Lead Commentary, Serious

[JaydeMoon]

It's a sign of the direction the community is going and how far it has already come that this is the sort of stuff we are seeing.

Whether you see them as jokes or you have absolutely no faith in the people who are up there, the fact of the matter is that no one who might be able to fill these positions responsibly and with the support of the community wants it.

A running joke in ALFA is the fact that no one finishes out their term. What a sad joke to be making.

Generally people fill a seat for a single term or less, before realizing that they are

Some of the few folks who have pushed ahead for multiple terms were despotic and/or full of ego. Even they eventually got tired of the

A community? I don't mean to harp on folks building their own servers and who want to work on their own projects, but we have not been pulling together as a community to get content up. Once the technical stuff was out of the way...

We can't get OAS DMs. We haven't, in the past, gotten builders to pull together on a single server to get it done. We can't get the Standards Team to go over a server for standards. We haven't even been able to get an HDM for Skullport, a server mostly built and potentially hosted for.

The people that DO step up are ridiculed and shot down, again and again and again. Mistakes made in the past are held against people forever.

When changes are brought to the table, bona-fide and realistic attempts to mend these wounds, FEAR is the winner. FEAR of breaking an ALFA that is already broken. Fear of knocking down pillars as the rest of the structure crumbles down around them. Fear of giving our trust to one of the many idiots in ALFA. By that, I'm not meaning any of the specific people I think are idiots. I mean that many of you have a list of ALFAns that you think are idiots. I bet I'm on a few of those lists.

Some of you sit up on your chair with your eyes closed and throw it right back. "If ALFA is so broken, why don't you leave."

And you're absolutely right. But attachments are hard to break, and even the bitterest of ALFAns has friends here who may not be as bitter, who have hope (realistic or not) that ALFA will somehow pull itself out of the gutter. Even the bitterest of ALFAns have the hope as well. So they bide their time, hoping for the best. The camel's back must break eventually, however, and I've seen lofty ideas for egress turn into simple plans for the quickest way out.

If that happens, I suppose the rest of you can breath easy knowing that the ALFAns that hate ALFA so much are no longer there.

Just remember that a lot of them are there because they poured their heart and souls into this community and a lot of what it has given back has been shit. Unless the community can change that, people will continue to find that they don't care for this 'community' and you'll be dealing with the 'haters' again and again.

Leading this community is (for too many smart, grounded, and fun people) more trouble than it is worth.

I'm sure that someone will happily point out how hypocritical I am for making a post like this and poo poo what I'm saying here.

Another will probably have something ignorant to say simply so he can make noise and poke sticks at the people he has chosen to not like.

Someone else will likely express his (dis)approval in the form of an off-hand joke that may or may not seem to have anything to do with the situation at hand.

Then someone will use this thread as a chance to point out one or two people he thinks are personally responsible for all of ALFA's trouble.

Couple people might team up to call me a jagoff.

Someone may post an eloquent statement regarding the fact that it isn't that bad.

And everyone's opinion will be valid, I'm sure. We'll only ever truly know as time goes on, hindsight being what it is.

[Rotku]

You should run for LA, Jayde.

[Amar]

Im not sure where you got the idea that my commentary wasn't serious. I meant every last word.

If noone I can see faith in steps up by tomorrow night, I will self nominate.

That is a rough draft of my proposal.

And I don't think Nalo can do the position, not because of hating him, but because i just dont think he can do it. He is far better suited working in those fields he is good at under someone who can manage teams.

[Vendrin]

We haven't even been able to get an HDM for Skullport, a server mostly built and potentially hosted for.

Someone volunteered, they were just told no.

[Rotku]

Too many people who have stepped up recently have been told no. It's ashame.

[Zelknolf]

You must realise, Jayde, that you're asking a group of habitually cruel and hateful people for empathy, sympathy, and patience, and that this bit:

Just remember that a lot of them are there because they poured their heart and souls into this community and a lot of what it has given back has been sh*t. Unless the community can change that, people will continue to find that they don't care for this 'community' and you'll be dealing with the 'haters' again and again.

Is more than a pandemic here. People grant rumors credibility and dub months of consistent work as "unreliable." The same fear mentioned before propogates cruelty and stagnates the gameplay, while one who fancies himself a savoir plans to run on the exact same concept: being afraid of what the other guys will do.

Better to just hate them all. They say you suck, tell them they suck too. They make a habit of it, then wish them the anonymous unmourned death they so richly deserve. I know it sounds counterproductive, but trying the same stuff as before and expecting different results would be dumB.

So, Jayde, join my campaign of Evil. I need a Minister of Abuse.

[JaydeMoon]

We haven't even been able to get an HDM for Skullport, a server mostly built and potentially hosted for.

Someone volunteered, they were just told no.

Because we have so many people who could do it otherwise

Tell me, Vendrin, if you were hypothetically offered the position of Skullport HDM, but the conditions were that you HAD to follow the standards accepted by the community, and if you deviated, you would be removed from the position, would you accept? And would you do your best to work within ALFA standards?

And yes, I accept the Title of Minister of Abuse.

[NickD]

Meh. ALFA is too many chiefs/wannabe-chiefs, not enough indians. That's way too much of a headache for someone actually in charge.

[peterdin]

I've never been into politics much.
Also reacting on internet forums (read ALFA forums) is not someting I useally do. It takes to much of my time, which I'd like to spent on having fun in ALFA.

The current situation however, makes me want to put a short statement.

I really can appreciate someone who, despite fallbacks and stormy weather, stands tall and wants to mean something for such a strange thing as an internet community.
Strange in the sense that most of us (be aware, danger of generalisation!) didn't meet in person and probably know each other PC's better than the player behind it.

So Nalo, know that I appreciate your behaviour (not necessarely all your viewpoints). If I get a change to vote, then my vote is yours.

[Kest]

Zelknolf's platform is a lame gimmick. But I guess that's okay nowadays because :alfa: right?

It's not laughable, just tiring. The Excitable Revolutionary and Haw Haw I'm Evil, they are actually managing to outdo one another in how terrible they are

[dob85y]

Meh. ALFA is too many chiefs/wannabe-chiefs, not enough indians. That's way too much of a headache for someone actually in charge.

As an addition to this, I dont even know what most of the positions roles are for, I know i probably should, and i may even get an earbashing for not, but i come to ALFA to play D&D, cause i no longer have a group to play PnP and i havnt found a better server that has a permadeath system. I dont come for the politics, or to feel self important, though i have nothing more invested in ALFA than 6 months of my free time, i know others have alot more.

Perhaps it might be helpful if there was an ALFA Org chart, and perhaps a rationalisation of the positions so there is less of the he said/she said.

ALFA is unique in one way that makes it very difficult to run smoothly, it is not owned by a single person, so there is no single voice at the top, who has the best intrests at heart, unlike many other PW servers out there.

Any corperation like entity struggles and dies with out strong leadership, weather it be like a council of HDMs or a single despot ruling over all who would listen, from where i stand, there appears to be neither, just a few loud voices, some more sensable than others, and a multitude of admin positions that im not to sure what they are for. But hey, im just a player, so im not really sure if my opinion counts for much anyway.

[Vendrin]

We haven't even been able to get an HDM for Skullport, a server mostly built and potentially hosted for.

Someone volunteered, they were just told no.

Tell me, Vendrin, if you were hypothetically offered the position of Skullport HDM, but the conditions were that you HAD to follow the standards accepted by the community, and if you deviated, you would be removed from the position, would you accept? And would you do your best to work within ALFA standards?

I'd do what I've always done. DM. I've never really payed much attention to standards, but as far as I know when I HDMed what I did never broke the standards at the time. And as far as I know while I was HDM, I kept a server up and running over a year with Faeryl's help, without any complaints leveled against me or my players, and when complaints were leveraged, it was a year later I think and prosecuted by Rusty, who's bias was equal to his ego.

Now as to the question of if whether I'd actually follow the standards, line by line? Probably not. One night I'd be impressed by some good rp and probably throw in an extra 100 xp or so. For me the story comes first, not standards. If that isn't what ALFA wants, fine, that's their call, but it's not like they have a lot of other choices atm. But hey, at least I'm honest.

[Zelknolf]

I'd do what I've always done. DM. I've never really payed much attention to standards, but as far as I know when I HDMed what I did never broke the standards at the time.

Both wealth and XP standards, heinously. My character, specifically, recieved 400-500 xp for 3 hour sessions regularly, noting that she was ECL +2 (and should thus have been recieving 1/3 normal XP for level 1, 1/2 at level 2, 3/5 at level 3, and 2/3 at level 4.) and despite having three of her equipment slots cleared out by sunlight, was actionably wealthy for a character 2 levels higher than her upon leaving the server. The experiences of the Sembia DM team when characters left NU and arrived there are vastly more striking, hence the complaints being leveraged when the characters were actually examined.

And as far as I know while I was HDM, I kept a server up and running over a year with Faeryl's help, without any complaints leveled against me or my players

I complained, to you directly, when I left your server in August of 2006. You responded by swearing at me. I also complained about sexist remarks being made in tells in July of 2006. You responded by swearing at me. I also complained about your adding high heels to full plate and attempting to present that product as my design -- you apologised for that one.

[Amar]

I complained, to you directly, when I left your server in August of 2006. You responded by swearing at me. I also complained about sexist remarks being made in tells in July of 2006. You responded by swearing at me. I also complained about your adding high heels to full plate and attempting to present that product as my design -- you apologised for that one.

[Swift]

A community? I don't mean to harp on folks building their own servers and who want to work on their own projects, but we have not been pulling together as a community to get content up. Once the technical stuff was out of the way...

Not wanting to rain on anybody that has busted their ass for ALFA, but i joined about 1 week before the quake, and since then ALFA has rarely ever actually felt like a community. It has always felt like individual server teams doing their own thing with a rough agreement on what online RPing should be, but not much else.