Quote Hey everyone!



I am happy to announce today a new initiative that we are going to be launching here on the forums. It is something that we have seen requested since launch, and we think it will do really well in helping to communicate more with all of you on a topic you certainly want more information on; Classes. What we are going to be launching, with your help, are Class Representatives! Here are the details on how they will be selected, what they will do, and a bit about the expectations you should have about the new initiative.



How Will Class Representatives Be Selected?



This process is going to be largely in your hands! As of the time of making this post, you will be able to head over to your Advanced Class Forum and you will find a post where you can begin nominations for who your Class Representative will be. After a span of time (a week or so) we will create a poll with the names we saw mentioned most, by each AC, and you will vote on who you want your rep to be! I want to note that Class Representatives will be shared across mirrored ACs, so Sentinel and Marauder will have the same representative. We are still going to allow one to be selected for each, but they will rotate in their responsibilities.



Also, each Class Representative will only serve for one “term” (more on that later). After that a new representative will be elected!



What Will They Do?



Upon the Class representatives being selected, we will release a schedule. On each scheduled date listed, the chosen representative for each Class will make a forum post in their Class forum with the top 3 things they want to have answered or commented on. Our current plan is to do 4 ACs each month with 2 ACs being able to propose questions every 2 weeks.



Up until the scheduled date, the rep’s job is to work to figure out what the top 3 issues or questions are for their Class. Once posted, we will begin working with the Combat Team to get an answer or comment to all 3 of those issues, regardless of what they are! Our goal is a one week turnaround from the time that you post the questions for us to get you an answer. I will stress now that our development schedule will take priority at all times, so if our Combat Team is unavailable due to development constraints, any of this schedule is subject to change.



EDIT: We also adding the rule that of your top 3, 1 issue must be PvP and 1 must be PvE for equal representation.



Expectations



One thing I want to make sure of is that we very carefully hedge some of your expectations of this program. Our number one goal is to get your questions answered. We have known for some time that players have had Class balance questions, and it has been tricky to get them answered. The purpose of this initiative is to get those questions addressed as directly as possible. I want to make sure we stress the following things:

It is possible, and even likely, that we could disagree with player sentiment towards something in relation to Class balance. Ex: Why does <insert class> suck at <insert thing>?! We may respond that we feel they are in a good place in our design goals and we will do our best to explain why.

Attaching feedback to your top 3 in no way guarantees that it will be feedback that is actionable. The purpose is to allow a set dialog between our Combat Team and you here on the forums. Just because something appears in the top 3 provided by a representative does not mean it is feedback that will garner special treatment.

Class Representatives are player elected and will not be granted any special access to the BioWare team. If chosen, you won’t have to sign an NDA or anything similar. You will be a player-elected forum user who assists your Class in formulating the top issues and concerns you would like to have BioWare commentary on.

As with all things on the forums, please remain respectful. Please respect each other, your chosen Class Representatives, and the BioWare developers.

Any feedback, suggestions, comments, concerns about this new program you can feel free to post in this thread. Otherwise, feel free to head over to your Advanced Class subforum and get to nominating! As we get closer to voting, we will post a schedule on when each Class will be asked to post their top 3. Thanks!



-The Community Team



To get to your Advanced Classes nomination post, follow these threads:



Operative / Sniper

Sorcerer / Assassin

Mercenary / Powertech

Marauder / Juggernaut



Scoundrel / Gunslinger

Sage / Shadow

Commando / Vanguard

Sentinel / Guardian Eric Musco | Community Manager

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