MVP is misleading and should be removed

Community General Discussion
126

I always felt like the fact that the MVP title is a token of appreciation from Blizzard is the whole essence of the MVP Program.

It has nothing to do with the forum community, what they think or feel, or who they would like to become MVP.

The title is given to people who Blizzard feel have contributed to the forums in a significant and noteworthy way – it’s a way of saying thanks.

Again, it goes all the way back to TheHelper and the original intent of the MVP Program, and personally I think it’s a bit of Blizzard history that’s worth preserving, and not something that should be changed too fundamentally.

On the US forums they changed the way their MVP Program worked recently, which I personally thought was stupid. So instead of Blizzard giving the MVP titles to individuals they feel are amazing, people now have to apply for MVP themselves and fill out a questionnaire, and then based on whether or not they meet certain standards and criteria in terms of their writing, then they may get an MVP title.

And that seems like a departure from the original intent. The point is not to give MVP titles to people with popular opinions or superior writing. The point is for Blizzard to recognize people who they feel contribute to the forums in a way that’s above and beyond the norm.

If I could decide, I would probably change the MVP Program so that the titles are temporary.

Like, imagine if Blizzard wanted a roster of 10 WoW MVPs – 5 Customer Support MVPs and 5 Community MVPs.

Then they would pick those 10 people based on the same criteria as they do today – those who they think are the current best, most excellent, active and amazing posters on the forum. Those who really contribute to the forums being an awesome place.

And then those 10 people would get their introduction and welcoming, we’d all congratulate and cheer them, and they’d get to be MVPs with everything that entails for 3 months.

And then after 3 months Blizzard wipes the MVP roster clean and picks 10 new people. It could be some of the same people again – because they’re just that awesome – or it could be entirely new people who’ve really stood out on the forums in the past months.

Then they’d get their introductions and congratulations and have their 3 months of MVP awesomesauce.
And then the cycle just repeats itself endlessly.

That way the MVP Program would feel more reflective of the current forum community, and it would be something everyone could strive toward and become part of, and it would seem less like an exclusive, elite club as time went on and more people got to try it.

It should be a celebration of all the awesome people that contribute in various ways to the forums. It’s a great way for Blizzard to highlight the positive aspects of the forums. And for the forum community it’s a great way to feel as an actual community.

But it doesn’t really work when Blizzard only picks an MVP every 3½ years and 90% of the MVP roster consists of forum veterans so old most people haven’t even heard of them!
That current way of doing things seems so pointless because it’s so stale and outdated.

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127

They should use the system the US forums recently used for there new batch .
There is a new way yet as always the EU forum is lagging behind
I truely believe they have made a great choice in Puny she is helpful and has been a known critic of blizzard but she puts it in a good manner.
They are many of us who had 15000+ plus post all lost in the new forums who will never get picked because of our views.
Letting the community vote is the worse idea ever.

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128

You think that I don’t but I do,…wait, what exactly are we doing here, :rofl:

As it pertains to the subject of this thread, pick something I said and come at me bro :smirk:

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129

I don’t see the apparent confusion here, MVP’s are simply what an ideal forum poster should be - in their eyes. It’s someone who doesn’t necessarily represent the views of the company, however they consistently conduct them selves with decorum and are respectful to other forum users, regardless of their personal opinion.

So regardless if you want the role or not, start writing and expressing your opinions and views like adults would instead of hiding under the guise of ‘the internet’ to sh!t-post or just put everyone down with your own negativity. MVP’s are at least constructive, you (and I mean this in general terms) aren’t. You like to insult, to be snide, to throw “witty” remarks, to be a man-child, to be “edgy” and “say-things-the-way-they-are”.

Well laddie, you’re not special, you’re not alone, most people want to speak up, the difference is that when they do, some are respectful whilst most don’t give a sh!t and speak their mind without filtering or putting things in perspective, or even being rational or having nuance to understand several points of view.

We’re flawed, the difference is I can at least admit to it and won’t try to put everyone else down in the process. MVP’s are useful and are recognised for it, good for them. You want recognition? Work on yourself instead of dragging everyone down with you and shifting the blame to others…

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130

As I said way up the thread CS MVPs usually get the chance to Beta (which is sensible so we can answer questions in the Beta forum) but that’s all. It’s all changed from what it used to be many years ago. I can’t speak for the Community MVPs as they’re attached to a completely different team to us.

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131

There is no generalisation of the community in my post, I know that community is not just one entity with one unitary stance about the things in the game, and that various players belong to it, some more active and some less, some which played the game for years and some which joined to it yesterday.

Current system which apparently monitors the player contribution like you say on the forums is not transparent at all just like its not the way of selecting the new MVP-s.

And the system I was proposing would be better because the names of the candidates would be still picked by the Blizzard representatives , just we would have also offered with that the reasons why someone is nominated for such position and the community would have the final say and the choice when it comes who would become one.

132

An interesting choice of words

133

Heh, I think everyone who’s seen you around know that you can be… rude… To put it mildly :face_with_raised_eyebrow:

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134

/scratches head
Why? Amongst many other teams within Blizzard, there’s a Community Team & a Customer Support Team. Some MVPs are Community MVPs, appointed by the Community Team and some are CS MVPs, appointed by the CS Team.

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135

You see MVPs attached to a Blizzard team.

136

@Someoneelse: I think Ananda is referring to the fact that we tend to connect to a specific blue. Since the time Takralus left, I have had much less contact with Blizzard.

@Jito: While I can not directly name you any names (I would need to do a bit of checking), I think several other languages have gotten MVPs between now and 3 1/2 years ago. So Punyelf most like is not the only recent MVP, just the only recent English (community) MVP.

As for inactivity, while I might err, it is possible that we will see a few more new greens in the relatively near future.

@All: Thank you for your posts Dottie & Gráinne! :slight_smile: There are people, who would easily fill the criteria, but not all of them choose to accept the invitation for various reasons.

Being green does not mean that we are barred from the more light-hearted threads. I know Shammoz enjoys those (especially if they contain any references to wine :wink: ). This applies to the Blues, too!

As for democratic elections of MVPs… I would like to keep Punyelf, Shammoz and a few others… and as I noted in my earlier post, if I “got voted out”, I would still maintain my old style, just a little less visibly. And it would not change much, I prefer being appreciated for the content of my posts, not the green font they are written in.

As for errors… MVPs are exactly as human as all the other players. I do not think any of us have ever claimed to be flawless… and if we stick to a view, it is because we honestly believe to be correct. As has been noted, those views can clash, we are not a hive mind. :smiley:

Not sure whether I should anything else right now, maybe I think of something more later on… Have a nice evening, all! :slight_smile:

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137

I tend to just view MVP’s as spin doctors, taking a negative and trying hard (a little too hard sometimes) to spin it into a positive, It’s not so much what they say, but more a case of when they say it, and how they say it.

If you observe their posting, then sometimes it does seem like they are jumping into threads where negativity has started to take hold, and then trying to kinda spin it back onto a more positive track, is there anything wrong with that? I’m not so sure…

After reading Jito’s posts regarding some of the MVP perks, and regardless of whether that is still taking place or not, I’ve kinda decided to just ignore them from now on.

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138

I never going to understand point of having MVP’s. It feels like they do “Blue’s” job for free.
The second reason is probably when someone ask something and MVP replies people say ok this guy is MVP and he is telling the truth because Blizzard it seems does not trust their community to help up.

Other then this I don’t see point of it. I am not even on forums that much but still it’s interesting topic.

139

Maybe ‘appointed by’ would have been better wording.

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140

I don’t think it matters. Whatever you said would have been turned around.

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141

To be honest you can have 10k posts and still be a dush.
And why should they promote people who disagree with their policy ?

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142

This how the US reset the MvP system on there forums at start of year just incase anyone wants to read.

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143

There’s some part of MVP that does seem to imply that a player/poster can’t be (seen to be) any less than 50% neutral to be seen worthy… if any level of truth behind any comment made by a poster can be seen as confrontational, you can kiss your chances goodbye, irrespective of how helpful you are in general.

Like most walks of life, being entirely honest gets you nowhere, where as pandering to the middle ground if it means undermining your own principles is lauded… and gone are the days where knowledge/length of service alone counts for anything.

144

@Eighjan: I would not put things like that, at least not quite. Even before I became green, the Connected Realms threads were at times rather… heated. While not really intended as such, some of my post were… hmm, not that well received by some posters. So, becoming a green is not entirely a matter of popularity… and I can recall expressing some of my views rather bluntly, though I tried very hard not to be outright mean.

As for honesty… I have lied on some occasions in my life, but I generally feel uncomfortable not telling the truth… which at times has meant that I have simply elected to stay entirely silent. There have also been times, when I have been rather “loud” about my point of view, despite knowing that my view is unpopular (but honest).

As for knowledge and length of service… Most of the English greens have been around far longer than I have… and I have been a green several years by now… and played WoW since 2008. Shammoz and many of my other green colleagues do not lack, if one speaks of commitment and length of service…

It is also worth noting that we serve at Blizzard’s pleasure in the sense that they can, if they so choose, terminate any (or all) green(s) at any time. Such drastic measures are rarely taken. As far as I know, almost all greens who are no more, have retired voluntarily (from Blizzard point of view), while some have certainly had reasons that were not voluntary such a significant illness (of oneself or a family member) or leaving the EU region… A few have been apparently removed for inactivity (not 100% sure about this). I also seem to recall that one MVP (might have been US side) was forcibly removed for major code of conduct violations.

So, as far as I can tell, most of those who are invited and accept a place in “the Green Dragonflight” serve as well as they can for as long as they like and then retire by their own announcement.

Shammoz or one of the other older greens might also recall better than I do… I think someone served as MVP for quite some time, retired and later returned… Can someone confirm? :slight_smile:

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145

Thanks for the insight, @Trelw, but as I said in another thread a short while ago, there’s enough that are averse to me posting at all, let alone in green. In all honesty, I doubt I’d even be offered green & am entirely happy for that to be the case… imagine, a non-green TL3…? In my dreams. :stuck_out_tongue:

As for my honesty, it has served me ill, once… before the format change & I don’t doubt I may fall foul of the same byelaws in the future; however, I am continuing to learn to quell my vitriol to non-reportable levels.

Thanks, again, but my analysis of ‘getting ahead in life’ shall remain irretrievably cynical… sorry.