Elements Council - A New Way To Organize the Community

[BluePriest]

I don't see why all 12 masters should be on board, the title is little more than an e-penis enhancement and doesn't speak for the person's ability to think things through outside of the game.

I agree. It could after all be possible for a master to arise out of nowhere, and have almost no forum experience. I dont think such a person would deserve to be on the council, nor would they have the experience. They would just be good at elements, and know a lot about it (which although Good, doesnt mean they know anything about the forums). Some also may just want to be able to say they have a cool title and want bragging rights, although dont really want to do anything else.

 I dont think a large number would be bad either. All that would be required is to have whatever the issue is to have voting going on for a week or any other amount of time WHILE the discussions are taking place, and have the option to change their vote as the discussion continues.

 Maybe im giving too much credit to the staff, but I dont think they ever just randomly decide "Im going to do this" and dont at least put a few days of thought into it if its a significant change. There doesnt need to just be a vote at the end. It ca be a running vote, and if you missed it, you obviously werent paying attention, and dont really deserve to be in the council.

Also, perhaps what exactly the council would help decide on would help this discussion go better. I know you tried to explain it in your last post, bt it seems like people are still under the impression that every single thing that goes on would be decided by the council, when it seems to me like you are trying to say that they will help out with a few things.
If pro is the opposite of con, then whats the opposite of progress?

[Wardead]

If pro is the opposite of con, then whats the opposite of progress?

Congress  (THIS WAS AN EPIC WIN PUN)

[Scaredgirl]

I don't see why all 12 masters should be on board, the title is little more than an e-penis enhancement and doesn't speak for the person's ability to think things through outside of the game.

Just my 2 cents.

I actually quite agree with VRT here. Being Master (currently anyways) seems more of an honorary thing. But with how ScaredGirl has been evolving the trials it has given opportunity for the Masters to have more of a voice. Perhaps give Masters half votes?

I thought about the Master thing this morning..

A person might become a Master almost solely because of superior PvP skills, which means that this person could potentially have no qualifications to become a fair and useful council member. That's not good.

Also like you said, being a Master is an honorary thing, almost like a reward.

This is why Masters will not automatically become council members. They can however apply for the job, and because their Master's status, it should be easier.

So now it looks like it's going to be:

12 Senior Staff Members
12 Elected Members

Getting people all in chat at the same time usually does not work either. That means you will mostly be relying on pms and forum announcements to get the message across.

Actually the way it works is that we have a special forum section for council discussions. No matters are discussed in real-time. Instead we use forum topics and polls.

I'm amazed with this idea. SG knows I am a frank and outspoken supporter of collective decisions.

I could say however this nearly contradicts this quote by SG...

I'd like to talk about something I've come across to. Seems like there are some individuals who feel that all decisions related to forum events or forums in general should be done by some kind of community wide vote. Often when I change the rules of some event or introduce something new, I hear some people wanting a community wide vote about it. That's not how an organization should be run.

These two things don't contradict each other because we still will not have a community wide vote. We have a select group of (mostly) veteran members. There's a big difference.

Also the Council does not do any micro-management like deciding details of event rules. That would be just dumb and we would never get anything done. Those decisions will be made by the organizers like before. Council only concentrates on the big picture.


As a remininder..

The Council does not..

A) Decide everything
B) Approve or disapprove all changes

I think 90% of people here think that this project is bigger than it will be. We will start very small, like hiring and firing. Then if everything goes well, we will gradually give the Council more power. This has to be done very slowly and very carefully. Kind of like to hedgehogs making love. Otherwise there is a high change of everything going to ****.

[cebra]

I would expend it to 30 people at all.

12 Senior Staff Members
12 Elected Members
06 Former Elected Members

Former Elected Members are those who weren´t elected for the "elected members" part a second time. They have to be an "elected member" at least once.
It´s a bit inspired by the old rome, they did it a bit like that. But they had like 900 people in the council^^

[kev]

Elements the Game Council

Statement of Declaration

I.  Introduction
   A.  Elements the Game is a free online fantasy card game in which each player embodies an elemental – a spirit composed of an element.

   B.  Elements Forum is a web forum dedicated to assist Elements the Game in game development, player education, and player interaction.

II.  Purpose of this Statement
   A.  This Statement of Declaration (Declaration) has been reviewed and adopted by the Elements the Game Council (Council); it outlines the restrictions and responsibilities of the Council. 

   B.  This Declaration will be reviewed at least annually by the Council to ensure all provisions remain relevant.

III.  Identification of Council Responsibilities and Duties
   A.  The Council is responsible for monitoring staff activity.  Specific responsibilities of the Council include:
      1.  Review and replacement of staff members as Council members.
         a.  A Council member may recommend release of a staff member from the Council.
         b.  Three days will be allowed for Council discussion and replacement recommendations to be made.
         c.  The Council shall vote during a three day period for either a replacement or No Change.

      2.  Release of elected Council members.
         a.  A Council Member may recommend release of a staff member from the Council.
         b.  Three days notification will be given to the community to allow individuals an opportunity to announce candidacy for election.
         c.  The community shall vote during a three day period for a replacement.

      3.  Review and replacement of staff.
         a.  A Council Member may recommend release of a staff member.
         b.  Three days will be allowed for Council discussion and replacement recommendations to be made.
         c.  The Council shall vote during a three day period for either a replacement or No Change.

   B.  Council may be appointed additional responsibilities by the Game Administrator.
 

APPENDIX A

Council Members

(As of  xx.xx.xxxx)

Senior Staff Members
Individual 1
Individual 2
Individual 3
Individual 4
Individual 5
Individual 6
Individual 7
Individual 8
Individual 9
Individual 10
Individual 11
Individual 12

Elected Members
Individual 1
Individual 2
Individual 3
Individual 4
Individual 5
Individual 6
Individual 7
Individual 8
Individual 9
Individual 10
Individual 11
Individual 12
Use as much or as little of this as you'd like.  I'm of the opinion a smaller Council would be better, but given the ease into responsibilities it doesn't much matter at this point and it's likely to change in the future anyway.

[jmdt]

      1.  Review and replacement of staff members as Council members.
         a.  A Council member may recommend release of a staff member from the Council.
         b.  Three days will be allowed for Council discussion and replacement recommendations to be made.
         c.  The Council shall vote during a three day period for either a replacement or No Change.

      2.  Release of elected Council members.
         a.  A Council Member may recommend release of a staff member from the Council.
         b.  Three days notification will be given to the community to allow individuals an opportunity to announce candidacy for election.
         c.  The community shall vote during a three day period for a replacement.

      3.  Review and replacement of staff.
         a.  A Council Member may recommend release of a staff member.
         b.  Three days will be allowed for Council discussion and replacement recommendations to be made.
         c.  The Council shall vote during a three day period for either a replacement or No Change.

I like the idea kevkev

Ideally it should never happen, but 1 council member recommending the release of another seems like a community feud waiting to happen.  Ideally you only get rid of a member if they are away for a period of time (1 month?) or are not doing their duties (wiki not update, deck archive not up to date, card ideas not looked at).  Based on that wording a member can be thrown out purely because the council does not like them.  Shouldn't be a problem, but you never know.

[Scaredgirl]

One way to get rid of lazy staff members is to have a community-wide poll, and kick out any staff member who gets less than 40% approval rating. I think it's a better option than nominating people for elimination. Like jmdt said, that would only lead to drama.

[Demagog]

Let's just hope we don't have any yaladilaes :-p

Any idea when this will get underway?

[ddevans96]

If pro is the opposite of con, then whats the opposite of progress?

May I put this in my signature?

[Demagog]

Haha ddevans, you've never heard that joke? I don't think you need to get his permission for that :-p

[ddevans96]

Haha ddevans, you've never heard that joke? I don't think you need to get his permission for that :-p

Actually, I haven't. I fail

I have heard the one about government intelligence being an oxymoron though

[smuglapse]

Government intelligence? What's that?

I think he meant military intelligence--at least that's what I always heard.