Powerplay Frontier Job Opening: PowerPlay and Background Simulation Czar.

[Martin Schou]

Not really, but one can hope. And I, for one, am both willing and able to do the job.

Wanted: PowerPlay and Background Simulation Czar.

Responsibilities:

As the PowerPlay and Background Simulation Czar your job is to ensure that PowerPlay and the background simulation runs smoothly as well as facilitate communications with the players and player groups involved with these areas of the game.

You will mostly be working on making sure that any big bugs get stomped out as quickly as possible, making sure that changes are useful and balanced as well as making sure that documentation is correct and matches the expectations and desires of both the developers and the players.

Authority:

As the PowerPlay and Background Simulation Czar you will be able to direct certain levels of manpower towards critical bugs and lesser levels of manpower towards lesser bugs and improvements. You will coordinate with QA and developer leads to ensure that changes and bug fixes do not negatively impact other areas of the game (including PowerPlay and the background simulation), as well as dictate immediate but temporary changes to avoid having critical bugs ruin the game experience (including but not limited to removing individual systems from PowerPlay and halting background simulation ticks).

Requirements

We require that all applicants have a thorough understanding of the mechanics of PowerPlay and the background simulation, they must be fluent in English (written and spoken) and they should preferably have the support of different player groups with different interests.

 

[SHEPR0N]

Maybe you should send them an unsolicited application, they could really use someone who knows what's all broken atm. Hell I'd even buy a special paintjob put out to finance that job.

On a more serious note it's quite frustrating that there seems to be little to nothing happening to tackle all the long known issues in PowerPlay.

 

[Martin Schou]

Maybe you should send them an unsolicited application

I sent an email to Sandro last Friday where I talked about something like this. Haven't heard back yet, though.

 

[Etherimp]

I sent an email to Sandro last Friday where I talked about something like this. Haven't heard back yet, though.

No offense, as I know your intentions are pure - but upon taking this job (assuming you got it), I think it would be best if you de-pledged from any and all factions. This way you could not be accused of a conflict of interests.

 

[SHEPR0N]

No offense, as I know your intentions are pure - but upon taking this job (assuming you got it), I think it would be best if you de-pledged from any and all factions. This way you could not be accused of a conflict of interests.

Well we are talking about a hypothetical candidate for a position that will probably never exist (sadly). I don't see a problem with someone being pledged and actually active in PowerPlay while also being responsible for stomping bugs in that area. I'd rather have someone actually invested in PowerPlay / BGS than a person who is neutral but has no idea about the diverse issues.

Accusations of being biased would be there anyway (and a few new jokes beside the FDev Imp bias ones at least). Personally I wouldn't care if the whole Dev team was pledged to a single power as long as their actions to improve PowerPlay went in the right direction. Of course atm there is no direction at all it appears.

 

[InMemoriamSirocco]

Believe me, they know everything that's wrong in the game:

 

[Enef]

I think a Mahon player would be the best candidate for all. Even an Imperial or Fed (though a Fed choice might stop Imp bias within Fdev ) who stopped being pledged would be seen to be biased. But a Mahon pledge is true neutrality because they just play powerplay by themselves. It wouldn't matter if he stayed pledged or not.

 

[Tataboj]

Empire bias does not exist!!

 

[-Pv-]

Being pledged to a power is not necessary in this position. An employee would of course have the appropriate level of administration and back door access being able to create
characters pledged to any power at will and remove that character when the test is complete. More importantly, an employee would not be doing this on the public servers, but the
in-house test networks. The proper online game developer would have several- including the current dev build(s) and snapshots of the public data which can be poked at to verify if
something reported by the public actually happens using a data set very much like the one they are using.
Testers would probably also be able to cook the data by adding/removing exaggerated influences to reduce ambiguity.

An employee showing bias in decision making and discussions would be addressed by the other employees and management, so really is a non-issue here.
The developers are unlikely to consider someone they did not have confidence represented Frontier and ALL the players so is not really a point worth discussing.
Having been a part of software and game dev teams, being a team player is more important than just about anything else. Remember, although these guys show us an
enthusiastic and excited face in public, behind the door is a lot of pressure and even more anger and frustration being thrown at them by the bucket full by customers who are angry
not only as purported victims of bugs, but mostly because of their own idiocy or lack of experiential depth in the game. I'm constantly flabbergasted by the megs of text while
players argue over game features which don't even exist as if the shier weight of their expletives and insults will make it happen if only they cant have the last word just once!

Software teams who erupt into flames at every little frustration don't last long and Team Leads are often selected for their cool heads and ability to promote a relaxing work environment
and defuse sparks while listening to their team.

From the outside, we as players are purposely isolated from the internals. You only have to read 20 posts out of the millions on this forum to realize why. I'll also remind you the company will protect their reputation with everything they have.
This means they CANNOT be as transparent as everyone wants them to be when one false or misunderstood statement can erupt into nuclear war. Statements made to the public by employees will go through checks and cross checks and approval. Those we see on live streaming are people in which the staff have a great deal of confidence proven over time.

All that said, do Elite customers have an advocate inside? Do they need another one? If so, will it be someone who is more transparent then now? Doubtful. Will it be a non-employee position with signed disclaimers? If so, the same semi-isolation will still apply assuming this position requires access to proprietary information without which damaging incorrect assumptions and assertions would be likely.
So, a recognized game guru with above average skill and enthusiasm steps up, gets accepted and the announcement made to the community someone they all know is taking position and someone else everyone knows and is protected and paid by the company to do the job is getting demoted or fired or discredited. Not likely.

I have seen the company request applications for positions. If you really have what it takes then go for it. If the company sees a need for a new position, they will create one, but not at the cost
of disparaging their work force. Few things can make an office environment as toxic as such a move. Employees need to feel they are valued not only monetarily, but that the company also has their back, just as the company requires they each protect the company.
I don't care how much authority you want to re-direct and channel dev and tester resources to pet projects. There will always be someone
higher up who can and will over-rule to prevent resources from being side-tracked by rabbit trails and mole holes while the coders are not able to focus on the big picture.
Maybe in a government bureaucracy can competing departments fight and win resources for their projects while the other departments suffer while the public taxes pour into the black hole,
but in a private company, it doesn't work for very long.

Bottom line, there is no such thing as perfect software. Never will be. The more the software is expected to entertain as opposed to productivity focus, the more imperfect it will be.
The developers and owners will continue to create the game THEY WANT. The game which inspires them. The game which gets them up in the morning anxious to reveal yet another glimmer
of the vision they are working toward, but is still long distant. That some few people get to play a small piece of their dream, and experience some entertainment value out of the ensemble
minuets on the way to the concerto and symphony provides incentive and reward to both sides of the table.

Any time you can capture real data with time stamps, before-after screen shots, etc. and can point to specific, actionable, cause and effect repeat-ability, you will do more for the devs and the community than twenty insider dictator/advocates.

-Pv-