Tempus Fugitive
Science and Trade Institute
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Posted - 2007.06.02 23:00:00 -
[1]
 Originally by: CCP Arkanon
Devs on MSN
CCP employees are allowed to use instant messaging programs and indeed, use them for work related purposes every day. As with everything else concerning CCP and EVE, our employees are urged to exercise judgment in their usage of these programs, but we do not go over peopleÆs buddy lists, nor have we had reason to believe that this constitutes a major problem up until now.
Having a CCP developer as an MSN buddy is not an offense in itself, nor does it give you any special privileges in EVE. If you have a problem, you file a petition, even our GMs are not allowed to bypass that rule, so you can bet that they are not going to let anyone else do it. No one is allowed to take any action that can benefit their friends or family ingame. We have rules that people are supposed to follow, but we also place trust in our employees and expect them to act responsibly and professionally towards the company, our products and our customers without being subjected to an atmosphere of mistrust and suspicion.
The assumption that this particular type of contact with our developers can only be a sign of corruption makes little sense to me, I must confess, particularly as there are so many other ways you could get in touch with people. What about email contact, I get a pop up on my screen alerting me of new emails, it might as well be instant messaging, since I can respond to it at once. So, do we forbid our employees from receiving emails from anyone not sanctioned by the company? The Fanfest offers unparalleled and unmonitored private access to the developers, I guess thatÆs off too, then?
You see where this is going. We are a company that thrives on interaction, that deals in interaction, for that matter. Cutting ourselves off from the community is not a viable option for such a company, especially considering that interaction and open dialogue with our players is arguably whatÆs gotten us this far in the first place.
There are specific rules in place forbidding players from bragging about GM or developer connections, especially implying that you can get people banned or fired, or that your contacts have put you in a position where you are above the law in EVE. If someone says something to that effect to you ingame, please petition it using the æHarassmentÆ category and we will deal with it as harshly as our policies allow. If anyone has evidence of such interaction being used improperly, to further anyoneÆs cause ingame, I urge them to contact us through the [email protected] email address. We will investigate all such claims to the best of our abilities.
Fair enough, but this is the symptom and not the disease. Employees involved in player corporations, and thus their politics, are too invested to be impartial. A line should be drawn, are you playing the game or creating the game?
I've heard the claim that developers need to play the game and be involved in player corporations for Eve to prosper. That's simply not true. If a developer is founding their creativity for Eve from the narrow perspective of one player corporation, then how does that benefit the remainder of the community?
Use the events of the past week to your advantage. Take the opportunity to show the gaming community and player/customer base that you can learn and grow. Re-establish your priorities, because just defending "the way things are" will always come back around to haunt you.
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And no I'm not an alt. |