Ronan TA Q&A Topic

[Ronan]

Voting is something that not everyone in ALFA is able to do.

This is true. We should consider letting everyone vote for the TA.

If you feel you are not adequate/do not measure up to the job, why are you running?

While Zelknolf has an order of magnitude more NWN2 experience than I do, I'd guess I have a similar amount more real-world coding experience. I have a (largely for-show, as many degrees are) computer engineering degree, and have worked in the industry. I am one of those guys who does not even own a TV, but codes for fun. I just don't enjoy working on NWN2.

Even if the TA position was purely about tech chops, I don't feel especially under-qualified, its more that I'm lacking in time. Zelknolf does tech work while she plays. I play, DM a campaign plus generally one other session per week, as well as helping manage, script and build for a server. I can do none of these things while doing tech work.

Basilica has both lots of real-world experience and NWN2 experience, and is certainly the most qualified techy.

Relatedly to the above, I think I have a pretty well-rounded ALFA experience, having dealt with issues from all sides.

Also, you only began running, from what I could tell, because there were no other candidates running.

Yup.

Zelknolf has finally gone back into the game, why not back out now?

A number of reasons:

• When I initially stepped down and let Zelknolf take the position, a lot of people were disappointed, some feeling I had rigged things in Zelknolf's favor by getting AL not to run. I don't want to do that again; I am not trying to screw with ALFA's election processes. I had run under pressure form others, thinking and hoping I would lose and that Zelknolf would do a fine job.
• Since returning to ALFA I've been repeatedly told that I should be TA. I am now willing to entertain this possibility. If so many people want me to be TA, they will get their wish. Perhaps they know something I don't.
• I can always step down later.
• Zelknolf's TAship has led to a good amount of drama on BG, contributing to DM burnout and a lot of extra crap on my shoulders. I am not saying this Adminship<->Drama link was her fault (it largely isn't) but it is there.
• Zelknolf told me that she wold continue to contribute if I was TA, though her motivation would likely take an initial hit.
• Zelknolf seemed burnt-out on Admin politics. The other admin want me to run, and I am lead to believe I will have a much easier time working with them than Zelknolf did. I'd hoped this would allow the tech team to focus on tech work.

If Foam is saying he is only willing to contribute to Tech if Zelknolf takes the position, then that is a reason for me to drop out. I've no interest in being a road-block, directly or otherwise, no interest in causing a period of inactivity, and no interest in sparking any politicking within the tech team itself.

[maxcell]

If Foam is saying he is only willing to contribute to Tech if Zelknolf takes the position, then that is a reason for me to drop out. I've no interest in being a road-block, directly or otherwise, no interest in causing a period of inactivity, and no interest in sparking any politicking within the tech team itself.

You wouldn't be the spark in any politics. The vote speaks for itself. Take the position if you win the election. In elections, the winner is chosen by a majority of people who feel they would serve the position better than other candidates.

People know I say what I mean. If someone throws a tantrum every time their buddy loses, yet continues to be unable to see that the reason is that perhaps their view of the way things should be is not what the community at large wants, they can leave.

<---always right ...yet usually gets threads to lock.

[FoamBats4All]

If Foam is saying things that he didn't say, blah blah blah.

Ronan is running on the position of "I won't do anything, and am less of a contributor to ALFA's tech team than even the new guy". I'm not sure what the vote speaks for, considering that that is his platform.

It's not a matter of "X won't develop if his buddy doesn't win" (Zelknolf herself can contest that her and I don't get along 90% of the time), it's a matter of "how can X develop under a TA who proposes stagnation, and why would they want to with all the drama and deceit that has gone into recent politics?"

[Ronan]

If Foam is saying things that he didn't say, blah blah blah.

I was not trying to put words in your mouth; my meaning was literal. I will drop out if me being TA is going to be damaging to tech work. Hence me asking Zelknolf a similar question.

...it's a matter of "how can X develop under a TA who proposes stagnation, and why would they want to with all the drama and deceit that has gone into recent politics?"

I'm not proposing stagnation, just pointing out that I, personally, do not have the time to be as active as Zelknolf. Nothing is going to prevent Tech from being just as active as they were before. I hope even moreso, if issues with other admin can be resolved.

I fully understand that drama can be a motivation-killer; no one expects anyone to work in the face of negative reinforcement and zero pay. I'm not sure what sort of deceit has been going around; I'd actually thought things were fairly straightforward, but I might get more of an earful of everything more often than you.

[Regas]

The other admins want a period of inactivity. Ronan is giving it to them, as I doubt the most dedicated members of tech will be doing much work in the perceivable future after the smear politics we've witnessed.

Foam, I get that you're unhappy with the prospect of Zelk not being TA but I see no evidence in the forums of any sort of smear campaign against Zelk. Maybe you have chat logs or something else that speaks to this strong charge but I think I speak for all the admin when I say that we all very much appreciate the hard and productive work provided by Zelk. Far from a smear campaign, this election only exists because Zelk refused to run for TA. Under the shadow of the what became a challenged election, Zelk and the other admin were able to find common ground on the issues that were causing friction, if re-elected I worry we would loose that common ground.

As for motivation, I don't think Ronan being up front about his level of commitment in tech development is any more damning then Zelk's repeated admission that she hates being TA, hates ALFA and can not stand most of the people in the community. While I do hope some or most of that is tongue in cheek, it speaks to the fact that Zelk has not been able to develop a good rapport with the current admin or several of the HDMs. No one wants Z to stop doing tech for Alfa, but the TA position, like all admin positions, needs to be able to work with the other admins amicably. Likewise the TA needs to be able to lead and motivate others, like all admin; and, likewise the TA should set a good leadership example, like all admin. You yourself admit you don't get along most of the time with Zelk, in fact, I don't know many who do consistently. That's the issue, not the amount of work or quality of work, but simply the ability to work well with others. I am sorry if this change impacts your motivation, but keeping Z in the TA may have the same affect on others.

As for slowing down tech, hell no, I'd like to see tech produce whatever it's able to. I love the work you all have done and hope you continue doing it! I just would like to see it without the conflict.

[Zelknolf]

To make timelines abundantly clear, as Regas seems to forget details and ignore his place:
October 31 -- Curmudgeon formally requests Lead Admin intervention to stop the 1.89 release. Though Regas claims publically that it's merely "reviewing processes," the actual prompt begins with "I am formally requesting a ruling."
November 2 -- I agree that other administrators should indeed be allowed to object to rules changes, and that we should try to negotiate them as individual rules (the proposal from Hialmar at the time was to just throw them to all admin vote if we didn't all agree-- not refined, but it seemed like a good start, and something we could use at least temporarily). I am sorry that most of ALFA can't see this link, but it's here. The first line of the post on Nov 2, 18:04 Central.
November 6 -- After pleading with Veilan to prod the other (unresponsive) administrators toward continuing negotiation, Veilan posts in the discussion thread asking PA and DMA to provide input. Curmudgeon responds to complain about the existing documentation of haks in progress-- I ask for specific feedback so that we can improve notes, and make existing documentation like the RSS Feed better.
November 7 -- self nominations for TA are up, and Veilan posts publically asking for a nominee. Ronan self nominates.
November 9 -- with still no actual response on the table, I bump the thread. Regas acknowledges my willingness to give other admin a voice, as originally expressed on Nov 2.
November 10 -- After getting requests from FoamBats, Basilica, and Ronan to run for TA, I finally do. 36 minutes later (that is, roughly the amount of time it takes me to write such a thing), I post a proposal of a formal process that tries to mitigate the generally-necessary speed of development with the need to give other admin fair opportunity to respond to and rule on changes before work starts-- and request feedback on it.
November 13 -- Some feedback finally arrives, after, again, Veilan and Hialmar start poking the thread.
November 16 -- Regas claims that the threat of losing the election (a reality that came to be on November 10, and could only be called a feasible thought on November 7) caused me to move off of my position on November 2. Upon being asked to revise his post here based on the actual order of events, he has refused, and I thus post this.

I may not be a pleasant person, but I do my job and I keep my promises. Utter nonsense to hear people claiming otherwise.

[Swift]

[Adanu]

Welcome to any gathering of people with different opinions, ever.

[Swift]

Welcome to any gathering of people with different opinions, ever.

Not really. Plenty of groups around the world function despite having fundamentally different opinions on matters.

In ALFA, we do drama right

[Regas]

Again Z we all really appreciate your work and efforts. I'm sorry if you disagree with my view of things but I don't see it your way, the conflicts on many other issues continued up until the last few days in admin. It seems sorta moot anyway, so I'm not going to fieed any more drama with posting on this.

Again, thank you for everything you've done for Alfa and tech- I really do hope you continue the great work.

[CloudDancing]

I just wanted to assure you both, in my speakings with people in Alfa, that no one was trying to smear anyone.

The few key people I talked to were like me; we were in a real conundrum.

Both candidates are tech savvy and smart as all hell.

Both candidates have give over much time to Alfa both tech-wise and both of them have vital interesting characters that contribute to the roleplaying and dming of Alfa.

Ronan is more of a people person (thus why he Dms) but still has a great ability with tech work and scripting

Zelk is more of a tech guru, able to do things with the ACR that people never dreamed possible for Alfa and quickly too (as in implement change and new haks in record time compared to the time before they returned)



So the only big difference is one of them now gets to chime in and vote on Admin related things, now.

As I expressed to the other Alfans who I talked with to make a better informed descision on my part, my greatest fear arose again (as when Mirabai and Jadye left) that this election would turn into one of those things were someone who everyone holds dear will end up leaving us.

There will be another election in six months and another and so on. I believe everyone will get a go at an office at some point . I personally would hope they keep on working in tandem as they have been this whole time on the tech team.

[kid]

This post is good.