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The Lanakov address to the community - Printable Version

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The Lanakov address to the community - Lanakov - 04-06-2020

Dear community,

Tis I, Lanakov. I have promised you an announcement to clarify the situation and dispel any sort of rumours concerning the staff. I also have a few announcements to make. So that's what I'm going to do ; read on !

I know the news have been making the rounds around the community lately ; yes, Durandal and Xalrok have left the staff of their own accord. They have not specified why, though it is clear to me that this move was a long time coming. I have decided in accordance with the rest of the staff to not let them in at their previous management positions if they so asked. I am well aware of the massive work they've done for this community, often to ungrateful or outright hostile reception, but I also believe that they had their shot at this and it is high time for a fresh start in regards to Disco.

Why am I making this announcement, you may ask. Here's a bit of context. Three months ago, just before I left to go on deployment in some remote backwaters arabo-persian desert, Durandal approached me and asked whether I'd be interested in taking over Xalrok in regards to mod leadership. I was hesitant then, on account of my imminent departure, but agreed nonetheless. The deal was that the current staff would go on as it were and the official shift would be announced at my return, which should have been in about two months.

They left before that, and this silly worldwide epidemic thing has sprung up, putting my return dates in jeopardy. At this point, I might be evacuated tomorrow or kept at my post for many more months. Taking both elements into account, I asked the current staff for a meeting and that happened yesterday evening. Among the points we discussed, I asked them if they were okay with my staying at the post entrusted to me by those who left. They've agreed, for now. YES !

I'll share some bits of what was discussed and agreed upon right below.

- We're hiring ! You've noticed Markam's post about it, and many of you have already risen to the call. Applications will take a while to go through as we're still figuring out how to go about them and work with a new team setup. I should mention that the current staff is dynamic, motivated and eager. There is a good atmosphere throughout and spirits are high. My wishes for a fresh new start seem possible thanks to them and their energy. So I ask you to be patient while you're sorted out, and I thank you for taking the time to apply in the first place.

- New directions : also in accordance with the team, we're planning to move away from One Big Story encompassing one or several nations, for the foreseeable future at least. While the Gallic war was quite epic and was pretty much at the heart of Disco's identity for ten years, such a focus made several factions and even regions feel like they were put aside in favour of the Gallic development, an unavoidable occurance with such a scope. It also lead to various unnatural alliances out of necessity and several factions lost a part of their identity.
We aim to correct this by going back to a vanilla-type richness in faction development. If you recall, every group no matter how minor had its own story arc, goals, enemies and potential for development. Freelancer's nature ensured it all was static, and that was part of the public disappointment at the time of its release : there was great narrative potential everywhere, but aside from Trent's story, there was never any realisation of that potential. By switching to a more regional focus, we're hoping to give some attention and give something to do to as many players as possible, and make the sector feel alive and evolving rather than merely reacting to one big crisis after another. In the same line of thought, we plan to move more into the realm of low intensity warfare, border disputes and other underhanded conflict types, more suited to regional developments.

- Regarding player involvement, plans are worked on and thought about to give more decision-making to players and factions. It's something we have in mind but nothing concrete is shaped just yet, just know that it's being studied. My ideal dreamy outcome would be a Disco version of a D&D game, in that players are presented with several scripted choices, and their decision will have an impact on how the story arcs will play out, as well as their relationships with others. It's a daunting task that would require a lot of people both on the staff and on the server ; as such, I can make no promises, but it's something I'd very much love to see happen on Disco. It seems to be the perfect compromise between the original Discovery vision, which is to be a roleplaying game with a sculpted story for players to roleplaywith, and not some faux-RTS with forum bits, and the old request for more community involvement in how things play out in the universe. I'm attached to Disco's old vision, but I've seen first hand the many downsides of keeping everything on rails and placing players in front of the fait accompli. Story development will firmly remain in dev hands, I must make this clear.

- Making exploration cool and exciting again is also one of our priorities. There are various ways to go about this, and we're considering them. The post-Gallic war atmosphere lends itself well to this narrative, and there is nothing like a big ol' gold rush to attract attention, greed and create lovely tensions and bickering, in line with what we're going for. Cooperation is also an idea that's been thrown around a bit, both inRP and in the form of more attention given to PvE. Again, no promises as it is far too early for the team to announce anything, but know that we're working on that.

- Lastly, and this address is in line with it : transparency. Quite often have players brought up their distaste at not being put in the loop of various developments, either staff or game-related. While it is obvious to me that not everything should be said or known by everyone, the attitude of sweeping things under the rug or keep a tight leash on certain controversial facts was an indictment of previous administrations, whom forgot that they were doing this for the community, and not for themselves. This I've always found very damaging and the root of many an argument propelled by vocal players, up to the throwing of insults, bad faith and outright hostility. Being quite satisfied with my lot in life, I seek no elevation from this position, but am content to occupy it out of service to this community, and because I still think it has some beautiful years left in it. I'm eager to try my hand at improving it and making sure what Disco time we have left is as pleasant and friendly as possible, and that will demand transparency on our part. I want to be clear that, in the same spirit, I won't take kindly to the hostility mentioned above. If the staff makes the effort to come forward, explain what is going on and why, I will demand civility on your part to explain your disagreements and your suggestions. It's common sense and basic education, but I'm quite attached to discipline as a general rule, as it tends to facilitate healthy discussions and positive atmosphere overall. Surely this isn't much to ask.

This covers a good chunk of what I had to tell you. Bear in mind that I am still deployed and my work rhythm oscillates wildly from one day to the other on account of... Well, everything, just look outside the accursed window. As I pointed out, the staff has my full confidence to keep things going well without my constant micro-managing ; so I ask you to trust them as well and give them the time they need to kickstart this new Disco era as elegantly as possible. If you have questions about any of this, feel free to ask them and I'll see about getting back to you when possible. In the meantime, take care, stay safe and play video games.

Cheers,
Lanakov the Chairman



RE: The Lanakov address to the community - Wesker - 04-06-2020

107 players online yesterday.

I believe in you, even if you are in the navy.


RE: The Lanakov address to the community - Chuba - 04-06-2020

very cool and good. nice


RE: The Lanakov address to the community - SnakeLancerHaven - 04-06-2020

big love Heart


RE: The Lanakov address to the community - Emperor Tekagi - 04-06-2020

Big not even yellow wall of text. Hello new chairman, promising to hear you and the others give the future development lots of thought already.
Good luck with the deployment and returning home mess you got there, stuff's crazy lately.

Though, epidemic and the upwind of new dev structure got us record player counts.
Let's make this last as community.


RE: The Lanakov address to the community - Nerva Regis - 04-06-2020

Take care of yourself @Lanakov ! We will throw a Dragon Noir when this whole Apocalypse Test is over (sun)


RE: The Lanakov address to the community - TheSauron - 04-06-2020

[Image: 7t6gEDr.png?1]


RE: The Lanakov address to the community - Nightowl - 04-06-2020

Thank you for your open words!


RE: The Lanakov address to the community - Dark.Star - 04-06-2020

with the numbers yesterday
this looks promising
lesdoit


RE: The Lanakov address to the community - Lythrilux - 04-06-2020

Good stuff