ingame voting/poll/election -system in Starport-Service

[John Guevara]

hi,

i would like to Suggest an ingame voting system for players, i think best place would be in Station-Menu next to News or own menu-point. In first development wave Fdev could create votes like Bridging the Gap - Phase One - Commencement and maybe in future Fdev could development user-owning votes.
they could be different types of voting:

• (global) Poll from Zende Partners for target Guardians-System; or Human-related decisions like the question about behave towards to Targoids
• (squadron) Election for new Home-Station or Leader -> maybe better in Squadron menu
• (local for bgs) System Election for Goverment, administration and authorities -> best place in Station Starport-Service panel?

The advantage is that more players are involved in game-decisions. and if Fdev public API for this voting-system, we can publish the results here in forums and other internet channels.

Spoiler: possible voting positions

Edit:
1.global votes (for affecting game features) would be best placed in Galnetnews panel, to available for all players (like explorers far from home).
2. Local votings (affecting system influence, like in election you can vote for a new president candidate) will stay in local starport-service panel.
3. Console users will be identify by machine ID or frontierstore-account (to prevent multiple creation of commanders and cheating on voting)

Thanks,
John Guevara

 

[Factabulous]

Where does all the information people need to decide upon a choice go?

Edit: And this disenfrachises explorers who are away from stations - so how do they vote?

 

[John Guevara]

Where does all the information people need to decide upon a choice go?

every poll can has a small description or linked references to galnet-news, maybe every vote-option can be a link to galnet-post-news with more background information. or maybe you have better idea?

Edit: And this disenfrachises explorers who are away from stations - so how do they vote

you can't, because explorers who are far away from station can not use station service, like trade goods or sell exploration data.
Or place the global-voting system to galnet-news panel, so all players get chance for a vote. But i would prefer to place the local-vote for e.g. bgs and president election in starport-service panel.

 

[Justinian Octavius]

I disagree to extending voting in the game due to the ability to rig the results by using exploitative techniques. Specifically, anyone with the console version of Elite Dangerous can create new commander accounts for free and thus vote multiple times making it relatively trivial for Player Groups to create vote farms to influence a vote.

CMDR Justinian Octavius

 

[Captain Willard]

NOT Don't want the player base involved with the future of the game.
Ideas and suggestions, yes.
Where and how the game should go? Never.

 

[varonica]

you can't, because explorers who are far away from station can not use station service,

So polls that affect exploring and explorers will be biased against explorers because explorers won't necessarily be able to reach a polling station to vote?

Hey I want to have a vote on PvP aspects of the game, the polling station will be at Beagle Point, can't get there PvP'ers? Stiff!

 

[John Guevara]

So polls that affect exploring and explorers will be biased against explorers because explorers won't necessarily be able to reach a polling station to vote?

Hey I want to have a vote on PvP aspects of the game, the polling station will be at Beagle Point, can't get there PvP'ers? Stiff!

You don't need to panic, as I already wrote, global votes (game affecting features) can be placed in Galnetnews Panel, for all players available. And local votes (local npc-faction and bgs influence) will be stay at station. It's just idea, if you don't like it, please provide a better alternative.

 

[John Guevara]

I disagree to extending voting in the game due to the ability to rig the results by using exploitative techniques. Specifically, anyone with the console version of Elite Dangerous can create new commander accounts for free and thus vote multiple times making it relatively trivial for Player Groups to create vote farms to influence a vote.

CMDR Justinian Octavius

It wouldn't work, you can't create new Commander Accounts for free, for every account you need to buy a game.

 

[Robert Maynard]

(local for bgs) System Election for Goverment, administration and authorities -> best place in Station Starport-Service panel?

Players influence Factions through the BGS - they don't directly control Factions.

 

[Robert Maynard]

It wouldn't work, you can't create new CMDR Accounts for free, for every account you need to buy a game.

Not on the consoles....

 

[John Guevara]

Players influence Factions through the BGS - they don't directly control Factions.

I don't need and I won't control PC factios, it's more the immersive feeling, like, a system has election week and you can fly and vote for a candidate.

 

[Justinian Octavius]

Not on the consoles....

Indeed, last time we tested it, 13 June 2018, you could use console file sharing to create unlimited online accounts (ie with Open access) on both Xbox & PS4 for the cost of one subscription.

CMDR Justinian Octavius

 

[John Guevara]

Not on the consoles....

Ok, good point, thanks for the argument, I don't know that. Ok, what about to link votings to a specific machine ID for all consoles, I bet Fdev can identify every console, because if fdev need to ban some console user, they need some better identification...
Or the voting system would be available only for PC?

 

[Robert Maynard]

Or the voting system would be available only for PC?

I doubt that any feature like this would be implemented on one platform only.

 

[Micha]

Overall good suggestion. +1

The point about unlimited accounts on consoles, while technically correct, is unlikely to significantly influence any votes. In either case, it's also possible to create unlimited forum accounts to vote; all that is needed is a Frontier Store account, and all that is needed to open one of those is an email address, and all that is needed to create one of those is a bit of time; same as for creating a new Console account and Cmdr.

In fact, it's more work on Console with the proposed system since not only do you have to create a new Cmdr, you also have to fly them to the system where the vote is (assuming a non-Global-via-GalNet vote).

So yes, technically a concern, practically doubtful.

 

[Robert Maynard]

In either case, it's also possible to create unlimited forum accounts to vote; all that is needed is a Frontier Store account, and all that is needed to open one of those is an email address, and all that is needed to create one of those is a bit of time; same as for creating a new Console account and Cmdr.

Then all that is needed is for Frontier to correlate forum account, store account and games owned by that account to check which voters are valid.

 

[Micha]

Then all that is needed is for Frontier to correlate forum account, store account and games owned by that account to check which voters are valid.

In my case I still log in using my forum-name... so I guess I'm illegitimate?
I've also got 2 accounts and Commanders - and I know people with quite a lot more - would each get a vote as there's no easy way to track them to the same human?

Which raises the question as to whether it should be one-vote-per-human, or one-vote-per-Commander?

Depending on the vote, either might be valid..

So maybe Commanders have to be a minimum "age" before they can vote (avoiding the create-a-Commander-to-vote issue)? Or perhaps have been active for a certain period prior to the vote (avoiding the keep-a-bunch-of-dormant-Commanders-around-to-vote issue)?

Questions.

 

[John Guevara]

In my case I still log in using my forum-name... so I guess I'm illegitimate?
I've also got 2 accounts and Commanders - and I know people with quite a lot more - would each get a vote as there's no easy way to track them to the same human?

Which raises the question as to whether it should be one-vote-per-human, or one-vote-per-Commander?

Depending on the vote, either might be valid..

So maybe Commanders have to be a minimum "age" before they can vote (avoiding the create-a-Commander-to-vote issue)? Or perhaps have been active for a certain period prior to the vote (avoiding the keep-a-bunch-of-dormant-Commanders-around-to-vote issue)?

Questions.

I suggest one vote per Commander, if some one buy a second or multiple times the game, I think he can vote for each bought game. (Just my opinion)

 

[Florenus]

Voting in game in this form is actually kind of pointless.
Players should influence game by gameplay, not polls.

Recent forum voting on interstellar initiative start was just a forum event, without any real consequence to the game.
Because what's the difference between those systems players voted? Practically none. Most people will not use the ferry, and even if they do, rest of the systems is relatively close, so this voting was meaningless.
So it was just a side activity, and rest of the players outside forums did not loose anything by not voting. Illusion of choice, maybe.

 

[John Guevara]

Voting in game in this form is actually kind of pointless.
Players should influence game by gameplay, not polls.

Recent forum voting on interstellar initiative start was just a forum event, without any real consequence to the game.
Because what's the difference between those systems players voted? Practically none. Most people will not use the ferry, and even if they do, rest of the systems is relatively close, so this voting was meaningless.
So it was just a side activity, and rest of the players outside forums did not loose anything by not voting. Illusion of choice, maybe.

Yes you right! i think the last and only use for voting-system, will be increesing the immersive feeling, if Commanders can participate in the elections (for president or authorities) in local Systems.