Original date of blog: February 26th, 2016
Now, I’ve talked about community contributors a while ago, and at first, I was really against the idea of becoming one, because that’d be mostly due to ICE and I don’t want WG to get a say in that of any sort. But overall, the concept of it is interesting, and in a way, it can be rewarding to be – because of the title, but also because you get actual rewards for being a CC. So, in January, I looked up the topic on the Blitz forums about the CC program to see how and why you can become one. The topic didn’t actually state that, so I contacted the member of the staff that made that FAQ to ask it straight out.
I actually got a reply back pretty quickly, especially considering it was the staff I had contacted, and I was told to send in my application, sort of like applying for a job. He’d also looped in three other staff members, so they’d all see the application once I send it in. I wasn’t sure what to do with that. Part of me was intrigued, and liked getting the title, part of me was still against it.
But in the end, I decided to try for it anyway, and I explained about recently starting to youtube, my blog, but most of all, I told them about ICE. If there’s anything I do that’s a contribution to the community, it’s ICE. I also had to tell them a few things about myself, though that’s what I’m really not good at. I’ve never been good at selling myself, and this very much felt like I was doing just that.
The next day, I became a CC. Not because of the blog that’s been running for well over a year now, not because of the videos (actually true, as the channel was still too new for that), not because of ICE, but because of the fact that I picked ladybirds as my favourite animal. That reply, to me, was perfect. It creates a fun atmosphere, and it makes the people of the staff I’m now in direct contact with less staff and a lot more human, so to speak.
They’re fun people. And very helpful with any questions I have, and open to ideas and everything. Conway even participated in ICE for a bit. Of course, I noobed all over the place at the time, because that’s Murphy’s Law. It was a good and busy ICE though, so he got a taste of it at least. It’s a shame they end their jobs before the second part of the event though, which, in my eyes, is by far the most fun part of it.
I did have to explain in more detail what ICE entails, and I made it clear that I wanted to keep full control over it. They were all for that, which soothed my conscience. But becoming a CC -has- affected ICE up to a level. Because, as a CC, I get to gift away stuff every month, either gold or tanks, worth a total of 3k gold. And of course, I’ve decided to pump that into ICE. We’ve now had two ICEs with contests, and it’s incredibly fun. And I like being able to enhance ICE with that, and being allowed to, as it’s not an actual server wide contest.
I still need to think of something a lot more creative to do during ICE, but the difficulty is finding a contest that can actually be won, too. I mean, I could say “get a Ras during ICE”, but then I might as well hand the prize to Filip right away. So it has to be something else. Pretty sure I’ll think of something by April though (doing something else in March, which uses up my monthly budget). Either way, I fully intend on using up as much of the budget as I can each month, preferably during ICE.
But there are other definite perks to being a CC. For starters, I can get more PMs (not to be confused with PMS) on the forum. Considering my inbox was always at least 90% full even with me tossing out the PMs I don’t really need to keep, it was very very needed. I can now have four times the amount, so that makes me very happy. Secondly, you get a little present every year for your contribution, around Christmas (should have applied in December, but oh well..). Thirdly, you get a spiffy blue title in the forum, which stands out, and thus you do too.
There’s other sides as well, of course. As a CC, you have an exemplary function. So your behaviour is, in a way, more closely monitored than that of others. Considering I’m big on manners and very much dislike (using) profanity, I’m not too worried about that. You also get little tidbits of information before it’s actually made public, which is lovely.
But the very best thing about being a CC? The Press Account. When I applied, I hadn’t applied for that especially, but I soon learned that I were to get one too, and that made me feel so excited. For those not having a clue what I’m talking about; a PA is an account that holds all the tanks in the game. Every single one. It comes with virtually unlimited free XP, credits and gold, so you can get and equip any tank you want, and use as many consumables, camo and prammo as you want.
I’m not a hardcore grinder. My main account is still missing a heck lot of tanks. Getting this account made me all giddy. The first thing I did? Try the high tier meds. At the time, I was only at the T43, and still had a long way to go to the T44, let alone the rest of the line. All the candy in the candy store that’s always just out of reach, was now suddenly in my grasp. So I did the only thing I could. I filtered the tanks to tier X meds, got them all ready and drove them all. True enough, it’s not entirely meant for that, but can you honestly blame me? I could not not drive them.
Right now, we have a new tank-mission, where everyone must grind as hard as they did for the Tankenshit in order to get an IS-3 Defender. This tank is actually worth the grind though. How I know? PA. I might have taken it out for a spin or ten. But that, I did for the proper reasons – I wanted a good game so I could make a video-review of the tank (first ever!), and I did.
Overall, being a CC is turning out to be great fun. The direct contact with the staff is niceand fun, and it provides easy access to much needed answers. The contests are great to do, and really, I like having the title. It does make me feel like I have to put in more effort, time and energy into the community, and I’m not sure where to find those. As Deadpool says “Maximum effort!” and I’ll just be hoping it’s enough =)
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