Pocket Legends is proud to announce the next two Guardians of Alterra:

Congratulations RedRyder and DanielRH!

What is a Guardian of Alterra? Well, our old buddy (and GoA charter member) Snakespeare put it like this:

Quote Originally Posted by Snakespeare View Post
I don't think it's about being "good". Let me quote:

So, first, they want feedback. We do know that they listen. They also want feedback a certain way, as in save the drama for your mama. That' why it says "constructive" twice. In this regard, it would not be wise to encourage a troll to say that the devs are "ruining the game" and so forth, or to threaten to quit if the devs don't make some sort of change that benefits you economically. That's not feedback, it's whining, and there is a lot of it going around. Arguing against other people's feedback by calling them names or in other ways deriding them is another thing that happens too much. New players, especially, are going to say things we've said months ago, and telling them just get over it noob is really anti-community. So the opposites are better. Encourage feedback, don't criticize it. If I disagree about some nerf the devs have done, I should stay level-headed in my opinion. I should remember that, if someone disagrees with me, their opinion is equal to mine, and it is up to the devs to figure out what to do with both points of view.

Second, they mention reporting. I do report offensive things. I am not a saint. My poetry is really for the 18+ crowd. But I find racism offensive and always report it, as well as any anti-women derogatory talk. I don't report the occasional slip when someone can't resist a swear word when something doesn't work out. That would be hypocritical of me. I am like the Dad in Christmas Story and his furnace sometimes, and I can forgive a lot of that. But hate is intolerable and I do report it whenever I see it. I have also reported threads when one teenage boy insults another teenage boy by implying that he is gay. I imagine other people who were given shields have reported things that are different from what I have reported, but apparently that is part of the expectation.

Third they listed player run events. Since I never did one of these, I think it expands actually to information collection and distribution, too. I am no sure what I have done in this area to merit a shield, so I will guess. I think possibly my old thread called "Why I disabled XP on some characters" was probably the first post encouraging PvE twinking, and we are now finding that low level farming is based around PvE twinking. Another whole set of posts I made concerned sportsmanship and netiquette in public maps. We all know that Yanis got one for second place in a contest, but I am sure he would have gotten one anyway because of his willingness to share information.

And lastly, there's "be helpful". Well, we all know this is why Royce got one, and Fluff, too. Theres probably no better way to explain the concept than to say, let these guys be your role models.

So that's it. It's not really about "being good". That should be the normal condition. It is about going above and beyond. And I agree that several more folks go above and beyond. But I think suggesting names should be done in PMs to the devs. And when you do make these back-channel suggestions, give good reasons based on these points. I was told "we have our list, but we are open to suggestions", so do suggest! Just be sure to build a good case. The person you are suggesting is worth the effort, right?
We'll be evaluating new candidates every couple of weeks, so keep checking in, and GRATZ RedRyder and DanielRH!!