Emergency Mod Elections.

[Lil'twick]

As most of the community has seen and learned that two of our moderators have stepped down, I fully realized I do not have the capacity to moderate Fizzy Bubbles alone. Right now the community is severely hurt and scarred over the events that have recently transpired, and it will take a long time for those wounds to heal. I appreciate all the help and support members have offered, and I will make sure I take what help I can get to try ad push things forwards.

But, I am unable to do this completely alone, so I am looking for two additional members of the community to join the ranks of moderators. I will be looking for the same criteria as last time, so here is a quick refresher of things here.

Availability: Possibly the most important quality, must be accessible around the clock to work in conjunction with other mods as well as interact with the community (barring sleep, real-life commitments, and emergencies obviously)
Open-mindedness: An ability to set aside one’s own personal views in order to work for the community’s best interests as the ultimate priority
Initiative: The willingness to take on tasks that might seem monotonous but are critically important to keep FB running
Cooperation: The ability to collaborate with others, keeping discussions civil and productive, and working towards operating on the same wavelength as your peers
Leadership: Being able to address the community on a regular basis, maintaining a level of transparency as well as being able to step in and correct disruptive behavior

These will be emergency, flash elections that will be done over the course of a week. I know this will be rushed, but honestly, I need help as soon as possible. All nominations will be due by Wednesday, April 21st, 11:59 PM GMT. Discussion with the candidates will be until Friday, April 23rd, 11:59 GMT. Once that is done, voting will commence until Sunday, April 25th, 11:59 PM GMT. I will not tolerate personal attacks against any candidate that puts themselves forwards. This is a time where we need to get together as a community and work together.

Candidates, please post your nominations in this thread.

[Prof.Enigma]

I nominate myself once more.

Unlike our last moderator election where I entered, this time I actually have learned a lot and have gotten things sorted out in my life to where I can commit more to FB.

* Availability:
Discord is a second home to me, Always have been and will be online throughout the day, and I've started to become more active in terms of UPN / BMG. I've learned to better manage my schedule to the point where I have a lot of free time and not a lot of stuff to really do.

* Open-Mindedness:
I am already like this for the most part. I don't really want to go into anything with a closed mind or a biased opinion and even if I do have a biased opinion I make it a point to set aside my personal opinions and aim to work on what would be best even if I don't agree with it. I feel that Moderators are to already set aside most of their personal views unless it is something that above all else just screams wrong.

I already have been doing my best to move forward and go into things with an open mind with a goal to work on FB

* Initiative:
I've already attempted to assist out in any way or form since I last applied to be a moderator. While it may not be much that I have actually done outside of the candy shop, I am more than willing to tackle big tasks that seem daunting and daring.
FB needs help and I want to help.

* Cooperation:
This is a part of my day-to-day life and with my job as well. I can work strongly by myself but I am more than willing to work with others. I can set aside personal issues and work with anyone to get things done as well and in a civil manner.


* Leadership:
I've done this inside my other large-scale group, so I would not have any difficulty with repeating this here. I may not have been Chatty Cathy and making all the friends in the world in the discord side of things but I feel that I'm seen pretty transparently and don't have any issues with anyone personally, So I feel that I wouldn't have issues nor would people have issues with me working on things.

I also had to step in and correct disruptive behavior a number of times within my other group, and that even involved correcting the head owner of said group. I've been already placed into leadership positions in other points of my life and looked upon for leadership however it was needed. Be it actual labor to fix things, being a Diplomat and helping come to the middle ground between two sides, or just someone else to rely upon to make sure things are running smoothly while others focus on more time-consuming strenuous tasks.
I know I can apply that past experience here in some way or form.


* Extra
Edited Addition:

I honestly feel a lot more passionate about the community and I now feel braver to actually step up and help however I can. I know I may not know as much as others of our community, and I know I haven't been fully mature with FB. Just standing by with very little independent speech of my own or backing already posted speeches and not contributing any unique or special ideas. I want to change this in myself and it starts with this.

I want to work as a long-term moderator and truly fix up FB to not only stand on its feet but also expand and grow past what we have been.
I fully understand that others might be better for this position now than I am, but I still would like to apply.

Even if people feel that there are better people to elect to the top right now, I will still do my absolute best to go above and beyond and apply to help in anything else regardless. I am done sitting in the shadows just watching.

[Princess Ana]

I would like to nominate two people if possible.

The first would be for myself, with the caveat that I would be intending to step down after some time, maybe around six months to a year. I still do not know if I could manage being a moderator again as a long-term commitment, but I definitely intend to help FB get back on its feet.

I would also like to nominate Connor if he would take it. Connor also has experience in moderating a forum game, but he also has some personal experience with situations like the previous, and is someone I can personally vouch for to handle things fairly in the coming weeks.

Now, for myself.

Availability: As I am currently not going to school, I am available throughout the majority of the day. I am currently moving into a profession as a streamer, but those hours are flexible and often public. I am still active in the Discord most of the time as well.

Open-Mindedness: While I often hold personal views and opinions, sometimes strongly, it has always been a policy to defer to the community when the community at large disagrees with me. Being an activist working to improve my college's climate around LGBT issues has also made me a much more open, willing to listen person, and I've taken a lot of time to introspect myself.

Initiative: Probably my weakest point as a moderator, but I am willing to put my nose to the grindstone. I have also been willing to serve as a ZA in the past, and would be willing to do so in the future as well.

Cooperation: I generally aim to work with others on tasks as a moderator, and try to remain courteous and professional when working in official capacities. I have learned a lot from previous mistakes as a moderator as well in keeping conversations polite and civil.

Leadership: I am very open about being transparent and always involving the community. I still hold that moderators should work in tandem with the community when making major decisions, even if that would slow down development. I have also become more proactive in calling out disruptive behavior due to situations with past members.

I am more than willing to answer questions by the community: it would be a first for a former mod to step back in that role, especially since I am an active community member more than I am an active player of the game.

I would also like to make sure I make it clear my position going forward with events is "honest fairness". Being honest and fair is vitally important right now for healing community scars and bringing people together. I cannot in good conscience allow wounds to fester by attempting to silence people or push problems down in an effort for a false sense of security. I also will not tolerate conspiratorial accusations and bad faith attacks on other people. Facts need to be told, no matter how difficult they may be to hear.

[lilboocorsola]

Hey all. Yuki/Lilblue/LBC here. I had suggested on Discord I may be willing to try my hand at moderation if it'll help FB get back on its feet without overly harboring ill feelings towards anyone, so guess I'll put my money where my mouth is.

That said, I would also like to support the secondhand nomination of Connor. Right now I feel like he's one of the most impartial parties in the whole situation, and I have faith that he's capable based on what I know of his prior responsibilities. (Only if he's willing and able to, of course.)

Moving on to my own qualifications...

Availability: A year ago I would've been far more confident in committing the time and energy needed to keep this place running for a good while, with plenty of free time on my hands due to the pandemic. As it is, I was already planning on dialing back my activity in the coming weeks in anticipation of my schedule possibly changing soon to be much busier again. These are dire circumstances though, and if needed I'm willing to step up and pitch in wherever I can. That stated, my contribution would likely come with the same caveat as Emi that it would only be a temporary position, for however long I feel I am capable of keeping up.

Open-Mindedness: I like to think I'm a fairly open-minded person, who prefers to listen objectively to both sides of an argument before drawing judgment. I am absolutely prepared to set aside my personal views in favor of furthering the community's goals, whatever we as a group decide the future of FB may be from now on. My hope is to work with everyone together to be able to come to that agreement on amiable terms. Many times I've felt like the minority's voice has been drowned out when discussing matters, so I intend to take all individual opinions into consideration before moving forward.

Initiative: In terms of Updating or becoming a ZA, I remain steadfast in keeping my current workload as is so as not to overburden myself and burn out creatively. However, when it comes to bookkeeping or other administrative duties I'm more than happy to lend a hand, as shown by my immediate offering to take over the Daycare when the previous SO suddenly stepped down even if I'm pretty bad at it. Whether it be mundane management minutiae or restructuring/getting bigger systems and projects off the ground, I'd like to assist in whatever way possible.

Cooperation: I believe myself capable of collaborating with most anyone here effectively, as someone who strives to remain polite and civil at all times. While I may be afraid to the "rock the boat" sometimes - so to speak - I acknowledge I can also be stubborn to a point, but am more than willing to work professionally with opposing parties to try and come to a mutual solution and understanding.

Leadership: Admittedly my weakest point and a major reason why I've never considered myself in an actual representative role before now. While I don't exactly have any leadership experience and tend to be a bit more meek than other members, I'm determined to keep an open avenue of communication with the community and maintain as much transparency as possible. I also don't plan to let any personal biases affect my own decisions and will hold my peers to the same standards of conduct as I do myself.

In the end, everything right now comes down to trust. I get many folks are feeling hurt and betrayed right now by everything that transpired, and don't know who or what to believe. As someone who was caught completely unaware by most of it, I can't say I know what's the right course of action in this case either; all I know is I love this place and people a lot and wish to see us be able to bounce back from this. I've been here a long time - long enough to recognize some damage can't be undone. But I've also seen FB recover from rough patches before, and I believe we can do so again, even if it'll take some time to fully heal. My main concern right now is simply to transition back as smoothly as possible to a game where players can have fun freely, and most of all feel it's a safe space to socially interact with others if they choose to do so. If you think someone with greater expertise would be better at handling the fallout fairly and justly I'll gladly defer to those more knowledgeable than I in these affairs. Just here to say I'm resolved to do whatever is necessary to help hopefully repair relationships and get the game back on track.

[Sneaze]

Okay I guess it's take four for me putting my name forward. So let's run through these points one more time.

Availability
I check on the community and the forums near constantly both when home and even when at work, and this won't change any time soon. Aside from sleep the longest it'll take to get my attention might be the couple hours between breaks on a particularly busy day.

Open-Mindedness
I may come off as abrasive at times but I do genuinely care about anything that hits my ears, and if there is something that needs discussed for the good of the game or the community I have always and will always push to make sure that it is. That said, as I do try to maintain a stance of neutrality whenever possible in order to attempt to mediate on issues, I do tend to lean towards benefit of the doubt on others.

Initiative
I thrive on a good project, and want nothing more than to help push through the many that still sit on FB's back burners, in a manner that works for everyone in the community. My answer to this question remains largely the same as before, while the community does not necessarily need to keep up to date on everything being stated in order to prevent themselves from burning out, the moderation team needs to keep updates rolling out as to the state of these projects so that they don't die in discussion time and time again.

Cooperation
I can work with most anyone, and my record here as GL and ZA is testament to that through the numerous changes that have been discussed behind the scenes and pushed out to the community. As long as the discussion remains about how something can be changed for the good, I'm ready and willing to listen and find ways to work to an amenable conclusion on the topic.

Leadership
Not going to go on and list my record of leadership as I've already done so numerous times, by the long and short of it is that I've taken leadership roles in communities large and small for over a decade now, including working in leadership as my actual paid job in training, running numbers, pushing through projects, and quality assurance. My stance on most things tends to be that as there are more people on the lower end of the totem pole, there are more ideas to be listened to, and while not every speck that you sift out of that river of thoughts is able to be implemented, it's where you're most likely to find some nuggets of gold.

As much as I would like to shy away from topics I discussed last time around due to wounds that are still open and very much still sore for the lot of us, I will iterate once again that those who end up running this game need to be those that can be trusted to treat the community with fairness and respect, and who can make sure others are doing the same throughout their tenure here. I hope that in those here who have come to know me in my time back can feel safe in the idea that I want to be someone they can confide in and make sure that things get back to where they need to be for the sake of the game state and everyone's peace of mind.

[Ironthunder]

Availability: I'm usually available at pretty much any reasonable hour on UK time.

Open-Mindedness: Honestly, I do get heated on certain points, but when it comes down to it, if it's what's actually needed then I'll back it. I'm also somewhat adept at switching between speaking as a community member and as an admin in development-related discussions, which is invariably going to be something that's needed here.

Initiative: As mentioned in the last one, have taken on a couple of projects previously and gotten them kickstarted from ideas in the GL chat. idk if that one's still going or not, so no specifics, but I did push that from idea into framework. I've never been averse to being the guy who gets things done when they need doing.

Co-operation: I don't really have any issues working with anyone and can work in teams pretty reliably. My only issue I can raise is that I'd probably end up butting heads with Sneaze a lot if we both got promoted to it. Bit of a personality clash.

Leadership: Re-citing my admin work in the TWW tourney scene, including my work adminning the recent world championships, plus my brief tenure as GL. Usually open to suggestions and ideas for at least discussion, I can't recall the last serious suggestion I've had that wasn't at least thrown to discussion before disregarding.

Yes it's short, I've never been one for essays.

[Connor]

Decided that, while grateful for the nominations, I'd prefer to sit out of the upcoming elections. I'd like to look at updating a little bit more and between that and existing ASB duties I feel like I'd end up spread a little too thin.

[Lil'twick]

Alright, with nominations over it is now time for the discussion amongst the mod candidates. Community members will be allowed to pitch and ask candidates questions to see their ideas for the direction of Fizzy Bubbels, and as well as how the candidates might work together. This discussion should be civil and respectful, with no personal attacks done against other candidates or members. Please refrain from questions that may involve recent touchy subjects, and focus on what they want to do in the future. This discussion will last until Friday, April 23rd at 11:59 PM GMT.

Candidates:
Enigma
Emi
Sneaze
lilbluecorsola/Yuki
Ironthunder

[Sneaze]

I guess I'll start us off with a pretty standard question for my fellow candidates.

If elected, what would be your top five priority projects and why?

I'll hold my response for a bit here, even though most of you already are aware of at least a few of them.

[Prof.Enigma]

Originally Posted by Sneaze

I guess I'll start us off with a pretty standard question for my fellow candidates.

If elected, what would be your top five priority projects and why?

I'll hold my response for a bit here, even though most of you already are aware of at least a few of them.

Top Five Priority Projects:

1; Reevaluate the list of every single project we had plans to discuss and to implement and any other plans we had on the "backburner" Determine how difficult said projects could be, then ( with permission and approval of my fellow mods )
Bring forth to the community, a list of discussions to discuss, Tasks that we need to be done that can be done with volunteer assistance
( That we could still reasonably do ourselves but that would help things go faster if we had others helping on too )
( this is if we have more things squirreled away than what is currently seen )
I feel that with this we can not only tackle every single project we’ve ever had and could get them done in a pretty reasonable time frame, but we can also allow for others to assist, such as ZA’s ZU’s and Shop Keeper’s. Even Regular volunteers could assist. This in my opinion would be a very good way to build up the community as well as build up trust. Everyone would know what’s going on and everyone would know where things are going. Make’s the moderator task load not so humongous too.

2; Take on the currently closing zones and ensure that everyone who wishes to continue their adventure finishes, allowing us to close zones and sort through Updator / Updatee related issues
(ie review staff rewards, finish up Updating guides, clean up posts, and fix up all the appropriate threads and posts before we reopen FB Applications. )

Zones have been our first and foremost attraction into FizzyBubbles, our piece of cake, a place where I personally love to flesh out my characters and enact out a thrilling adventure. We need to make sure we have everything spick and spiffy before we even open up Applications once again.

3; Ensure that we have all of our systems needs up and running and fully documented ( such as our documentation/record-keeping, Calculators, and the likes ) and that we have everything we need with multiple copies of items.


Pretty self-explanatory, don't really have much to add to this.


4; Gym's and Raids

For one I personally like how raids have been but I am quite aware that there are issues within the system. I do not want to say I know what issues lie with them but I would like to evaluate them and identify issues within the system and start working on solutions that not only meet the mod's approval of being just and fair but also the community approval.
I want to find and Strike a balance between the Gym / Raid system and that of the Zones and I currently feel that one is a bit more tipped to the side than the other. I still feel Raids are a pretty good idea and have been a great way for myself to come back up from burnout and work myself back into a writing spree, but things will need to be changed.

5; Making our community feel comfortable and happy with how things are and things to be in the future.
We've taken better steps to ensure that the FB Community is happy and supportive of everything so far, but I want to take that further.
I would like to take the time and put out discussions and surveys and ask FB as a whole to see what they want to be done and where they would like to go forward.
I want to make these discussions and surveys to be open to everyone, new members, members who've been around forever, and all those in between, anonymously or publicly depending upon how the community feels.



Final Notes:

Fizzy Bubbles is here for everyone, and I want to make sure that everyone is satisfied OR at very least comfortable with everything we currently have going on such as Zones / Shops / GymsRaids / Events, etc.
I want to make sure our system is fair and just and that everyone is just as a key piece to it as moderators are. I want to ensure that while our system is based on trust, that our community is comfortable enough to not want to go out of their way to abuse the system forcing there to be justified punishments to be dealt out.

This community has been a second home to me, and I want to do everything I can to make this game as fun as I've always thought it to be, and I want to make sure that everyone else is having just as much fun as I can so we can all take our minds off the chaos that is life every now and then.

I will reiterate that while I may not know what the by-laws and standards were and I may be far more inexperienced than others, however, I am more than willing to learn from others and take criticism to help build up the community.

[Princess Ana]

Originally Posted by Sneaze

If elected, what would be your top five priority projects and why?

1: Raid Re-Evaluation. One of the things that particularly struck me about the last election cycle is that four out of the five mods candidates were under the opinion that the game was too heavily favored in the direction of raids. The extreme focus on raids and the desire for raids to be at the forefront of FB has resulted in many problems, such as raids being the fastest way to result in a Shadow Pokemon or a much more consistent way of gaining levels.

The goal of any change to Fizzy Bubbles should be to improve adventures in zones, not the other way around, so either reducing the number of raids or reducing their overall impact will have to be done. In addition, we will likely move a Raid or two over to BMG: a change that has needed to happen for some time.

2: Updator Guide. Speaking of adventures, we need to actually finish the updator guide and start having the kind of discussions ABOUT adventures and updating as a community. It's a conversation I brought up back in October and was told that the updator guide was at the mods' desk: it is now April. It is a project that has always needed to be finished, and I would personally be responsible for making sure that it goes out in a timely fashion. Such a guide would not only be important for establishing a community baseline for expectations around updating, but also make it easier for new updators.

3: Spring Cleaning. There are a number of "Spring Cleaning" projects that have been started and since abandoned for various reasons. While often tedious, it is a good idea to have a FB that is 100% accurate, and also organized. This will make it easier for new people to integrate themselves into FB.

4: Zones. As a result of circumstances that have happened over the past week or so, we have lost several ZAs due to personal reasons: this has results in a number of zones that do not have a ZA running them. We will either need ZAs to replace them and get updates back rolling, or to replace the zones with new one entirely. This is probably one of the most tantamount things that can be done, adventures need to go back to their regular pace for the health of the game.

5: Fostering Trust with the Community. The community needs to be able to trust the current moderation team in the future. But moreover, there needs to be a better idea of what being a moderator actually is. While often moderators come from people who are active in the community, moderators should not be looked upon to keep the game running from a day to day perspective. That's always been a joint effort between the updators, Zone Admins, and moderators. In addition, much needs to be done about the transparency of moderation and the ability for the community to actually hold moderation accountable.

So, there will be a number of topics on the table regarding this, not limited to:
-The creation of a safe, anonymous option to report problematic behavior of mods, either to a 3rd party outside of FB or to a trusted voice chosen by the community and not the mods
-Publicly available by-laws. This is also a goal of Spring Cleaning is to assemble the by-laws together, but people should also get to read them, to ensure they are not broken again (such as PM mod elections).
-Mod status reports, where mods report to the community about work on projects that the community has interest in. Frequency to be discussed.
-Making sure that old moderator chats no longer are deleted and are instead archived.


There are also a variety of creative projects I would like to work on while a moderator, including more unique events as well as an actual UPC, but those aren't as high of a priority.

[Ironthunder]

Originally Posted by Sneaze

I guess I'll start us off with a pretty standard question for my fellow candidates.

If elected, what would be your top five priority projects and why?

I'll hold my response for a bit here, even though most of you already are aware of at least a few of them.

Honestly, I don't have five. My main project would be functionally a re-evaluation of the game and gameplay. Looking at raids, Bond, zone setups, the entire structure of the core of Fizzy Bubbles, because I feel a lot of it is somewhat archaic and and needs at the least a sprucing up if not a complete redo or removal. Bond imo could do with ripping out and starting over with. And until that's properly done, I don't see the point in setting up side-projects or starting other stuff. Until this is done, other projects aren't overly worth putting focus on due to the potential for having to later modify or entirely redo them.

[Sneaze]

Okay I'll answer my own question now that 3/4 other people have responded to it.

I'll start by saying that I am rolling a few things into each point in a couple places, this is because by and large balance discussions and that sort of thing needs to look at issues from a bit of a broader perspective and take into account what could be affected with changes to systems.

1. Bond, Clarity, and Shadow Mechanics
Put simply, this is something that is a messy situation with multiple systems working together that were not designed with eachother overly in mind. There is also a bit of a running issue with all of this being bot overly policed and a bit hard to grind, which in a system wherein many people love their collections and should be trusted to maintain them, needs some rebalancing. This is number one on the list because it does affect a lot of other issues, being a primary reward for RP, and can be discussed almost immediately.

2. Zones and Zone Rewards
We need to address the issues of closing zones, this is an obvious issue that I'm not going to elaborate on much at the moment, especially as there are already some plans in place. But perhaps more importantly the discussion of rewards needs brought back up. FB is an RPG where RP has been falling by the wayside because rewards are easier to get elsewhere, and while we should not devalue those other places, as people should be allowed to enjoy what they wany, we need to further add incentives to the actual RP experience, as well as better handle the pacing of said rewards. This also includes things like the Updator Guide, which as Emi has pointed out, has been sitting in limbo for far too long.

3. Gyms and Raids
Pretty much everything under the Gym subforum needs revisited in some capacity to make things more easily understood and to put fun back in the place of priority with the balancing factors existing as structure to keep things running apace, as opposed to raw balancing and constant adjustments for "issues" being made on a monthly basis. Beyond that, additional options need brought forward as to what Gyms do and where they belong in Fizzy beyond simply for raids, as some amount of variety would be good to prevent this getting stale.

4. Staff Rewards
Our staff are the backbone of the game, keeping it running from shops, to zones, to gyms, and while a large chunk of rewards are fine at this time, there is a major running issue of a large period of time in the reward tiers of repeating tiers, which somewhat devalues the work these individuals put forward and can feel like you are stuck in a rut on rewards for a time.

5. Cram-o-matic and Curry Shops
Quite frankly, these are great shop ideas that each needed a bit of minor tweaking and have sat on the back burner so long that they have burnt and need completely readdressed. The way these two community ideas have been handled is nothing shy of unacceptable and our first order of business in fostering proper communication should be proving we can make quality community ideas like these into working content.

Now, I know it may seem odd that I do not have points on Community Trust or Spring Cleaning on here. That is frankly because I do not see either of these as projects. Projects have end points, while these should be constantly worked on and maintained. I suppose if you really want a place in my list for them, these sorts of things are number 0 on the list, above all else.

There are also plenty other projects that need addressed, but these affect the widest swaths of our game and community, and thanks to the efforts of those putting their best feet forwards right now, these points are already largely in motion. My goal would simply be to get these out to discussion by the community in a time efficient manner.

[Zelphon]

What do you guys believe to be main duties of a mod both in general as well as FB specifically?

What's your stance on transparency?

[lilboocorsola]

Originally Posted by Sneaze

If elected, what would be your top five priority projects and why?

1 (or 0, going by Sneaze's naming conventions): Safety and Trust within the Community

To me, this is my number one top priority, and the main reason why I stepped up to offer my services. While it doesn't do good to overly dwell on negative events such as those that occurred Saturday evening, measures should absolutely be taken to ensure such a situation of heated discourse doesn't happen again - especially when it ends up affecting uninvolved parties. I approve of Emi's idea to establish an anonymous report option to an objective third party, who would act as mediator and help deal with conflict between members - including moderators. The community's trust within its leadership is always paramount to the latter's abilities, and if that trust is broken then fundamentally FB cannot function to its fullest. I want foremost for FB to feel like a fair, safe environment where everyone can comfortably participate and have fun, without fear of others' perceptions influencing how they are treated and/or openly broadcast in public.

2: Bond/Clarity Review

This is a long overdue discussion that's been brought up time and time again, and as others have pointed out is intertwined with so many other systems in place that it definitely needs to be looked at first before examining other features. The backlog of currently unconfirmed Bond I think is already testament enough to how much of a chore it is to keep up with - and as someone who still doesn't fully understand the Clarity system nor where to even find details on it, I agree that needs reworking and codifying as well for more easy access.

3: Zones and Adventures

This encapsulates a lot of topics, the most pressing right now obviously being the closure of Zones and shifting/hiring of Updators to cover current Adventures which have been left hanging (for those who wish to continue). RP is the backbone of FB and should be the main focus above all, and we need to find ways to incentivize both Adventuring and Updating as primary forms of playing the game + interacting with peers. Starting with the aforementioned Updator's Guide - which should really be finalized and pushed out - along with reevaluating Staff Rewards.

4: Gyms/Raids Review

It's clear that many feel Raids have overtaken FB's primary purpose right now (including myself who doesn't care much for them outside of the communal teamwork aspect and rewards). While I do think they serve as a fine distraction for when FB is experiencing lulls in activity, as a casual way to continue making progress without requiring lengthy replies, I feel Gyms could serve a further function in that vein while also allowing greater opportunity for character development and storytelling. I know there was bandied about the idea of more quick-paced, rapid-fire Dynamax Adventures based on the Crown Tundra DLC's cave group missions, and would still like to see that come about in some fashion.

5: Canvassing Community Feedback

To be honest, I don't have any other preference of ideas to work on right now beyond those broad strokes, so this is more of an open-ended reiteration of Enigma's first point: which is to bring up the full list of more minor tasks on the table to discuss with the community at large as to what they'd like to see accomplished first. Accumulating answers via either poll or another opinion survey would help to shape FB's vision for the future, so the mod team knows where to concentrate energies in a manner that will satisfy most. Developing and improving the game should be a joint effort between both the members and staff, with back-and-forth assessment at each step to make sure we're all going in a mutually agreed-upon direction.

[Sneaze]

Originally Posted by Zelphon

What do you guys believe to be main duties of a mod both in general as well as FB specifically?

What's your stance on transparency?

There are a lot of people who might think of a mod as the CEO of a company or something similar. I don't believe that to be the case. Rather, I see the voice of the community as the CEO and mods as the administrative assistants below them whose job it is to make the wants and needs of said voice happen in whatever capacity they can, and to point out when a request cannot be fulfilled and why. It is their duty to keep the lights on and organize things in such a way that said community voice can make the decisions for what is wanted or needed, and to be there to offer advice when the voice of the community is unsure of what it wants, either due to conflicting ideas or lack of perspective with the departments within (GLs, ZAs, SOs) who might need consulted on things. While mods ultimately write up the words that form and shape the game, it is only due to transcribing the community voice they need to listen to at all times.

In the same vein, transparency is a must in all things. The community is the boss of the mods, not the other way around, and all projects should be regularly reported and discussed. The only things that need not have complete transparency are those that the community trusts the departments within to handle on their own and be reported later (Gyms choosing their raid mon, ZAs making small lore changes, ZUs planning out an adventure, SOs handling their day to day, etc.) or surprises for the big boss such as gifts on the holidays (events), all of which can be discussed immediately should they be out of line. Lastly, as the community is the boss, reviews of the mods should happen regularly to address running issues and correct them, as nobody is perfect and the only way to know what might be being done wrong is to be told.

[Princess Ana]

Originally Posted by Zelphon

What do you guys believe to be main duties of a mod both in general as well as FB specifically?

What's your stance on transparency?

For the first question, there are two primary duties of a mod in general, and a third one that's specific to FB (although it could also apply to other communities if they are similar enough). The first is...to do things that only moderators have the ability to. Move threads, sticky things, pin stuff in the Discord, stuff like that. It's a very administrative duty, but one that is vital to exist since otherwise the forums and Discord would be a mess. The second is disciplinary matters: mods handle discipline as well as any disciplinary consequences, including banning.

The third is a bit broad but can be summarized as "guiding discussion and implementing changes". Moderators are there to help guide discussions going on and keep them from becoming too toxic, either by de-escalating arguments or, rarely, making a decision when it's clear the community cannot come to one. In addition, mods are the final step of implementation, often drafting up the final wording and making any small tweaks based on discussions. An important distinction here, in my eyes, is that moderators are not game designers. The process is supposed to be a collaboration with the community. This has led to problems before, where you either have ideas that are mod-sprung but have less community input, essentially reversing the roles, or members springing very poorly thought out proposals and expecting mods to sit there and fix and design for them. Moderating is sometimes a tedious job but it should rarely be stressful.

That's because ultimately, moderators need to be cooperative with the community. Moderators are just members of the community with some assigned responsibility, not incredible amounts of power. Even the idea of a "head moderator" is pretty suspect; that hierarchy just shouldn't exist, and a moderator needs to take a step back if they seem themselves as separate from the community or more important. Often times that's where the stress lies in doing moderating. We all have those moments (moderating can be a bit thankless at times, although our community in general does a good job), but it's important to keep that in perspective.

tl;dr

Moderation isn't an obligation, its a service. As a mod I tried to make sure to put the community above myself, that I remembered that I wasn't given a position of power and importance but rather that I needed to work for the community.

RELATED TO ALL OF THIS, transparency is really important, and it's something I've come to value even more when I'm not a moderator. A lack of transparency can create problems, and moreover, can make it really difficult to actually prove bad things happen. While there are some circumstances where total transparency cannot be given, it is important for a moderator to be in constant communication with the rest of the community, to always be discussing the next step, to be explaining decisions made and taking feedback. This should also apply to major decisions, like moderator elections, which I am glad we are being even more transparent about this time.

Sometimes it's important to keep things a secret for a surprise (like events, which are just fun and not really important to the game as a whole), but always favor as much transparency as you can, all the time.

[biggggg5]

Maybe it’s niche but this question comes to my mind every time mod elections happen (although this is the first time I’ve actually gotten around to posting it in time).

If you were elected mod, what would you do or change to try and reattract the playerbase of us that still hang out in the community and discord but don’t have the time and/or energy for posting whole 250 words in zones (and all the linking that comes along with it for bond and bank, or even on the updater reward side)?

[SpinyShell]

I know that people have touched on gyms/raids in their responses, but I was wondering if you guys could elaborate a bit more on what changes you would like to implement and why you think gyms/raids need re-visiting if you haven't done so in your original response. As someone who is mostly fine with the current format of raids, I was surprised to see that re-visting gyms/raids is a common theme here. Thanks.

[Sneaze]

Originally Posted by biggggg5

Maybe it’s niche but this question comes to my mind every time mod elections happen (although this is the first time I’ve actually gotten around to posting it in time).

If you were elected mod, what would you do or change to try and reattract the playerbase of us that still hang out in the community and discord but don’t have the time and/or energy for posting whole 250 words in zones (and all the linking that comes along with it for bond and bank, or even on the updater reward side)?

So for the sake of transparency, discussions are currently being had on both zone rewards and bond to relax the amount of RP required to claim rewards and to reduce the policing of bond. These will likely hit the community discussion phase after mod elections as this needs to take priority at the moment. Beyond that, once those are figured out and we have zones running in a bit of a stronger capacity than current, I personally would like us to relook at seasonal zones as things that might stick around as say, half a year as sort of extended events with reduced RP requirements, as well as continuing to do RP based events in a regular capacity.

Originally Posted by SpinyShell

I know that people have touched on gyms/raids in their responses, but I was wondering if you guys could elaborate a bit more on what changes you would like to implement and why you think gyms/raids need re-visiting if you haven't done so in your original response. As someone who is mostly fine with the current format of raids, I was surprised to see that re-visting gyms/raids is a common theme here. Thanks.

The big issue with raids is that they are almost entirely fueled by what rewards are available where signups go, as opposed to what mon might exist. This just needs some refocusing to be more about the fun aspect and the idea that people should sign up based on what they want to fight, not what they get out of it. Beyond that, Gyms were never meant to exist solely for raids, and additional fun things might want brought into scope here, such as the currently bandied about Dynamax Adventures that, while still raids, provide a fresh take on the system, or Treasure Hunts, something that was worked on last year before being entirely abandoned (the HM moves that were given out last summer were supposed to be used for these). But most importantly these just need looked at next to Adventures as a whole, as at the moment they have taken a lot of resources away from the RP aspect of the game.

[lilboocorsola]

Originally Posted by Zelphon

What do you guys believe to be main duties of a mod both in general as well as FB specifically?

What's your stance on transparency?

Beyond basic administrative duties such as moving/stickying threads, pinning and pinging announcements on Discord, etc., ideally like Emi said a mod would also be the first line of defense when it comes to disciplinary action for any rule-breaking behavior. I do believe it is part of a mod's responsibility to ensure peace within the community, and work to defuse tension if an argument breaks out with possibility to cause harm to other members. Hence why they should try to remain as calm and levelheaded as possible, and if they cannot act impartially then defer to a neutral third party to assist in intervention.

While mods may have the final verdict on implementing official changes, it should always be with the blessing of the community, and maintain transparency throughout development. As stated before, growing and expanding FB should be a collaborative process, with the moderation team collecting/organizing the thoughts and input of everyone involved to create a complete draft of what the people have indicated they would like to see. Some secrecy to allow surprise giveaways/events just for fun is understandable, but for major operations that affect the core of the game clear communication is a must.

Originally Posted by biggggg5

Maybe it’s niche but this question comes to my mind every time mod elections happen (although this is the first time I’ve actually gotten around to posting it in time).

If you were elected mod, what would you do or change to try and reattract the playerbase of us that still hang out in the community and discord but don’t have the time and/or energy for posting whole 250 words in zones (and all the linking that comes along with it for bond and bank, or even on the updater reward side)?

Originally Posted by SpinyShell

I know that people have touched on gyms/raids in their responses, but I was wondering if you guys could elaborate a bit more on what changes you would like to implement and why you think gyms/raids need re-visiting if you haven't done so in your original response. As someone who is mostly fine with the current format of raids, I was surprised to see that re-visting gyms/raids is a common theme here. Thanks.

Sneaze covered most of what's currently already being discussed addressing these issues, but I guess I'll add again for emphasis in regards to the latter, based on my many years of experience being here: My fondest memories in FB come from crafting storylines through my characters' personalities in Zones or free RP areas, rather than pure combat (which I personally also try to avoid in Adventures if I can just from the monotonous nature of it). Even the now defunct Trainer Battles had more opportunity for character development and creative options I feel, due to the one-on-one interactive aspect and subjectivity of reffing (however "controversial" individual calls may be). With Raids, I feel more time is spent simply strategizing on utilizing the strongest Move repeatedly with little variation, making it difficult to RP an entertaining response each time. Add to that those who do RP tend to be insular with their replies - understandably given the number of other participants and strict deadlines - it still feels like a pretty lonely, tedious method of making progress that merely mimics the number-crunching banality of the video games (which I gave up on a long time ago mainly for that reason).

This isn't really meant to be a knock against Raids themselves, as I've said before I think they're fine in a vacuum and a decent enough distraction when nothing else is going on. I'd just like to see more fun features added that make them feel less like an empty "chore"/another form of "shop simulation" we originally worked so hard to get away from in the past few years.

[Sneaze]

We're coming up on the discussion halfway point so I'll throw another obligatory question in here.

Who of the other candidates do you feel you would work best with, and who do you feel would pose the best balanced mod team with yourself and Leo should you be elected?

[lilboocorsola]

Originally Posted by Sneaze

We're coming up on the discussion halfway point so I'll throw another obligatory question in here.

Who of the other candidates do you feel you would work best with, and who do you feel would pose the best balanced mod team with yourself and Leo should you be elected?

Of the other candidates, I would likely work best with Emi since we've known each other a long time and spoken/collaborated closely before. For the best balance though, I would actually advocate Enigma, since he's already been proactive in getting things done while also capable of offering a fresh perspective IMO. (Plus given both Emi and I are only looking for temporary positions it's probably best to pick at least one more promisingly permanent candidate.)

[Princess Ana]

Originally Posted by biggggg5

Maybe it’s niche but this question comes to my mind every time mod elections happen (although this is the first time I’ve actually gotten around to posting it in time).

If you were elected mod, what would you do or change to try and reattract the playerbase of us that still hang out in the community and discord but don’t have the time and/or energy for posting whole 250 words in zones (and all the linking that comes along with it for bond and bank, or even on the updater reward side)?

So something that I've come to realize over the years is that the linking for bond and the bank are largely superfluous, and greatly extend the workload of actually making a post. Linking for the Bank was a community decision, but I've always held great trust in the community to not try and break good will, and even if they do, FB is not necessarily a competitive game and such issues can be addressed more lightly than most people I think would imagine. I would personally put cheaters below people who are actively nobs.

But also, it is being discussed about reducing the word count to claim money and potentially increasing the maximum cap, as well as making zone rewards better in order to entice people to continue RPing and updating. I know that ultimately no matter how rewarding you make something, it won't convince anybody, but it is the best solution just short of forcing people to adventure, which has never been something I'm willing to do.

Originally Posted by SpinyShell

I know that people have touched on gyms/raids in their responses, but I was wondering if you guys could elaborate a bit more on what changes you would like to implement and why you think gyms/raids need re-visiting if you haven't done so in your original response. As someone who is mostly fine with the current format of raids, I was surprised to see that re-visting gyms/raids is a common theme here. Thanks.

I think the FB is just too focused on raids at the moment; they are much easier to do than RPing, arguably just as rewarding if not more, and as a result have come to dominate the RP.

Something which I think also needs to be discussed is separating raids as a battle system from the rest of FB. I've always been a fan of leaving how battles work in RP to updator's discretion, but that becomes harder and harder with the amount of codifying that needed to be done, and often unaware of potential RP consequences of such a decision.

Gyms could also do with being more expanded on what kind of tasks are available and even being mini-RP areas of their own, but personally, that should be tackled after looking zones.

Originally Posted by Sneaze

We're coming up on the discussion halfway point so I'll throw another obligatory question in here.

Who of the other candidates do you feel you would work best with, and who do you feel would pose the best balanced mod team with yourself and Leo should you be elected?

Out of everyone here, the person I would probably work best with would be you in all honesty: we've worked on stuff before, have known each other for a long time and generally have a good working relationship. But I have no problems working with any candidate currently on the list.

The person who I think would pose the best balanced mod team would likely be Ironthunder personally. Iron is someone who is not shy to disagree with people and make his voice known even when it would put him in a bad position, and is the most likely to bring a different voice to a conversation.

I think that every mod combination is good however, and each has differences that should be considered. That combination is more balanced but might be less harmonious, other combinations might work together better but might have less balanced opinions, and others have members who are passionate and active in other areas but might deal with less experience in moderating. In addition, while a mod combination might be a bit less balanced, the ultimate balancer should be with the community, not from within the mods themselves.

Even if a mod group is more balanced, it might not result in a good situation coming out. (See: when we had 4 mods)

[Sneaze]

Originally Posted by Sneaze

We're coming up on the discussion halfway point so I'll throw another obligatory question in here.

Who of the other candidates do you feel you would work best with, and who do you feel would pose the best balanced mod team with yourself and Leo should you be elected?

Answering my own question time! I feel I would work best with either Emi or Yuki. Emi's already laid out why, it wouldn't be close to the first time we've worked together and we tend to communicate well and understand eachother's intentions. Yuki I feel offers ideas I personally wouldn't approach from the same angle she does so she can be an absolutely excellent jumping off point for discussion on the regular.

Now, I was going to use my own question here in a safe timeframe where there isn't really any imbalanced team that could come out of this, per se, to point out that we have had a poor habit of focusing on balance of viewpoints a bit too heavily in the past and should be aware of such in the future. A balanced mod team is great, but harmony does need to come first, after all, the big reason things are handled in community is for balanced views in the first place, not to mention that they tend to get run by the GLs/ZAs/SOs before hitting public discussion. I was going to go more in depth on this, but Emi read me like a book and has already pointed out the pitfalls here.

I also don't really want to devalue Enigma or Iron here, and that's part of why I asked this question. It's a very loaded one and gets asked nearly every election to try to narrow down the pool based off the names the other candidates throw out. But that shouldn't be the case, as it's the community that ultimately decides where the votes go and we candidates shouldn't be attempting to push others out of the discussion. Who knows? I could potentially work better with Enigma or Iron than either Emi or Yuki, I just don't know either of them well enough to say, given Enigma hasn't been within my social circles as much and it's been months since I did work with Iron on a project. Everyone here has put forward tremendous amounts of effort into improving this game and shouldn't be counted out because of a question that forces picking names out of a pool.