GREPOLIS PLAYER COUNCIL - TERM 2 STARTS SOON!

[DeletedUser13502]

We are happy to announce the second elections for the Grepolis Player Council!

Starting April 5, every player from every corner of our international community will once again get the chance to apply for the Grepolis Player Council, representing players of their language version, the international community and the player base as a whole.

The goal of this project remains to give our players a better chance to provide input and make suggestions, to get into more direct contact with us as the developers of the game, and to become another panel for professional and active feedback in addition to our forums, our Community Management teams and partners inside and outside of InnoGames.

If you are interested in the discussions and achievements of the previous Grepolis Player Council, you can find a summary of their calls with InnoGames, as well as some additional information on the project, in our DevBlog. We would also like to take the opportunty to thank all members of the previous term for their ongoing support and dedication.

After taking our first steps with a player-elected representative body, we have adjusted the concept a bit to provide for a hopefully even better experience, for both the council members as well as our development team. The Council Advisory board has been reworked completely, as we now would like to have an option to keep select Inner Council members in the Player Council on a per-term basis, to act as advisors and mentors for current and future Player Council members. At the same time, we want to go forward with a second election to give even more players the chance to participate in this project and to represent language versions that did not get to send a representative the last time around.

If you are interested in becoming a part of our feedback procedures, would like to get some insights into the thought processes that go into game design and development and are ready to share a better understanding for why certain decisions are made with all the other players of Grepolis, please read on to learn more about the second iteration of the Grepolis Player Council!

The Grepolis Player Council
The player council consists of 3 seperate entities, where each has special tasks and privileges associated with them.

The Local Council
Each member of this council will be elected by local players of their language version. Consequently, they first become a member of their local council, e.g. for the French market.

A local council consists of up to 5 players and will discuss matters (suggestions, ideas) of their own language version. They will also decide on two representatives for the Inner Council.

The Inner Council
The Inner Council can be viewed as a kind of international committee, where the representatives of all Local Councils gather. This is the place where the spokespeople of each language version will discuss various topics with each other to exchange ideas and concerns and to prioritize suggestions. Ideally, the members of the Inner Council will come up with a more global opinion on matters and with broadly accepted proposals, which can then be communicated to InnoGames in forum discussions and events.

Council Advisory Board
InnoGames may invite members of former Player Councils, who have proven themselves to be highly dedicated and valuable members during a previous term, to serve as an Advisory Board for future Player Council terms. We want them to remain in direct contact with the Inner Council and the development team, help new Player Council members with their tasks, continue to share their feedback and for them to potentially also join special events alongside the Inner Council members.

Player Council members are...

• Community members who have been elected by fellow players to represent their ideas and opinions about Grepolis
  
• Volunteers that are in no way, shape or form employed by or affiliated with InnoGames
  
• Regular players who maintain an active game account without any special powers or perks associated with their Player Council Membership
  
• Part of the Player Council...
  • for a period of six months
  • eligible to be re-elected for another term
  • not re-electable for a third consecutive term without a break of at least six months

Requirements for Candidacy

• Reached legal age of majority in their country of residence (18/21)
  
• Owner of an active game account and been playing for more than 3 months. Sufficient activity to be determined at discretion of InnoGames Community Management
  
• Willing to accept the Privacy Policy for Player Council members to become eligible for extended Local Council*, Inner Council and Council Advisory Board duties
  
• Good English language skills preferred (required for Inner Council and Council Advisory board duties, as well as to gain access to data restricted by the Privacy Policy)

* Local Council members with sufficient English language skills may choose to sign the privacy policy in order to gain access to a separate forum area containing select information deemed as confidential by InnoGames and/or Inner Council and Council Advisory Board members. This is optional and not required for all Local Council members.

Additionally, two-factor authentication will need to be enabled for all forum members with access to the private Player Council forums.

We also recommend each candidate to outline any previous affiliation with InnoGames (e.g. as a member of the support team) in their introduction to provide for best possible transparency and trust within the player base.

Candidacy may be rejected and/or Council membership terminated in case of a violation of InnoGames' terms & conditions, of game rules or privacy policy, or if any other misconduct is found.


Principles
We expect each council member to comply with the following principles. In turn, tools will be made available to them which enable them to perform their voluntary efforts for the community.

The Player Council as a whole should…

• Include up to 2-5 members per language version
• Consist of up to 23 representatives and their substitutes for the Inner Council
• Host a set of selected former Player Council members (Council Advisory Board) advising the current members and staying in contact with InnoGames on a per-term basis
• Make sure that each market is represented, even if no local representatives were found for the respective term
• Representative shall listen to all comments made on their forums, no matter which language version the respective player might be coming from originally
• Provide constructive feedback and professional input on current features, development priorities and potential plans for the future

Local Council members should…

• Represent their local community, listen to the fellow players of their language version and, if possible, compile a list with the best suggestions and major concerns they come across
• Act as role models in the game itself as well as on any community platform (e.g. forums, Social Media channels etc.). A professional and constructive approach towards their assignment is expected at all times, not only in discussions within the Player Council and with employees of InnoGames
• Actively participate in the Player Council's affairs during their term (contribute to discussions, provide feedback in a timely manner etc.)
• Assist the Inner Council and the development team by providing feedback on existing and upcoming or planned game elements
• Play an active role in community discussions and educate players about things that are happening in the Player Council (e.g. by preparing regular reports); this is of course subject to the confidentiality obligations as agreed with InnoGames in the Privacy Policy agreement
• Actively play the game during the course of their membership
• Not receive any special powers in the game. Local Council members should not have any privileges compared to other players
• Provide a valid e-mail address in their forum profiles and confirm to the Community Manager upon request that they are willing to take on the role at the beginning of the term
• Autonomously appoint 2 members to represent their market in the Inner Council
• Be provided with…
  • a private discussion area on their local forums
  • Community Management assistance (i.e. to create and moderate a dedicated forum section for public discussion), and/or
  • a special forum title to be easily recognizable and addressable by fellow players

Inner Council members should…

• Be able to communicate in English (both in writing and verbally), as topics on this level will be discussed in English
  
• Nominate 3-5 (potentially rotating) members to participate in select, special events initiated by InnoGames (e.g. Skype calls, an invitation to InnoGames' offices or other (expenses will be borne by InnoGames when the event has been approved), and
• be provided with contact information to get in touch with members of the Grepolis development team and, if applicable, other relevant InnoGames employees for said events.

Council Advisory Board members shall…

• Be nominated by InnoGames on a per-term basis to extend their role in the player council without the need to be re-elected.
• Share their experiences with the Player Council as advisors and mentors for the current term.
• Join select events with InnoGames alongside Inner Council members.

 

[DeletedUser13502]

FAQ
How can I apply for the Player Council?
If you meet all requirements mentioned above and are willing to represent your language version, please follow our official announcements. A dedicated introduction thread will be made available once the election process is started. Simply create a post with a short introduction of yourself and publish it before the given due date. Any eligible applicants will then be listed as potential candidates on the forums and in the in-game voting.

Can I learn more about the results of previous player council terms and the experiences of the player council members?
Sure! We published several DevBlog posts on behalf of the Player Council, which describe the topics they discussed with us and the achievements they had so far. You can find these on our DevBlog.

I understand that the Player Council concept was subject to changes after the first term. What are the main changes?
There are 2 main changes we are introducing before the next elections. These are based on the feedback we received from Player Council membes and our own experiences with the project.

1. The Council Advisory Board
   In the first term, we did not really use this 3rd Player Council body much. Inner Council members simply determined who they wanted to send to the calls and that was that. Now, the Council Advisory Board is will be reserved for more experienced Player Council members to stay in the project and share their experiences. InnoGames may select previously elected player council members to join this body based on their contribution in previous terms. The Council Advisory board will be tasked to share their knowledge and help new members with onboarding and organizational topics, as well as to remain in contact with InnoGames and to continue to provide feedback. They are invited on a per-term basis but are not required to stay for the full term if they choose to drop out of the project at any given time.
2. Optional access to more information for Local Council members willing to sign the privacy policy.
   We would like to enable better commincation between Local Council and Inner Council members. Therefore we would like to open up a dedicated extra space on the respective language forums where approved content can be shared between Local and Inner Council members. This should enable both bodies to cooperate more closely. Signing the privacy policy is strictly not a must to become a member, but an option to gain more insights. English proficiency is required to ensure that the agreement is understood and followed.

How many members will the player council have?
That depends on the number of players volunteering for this project. Two to five players can be elected per language version, meaning that the Local Councils combined cannot have more than a maximum of 115 elected members at any given time (23 versions represented by 5 players each). However, we are aware that some countries may not be able to send the maximum number of representatives, so the overall number may vary with each term.

For the Inner Council we have a set number of maximum 2 representatives per language version, so a total of up to 46 members who may be active at the same time.

The Council Advisory Board will consist of a varying number of previous Player Council members selected by InnoGames, based on previous experience and their valuable skills for the project.

How many consecutive terms can a council member be elected for?
Each council member is elected for 6 months. Their membership can be extended if they are re-elected for a second term. A third consecutive term in direct succession is not possible, because we also want to give other players the opportunity to join. However, after a break of at least 6 months (1 term) they may apply for candidacy again. An exception to this rule is made for Council Advisory Board members, who may be appointed on a per-term basis by InnoGames and thus exceed the tenure of 2 consecutive terms.

Can a single candidate run for a post for several language versions?
Although candidacy is open for all active players of the respective language version, each candidate should choose one language version to represent. Dual candidacy is only possible for one language version and beta, it will however still only be possible to take up one position. For the other version, a runner-up candidate will take the position. If dual candidacy is declared, we will add a disclaimer to the respective candidate's profile on the voting page.

How can I identify candidates that may have had previous affiliations with InnoGames?
Although we do believe that there should be no bias associated with previous (volunteer) work for InnoGames, we do recommend that each candidate states their previous involvement with such activities so that other players know and can make better judgements regarding their experience. If anything, previous involvement with InnoGames shows their dedication to the game, given that they used their spare time to do something for the community and help other players.

What happens if we cannot find enough candidates for our language version?
In the unfortunate event that a language version cannot find at enough candidates to represent them, players of that language version can still participate in discussions on a forum of their language version of choice that had confirmed members after the election (i.e. English game forums).

 

[DeletedUser13502]

Dear community,

The candidacy for the second term of Grepolis player council is now open. If you are looking to join the player council, please read the requirements for candidacy carefully and then introduce yourself as a candidate.

All candidates will be listed in our in-game voting tool with their name & the first 500 characters of their introduction texts (with links to the respective post) unless their candidacy is withdrawn by April 19, 2018.

We are looking forward to seeing your introductions!

Your Grepolis team