Reasoning:
Every once and awhile, a player makes a comment to someone on the team which goes a long the lines of something like: "I'm telling XYZ to you, because other people think this, but are too afraid/worried/etc to say anything themselves."
I've often wondered why, if people like our team and like to play here, why this might be the case, particularly if they haven't had problems talking with us about other topics. After thinking long and hard about this over the last few weeks, I have come to believe that the fundamental difference is because people personally know the difference between "discussion" and "feedback," but do not know when the other person desires one over the other.
What (sometimes) happens is when someone really just wants to give FEEDBACK, but it turns into a DISCUSSION, and then they feel bad. Sometimes, they wish they had never posted anything, or decide not to post anything in the future. ...and then we loose out on some great feedback, or, (rarely, but even worse,) we have no idea there is a real problem which needs to be addressed.
Letting your audience know which you want, will clear up the feelings of "oh what will be the reaction if I say something?" and, at the same time, free you up to have the type of response you desire while allowing us to continue to be in communication with you, our player base.
Definitions & When to Use:
Feedback
Feedback is when you simply need/want to pass along an idea, concern, or suggestion, and you do not desire to talk about the reasoning behind the topic or get into any sort of debate with your fellow players and/or team members.
Example: Let's say I want to tell the team that all the houses in Nuvar should be pink. I don't want people who hate pink to debate me, and I don't really want to know if the Team thinks I am crazy because I love pink houses. At the same time, I know the team loves feedback, and I never know if my suggestion might actually be one that will be used, so I post something like the following:
Two things would happen: 1) Someone on the team will post something along the ideas of "Thank you for the idea. See you in game!" and that will be that. 2) Other players who want to enter into a discussion will have to start their own thread and phrase things in such a way as to not at all personally attack or tare down my opinion. To be Clear: Labeling something as Feedback does not automatically prohibit other people from opening a discussion on the same topic. It does, however, indicate your intent not to discuss the matter. If you do start a separate topic, please be sure to phrase your post in such a way as to state your opinion or suggestion, and not to put down or in any way attack or debate with the original poster."Feedback Topic: Pink Houses in Nuvar"
I think it would be really great if all the houses in Nuvar are pink. Thanks for listening to my idea.
Love, Amby
When in doubt on if your feelings will be hurt by a continued discussion by others (intentional or otherwise) or if your suggestion/feedback might hurt someone else, please always always send the team a PM instead of a public post.
The team will then take my post and copy it team side. If any discussion about houses and painting everything pink actually happens, it will be team side and won't affect anybody's feelings, opinions, or make anyone feel awkward "in public."
Discussion
Discussion is when you have an idea, but you desire the input of other people, whether that is from other players or the team directly. In this example, my post would be phrased something like this:
Phrased in this way, my thread is 'open' for comment and critique by others...even those that don't agree with me... and I will be fine with both support and objections, because I asked for the discussion to occur.Discussion Topic: Pink Houses in Nuvar?"
Hi gang! I just love pink, I adore pink, I think pink is a very cheery color and I think that Nuvar would be so much better if we had every house pink instead. I'd like to get your opinions! Maybe we can start a vote!
What do you think if we could have every house in Nuvar be pink?
