We are once again taking applications for the DDO Players Council! Please fill out the application completely, and email it to ddo@standingstonegames.com before 11:59pm Eastern on Thursday, April 27th if you would like to be considered. We will have future application opportunities at various times moving forward, but any applications sent in when we are not actively seeking applicants will be ignored.


This will be the fourth year of the DDO Players Council, and it's been a great experiment. It has allowed the community to have in-depth discussions with members of our development team, and get a better sense of what the actual game development process is like. For us, it provides a unique opportunity to gather feedback in a semi-private environment where people who might not otherwise speak get a chance to present ideas and opinions. It also gives us a second "first impression", which can be extremely valuable. (The other "first impression" tends to happen when we debut something on Lamannia.)


After doing this for a few years, we've been thinking quite a bit about what worked, what didn't, and how we should proceed with the program. One of the things we're doing is getting rid of the formal yearly tenure; it can take time for people to practice their feedback skills and become comfortable with the process, and it's a waste to have them stop because of an arbitrary tenure.


That said, having a smaller focused group is also very important. So, we're going to transition into a regularly-rotating group of members, to give a larger number of people the opportunity to participate, and also allow us to bring in people we know will give us good feedback whenever the time is right.


Having a larger and less structured membership poses a challenge when it comes to keeping things private. Some folks would prefer if we didn't have a Non-Disclosure Agreement on the Council, but we do it because it allows us to have a level of conversation we simply can't have if everything is being judged by the wider public. It also (and just as importantly) allows players to speak their mind without putting themselves in the public spotlight. The NDA also gives people who would not otherwise participate on the forums an opportunity to be on the Council.


So, if you are accepted, you'll agree to an NDA. If you break the NDA, there will be consequences, up to having your game account permanently banned.


Another change that we're making is to let people participate on topics that they are extremely interested in, then drop out if they'd like. If you are a Cleric expert, we'd love to have you on the Council when we talk about Clerics, but you might not care about non-Cleric things. So, if that's you, let us know in the application and we'll do our best. We won't promise that we'll bring you in every time, or even at all, but it's an additional consideration we want to have.


One of the larger misconceptions we hear from people who haven't been on the Council is the belief that this is a voting body. It isn't, and never has been. Participants don't decide our schedule, or represent the DDO community at-large. They represent themselves, their personal opinion, and to some extent the kind of playstyle and subset of the community they gravitate toward. This is BY DESIGN. We don't do votes because the point isn't to get a majority opinion. Rather, it's to get diverse and comprehensive feedback from as wide a cross-section of the community as we can manage in a small group setting. So far we've been pretty successful at this, and we hope it continues in the future.


Finally, I would caution that while this is a huge opportunity, it's not for everyone. Some people don't like and can't handle "seeing the sausage get made." If you read something one of us says and react with extreme emotion and the desire to warn the world about impending doom, this isn't the program for you. If you are on the Council, I PROMISE you will see bad ideas along with good ideas. Sometimes it's deliberate, sometimes we brainstorm with the Council, and sometimes we test the waters to see if there's an aspect of a thing we hadn't considered. You will also see things that never happen! As previous Council members will tell you, that's part of the process. Maybe these things will happen someday when the time is right, maybe not. So, if you read an idea and consider it a promise or set in stone, the Council is also not for you.


BUT - if you want to get a peek behind the development curtain, provide valuable feedback to us on a variety of topics, and interact in a civil, intelligent, and positive way with others, please apply!


DDO Player Council Application


If you would like to apply or nominate someone to participate for the DDO Player Council, please submit an email to ddo@standingstonegames.com with the Subject Line 2017 DDO Players Council Application with the following information:

1. Real Name

2. Email address

3. Forum Name

4. Primary Character Name (pick one)

5. Primary Class (or general class style)

6. Primary Server or Servers

7. Primary Guild or Guilds

8. How would you describe the way you play DDO?

9. Have you been, Free, Premium, VIP? What are you now?

10. What are some of the topics you are most interested in discussing?

11. Are you interested in being a longer-term member, or someone who takes part in discussions on certain topics?

12. What do you think you can bring to the Players Council?

13. Give us a test of your writing and feedback skill by answering this question with as short or long of an answer as you feel is right: What is the state of ranged power in DDO, and if changes should be made, what would you suggest?

14. Are you over the age of 18?

15. Where are you from geographically (this helps us get a cross-section of people from across the globe)?

16. If you participate in the Players Council, will you agree to follow the Non-Disclosure Agreement, and accept the consequences of breaking the NDA? You can read the NDA here: https://www.ddo.com/en/news/ddo-play...il-faq-and-nda

Good luck!