I kinda wanna pull out the "when I feel like it" gif but I just don't have it in me.
There are things that I'd like to see done with the XMA program before I feel comfortable rotating it - the biggest being speaking to each XMA individually to hear what their expectations of the program is/were (and more) and I have not yet had the chance to do this. The program was created before I started and I want to understand what we were trying to do with this program versus what XMAs thought they were doing, etc and make adjustments where needed.
I'm hoping that this quarter I will have a chance to do so and that rotation can happen in Q3. 🤞
Now that I suddenly was answered with that question, I'd also like to ask the same one about Q2 feature roadmap. The first month of it has almost passed and no news still...
I'd also like to ask the same one about Q2 feature roadmap. The first month of it has almost passed and no news still...
When I posted that I was behind on getting it out, folks didn't like my non-update update... it's being worked on and yes I'm behind. That's 100% on me.
Sounds good. I didn’t apply last time due to high Pokémon GO vs Ingress tensions (glad they’ve cooled now) not making my username great to some Agents. But I’ll apply this time around.
@joecain re: AMA - I'm aware that Agents are not happy with the Q&A we did on Niantic Social. (It wasn't called an AMA because I personally really feel like it was an AMA.) We wanted to do something with the Niantic Social team in support of their "open to all Ingress Agents launch," we wanted to try how doing AMA-ish would work on it, and we came away with a lot of feedback for that team.
The team is open to doing AMAs; I need to figure out the best platform for us to do it on that meets both internal (Niantic) and external (Agent) needs/priorities.
You read and monitor this forum, for which many thanks to you. But tell us how can we, ordinary players, establish contact with your company? It seems that we should have a community manager, but none of us received any answers from you. Many of us wrote comments to Brian or in the relevant sections asked the company to fix some bugs in the game, but there was no answer. Many players would like to discuss inefficient monetization or in-game issues. But we have no one to discuss these problems with. We would also like to help make our game better. For example, many agents who are fluent in their native language could help you with competent translation of the game into different languages. The Russian translation used on the territory of the former USSR has a lot of semantic and grammatical errors, a lot of things are not translated, and I and many other agents could help you with the translation, or even translate into regional languages, Ukrainian, Polish, Hungarian, and so on. And most importantly, it would be free help for you. We want to help you in the development of the game, and finally get, as customers of your company, the product that the majority would like. But what do we need to do for this?
as a community manager and representative of this company, you must know this
I do believe that Thia, assuming she has read her contract, knows what her "direct duties" are, and I'm almost certain that she knows them better then you or any of us do.
a community manager who cannot communicate the wishes of clients to the company, or arrange feedback between the community and the company ... many agents, and not only me, do not understand why she was hired at all. Turn on your logic, my dear interlocutor.
the pen must write, the car must drive, and the community manager must be sensitive to the state of the community and build relationships with potential customers to make the product better. and we don't know what's going on. Even Andrew spent more time talking to us than she did.
Niantic social is still a good medium to use for AMAs but....
It needs a standalone app.
I would use Niantic Social more if theres the Standalone app that i can quickly access outside game or toggle to without having to open/leave game first
@TooLegitToExist It needs a web UI too. There's no way in he-double-toothpicks that I'd use a chat platform that was mobile-only... I hate consuming information through a drinking straw and I hate entering text on a phone.
I'm guessing a Community Specialist advises on how the community is structured, and provides feedback to Niantic on what players want, don't want, suggest mitigations and improvements etc
A Community Manager would manage the actual community and events etc.
Without telling Niantic what to do I would suggest Niantic appoint XMAs or, create new positions from the player base, to be Community Mediators. Providing feedback to and from the company to players.
Give each appointee a limited quota of "contact tickets" between themselves and Niantic to avoid Niantic getting swamped by questions.
The problem isn't the mechanics of providing feedback from the company to the players. The problem is the complete lack of interest and will-power on Niantic's part in doing so.
I mean, Niantic could literally answer questions on the forums from the XMAs starting right this instant. It's not like they ask a billion per day.
There's no need to let the perfect/best be the enemy of the good. Niantic already has two solutions for this, both which have worked just fine in the past:
These forums. Agents post questions in one thread. Comments are cut off after some period of time. Niantic makes a new post/thread with answers. Advertising is as easy as spamming a link. All Agents have access to the forums. Everyone is free to use their preferred method of interacting with websites.
YouTube. Niantic starts a live stream. Agents put questions in the chat. Niantic answers on the fly, verbally. I bet there's some auto-captioning/transcription feature to produce a written record that can be posted to the forums. Etc. etc.
It might be best to follow the old adage: If you wait until the last minute to do something, then it'll only take a minute to do. Commit to a schedule of AMAs. Set an upper bound on the amount of time to be spent searching for this "best" solution. These forums (or YouTube) will be here as a fallback.
Comments
It's a possibility that XMA will be like Vanguard - terminated
Right after the roadmap drops. Am I rite. 👀
Hi @1valdis - I'm so happy to see your name! <3
I kinda wanna pull out the "when I feel like it" gif but I just don't have it in me.
There are things that I'd like to see done with the XMA program before I feel comfortable rotating it - the biggest being speaking to each XMA individually to hear what their expectations of the program is/were (and more) and I have not yet had the chance to do this. The program was created before I started and I want to understand what we were trying to do with this program versus what XMAs thought they were doing, etc and make adjustments where needed.
I'm hoping that this quarter I will have a chance to do so and that rotation can happen in Q3. 🤞
Awww <3
Thank you for clearing that up.
Now that I suddenly was answered with that question, I'd also like to ask the same one about Q2 feature roadmap. The first month of it has almost passed and no news still...
I'd also like to ask the same one about Q2 feature roadmap. The first month of it has almost passed and no news still...
When I posted that I was behind on getting it out, folks didn't like my non-update update... it's being worked on and yes I'm behind. That's 100% on me.
(I don't know the answer to that question, sorry @InvestigateXM)
Please put the next AMA(s) on this also.
Only 9 questions (out of many) were addressed last time.
Sounds good. I didn’t apply last time due to high Pokémon GO vs Ingress tensions (glad they’ve cooled now) not making my username great to some Agents. But I’ll apply this time around.
https://community.ingress.com/en/discussion/18990/dear-nianticvk-give-us-advice-on-how-best-to-communicate-with-your-company#latest we are waiting you here, and now. Do not ignore us please.
@joecain re: AMA - I'm aware that Agents are not happy with the Q&A we did on Niantic Social. (It wasn't called an AMA because I personally really feel like it was an AMA.) We wanted to do something with the Niantic Social team in support of their "open to all Ingress Agents launch," we wanted to try how doing AMA-ish would work on it, and we came away with a lot of feedback for that team.
The team is open to doing AMAs; I need to figure out the best platform for us to do it on that meets both internal (Niantic) and external (Agent) needs/priorities.
@GreenVam Your post requires more than I can do at this time - no matter how I reply, it will not be good enough.
NianticThia yo wazzupp <3
You read and monitor this forum, for which many thanks to you. But tell us how can we, ordinary players, establish contact with your company? It seems that we should have a community manager, but none of us received any answers from you. Many of us wrote comments to Brian or in the relevant sections asked the company to fix some bugs in the game, but there was no answer. Many players would like to discuss inefficient monetization or in-game issues. But we have no one to discuss these problems with. We would also like to help make our game better. For example, many agents who are fluent in their native language could help you with competent translation of the game into different languages. The Russian translation used on the territory of the former USSR has a lot of semantic and grammatical errors, a lot of things are not translated, and I and many other agents could help you with the translation, or even translate into regional languages, Ukrainian, Polish, Hungarian, and so on. And most importantly, it would be free help for you. We want to help you in the development of the game, and finally get, as customers of your company, the product that the majority would like. But what do we need to do for this?
as a community manager and representative of this company, you must know this
@NianticThia do not run away from your direct duties. Give us an answer to the above question.
I do believe that Thia, assuming she has read her contract, knows what her "direct duties" are, and I'm almost certain that she knows them better then you or any of us do.
a community manager who cannot communicate the wishes of clients to the company, or arrange feedback between the community and the company ... many agents, and not only me, do not understand why she was hired at all. Turn on your logic, my dear interlocutor.
the pen must write, the car must drive, and the community manager must be sensitive to the state of the community and build relationships with potential customers to make the product better. and we don't know what's going on. Even Andrew spent more time talking to us than she did.
Andrew was a Community Manager, Thia is not, she is a Community Specialist.
Someone's title is less important than what they actually do.
I have no idea how Andrew "managed" the "community", and I have no idea what it means for Thia to "specialize" in "community."
True, but that also doesn't mean Thia's job description and duties are the same as those of Andrew
@GreenVam Some words of wisdom for you: You catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.
@NianticThia
Niantic social is still a good medium to use for AMAs but....
It needs a standalone app.
I would use Niantic Social more if theres the Standalone app that i can quickly access outside game or toggle to without having to open/leave game first
@TooLegitToExist It needs a web UI too. There's no way in he-double-toothpicks that I'd use a chat platform that was mobile-only... I hate consuming information through a drinking straw and I hate entering text on a phone.
That too @Hosette , pc needs some love. If intel, G+, discord, facebook etc got the pc accessability then why not Niantic So cial
Ps Yeah sorry forgot about pc, hasnt used one much these days in the last 10 years
What is the difference?
To be honest, I don't know, but I do know that none of these positions worked properly.
Niantic probably wary of me but @NianticThia I am always happy to work to improve the Ingress gaming community.
Would work hard on whatever structure Niantic deigns. If I disagree with the structure I'd just decline position.
I'd even sign an NDA.
I'm guessing a Community Specialist advises on how the community is structured, and provides feedback to Niantic on what players want, don't want, suggest mitigations and improvements etc
A Community Manager would manage the actual community and events etc.
Without telling Niantic what to do I would suggest Niantic appoint XMAs or, create new positions from the player base, to be Community Mediators. Providing feedback to and from the company to players.
Give each appointee a limited quota of "contact tickets" between themselves and Niantic to avoid Niantic getting swamped by questions.
Limit them to forum contact only.
The problem isn't the mechanics of providing feedback from the company to the players. The problem is the complete lack of interest and will-power on Niantic's part in doing so.
I mean, Niantic could literally answer questions on the forums from the XMAs starting right this instant. It's not like they ask a billion per day.
There's no need to let the perfect/best be the enemy of the good. Niantic already has two solutions for this, both which have worked just fine in the past:
It might be best to follow the old adage: If you wait until the last minute to do something, then it'll only take a minute to do. Commit to a schedule of AMAs. Set an upper bound on the amount of time to be spent searching for this "best" solution. These forums (or YouTube) will be here as a fallback.