When I arrived here several months ago as a brand new Community Relations Manager for EverQuest, one of the concerns repeatedly brought up to me was the Community Leaders program. A number of players had significant concerns about the efficacy of the program and its intended role, and I was tasked with revising the program to increase its value to both the player community and the Development Team.
Over time I have observed how the program functioned and have spoken at length with members of the Development Team, people involved with the program, and members of the player community. This gave me a much clearer picture on the nature of and need for the program, and how the community at large felt about the issue.
While the program as it existed was beneficial to EQ as a whole, there were a number of improvements that could be made. One of the most confusing aspects of the program was its name, "Community Leaders." Giving someone the title of leader implies a clear position of authority, and this was neither intended nor the truth of their role in the program.
Another significant difficulty with the program was a lack of transparency in the nature of the program and its membership. Any lack of clarity on the nature of a program like this or its membership creates an uncomfortable situation where a number of assumptions about the program can run rampant.
Finally, the last major issue I observed was the lack of a set review period. This made it much more difficult to regularly add new members to the program, and review the contributions of existing members. Without a regular review period, it is difficult in the fast-paced world of EverQuest to devote time to look at these issues.
As a result, we have decided to implement a new version of the program, appropriately renamed the Community Round Table to more accurately reflect its role. In addition to changing the name of the program, we have also made a number of resources available to the community. These include The Community Round Table Mission Statement, the Community Round Table F.A.Q. (including details on the review period), and the Community Round Table Members List.
We look forward to hearing your feedback on these changes and working with you to make this program even more beneficial to the future development of EverQuest than ever before!
Eric "Piestro" Cleaver
