Introducing the town hall

TLDR;

  • Town Hall is for staff & server management to have a heart-to-heart talk with members of the community on various matter(s)
  • Goal of Town Hall is for Staff to aggregate and understand public opinion which will guide our decision making process unlike parliament which was to approve/reject specific proposals
  • A hybrid mode of in-game, discord voice chat, and discord text will be used for the town hall
  • Every town hall will have 2 sessions, one for EMEA & APJ and another for Americas; held once approximately every 3 months

We are excited to announce that we are excited a new format for public discussion for matters related to our server and community – the town hall.

While the old parliament system was a way to bring the community together to discuss matters relating to the server, and submit proposals, it also had several flaws which ultimately led to its demise.

Past discussions surrounding the future of parliament – or whether we should even continue to have one have led to many opinions being shared such as the form of a commissiarat or committee. While the feedback and suggestions forum has been introduced, it has seen relatively very little use; which is why Staff will be making the effort to steer any conversations that need to be had.

What is a Town Hall, and how is it different from Parliament?

Unlike parliament where server members are the main ones speaking and contributing proposals with comprehensive vote and more stringent process, the Town Hall will be a way for Staff and server management to have a heart-to-heart talk with members of the community on certain topics of interest.

Ultimately the goal of the Town Hall will be for staff to aggregate and listen to public opinion on various matter(s), which will contribute towards Staff’s decision making process, unlike parliament where solid proposals were either passed or rejected.

As such, we will try to keep the topics being discussed as open-ended as possible.

How will the Town Hall work?

We are looking at a Hybrid mode for the Town Hall this means that the town hall will work in-game and on discord. Here is how the format will work:

  • In-Game: Attendees may choose to sit in the old Parliament House of Representatives chamber or build in the server while listening to the town hall (roleplay purposes only; just for the fun of it, and for old time’s sake).
  • Discord (Voice): The stage channel will be used with members of staff being the main speakers. You may request for to speak via voice as well in the stage.
  • Discord (Text): A forum will be setup with a thread being created for each town hall meeting. This thread will only be open for the duration of the town hall period. You may add on to the conversation via text if voice is not your thing,

When will the Town Hall be and how often will it be?

A common issue with parliament was due to its single timing session, which often left out certain members of the community. We have members from Asia-Pacific & Japan (APJ), Europe, Middle-East & Africa (EMEA), and the Americas (AMERS). Hence, we will be trying out a format with two timings.

Timings for the Town Hall

  • APJ & EMEA – Saturdays 1PM UTC Approximately Saturday afternoon for EMEA and Saturday night for APJ
  • AMERS – Saturdays 3AM UTC Approximately Friday night for the Americas

When and how often

  • Saturdays, only when announced – Discord event will be created for each meeting
  • Appoximately once every 3 months

What is the process like?

Submission of topics of interest

Continue to submit your thoughts, feedback, and suggestions into the feedback-suggestions forum on Discord. Where we notice a potential topic for further wider discussion, we will pick it out for discussion in an upcoming town hall meeting

Announcement of town hall meeting

The town hall meetings will try to be announced a month in advance. A new forum thread in the town-hall forum channel will be created that outlines the agenda for the meeting.

Discuss and attend!

During the actual meeting, join in via voice chat or discuss in the respective forum threads. The forum thread will remain open from the opening of the 3AM UTC when the Americas session opens, and will be locked upon the conclusion of the session in EMEA and APJ.

Let us know your thoughts

Join in the discussion in the town hall proposal forum thread in the feedback-suggestions forum!