Upcoming Changes to the NA WoW MVP Program

<This is going to be a bit of a meta discussion, and not something focused on World of Warcraft, as a whole. Those of you who are active on the forums and among the other World of Warcraft communities will probably have more thoughts on this than those who visit the forums on rare occasion.>

Hey guys!

Over the past year we've had it on our plate to breathe a bit of life in the MVP program for World of Warcraft (you may have seen me mention it here and there, and I know the MVPs have been eagerly waiting for movement on this). After nearly a year of discussions, we're finally ready to start moving forward with a refresh of the MVP program for World of Warcraft!

Most of our active posters here know that when the MVP program was founded, it's goal was to recognize active forums poster who contributed to our community through things like high-quality class guides or assisting and guiding new players with helpful information. While being active and posting in a constructive manner will still be something we take into account, we realize that we now live in a world with Icy Veins, Wowhead, Reddit, and numerous other communities that didn't necessarily exist at the onset of this project. This leads our MVP group to not being able to actively fulfill it's original purpose on our singular forums platform.

All of this led us to think we needed to be realigning the purpose of the program slightly, as we want to more actively empower the group to engage in discussions with us on various community issues, happening on the forums and in our greater community. This would also include working to provide insight into community and gameplay feedback they may see around the community, with direct conversations between the WoW community team and the WoW MVP group as a whole on a regular basis, much as we do in our conversations with folks on Reddit, Discord, etc., something that hasn't been utilized to its best.

To facilitate this, we will be moving the WoW MVP program to an application-based recruitment system, which will address a few concerns we have currently with the recruitment process, as well as letting us asked targeted questions to candidates during certain recruitment periods, and hopefully widening the audience. We expect to open recruitment early next week, after the President’s Day holiday, so be on the lookout for a thread if you're interested!

Of note, these changes DO NOT affect any region or franchise outside of World of Warcraft in North America, and these changes also do not apply to our awesome Customer and Technical Support MVPs who do great things.

We look forward to getting to work on the program and hearing your feedback!

02/15/2018 11:17 AMPosted by Nixxe

I hope this doesn't mean Crepe is losing his MVP status. I notice community MVPs are not listed as being spared these changes.

We're asking the MVPs to reapply for the process, but we will be keeping everyone who is able to meet the newer standards going forward!

I wouldn't expect any of the familiar faces you know to go away unless it's their own choice.

02/19/2018 02:30 PMPosted by Mirasol

Hopefully if I got any of that wrong someone Blue corrects me! I think I have it pretty close based on what I know so far.

You're pretty much spot on with historically what the high level goals always were and will be with the program. Its just admittedly been pretty neglected over the years which is why its kinda dwindled into what it is now.

Think of MVP status additionally as a verified check that indicates this person is recognized as being someone that is known as being a reasonably well articulated and constructive poster. This is regardless of whether or not they agree or disagree with a stance on an issue currently within the community. In fact if MVPs disagree with something we encourage them to voice it.

02/20/2018 12:14 PMPosted by Gigabear

02/20/2018 11:36 AMPosted by Ythisens

Think of MVP status additionally as a verified check that indicates this person is recognized as being someone that is known as being a reasonably well articulated and constructive poster.

While I totally understand the reason for the vetting of people in the MVP program, it cannot be denied that it also sends a message that those with any kind of negative rep or a list of infractions need not apply. Even if they "do better" it won't matter, because they were excluded from the program before they ever knew there we standards, or that there was going to be an open recruitment process.

Worse, none of "us" can even get a new account and prove ourselves, because even if we succeeded in not being linked to our old one, we'd have no record either to draw on for consideration.

I'm sure you can appreciate how frustrating that can be. To be told there is this wonderful opportunity, but you can't participate in it. That some people, who are not you, may finally get the one thing you were asking for, and only not being a model poster because you couldn't ever seem to get it without going to some pretty extreme lengths.

Communication.

To be clear, we don't think that those with infractions or poor reputation need not apply, and, in fact, our application covers these situations and gives applicants a chance to explain the situation and learning moments that have resulted from them.

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As a note, the application is now live. You can find it over in this thread.

02/20/2018 12:14 PMPosted by Gigabear

Worse, none of "us" can even get a new account and prove ourselves, because even if we succeeded in not being linked to our old one, we'd have no record either to draw on for consideration.

I think showing character growth as well over an accounts history could potentially be something that we consider as a plus. If someone, say, had been suspended once or twice but has also grown as a poster without issues since, I would favor that.

An accounts history will not have any negative impact unless that individual poster allows it to.