DDO Players Council Application

[Cocomajobo]

How to Apply
We are once again taking applications for a new DDO Players Council! If you would like to apply to be considered, please fill out the following application before 11:59pm Eastern on Sunday, February 14th: DDO Players Council Application. We will have future application opportunities at various times moving forward, but any applications sent in when we are not actively seeking applicants will be ignored.

Who is Eligible
Anyone that plays DDO is eligible to apply; this includes people who have been a part of the Players Council in previous years or even people that have only just started playing recently.

What is the Players Council?
The DDO Players Council program is meant to allow the development team to gather feedback on potential changes and ideas for new features at earlier stages in the development cycle than we would be able to share with the general public. Council members will have access to a hidden section of the DDO Forums where developers will post proposal threads looking for feedback, a newly set up Discord channel where developers will sometimes ask for quick gut checks on small ideas as well as host voice chat feedback sessions, and occasionally access to an early development build on the Lamannia server that will almost certainly be full of bugs, unfinished areas, and not be well balanced. So, if you are accepted, you'll agree to an NDA. If you break the NDA, there will be consequences, up to having your game account permanently banned.

One of the larger misconceptions we hear from people who haven't been on the Council is the belief that this is a voting body. It isn't, and never has been. Participants don't decide on our schedule or represent the DDO community-at-large. They represent themselves, their personal opinion, and to some extent the kind of playstyle and subset of the community they gravitate toward. This is BY DESIGN. We don't do votes because the point isn't to get a majority opinion. Rather, it's to get diverse and comprehensive feedback from as wide a cross-section of the community as we can manage in a small group setting. So far we've been pretty successful at this, and we hope it continues in the future.

As with the previous Players Council, we are not predetermining a fixed "term" for this council. Instead, this council will run until such a time as the development team feels that it's time for a refreshed roster. No member of the council is obligated to serve the entire duration of this Council's lifespan and can drop out of the program at any time. In addition, there may be points during this Council's lifespan where we will look to open applications up for additional new members from the community to join those already on the Council. Overall, we're aiming to make the council structure flexible enough to best suit the needs of the development team.

Finally, I would caution that while this is a nice opportunity, it's not well suited for everyone. Some people don't like and can't handle "seeing how the sausage gets made." If you read something one of us says and react with extreme emotion and the desire to warn the world about impending doom, this isn't the program for you. If you are on the Council, I promise you will see bad ideas along with good ideas. Sometimes it's deliberate, sometimes we brainstorm with the Council, and sometimes we test the waters to see if there's an aspect of a thing we hadn't considered. You will also see things that never happen! As previous Council members will tell you, that's part of the process. Maybe these things will happen someday when the time is right, maybe not. So, if you read an idea and consider it a promise or set in stone, the Council is also not for you.

BUT - if you want to get a peek behind the development curtain, provide valuable feedback to us on a variety of topics, and interact in a civil, intelligent, and positive way with others, please apply!

[droid327]

One of the larger misconceptions we hear from people who haven't been on the Council is the belief that this is a voting body. It isn't, and never has been.

Maybe a rename is in order then...a Council is generally a representative body that does exert some executive control over something. Calling it the Player's Council has been creating that false impression for years, and its led to animosity against both PC members for "not doing their job" and devs for "not respecting the Council's thoughts/wishes".

If you want to be honest and accurate, call it the Player Focus Group, since that's exactly what it is. If you want to make it sound a little fancier, maybe the Player's Advisory Board. Save everyone from having to make this same explanation over and over.

[Stravix]

Thank you for opening this back up, and I agree wholeheartedly with Droid on this one, a rebranding might be for the best, as the name "Players Council" is fairly inaccurate.

[JP457]

+2 for Droid and Stravix

If you're gonna have a deliberative body you call it a council. If you have a body with no power and no responsibility you call it a book club.

[Livmo]

+2 for Droid and Stravix

If you're gonna have a deliberative body you call it a council. If you have a body with no power and no responsibility you call it a book club.

Yay let's rename and finally bury this dead pony!

I liked the Focused Group, although I know myself and others are distracted by shinies from time to time.

[LrdSlvrhnd]

As a member of the PC (both former and current) I'd just like to say that the devs absolutely do respond to our feedback and I have seen things get changed significantly because of it. That said, I have also seen things remain much the same despite it, for whatever reason. But for the most part, it has been an enjoyable process and I highly encourage anybody who's thinking about it to apply. If you're sitting there thinking "What's the point, they only want a bunch of yes-men to rubber-stamp their ideas", I can only assure you that that is far from the truth. If you're sitting there thinking "What's the point, it's not like they ever listen to anyone anyway", again, I'd like to assure you that that is far from the truth.

On the flip side, though, the worst part of being "in the know" is not being able to *talk* about it to anyone, which can be frustrating when you're in a group and people are complaining about *insert subject here* and you know that there's a discussion going on about it that you can't say anything about. Actually, for me that's the second worst part, the worst part is trying to remember what's on the PC, what's on the forums, and what has been changed between revisions LOL

But yeah, basically, I just want to encourage people to apply.

[cmecu]

Maybe a rename is in order then...a Council is generally a representative body that does exert some executive control over something. Calling it the Player's Council has been creating that false impression for years, and its led to animosity against both PC members for "not doing their job" and devs for "not respecting the Council's thoughts/wishes".

If you want to be honest and accurate, call it the Player Focus Group, since that's exactly what it is. If you want to make it sound a little fancier, maybe the Player's Advisory Board. Save everyone from having to make this same explanation over and over.

I always think of Council of Nicaea when i see or hear the word council

[DreamingReality]

The way I would describe it is as a Players' Advocacy Group. That certainly does not sound very fantasy-like though. Maybe the Devs' Court (as opposed to the King's Court). Certain people are appointed to give advice to the Developers, but in their all-powerful position, they can take it or leave it.

[Livmo]

The way I would describe it is as a Players' Advocacy Group. That certainly does not sound very fantasy-like though. Maybe the Devs' Court (as opposed to the King's Court). Certain people are appointed to give advice to the Developers, but in their all-powerful position, they can take it or leave it.

This brings up another issue with the brand Players Council. It's PC for short.

I like Players' Advocacy Group, which is PAG. We need to take that to the next level and try for PAGAN, Players' Advocacy Group And Nachos.

I also like Taste Testers, but no cool acronym.

Side note, can we get real life Dirty Kobolds in a bottle or 6-pack for our trophie walls in RL? Or at least a bottle plushie?

[Antheal]

Ach, can I change my answer to "least favourite quest"?

My least favourite quest is any quest that requires 2 or more real players to complete, because they can't be done solo.

[Natashaelle]

Maybe a rename is in order then...a Council is generally a representative body that does exert some executive control over something. Calling it the Player's Council has been creating that false impression for years, and its led to animosity against both PC members for "not doing their job" and devs for "not respecting the Council's thoughts/wishes".

Except that when it was the Mournlands and everything was secret, people still devised misconceptions about it.

Misconceptions are an inevitability of human nature and of the social groups that we constitute -- but then it doesn't help when there are some members in the general forums who outright refuse to accept clarifications from PC Members themselves that they are not anyone's representatives, but instead continue to insist that they must be so. Oh well ...

As to the Devs "not respecting the Council's thoughts/wishes", well that's just untrue -- the PC is not the boss of the Devs, but it its membership is always treated with utmost respect by the Devs. Provided it goes both ways !!

[Mindos]

Who is Eligible
Anyone

Oh, yeah! (insert kool-aid man picture at later date) Finally, standards I can meet!

[Tsutti]

I submitted my application months ago to Cordovan and (after I discovered it) by following the link. I received no response and at this point...

By any chance, did you happen to send it sometime when they weren't looking for players?

We will have future application opportunities at various times moving forward, but any applications sent in when we are not actively seeking applicants will be ignored.

[Antheal]

Does being a VIP subscriber increase the chances of someone being selected to participate?

[Natashaelle]

Does being a VIP subscriber increase the chances of someone being selected to participate?

No. The Devs generally want a mix of VIPs and Premium for the differences in perspective.

[Jerevth]

By any chance, did you happen to send it sometime when they weren't looking for players?

It was right after we had the huge discussion about what the Council actually did someone mentioned they were always bringing in new members to fill gaps.
To be honest, I'm a bit salty at this point and don't wish to waste my time being told, "Sign this NDA, what are your thoughts on this, well we're doing it this way anyway."

[LrdSlvrhnd]

It was right after we had the huge discussion about what the Council actually did someone mentioned they were always bringing in new members to fill gaps.
To be honest, I'm a bit salty at this point and don't wish to waste my time being told, "Sign this NDA, what are your thoughts on this, well we're doing it this way anyway."

"Someone" not a dev or other SSG employee, perchance? Maybe don't blame them for getting bad information from a player. Even those of us currently on the PC had to re-apply, so if you wish to join, now really is your chance. All I can say is, there have been quite a few times where they listened to the players and plans radically changed from the initial conception because of our input.