Legal counsel wanted

[Swift]

The charter was written by lawyers in the first place. Not sure more lawyers is what we need.

[Castano]

tell you what - you people tell me what you want, I will draft it to be what you want.

I will tell you all as someone with zero game play or game studies learning - when you list domains of responsibility as "among others" that's not a good thing. So at least get rid of things like that. Put in a clause that says anything not listed here belongs to ____ or ___ gets to decide who they belong to (___ being a person, or a vote or 1d4) and it must occur within so many days/weeks).

Also get rid of conflicts like who gets to appoint DMs to ALFA, the DMA or HDM

Your other issue is that there is no time limit on debate/voting on issues. You can propose and discuss for years w/o taking a vote. And we see this here a lot when people complain stuff is not done. You just need to put a formal mechanism in for debate, taking a vote and moving on.

That's my 2 cents on any proposed charter reform. note none of the above has anything to do with how we play the game or manage the community, it's all about fixing holes in the charter.

If you don't want my help that's cool too, I get paid to write these things for a living and would be better off taking a paying project - though I volunteer for this reluctantly as it will be a good 8 hours of back and forth drafting at least.

[Veilan]

Thanks Zelk,

but I actually was referring to game theory, as that is covered in unsurprising depth in the classes required for a psychology diploma. Obviously, the angle is a bit less on math but rather on the decision making heuristics (and false assumptions) we apply.

Something that I believe should be mandatory for politicians especially, but I digress...

Cheers,

[Castano]

The charter was written by lawyers in the first place. Not sure more lawyers is what we need.

but first if you are going rewrite it you should prepare what is called a "terms sheet."

This tells your drafter what to do. Contrary to popular belief lawyers do not create the terms of a contract and impose them on their client. They get agreed terms from both parties and then write. In this case it would be agreed terms from admin or whoever has authority to propose amendments.

In fact, I think you could probably do just a few amendments to the charter to clarify things. You don't need a complete redraft, but again any proposed amendments should come down from the people who want the amendment written, not the people doing the writing.

[Curmudgeon]

Or we could revive the Constitutional Committee.

I always thought it was a mistake to disband the Con Com.

[oldgrayrogue]

This lawyer wishes we would scrap all (or most of) the rules and simply apply common sense. Frankly the "rules" listed on the server info download screen are really all the rules we need.

[Castano]

This lawyer wishes we would scrap all (or most of) the rules and simply apply common sense. Frankly the "rules" listed on the server info download screen are really all the rules we need.

Totally 100% agree. I'm for scrapping the pillars, the charter, all of it.

Let's move to a community resource based system where servers are linked to each other via portals and each server has access to a campaign folder of standardized monsters and items, and a standard hak which lays out the mechanics of our game (domains, spells, etc.) and its content. Return the power to manage servers and players to the DM teams. Allow open building of servers by our members. If you can host and manage it and DM it go for it.

We have administered this project to death with all the attendant politics. We only really need 2 admin - tech admin (to make the hak updates and improvements) and infrastructure admin (to run the forums and irc).

[maxcell]

Quicker to just make your own pw instead of killing this one. Look at Haze, oh wait, that one failed because they didn't have the structure Alfa does. Ok then look at Exodus, oh shit, another failed one.

You see, noobs, nothing in this world can operate effectively or on an ongoing basis without rules and structure. I know this rails against your "legallize pot" mentality, Anarchy or die bullshit, but it is true.

Two Admin? ok so in wanton CvC, who is right the victim or the killer? What's to stop him from looting and relooting his own corpse when he dies? Farming the same static spawns over and over to race through levels? While you are scratching your heads I'll tell you. It's rules. Rules are only good if there is someone to enforce them. Those who enforce rules must be policed themselves or they will get a god complex. That is where Admin comes in.

Ah, but you know all this and yet you idiots continue to rail against the system that has kept this community going for years without you.

Ever stop to think why it is you stayed here when you found Alfa? Guess what Forrest Gump, it is because Alfa is a community built and thought out over years with a charter and pillars in place to ensure it continues regardless of the platform.

Your ideas are to make it like the 50 other PWs out there now. If that is what you want, then go there instead of doing everything in your meager power to tear this PW down, which is exactly what you are doing.

Likely the group I am addressing will just shrug their shoulders and say that I am too old to get it, that my time has passed and this is what is wanted now, but if you have actually grown a pubic hair by now, you will know my comments are correct.

Too mean? too Gruff? I don't give a rats ass. Since your parents obviously didn't discipline you growing up and gave you everything you whined for so now you feel entitled to getting your way all the time, I will be straight with you. Probably for the first time in your life, but since I feel sorry for those in this small group, I will do it.

[t-ice]

Let's move to a community resource based system where servers are linked to each other via portals and each server has access to a campaign folder of standardized monsters and items, and a standard hak which lays out the mechanics of our game (domains, spells, etc.) and its content. Return the power to manage servers and players to the DM teams.

If you allow portaling between the servers, then you are stuck with common PC standards, which by extension means common DM standards, which by extension pretty much means what we have. Though perhaps you can do it with less words than the current baggage (which I for one will admit to never having really read and understood). If you are willing to sacrifice portaling, then fine (ALFA would be superior to me if we all had just one buzzing setting instead of 5 virtually empty ones, but it seems the majority disagrees).

We have administered this project to death with all the attendant politics. We only really need 2 admin - tech admin (to make the hak updates and improvements) and infrastructure admin (to run the forums and irc).

But each server would de facto need a team leader, in effect combining DMA and PA to one seat, but giving each server one of those. So actually it looks like more administrators, which probably means MORE administrating (imagine a cvc-dramabomb case jumping servers to cause a string of shitstorms that each need resolving). In the ideal world it means more distributed administrating, though, so maybe this kind of more federal system would lead to less burnouts among admin.

[I-KP]

Quicker to just make your own pw instead of killing this one. Look at Haze, oh wait, that one failed because they didn't have the structure Alfa does. Ok then look at Exodus, oh sh*t, another failed one.

Haze caved because the admins fell out (big style), not because the game wasn’t mummified in red tape. Exodus caved because player numbers fell below minimum sustainable levels, not because the game wasn’t mummified in red tape.

[t-ice]

You see, noobs, nothing in this world can operate effectively or on an ongoing basis without rules and structure.

Mistaking correlation for causality. The history that ALFA once was big is the reason there is a relatively large base of coming and going members, a lot recognition for ALFA exists, which probably explains most of ALFA's endurance. That history also is the reason for the heftiness of the rules. Doesn't necessarily mean all those rules is the reason for the endurance, even though the two seem to be correlated.

And certainly doesn't mean now that ALFA is smaller it couldn't be better with a leaner set of rules. (There is no real evidence that ALFA couldn't be worse either, to be honest.) Rules and structure yes, but certainly you don't mean more legislation is always better with no bounds? Isn't the common sense to match the lawbook to the size of the community.

But it seems to be that things pretty much go about decoupled from the "constitution" and de facto we managed to indeed reduce red tape, giving the actual power to individual DMs. The way it should be in a smaller community. Which is what I saw as instigating this thread: bringing down the rules to match the reality.

[Ithildur]

Less red tape for a smaller community makes sense, but not to the extent some are starting to talk about here. ALFA has some unique elements other single server PWs with more streamlined admin/staff structures do not, and to ignore that is to invite a different set of headaches.

For me at least, a large chunk of ALFA's appeal would be gone if servers simply became 3 separate smallish PWs completely disconnected from one another, or the other extreme, connected but run with no sense of common values and standards at all, each team acting with their heads buried in the sand of 'we do what we like here, have some vorpal weapons, damn the rest of you'.

Fixing/improving things that need tweaking usually takes more work than simply throwing out the baby with the bathwater, but in the long run is usually a better choice.

[vergin_sacrifice]

What do 90% of these posts have to do with Rumple's request for someone to give him a little assistance?

I'd say "I object" and clean the thread. But I'm not in charge, so I'll just shake my head and play.

[kid]

Are we even saying anything here?

Stop poping in my unread posts!

[Castano]

dunno VS, started when people got scared of whatever secret nefarious plans admin are cooking up to destroy our world

nothing to see here, carry on.