Changes in the CAP Project (Read Carefully)

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tennisace

not quite too old for this, apparently
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Hi there.

The CAP moderating staff has decided it is time for change to come to our fair forum. In this thread, I will detail everything we have agreed upon. For the most part, these changes are non-negotiable. Please understand that these changes are extremely large and touch upon every aspect of CAP. Not everything will go entirely smoothly the very first time. However, by and large, these changes are natural, and we (the moderators) are prepared to lead the forum into this new era.

The first change is the establishment of the CAP Metagame, which will encompass all of the CAPs, 4th and 5th Gen included. This will become the standard metagame for CAP. In addition, there will be an CAP tier council called The CAPinet, lead by Birkal. This council will have 11 members, and will be composed of a combination of active battlers, veterans, and other members. The purpose of this council is for the balance of the all-CAP metagame, like the regular tier councils balance the non-OU tiers. This will be done through revisions and possibly bannings and unbannings, which the council will vote on.

The next change that will be taking place is CAP Pokemon will be made for the CAP Metagame, not the OU metagame. The reasoning for this is simple: we already know how to make a Pokemon. We know how to make one balanced in a static metagame. However, what is much more relevant is how to make a metagame. With new Pokemon and Dream World Pokemon being released in OU, we get to see the effects that our additions to the metagame have over a period of time. OU in the 5th generation is not truly a static metagame, and neither should CAP.

Next, here will also be a Policy Review Committee, lead by myself. This Committee will be the traditional one populated by good forum posters, and will have no limit on members. PRCs purpose will be to discuss policy issues with the process before the general public.

The reason there are two separate entities is because we need to recognize battling and forum posting are two separate activities. In addition, this gives us a chance to recognize more people than we were before, and gives us a defined reward system that makes it easier to decide who should get Community Contributor and Tier Contributor. If a person is on the battle council, they should be eligible for TC. If a person is an excellent poster on the PRC, they should be eligible for CC.

A private forum for the Tier Council and PRC will be created. This forum will be both for CAP TC Revisions and PR threads, and only members of those committees will be able to post. Everyone will be able to view the forum however. Once Policy Review proposals are agreed upon by the respective council, they will be brought to the main CAP forum for a yay or nay vote. This directly involves the community while assuring there is a reward for positive participation.

There will be CAP Analyses revamps to go along with these changes. These will be headed by Theorymon, assisted by whoever wants to help out and is familiar with the CAP metagame and C&C conventions. The forum will be exactly like a C&C forum, with a QC team to approve analyses. Any Pokemon will be eligible for a CAP analysis, not just CAP Pokemon. Analyses will be generally shorter than normal ones and will focus heavily on how the Pokemon works in the CAP metagame. People who do a lot of work in this forum will be eligible for ladybug/contributor based on their level of contribution.

Next, the Topic Leader position as you know it is gone. Instead, the CAP mods will run various sections of the project where each of our strengths lie. This way, we not only guarantee the topics will be lead by people who know what they're doing, but we also are able to moderate our own threads instead of having to step into "someone else's" project to do our jobs as moderators. Here is a list of what each moderator is responsible for running:

  • tennisace - Concept, Concept Assessment, Typing, Abilities
  • Deck Knight - Stat/Movepool Limits, Stat Spreads, all Movepool discussions and polls
  • Wyverii - Art, Sprites, Name, Misc. Flavor
  • Theorymon - Threats Discussion, Counter Discussion
  • Birkal - Playtesting, CAP Metagame Report

As for prevos, this is where users will still have the ability to lead the process. At the end of each new CAP, we will pick the most prolific poster in the previous process to lead the prevo. This is because the prevo doesn't require much discussion for moderators to lead, but Deck Knight is assigned to watch over it anyway for redundancy. It gives everyone a concrete leadership position to work towards in addition to the PRC.

Finally, the CAP Art Gallery is due for a revamp. Ignoring the on-site problems for right now, Wyverii will head the gallery selection process. The details of this haven't been fully hashed out yet, but the top few pieces of art from each CAP will make it into the gallery, along with the traditional "prolific artist" gallery.

So, to sum everything up, here are the changes, and the specific roles each moderator will play:

  • The all-CAP Metagame is being officially established, which will be lead by Birkal.
  • There will be a CAP Metagame Tier Council, also lead by Birkal, called the CAPinet. Users will be eligible for Tiering Contributor with participation.
  • The Policy Review Committee is renewed, with its original purpose. It will be lead by myself. Users will be eligible for Community Contributor with participation.
  • A private forum will be created for both groups, and only members of the aformentioned groups will be able to post. It will serve the dual purpose of housing Policy Review threads and CAP Revamp threads.
  • All Policy Review and CAP Revamps will first be voted on by the respective councils, then presented to the general CAP community for a yes or no vote.
  • CAP Analyses will be revamped, and analyses for standard OU Pokemon will be added. This will have its own separate subforum, lead by Theorymon. Users who contribute will be eligible for Ladybug or Contributor.
  • There is no more Topic Leader position. The CAP mods will be leading topics within the project.
  • The CAP Art Gallery will be getting a small revamp, lead by Wyverii.

tennisace: Head of CAP, Head of PRC, (Concept, Concept Assessment, Typing, Abilities)
Deck Knight: Head of Prevo, (Stat/Movepool Limits, Stat Spreads, all Movepool discussions and polls)
Wyverii: Head of CAP Gallery, (Art, Sprites, Name, Misc. Flavor)
Theorymon: Head of CAP Analyses, (Threats Discussion, Counter Discussion)
Birkal: Head of the CAPinet, (Playtesting, CAP Metagame Report)


I'd like to end this by saying I'm very excited for these changes to happen. They've been in the works for a while, and I fully believe that CAP will run smoother because of them. However for these changes to have a positive effect, we need even more activity from the general community. So please, jump on in and participate! If you normally lurk, post a bit; we don't bite. If you normally post every once in a while, get even further involved. Whether you've been around since the days of Syclant or just joined today, everyone can have fun! There are now four distinct ways to get involved, be it through playtesting and discussing the metagame, posting in the process threads, creating new art, and writing analyses. Remember that at the end of the day, CAP is meant to be fun! In order for us to be able to do all of these fun things, we need your participation, your expertise, your support, and your thoughts. So get out there and post!

Your faithful leader,

tennisace
 
As someone who has gotten less and less confident in how Smogon proper runs things, I am extremely uneasy with what I can't help but view as an emulation of Smogon proper's system. I went into and stayed on CAP because it wasn't "Smogon Lite", and I briefly went into Circus Maximus for similar reasons. I'm well-aware that the grievances that I'm about to post may be perceived as an overreaction based on a fear of change, and maybe even jealousy toward some people, but I believe I must say them. It's just that I've been made to realize that CAP is one of the few things on Smogon (maybe even life) that I can really count on to be reliable in what it does, so I'm not just going to nod at every grand plan.

Mainly, I am confused as to how this new power structure came into place. I've seen tennisace talk about CAP being run more by the mods, and I get that and can get behind that, but I really question the role divisions. Like, I don't see why tennisace has the specific designations that he does and why Theorymon has his. As far as the competitive aspects go, only two of the five mods have engaged in significant responsibility over a metagame outside of CAP for more than a couple of months, and while I trust Birkal's competitive reasoning skill more than I used to, I just cannot trust Deck Knight's. I do not see how the ability to game the limitations set in the stat and movepool stages amounts to being the right person to lead those stages. Wyverii's designation is the only one I completely understand.

I'd like to highlight Birkal for a bit. Yes, I get it, he's a terrific presence on Smogon, and has moderator powers on Dream World and DST to show for it. But I have to wonder how he got in on this. What is the basis? As far as I can tell, the only thing to go on other than achievements outside Smogon is the SQSA thread, which, yes, Birkal has participated in a lot. I just feel like a whole swath of existing CAP contributors has been completely overlooked, though. I don't know if this is anything similar to how Oglemi got the keys to RU or how tennisace got the keys to NU, but it's just... I don't know.

I think what really makes me personally uncomfortable with all this is the secrecy. I don't get the claim that the point of this announcement was to "shake everything up" and "get people excited". chaos tried that. Blue Kirby tried that. I hardly see those instances as models for how this could have been handled. Plus I just find it really unsettling that the #cap IRC channel was dead for long stretches of time and not one word was said about some of the bigger stuff here. I feel like I'm a stranger in the one place on the forums where I didn't feel like a stranger.

Also, are the private forums and such really necessary? I feel that CAP's strength was in the fact that most of the process was open for anyone to post in, and all of the process was open for anyone to see. I feel that there is accountability in that. This seems almost brutish by comparison, almost like... I don't know... Canada's government right now. Making sudden announcements of things that WILL be done, and saying later that bringing it up for discussion would just lead to arguments and nothing getting done... I'm sure you're also aware you're pretty much changing the entire purpose of CAP as stated in its mission statement. And that is why I think prior openness was especially critical for an announcement like this.

I generally agree with the CAP metagame establishment, and I don't terribly mind the idea of redefining what CAP sets out to do. However, I think that my worries are legitimate. Maybe some people might feel I'm not in a position to complain, having only participated in 3 CAPs out of the past 14. Nonetheless, I don't like where some of this is going, and how it was announced indicates to me some trouble for the future. I feel that a good amount of people have been screwed over in some way. I feel that people started listening to the eternal complainers more than people who would gladly propose sensible compromises to satisfy legitimate grievances. I feel that the theme of "let's react to complaints and forget that the system actually does work" that pervades the rest of Smogon is being injected into this forum. I also kind of feel that these actions have been brought about largely due to the inactivity of some of the old leaders, who now have little opportunity to comment on them with influence. In any event, I hope that some of the aspects of this announcement don't end up becoming trends, because I think that CAP has a sort of innocence compared with the rest of Smogon, and I don't want that to be ruined.
 
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