if you have suggestions for new kinds of Gear, so on and so forth.
-Classes: If your Proposition is regarding anything related to Character Classes and or Sub-Classes. Supers, Grenades, Melee and Jump Abilities, etc.
-Cosmetics: You get the gist. Want to pitch an argument that the Blue Flame from completing Nightfall should be put back in? New ideas for other various Cosmetic stuff for the game? Think there should be a Barber in the Tower that lets you go and change your character's appearance without having to start over from scratch just to go through the Character Creation process? This is what you want to pick then.
-Gameplay: Quite literally anything and everything related to the gameplay, whether it be about Map Layouts, Crucible Modes, ideas for new Raids/Strikes or suggestions to change or add onto current existing ones, etc.
-Bungie: Is your Proposition more directed at the company itself? Have serious concerns about the Micro-Transactions? Don't agree with the current business model? Think content is too overpriced? Turned off by certain decisions that are being made? This is what you would go with.[/i]
[b]Introduction: (Give a brief summary of your Proposition)[/b]
[b]Proposition: (Present your case and provide your supporting points)[/b][/quote]
So it should look like this...
Example:
[b]Title:[/b] Bring Back Primary Elemental Damage
[b]Regarding Topic:[/b] Gear
[b]Introduction:[/b] I disagree with the decision to remove Elemental Burns from Primary Weapons and believe them to be important to the game as a whole.
[b]Proposition:[/b] [Insert Witty Argument] (Apologies, I'm still sick. Frankly I'm surprised I've managed this much)
Once a Proposition has been posted, the entire Community can then weigh in on it. You can either support it or reject it. If you reject it, you must provide your reasons why. Others are then allowed to respond with a counter argument against your points. Council Members will oversee these debates but not get involved.
If all arguments against a Proposition are put down or a Proposition goes unchallenged, the Guardian Council will push it through.
What happens at that point is that they will present it to Bungie Developers for discussion in the Guardian Council Forum. (Using the Private Group Forum made by Cozmo) Here, the developers can give their thoughts and the Council Members will work towards making it actually happen. Typically, its expected that the developers themselves will have their own feedback regarding the Proposition, at which point the Guardian Council will relay said feedback to the Community for further discussion and debate.
The Council will continue this process until both reach an accord.
Again, if anyone has any ideas for what to do differently or such, please feel free to post your feedback and I'll put together a list of notes.
Also, I've likewise been considering the need for me to pick helpers to assist with all this. Considering this is 2 days after when I said I would have this posted, and the fact I've been sick kinda reaffirms that I can't really do this all on my own. So I'll be looking for a couple volunteers to give me a hand and help lighten the load a bit. [b]PLEASE DO NOT SPAM ME WITH MESSAGES.[/b] I had like 40+ PMs the last time... x_x
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I think this is a great idea. The people always begging for nerfs would have less of a voice. The council can look at the proposition and decide if they want to push it to bungie or not. If something is actually overpowered, better chance of it getting nerfed and community would have more say in HOW it gets nerfed. And same with underpowered stuff getting buffed.