stopping it before it is formed and guiding them to a open format would be much more beneficial in the long term.
they wont listen to me though never have done in the past i may as well be shouting at a brick wall.
You have just given it. 
Joke aside, there are some concerns for sure.
Like why listen to a select few and not all?
If they still listen to all, why have the select few?
How do you pick those select few? If it’s supposed to be a group that’s representative of the playerbase, then some of them ought to be immature children and toxic idiots, because those people also pay 10 bucks a month to have fun in Azeroth.
And on the flip side you can see the community already adopting the perception that the selected people will be those with the power to influence the game design and make Blizzard listen - so obviously all the people selected should be the wisest and smartest in the community. The creme de la creme of forum posters! …Of whom many have already announced their candidature.
But those people alone are not representative of the playerbase, and their lengthy and detailed feedback is not that which is rarest to come upon either.
It’s hard to imagine that the community won’t be upset with whoever Blizzard ultimately elects, because that which Blizzard seems to desire from this (a round table discussion with random people) is definitely not what the community is hoping for (intelligent spokespeople with strong skills in writing to be a voice of reason).
But the chaos that will ensue from it will most definitely be enjoyable in and of itself. And that is perhaps the silver lining in all of this. 
1 Like
Ever been invited to a pre-screening of a film? Ever taking part in product research? Ever answered a questionnaire on a product or service?
If so you were pick (for whatever reason) out of the customer base to offer feedback. This is no different. Standard CR methodology. I’m more surprised this doesn’t exist already.
Some people may be skeptical as such feedback forums did exist in private for years for influencters, content creators and theorycrafters etc. Feedback there was pretty much same as the public one for each expansion and it was not only ignored but developers went aggressive when someone suggested given thing isn’t good.
Now they are making them public so they won’t be able to hide if a dev goes aggressively defensive on his design being superior versus player feedback… so maybe it won’t happen and thye will actually use feedback from those forums (which will be same as feedback on this forums as well).
At some point there was some public commentary about those private forums. You can read it on:
2 Likes
i would neevr speak on behalf of the community… personally…
i would speak WITH the community.
no i havent … im not so easily lead by my nose.
Skeptical is fine (it is blizzard after all). Dismiss it out of hand before hand seems silly to me. I know Blizzard don’t have a good track record on using feedback, I am hoping this council sees a change in how they work.
If they seem to ignore it and people feel it is a waste of their time then participation will drop in the first instance and then people simply won’t apply when renewal comes up.
If Blizzard want this to work (and it is more than a PR stunt -as some have suggested) they have to be seen to use it and make people feel they are being listened to.
Ball is in their court.
2 Likes
As a former MVP I can say that it matters little what you want to do and try to do if people are hellbent on believing otherwise.
And as a long time forum poster I can tell you that on the internet it’s really hard to change anyone’s belief on something.
She is a 46 year old Glaswegian welder called Angus 
2 Likes
i know… i just wanted to put it here to give people something to think about before they all just blindly jump for the candy… because if there is one thing blizzard is good at
it is misleading and hiding the downsides of things they do…
I mean I know that’s not true, but it would be bloody hilarious if it was! You’re closer to Souldefiler with that description, though I think he would object to the Glaswegian bit 
You should apply if you feel that passionately about it.
i stand against the idea of silencing voices… for that reason i wont apply for it.
I think Blizzard tends to offer the brief explanation because the detailed one tends to be too complicated for a lot of people to understand.
At least that’s my experience with the community when it frequently seems as if it’s beyond some people’s ability to think of a reason for a change because they can only conclude that Blizzard are stupid and incompetent.
And that really reflects more on the players than Blizzard.
But that’s just me. In all my years of community interaction I wouldn’t say the level of design knowledge and understanding runs very deep in the community. There are some smart people. But most are not very smart.
And Blizzard has to speak to the broader playerbase, so…
1 Like
keeping it short also helps avoid PR disaster …
however that isn’t really working out for them in the recent years… people want more detail and openness now… not less.
EDIT: i say its a good thing that they realise they need to make a better connection with the community…
my only concern is the way they approach it
They are being open though, we will see what is being discussed. For me it’s better to have things open for all players to see and although I know they are also having separate conversations in a more private arena, I am hoping that these conversations will be as a result of the public conversations, not as a side room where they can dismiss the public thoughts.
Am I being overly enthusiastic about this? I really don’t see a negative in trying something out that will at last give the community some place that they can be listened to.
1 Like
Does it? 
I’d say Blizzard tends to get swift and hefty rebukes from the community whenever they don’t come out with a parade and free candy.
Let’s not pretend for a second that the community doesn’t judge as critically as it can, on everything.
I mean, just take this topic! We’re already sitting here and picking the idea apart and preemptively criticizing Blizzard’s decision-making.
Where’s there any good PR to be found in just about any of Blizzard’s community interactions? It tends to rain hate and criticism.
Maybe.
Hard to satisfy the individual in a community of millions.
What everyone ultimately wants is for Ion to sit down and listen to what they have to say and take that to heart.
But in a world with only one Ion and millions of players the result is always going to be disappointment.
Unless people change their expectations.
Since it’s going to be visible to everyone but only invited get post I think we’ll be seeing a lot of: " X said Y on community council and is wrong and stupid, this is how it should be" threads in GD and just a whole lot of frustration and people angry at the “council” for steering the devs in what they think is the wrong direction.
Also the council members will be blamed and hunted for everything bad with the game.
This is just going to be a big crapfest.
Add a proper feedback forum open for everyone and actually have employees read, interact and moderate that crap like every other gaming company.
Stop coming up with these stupid re-inventions of the wheel just because you’re lazy and to save a few bucks…
We have forum, social channels, ing game suggestion box and bug report.
Why you add another thing?
Looking at this action through the prism of similar practices in other corporations, I have the impression that Blizzard is trying to blame for its mistakes on the Community Council that is being created. When something goes wrong, the players will say “We are listening to you, only the Community Council does not give any hints for changes”
And why would you think those applying don’t have the same intentions?
Maybe you should apply and add that into your application, you can be a voice for the community within the council, joining doesn’t mean people are only out for themselves 
It’s a short term, constantly changing small group of voices though. Whoever gets picked this time will only be there for a year then another group will be picked and be there for a year and then another so on and so forth, in theory everyone could have a chance to be heard if they wish.
Also this, other people not on the council will be able to read the discussions and open threads about them to have discussions themselves and offer feedback which can (and maybe should) be used by those on the council to feed back further. It will (hopefully) open up a lot more actual discussion about topics that need attention of the devs.
2 Likes