We'll Just Leave This One Here...

[Dacy]

Yesterday, we were informed that the Homecoming City Council has decided to dissolve the Community Representative role. This means, effective immediately, the Base CRs are not officially CRs anymore, and no other CRs will be assigned for any HC faction or group.

 

The City Council cites the reason for this change is that an official role within the community requires ongoing oversight and support. And they have determined that they are not currently able to provide the level of support they feel the position deserves, and hope to bring it back at some point if they are able to give it the support it needs. However, they assure us that they value our insight and communication, and still would like to hear from us, but informally.

 

What does this mean for you? Probably very little! We, Dacy and Easter Bunny, are still committed to being just as present, helpful and transparent as we’ve always been. We will continue to help those in need on Discord, on the forums, and on the in-game Base Building channel. We will also continue to maintain the new Base Directory (so, please, continue to add your bases!)

 

We are also committed to continuing the Base Showcases. Not just the current one for Tech but for all remaining categories as well.

What is not certain is the fate of the Official HC Base Contests or our role in them. We will be taking a hard look at whether or not we feel that the community would want us to run another such contest, and if there would be good participation, and if we have the motivation to do so. Would the community consider it an "Official HC Contest" if we are no longer official? That's not important to whether or not the contest is held, but does hold relevance to the titles. And it gives us some indication as to whether you, the community, still want us to act as your reps in an albeit unofficial capacity.

 

However, on the topic of base contests, the City Council has informed us that any player is always welcome to reach out to the Game Masters and ask for their support and participation in events. They are willing to support contests with titles and merit rewards, to some extent. This means that now YOU can host base contests of your own! All contests must be submitted well ahead of time for approval, and approval is at the discretion of the City Council.

 

If interested, please submit a Support Request or contact a Lead GM. Your request should be forwarded to the appropriate people.

 

We continue to appreciate this community, and we feel blessed for all of the wonderful people we've met and gotten to know, and all the amazing bases we've watched (and sometimes helped) you build! Thank you for being such a wonderful community.

 

Your former CRs,

Easter Bunny and Dacy

Edited April 27 by Dacy

[Easter Bunny]

[On-Fire Dude]

Thank you both for all you've done and all you will continue to do.

[Anyad]

Thanks to both @Dacy and @Easter Bunny for all you have done and do for this little community. As a member of the common general population. Having people to repersent the common folk with guidance, leadership and a sometime a voice, give some of us with out the means, skill and mostly courage to step up and become active in the community. 

Torchbearer was part of the Halloween Give Away event this year for the first time and thanks to Dacy and Crew helped my little group arrange everything needed to make it possible for Torch to be a part.

 

Thanks for all Everything past and i'm sure Future🥰

 

 

Sorry about the detail i was WAY in the back at the event in Everlasting 😆

 

Edited April 27 by Anyad

[Elfis]

I don't know exactly what the change means, but I am thankful for the base building help you gave me and hope you are still able to enjoy doing what you are doing!

[Mini-Nukette]

Our Base-building guru's have done a lot for the community and, whilst I know they will continue to do so with or without the Community Representative officialdom, I hope the Homecoming Council hasn't made this decision lightly, as their help, candor and many entertaining videos have been a great aid to many other players who appreciate the game.

[Dacy]

Just to be sure all are clear: the videos were mine before I was CR, and are not a part of being a CR. HC has nothing to do with their production. It's just the place where I make them. 🙂

[Kheprera]

But... I'm still fishing! And have piles and piles to clean for the fish fry!

 

It's pretty amazing what we can do now. Thank you for all the help and I'm certain I'll have more questions now that the Tardis room is mostly done in Epoch. Specifically hiding storage racks because they aren't being nice to me but that's not what this thread is about.

 

The help videos, the base contests, the tours, the showcases... thank you for all the work. Maybe now your bases can be entered into some contests, because it's only fair.

 

ALL HAIL @Dacy and @Easter Bunny!!

[Mike Arclight]

Not sure how this is a good idea on their part. What's changed that necessitated this shake up? Did a GM leave or something? 

 

If I'm reading this right, @Dacy and @Easter Bunny are no longer officially sanctioned, and that we can now petition to run our own official events. 

 

Are they NUTS?! Instead of having two responsible individuals suss out a myriad of petitions, organize them, and schedule them; they are now asking for each and every one of us to individually find a GM and try and get something to happen. 

 

That sounds like more work, not less.

 

---

 

@Dacy, @Easter Bunny, thank you for all your hard work and dedication. I hope the City Council comes to their senses and reinstates both of you. You both have brought much value to CoH:HC and have been a large part of why the game has such a loyal fanbase. 

[Dacy]

2 minutes ago, Mike Arclight said:

they are now asking for each and every one of us to individually find a GM and try and get something to happen. 

 

they are now allowing others to do contests; and apparently, that was always the case, we just did not know it. 🙂

 

They can still refuse to support a contest if they think there are too many or for whatever reason. But yes, that does seem counterintuitive.

 

[Dythok]

1 hour ago, Dacy said:

Just to be sure all are clear: the videos were mine before I was CR, and are not a part of being a CR. HC has nothing to do with their production. It's just the place where I make them. 🙂

Hell, those videos are why I even bothered trying to get into base building after I found Homecoming.

[RocketCat]

Thank you to Dacy and EB for stepping up to represent the community, and being a voice for us when it came to the art of base building.
I'm sad that the HC team wasn't able to offer you both the support and oversight that they felt that you needed, but i'm glad to know

that you're still representing us in an unofficial capacity.  I will still personally look to you for leadership on some of the best things

our community has to offer, since I believe you are the lifeblood of our most dedicated artists breathing new life into the game even still.

Happy 20th Anniversary, and please know that you are still respected and loved for all the work and inspiration you've given us freely for so long.

Edited April 28 by RocketCat

[kito]

You guys always did great work. Hope they get the ability to bring you back.

[twozerofoxtrot]

I'm going to be unusually frank here: this does not seem like a wise move, nor was it wise to fail to address it to the community before Dacy and EB did, despite their endless professionalism on the matter.

CR or not, you two are still the Base Building Leaders of this community.

Edited April 28 by twozerofoxtrot

[America's Angel]

Sorry to hear it. You've both done a lot of good for Homecoming, so give yourselves a well-deserved pat on the back. Especially for those base building contests you ran. I know how stressful they were, and how little support you got. Good on you both for sticking with it as long as you did.

 

Speaking as someone who used to be a CR, the title doesn't really mean anything, so try not to worry too much about no longer having it. Your contests likely won't have GM support or gold title prizes now, but nothing else really changes other than that. I've still been helping the dev team implement PvP changes since stepping down as PvP CR, much as I did before becoming CR. And I'm still running/helping folks run PvP events. I imagine you'll both be able to do the same for bases. You'll still be representing the base building community as much as you were before. Nothing's really changed, and in some ways you're now freer to do things the way you want because you don't have anyone to answer to.

 

Big hugs. And looking forward to seeing what the two of you do next. 

[Dacy]

4 hours ago, America's Angel said:

Your contests likely won't have GM support or gold title prizes now, but nothing else really changes other than that.

No, specifically, they have said that gold titles and prizes will still be provided from HC, and not just for us, anyone can submit a request.

[America's Angel]

16 minutes ago, Dacy said:

No, specifically, they have said that gold titles and prizes will still be provided from HC, and not just for us, anyone can submit a request.

Ah okay. I was told no when I asked for a PvP tournament. Maybe it's different for base builders.

[Dacy]

@twozerofoxtrot, I don't believe that HC traditionally publicly addresses staff comings and goings. At least, I have not seen them particularly doing so.  For example, when the base dev retired, she was the one who posted about it. I do think it would do much to help build a relationship with the community, however, if they did show more openness about what is going on. I realize they feel very distant to the community, but I am not sure they realize HOW insular they appear. We knew they were not going to address the issue, just from past experience, but we also realized, that since they had already taken down the titles and CR character names, people would quickly notice. We are quite visible, especially since we were in the middle of the Tech/Sci Fi Base Showcase. So it had to be announced immediately. EB and I prefer to be as open as possible. That's how trust is built, and the response from the community to us on a regular basis shows me that we are generally well regarded and have a relationship here. 🙂

 

I appreciate all views expressed here, the support, the concern, I think it's all valuable to us and to HC as feedback.  And the more views expressed, the more weight can be given to the topics being brought up. 🙂

[Dacy]

2 minutes ago, America's Angel said:

Ah okay. I was told no when I asked for a PvP tournament. Maybe it's different for base builders

It's possible that it's a new policy(?) because we were deactivated. It was news to me, so it's possible they just decided to do that. I doubt it's just for base builders, but, of course, whether or not they decide to provide rewards is at their discretion, and I know, previously, I was told, "not too many or too often". That was vague, and never defined for me, but that holds; so if a contest is not HC backed by rewards and titles, it's likely that they've decided they've done enough in that area for now. Again, it's clear, it's at their discretion, but it's also clear in an opaque sort of way, that they don't have a set idea in place of how many or how often. Or all the titles they give for costumes have tired them out. 🙂 (Smol joke)

 

[invigilium2]

This is sad to see, I can think of no others who have done so much for our small-ish community. To me it seems a bit of an over-reaction. If they're worried about CR's communicating with the press it should have been said to them. If they weren't told this when the position was created, then it's just a conversation with the CR's to not talk to the press moving forward. It's like making a mistake at a job, which you didn't know was a mistake, and being laid off for it.

 

I hope the devs take the time to consider the importance of having community reps, and that it is worth developing guidelines and training for the position. It's so much easier to have singular voice to sort out the cacophony of ideas coming from the community.

[Dacy]

Yes, a fair number of base builders, at least, saw that article, and yeah, I wasn't authorized.

 

I think their concern was twofold: one, I was representing them and they had no control over what I'd said, had no knowledge that I'd said it until it was printed, and I had had no instruction on what to say or avoid saying. There's an IP agreement to consider here that is very important. Two, not only had they not trained us, but there was nothing in place to train us with, and nothing on the horizon, which meant that such materials needed to be created.

These are game developers working in their spare time on a volunteer basis. Not only do they not have the time to work on such materials if they want to continue working on the game, let's be honest: game developer curriculum does not typically contain classes on public relations, community relations, and human resources, so not only do they face a time crunch to develop any such materials, they face trying to create things they do not have the training to do.

 

That's why, I think the priority before even attempting to bring back any CRs should be finding NON tech volunteers to help with the business and human side of things. People who can help build community relations. People who can perhaps project manage to improve workflow and communication.  And I'd like to see more trust and flexibility. I am sure you can have flexibility when you have trust and not have people violate your IP. And yes, perhaps an organization that trusted more could have looked at what I said, which was entirely positive and beneficial to HC, but unauthorized, and could have taken my history into consideration and accepted my intentions as good and in line with organizational goals, and then done as you said, told me not to speak to the press without authorization, and trusted that I would have followed that directive. However, it's very possible there are more hidden rules that I am unaware of, and so it came back to "we can't train you now". But again, I feel like if there was more trust and openness, they could have discussed their dilemma with us before arriving at a decision, even if that decision had to be the same one, instead of deciding, executing the decision, and then telling us it was done.

 

It seems to me an organization should be able to trust that people who are so dedicated and who have even BEEN through the training, can be trusted to say things within the guidelines, but that does not seem to be the case. I think someone with training in business administration would be able to set up a system where there was more openness, communication, and trust, and I think people would respond positively to that. This would benefit the game tremendously, because the devs would have more time to devote to the game development instead of the non-dev stuff, and, it should improve the working environment and community relations, which imo have not really been addressed much at all. They are doing their best to work within the framework of rules that have been established, but I think it'd be worth looking at those rules with someone whose training and experience can evaluate which are good and necessary, and which are impediments to long term viability. Mind you, no one asked me, but I'm going to put it out there anyway. 🙂 

[Dythok]

Homecoming has always experienced some form of growing pains.  It's not easy to manage or run an MMORPG, especially one that was dead for so long.

Over the years, the needs of the game, and the community, have shifted and evolved.  At the start, it was about tech and legal issue.  And now, especially since NCSoft's blessing, it's time to give some focus and attention to giving the community itself tools and the means to prosper.  Having the CR role was a solid step, and hopefully it will be returning sooner rather than later.  An official spokesperson or Community Manager would be great as well.  Someone equipped to be a 'face' or public relations, to consolidate player and community feedback, help the community feel heard.

I know I've been far more invested in games when I felt like it was 'our' game, and not 'their' game.

Edited April 29 by Dythok

[jkwak]

15 hours ago, Dacy said:

It's possible that it's a new policy(?) because we were deactivated. It was news to me, so it's possible they just decided to do that. I doubt it's just for base builders, but, of course, whether or not they decide to provide rewards is at their discretion

Wait wait wait that means when I host my "Goblin of the Year Award" CC at the end of this year again I can ask the GMs to provide the winner with an acuall Gold Title and also to top of the price pool and help me host the CC on a really Big scale rather than the tiny price pool I could farm together?

[Dacy]

HC has never and will never provide influence for a contest or anything else. 
 

They have in the past given out merit rewards. Their current thinking is that they will provide aethers for us to use as prizes, instead of the merits. 
 

They definitely have a limit to how many contests they will sponsor. And I think they tend to look at the scope of the event as well as to whether or not they will sponsor it, but I don’t know their thinking. Since they themselves do some costume contests, sometimes, I can’t say that your costume contest could be sponsored. But you can always try.

 

 

[ZacKing]

I was bummed to read about this, but given what I've witnessed firsthand from some of the HC folk, I can't say I'm at all surprised and to be honest, you're better off.  That's all I'll say there and leave it at that.

 

I think people are forgetting that HC is not a commercial for profit venture and it's never going to be one.  They don't need "PR" people for HC.  It's just making more work for a volunteer staff.  IMO they should continue to focus their limited time in developing the game the way they see fit and doing what's fun for them.  Having to come up with all kinds of training materials,  new positions that need to be monitored and such is another step toward making their limited volunteer time into a full time job, which I don't think is the goal. 

 

Somebody said in base chat the other night that we really don't need CRs at all.  I agree to be honest.  Only speaking for myself, gold titles and merit rewards and such don't mean anything for me.  I really like the whole base crawl more than a contest, especially since it's a small enough community that less than a handful of people are ever going to get a real shot at winning top prizes in a contest anyway.  To be honest, it's more special I think when it's run by the community instead of having any HC involvement.  We just don't need it IMO.  At least for me, sharing a creation with the community or being able to visit other peoples bases is the real reward.

 

Anyway, that's my 2 inf.  Thanks for all your continued efforts.  Other than not having a blue title anymore, I honestly don't see the difference.