I know who I'd vote for:

Darth
Xzien
Golgotha*
StolenPlanet*

Definitely the most eloquent and level-headed guys that aren't complete forum-junkies.

Needs more balance. Currently the largest issue the game is facing is player discontent with the stagnation of in-game content development. A solution is needed that promotes game interest through further development. Maybe something like:

Intergalactic Senate Counsel

One delegate from each of the top 50 legions selected on a monthly basis to serve on an advisory committee to game developers.

Purpose:
To advance the game in a fair and balanced manner.

Reponsibilities:
Prioritize ideas and suggestions so that the best and most feasible ideas are considered for game implementation first.
Report feeback to game developers about current exploits and flaws.
Represent the issues and concerns of their respective legions.

Why just the Top 50. Besides, different legions change spots at the bottom, so it would become to complicated.

I understand Dan can't address players all the time, but he seems to have fallen off the face of the galaxy. Players feel like they have no say on what does on anymore and have nothing to look forward to and some of the advanced players are on the verge of quitting. If Dan could find a way to utilized player knowledge and their ideas to help game development it would generate a lot more interest.

Can't get 50 people in a legion pointed the same way, but we think it will work among 50 legions? I'd say keep it simple. Get active mods, make their sole purpose to interact with players by receiving and discussing ideas and concerns. Those mods can have a discussion with Dan and provide responses and suggestions.

Shouldn't be that hard, but Dan is being asked to do a lot. He has the means to delegate. When it happens, Dan can focus on development and we can count on being heard.

How about top 50 in rank or strength? You have to draw the line somewhere, plus it promotes players to stay active and advance in the game. Yes, legions change spots all the time so you would have to make a determination as a specific time like the end of each month.

lol, better a democratic process than a dictatorship.

You forget that this IS a dictatorship. This is Dan's game. As with most things in life, participation in it is optional. Don't get me wrong, I would LOVE more player input in things. I'm just pursuing what I think is the more realistic route. Most business owners (which is what Dan is) don't want the rank and file dictating the course of things. Dan knows what he wants for the game and what he doesn't want.

If Dan were open to the masses voting on what happens next, it would have likely happened by now and we wouldn't be having this conversation.

As it stands, I would just like to see more open lines of communication. If it grows from there, great.

More communication and open dialogue would be great. However the fundamental problem I am addressing is the development of further game content. You have these uber dedicated players that get to the point where they pretty much have done everything there is to do and have ideas about other things they can do. They are extremely knowledgeable and have invested a lot of time and energy to the game and their legion. I do feel these player deserve some form of recognition and consideration for their contribution. What better way for a legion to show their appreciation than to nominate them as their representative? It would at least promote the legion building aspect of the game.

We have the same goals, just different ways of getting there. Hopefully SOMETHING will happen.

Ask for the Moon, settle for the stars.
Yes, please make Xzien a mod. I'll at least have someone to troll when I'm bored of the game.

Just loook to who does what on the forums, we know what players would be best to help the game. 1 from every top legion would be lame, TU has a few players that should be on it. CRA has like 2 maybe 3.

If Dan wanted to seek out advice from a quick Group I would suggest
Darth-Been around for some Time has had many good ideas for the game.
Mojo- Been around for some time has had may grate ideas for GL from the start
Annabell- Knows the game very well has grate insight on the game for mid rank players has good ideas.
Toast- Has had some good ideas has been around for some time.
~MLP~- has been around for some time many grate ideas all ways calling Dan out.
Remeric- If he is still around he would be decent for it he has had some good ideas been around a long time and knows the game .
The black Perl- has been slow ranking for a long time he knows the game very well and would have grate nearly unmatched insight on lower ranks.

Just a quick list and why i think they would be good. May players i did not bother to list for the fallowing, Spamming the forums with a few thousand post ides not mean you know the game being in a top legion or a high rank does not mean you would be helpful. Also spamming the suggestion thread with dumb ideas dose not count. IF Dan was to consult with group they should be long time players how have proven them self's to be knowledgeable.

Sounds similar to a drunken ramble I had in the G pub couple nights ago so +1

As for the OP, you really want to slow content down further?

What slowing it down from one major release a year?

It occurs to me that what dan really needs is NOT someone to help design new content.

Instead, he needs volunteers to sort out all the thousands of random "Contact the developer" messages he gets. If he only got forwarded the specific things he actually personally needed to work on, he would have much more free time to work while respected, long term players sort out the minor issues.

Heck, even if all they did was create a "please do" list, he could just apply the solutions (Refund X, Rename Y etc) and have much more free time for actual content.

Though if one of the bottlenecks is art for releases, im sure we would have volunteers for that as well...

That's a good point especially the art bit. Just look at the artists guild, give them a brief and I bet anything they'd be more than happy to help. Or ask them to use their imaginations and Dan could end up with something totally different to what he wanted and it turned out better.

We were all really excited about how good the GTC was going to be and that was a big nothing...

And it was long overdue when it came out.