Politician Archive
Thread: Why I LOVE being a Mayor and think you should too!!!!!
I LOVE BEING A MAYOR!!!!
I love being a Politician and being a Mayor and I congratulate SOE on their excellent addition to the game. Yes, it has bugs (I've not experienced any yet, thank God!) but we need to look beyond this.
A lot of people have been dissing the Politician profession, and here is my defence of it!
First of all,NO profession in this game is a standalone profession - it has been cleverly designed to allow us to mix and match skill-trees from different professions.
This gives those players with an interest in doing so a chance to have a main profession and a complimentary profession - Politician is only ever going to be a support profession. If you already enjoy the game and the profession you have, Politician may support this.
In my case, I am a Master Merchant... being a Politician allowed me to put a shuttleport near my shop! The result? 5500 visitors in the first week, each paying 100cr towards the City funds and an average of 200cr to my personal funds through additional purchases. It has enhanced my main profession in this regard in a way that NO OTHER profession could.
Secondly, it has MASSIVELY enhanced the role-playing element and, as I keep reminding people, this is an RPG, not an arcade game. RPGs do not have an end-point, nor the same 'power-up' structure of simple games- they require people to use their imagination. Let me give you 5 specific examples:
a. People need zoning rights to live in our city. To get them, they must convince myself, my wife or a member of my militia of their suitability - in role. This has lead to some very, very amusing interactions, including the person who had to admit that they were a Jedi who wanted somewhere safe to hang out (whoops!),other role-players claiming to be on the run from the galactic authorities, opposing forces trying to grief our city by sneaking in 'new' characters, etc... The role of Mayor forces people to interact with me.
b. As Mayor, there is a specific person for people around me to complain to, bring ideas to and lobby. There was a rumour that I was going to raise taxes and several people came to see me to explain why I shouldn't. If people feel that there is an individual that can provide what they need (whether it is a trainer or a mission terminal) they will naturally want to interact with that player. The role of Mayor has strengthened my character's power and authority, enhancing it. When I was a newbie with a CDEF, getting people to call me Duke was hard!
c. The CitizenMail function provides a powerful function to drive RP storylines and content - how else could you email a group of 100 people who might be in opposing factions, different guilds and different places? This ability is FUNDAMENTAL to RPing. The role of mayor helps to drive interaction between players and a stronger sense of community than just a Guild could by including a wider range of players.
d. The Militia function also provides many opportunities for interaction and fun. We have used it on about 5 occasions, and in each case there were at least 10 people watching and cheering as a 'villain' was driven out of town or killed. The role of Mayor has given other players (the militia) another 'profession' that they find fun and exciting... (They'd better not take it out! Plinka / Thunderheart - please hear us on this one!)
e. Introducing variety and contentinto the game... I decided to start Darkfire right in the middle of Tatooine near the Squill Caves, 5k from the nearest city, on a rocky mountain range! Some people thought it was madness and said that no one would live there... We now have 100 residents! The very existence of Darkfire has fundamentally changed Tatooine and the way that players play. We get newbies who run 5000m through Squill and Tusken Raiders because they are bored of faceless cities around the existing newbies towns, and wanted to live in a different landscape where there wasALWAYS someone in the Cantina, and where we have houses overlooking valleys and ravines. The role of mayor has allowed me to introduce new content into the game - which is the sign of a great MMORPG. No other profession would allow you to do this.
Thirdly, it has given me and the people who live with me in Darkfire a sense of achievement and satisfaction. Darkfire started as a two houses that my friends and I could not leave as we were surrounded by Squill, Tuskens and Alkharan Bandits... Sometimes my friends will just say - 'how did we do it?! It's amazing...' No other profession gives you a chance to achieve someone that impacts so many other players and literally puts you on the map!
SWG suffers from having a attracted a huge number of people who have never played an RPG before, and who were expecting something different. Those people will get with the programme, or leave!
In five years time, players like me will still be here, realising that a true MMORPG is only partly driven by functions and code, and the the bulk of the fun comes from other players.
The huge amount of negativity on these boards shows, unfortunately, that many people are waiting for the Devs to give them something that blows them away... you have not yet understood that the Devs can only facilitiate that - the rest has to come from you.
I hope that helps, and I say again... If you do not want to be a mayor, don't become one. Don't criticise those who are getting enjoyment for it. And please don't spend your energy bashing the Devs at SOE who have done, and continue to do, a fantastic job with little acknowledgement from their customers - no amount of code change will please some of you!
Finally - come and visit Darkfire - you might just like it! 
Yours,
MonGiovanni wrote:
On the contrary, I hated being mayor.
Most cities in SWG had an unopposed mayorship, my city was absolutely the opposite. The sectionalism was fierce, and nearly split the city apart. My opposer for the mayoral seat spit venom with every word she spoke, stopping at nothing to send the city into disaster. Why did she do this? To blame me. Her friends let rumors and lies spread like wild fires, it destroyed the fun in the city. She openly attacked me in City-wide email accusing me of lacking focus because "I had millions of credits" (from my Architectural business), "I had a character on another server" (omg o no!), and "I was the leader of [5 person] guild".
My three weeks as mayor were the worst three weeks I ever spent in SWG. I'm glad they are over, it was pure hell.
D'OH! So if you didn't want to get involved in politics, why did you become a politician? I hope your opponent one because it sounds like she had a lot more to offer to the Politician profession than you!
Goodbye - you are the weakest link!
You 2 are on believable. The poor guy get trashed by a competing politician.
Just because he say's he had a bad experience, you think he never really wanted to be politician. Maybe he didn't want to lower himself the that level of a dirty campaign.
Go ahead, defend your actions. The best way would be to apologize.
There is no need to insult a person who honestly responded to your post. he tried, it he had a bad experience, he answered your question. Dont 1 star him and insult him for that. Sorry his response was not the one you were looking for
Have a nice day
Varnax Despin
Free Haven, Valcyn
My post was not dumb. He said he had a good time being mayor, I said I had a bad, just showing both sides of the story.
The fact is, I've wanted to be a mayor in SWG since the development stages of the game, and the first week we actually had a decent campaign. However, after my opponent lost the first election, she began open attacks, like placing down houses right where we wanted to put the cantina, or in some completely inconvient location (I had felt that she would be mature enough to handle her zoning rights maturely, I guess not). It was not a vote based on policy, it was a vote on popularity, and I wanted no part of that.
Nor was my post a flame, since I never once attacked the oringial poster for stating he had a good time. I'm glad some people are enjoying it (from an RP perspective).
On the contrary, I hated being mayor.
Most cities in SWG had an unopposed mayorship, my city was absolutely the opposite. The sectionalism was fierce, and nearly split the city apart. My opposer for the mayoral seat spit venom with every word she spoke, stopping at nothing to send the city into disaster. Why did she do this? To blame me. Her friends let rumors and lies spread like wild fires, it destroyed the fun in the city. She openly attacked me in City-wide email accusing me of lacking focus because "I had millions of credits" (from my Architectural business), "I had a character on another server" (omg o no!), and "I was the leader of [5 person] guild".
My three weeks as mayor were the worst three weeks I ever spent in SWG. I'm glad they are over, it was pure hell.
Well why did you want to get into the politics profession if you don't like politics? Which planet do you live on? Sorry, I had to give that a 1star for being a really dumb post. Love, S. x
MonGiovanni wrote:
On the contrary, I hated being mayor.
My three weeks as mayor were the worst three weeks I ever spent in SWG. I'm glad they are over, it was pure hell.
Giving a bump here.
There has been too much negativity posted about this profession of late. Its gotten so bad that I've seen multiple questions posted with responses such as 'politician is awful, why bother?' as the answer.
Being a politician flat out rocks. You get to be a hub for your community. You get to guide a barren stretch of land into a thriving metropolis. Your goalschange from simply mastering a given profession, to growing andmanaging long term goals and complex problems. You interact with each of the residents and learn their strengths, weaknesses, and goals and help them to achieve them. You place the structures that make your city a comfortable place to live, such as a Shuttleport or a Clone Center. You manage the city's income. You select the militia. You place the mission terminals. You make city specializations possible. And the population is keenly aware of any success or failure you have.
Its not for everyone, but if you don't think this is one of the most intense and stimulating experiences SWG has to offer then I would wonder what we are doing differently. From where I'm sitting this is a blast!
- Acroyear
I think it's fun also, just wish people would take constructive suggestions as a flame to the class, and turn around and flame that person for saying his opinion or suggestion.
I should just let it die(the post).