The New Professionals Program!

[Kintaii]

Proudly introducing the all-new, the all-improved, the all-awesome... Professionals Program!

Hey guys - Kintaii here again to talk to you all about the grand return of the Professionals Program! With our new focus on smoothing out and rethinking the balancing behind Anarchy Online, we realize that having a constant, consistant stream of communication with our playerbase is invaluable - This process would only be viable if it weren't for all of our players weighing in their opinions, and every bit of feedback we can receive is valuable.

In the hopes of easing the flow of communication between the player base and the development team, we here at the AO head office have decided that it's time to see the Professionals Program return to its former glory. To that end, we're happy to announce the new Professionals Program and how you can get involved!

Do you know someone who you think exemplifies their profession in Anarchy Online? Someone who knows their profession backwards, forwards, and inbetween? Someone who can clearly and reliably talk about their chosen profession, introduce new players to the ins-and-outs of life on Rubi-Ka, and offer valuable feedback to the developers? Well, here's your chance to get them into the spotlight!

Here's how this works: Each profession in game will receive two Professionals slots - These individuals will be chosen by you, the players, to receive greater access to chat with and discuss any issues they feel relevant to their profession and the game at large. In addition, the Professionals will also receive unparalleled access to our Bug Hunters staff on Testlive to aid in testing new content, as well as receiving special sneak-previews to upcoming content and ideas. In return, we simply ask for an active presence on the forums and the ability to communicate with ourselves and the players.

The Process:

To be nominated for the Professionals position, a player must meet the following requirements: You must be a paying member of Anarchy Online with at least six months subscribed, have one character above level 175, and you must have an active presence on the Anarchy Online forums. Players may submit a nominee for a Professional to the following email address: nominations@anarchy-online.com - When writing this email, please use the following format:

(Subject) [PROFESSION] Professional Nomination - [CHARACTERFORUMNAME]
(Body) [LINK TO THE CHARACTER'S PROFILE ON THE AO FORUMS]

So if someone wanted to nominate Macrosun as the new Keeper Professional, the submitted email would look like the following:

(Subject) Keeper Professional Nomination - Macrosun
(Body) http://forums.anarchy-online.com/member.php?u=664289

THE EMAIL MUST BE FORMATTED AS ABOVE. If your email is NOT in the proper format, the nomination will be discarded and not counted. No exceptions. Please do not include any additional information within the email - The body should contain *nothing* but the requested link.

Once a player has received a certain number of nominations, they will be contacted by Funcom personnel asking if they wish to proceed with the process - If they agree, they will be placed in a list of potential candidates for their profession. If a player has been approved as a nominee for multiple professions (IE: someone reaching the nomination requirements for both Engineer and Shade Professionals), the player will be asked to choose which one they wish to run for.

Once this list of final nominees has been compiled, a thread will be posted in the corresponding Profession forum allowing players to vote for their favourite. The two players with the highest votes after one week will be the Professionals for that profession.

There are, of course, a series of rules, guidelines, provisions, ect. ect. that come along with all of this, but these will be discussed with the individuals who have received an official nomination. The important thing is to know that the power for who stays and who goes is in the hands of you, our players.

Every three months we will hold a vote within the individual Profession forums where the players may choose to vote one (or both) of their Professionals out of the position. Should a Professional be given a "vote of no confidence" by the player base, they will be replaced with the next-highest runner-up from the previous election (IE: whomever came in third place in the last election).

Every nine months, the process will restart with a new round of nominations and voting - All current Professionals still in good standing (and who wish to have a chance to continue with the program) will automatically be placed into the voting roster with the rest of the nominees.

And there you have it! The new Professionals Program starts here and now, and I can't wait to see the results! More information will be posted in this thread as time goes on (including a more complete/definitive rules list), so keep your eyes peeled and stay tuned true believers!

[Kintaii]

Some expanded information has now been made available on the front page. You may read the new posting here: http://www.anarchy-online.com/wsp/an...&table=CONTENT

For clarifications sake: The nominations period lasts for three weeks. THIS ROUND OF NOMINATIONS ENDS ON NOVEMBER 23rd, 2009.

[Kintaii]

Important!

Do you run an Anarchy Online fansite? Want to help us promote the new Professionals program? Please send me a private message if you're at all interested in helping us get the word out about our new focus on making sure the players are heard. Vox populi!

[Kintaii]

One last reminder that the nominations for Professionals close THIS MONDAY! After 12:00 noon GMT, Monday, Nov. 23rd I will stop taking nominations for new professionals - You guys have to get your submissions in before then to make 'em count!

Though I don't want to talk too much about specifics, I feel the following is important to mention: While the response so far has been really great, there are still a few professions out there that haven't received as many nominations as I would like. So!

Adventurers
Bureaucrats
Keepers
Nano-Technicians
Meta-Physicists
Traders

If you guys have been saving any last-minute nominations, it's time to send 'em in! The above professions could definitely use a few more nominees, so if you know anyone at all you feel would be good for the position then go ahead and write 'em in.

More from me on Monday!

[Kintaii]

NOMINATIONS ARE CLOSED!

Well folks, the nominations have been closed and we're ready to start the next phase of the process - Contacting everyone to make sure that they're willing to be a part of the voting phase.

If you are expecting to be nominated as a Professional, or want to be included in the process at all, you MUST have the ability to receive Private Messages on the AO forums enabled!

I'm currently in the process of sending out the nomination announcements (all in all we've got 98 total candidates, including the previous generation of Professionals), and will hopefully have the final voting list ready by this weekend. Voting starts next Monday - Hope you guys are looking forward to it as much as I am!

[Kintaii]

Alright everybody! After weeks of preperation and planning, it's finally time to open up the polls and let you guys elect your new Professionals!

Before we get too far, I wanna note that unfortunately, both Martial Artists and Meta-Physicists did not receive enough candidates to hold an election. They did, however, each receive two candidates capable and willing of taking the position, and these individuals have officially received the title of Professional. Want to see who won? Well, check out the links below!

New Martial Artist Professionals: http://forums.anarchy-online.com/sho...d.php?t=565622
New Meta-Physicist Professionals: http://forums.anarchy-online.com/sho...d.php?t=565623

But just because we already have two new groups of Professionals doesn't mean the process is over just yet - There's still twelve groups of candidates out there who need your votes. Head to the threads linked below to take a look at the candidates, debate & discuss who you wanna vote for, and cast your ballot for the next Professionals of Anarchy Online!

Adventurer: http://forums.anarchy-online.com/sho...d.php?t=565624
Agent: http://forums.anarchy-online.com/sho...d.php?t=565628
Bureaucrat: http://forums.anarchy-online.com/sho...d.php?t=565626
Doctor: http://forums.anarchy-online.com/sho...d.php?t=565627
Enforcer: http://forums.anarchy-online.com/sho...d.php?t=565638
Engineer: http://forums.anarchy-online.com/sho...d.php?t=565637
Fixer: http://forums.anarchy-online.com/sho...d.php?t=565636
Keeper: http://forums.anarchy-online.com/sho...d.php?t=565635
Nano-Technician: http://forums.anarchy-online.com/sho...d.php?t=565634
Shade: http://forums.anarchy-online.com/sho...d.php?t=565633
Soldier: http://forums.anarchy-online.com/sho...d.php?t=565632
Trader: http://forums.anarchy-online.com/sho...d.php?t=565631

[Kintaii]

It's been over one month in the making, but now all the nominations, the debates, the campaign speeches and the votes come together as I and the rest of the team are proud to present to you the final list - Your Professionals of Anarchy Online!

Adventurer Professionals:
Scum & TheDdevil

Agent Professionals:
Srompu & Lupusceleri

Bureaucrat Professionals:
Sterva & Malaxia

Doctor Professionals:
BigBubba & Mekh

Enforcer Professionals:
Obtena & Arrien

Engineer Professionals:
Ellarisa & Technogen

Fixer Professionals:
Artyomis & Racatti

Keeper Professionals:
Nogoal & Wakizaka

Martial Artist Professionals:
Soliartist & Iknokungfu

Meta-Physicist Professionals:
Dancingrage & Corily

Nano-Technician Professionals:
Mastablasta & DecemberSky

Shade Professionals:
Graftmage & Babek

Soldier Professionals:
Questra & Berinda

Trader Professionals:
Nanotehnpoir & Saetos

So where do we go from here? Well, there's some paperwork to fill out and other boring details that need to be taken care of, but as soon as some clerical details are out of the way the *real* fun can begin - Debating, discussing, planning and designing. Anarchy Online is headed toward a very exciting time in its life, and having these representatives from the community will be an enormous help to all of us in the development team.

For myself and everyone else here on the Anarchy Online team, we'd like to take the time to thank the individuals who've nominated, voted, and decided to step up to the challenge ahead - There's a lot of work to be done, but the future looks bright, and as a community we can make miracles happen. =)

I'm leaving this thread open after this post, so everyone feel free to toss in your congratulations for your newly-elected Professionals!

[Nub]

the wrath of Technogen will soon begin.

FEAR THE WALL OF TEXT

FEAR IT

[haavarst]

Huge congrats to everyone! Wish you good luck on your task

[Phyxrphyxr]

Gratz Artyomis. Was there ever any doubt :-)

[Sterva]

Congratulations to everyone! It's nice to see every spot filled for the first time in quite a long time.

[Mastablasta]

Congratulations to everyone and thank you all for the vote of confidence

I hope we'll all get along well in the future and that everyone will appreciate what the professional program is about.

[Wrangeline]

Grats to everyone and a nice list of people there

[ArienSky]

The winning Professional votes for the professions:
Adventurer: 114, 85
Agent: 119, 92
Bureaucrat: 136, 133
Doctor: 129, 87
Enforcer: 90, 84
Engineer: 94, 75
Fixer: 101, 92
Keeper: 96, 95
Nano-Technician: 125, 97
Shade: 126, 111
Soldier: 134, 94
Trader: 110, 61


Technogen is a Professional Engineer?
the guy that posted these quotes, for professional?

Technogen got 75
In most other profession that would not had made it to become a professional..
The only other profession, where 75 votes would give a position is trader, that vote got 100 less votes than the engineers did.

Originally Posted by Technogen So a server merge would raise the population drastically? Hum....

Originally Posted by Technogen Yes, you're missing the fact that we're not doing like Rk2 and RK3 to to RK1, we're doing RK1 2 and 3 to RK 0 (not test), this would put in place the full server transfer system on FC's end.

Yes, because transferring to RK0 is soooo different as to transfer to RK1.. it is a whole integer lower.. a whole other " server transfer system" needs to be used..

I am sorry, I really think there should be a test of competence, like job-interviews and test for military, police, carpenters, RL engineers etc.

The following quote is an example:

Originally Posted by Means Originally Posted by IHaveHugeNick Making an option to change breeds feels like nothing else but admiting you're unable/don't want to balance the game properly. The ultimate bandaid fix. Greetings, Your Party Pooper. I don't want all the breeds to be exactly equal in all situations...no. I dislike pointless choices as much as I dislike pointless posts...like yours. You don't have to sign your posts "party pooper"...after this amount of time I'm sure the entire forum is aware of who and what you are. Cheers, Your reality check.

The guy, that the Game Director indirectly (but very visibly) calls a troll was accepted as a professional candidate... (he declined himself though, according to Mr. McAtee)

At least there will be a vote again soon, and I hope the candidates will be sensible enough for the developers to hear them.
What I fear is that voting might give a pass to people that the developers might find so annoying, that they ignore them, which is counter-productive.

Good luck to all professions in the balancing act
and may the Professionals act in a professional manner.

Kind Regards
-Ariensky

PS. And thank you for the good debate this voting sparked in the Agent forum, I really liked how the candidates took time to listen and take stand in issues and come with there own views.
I did not see much constructive debate and campaigning in other threads
With Agent being my main concern I choose to spend my limited time there, though I would have liked to be more active in the trader one too (trader AC drains need work, at least for PVM).

PPS. Actually I am pretty sure that "Engineer" is a protected title, at least in my country, so be careful with the business-cards

[Mastablasta]

Originally Posted by ArienSky Bla.

What does technical knowledge have to do with being a professional?

[Kintaii]

Originally Posted by ArienSky Stuff

Technogen won the position of Professional as chosen by the player base of Anarchy Online in a fair vote - As both a member of the community and as an Engineer, he has my full support in his position, as do all the winning candidates. The amount of votes received only matters in terms of whether the candidate received the position - Had someone received only three votes, and that was enough to put them in as the second Professional, then that too would have been perfectly acceptable. This is all, of course, ignoring the fact that the Engineer race had a high amount of potential candidates, with a large number of them being fairly popular, meaning that the vote was much more spread out among the available choices than in other races.

The voting process was carefully thought out and initiated in a way to allow the best possible spread of opinions and candidate choices. While I cannot tell if your post is intended to be a complaint against the current procedures, I am more than willing to take up any discussion regarding the new program in private message. In keeping with that, any qualms about candidates, particularly if based around the number of votes received, are inappropriate for this thread and I ask that they be left from this discussion. Again, I am always available via PM if there are any concerns/questions/comments.

[Reetzor]

Originally Posted by ArienSky ...stuff...

You fail to take into account the larger number of candidates for the Engineer professional position, splitting the votes over more prospective candidates effectivle reduces the total numer each is likely to get. Lies, damn lies and statistics. Your numbers are meaningless and you're just trolling.

A number of second professionals were chosen with around the same percentage of votes. Just as Saetos's total votes looks small untill you factor in the tiny number of votes cast on the trader professionals job (less even than Shades!) making his percentage of votes quite respectable.

What is slightly odd, is that the two candidates have been chosen from a good list in the fixer forum and they were without a candidacy speech. Your reputation must preceed you, fellas!

Oh, and unlucky Hacre, pipped by a single vote!

[ArienSky]

Originally Posted by Mastablasta What does technical knowledge have to do with being a professional?

Thank you for your curiosity Mastablasta.
You should know
I know you have it.

If a person can not see that merging two servers with almost equal amount of players, will create the double amount of players (200% or 100% increase), then I do not think they are fit to be a professional.
I would call a 100% increase in population over night "dramatic"..

also claiming that moving people to RK0 (not test) takes another technology than moving them to RK1.. O.o

seriously..


I think professionals should be knowledgeable people.
Sure, having ideas and being creative is good, but bothering devs with silly details as "It needs to be called 0 not 1, that gives a better system" is a waste of time..

Mastablasta, I like your augment for RK prime, as I can see the logic in it.
I disagree, but I can see the logic, I do not see the logic in what your fellow "Professional Engineer" says though, and programs (games and developers) need logic.

The title "Professional Engineer" means a lot to me; RL professional engineers (usually) are rather bright and logical people, I think it is a scorn to have a title like that being given away that easy.
and I actually believe that it is illegal in some countries, as it is a protected title..

Kind Regards
-Ariensky

*Edit*
It started as a list of how many votes the various professionals got, as I think that information would be good here, but yes it ended out as a critique of anyone being able to get the title of Professional, no matter skill
I appreciate that you have confidence in the people voting, on the background of the quotes I have not..
and I would have wished that everyone voting would have had time to read posts from all candidates, including those I posted here.
I will take it to PMs

[Corily]

Congratulations to everyone!

[Metafly7]

Congratulations to all those who are going to be proffesionals, altho i dont know if its a congratulation matter, u guys got a hard task at hands to be the communicational buffer between Community and FC devs. Enjoy it guys and its well deserved

To Ariensky, i think the population thing can be looked at in two different ways. On the one hand u have the populations as in the entire population that plays AO so thats RK1+RK2 and for the moment still + RK3. The population u mean is the server specific population. I dont know if Tech meant the first population but it would definitely explain what his arguments are. In that case population wouldnt rise like a madman, maybe some new players will enjoy having so many ppl around if the server population is high. But it wouldnt affect the total population on all servers in a big way (numberwise).

Instead of (semi-sabotaging) someone, try and see what he means, send the person a tell and ask how he means it. Unless ofcourse u tried and got a sucky answer in which case i guess u have to do what u have to do.