Whether anyone would have noticed if I hadn't just pointed it out is another question altogether...
Anyway, in that spirit, here's something I bookmarked to write a thoughtful and considered post about and then did this instead.
Up there at the top, that's the splash for the new EverQuest II Content Creator Program as announced by Senior Community Manager Angeliana on the forums on Friday. What the significance of the image might be I have no idea. It looks like Ice vs Fire but how that has anything to do with creating content beats me. I guess it might be a metaphor but if so I can't imagine how it would be a complimentary one. When fire and ice meet, all you get is a lot of steam.
The forum post itself contains a daunting amount of detail about the new program. A lot of it seemed slightly odd to me and some of it I felt almost verged on the passive-aggressive, as if whoever wrote it was anticipating people trying to blag their way onto the program without having the necessary bona fides. Then again, gamers, so...
The elevator pitch is that the program offers "an official initiative by Daybreak Games to support and empower creators who bring the world of EQII to life." but when you read the whole thing it seems more like an attempt to spin up some social media presence, something the game is currently lacking, by handing out bribes.
Not a bad idea at all. What surprised me were the requirements for inclusion in the program, which seem very stringent, especially for a twenty year-old MMORPG with a relatively small player-base, and most especially in view of the way that player-base skews towards the upper end of the age scale, at least for online gaming.
Nevertheless, Angeliana is uncompromising in her determination to professionalize the enterprise. The whole things begins with this statement of intent:
"This is the first official round of the Creator Program. Spots are limited, and while many applicants may meet the base requirements, acceptance is not guaranteed. We’re prioritizing active, engaged creators who align with the goals of the program and can help us shape the future of the EQII community."
My first thought was to wonder if there would be enough interest to fill the available spots at all. The idea that there will be such a rush to join that spots need to be limited seems a little fanciful. How many EQII players even use social media, much less create it, I wonder? Is there really going to be that much competition for places?
Further down the announcement there are some quite specific entry requirements:
"Who can apply?
- Creators aged 18+
- Content makers generating at least 15 pieces of content in the last 90 days across at least three categories (Streaming, Writing, Long-form Video, Short-form Video, Podcasting, Social Reach)
- Must be in good standing in the EverQuest II community"
Over 18s only is standard, of course, and being in "good standing" (I.e. not currently banned or suspended from the game.) makes perfect sense. I don't have an issue with any of that.
It's the "15 pieces of content in the last 90 days across at least three categories" part that I find hard to rationalize. I mean, even as an either/or, it seems like a big barrier to entry but both?
And while it's very nice to see blogs included among social media. (It says "writing" in the above quote but elsewhere blogs are specifically mentioned.), who is out there writing blog posts, making videos and podcasting about EQII more than once a week? Anyone? Enough people to make restricted access to a program specifically designed for them necessary?
In case what's expected isn't clear enough from the bullet points, the announcement goes on to delineate the expected participation levels in excruciating detail:
Eligible Content Types (must meet at least 3):
- Streaming:
- Streamed at least 3 times in the last 90 days
- VODs must be viewable
- Must average 10+ concurrent viewers
- Social Short-Form Video Content:
- Posted at least 3 videos in the last 90 days
- Platforms include TikTok, YouTube Shorts, Instagram Reels, etc.
- Writing:
- Written at least 3 articles in the last 90 days
- Long-Form Video Content:
- Produced at least 3 videos, each 15 minutes or longer, in the last 90 days
- Podcasting:
- Produced at least 3 podcast episodes in the last 90 days
- Social Media Reach:
- Have at least 200 combined followers across all platforms
- Posted at least 9 Social posts in the last 90 days
- X, Bluesky, Instagram, Facebook, Threads, Other
So, you need to be active across a number of platforms and operate using a number of media and be consistent about it before you're deemed worthy of consideration for one of the limited places on the program. For which, if accepted, you will be entitled to:
- Full access to all adventure packs and expansions through the most recent release
- All-access account status
- Marketplace cash each month for in-game use
- Content Codes to give away to your audience
- Access to promo content and preview codes for upcoming expansions
- Opportunities to be featured in official EQII social media or articles
Which, actually, isn't bad. You get free expansions beyond the ones that are already free anyway. You get your subscription paid, which is worth a decent chunk of cash. You get some toy money to spend in the game (Although I wonder if that's just the 500DBC you get for being an All Access member anyway?)
You get giveaways for your audience (Twitch Codes and the like, presumably.) You get a first look at the new stuff (Which as far as expansions go, you would generally get for pre-ordering anyway, so once again, probably nothing you couldn't already get as a regular player, just for free.) so you can write/talk/video about it, presumably, unless it's under NDA, of course. And you get to be talked about by people who actually get paid to do what you're doing for free. Big whoop.
Personally, I'd rather pay for my own expansions and All Access membership and get to see everything at the same time as everyone else. I never use the beta access for Game Updates or expansions because it spoils the fun when the real thing arrives and as for getting the expansions and membership for free, I always feel that if someone's giving me stuff like that, even if they make it plain there are no strings, there are ALWAYS strings.
At the very least it makes me feel uncomfortable if I want to say something negative. It's bad-mannered, like accepting an invite to a dinner party, eating the food and then criticizing the host's taste in wallpaper and soft furnishings. I mean, you can, if you want, but everyone's going to think you're a dick, even if they secretly agree with you and so they should.
At this point, if I really wanted to bulk this post out, I'd have no trouble doing it. The announcement goes on and on and on... I could cut and past half a dozen more sections like the above, most of which repeat the previous ones and maybe find something to say about them but that would be as much of an overkill as the thing itself.
Why there needs to be such a wealth of detail in the opening announcement beats me. Maybe the legal team wrote it. It certainly reads like it.
Anyway, I won't be applying but I can think of two or three bloggers who'd I'd happily endorse if they were interested. I imagine they'd have more sense than to apply, though.
I'll be interested to see if the whole thing goes anywhere. I suspect it won't but I'll be happy enough if it does. More coverage of EQII out in the world would be nice, especially if I can scrape it for posts of my own!
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I was looking at that whole thing over the weekend and... I could make the case that I meet the required minimum criteria, or that I could... a video every 90 days wouldn't be tough... I just have the whole problem of not actually playing the game. I am not in good standing in that I have no standing at all.
ReplyDeleteThe vibe strikes me very much the way the EVE Online content creator program goes. They want streamers, like videos, can tolerate podcasts, but have no interest in the written word.
Of the three or four bloggers I had in mind, one of whom was indeed yourself, none curently plays EQII. I think that's a core part of the problem here. No-one anyone's folowing on any platform plays EQII. Or writes about it. Or streams it. Or makes videos about it. Where the applicants are supposed to come from is a mystery.
DeleteThey've got a couple of people specifically in mind, if you ask me. This is their way of "opening it up" but in reality making the requirements so stringent that only the people they want can get the gig. I've seen this often enough at work that I can smell it a mile away.
ReplyDeleteThere is one other alternative: that nobody meets their requirements and they say "Welp, we tried! Oh darn!" and then go back to doing whatever it is they're doing right now. (Which could also be their intention.)
I don't really see how that would work. If they wanted, say, a specific streamer, why would they go through all this rigmarole to get their interest rather than just approaching them privately? It's not like they have legal requirements to advertise a post fairly and equitably (Which we do have over here to some extent.) This isn't paid employment. It's voluntary work with some very minor perks.
DeleteI really can't see any streamers with a profile being the least interested in covering EQII. How would it benefit them in any way? I can't really think of any rational explanation that makes sense of the whole thing unless it's that someone has "increasing the game's social media profile" as part of their job and this is how they intend to prove they've done something about it.
I'm with Redbeard. Either they already have some folks in mind, or they have lost their minds. I assume the former because spinning up this entire program and having no takers at all would be a lot worse than if they hadn't bothered to do anything.
ReplyDeleteUntil I was a few sentences into the post, I assumed you would be the kind of person that qualifies for it. My initial thought was (quite seriously) "Good for Bhagpuss, they really should throw folks like him a bone. They need all the free coverage they can get."
How naive of me! Obviously all the free coverage you give them is nowhere near worth $15 a month. I mean holy hell, that's almost two fast food dinners. Might as well just hand you a mansion.
I have always had an aversion to being paid for doing things I already do for free. I did a bit of it in the eighties with comics and gaming and it never felt comfortable. I know the whole "make what you love your job and you'll never have to work" mantra but for me it goes the other way - do what you love for a job and pretty soon you won't love it any more.
DeleteSo even if they'd been offering a very good reward package i wouldn't have been tempted. What they are offering, though, seems all but meaningless. If they do have someone in mind, I find it hard to see how this is going to bring them on board.
"I know the whole "make what you love your job and you'll never have to work" mantra but for me it goes the other way - do what you love for a job and pretty soon you won't love it any more."
DeleteAgree 110%. I am very lucky to have the job that I do, and I would still never ever want to approach one of my hobbies that way.
"15 pieces of content in the last 90 days across at least three categories" indeed seems like a pretty crazy requirement. I'm not sure most of the official content creators for SWTOR would pass that for example, even if you count every one-liner on Twitter as a piece of content. Still, I wish them well. I feel like especially for smaller MMOs, people who create guides and buzz for the game are criminally undervalued by the devs.
ReplyDeleteI've had my own brush with considering becoming "official" but I ultimately decided to pass on it for exactly the reasons you mentioned. My blog is a place to speak my mind, and while I generally try to be polite, I don't want to feel like I can't say certain things because it would be personally rude to the developers. Also, what good is having special access to behind the scenes knowledge if you're then under some NDA and can't talk about it? I'd rather find out later and be able to gossip with everyone else to my heart's content.
I've never really fancied it. There's always a temptation because the recognition is nice for the ego but for me the price of that ego-stroking is too high. I've had a few such oportunities over the years but fortunately they've always been at this kind of level, with a few perks or very small payment so it's been easy to turn them down. If anything ever came along with meaningful money attached I'd have to consider it more carefully (Not that that's ever going to happen.) but if I ever was motivated by money to accept an offer, it would be in the expectation that it would almost certainly kill any genuine affection or interest I had in whatever I was going to be covering, if not immediately then certainly over time.
DeleteBest to keep business and pleasure separate in my opinion.
Unless I am misreading something here, it doesn't seem like all that content has to (currently) be about EverQuest II. I think they're just trying to lure streamers in. But, as usual, the requirements are such that most actual active EQ2 fans are excluded. I get most of my EQ2 news from this very blog, and they should just toss you a bone for the work you are already doing pro bono. And, yeah, nobody cares about non-commercial blogs anymore.
ReplyDeleteHmm. It certainly didn't occur to me they meant *any* content although a very close reading of the whole article, including all the variant explanations of the requirements does tend to support that interpretation. In the panel that shows what you'll see if you click through to apply, it does say " 'Content' means anything you produce and share to entertain, educate, engage or build an audience", which seems like the broadest possible interpretation.
DeleteOn the other hand, later in the piece, when it gives specific examples, those examples repeatedly state that the content *has* to be about EQII, e.g. "Eligible Content Types (must meet at least 3): Streaming: Streamed Official EQII 3 times in the last 90 days" and "Podcasting: Produced 3+ podcast episodes about Official EQII content in the last 90 days"
At best it's ambiguous but I imagine even if they were willing to accept people who don't currently produce 15 items about EQII every 90 days, that would be what they'd expect once those people were in the program.