Questions on the Guild Wars 2 Forum Specialists Program

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Posted by: munkiman.3068

munkiman.3068

Could you please break down the roles you are looking for? While the 2 examples are fine, I think some of us interested would like to know the breakdown of section you’re interested in. For example is a “Forum Specialist – Guild Wars 2 Discussion” a specialist group?

We’re looking for someone with a less general view, someone who has a particular area in which s/he has developed expertise. It might be a specific profession, dungeons, PvP, crafting… we would not be looking for someone to serve as a generalist.

That leaves me out then. This is kind of sad, especially since general discussions is one of the more communication areas that gets a lot of feedback. Oh well, good luck!

I felt I would not be appropriate, either, as my ‘field of expertise’ is being merged with other fields I have no real working knowledge of, whatsoever. Sigh.

Best of luck, though, to those that qualify! =)

The fact that we’re merging forums does not in any way eliminate options for specialization. For instance, we will not have a specific forum for dungeons, but being an expert in dungeons makes involvement in the GW2 Discussion Sub-Forum even more valuable, because that specialist will be able to cull dungeon-related threads and produce a brief report on topics of note.

And when I say brief report, this should not be a huge deal. This is not “produce a 100 page report each week with 4,000 links to relevant post.” I’ll see if I can produce a sample a bit later.

Some of us might be interested in culling things like QoL, Feature Suggestion, Progression mechanics and/or Bug reporting that might not fall under specific areas like dungeons or PvP, but overall game stuff. In that sense those folks would be generalized. While i understand the need for specialist in certain areas, i also realize the need for reporting stuff like the mesmer blink bug that has existed since beta. Which effects all aspects of the game, as an example.

[TAO] Founder/Owner and Administrator for the NSP Server Website

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Posted by: Gaile Gray

Previous

Gaile Gray

ArenaNet Communications Manager

Next

You make a good point, munkiman. Let me ponder on this, ok? The last thing we want is to fail to attract perfect people because they have a broad range of interests rather than a singular view. I guess one area of specialization that might work is PvE, would that help?

Gaile Gray
Communications Manager
Guild & Fansite Relations; In-Game Events
ArenaNet

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Posted by: Linken.6345

Linken.6345

Still reporting without having the right to say you forwarded it to devs will make alot of people keep posting the same things over and over and over and over and over……
did i forget to say and over again?

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Posted by: Gaile Gray

Previous

Gaile Gray

ArenaNet Communications Manager

Next

Still reporting without having the right to say you forwarded it to devs will make alot of people keep posting the same things over and over and over and over and over……
did i forget to say and over again?

It’s a valid position and I really appreciate the feedback from you and everyone else.

Forum specialists won’t be forwarding directly to specific developers. Perhaps they can post something along the lines of “This topic has been included in this week’s report to the Forum Communications Team.” And then when that same topic appears over and over and… the forum specialist can point to the comment and say “This was included in the report of [date],” With time, I think forum members would gain the understanding that if a topic was forwarded to the FCT, it was then included in the team report and when/if a dev is able to post, s/he will do so.

Does that make sense?

Gaile Gray
Communications Manager
Guild & Fansite Relations; In-Game Events
ArenaNet

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Posted by: Tachenon.5270

Tachenon.5270

Hi, I’d like to apply for the position of ‘Bad Idea Specialist’, and, if chosen, my first act as a Bad Idea Specialist will be to say that I think this ‘Forum Specialist’ idea is a very Bad Idea for reasons which should have been painfully obvious to whomsoever gave implementing it actual consideration (see also: Players’ Councils). Further, I’ll point to my own post which you are reading even now as evidence of why it’s a bad idea.

Alas, I know that whomsoever is in a position to naysay this bad idea will not naysay it based on this or any other evidence, regardless of how irrefragable such evidence may be, or it would never have been yaysaid, so to speak, in the first place; therefore, in protest, I hereby withdraw my application for the Bad Idea Specialist position.

The table is a fable.

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Posted by: Paradox.1380

Paradox.1380

I would be interested, but I don’t know what I would call myself a specialist of. Goodluck to those that do apply! Maybe I will get in on the second round of this once I figure out what I specialize in. Unless “Living Story” or “Collect All The Skins!” qualifies. =D

-It’s Lady Paradox- Sweet Adrenaline
“What Part Of Living Says You Gotta Die?
I Plan On Burnin Through Another 9 Lives”

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Posted by: Linken.6345

Linken.6345

Still reporting without having the right to say you forwarded it to devs will make alot of people keep posting the same things over and over and over and over and over……
did i forget to say and over again?

It’s a valid position and I really appreciate the feedback from you and everyone else.

Forum specialists won’t be forwarding directly to specific developers. Perhaps they can post something along the lines of “This topic has been included in this week’s report to the Forum Communications Team.” And then when that same topic appears over and over and… the forum specialist can point to the comment and say “This was included in the report of [date],” With time, I think forum members would gain the understanding that if a topic was forwarded to the FCT, it was then included in the team report and when/if a dev is able to post, s/he will do so.

Does that make sense?

Thanks for reply Gaile, that do make alot of sence if it werent for this part of the post this thread links to

Forum Specialists may make no promises—expressed or implied—about the relaying of information, neither that it will be relayed nor that it has been relayed in the past.

it expressly forbid them from saying that it have been relayed

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Posted by: Togashi Jack.9531

Togashi Jack.9531

Does this seem like budgetary cuts/job cuts/job reassignment from the “Forum Communication Team” supplemented by player Volunteers? I guess even The Frog is being sent over to Living World development..

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Posted by: Yargesh.4965

Yargesh.4965

Enter the vipers nest, would not wish it on my worst enemy.
Good luck all that want it though.

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Posted by: munkiman.3068

munkiman.3068

You make a good point, munkiman. Let me ponder on this, ok? The last thing we want is to fail to attract perfect people because they have a broad range of interests rather than a singular view. I guess one area of specialization that might work is PvE, would that help?

Sounds fine. Thanks Gaile.

[TAO] Founder/Owner and Administrator for the NSP Server Website

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Posted by: EnemyCrusher.7324

EnemyCrusher.7324

I have two questions…

Are there any benefits?

Many of us already answer people’s questions, link to existing information, any generally try to share our knowledge where it can help. How would participating in this program be any different?

Light of Honor [Lite] – Founder / Warmaster
Sorrow’s Furnace Commander
“You’re the mount, karka’s ride you instead, and thus they die happy!”-Colin Johanson

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Posted by: Linken.6345

Linken.6345

I have two questions…

Are there any benefits?

Many of us already answer people’s questions, link to existing information, any generally try to share our knowledge where it can help. How would participating in this program be any different?

First question is answer in terms of conditions nr4

I will not be paid or compensated in any way for being a Guild Wars 2 Forum Specialist, or for any other game-related activities, and I acknowledge and agree that my being a Guild Wars 2 Forum Specialist will not create an employment relationship between me and ArenaNet, any of its affiliates, or any other company or organization.

Edit
Second question this is to gather info and present it to the company in report form once a week

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Posted by: munkiman.3068

munkiman.3068

I have two questions…

Are there any benefits?

Many of us already answer people’s questions, link to existing information, any generally try to share our knowledge where it can help. How would participating in this program be any different?

More official? Direct communications with forum community leaders like Gaile? Those sound like benefits to me. I would almost say, those that got assigned (picked), wouldn’t actually get special titles on here or anything, since this is after all volunteer work that doesn’t represent Arena in the least. Ghost “mods” for lack of better terminology

[TAO] Founder/Owner and Administrator for the NSP Server Website

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Posted by: Shadey Dancer.2907

Shadey Dancer.2907

*18 or older, for legal reasons

Curious how you would actually vet the age restriction.

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Posted by: Behellagh.1468

Behellagh.1468

I have two questions…

Are there any benefits?

Many of us already answer people’s questions, link to existing information, any generally try to share our knowledge where it can help. How would participating in this program be any different?

Basically they are asking those of us who “live” here to summarize the current topics of concern, the pulse of the board in our “specialty”. Of course the drawback is that they will be the ones players will throw food at when something isn’t “fixed” to their liking. They will likely be labeled white knights since I truly doubt that someone who repeatedly lambaste the game, the devs, those white knights, will be able to get a position.

We are heroes. This is what we do!

RIP City of Heroes

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Posted by: guardian.6489

guardian.6489

Galie I imagine you’ll want at least one megaboss representative, right?

Retired Leader of TTS

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Posted by: Kaiyanwan.8521

Kaiyanwan.8521

The question is, what do you think you will achieve with this move? I still think, this is a bad decision in general.

If you check other games forums with “special” community members, you will see, that the influx on forum communication – after a brief period of excitement – is neglectable.

Most games just got lower DEV or GM forum visit frequency after installing community representatives. I fear it won’t be any different over here.

There is very little to gain with this move, while the risk of unhealty communication is rising. Community representatives are easily manouvered into a defensive position even professionals can’t easily handle. There is a reason, why the profession of a CM is important and challenging. Non-professionals will just end as target dummies, which will burn them out. That will cause a feedback on ANet’s communication in general.

Lose/lose.

So why again would you install community representatives?

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Posted by: GrimmR.3541

GrimmR.3541

So now you make a special forum rank for people who do what some of us are already doing for quite a while ? I don’t really get why. You should atleast reward them for their voluntary work they put in.
It’s obviously no job for me even though i am always browsing the forums.
Good luck to all who apply, hope the right ones get chosen.

toxic since 2012

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Posted by: munkiman.3068

munkiman.3068

So now you make a special forum rank for people who do what some of us are already doing for quite a while ? I don’t really get why. You should atleast reward them for their voluntary work they put in.
It’s obviously no job for me even though i am always browsing the forums.
Good luck to all who apply, hope the right ones get chosen.

I’ve personally enjoyed your posts, biased as that might be. I think they could have volunteers outside of US borders, if we got more forethought to this, but it’s definitely complicated. They’ll figure it out in time, i’m sure.

[TAO] Founder/Owner and Administrator for the NSP Server Website

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Posted by: tigirius.9014

tigirius.9014

I’m confused by your response, tigirius.

On the one hand, you don’t feel the player should have to log into the game, or, at least, not regularly, and, on the other hand, you want the player to use in-game reporting of feedback.

That would suggest having to log into the game. Confusing. =)

I was thinking that maybe instead of a player council they could use an in game feedback tool which would be A: directly read by the devs bypassing any lengthy process that comes with dealing with player councils or any attempts at ignoring certain things B: the metrics could be published for the players to see what was the most requested item to be fixed first C: could be tracked and categorized easily and automatically mostly by the software and would eliminate the need to sift through months of posts in the forums which tend to be repeats of things we’ve already asked for as a community located in the archive suggestions folder.

They were exclusive not meant to be done at the same time as sort of an either or concern.

Balance Team: Please Fix Mine Toolbelt Positioning!

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Posted by: GrimmR.3541

GrimmR.3541

So now you make a special forum rank for people who do what some of us are already doing for quite a while ? I don’t really get why. You should atleast reward them for their voluntary work they put in.
It’s obviously no job for me even though i am always browsing the forums.
Good luck to all who apply, hope the right ones get chosen.

I’ve personally enjoyed your posts, biased as that might be. I think they could have volunteers outside of US borders, if we got more forethought to this, but it’s definitely complicated. They’ll figure it out in time, i’m sure.

Cheers mate, i tried my best!
And yeah, maybe one day they’ll find out.

toxic since 2012

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Posted by: tigirius.9014

tigirius.9014

So now you make a special forum rank for people who do what some of us are already doing for quite a while ? I don’t really get why. You should atleast reward them for their voluntary work they put in.
It’s obviously no job for me even though i am always browsing the forums.
Good luck to all who apply, hope the right ones get chosen.

That’s been my concern will the right ones be chosen, people who might not have the best intentions for the game or who are focused solely on what they want to a degree that’s even more toxic then the imbalance caused by the favoriting of classes when balance patches come out will happen once again. Will they represent everyone because we’ve already seen how there doesn’t seem to be a focus on fixing the main portions of the game that everyone has to go through in order to enjoy anything max level.

Balance Team: Please Fix Mine Toolbelt Positioning!

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Posted by: Wolfheart.1879

Wolfheart.1879

It’s a nice idea in some ways, certainly. it has in some form of another been implemented in other games, and to varying degrees of success. If learning the lessons of both the good and the bad of similar schemes, it may be a nice little system.

That said, i think there are some risks.

1) “discussion with the Guild Wars 2 community at large on the official Guild Wars 2 forums. Each Forum Specialist should try to stay objective and impartial in any discussions about the game in order to provide high-quality feedback that represents the views of the overall community, rather than expressing the specialist’s personal opinions.”

Impartiality is a very rare thing to find here. Ultimately for every change or addition to the game, every person who is affected can’t help to have an opinion. From this passage, it seems that having an opinion is something the specialist simply is not allowed to have. The problem there is that a specialist in an area, with a more indepth or passionate knowledge about an area, is also likely to have stronger opinions on it. Simply, why should some of the most knowledgeable members of the community in a specific area be muted? These are the guys who perhaps would provide the best specific feedback. I can understand keeping a level of objectivity and being able to play devils advocate in making the reports, and encouraging all views on the forum, but that shouldn’t mean that a gagging order of opinions is also required.

2) “Forum Specialists may make no promises—expressed or implied—about the relaying of information, neither that it will be relayed nor that it has been relayed in the past.”

Despite your words in this thread, Gaile, this little quote, I assume, still trumps the words here. If so, in addition to potentially making the specialist nothing more than an opinion-less mouthpiece, they can’t really speak to what they are doing. They can’t say they will add something to a report, or have added something. One of the biggest criticisms players have against Anet in general is lack of transparency, and I see that as adding nothing but more criticisms in that direction. Your suggestions in this thread go along way to fix that in this specific instance, so would suggest an amendment to the linked post to clarify that, if possible. Ultimately, if these specialists are a go-between between community and the forum team, and from there to the devs, it would be appropriate for us to know if something has been reported by them, certainly if they wish to divulge that. Not only that, but I feel that specialists being allowed to share what they have reported, or if they have reported something is a vital step towards accountability and scrutiny of the scheme and its members. If this scheme is for our benefit, and I believe it is designed for that, we need to have some way of evaluating it’s usefulness to us. It being a closed system does nothing for the players.

3) Who do you get to take part? This is perhaps where my thoughts on issue 1) become somewhat contradictory. If you appoint people who are too far to one side of a position, you risk not only getting skewed reports (a reason I assume or your impartiality bit) but also can antagonise the other side of a particular debate. With that, I think community reaction may be an important part of the process. Its fine to have someone with White Knight tendencies, for instance, but that person would need to have proved they have been open to real discussion, and not just ignored or attacked someone for having a different view. Its fine to be a White Knight, and be supportive of Anet if you discuss and reason well, and am able to make players feel secure that their views will be heard and sent on where appropriate. Ultimately, if you want people who are impartial, you’ll be waiting until the end time. If you want people to appear impartial, thats more likely, but even there there should be some level of scrutiny to ensure reports to Anet are as impartial as possible (and support the specialists in becoming more so – they shouldn’t be expected to be perfect at that straight away), and still allow them to voice opinion if they can do so in a appropriate manner. Ultimately, the success of the program will depend on the specialists themselves. If they do not have the support of the community, both the side of a debate they are on and the side they ultimately have differences with, their worth to the community will be greatly diminished, and the program with it. Essentially, part of selection must look at how divisive they may be to the community. That shouldn’t necessarily be a block straight away, as people should be given a chance, but will need monitoring, and changing if they can’t get past their own views. That goes for the detractors as well as white knights.

Divinity’s Reach is home to some top-tier criminal masterminds.
The kind of people who will set an orphanage on fire after locking themselves inside it.

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Posted by: Ravion Hawk.4736

Ravion Hawk.4736

As a moderator with Battletech/Mechwarrior related forums, this program has a lot of potential for abuse.

I move that before ANY implementation of this program that the top 2 hotly debated subjects on these forums be outright BANNED first with swift disciplinary action taken against members that start these threads:

Mounts
and
Dueling in PvE

You get “pro mounts/pro PvE dueling” and vice versa into your program and I can tell you the fallout will not be pretty.

Head of the Order of the Iron Ravens [OoIR]
Lady Alexis Hawk – Main – Necromancer
Ravion Hawk – Warrior

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Posted by: Elrey.5472

Elrey.5472

As much as I like this program, i’m horrofied about the fact that most of the known players that would apply to it are in my opinnion toxic players that will encourage berserker gear to do things “fast and efficiently” instead of encourage players to find it themselves.

ES Wiki Sysop. Vanquiser of the Marionette, Lover of the Aetherpath.
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Posted by: Dasenthal.6520

Dasenthal.6520

I was curious about that to… There’s at least 2 white knights nearly everyone here is familiar with, as well as a handful depending on where you spend most of your time.
I don’t know what countries they’re in, so maybe it doesn’t matter but letting the white knights get some kind of backing (even if only in their heads) is a bad idea.
I love gw2, I’ve been here since pre-beta, I white knighted the Facebook page for months during the beta, so I understand white knights and this is a really bad idea if you let someone who cannot look at both sides of the coin be in charge of reporting to Anet…

Other comment, I thought about applying; but it sounds an awful lot like another job, but with none of the benefits.

“A conquered people will always resist you,
Edair. But allies-allies will fight by your side”~Cobiah Mariner

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Posted by: misterman.1530

misterman.1530

First let me address the “US resident” thing. It breaks my heart when we have to do this — for contests, for this program, for other things — but we really must do it for legal reasons. Different countries have different definitions of volunteer work and we simply do not have the means to have the program reviewed and adjusted to conform to multiple legal requirements that may apply to any given volunteer opportunity.

I think a lot of potential good candidates wont be eligible simply because of the USA requirement.

Yes, that is very true and I regret it more than I can say. This is a pilot program and we may be able to extend it in the future, though.

“Volunteer” work? Seriously. It’s moderating a forum. This kind of thing is everywhere, regardless of geographical location. I was a moderator on ReclaimYourGame, and I’m not in the US.

There are NO laws governing internet forum moderation. These aren’t “volunteers” in the legal sense of the word.

But whatever. The minute some “volunteer” moderator starts flexing his muscles in the forums, is the minute there is an exodus from said forums. Seen it before. Give someone power that they don’t have irl, and it goes to their heads.

Good luck, though.

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Posted by: Nevets Crimsonwing.5271

Nevets Crimsonwing.5271

As much as I like this program, i’m horrofied about the fact that most of the known players that would apply to it are in my opinnion toxic players that will encourage berserker gear to do things “fast and efficiently” instead of encourage players to find it themselves.

You shouldn’t be so “horrofied.” Most of your filthy elitists won’t qualify/have already quit/will have no home anymore now that they’re ditching the dungeon forums.

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Posted by: Rising Dusk.2408

Rising Dusk.2408

This won’t be a project where a person gets power, though. This is a project where a person gets a red border, and can consolidate information to more easily distill it to give to the forum communication team. The challenge is that the forum communication team can’t keep track of everything related to a given topic, so they’re asking for community involvement. It’s not even close to being a moderator because you don’t moderate anything, you just say “Hey guys, people are talking about X, Y, and Z. They like V part of X, etc.” It shouldn’t even be that much of a time sink.

The challenge becomes what to do when a forum for communication regarding a topic is dissolved. Sifting through hundreds of topics in “Guild Wars 2 Discussion” looking for discussion on the Black Lion Trading Post for communication relevant to John Smith is going to be really tough!

I think it’s a neat opportunity and a good project so long as the expectations of both the forum communication team and the specialists are clear to both parties. I look forward to working with these guys on ways we can communicate what we really want to the devs.

[VZ] Valor Zeal – Stormbluff Isle – Looking for steady, casual-friendly NA raiders!

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Posted by: Sariel V.7024

Sariel V.7024

Still reporting without having the right to say you forwarded it to devs will make alot of people keep posting the same things over and over and over and over and over……
did i forget to say and over again?

That will happen anyway. People post their gripes without checking to see if someone has already posted about it. And since the devs rarely update, people will ask, even when they know something is in the pipe.

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Posted by: Ok I Did It.2854

Ok I Did It.2854

First let me address the “US resident” thing. It breaks my heart when we have to do this — for contests, for this program, for other things — but we really must do it for legal reasons. Different countries have different definitions of volunteer work and we simply do not have the means to have the program reviewed and adjusted to conform to multiple legal requirements that may apply to any given volunteer opportunity.

I think a lot of potential good candidates wont be eligible simply because of the USA requirement.

Yes, that is very true and I regret it more than I can say. This is a pilot program and we may be able to extend it in the future, though.

This makes no sense, your asking for people to help, they know the terms set before they take part in this, what your asking is for people to send feedback from the forums etc, how is this any different from what we do now????

I was a moderator for a global chatsite back in the day, they where not UK based, it was volunteer based, we had no issues, how does this even involve legal, as you are not giving away goods related to this,

Events ingame that involve prizes I can see having issues as some countries do have strange laws on that sort of thing.

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Posted by: Serophous.9085

Serophous.9085

I was curious about that to… There’s at least 2 white knights nearly everyone here is familiar with, as well as a handful depending on where you spend most of your time.
I don’t know what countries they’re in, so maybe it doesn’t matter but letting the white knights get some kind of backing (even if only in their heads) is a bad idea.
I love gw2, I’ve been here since pre-beta, I white knighted the Facebook page for months during the beta, so I understand white knights and this is a really bad idea if you let someone who cannot look at both sides of the coin be in charge of reporting to Anet…

Other comment, I thought about applying; but it sounds an awful lot like another job, but with none of the benefits.

This post is a great example of other problems. If the forum mods come in and try to bring in a healthy debate, what they say or who they are will soon enough be labeled as “white knights”. And that Anet only chooses “white knights” to run the program. If anything, that word and term is getting thrown around too much, that if someone agrees with one thing with Anet, they are labeled a white knight nowadays.

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Posted by: Wethospu.6437

Wethospu.6437

As much as I like this program, i’m horrofied about the fact that most of the known players that would apply to it are in my opinnion toxic players that will encourage berserker gear to do things “fast and efficiently” instead of encourage players to find it themselves.

In my opinion it’s more toxic to call people toxic. Anyways, I think specialists shouldn’t consider any group of players toxic. That job is for moderators.

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Posted by: Ravion Hawk.4736

Ravion Hawk.4736

The legal issues for the US resident and the age requirement is because this is an official site and NOT a fan site.

All the official forums I go to moderated by employees of the parent company in some fashion.

It is a liability thing AND it is Resume filler. These “specialists” will likely be allowed to place their tenure on their resumes as unpaid internships. Therefore, non-US citizens would likely have to get a work-visa since ANet is based in the US.

Head of the Order of the Iron Ravens [OoIR]
Lady Alexis Hawk – Main – Necromancer
Ravion Hawk – Warrior

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Posted by: Pixelpumpkin.4608

Pixelpumpkin.4608

The legal issues for the US resident and the age requirement is because this is an official site and NOT a fan site.

All the official forums I go to moderated by employees of the parent company in some fashion.

It is a liability thing AND it is Resume filler. These “specialists” will likely be allowed to place their tenure on their resumes as unpaid internships. Therefore, non-US citizens would likely have to get a work-visa since ANet is based in the US.

If that’s the role, and if these regulations apply, then really, it should be paid work.

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Posted by: Linken.6345

Linken.6345

The legal issues for the US resident and the age requirement is because this is an official site and NOT a fan site.

All the official forums I go to moderated by employees of the parent company in some fashion.

It is a liability thing AND it is Resume filler. These “specialists” will likely be allowed to place their tenure on their resumes as unpaid internships. Therefore, non-US citizens would likely have to get a work-visa since ANet is based in the US.

But they arent moderating anything they are gathering info and passing it on.

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Posted by: EnemyCrusher.7324

EnemyCrusher.7324

I have two questions…

Are there any benefits?

Many of us already answer people’s questions, link to existing information, any generally try to share our knowledge where it can help. How would participating in this program be any different?

First question is answer in terms of conditions nr4

I will not be paid or compensated in any way for being a Guild Wars 2 Forum Specialist, or for any other game-related activities, and I acknowledge and agree that my being a Guild Wars 2 Forum Specialist will not create an employment relationship between me and ArenaNet, any of its affiliates, or any other company or organization.

Edit
Second question this is to gather info and present it to the company in report form once a week

Saying that you won’t be compensated just means that you won’t be paid or rewarded in any tangible way. The description makes it clear that this is a volunteer position. There could still be other benefits, such as an indicator below your name on your forum posts, the ability to merge threads, or any number of things.

Light of Honor [Lite] – Founder / Warmaster
Sorrow’s Furnace Commander
“You’re the mount, karka’s ride you instead, and thus they die happy!”-Colin Johanson

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Posted by: Inculpatus cedo.9234

Inculpatus cedo.9234

I have two questions…

Are there any benefits?

Many of us already answer people’s questions, link to existing information, any generally try to share our knowledge where it can help. How would participating in this program be any different?

First question is answer in terms of conditions nr4

I will not be paid or compensated in any way for being a Guild Wars 2 Forum Specialist, or for any other game-related activities, and I acknowledge and agree that my being a Guild Wars 2 Forum Specialist will not create an employment relationship between me and ArenaNet, any of its affiliates, or any other company or organization.

Edit
Second question this is to gather info and present it to the company in report form once a week

Saying that you won’t be compensated just means that you won’t be paid or rewarded in any tangible way. The description makes it clear that this is a volunteer position. There could still be other benefits, such as an indicator below your name on your forum posts, the ability to merge threads, or any number of things.

Except it has already been stated that the volunteers will have no Moderation abilities whatsoever. If there are any ‘benefits’, it won’t come in the form access to any Moderation tools.

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Posted by: Pixelpumpkin.4608

Pixelpumpkin.4608

Saying that you won’t be compensated just means that you won’t be paid or rewarded in any tangible way. The description makes it clear that this is a volunteer position. There could still be other benefits, such as an indicator below your name on your forum posts, the ability to merge threads, or any number of things.

Well, it does say "I will not be paid or compensated in any way for being a Guild Wars 2 Forum Specialist, "

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Posted by: JustTrogdor.7892

JustTrogdor.7892

The only benefit to those participating is this will just create a bunch of star-bellied Sneetches. Guess how those reports are going to read when a star-bellied Sneetche sees a popular suggestion they don’t agree with? Oh, wait what suggestion? LOL

Attachments:

The Burninator

(edited by JustTrogdor.7892)

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Posted by: Jordo.5913

Jordo.5913

“may not be employed by ArenaNet within 12 months of acting as a Guild Wars 2 Forum Specialist”

GREAT SCOTT!

This leaves me out, as one day I would hope to be employed by such a respectable company!

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Posted by: Linken.6345

Linken.6345

I have two questions…

Are there any benefits?

Many of us already answer people’s questions, link to existing information, any generally try to share our knowledge where it can help. How would participating in this program be any different?

First question is answer in terms of conditions nr4

I will not be paid or compensated in any way for being a Guild Wars 2 Forum Specialist, or for any other game-related activities, and I acknowledge and agree that my being a Guild Wars 2 Forum Specialist will not create an employment relationship between me and ArenaNet, any of its affiliates, or any other company or organization.

Edit
Second question this is to gather info and present it to the company in report form once a week

Saying that you won’t be compensated just means that you won’t be paid or rewarded in any tangible way. The description makes it clear that this is a volunteer position. There could still be other benefits, such as an indicator below your name on your forum posts, the ability to merge threads, or any number of things.

Pardon me for asking but how is an indicator below your name in a forum post a benefit?

Is this one of the kitten things I never understood in the least or what….
A-I got these lines of text under my name
B- Cool what do they do?
A- Nothing
B- Eh okey ( smile and wave while backpeddeling )

(edited by Linken.6345)

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Posted by: Reverence.6915

Reverence.6915

Extremely short sighted.

Expac sucks for WvW players. Asura master race
Beastgate | Faerie Law
Currently residing on SBI

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Posted by: Spawne.3128

Spawne.3128

Lol absolutely stunning, the one thing this forum needs is MORE dev input to show that they actually give a kitten about this game, and what do we get? Dev’s are retiring from the forums and letting regular users take the reigns and submit progress reports.

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Posted by: Essence Snow.3194

Essence Snow.3194

Interesting.

From a forum user perspective…I was a mod at guru for a while and it’s not really all it’s cracked up to be. Sounds okay in theory but in practice it’s basically just doing a bunch of busy work for free.

From Anet’s perspective…..We get busy work done for free.

Stands to reason that the people you’d want for such a thing are typically not the ones that apply for such. In laymans…special snowflakes do not make great liaisons.

Serenity now~Insanity later

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Posted by: nethykins.7986

nethykins.7986

Goodness, It’s like I’m reliving this one MMO i used to play, all over again.

After they got a lot of flack for not contributing to discussion, they hired people as “Forum Supervisors” – which meant they did have meetings with the community team and discuss what things were of most importance in the forums – however, this did not change the game at all or how the forum was run.

Instead, there were just a lot more threads closed, a less flexibility on what was allowed to be said on forums, as well as people (on their own discretion) flagging things that they disliked – and with the backing of the community team and other Forum Supervisors, those threads were closed, people were given lots of warnings and even some people banned from the forum for continuing to state that nothing was changing after the implementation of the Forum Supervisors.

smh History Repeating itself.

The problem with GW2 is that, impartiality is hard to come by, and knowing that it is, I can only hope that anyone looking at the applicants does a check through the persons forum post history to see which side of the fence they fall on, and how often, to make sure it’s not just all fanboys or extreme haters of the game.
Simply “3 Forum posts in the last 3 Months” isn’t going to really cut it.

(edited by nethykins.7986)

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Posted by: narwhalsbend.7059

narwhalsbend.7059

Anyone that is chosen to represent a board will not do a good job. Everyone is biased in some way. I think it’s a terrible idea because of this.

What happens if they select one of those “OMG I LOVE MOUNTS AND NEED ELVES AND CATGIRLS” crazies and they hype it up to make it seem like people actually want that?

No thanks; the forum is fine as it is now and no amount of people half-youknowwhating their unpaid semi-moderatorship will help.

But I still do appreciate that you’re trying to interact with us more, just this isn’kitten

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Posted by: Gaile Gray

Previous

Gaile Gray

ArenaNet Communications Manager

Next

This won’t be a project where a person gets power, though. This is a project where a person gets a red border, and can consolidate information to more easily distill it to give to the forum communication team. The challenge is that the forum communication team can’t keep track of everything related to a given topic, so they’re asking for community involvement. It’s not even close to being a moderator because you don’t moderate anything, you just say “Hey guys, people are talking about X, Y, and Z. They like V part of X, etc.” It shouldn’t even be that much of a time sink.

The challenge becomes what to do when a forum for communication regarding a topic is dissolved. Sifting through hundreds of topics in “Guild Wars 2 Discussion” looking for discussion on the Black Lion Trading Post for communication relevant to John Smith is going to be really tough!

I think it’s a neat opportunity and a good project so long as the expectations of both the forum communication team and the specialists are clear to both parties. I look forward to working with these guys on ways we can communicate what we really want to the devs.

But they arent moderating anything they are gathering info and passing it on.

I’m quoting these because I think they express things very clearly. Information gathering is very valuable to us, and we’ll be looking for people who can do that in a helpful and as unbiased a manner as possible. Remember, the Forum Communications Team remains at the core of the entire forum system, and FCT members are the only people empowered to moderate a thread: to edit, delete, merge, split, move, or infract.

As far as concerns about bias, in a casual situation like this, if someone were to show bias — if we saw a lot of feedback that didn’t represent the true tone and tenor of the community — we’d point that out or even select another specialist. I believe that the people who apply will take on board that they’re speaking for the greater community and not themselves or their guild alone.

Lol absolutely stunning, the one thing this forum needs is MORE dev input to show that they actually give a kitten about this game, and what do we get? Dev’s are retiring from the forums and letting regular users take the reigns and submit progress reports.

No, that’s not how we see this at all. If there are 100 threads about a topic you’re working on, but a trusted forum specialist, backed by the FCT, suggests you review a few of the topmost threads on the subject, you’re more likely to engage. And if all goes as planned, forum specialists won’t be submitting progress reports on the forums, the devs themslves will be doing that, when there’s something to say and when they have the opportunity to post.

Gaile Gray
Communications Manager
Guild & Fansite Relations; In-Game Events
ArenaNet

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Posted by: Louveepine.7630

Louveepine.7630

Why ?! I am French! and I could not talk to you! While I like that é_è!! This is unfair! Especially in French forum, Stephan does not necessarily move ideas etc. We will never again have to communicate with us!

My only motivation was communication on the forum!
Can not you find a solution?

# Asura because I’m worth it!

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Posted by: nethykins.7986

nethykins.7986

No, that’s not how we see this at all. If there are 100 threads about a topic you’re working on, but a trusted forum specialist, backed by the FCT, suggests you review a few of the topmost threads on the subject, you’re more likely to engage. And if all goes as planned, forum specialists won’t be submitting progress reports on the forums, the devs themslves will be doing that, when there’s something to say and when they have the opportunity to post.

Then the question becomes – How will that change what we’re seeing now with highly commented, mega threads that are rarely answered even thought there’s already knowledge of it existing?
Considering those new specialists can not discuss whether or not they’ve relayed information to the proper Community Team, the idea and execution of this starts to come apart at the seams.

I doubt this is going to stop things like You/Other devs commenting on things of minor importance and glossing over ones if greater importance (“Traits” Thread is giving you dagger eyes from across the forum room)