On February 15, Head Office announced a major enhancement to the Discord payout scheme. The changes we implemented served a dual purpose: (1) to provide a replacement to Twitter income because of Twitter’s decision to close off its API and (2) to provide additional money-making opportunities for rookie players.
To meet purpose (1), we updated the existing payment policy for the official ISFL server to move from seasonal to weekly payments (to match the old Twitter payout timeline). By resetting MEE6 levels each week, we also effectively increase the amount that users earn for the same level of engagement in the server because it requires less activity to advance at the lowest levels.
To meet purpose (2), we also expanded for the first time the payment scheme to the official DSFL server. In our announcement, we limited the eligibility for payouts to players in their first 3 seasons and excluded any job-holders in the official DSFL server, including members of HO, Rookie Mentors, and GMs.
Since announcing the enhancements, we have seen a spike in chat activity in both the ISFL and DSFL servers which has been generally constructive and fun.
While acknowledging these positive signs, HO has received a lot of feedback on the new system from the community and would like to address some of the major concerns that have been raised. In particular, ISFL and DSFL HO have been engaged in an ongoing discussion with DSFL GMs who raised concerns about the incentives created by being excluded from payout in official DSFL server but being included in payout for official ISFL server. HO has voted to keep the system/policy as it was announced for this season, but will continue to workshop with the community to address remaining concerns.
Below, we outline the major concerns heard by HO, our response, and next steps:
HO communicated with DSFL GMs that one of the primary reasons we did not include DSFL GM in those paid for activity in the official DSFL server was because engaging with rookies is part of their job description and therefore compensation is already covered in their salaries. HO pointed to section 4b. “Discord” in the DSFL GM Handbook which states “You should join the Rookie Discord and take an active part in fostering an engaging and uplifting community there as you would in your own locker room.” DSFL GMs pointed out that the wording is vague in what constitutes sufficient activity to fulfill that job role. HO does not currently impose any per-GM activity requirements in DSFL rookie server because we feel it is important to allow DSFL GMs flexibility to perform their many job functions. For a given DSFL team, the co-GM pair will sometimes divvy up job functions so that one user is taking care of back-end strategy and another user is more involved in public-facing engagement activities. Some GMs will prefer to chat with rookies and other users alike in ISFL official server or the public channels of DSFL team Discord servers while other GMs will prefer to engage more extensively in DSFL official server. As long as all DSFL GMs belong to the DSFL official server and are available if specific questions arise regarding their team, we do not see a significant problem with user-to-user variation in DSFL server activity and, in aggregate, feel there has been adequate engagement levels of DSFL GMs in rookie server. For these reasons, we do not feel that an update/change is needed at this time.
DSFL GMs also expressed that HO has potentially created a 'perverse' incentive for them to participate in ISFL official server (where they are paid as all other users) rather than DSFL official server (where they are not included among rookies who receive pay). They argued that it makes sense to let DSFL GMs earn money in the space that makes the biggest difference to the rookies. HO has discussed this issue at length.
The option to include DSFL GMs in payouts for both ISFL and DSFL official server was ruled out because that would provide an unfair advantage compared to other users who don’t have access to both servers.
The option to have DSFL GMs paid for activity in the DSFL official server instead of the ISFL official server was considered heavily. However, it presents a host of logistical issues/questions for which there are no immediate solutions/answers. First, if DSFL GMs are given the option of receiving pay for activity in the DSFL official server rather than the ISFL official server, do we also extend that option to other job holders in the rookie Discord such as Rookie Mentors and HO members? Second, not all DSFL GMs would prefer to be paid for activity in the DSFL server than the ISFL server, so the most fair solution would be to hold a vote for which server is compensated. However, there is frequent turnover at these positions, so this opens up questions regarding the frequency of holding such a vote, its correct timing during the offseason, and its process. Creating such a flexible system is not simple to implement on the ‘back end,’ since selecting which users would be included and excluded from which server payout would require some manual checking each week. Because of these logistical issues in handling the pay, we have decided to keep the system as announced for this season but we will continue to explore the feasibility of implementing a more tailored and flexible solution for future seasons.
Finally, we have seen concerns about the potential number of spamming messages that may be sent in official servers to achieve as much money as possible under the new system. We are keeping an eye on this over the course of the season and will evaluate this coming offseason. If we do see significant issues in the coming weeks, one potential approach that is being discussed is to implement a weekly cap on pay–this cap would be set based on data collected over the past few seasons to ensure that most people would get at least as much as they used to under the old Twitter and Discord payment structures.
As always, feel free to reach out to a member of the ISFL or DSFL Head Office with any questions or concerns!
To meet purpose (1), we updated the existing payment policy for the official ISFL server to move from seasonal to weekly payments (to match the old Twitter payout timeline). By resetting MEE6 levels each week, we also effectively increase the amount that users earn for the same level of engagement in the server because it requires less activity to advance at the lowest levels.
To meet purpose (2), we also expanded for the first time the payment scheme to the official DSFL server. In our announcement, we limited the eligibility for payouts to players in their first 3 seasons and excluded any job-holders in the official DSFL server, including members of HO, Rookie Mentors, and GMs.
Since announcing the enhancements, we have seen a spike in chat activity in both the ISFL and DSFL servers which has been generally constructive and fun.
While acknowledging these positive signs, HO has received a lot of feedback on the new system from the community and would like to address some of the major concerns that have been raised. In particular, ISFL and DSFL HO have been engaged in an ongoing discussion with DSFL GMs who raised concerns about the incentives created by being excluded from payout in official DSFL server but being included in payout for official ISFL server. HO has voted to keep the system/policy as it was announced for this season, but will continue to workshop with the community to address remaining concerns.
Below, we outline the major concerns heard by HO, our response, and next steps:
HO communicated with DSFL GMs that one of the primary reasons we did not include DSFL GM in those paid for activity in the official DSFL server was because engaging with rookies is part of their job description and therefore compensation is already covered in their salaries. HO pointed to section 4b. “Discord” in the DSFL GM Handbook which states “You should join the Rookie Discord and take an active part in fostering an engaging and uplifting community there as you would in your own locker room.” DSFL GMs pointed out that the wording is vague in what constitutes sufficient activity to fulfill that job role. HO does not currently impose any per-GM activity requirements in DSFL rookie server because we feel it is important to allow DSFL GMs flexibility to perform their many job functions. For a given DSFL team, the co-GM pair will sometimes divvy up job functions so that one user is taking care of back-end strategy and another user is more involved in public-facing engagement activities. Some GMs will prefer to chat with rookies and other users alike in ISFL official server or the public channels of DSFL team Discord servers while other GMs will prefer to engage more extensively in DSFL official server. As long as all DSFL GMs belong to the DSFL official server and are available if specific questions arise regarding their team, we do not see a significant problem with user-to-user variation in DSFL server activity and, in aggregate, feel there has been adequate engagement levels of DSFL GMs in rookie server. For these reasons, we do not feel that an update/change is needed at this time.
DSFL GMs also expressed that HO has potentially created a 'perverse' incentive for them to participate in ISFL official server (where they are paid as all other users) rather than DSFL official server (where they are not included among rookies who receive pay). They argued that it makes sense to let DSFL GMs earn money in the space that makes the biggest difference to the rookies. HO has discussed this issue at length.
The option to include DSFL GMs in payouts for both ISFL and DSFL official server was ruled out because that would provide an unfair advantage compared to other users who don’t have access to both servers.
The option to have DSFL GMs paid for activity in the DSFL official server instead of the ISFL official server was considered heavily. However, it presents a host of logistical issues/questions for which there are no immediate solutions/answers. First, if DSFL GMs are given the option of receiving pay for activity in the DSFL official server rather than the ISFL official server, do we also extend that option to other job holders in the rookie Discord such as Rookie Mentors and HO members? Second, not all DSFL GMs would prefer to be paid for activity in the DSFL server than the ISFL server, so the most fair solution would be to hold a vote for which server is compensated. However, there is frequent turnover at these positions, so this opens up questions regarding the frequency of holding such a vote, its correct timing during the offseason, and its process. Creating such a flexible system is not simple to implement on the ‘back end,’ since selecting which users would be included and excluded from which server payout would require some manual checking each week. Because of these logistical issues in handling the pay, we have decided to keep the system as announced for this season but we will continue to explore the feasibility of implementing a more tailored and flexible solution for future seasons.
Finally, we have seen concerns about the potential number of spamming messages that may be sent in official servers to achieve as much money as possible under the new system. We are keeping an eye on this over the course of the season and will evaluate this coming offseason. If we do see significant issues in the coming weeks, one potential approach that is being discussed is to implement a weekly cap on pay–this cap would be set based on data collected over the past few seasons to ensure that most people would get at least as much as they used to under the old Twitter and Discord payment structures.
As always, feel free to reach out to a member of the ISFL or DSFL Head Office with any questions or concerns!
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