Helper rank temporarily removed

[Billy]

The helper rank has been temporarily removed while it's being reworked.

We're planning to rework the rank as we feel the full potential of the helper rank wasn't being used. The goal we intended for the rank was making it clear for newer players who to approach with their questions. Instead the rank was regarded as a prestigious achievement that was only meant for the most helpful players. As a result our helper team had some great qualities, but stayed rather small. With a helper team remaining so small, we weren't achieving the goal of helping players as effectively as we could.

In the next few days, we'll investigate how we can rework the helper rank so that help is always nearby.

We would like to thank everyone who has been a part of the helper team and for the work they have done. We would also like to apologize for the abruptness of the rank's removal.

[Amount]

Couple of points of feedback:

1. Brashness of large-scale decisions.
This has been an issue in the past, though not for a good while. When making larger decisions, it'd be prudent to take the time to fully contemplate not only the decision itself, but the execution of the decision. What just happened was, quite frankly, a mess. A pretty absolute failure from a management perspective.

2. Temporary void.
Until the new Helper rank is implemented, there's going to be a temporary void whereby there are no distinguished individuals for newer to visibly recognise as sources of help and information. I suppose this ties into point one; a cleaner execution of this rank reformation would have been to keep the past model in action until the time that the new Helper rank was ready.

Other than that, I'm keen to see the next chapter of this story.

[Brandt]

I suppose this ties into point one; a cleaner execution of this rank reformation would have been to keep the past model in action until the time that the new Helper rank was ready.

Other than that, I'm keen to see the next chapter of this story.

Agreed fully, but mainly this.

[Honor claw]

Alright, Thanks for the update.

[Ruler]

First of all, agreed with the void part brad said.
Second of all, if you have 20 helpers I think it makes it even lesa clear who to contact. I think it used to be better. I think that with the amount of helpers everyrhing was pretty good covered so I don't see why you would change it. We will see I guess

[Brian]

Thanks for the info.

[Hayden]

Can someone tell me what happened? lol

I see that like 15 people got promoted and then this happened a few hours later or something? Just kinda confused atm.

[Rwter]

Couple of points of feedback:

1. Brashness of large-scale decisions.
This has been an issue in the past, though not for a good while. When making larger decisions, it'd be prudent to take the time to fully contemplate not only the decision itself, but the execution of the decision. What just happened was, quite frankly, a mess. A pretty absolute failure from a management perspective.

2. Temporary void.
Until the new Helper rank is implemented, there's going to be a temporary void whereby there are no distinguished individuals for newer to visibly recognise as sources of help and information. I suppose this ties into point one; a cleaner execution of this rank reformation would have been to keep the past model in action until the time that the new Helper rank was ready.

Other than that, I'm keen to see the next chapter of this story.

Are these the changes that you said we could all look forward to?

I don't understand why this wasn't polled beforehand to the whole community, i.e. how we view helpers currently, how many helpers should we have, what are the roles of a helper etc. Instead of some secret restructuring which has caused the removal of the rank altogether :').

Clan chats (business and ascendency) are the best source of information since there are many players on at all times, most of whom know a fair bit about starting off. Iterating the fact that there are guides available on the forums (not just ::thread xxxxx) would encourage more people to use the forums and also introduce themselves.

The helper rank was alright as it is and I sure as hell hope we won't see a list of 20 people on ::staff. If they are removed from ::staff then there's no way for a new player to know who to contact for help.

Niiice.

[Im on meth]

Can someone tell me what happened? lol

I see that like 15 people got promoted and then this happened a few hours later or something? Just kinda confused atm.

Like 15 people were promoted to helper and then every single helper (old and new) was demoted and the rank was removed.

[Rapsey]

2. Temporary void.
Until the new Helper rank is implemented, there's going to be a temporary void whereby there are no distinguished individuals for newer to visibly recognise as sources of help and information. I suppose this ties into point one; a cleaner execution of this rank reformation would have been to keep the past model in action until the time that the new Helper rank was ready.

That is because previously we failed to consider how changing the rank (or our approach to handling the rank) would diminish the achievement of those who had it before. Every time we tried to change something about the rank we met with fierce opposition regarding the prestige and perception of the rank in its current form. Rather than trying to compete with that perception or weakening it, we felt it would be better to clearly mark the end of the old helper rank. We hope this will make everyone more open to considering a different approach instead of expecting the new helper rank to be everything the old one was perceived to be.

Don't get me wrong, we're not doing this to make the changes easier to swallow. We want to make changes the community approves of. We just feel that as long as the old rank is around, any changes we propose will be judged by how the rank is currently viewed. We don't want to force our opinions onto anyone. What we would like is for people to stop thinking about what the rank should be and start thinking about what it could be. A fresh start seemed like the right way to achieve that. We may be without helpers for a few days but I'm sure we will survive it.