The Ravens' Voice - Armored Core Podcast

[Mom]

I can't get over that penguin gif. That shit has me dying.

[YUNG MASTERLESS GLENCOUR]

That pingu is fkn rad, for sure

 

http://i.imgur.com/ToKkk8M.gif

[Zealous]

Fantastic, thanks for keeping the input coming.

 

 

Tearsin is in the process of moving and (unfortunately) is currently unable to wade into this thread himself. As a result, I'll be taking point on numerous topics here. Between work that had to be finished and company, the tail end of this last weekend going into this week has also been a mess for me. My apologies for the late replies, we've missed the mark here.

 

As a quick update on part two of the August 9th podcast, I want to be frank with all of you; Cleric, myself and Tearsin are on the same page with axing part two and leaving the discussion with the Q&A transcript that will follow this post. Too much time was focused in the wrong area for discussion and this piece was not reflective of a work that would be beneficial to the community as a whole. Since EJ wasn't able to come speak with us directly last week, we mailed him six questions regarding the community at large, as well his experiences with ACO and Mechaverse as talking points. These notes will be reflected in our channel as well.

 

Someone told me you guys ragged on the vatcast but at least I had the fkn things uploaded right after we were done talking.

 

I hope you have a listen before going by hearsay? Brief opinions were stated, but you were plugged if anything.

 

The two recent uploads should be fixed, btw. Upload speed is a slip on my end, btw. The current recording process does not export sound into an immediate .mp3, and my conversion tool isn't instantaneous (due to real time rendering).

 

Also Zealous if you're in need of a mic I will buy one and send it to you if nothing else. I get the sense that you tried to fix your levels with it but in doing so you amplified the air and background noise around you. Not to mention it's still overly sibilant.

 

No need, but thanks! The sound undercurrent leaves a lot to be desired, but it wasn't tied to amplifying in this case; the background noise actually originated from Tearsin's end. In any case, I do have a replacement in hand for the level issue.

 

As TM mentioned it would be helpful to have separate videos or marked sections to indicate specific subject matter. It can get pretty frustrating sifting through hours worth of dialogue to find what is advertised as the official topic.

 

Thanks for the feedback.

 

while we are at it

 

when i listened to the fa discussion i got the feeling that no one in the podcast had played every reg enough to remember anything about each reg. some shit like 1.1 was mentioned as extremely fast, when it was slower than ac4, and people running cookie cutter designs throughout the games lifespan, despite the fact that reg 1.4 had a sizable amount of diversity at the casual and competitive level (not to mention the bias in the 1v1 metagame towards heavier ACs and tanks). there was not a drop of in-depth discussion; it was a circlejerk of people who disliked FA because of 1.2 lag bladers. any FA player worth his salt knows that the biggest problem with FA in 1.4 wasnt the volume of cookie cutter ACs, but a metagame that leaned towards rock-paper-scissors design and a game that favored design over mechanics. i could probably name 7 different archetypal AC designs that came from the 1.4 era alone.

 

good discussions about FA would be things like the controversy of the use of aim-assist or if NSS legs should be banned from 1.4 competitive play to further promote diversity. as an FA player, i dont want to hear people beat a dead horse to death by bitching about FA lag as if it made the game unplayable. FA has the largest stigma against it because of regulation 1.2, which was admittedly a cookie cutter lagfest, but by 1.3 and 1.4, so much of that had changed (although it didnt matter because people like yourselves had already given up on any serious intention for FA)

 

its ok to not know much about a game, but pretending to have played the game seriously for longer than a year and then dedicating half a podcast to it is not acceptable

 

Thanks for weighing in, Pengin. A major reason for having Cleric and Cheng on hand for that episode (especially Cleric) was that they had a better bearing on next-gen AC communities than Tearsin and I did. This is prefaced up front by noting our different states of involvement with 4 & 4A, as well as our presence with ACV. Some of the "cookie cutter" notes didn't resonate with me well either, but I would rather hear opinions fully expressed and let the community dialogue take over from there; your post is a perfect reflection of the responses we search for.

 

i have to agree with alot of what has been said here. i dont like listening to a bunch of acv stuff and responses just to get to the ADVERTISED topic (what i came for). if u want to keep that stuff there, then please mark sections in the video so that i can simply go to the video and click for that section and go do other stuff while listening. now, i think that for the responses section u should at least list who u r responding (in order) to so that we know if u said something to a post 1 of us made or an email, etc.

 

also, if u guys dont know much about something, ASK about it and dont try and make it seem that u do know a lot about it if u dont.

 

yeah, pretty much everything i have to say has been said already.

 

Thanks for posting. We'd appreciate it if you got specific about sections you take issue with, like in Pengin's post that was engaged just above. Just to note though, answering user feedback and mail is also advertised with the main topic. I can see your discontentment in our dealing with generalities, but the point is to extend the dialogue into the community as much as possible.

 

If you're wondering why everyone here is so hostile to you,

 

Not feeling that vibe, the feedback rocks. A lot has transpired within the last six years for the community, so its natural to expect the terrain to be a little rockier.

 

[

and you manifestly know nothing about the current, or even near-past, community. I appreciate your attempt to return things to the golden age, to the community I loved, but that is not your audience anymore; no one knows who you are or why they should care. And I, for one, don't appreciate your glossing over the dark ages. You can't just post things in audio format and make up for a decade of absence.

 

I can see you're also discontent with the coverage of generalities. However, arrogant flippancy isn't the intention here. That notion also tangles ACL's mission and our mission.

 

ACL embodies a vision of strengthening and rebuilding the community through both the legacy and present Armored Core experience. The podcast is not a platform for didactic exposition, but rather a forum for perspective and opinion, driving the discussion and dialogue back to the community. it would be completely naive to expect an open-armed greeting after five years of absence, and the idea of using an audio format as an absolving wand is off base. You don't owe us anything, nor have we asked you to give anything to us outside of honest critique and your opinion. We do, however owe all of you the best podcast we can bring. Re-earning trust isn't something we shirk from. If this initiative sparks others into making their own platforms too, then all the better.

 

Best.

 

Community Q&A Transcript

 

 

 

Question 1 (Tearsin): How do you think you've contributed to the AC community over the years? If you had not created ACO, where do you think the community would be?

 

I think that when you look back at Armored Core Online and ask the pilots who have been members for several years what it really means to be a member of the site, some may say that it has been a place where they felt that they were part of a large group of fans who shared their passion and love for the Armored Core series and over the years, I think Armored Core Online grew to be synonymous with Armored Core community, more specifically online forums, and people got attached to ACO, as they invested their time, posted their comments, met friends and shared their designs, fan fics, fan arts etc.

 

To answer the second part of your question, if I had not created ACO, where do I think the community would be? You know I was not the first person to create a fansite for Armored Core. When I created ACO, JinX had an established site at http://ac-x.net/ and Blight'shttp://ACGarage.com had a nice wealth of information and were already online, I simply had a different vision for what an Armored Core website should be, I simply wanted a more immersive experience, and there were several other smaller ones I cannot recall but I can only speculate that other pilots with similar resources, web development skills and most importantly, with passion for the Armored Core series would had continued, as some of them have, to care for the fans and kept their sites online. Although as a site creator, my role is expendable, the community would be flourishing somewhere else, Pilots like me, we are only valuable because of our unfaltering and enduring love for the community and loyalty to the series.

 

 

Question 2 (Zealous): From your perspective, how has the transition from ACO to the broader umbrella of Mechaverse been successful?

 

It's a work in progress, there are a lot of Armored Core pilots who also enjoy Gundam, Macross and many other mech games, mangas etc, the idea was to start with the Armored Core user base and systematically grow from one mech franchise to the next and over a period of 1-3 years have a much larger community where we could provide an environment where all Mech fans can call home. The amount of time and effort to achieve this is tremendous so it has to be compartmentalized in a way that it's manageable without sacrificing any of the core membership and what people have come to expect from the Armored Core Online many iterations. I think we are doing really good, our Macross fan page specifically is doing really well with over 23,000 fans so far, we will roll a site dedicated to those pilots after I feel the Armored Core part of the site is complete.

 

 

 

Question 3 (Tearsin): Its obvious that you're a controversial figure in the AC community at this point, punctuated by your name change to "Hustler One." How do you feel this reputation affects your interaction with the community?

 

That's a hard question to answer because it's about perspective, have I been controversial in that I have done whatever it takes to keep the community and site together, then yes, you can call me controversial. EJ Raven was a name that I no longer felt attached to, primarily because Armored Core games no longer call the pilots "Ravens" and Hustler One, pilot of NineBall is a more transcendent name that relates to the history of the Armored Core franchise in a way more people may be able to relate. Reputation is fragile component of your online identity. It's important to me, but sometimes I have to take it with a grain of salt and rely on my thick skin and ignore the noise and focused on the bigger picture.

 

I'm not going to lie, I have made some really stupid decisions in my time as caretaker of the Armored Core Online community, but I can tell you with a straight face that everything I have ever done has been for "the better of the community" or at least that's what I think in my mind, again it's all about perspective. And of course sometimes I was wrong and sometimes and when that happens there will always be members who are going to resent, but I understand I cannot always please everyone so interaction with the community when you are EJRaven aka Hustler One is always a balancing act.

 

My mantra has always been that matter what happens you have to continue to learn from your mistakes and continue to do what you believe in your mind to be the smart thing to do, fearing not what it will do to your reputation.

 

 

 

Question 4 (Zealous): You recently made a sweeping statement regarding the AC community dialogue, especially in light of your history as a forum leader. During a discussion on AC Universe that covered how and where users can respond to this podcast, you said, quote,

 

"...I think its cleared how the majority of Pilots feel about this. You are 4 years too late. Facebook and YouTube dominate the conversation and drive user engagement. Forums are a dying novelty, luring users away from YouTube or Facebook is futile."

 

 

Why do you feel social media must replace forum discussion for the AC community? How were ACO and Mechaverse optimized four years ago (or more) to handle this shift?

I don't feel that social media must replace forum discussion, but forum discussion cannot be the only medium a brand can dependably rely on to reach the maximum amount of their fan base. What I was really alluding to was the fact that historic conversion rates from social media outlets into actual site membership have declined to the point that most companies have abandoned their own online forums and created a Facebook page, YouTube channel or Twitter account to engaged their users. The reasoning behind this conversation medium shift is that brands have to engaged their users where the majority of their users reside and make their content available on those social media sites, allowing those users to communicate or comment freely.

Well, like everyone else who runs online communities, I got caught up off guard 4 years ago when Facebook's popularity soared. The pragmatic shift in content delivery was needed, so I created the Armored Core Online fan page, launched an aggressive advertising campaign on Facebook which over the last two years, before the official page became active, was the largest Armored Core fan pages on Facebook, but the most fundamental question here is how do you lure Facebook users who like your page to become active members of the Armored Core community, to answer this question you have to understand who those users are. The majority of the users that like your page will never join an actual dedicated Armored Core community, that's just a fact, and there several factors that I don't think we have the time to discuss, it boils down to the level of Armored Core love these pilots have. Statistically speaking about a 15% of those pilots who engage you on Facebook and other social media sites will ultimately join and become lurkers on your site, visiting once a week at most and not really engaging other members, at least not publicly on the forums. Hardcore pilots, or those who have been with the series for more than one game will for the most part join the larger community and become voices within the community.

To answer the last part of your question, Armored Core Online was designed in such a way that it provides features and an immersive environment, with gamification and RPG elements, where you are truly treated as if you were an actual Armored Core pilot, from the initial registration (Enlistment: BECOME A PILOT) page, welcome MAIL, first mission and unique profile features, Armored Core Online truly caters to Armored Core pilots, something you will not find on any other online forum, website or even less on Facebook.

For those that enjoy reading about community and gamification I recommend this resources:

http://www.lithium.c...ces/whitepapers

 

Question 5 (Tearsin): If you could, how would you evolve AC community events and interactions?

For AC interactions, I will refer back to the last section of my previous answer in which I describe Armored Core Online as an immersive, and interactive place, the closest thing you will get online to being an Armored Core pilot.

As far as events, I think the community is very niche and sadly inactive between released games that the focus has to be on creating events on the prime of each Armored Core release.

 

Question 6 (Zealous): Some major changes have occurred within your staff team over the last few weeks. Going forward, what is your management vision for Mechaverse and what do you expect from prospective staff members in the future?

I'm 32 now, divorced and with kids, I simply refused to deal with drama and bull shit. As I state on the site rules, there is no need to babysit people on the forums, as long as you treat them as adults and communicate with them in a respectful manner, rules should be kept at at minimum while reminding pilots that the site is a privilege, not their birth right and that if they choose to use it they must learn to act as adults and respect people's opinions or get the fuck out.

Over the years I have had many admins who just sat on their ass on the position but never did anything of value for the community, I cannot say that about Edward FromCheng, I admit it was a mistake to fire Edward Cheng from ACO, he is and for what I have seen will always be someone who loves and cherish the Armored Core franchise as much as I do, but it was a matter of principle, a lesson of leadership and accountability, although it was only supposed to be a temporary reprimand, when I asked him to return, he chose not to return and that's that. The doors are always open for his return as Community Manager.

As far as the future goes, I have an age limit for staff members and that's 18. Even that I feel it's too young for staff members to truly see situations with a pragmatic, cognitive and unbias view. Too many times I have seen younger staff members have the tendency to more easily fall to peer pressure and exercise powertrips, forgetting that they are simply volunteering to help take care of spammers and other people who truly don't belong on online forums, because the fact is that there are some major assholes who don't give a shit about anyone online and are unable to see that what brings us all together is not where we are from, who we are, or what we believe in, our greatest bond is our shared loved for the thought of piloting a giant destructive Mech like an Armored Core.

 

 

 

 

Zealous/Tearsin

 

Under YouTube's copyright's laws I withdraw my interview answers. I hereby do not give you permission to use the answers to the questions I emailed you. Should you post the answers and run the interview I will ask YouTube to remove the video.

 

http://www.youtube.c...pyright-support

[Mom]

but sometimes I have to take it with a grain of salt and rely on my thick skin and ignore the noise and focused on the bigger picture.

 

rely on my thick skin and ignore the noise

 

rely on my thick skin

 

thick skin

 

thick skin

Edited August 13, 2013 by The OB Express

[LCC]

These are my favourite parts.

 

That's a hard question to answer because it's about perspective, have I been controversial in that I have done whatever it takes to keep the community and site together, then yes, you can call me controversial. EJ Raven was a name that I no longer felt attached to, primarily because Armored Core games no longer call the pilots "Ravens" and Hustler One, pilot of NineBall is a more transcendent name that relates to the history of the Armored Core franchise in a way more people may be able to relate. Reputation is fragile component of your online identity. It's important to me, but sometimes I have to take it with a grain of salt and rely on my thick skin and ignore the noise and focused on the bigger picture.

 

 

I'm 32 now, divorced and with kids, I simply refused to deal with drama and bull shit. As I state on the site rules, there is no need to babysit people on the forums, as long as you treat them as adults and communicate with them in a respectful manner, rules should be kept at at minimum while reminding pilots that the site is a privilege, not their birth right and that if they choose to use it they must learn to act as adults and respect people's opinions or get the fuck out.

Over the years I have had many admins who just sat on their ass on the position but never did anything of value for the community,

[Bakuhatsu Pengin]

http://i984.photobucket.com/albums/ae321/INSANE-O-FLEX/takeilaff_zpsf8a0a746.gif

[Harakiri Tiger]

Ignore LS Zealous, he's insane. At one point we caught him in the wilderness eating a bar of soap while growling about some kind of animal called an IBProBattle. Apparently he wants one for a pet.

 

Btw, those questions and their answers are unbelievably high tier. My mind is blown. I'll have to find the time to listen to this most recent podcast sometime this week if possible. Good to see you guys taking the criticism as actual feedback instead of going haywire like Hustler One does at the end of MoA.

 

 

 

EDIT: I fixed all the bugged spoiler tags in the old Interesting PM Exchange topic.

[Artdeux]

Those self implications are great.

 

Guess EJ handled his marriage just like he handled the ACO forum.

 

Oh, and I found a real kicker of a quote browsing some of his tantrum posts.

 

 

I discovered what's really important is not YOU guys, but the friends I made in real life who are supportive, positive and great role models I could emulate and become a better person, a better father and a better husband.

I guess your friends are terrible too.

Edited August 13, 2013 by Artdeux

[Shirtless Crackhead]

http://i.imgur.com/L5hxmtr.gif

[SUMERIAN BLOOD GOD]

I hope you have a listen before going by hearsay? Brief opinions were stated, but you were plugged if anything.

 

The two recent uploads should be fixed, btw. Upload speed is a slip on my end, btw. The current recording process does not export sound into an immediate .mp3, and my conversion tool isn't instantaneous (due to real time rendering).

 

Yeah, I'll admit that's my bad. It just caught me off guard since I hadn't said anything negative about your podcast other than I wasn't really interested in hearing a lot of AC talk so I was surprised to hear someone say y'all were bashing something I put a decent amount of work into.

 

I am disappointed that we won't get to hear the community discussion you guys were planning but I was of the mind that you guys (no offense) weren't the best representatives for the community anyway. I only say that because I feel like ACU got left out when we have some of the oldest vets in the community. Cleric said he'd be the ACU rep but he seemed to be much more invested in ACO/MV/MN during his tenure there than he was ever involved over here. And don't think I'm hating on you, Cleric; you're a good dude. I know Niji didn't want to be on to try and avoid more drama but there are a few other members here that might have been interested in giving their thoughts.

 

Don't let LS on your podcast. He's crazy.

 

That's my two cents.

 

Sorry Ninety didn't get to know you, life is not all about playing games with every single member that joins your site. I don't have that time I have a job, career and a family, but I'm talking to young kids I feel, wasting my time. I should be ashame of myself for thinking you can understand what I say. Maturity is hard to grasp.

 

Get fucked, you patronizing ass. Statements like that are the reason I don't have any respect for you. Age does not equate to wisdom, EJ. I laid out a reasonable counterpoint to what you had said in the topic and you respond by basically saying I'm not old enough to understand you? Go fuck yourself.

 

I like that post.

[AvalonFive]

After seeing the reactions to EJ's answers... I love every single one of you.

[Queen Drac Wraith]

Thanks for posting. We'd appreciate it if you got specific about sections you take issue with, like in Pengin's post that was engaged just above. Just to note though, answering user feedback and mail is also advertised with the main topic. I can see your discontentment in our dealing with generalities, but the point is to extend the dialogue into the community as much as possible.

I see what ur saying. i think that for me its not the sections themselves but rather the time distribution that could use some work. u guys r headed on the right track if u ask me, so keep on with it. i plan on listening to more podcasts u guys make, and thx for replying to our feedback.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UHw6KXbvazs

[YUNG MASTERLESS GLENCOUR]

I am disappointed that we won't get to hear the community discussion you guys were planning but I was of the mind that you guys (no offense) weren't the best representatives for the community anyway. I only say that because I feel like ACU got left out when we have some of the oldest vets in the community. Cleric said he'd be the ACU rep but he seemed to be much more invested in ACO/MV/MN during his tenure there than he was ever involved over here. And don't think I'm hating on you, Cleric; you're a good dude. I know Niji didn't want to be on to try and avoid more drama but there are a few other members here that might have been interested in giving their thoughts.

 

old AC I'm the nigga

 

fuckwithmeyouknowigotit

[Shirtless Crackhead]

So what's the conclusion?

 

EJ sucks.

 

We're pretty much cool with everyone else. Except fatedshadow, that one guy, and that other guy.

[YUNG MASTERLESS GLENCOUR]

damn fatedshadow i miss his posts

[Bakuhatsu Pengin]

[fatedshadow] 8:14 pm: Its like wanna fuck em in the ass its a drumstick

[YUNG MASTERLESS GLENCOUR]

that's what im talkin about

[Ataraxis]

It's a good thing this turned into a bit of a circle jerk, because I think all everyone really needed was to rub one out.

 

[Mom]

Once you pop the fun don't stop.

[Bakuhatsu Pengin]

soggy waffles anyone?

[Harakiri Tiger]

I don't have a penis.

[Ataraxis]

That's okay, you can use mine.

[Shirtless Crackhead]

http://i.imgur.com/059SQlS.jpg

[LCC]

The fact that Vatcast was even mentioned is hilarious to me.

[Ataraxis]

So now that I took the time to read the longer portion of what Zealous posted, I have to comment on this:

 

Question 6 (Zealous): Some major changes have occurred within your staff team over the last few weeks. Going forward, what is your management vision for Mechaverse and what do you expect from prospective staff members in the future?

...

Over the years I have had many admins who just sat on their ass on the position but never did anything of value for the community...

 

That's crazy offensive. That it's coming from a guy who was never around, and who let his own site fall to ruins just adds to how baffling it is. I mean hell, there were some qualifications issues, but most guys gave it their all, and got there in the first place because of longstanding efforts.

 

The rest of what he said and all the contradictions and hypocrisy are more hilarious than anything else.

 

EJ is the slumlord of the AC community. ACO might be his house, but if not for the efforts of others, it just goes to shit.