DevTracker

[Grummz]

I'll be clear.

The Concierge Program is a paper idea, and no dev time is being put towards it until we have more builds.

The program poll is put here to reflect the communities desires for the focus of such a future program. If it were a major announcement, it would have been made in email and on our dev blog.

This is not any sort of appeasement. But it does highlight that it's pretty silly to be arguing over discord colors when we can and will focus on building a game and already had plans for a much bigger backer program down the line when we have a game further along. The program was inspired by Giga's big push for Discord Roles. But I think the Concierge Program is better, and Ronyn sparked the idea that eventually lead me to the Conceirge Program.

My view on perks for this is that is should be in-game, and that whatever we do for program, we should make sure it has ripple effects that benefit everybody in the game. It is also not a priority for implementation compared to getting the next couple of builds out and getting that heartbeat of development strong.

Please check out our dev blogs where we post actual progress. We just started it and already have a few posts up and more coming on a regular basis. Medium.com Em-8ER Dev Blog

 

[Grummz]

Some have asked, and a Concierge Program is where a crowd-backed game recognizes the generous supporters of the game by offering them special titles, cosmetic items, and in-game areas, etc.

Ours may have a few other ideas not seen anywhere else....shhhhh.

 

[Grummz]

We've had a lot of big supporters of Em-8ER. It's time to give them some recognition.

The best concierge program of any game is being designed right now. No dev activity yet, as our focus in on the new build.

When we eventually launch the Concierge Program, lot of folks gonna have big smiles.

It's a better solution than just some colors on Discord. Recognition should be game-wide where it matters the most. The majority of dev time should be towards features for the game and that's where the bulk of the recognition will go.

But how do you feel? Let us know in the poll below:

 

[Ronyn]

Differences of opinion are bound to happen. No one is perfect, no two people agree on everything.
I have my reasons for every choice I make, just as I have to obey the rules/limitation set on me, just as there are many things I know that I am not allowed to speak about.
None of that is not say I am always right. No one is.
So I won't go into any of these basic disagreements in policy here, a least not in this post.
However accuracy is important so let us keep things straight.

But when the link rule was put in,

There is some confusion here.
Gifs, Images, and links have not been allowed in Main lobby since August of 2016. (btw at the time we had about 800 members in the discord. My how we have grown!)
That is when the Main Lobby media channel was created. It's why it exists. So people can post links, images, and gifs!

It's worth noting that gifs and images are literally impossible to place in main lobby, technically links often can be, leading to a mod telling that person to move them. Though it may happen that someone will post links for a while before anyone notices. So if there was any change at all to this situation it would be going from a message of "no links in main lobby please" to just links being impossible to even post. Same rule, as they have never actually been allowed.

Another example of a possible perceived change that is actually just a misunderstanding: At one point in discords lifecycle, there was an update from discord where nitro users or boosters were suddenly given a purple name by default. This was visible in Em-8er discord for only a few months before that setting was set to off, and they were back to the regular grey they had been previously.

Another example: Some years back I reshuffled all of the colors for the devs and community team. No new roles were created or taken away. Just some color swaps. From the outside someone may have thought something else was going on but it was all just aesthetic.

As I stated before, very few changes have been made to the Discord since the beginning.
As there is more "game-to-play", more in-game features come online, many rules will fall off and new ones may have to be created.
I don't have a crystal ball to tell the future of Em-8er but I do know quite a bit about the past.
I've been here all along.

 

[Ronyn]

For clarity sake-

Speaking to the selection process, there were no applications that I am aware of. The participants were hand-picked by Ronyn. He had his criteria I know, but the manner this was done made it impossible for anyone who might have had an interest in joining to express it unless they were told it was going to be a thing. And the only people who seemed to have been told this were those selected for it. Ironically the community had no involvement in the formation of the community team.

This is a misunderstanding.
It is true that there are/were no applications, and that I hand selected the members (or rather, I approved each one).
However it's always been possible for people to ask to join and/or offer help. As many of the members on the team had voiced interest at one point, and a few other people being considered for the team now are being considered because they voiced interest while also showing some of the qualifications I look for.

If the real point here is you'd like to see some applications for the CT, I can take that into advisement.

To my other point about amplification, the permissions granted to them were not simply intended for use in some solemn duty for the good of all. They are deemed "perks" of the position, to be used however they wish. Often they are used for fun and to cut up, which would be fine if everyone else could do it too, but they cannot.

This is inaccurate.
The permissions granted to them are primarily for utility (moderation, updates, ect) and advertisement (gifs and memes in main lobby).
While the latter does come with the added benefit that they can occasionally post something silly of their own choosing, it does in fact have limits. I do view those little extra silly moments as a perk for all of the work they do. That does not mean they have free reign to do whatever they want with it.

In effect we now have a scenario where the community manager has created an exclusive group of super-members, who pretty much have monopolized most of the non-peak traffic on the Discord.

I would wager that the main reason the community team is the most vocal during non peak hours is because they are meant to create some form of activity when there is a lack of activity. Their goal is to entice other people to join in on the fun, not monopolize anything.

The discord used to be fun, but now all of the "power" has been reserved to a handful of people. It's so restricted that it's essentially useless if you don't have a colored name.

I don't follow your point here. When exactly was this period of "fun"? I've been in this role since very close to the beginning of the project. Very few discord rules have changed this entire time.