All popularity.

[booyah8876]

So first was the Community Leader position, and now from what I've seen, player of the month is going off to Popularity contests.

What happened to being the best and most fit for the job?

Just because 4762586258962 people like you doesn't mean you can do the job, or you deserve something that someone else who is only known by 50 people should get.

Why are we doing popularity polls as new requirements for things?

[artboi]

agreed with this. enough said booyah.

[saint_attila]

Aye, I must agree. This is true. Charisma, popularity, that is all that matters.

"People don't listen to those that mumble the truths, but they will follow those that shout lies."

[sirviney]

You should take a better look at the whole scenario... The top 3 most fit for the CL position were hand picked by outspark and then they leave the rest up to the community to decide. This way someone who is chosen, despite who it is, is in fact fit for the job.

I Personally like the idea of being able to pick who the next CL is, after all they are our leaders.

Additionally, how do you find the Player of the month a popularity contest? I don't see that at all... So far They've had a Signature contest which test SKILL in graphics design and they've also had the Avatar contest, sure both have to do with art but there are more coming.

[Adrichiang]

Are you sure about that? I know a player is sponsoring an unofficial player of the month event. As for the official player of the month I still believe its selected only through the Outspark staff and not through player sponsored contests, unless I missed something and a community leader and or staff member can refute my opinions with their proof ^^.

[Sharlyne]

well maybe the player of the month is Gm's favorite ? :p

[Ange3l]

I get the feeling there would still be people speaking up if we we're allowed to vote for our CL's...

-thinks-
"How come otuspark make all the descisions for us? We want to have a say in who leads the community too. Its unfair that they make all the choices and we don't get any say in anything"

-sigh-

[luckywalker07]

I feel like your trying to find the bad in the situation instead of the good (reference to the glass 1/2 empty saying).

There are positives that come with having a "popular" person as CL means they are more approachable, more well liked person. And, in the end, a CL needs to have the charisma and confidence to lead the community.

As per player of the month, a popular player tends to earn that status by helping, being talkative, and playing an active role in the community. These qualities happen to be shown most predominately in the classic "popular" guy/girl.

[Poisoned77]

You misunderstand booyah. Normally, a CL is chosen behind the scenes based upon the qualities that the rest of the staff looks for in a potential CL. We only put on the CL campaign, because this event and the RL prize coincided with the US presidential election.

All the nominees were picked and agreed upon by a number of the CLs and other staff as those who displayed the right stuff to be a CL, not who had the most posts, or the most rep, or whatever.

I can say nothing about PoTM because that is solely the responsibility of the GMs.

[DF001]

The CL poll sucked, some people voted for the candidates just because they were their friends, because they looked cute or because they threw a coin.

[saueracker]

Personally, reading and writing on the forums quite often, I believe the people selected to run for cl this past "CL election" were very well chosen. They have helped countless times within a variety of subjects.

as for the voting, popularity does take part..i wish it didnt but all three candidates were deserving.

[Naomi89]

The CL poll sucked, some people voted for the candidates just because they were their friends, because they looked cute or because they threw a coin.

Can you imagine how worse or more biased it would have been if there was a larger selection? This way the people threw coins or whatever for three candidates that outspark thought had good qualities for the role of CL. So either way whoever won, biased or not, at least the new CL would have definately done a good job.

If the community was allowed to chose whoever they wanted out of everyone the person would win solely on a popularity vote but being popular doesn't necessarily mean they have the good qualities needed for a CL.

Narrowing it down to three was a good thing as it gave the community a choice too as to whom they wanted. But a choice out of people who would actually make a good job as CL. Either that or Outspark should have just picked the CL themselves. But letting the community choose whom they wanted out of anyone would have been a bad desicion in my opinion. Everyone would have voted for their friends, and not because they have good qulaities for the position or as you said throwing coins, picking the cutest and more reasons like this.

[Tamahiki]

I have to agree with some of the comments posted above....
In some ways many ppl voted for who they did because of beign close freinds or because they felt they were the most popular ppl to be put on the ballot. BUT! I feel that the 3 ppl who were on the ballot had good qualifications to be a CL. I personally know 2 of them from my server (I didnt vote because i couldnt pick between 2 good freinds) and both are very nice ppl. As to addressing the issue at hand, I would ask Outspark not to do this again as we can all see this stirs contreversy, although it is good at times, it seems inherently biased in some fashion. Not trying to say i didnt like it coinciding with the election and all, just a little ticked that two of my freinds were candidates. Dunno if I made my idea come across clearly, but its what I think of this. All i have to say....ITEM MERCHANT KENTON FOR PREZ 2012!!!

[booyah8876]

You misunderstand booyah. Normally, a CL is chosen behind the scenes based upon the qualities that the rest of the staff looks for in a potential CL. We only put on the CL campaign, because this event and the RL prize coincided with the US presidential election.

All the nominees were picked and agreed upon by a number of the CLs and other staff as those who displayed the right stuff to be a CL, not who had the most posts, or the most rep, or whatever.

I can say nothing about PoTM because that is solely the responsibility of the GMs.

I'm sure that you guys had to think about who you were going to nominate because they could've possibly been the next CL. All I'm saying is that leaving it up to, "Well I'll vote for him/her because we're friends!" instead of having the officials look at the job, and hand out the official position isn't what I think is right.

It's like the electoral college. A president may with the popular vote, but in the end it's the electorals that count.

As for PotM, it's in a thread in Teva general, I don't know if it was a joke or not, but they said to nominate people who should be next, then they'll be voted for, and be put up against the other servers.

I hope no one thinks I'm mad or ranting or anything, I'm just saying what I think. ~

[Shadowic2]

We did not intend for the CL election to turn into something where people only voted because they knew them, recognized their name, or flipped a coin. Which is why we encouraged people to read the debate threads, campaign threads, etc. So people can get to know each Candidate better.

I doubt we'll be doing that type of thing again. It was just a one-time event in celebration of the Presidential Election. Plus Silky was itching to do something to get rid of that hat, XD.

It isn't our, or Outspark's intention to create things to be popularity contests. We want people to get votes or recognition for the work they do, not from how many people they know.

And as for the Player of the Month thing. I have found the thread you may be talking about in the Apoline Section, and it's not an official thread. It's just something the OP does every month for fun. So Outspark is still picking the Player of the Month themselves.

And don't worry, I don't think you're angry. I think you have very valid points. This is something that I think is good to have discussed, since we do not want to have the events here end up as popularity contests.

[Naomi89]

Its just a dilema which is hard to avoid. In theory us as the community being able to chose the CL, or anything which will ultimately have a say in the community, makes a lot of sense. However, in practice, things like this get abused and something which was a good thing easily turns in to a popularity contest. At least when outspark choses we hope there is as little bias as possible and we know that the person or object which gets chosen or 'wins' will truly deserve it and be suited for it.

To a certain extent the way the CL was chosen this time wasn't so bad, as either of the three would have done an excellent job as CL as Outspark saw to that before they chose them. If they felt one was much much more suited than any of the other they just would have picked that person straight away. However, the speeches and answers that the candidates took time and effort preparing may have ultimately turned out to be a waste of time for them if people didn't take the time to read them and chose the CL on the qualities displayed in their posts. I think many voted depending on who they knew and whose name was familiar to them.
Should Outspark just chose or should the community have a say? It's a tough call since a system which is good can easily get abused.

[Celtic_Princess]

I think what Outspark intented to accomplish in creating an election for the CL position was noble. It was supposed to get the community involved, to have them make an informed decision about who they wanted to see as the next CL.

To be honest, even in my thread which had over 200 posts...it was generally only people that knew me. I really did appreciate those that took the time to read all of the threads (and I know several of my supporters did as they took part in the other candidates threads as well) and make their decision. I was disappointed in those that chose to ignore the threads and base their decision soley on the fact that they thought the candidate was 'cute' or they 'flipped a coin'. Even if those votes were for me, I'm still disappointed.

The point of having a democracy and having the right to vote is to make an informed decision on who would be the best candidate for you. When I was in highschool my government teacher said to us all on the first day. "Do you like George W. Bush?" Most of us voiced our opinions (at this point a few of my classmates had been old enough to vote). Then he asked us "How many of you researched the candidates?"...very few of us said anything. Finally he asked "How many of you that were eligible to vote...actually did?". Even less piped up. He looked at all of us and said "It is your civic duty as an American to exercise your right to vote. It is your responsibility to research the candidates, to listen to their speeches and to make an informed decision. If you do not do so, you have no right to complain."

That statement hit home with me...how can I criticize something I made no effort to change? I have no statement on the outcome of this election, but I am disappointed in the fact many users didn't take the time to read the candidates threads...and that out of all the Outspark users in existance...less that 300 voted.

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On the other side of the coin there are many things that Outspark could have done better in this situation.

For one, checking the IPs of voters to make sure users weren't double or triple voting..this way it would be assured that Outsparks community really chose their newest CL.

Also, I dislike the fact that they didn't really advertise it. The day of the election, poll times changed. I was unaware of this as I was frankly just too nervous to watch the polls...a number of other voters were unaware of this as well. It should have been announced in game that the poll times had changed. Actually, the entire election should have been announced in game. Not once from the time the polls opened to the end of my shift at 8pm est did I see them announce it in game.

It was an interesting experiment, but I would discourage the idea of doing it again. I honestly feel that it brought the community farther apart than it had previously been.

[Naomi89]

"If you do not do so, you have no right to complain."

That made a of of sense it's very true. The thing is more than announcing in game they should have made it more obvious on the forums that poll times had changed. Lets say making the notice thread show up on every section. Obviously in game would have been more obvious I just see one small problem with that. CL is meant to represent the forums and in the end basically effects all those which use the forums rather than in game. If the election had been announced in game then it would have alerted even people who do not use the forums about the election. That would have prompted more people to check it out yes,but then "Oh, I know her I will vote for her she's my friend" ecc. The people who needed to vote for this were people who use to forums. If people who don't use the forums voted it would have been an even greater popularity contest as the only reason people who don't use the forums would want to vote is so they could vote for the person they know. So I think it was a good choice not announcing it in game or putting an announcment on the login window for fiesta. But they should have made more obvious for people in the forums.

[Celtic_Princess]

True, posting the time change in every section would have been just as effective. The entire event seemed to tear the community apart at the time, which upset me quite a bit. I logged on that night to find someones thread explaining their frustration at the polls closing half an hour early...the thread had progressed into a flame war against both myself and the winning candidate. The one post I made that night was typed through tears, asking people not to fight over the election. Whats done is done right?

While I really do commend Outspark for the idea of the CL election, and the attempt to bring a choice to the community....it just didn't work out. Even if the results had been the same a lot of voters double voted, flipped a coin, or just voted for their friend. I had hoped, at the beginning of this election, that traditional politics wouldn't play a part in the election. In one way that actually managed to come true. The overall race between the candidates was friendly, and I appreciated that, for its rare in politics. There was no slandering, no underhanded politics...just a friendly race.

Where it went south was with the actual election. Several of the comments posted in the poll thread and in a thread that was deleted after the election were not just hurtful to the winning candidate but hurtful to me as well. When you see how people change because of politics, it dampens your enthusiasm for helping. I've stuck around, and I'm still helping where I can...but for the first few days afterward I felt like the community had stopped caring about what we were writing...so why bother writing at all?

After a long talk with my boyfriend I came to the conclusion that what the community needs to see is that the candidates are still united as friends and fellow community members...and hopefully the hateful posts and threads would come to an end. Most of that responsibility now lies on Vivianne, she (like any of us had we been chosen) will have to prove herself as a CL. At the moment I think she's doing a good job, and I hope she will continue to do so in the future.

I think it may be more productive to Outspark if we could come up with an idea of how they can involve the community in such decisons without turning it into a 'popularity vote'

[Tamahiki]

"If you do not do so, you have no right to complain."

That made a of of sense it's very true. The thing is more than announcing in game they should have made it more obvious on the forums that poll times had changed. Lets say making the notice thread show up on every section. Obviously in game would have been more obvious I just see one small problem with that. CL is meant to represent the forums and in the end basically effects all those which use the forums rather than in game. If the election had been announced in game then it would have alerted even people who do not use the forums about the election. That would have prompted more people to check it out yes,but then "Oh, I know her I will vote for her she's my friend" ecc. The people who needed to vote for this were people who use to forums. If people who don't use the forums voted it would have been an even greater popularity contest as the only reason people who don't use the forums would want to vote is so they could vote for the person they know. So I think it was a good choice not announcing it in game or putting an announcment on the login window for fiesta. But they should have made more obvious for people in the forums.

Yes very true to all of it, especially about the voting part. I was hiding on my squishy at the time and some1 had just told my party that teh voting was already underway. Impossible I said as the voting didnt start for and hour, or so i thought. Nope it was already goin strong? sure strong, but when we took turns going afk to vote (i did not, conflict of interest among the candidates) We took longer than expected. Reason being-where the heck is the poll!? After eventually finding it (and my squishy being obliterated by ghosts) it took about 20 minutes for all my pty to vote. Seems like it only should have took about 10 or 12 minutes. Something to work on is what im trying to say :3

[Celtic_Princess]

Yes very true to all of it, especially about the voting part. I was hiding on my squishy at the time and some1 had just told my party that teh voting was already underway. Impossible I said as the voting didnt start for and hour, or so i thought. Nope it was already goin strong? sure strong, but when we took turns going afk to vote (i did not, conflict of interest among the candidates) We took longer than expected. Reason being-where the heck is the poll!? After eventually finding it (and my squishy being obliterated by ghosts) it took about 20 minutes for all my pty to vote. Seems like it only should have took about 10 or 12 minutes. Something to work on is what im trying to say :3

I think perhaps the maintentance on the fourms may have been a big cause in that, as the event threads got moved around and may have been difficult for some to find initially.

[princess_vivianne]

Where it went south was with the actual election. Several of the comments posted in the poll thread and in a thread that was deleted after the election were not just hurtful to the winning candidate but hurtful to me as well. When you see how people change because of politics, it dampens your enthusiasm for helping. I've stuck around, and I'm still helping where I can...but for the first few days afterward I felt like the community had stopped caring about what we were writing...so why bother writing at all?

After a long talk with my boyfriend I came to the conclusion that what the community needs to see is that the candidates are still united as friends and fellow community members...and hopefully the hateful posts and threads would come to an end. Most of that responsibility now lies on Vivianne, she (like any of us had we been chosen) will have to prove herself as a CL. At the moment I think she's doing a good job, and I hope she will continue to do so in the future.



Thank You. That really means a great deal to me.
It truly was a very clean campaign. All three candidates were mature enough not to emphasize at the faults of the others, but to highlight why they would be a good CL.

I would be lying if I said that I did not care about the personal attacks I received during campaign and after campaign. I also found it very hurtful when I saw public flaming directed to the other candidates as well.

I personally don't think that Outspark will ever repeat this contest again. It did bring a lot of tension to the community. However, the past it past. I now bear the responsibility of serving the forum community and Outspark as best as I can.

I have been a CL for a little under a week now. It is a lot of fun but my main purpose is to help as much as I can. And I think I'm doing pretty well so far. The staff has been so nice and helpful. I cannot thank them enough for it ^^

Now that the election is over, I would like to bring back a more calm atmosphere around forums. But for that to happen, ALL OF US have to cooperate. Not just the members. Not just the OS staff. But all of us.

[kawaiichibineko]

never really understood player of the month

[Triumph]

never really understood player of the month

Let's just say a popularity contest, shall we?

You will rarely see any of the quieter people randomly become a Player of the Month.