Questions for Vendrin (also his platform)

[Vendrin]

I could put this in the main thread, but I don't want to mess up the whole main aspect of my candidacy, and that post in the self nominations keeps it simple. For those who want a more in depth plattform, and for any questions you might have, here we go.

FYI: This will be short and simple. I'm not one for huge posts unless I'm just copy/pasting.

ISSUE 1!
Vetoing all of Rusty's decisions, will I do it?!
Not all of them, but most of em, probably yea. I really think that his actions have run off a lot of great people, and I will do what I can to block any further actions that would do such, or get him removed from office. I admit this is a platform of animosity and against what Wynna would want, and while as much as I respect her, what Rusty has done during her tenure is not something that should have happened, and I won't allow such incidents to occur.

PADMs
If you were a dm before in ALFA and now are suddenly a PADM, I will make a motion to stop such idiocy.

Favored Souls/Warlocks/Planetouched
Immediate allowance of them.

Standards
Viewable to the community, standards team will be kept simple. 1 chosen by players, and 1 chosen from the dms, along with DM, player, and lead admin or their representatives.

Voting and Admin Requirements
I will move to give all ALFA members a choice in the Lead Admin position, and future administration must partake in the actions of those who vote for them, and while NWN1 is important, NWN2 is now where most of our support is focused, and as such that is where they must partake. So PA needs to play on an ALFA nwn2 server, and DM admin needs to dm on a NWN2 server for ALFA. It does not need to be a live server, but the server does need to up and open for Beta Testing.

The staffer issue would be looked at, but I am inclined to move them to only have a vote on Lead, tech, and infra admin positions, as the dm admin vote should be purely up to the dms. Perhaps also reduce the number of staffer positions, because I think an admin shouldn't need 3 staffers to manage their domain. If they don't have enough time to do so with less then 3, they probably shouldn't be in the admin position.
((huzzah, I probably just killed what little chance I had of being elected))

Trust the Players

Trust the players, if a problem arises, deal with it, and punish those who broke the trust harshly, don't punish everyone else. As such I will be moving for harsher punishments, but less broad stroke fixes.

Edit: Platform UpdateExodus and old ALFA members
If elected to lead, I will work to find and bring back old ALFA builders, luring them back with the hope that they will still remember the good old days of ALFA, and work to give them as new HDMs and all HDMs the control over their servers they should all have.

I will also seek a partnership with Exodus that will allow cross server travel with each group retaining it's own control.

Feel free to ask any questions and visit the best depiction of ALFA yet:
http://www.alandfaraway.org/phpbbforum/ ... hp?t=39022

Remember kids, Operation Vendrin in the mother fuckin' hizzzzzousseee!!111

[Magile]

Being the "anti-Rusty", how will you be able to guarantee what is best for ALFA? For instance, what is stopping you two from having an all-out war, going against one another and nothing ever being passed/accomplished? Two stubborn asses will most likely never agree with one another (and Rusty has shown through chat logs that he holds you in quite the bad light), will that really be helpful and not detrimental?

The reasoning in the Planetouched being withheld until a further patch is to ensure they can get disguise and wander around, hopefully, without a DM holding their hand 24/7 (this is also due to how guards and other NPCs may or may not react). Exactly how would you go about their implementation without making them seem like a babied race? Drow are, essentially, the exact same manner and had quite the rough start back in NWN1 (I remember how many drow corpses I found). Are there any precautions to prevent such a catastrophe from occurring again?

What exactly will you do to be able to change ALFA? Already you claim that those who hold the votes will be against you with, "huzzah, I probably just killed what little chance I had of being elected." If you are elected, is there anything you can do to prevent such douchebaggery from affecting your motions at all? Is there anything that can be done from the staff circle-jerking itself while congratulating one another on screwing over the Lead Admin time and time again in this instance? Keep in mind, they may further screw over ALFA by promoting a recall on the Lead Admin upon you finally claiming your seat. Any contingency plans?

[Vendrin]

Being the "anti-Rusty", how will you be able to guarantee what is best for ALFA? For instance, what is stopping you two from having an all-out war, going against one another and nothing ever being passed/accomplished? Two stubborn asses will most likely never agree with one another (and Rusty has shown through chat logs that he holds you in quite the bad light), will that really be helpful and not detrimental?

To be honest, is anything really happening now? ALFA2 went live in spite of Rusty, not because of him.(The whole Rick fiasco). We've been waiting over a 6 weeks I believe from the initial deadline given for getting Favored Souls in game, etc. I haven't seen Rusty doing anything but stalling/causing problems. I hope to veto his decisions which seem to do such. I realize that is simply my opinion judging these things, but that is all any one person usually has, and a veto needs to be approved by the other admin and HDMs.

The reasoning in the Planetouched being withheld until a further patch is to ensure they can get disguise and wander around, hopefully, without a DM holding their hand 24/7 (this is also due to how guards and other NPCs may or may not react). Exactly how would you go about their implementation without making them seem like a babied race? Drow are, essentially, the exact same manner and had quite the rough start back in NWN1 (I remember how many drow corpses I found). Are there any precautions to prevent such a catastrophe from occurring again?

While I would allow planetouched to be immediately an option, there would still be room for improvement and some limits.
Main limit would be HDM approval, hdm doesn't want that certain type of planetouched, or doesn't think the bio is good enough, that planetouched can't be played. As for disguises, and being treated properly, trust the players to react and play their pcs properly, have a thread posted on each server forum to say how the general populace of each server would react to a given type of planetouched when a dm isn't present. If that doesn't happen, counseling, and then if that doesn't work, on the HDM's discretion that character is no longer allowed for that pc. Also planetouched are easier to hide then being a drow. Aasimir's the easiest, some tieflings with just a hood, or interesting hair style, and while the gensai standout, Faerun is a magical world, and while people may not readily understand much, they understand magic happens, and so why they might be fearful, they might also be curious. Again, trust the players to rp their pc appropriately with the DMs on the server serving as the final arbitrator.
When other servers start to pop up we can resolve any issues of HDM A disapproved my concept but HDM B approved, so now I can create there and go to HDM A's server.

What exactly will you do to be able to change ALFA? Already you claim that those who hold the votes will be against you with, "huzzah, I probably just killed what little chance I had of being elected." If you are elected, is there anything you can do to prevent such douchebaggery from affecting your motions at all? Is there anything that can be done from the staff circle-jerking itself while congratulating one another on screwing over the Lead Admin time and time again in this instance? Keep in mind, they may further screw over ALFA by promoting a recall on the Lead Admin upon you finally claiming your seat. Any contingency plans?

If I am actually elected, not much I can do about a recall, I doubt it will go through as I was just elected, but nope, I don't have any cunning contingency plans, just to be up front about what I want to do, and hope that staffers won't be pissed I want to remove some their voting power, and that the dms(besides the PADMs who have told me they'd vote for me, but they don't get a vote due to being PADMs) agree with my ideas.

[witch]

What exactly will you do to be able to change ALFA? Already you claim that those who hold the votes will be against you with, "huzzah, I probably just killed what little chance I had of being elected."

i dont see the problem in running when some of the other admin might not like what you propose. Its simple if he gets voted in as Leadadmin that means the majority of the voters agrees with his ideas and views.

to be honest any admin/staff/whatever that doenst agree with his ideas after hes elected, basically says i dont agree with the majority of voters...

so theres two options, they can listen to the voters and go for the changes that they want or if they really cannot find themselves in the proposed changes then they should step down i reckon. Staying on and trying to prevent the changes from happening is counter productive and a personal political thing then and has nothing to do with doign whats wanted and best for alfa..

So Ven i seriously hope you get some of the proposed things done and that the "leaders" of the community respect voters wishes

[Mord]

Will there be cake on the day of your inauguration?

[psycho_leo]

PADMs
If you were a dm before in ALFA and now are suddenly a PADM, I will make a motion to stop such idiocy.

Currently, one of the conditions to gain full ADM status is completing the standards training. Wealth standards were not really enforced in NWN1 until recently and they changed a lot for NWN2 with the inclusion of special materials and the changes to DR. Do you feel PADMs should still complete this training requirement? And also, do you think former DMs that never got used to standards should still be exempt from training, even if not as a condition to ADM status (i.e DM Bob is a full ADM, but must complete training in X number of weeks or lose his status)?

As such I will be moving for harsher punishments, but less broad stroke fixes.

What exactly would like to see changed?

[JaydeMoon]

Witch, I think his statement about killing his chance to be voted in had to do with his statement that he would be removing the power of more than half of his constituency to vote for him, once he's in, and believes that that constituency would therefore probably not vote for him.


Vendrin:

The recent Rusty Resigns/Throws in a Bid for DMA as a result of a dispute debacle may have been pushed too hard by Rusty, but an inescapable fact is that the PCs belonging to the individuals in question were grossly beyond the wealth standards.

Factually they were far beyond the limit considering standards we have in place today and most would agree that they were far beyond the spirit of ALFA's soft wealth standards of 'yesterday'.

As a DM overseeing a large portion of these PCs' last few years playing, it can be inferred that you were aware of/played a role in that overabundance of wealth. Some say you even went so far as to flaunt it.

So, my question is: How do you feel about standards, wealth standards, XP award standards, item pricing? How do you feel about balance in a persistent game world?

[MShady]

A point on that total though - I think those stat increases were included as part of the wealth total and probably should not have been.

Artifacts they might have had in their possession probably should not be priced either as they're more plot devices.

[JaydeMoon]

I think those stat increases were included as part of the wealth total and probably should not have been.

Hmm... ability point increases ought to be worth something I should think. D20 SRD prices them at 27.5K a piece. Not sure why ALFA should say they are free. *shrug*

Artifacts they might have had in their possession probably should not be priced either as they're more plot devices.

Artifacts in play for a definitive finite period, certainly. However, when the server went down and the PCs traveled elsewhere, the gear they had on them is the gear they had on them. Anything 'plot related' from the previous DM's plots should have been removed from the PCs before traveling to a new 'home server' where the DM in question is not a DM. If he had not the time to remove them, the DMs of the new server should have been contacted about removing them. If the players knew they were carrying plot items then I am certain they would have informed the receiving DM team and had them removed.

As none of this happened, it is only reasonable to assume that they were not carrying plot-based artifacts and that the gear they had on them was true and permanent and owned by the PCs.

Regardless of whether these should be counted against a gold piece value is beside the point. Standards are about maintaining balance, especially in a persistent world with CvC possibility. Increased stats and powerful artifact items add to the overall 'power' of a character.

Anyways, this is not meant to rehash all the particulars of that incident. It is passed and, individually, folks will feel how they feel about the situation.

I attribute the overabundance of wealth on these PCs to DMs who were either unconscious or disdainful of balance issues in a persistent environment and awarded wealth recklessly.

As one of the DMs of these PCs, it is possible that Vendrin is among them. So my question addresses that concern. I am curious to hear Vendrin's opinion of standards and how he feels about the importance of balance, if he feels it is important at all.

[HATEFACE]

Question 1# What makes you a less grossly incompetent mouth piece of nothingness than the other people before you? One word or less please.

Question 2# Since Rusty didn't do so hawt at promising epic win +1 from his campaign and failed more miserably than Carter's Iranian affairs. . .
. . .What will you do to promise epic win +1 in ALFA, aside from "LOL TIEFLINGS!!1" and Favored souls/warlocks, in fixing the do nothing buerocratic jumble we have now?

[Magonushi]

Anyways, this is not meant to rehash all the particulars of that incident.

But it sounds like the particulars of this incident are a point of contention from the perspective of those not immediately involved. If you want to ignore that then perhaps you shouldn't reference it at all.

[JaydeMoon]

Magonushi: Point taken.

Question still stands.

[Killthorne]

I don't know.. just reading some FR novels from time to time gives you a good picture of how people react to plane-touched ( yeah yeah, they all suck, blah blah blah, but you still get a good idea). Yeah, tieflings get a bit more distrust and fear from people ( it's the horns and devil's tail usually that give to that suspicion). Genasi are pretty much reacted upon as Vendrin says, with more curiosity than anything, and aasimar held abit with about the same regard and perhaps even expected to be god-sends.

Yeah I think it should be more like " Hey HDM, or DM's of ALFA.. can I play a tiefling please?" and then have the DM's decide with a bit of common sense. If the entire population of ALFA is plane-touched then maybe no. But if there's three or four spread out between 2-3 servers, why not? I mean, the PC's really should be the stars of the show and if it means taking an xp hit to really dig into a good character with a few plane-touched twists, why the heck not.

I just think we need to open up a teensy bit more on all the restrictions and utilize NWN2's engine just a wee bit, instead of trying too damn hard to follow the PnP 3.5 table top rules that are meant just for the kitchen table and a group of buds.

Everyone's RP here is usually spot on and I really don't think speculating abuse is a good idea. If abuse happens then smack it down hard and fast. But if there's discrepancies that can be fixed or smoothed over, do it.

~Killthorne~

[Vendrin]

Will there be cake on the day of your inauguration?

Yes, but sadly the cake will be a lie.

PADMs
If you were a dm before in ALFA and now are suddenly a PADM, I will make a motion to stop such idiocy.

Currently, one of the conditions to gain full ADM status is completing the standards training. Wealth standards were not really enforced in NWN1 until recently and they changed a lot for NWN2 with the inclusion of special materials and the changes to DR. Do you feel PADMs should still complete this training requirement? And also, do you think former DMs that never got used to standards should still be exempt from training, even if not as a condition to ADM status (i.e DM Bob is a full ADM, but must complete training in X number of weeks or lose his status)?

Sure, PADMs who have never dmed before, no problem. But those who were once DMs and never got booted for any issue, apparently weren't causing problems, so give them the document, tell them, read this, these are the guidelines you need to follow(and also remember the minimum wealth levels/rewards for pcs) and if there's problems, then the HDM deals with it as his discretion.

As such I will be moving for harsher punishments, but less broad stroke fixes.

What exactly would like to see changed?[/quote]
The whole Warlock/Favored Soul/Planetouched debacle is a prime example of this, all these options are barred from all players on the chance it might be abused by a few. Instead of keeping them from everyone I'd allow them, and anyone who did abuse it, would have their character removed at the decision of the HDM.

Other things would be systems like Dim Returns, or the current xp script that instead of splitting it evenly, gives more xp to higher levels. The lower levels face more risk, they should not be getting less then the higher level. And if we see someone abusing that system, a high level doing all the fighting, while low level stays in a back room in the same area, well then we simply remove the amount of XP gained from both pcs, and look at further punishment.

Witch, I think his statement about killing his chance to be voted in had to do with his statement that he would be removing the power of more than half of his constituency to vote for him, once he's in, and believes that that constituency would therefore probably not vote for him.

Basically.

The Vendrin/Mikayla/Zakharra vs Rusty debacle may have been pushed to hard by Rusty, but an inescapable fact is that the PCs belonging to Mikayla and Zakharra were grossly beyond the wealth standards.

Factually they were more than twice the limit considering standards we have in place today (I think something like over a million between them when their combined wealth limit was something closer to 500,000) and most would agree that they were far beyond the spirit of ALFA's soft wealth standards of 'yesterday'.

As their primary DM over a large portion of their last few years playing, it can be inferred that you were aware of/played a role in that overabundance of wealth. Some say you even went so far as to flaunt it.

Besides a few items on Mikayla that had been awarded to her before I dmed her, neither all their items and weapons were drowcraft, meaning that if they went on the surface, most of the enchanted stuff would lose +2 from each as it was no longer the Faerezz(or whatever the underdark crystals are). Drowcraft is a cannon ability, and as such was used in NU. The extra +2 on much of their items did tend to bump things up.

As for standards, and flaunting it, I did and do. By Cannon, things in the underdark are more powerful and more magical, I was following that, and my responsibility was to the story, not guidelines that had changed about 4-5 times during the process of building and dming the server.

So, my question is: How do you feel about standards, wealth standards, XP award standards, item pricing? How do you feel about balance in a persistent game world?

I feel standards, every single one of them are guidelines, and ultimate discretion should be left to the HDM, because the story should come first. We make things so damn complicated, that we forget that. XP awards should be pretty standard, but bonuses should be available for excellent RP at dm discretion, and as for balance, that is a loaded question.

Balance is important, but that is never going to be fully achieved, nor should it. Some people are going to be richer, and some are going to be poorer, it's true in Faerun, it's true in the real world. If you want to kill someone, and they are richer/more powerful, bring a lot of god damn friends, or hope the dice is on your side. I trust my HDMs to be fair, and so I'll give them the leeway they deserve, if a problem arises, the problem will be resolved and it will be moved on from there instead of enforcing overreaching and overarching standards on everyone.

I won't change the current standards as they are now, but I will work to give DMs the trust and discretion they deserve in using them. Which does not need huge breaches of them, but if a level 5 is carrying a +2 weapon, and the dm can give a good reason, I'll fly with it. This is a world of adventure and magic, and it will never be completely balanced. And that's a real world.

Hmm...15 ability point increases between two characters ought to be worth something I should think. D20 SRD prices them at 27.5K a piece. Not sure why ALFA should say they are free. *shrug*

Because they don't cost that much to get once you have the spells or the position to have those spells cast on you. Or their rewards for bargains with extraplanar creatures, that do have severe penalties upon breaking, etc. Because it was good for the story main reason.

As none of this happened, it is only reasonable to assume that they were not carrying plot-based artifacts and that the gear they had on them was true and permanent and owned by the PCs.

Maybe one artifact I missed, but as I pointed above, was drowcraft which gets +2 in the underdark on a lot of the items.

Anyways, this is not meant to rehash all the particulars of that incident. It is passed and, individually, folks will feel how they feel about the situation.

For not wanting to rehash it, you certainly went into pretty good detail. But no worries.

Regardless of whether these should be counted against a gold piece value is beside the point. Standards are about maintaining balance, especially in a persistent world with CvC possibility. Increased stats and powerful artifact items add to the overall 'power' of a character.

Each and every CvC they took on was among their own kind who had the same chance and ability to acquire those items and attributes when they got enough power. Any surface pc who wanted to go into the underdark and kill some drow should have known they wouldn't have the advantage.

Question 1# What makes you a less grossly incompetent mouth piece of nothingness than the other people before you? One word or less please.

Attitude.

Question 2# Since Rusty didn't do so hawt at promising epic win +1 from his campaign and failed more miserably than Carter's Iranian affairs. . .
. . .What will you do to promise epic win +1 in ALFA, aside from "LOL TIEFLINGS!!1" and Favored souls/warlocks, in fixing the do nothing buerocratic jumble we have now?

To be fair, I can't do much as LA, it mostly has the Veto thats it, and can't tread into other domains without their permission. I may work to change that, but that requires a lot of thought. For the most part, I'd work to undo the damage rusty has done, block further attempts of his, and then work to reach out those who have left ALFA and seek to get them back in.

I'm not promising much, just to do my best to block Rusty and get Favored Soul/Warlock/planetouched in game.

[Mord]

Will there be cake on the day of your inauguration?

Yes, but sadly the cake will be a lie.

I cannot in good conscience accept these terms.