First, my perspective. I am a firm believer in "Every Voice Matters." Yes, the very same corporate value that Blizzard holds ironically I hold as proper ideal. Crixa had up until fairly recently been doing a stellar job living up to this. Being anti-censorship was the primary reason I was so excited for and backed this project, even more so than the game itself. I firmly believe the best process is one that tries to involve everyone as much as possible.
And there in lies the problem. When a studio artificially amplifies a voice, it can ONLY come at the expense of the rest of the community. In Crixa's case it has been done wholesale. I am not saying the community team itself is a problem however, more so the degree of amplification and the manner in which it was done.
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.
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.
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.
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.
All that aside, my primary complaint is that there is a standing policy that top backers cannot be on that team. This policy is unfair because it was not disclosed so we could make an informed decision when deciding to become max tiers, and especially because it is not uniformly enforced.
I ask the policy be rescinded, or applied to all of us the same. Either works for me, double standards do not. That is all.
And there in lies the problem. When a studio artificially amplifies a voice, it can ONLY come at the expense of the rest of the community. In Crixa's case it has been done wholesale. I am not saying the community team itself is a problem however, more so the degree of amplification and the manner in which it was done.
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.
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.
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.
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.
All that aside, my primary complaint is that there is a standing policy that top backers cannot be on that team. This policy is unfair because it was not disclosed so we could make an informed decision when deciding to become max tiers, and especially because it is not uniformly enforced.
I ask the policy be rescinded, or applied to all of us the same. Either works for me, double standards do not. That is all.
