Opening Discussion Thread (with Poll)

[Windflower]

I mean when I first started as CR like 3-4 terms ago I had quite a few ideas of what I wanted to try do. Once I put my initial ideas in motion it's limited really to what you can do. Of course it's still the more effort you put in the more you will get out of it but it's still pretty limited.

So what's your opinion on what should be changed about CRs/if they're useful/should they be removed etc.

[Herishey]

I mean when I first started as CR like 3-4 terms ago I had quite a few ideas of what I wanted to try do. Once I put my initial ideas in motion it's limited really to what you can do. Of course it's still the more effort you put in the more you will get out of it but it's still pretty limited.

So what's your opinion on what should be changed about CRs/if they're useful/should they be removed etc.

I mean yes I believe they still have a use but in reality no different a use to a normal moderator. So yes I believe they are useful but in reality they're no more powerful than a normal community member is generally speaking, we just have more access to see what the administration are doing around the forms and can help decide if that is a good idea or not.

I guess it's just a moderator that the community trusts as they voted for them.

[Riddlez]

What I can tell from my in total 3 terms as CR, most of the stuff you do is behind the scenes. I worked out a number of disputes between members. One or two times I did it on my own initiative, some other times people came to me.

Other forum users do not see this because it takes place on Steam or personal messages.

The rest of the work I did was either in the Moderation Board, where I voiced my opinion on a small number of moderator stuff. The rest was replying or solving forum reports. The cases I closed were usually the ones where it was too much overkill to have an administrator hand out mutes or warning levels, but enough of a warning that the activities stopped.

One of the more classic jobs CRs were installed for (in the eyes of the community) were to be mediators between the admin staff and the community. I think I saw a line in that regard crossed exactly once in my in total 6 months of CR, so that part of the job has pretty much gone stale. For the rest... I'd say keep it. With BCoF coming out sooner or later it's a system you'll want in place once this forum is going to start getting crowded again. You'll be one step ahead of the drama with a mature system in place.

[Shadow]

Appreciate the comments everyone.  A lot of you have hit on various points, and I appreciate the concerns raised by some of you.  Something that we all need to keep in mind is the original purpose of the CR in the first post of this thread - doesn't mean that it can't change/evolve, and hopefully you all have seen some of that.  We've added a longer duration, added some responsibilities in the "Off Topic" area, and are exploring other options.

I (as well as the rest of the team) intend to keep this a "fluid" role, with opportunities for the community to make it as wished.  The Administration's role is to, within reason, find ways to take your feedback and incorporate into what the future looks like for Community Representatives.

Please keep the constructive, intentional feedback coming, and continue being an active part in the election and support of the future CRs.

[Herishey]

What I can tell from my in total 3 terms as CR, most of the stuff you do is behind the scenes. I worked out a number of disputes between members. One or two times I did it on my own initiative, some other times people came to me.

Other forum users do not see this because it takes place on Steam or personal messages.

The first couple terms I was involved in some disputes as well but this appears to have gotten less over the last few months really, which in reality is good so not complaining there.

[Jakester]

Spoiler

My experience as NA CR has been pretty simple:
1. I check the forums pretty much every day, and although I don't usually post anything I always check the moderation section of the forum and the NA regimental threads.
2. I check up on the mess hall and all the usual places the NA community posts, aswell as some EU or otherwise normal threads, and then hop off for the day.
3. Occasionally I have receive messages to lock threads, delete, or otherwise do something within my capability, in which case I do the requested action.
All of these are things I did normally as a forum user, except that I check the forums more often than I used to and #3 obviously.

There have been only 2 notable things I have dealt with on the forums was a minor dispute between Risk and Vetro about the name of a tournament thread, which after the fact was locked and not followed through with. If there is something that I could've done better, please let me know for the sake of all future CR's. Besides Pickle and Fartknocker, nobody really gave me any feedback on anything, and when I did some reflection on my term I realized that the community continued in it's standard way, and did not need any influence from me.

The second is that I have worked with the administration for some changes to the forum, and they asked for my input as an NA representative.

I wish you would put more effort/thought into being CR, moderated more, and been more vocal and used your influence for something. It seems you just waited for things to happen.

[close]

That is how I would see my term effectively going. I know the community is in a downturn of activity over the bigger time span, but the few times I talked to people about running events/creating more events it was always more of an in-game idea than forums based. This became especially true with the abandonment of the event I ran on Saturday in favor of a different rule set at the VB/15e event. The way I understood my responsibility as CR was to be there for problems or any mediation, which I was, but overall it has not been a turbulent term and as a result I just did what I though was expected of me. Thank you for the feedback Windflower!

[Eamon]

It's disgusting that Herishey is stuck in a community rep position when he should be in a community rap position.

Spoiler

Props go to em

[close]

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[Herishey]

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[Duuring]

I have to say, the post of CR really grew on itself.

When I originally thought of the position, it was really the mediating-role I had in mind. I thought and still think that to be a good moderator, one needs to be slightly detached from the community. It makes one more objective and also recognize that the individual moderator is there to enforce the rules. This created at least some resentment from the community, so I created the CR's to help create some community support. If the community understood better how and why we made decisions, if they had their own voice and if the CR could raise points that the moderators are simply unaware of, the forum could maybe become a slightly better place and keep some of its activity.

Now, one role I never thought they would play was the conflict-solving role between members. I have no idea how exactly this happened, but I did realized at some point this steadily became more and more important. When we discussed giving CR's moderating powers, it were the current CR's themselves (No idea who those were at the time) that argued against this, as this would change their role. And that's fine. I mean, if there is one thing I've learned as a Political Scientist, it's that these positions change naturally over time. To me, that just signals the position is making a difference and finding it's own best place.

With BCoF coming out sooner or later it's a system you'll want in place once this forum is going to start getting crowded again. You'll be one step ahead of the drama with a mature system in place.

Pretty much nails it. Although obviously, I didn't expect BCoF to take this long. But then again, who did?

[Dan the Seagull Chef]

Can we change the name from community representative to like community moderator or mediator or something like that. I feel like that would better discriptor of the role at the current moment. If the CR were to continue as a role I think it would work better with an actual community manager and with the proper resources that would come with said community manager. Like when I think representative I'm thinking great blots where we're trying to decide an issue or where a statement has to be made or like for a company supported event where a community member can take discussion points right to the source and get an answer.

Basically change the name yo

[Shadow]

Can we change the name from community representative to like community moderator or mediator or something like that. I feel like that would better discriptor of the role at the current moment. If the CR were to continue as a role I think it would work better with an actual community manager and with the proper resources that would come with said community manager. Like when I think representative I'm thinking great blots where we're trying to decide an issue or where a statement has to be made or like for a company supported event where a community member can take discussion points right to the source and get an answer.

Basically change the name yo

So it sounds like what you're saying is that you'd actually want to have a Community Manager, managing the Community Representatives?

I've also updated the poll, btw - so we can retake your feedback and get a more updated input

[Dan the Seagull Chef]

Can we change the name from community representative to like community moderator or mediator or something like that. I feel like that would better discriptor of the role at the current moment. If the CR were to continue as a role I think it would work better with an actual community manager and with the proper resources that would come with said community manager. Like when I think representative I'm thinking great blots where we're trying to decide an issue or where a statement has to be made or like for a company supported event where a community member can take discussion points right to the source and get an answer.

Basically change the name yo

So it sounds like what you're saying is that you'd actually want to have a Community Manager, managing the Community Representatives?

I've also updated the poll, btw - so we can retake your feedback and get a more updated input

In my dreamscape I would like the CR role to be split into a community moderator and a community representive. The CM would continue in a similar role and CR would assist a community manager in both managing community-driven initiatives and to tell the community manager what the community favors. The community manager can then either direct or give resources towards an event or initiative.

So basically community manager is the sugar daddy, community rep gets the hoes and the community moderator is the police.

[Shadow]

This is maybe something worth considering in the future, but will note your feedback so it can be discussed. Thanks for your input, Dan.

I'll say this is something similar to what was previously done, I believe.