[Survey] Limitation of Speech Problem

Bers, I think your concern is very valid. When I was a new player, I was very much afraid to post my thoughts. And I do not mind if things are posted anonymously, if it helps to give shy or fearful players the chance to speak freely. 

I think that this is a good idea, to try to encourage people to post feed back, I know when I started in alpha 3 I was very reluctant to post anything on cc or forum. This may be the first multiplayer game that people are playing, I know it was mine, and it does take some courage to post comments I think, so anything that makes it easier is good:)

My first thoughts were, that this shouldn't be nescessary, but I realise, that there will always be a minority of players who will find an excuse in anything to attack weaker players. They also take part in this PVP game and won't disappear, whatever you change. At least the newbie protection will provide some cover for new players.

The option to post anonimously in Forum has my support, also as an option in common chat, to help fearfull players say what's on their mind. But it will take away personallity.

I hope the more adult majority of the players eventually finds the means to balance this game in such a way, that it's fun to play for everybody. Even in war. But for now it's more important to give all players a voice, without fear for expressing their opinion in order to have the best feedback possible to develop this game.

For me it's ok. It's rather sad that we need to do this in order to let people freely state their points of view,but there has to be a way for people to communicate without the fear of suffering consequences later. As you are saying,as long as that doesnt make easier for breaking the rules, its a good idea 

Actually I think the rules may be even more strict for anonymous posts, like if you are posting anonymous, you are not allowed to judge any other specific players explicitly by their name or somehow which will clearly identify them. Naming other players in anonymous posts may be allowed only when reporting bugs. If someone is trying to use anonimity to jump on some other player he will be punished or exposed. This will help the anonymous posts to work the way they are indended - to provide truthful and constructive thoughts without fear.

What do you think?

I have a lot of thoughts on this subject, not surprisingly, on the root causes and perhaps how to address some of it.  :-)  But I think anonymous posting opens the door to even more flame wars, imo.

As long as the "flame" part is limited and posts comply with the rule #1 (the constructive part is big enough) I think we can handle it. The forums so far are pretty flame-less, but IMO lack feedback from moderately experienced players. The most vocal ones currenlty are veterans which is not very good, need more varied opinion sources.

I can tell you that when I started it took me, in terms of real time, almost an entire stage before I started posting on the forum and to any great extent on cc.  That was because I thought it best to stay quiet and get some familiarity with the players and the game itself before posting and potentially making an idiot of myself.  I'm confident enough now that I don't care about that, lol.  But, again, it took time and gaining whatever reputation I have for that to occur.   :-)

That being said, not everyone is like that and when forum posts containing, at best misrepresentations and worst lies, are made accusing certain players of wrong doing, you are going to find that players will defend themselves.

I won't hit anyone for posting a differing opinion.  I will, however, defend my alliance and myself against untruths.  That is a normal reaction.  I don't much care what people talk about on cc but opinions about aspects of this game will vary and not always be "positive".   We can't always say something works, even if you think it does, if we find it does not. 

I recognize that we do not have the global view of your intended final product, as we can't.  It's in your mind not ours, so we are extending our view as far as we can without that ultimate knowledge. If an opinion is perceived to be negative or a question is perceived to be negative the person can get silenced.  I think, short of name calling and spewing obscenity, using the ban hammer should be a last resort.  What is seen as negative is not always meant as negative but as constructive.  :-)

I do want to add that when newbie questions are not always greeted with cheer it can be chilling as well.  I will admit to being as guilty of this as anyone else and for my part I will refrain from doing so in future and will pm suggestions to read the forum from now on.  :-)

However, I stand by my opinion that the ban hammer has as great a chilling effect on the free exchange of ideas as any imaginary threat of attack, or commentary in cc, imo.  :-)

Back to the thread: when I just started, I wasn't scared of being attacked, because i didn't realize I could be attacked! that was in the days that you didn't need a horn to speak on cc. For newbies having to use a horn, might be very intimidating and it might make them think twice about using them.

First let me start by apologizing for the inability to make spaces between my comments since my space bar isn't recognized.I agree with Diana about this but would also like to add a couple of thoughts.By making comments anonymous you hold no one accountable, even with rules, to what they can say. I think this will have a more negative effect then what you may think given human nature.  It may prove to be a convenient way to induce more wars imo.I also can't impress enough that every comment or post about the various stages and changes that occur will always be positive.  I truly don't know why you would want them to be.  If they are all positive or that is all that you will recognize then how will you have an honest appraisal of how this game is perceived by the people who will be playing it in the end?  Isn't that why we are testing? So I think it might help if you will keep that in mind :)We all need to be more welcoming on cc and maybe use pm more with new players.  Common chat should be a place where people get to know each other.  I do still think that telling someone to read the forum is the correct way to point new players in the right direction for instruction on playing :)

This is my second alpha. I have posted 25 times in the forums. Not sure if that is a lot or not. For the most part they were questions or observations that were replied to politely. I try not to say anything that will bring attention to my hero, fearing attacks from other players. Do not comment much in CC for the same reason. There seems to a clique that dominates the chat and though the chat is friendly and fun it seems like a private conversation that I am eavesdropping on. I would probably not post more if anonymous. I don't feel I know enough yet to contribute something  meaningful.

This is my second alpha. I have posted 25 times in the forums. Not sure if that is a lot or not. For the most part they were questions or observations that were replied to politely. I try not to say anything that will bring attention to my hero, fearing attacks from other players. Do not comment much in CC for the same reason. There seems to a clique that dominates the chat and though the chat is friendly and fun it seems like a private conversation that I am eavesdropping on. I would probably not post more if anonymous. I don't feel I know enough yet to contribute something  meaningful.

Risking that this is OT, but for my part I will never hit you for posting an opinion on cc.  Insults, name calling and the like might get you attacked, but opinions about aspects of the game won't in my experience.  So, welcome to the game and don't be afraid to talk about the game or ask questions.  :-)

I agree that anonymous posting is not the way. I always welcome opinions and questions. Yes I may have gone over the top in my response to where is the sun but it was asked a thousand times. I have most of the time answered questions in pm or made sure they were getting the answers there if it wasn't obvious from cc. And I agree forum is the best place to look for answer. Not knowing who is posting is just setting forum up to be filled with a bunch of junk imo.

Today I have added anonymization feature to the website, now you can do everything anonymously - create threads and bug reports, comment in threads and news. Make sure you have read the additional rules before doing so (they are in the checkbox description).

Currently this feature is in test-mode, I am not sure if I have closed all holes which may uncover your anonymity, so let's lest it. If you will find some link or bit of the information which allows to de-anonymize player - us.

-berserker (first post ever as anonymous)

I just discovered that you have to actually initiate a reply to make yourself anonymous.  I thought it would be in the account section.  So, testing!

(River posting anonymously, sort of defeating the purpose here, lol)

*And, it posted my identity even though I checked the box. 

Question, did reading the rules uncheck the box?

Today I have added anonymization feature to the website, now you can do everything anonymously - create threads and bug reports, comment in threads and news. Make sure you have read the additional rules before doing so (they are in the checkbox description).

Currently this feature is in test-mode, I am not sure if I have closed all holes which may uncover your anonymity, so let's lest it. If you will find some link or bit of the information which allows to de-anonymize player - us.

-berserker (first post ever as anonymous)

This is a test

Testing.

*failed again and this time I did not read the rules after checking the box.