Reading through "Is any one else out there" thread, I noticed that Mumblefratz is proposing a representative Metaverse Council. I want to know what is the general thought on the HCH joining and participating in the Council.

The Council, so far described, will help improve the health of the Metaverse by helping to increase interest in it. It will also discuss proposals that will then be referred back to the empires for approval to create close to universal approval for achievable improvements for the metaverse.

I believe this to be a great idea, and I saw that a couple other members of our empire seemed to like the idea also. I think that this idea will help make the Metaverse more fun and will help to encourage more participation in it. I encourage everyone to take a look at the discussion on "Is any one else out there" thread, and post what you think of the idea.

Here is the link:

WWW Link

Also give any ideas you might have.

Thanks,
AlexAtticus

Thanks, Alex, you beat me to it. My dang commute just keeps getting longer...

I just want to add that from what I can see in the stats, the overall number of people posting games to the Metaverse seems to be dwindling. It also *appears* that Stardock itself has become very lukewarm, perhaps even chilly, to the idea of doing any additional work on the Metaverse beyond simply keeping its pulse going.

I agree with Mumblefratz (see the link Alex posted, above) that the Metaverse could be improved upon, and also that our best chance of seeing that happen is by pooling our ideas with players from all of the active empires and presenting the best of them as a group. I think that a renaissance in the Metaverse could provide incentive for more people to use it, making it a more valuable tool both for the players and for the developers.

It might be a good idea to start our own sidebar discussion in the HCH forum and see what proceeds from that. I haven't been active much lately in the forums or on the Metaverse - a systems migration at work and an impending baby at home will do that - but if there is community interest in a Metaverse Renewal task force, I promise to be as active as I am able.

If you haven't taken a look yet - take a peek at the data on the recent post that is on the "Is any one else out there" thread. The HCH information is impressive! I think it would be a good idea to develop the concept of a group of representative members. The HCH can help the growth of the Metaverse.

Brezelius

Thank you for the invite I hope to serve the High Command well.

Thanks for joining Azragaul, I hope you enjoy being part of the HCH. Feel free to post any questions or adivice that you might have here or on our fourm. Good luck!

Our Logic is Undeniable!
AlexAtticus

AlexAtticus:
Thanks for the invitation, if I will understand that the galactic empire is a dead one I will, most probably, join HCH to help to get the second place.
P.S.: Every logic is deniable!  

Hail H.C.H. members and Emperor Alex Atticus.

Of course I am on board with improving the Metaverse. Once I get home, I will try and join the H.C.H forums. I tried in the past but to no avail.

I will do everything I can to help further this cause.

Long live the Metaverse and the H.C.H.

P.S.: Every logic is deniable!

The word "every" is an absolute. Meaning, without exception. Now me, being that I think that anything is possible, not probable, just possible, will not use such an absolute word. So the sentence you structured around your logic is deniable to me. We did not state that all logic is undeniable, just ours.   

Our logic is undeniable!

Quixen, I noticed that your account was not activated on the forum, so I manually activated it for you. You should be able to now get on. If you have any more problems feel free to contact me.

Keep up the great work everyone. Our Logic is Undeniable!

AlexAtticus

I am restating the obvious here, but for some new metaverse players, it is probably fresh info.

I have played this game as heavily as any other that I have owned, and the idea of the Metaverse certainly gave it a second wind in my book. One way to keep it dynamic is to change the scoring from the "offical" metaverse version over to Kryo's alt-meta version. People who figured out how to maximize a game score based on the a formula have no reason to post new games on the official metaverse since they can only lose a max of 35% of their mega-high scores. In addition, the penalty for posting multiple games on the official metaverse is a continous reduction in the point value of those games by a depreciating percentage (around your 20th game, only 25% of the game score is added to your total). This kind of system is disadvantageous to a new metaverse player who wants to get their feet wet with some small games before tackling the larger one.

Kryo's system gives a player 100% of the score of every game submitted, and depreciates all scores by 1/6 of their value at the end of every 30 days since it was posted. In effect, if you play the game for three months and post monster scores, then don't play for 6 more months, your score will be down to zero(It does however still list your "all-time" high score). Simply put, even the best players will have to keep posting scores to keep on top, and with the total value of a game being added each time, people who posted multiple low scores in the beginning are not punished for that choice.

In truth, I link to the HCH page of Kryo's scoring site and my characters page, looking only at my "official" score when posting results to the metaverse. My .02 cents.

Thank you Alex. As you saw, I made it over to the forums this evening.

Hey Everyone!

As everyone probably knows by now a Representative Metaverse Council is trying to be set up, and it appears that our empire is in support of it. I am curious as to who would want to serve on this council if it were to be set up. Right now I do not know how many people from the empires participating will be allowed on the council, but I would like to get an idea of who would want a seat on the council. My hope is that we will try to have an election to choose who will serve on the council. If you are interested in being on the council please post here or go to our forum and post on Announcement under GalCiv General.

I believe that the Council is a great idea, and am in total support of it. I encourage everyone in the HCH to participate or post any ideas you might have for the council. Also feel free to nominate a person if you feel that they would serve well on the council.

Thanks,
AlexAtticus

Our Logic is Undeniable!

Please do not misread this as a negative view of the proposed Council, it is not, it is however a dose of realism. Apart from good intentions, agreeable exchange of views etc - the Council will not get past first Base in making changes / instigating improvements, unless it carries Brad along with them. It appears from a previous post he is not in favour of the Metaverse in the long term for future Game Titles, albeit the existing status quo would seem to be supported for GalCiv.

The Council will - rightly so - focus its efforts on the enjoyment of the Metaverse by the GalCiv community. It should be careful not to assume the only driving force for changes is "good ideas" that make it more enjoyable and inviting to GalCiv players. Whilst clearly Stardock will have a eye to player enjoyment - pointless otherwise - there are still pragmatic factors such as resources to maintain it (= cash/costs), and fending off the regular "heat" that breaks out on the forums about the whole deal. The latter will never change even with a Council, it will always generate "heat", it cant please all the people all the time.

Stardock are running a business, albeit a benevolent one as there are no major shareholdrs per sey and its run primarily to meet Brads vision, not shareholder profits (it would have to be the latter if there where Major Shareholders to satisfy). However its major costs are without doubt Staff Costs, therefore the initial proposals must be pragmatic, start small to foster working relationships with Stardock, and not initially shoot for the sky when its clear Brad holds the Metaverse for future Game Titles in doubt.

User Councils such as this can end up going down a fantasy road avoiding the realities of a Business, or Mega Changes assuming (falsely) that the Owner's motivations are the same as the Council - they are not, and never will be.

So whats the answer - frankly I dont know. Its good to get together and talk through the issues, from that practical ideas may surface that may have an impact on Brad. However those ideas must be tempered with common sense as viewed through the eyes of those trying to run a Business, not through the eyes of those whose motivation is pure enjoyment. There lay the dilema, and its a stark "gotcha" that could kill the Council at birth. Its all well and good coming up with a better sounding idea than the last guy at the Council - it is in effect hot air - unless it pragmatically meets Stardocks issues in running the Metaverse.

The Councils's first task therefore should be to find out Stardock's (ie Brad's) true issues with the Metaverse, unless it does, its doomed to failure from the word go.

Regards
Zy

Zydor I see where you are coming from, the world is littered with good intentions that fail. My hope for the Council is that it will help bring more members to the metaverse, and renergize the Metaverse. Which is something I think can be done without too much support, if any, from stardock.

I agree that the Council needs to keep it "real", not abandon common sense. Also I agree that the Council should seek out what are Stardock's true issues with the Metaverse.

I Think the Council can and will be a great thing for the Metaverse, and that its goal should be the enjoyment of the Metaverse by the GalCiv Community. But, the Council should keep in mind that Stardock is running a business.

Thanks for your great input Zydor!

AlexAtticus

The Councils's first task therefore should be to find out Stardock's (ie Brad's) true issues with the Metaverse, unless it does, its doomed to failure from the word go.

I respectively disagree with this.

The first point is that all of the initial changes will be focused on setting up the AltMeta to achieve the kinds of thing that we want to do. The only connection between the AltMeta and the "real" metaverse is that the AltMeta takes the raw data as submitted to the "real" metaverse.

As such we will be asking for no support or other changes in the game from Stardock (at least as our initial focus). If we were to do so I agree we would be doomed from the start. The point of the council is to try to do what can realistically be accomplished. Getting Stardock to make major changes in how the metaverse is run or how the game is scored is not (at this time) a realistic goal.

I believe that we can set up the AltMeta in such a way that will make it more attractive to players that play games other than the high scoring gigantic galaxy military conquest. If this can be done then that does open up the metaverse as a more interesting place to a much larger player base than it does at this time.

Also once we prove that we can increase interest in the metaverse and once we prove that we can speak for the majority of metaverse players, we will be in a far better position to request reasonable changes from Stardock.

Right now Stardock hears 100's of suggestions of what they should do. There's no way they can respond to 100's of suggestions, particularly when it's only a handful of folks that seem to support each one of them.

If we are successful with the council it will accomplish two things. The first is that we won't be asking for Stardock to do 100's of things, we'll be asking for only a few reasonable things. The other difference is that the things we ask for will be supported by 100's of people not just a handful.

I do agree that eventually we need Stardock (i.e. Brad) to be willing to support us. I just feel that support would be far more likely "after" some positive benefit has been proved. Requiring such approval prior to demonstrating any benefit and particularly requiring such approval before even making any attempt at improving the situation as you seem to be suggesting is what's doomed to failure.

Also once we prove that we can increase interest in the Metaverse and once we prove that we can speak for the majority of Metaverse players, we will be in a far better position to request reasonable changes from Stardock.

This is the key. Getting Kryo on board since he was the creator of the Altmeta program and an employee of Stardock, was a very good first step. If the council is created, is backed by the players and the Empires, can come to an agreement, and Kryo can implement these ideas on his Altmeta program, this will go a long way. If this is all that happens it would still be a great victory.

If, as a result of the work we accomplish within the council, the Metaverse picked up and more people began to post games, this would be the proof needed. If all the hard work is done by us, and it creates an atmosphere around the Metaverse we all think it will, Brad may very well become interested and more official changes to the Metaverse may be possible. I have always had great faith in the Metaverse and believe it has a lot to offer all of us.

All we have to do is want it.

Kryo doesnt have to be the only one. If we have willing volunteers, and Kryo will share his information then we can have a team of people working on the new AltMeta. This should reduce the work load and transition phase moving us along even faster.

I want to put a reminder out for all HCH members, to go by and vote on the issue of the Representative Metaverse Council on our forum. To vote go to GalCiv general on the forum, under there you will find the poll.

Also we are currently taking nominations for Council seats. If you know somebody in the HCH, or want to run for a seat, please sign up. Elections for the seats will take place when seat allotment is determinded.

Thanks,
AlexAtticus

Our Logic is Undeniable!

Kryo doesnt have to be the only one.

You are on the money with that statement sir. However, without Kryo on board we would not have the Altmeta. So as I said... A good first step indeed.   

Fellow HCH members, I have stopped by our forums and cast my vote...

Have You?

Our Logic may be Undeniable but I have Plausible Deniability!

This is the key. Getting Kryo on board since he was the creator of the Altmeta program and an employee of Stardock, was a very good first step.

I should note though that the AltMeta is strictly a personal project, so despite the fact that it is involved with GC2, it is not supported or endorsed by Stardock. </disclaimer>

I want to give a heads up to everyone that nominations for Council seats will be closing monday, Jan. 15, at 11:59pm eastern time.

Also make sure you stop by the forum and vote on the issue of joining the Council.
Here's the link for voting:

WWW Link

Thanks,
AlexAtticus

As soon as you have your nominees, vote for two. For now, that is most likely the number that each supportive member will reciever. The Constitution idea thread is now open, so stop by and debate on such things as membership, purpose, and the represenation system.

Well, i'm going ahead and opening the polls! Make sure you come by our forum to cast your vote, every vote counts. The two candidates who receive the largest amount of votes will be appointed to the Council.

The candidates are:
Quixen
MarshallONeil
Hobbitween
AlexAtticus
ShuShu

Here is the link:
WWW Link

Good Luck to everyone!
AlexAtticus

Our Logic is Undeniable

I want to give all HCH members a heads up that voting on the HCH forums is starting to come to an end!

If you have not voted for the Council seats yet and would like too, please stop by the our forum and vote. The polls at this point are very close, and a single vote turn the polls either way.

Thanks,
AlexAtticus

Our Logic is Undeniable!   

Good morning everyone!

I want to congratulate everyone, we just broke 4 million points!

we just broke 4 million points!

Good job guys  . Won't be long you'll be knocking on the door of the top 2.