Veilan's LA Q&A

[Veilan]

Go ahead.

[Swift]

If your nomination post was the short version, can a rule be implemented that you may only respond with short answers to questions?

[Thangorn]

Are you going to enforce global german cyb0r? Cause I am so not into that

[Blindhamsterman]

With Waffles.... do you prefer maple syrup or Jam?


what will you do about being Standards staff head, and moderation head? It seems perhaps too much for one person? (in terms of both work and authority)

Do you have a plan in place to push for faster decsions? Currently I believe (and I think a good number of others do also) that often descions on things take forever once proposals are completed, Is there a good way to improve on this?

Will you as LA be likely to overrule decisions made by other admin?

Cheers

[dirsa]

why poland? wouldn't annexing france first make more sense?

[Veilan]

If your nomination post was the short version, can a rule be implemented that you may only respond with short answers to questions?

Will write less. Promise.

Are you going to enforce global german cyb0r? Cause I am so not into that

I will make you be into it <3.

With Waffles.... do you prefer maple syrup or Jam?

Liverwurst.

what will you do about being Standards staff head, and moderation head? It seems perhaps too much for one person? (in terms of both work and authority)

Well, many people have more than one ALFA position, probably because we are not as many as we used to be - though our numbers are on the uptick. For this specific question, should I be elected, I posted as much in my nomination announcement: paazin would become Moderation Head (adding upon his considerable number of other roles) and hollyfant Standards Head; both has been cleared with the respective Admin.

Do you have a plan in place to push for faster decsions? Currently I believe (and I think a good number of others do also) that often descions on things take forever once proposals are completed, Is there a good way to improve on this?

First of all, I fully understand the feeling. Deliberation takes long, but I do not know a silver bullet. Part of our sluggishness simply is the nature of an online community, where people do not get to post all the time in the same timewindow, and where volunteers do the work as they are available.

I'm also not really sure that LA should be designing more rules for the rest to follow, but if there is gridlock, I would try to prod it along. So far I cannot say I have a plan to introduce any new or additional procedure which just might complicate and slow things further. I am certainly open to suggestions on how to make decisions smoother, but I will not try to meddle in the affairs of other Admin portfolios. All I can say at this point is that due to my own activity and relatively good availability, I would try to move things along, contact people to make statements, and try to improve communication between them. What I would certainly try to do is to get a definitive conclusion, even if it is a negative one, out of the respective Admin for all those threads and issues that just peter out.

I have no masterplan for it, but I will be prodding on important issues, because never reaching a conclusion = bad PR and mood.

Will you as LA be likely to overrule decisions made by other admin?

While it can never be categorically ruled out, I think a good LA will not have to. I respect the Admin portfolios laid out in the charter, and have been a defender of Admin sovereignty over their own portfolios in the past. So, to answer your question: I will not be likely to.

why poland? wouldn't annexing france first make more sense?

The French would surrender the moment they see the first StuG IV, where's the fun in that? The Poles have spirit!

[Heero]

Can I be your bouncer?

[danielmn]

Will goose-stepping be required learning?

[Veilan]

Can I be your bouncer?

While I admit I am an exclusive club to which people need special admission, I so far have successfully been guarding the entrance.

Will goose-stepping be required learning?

No, if you are not born with the knowledge, then you are not a member of the master race anyway.

[Burt]

Will you let Vendrin give us two PCs - surface and UD?

[thinkpig]

How many boards would the mongols hoard if the mongol hordes got bored?

[Veilan]

Will you let Vendrin give us two PCs - surface and UD?

Well, to answer your question, I will have to differentiate between my personal and my professional opinion.

Personally, I am skeptical of the UD/surface proposal. Like Sandermann, I do not see why UD servers are somehow "special" - why not get a character for each other server as well, rural, seafaring, urban? If we admit we have too many servers and lack concentration, then the solution cannot be more "ghost" characters without more players. I am reluctant to institutionalise any clique thinking, and even more so to institutionalise any clique treatment. A proposal such as what Blindhamsterman suggested might be more palatable to me, one that does not make a distinction between UD and surface servers.

I am also aware it would be a pretty major change to our community. We do have a pillar in place, and having one character, and pouring all our effort and detail into it is part of what defines ALFA for me. I do not want "backup" characters enabled, and I do not want accidental meta or mashing up of stories, or situations that pose logical paradoxes, or other negative aspects of several characters that would push ALFA more into MMORPG territory. Now, If a proposal addresses all of that yet allows for "try-out" characters or "temporary" retirement like AL suggested - then I wil support it if it seems reasonable. I am a skeptic of the current murky details, but I am not fundamentally and by principle opposed to it.

Now, all that said, professionally, I believe the call is not LA's to make - I am not going to veto a proposal if that is your question. I would go as far as saying that if DMA & PA hash out something together, that should probably be the major deciding factor, then whole member vote to confirm, etc..

Cheers and thanks for the interesting question.

How many boards would the mongols hoard if the mongol hordes got bored?

Seven, unless it is a rhetorical question.

In that case, eight.

[CloudDancing]

What do I want to do?

Good question.

a) Documentation

Something kmj started - trying to consolidate all our documentation into one resource. I consider this an important task, trying to peel away the layers upon layers of individual decisions, rules and guides we made. I believe I am rather uniquely qualified to oversee this, because I have been around a fair while and usually had intimate knowledge of what was going on.

I am however fully convinced that this is a mammoth task indeed, and I have no illusions about finishing it quickly, even though, in case I should get elected, I have capable staff in the wings (see further below). Given ALFA's complexity and history, the proportions of the workload are understandably massive.

Yes but will it bring more players and make Dms..well Dm?

b

) Public Relations

The LA's only real toy, I would not only try to build upon our cooperation with other projects and PWs, but have also talked with some of our builders and HDMs about sharing ALFA resources to attract more attention and talent. Hopefully, we can play a part in the wider NWN 2 community and thus attract fresh talent and new blood to swell our numbers.

My hope is that we can gain a presence on the vault and the community boards and share some resources for mutual benefit, I have already received some great ideas from the people I talked to, and would try to go from there.

I totally agree but I was thinking we need to write some informational articles on our hobby for NON nwn players and post it in DnD forums and tech/gaming sites that are interested in subcultures.

However, how do we deal with the enviroments of our two unfinished servers, BG (which needs statics), and the totally ready to be used TSM?

c) Annex Poland

only if I get perogies and sausage

Self-explanatory.
Why me?
While I am fully comfortable where I am currently, I do believe that I am uniquely qualified to try to get our documentation into shape. I have been around in this community for a long time and choose it due to its values and focus, and established a good working relationship with most people of this community, even if we disagreed on issues on the always unpopular work of standards, for instance. I am familiar with most of our factions and groups of membership and believe I could give due and fair representation to all, and be a steady helmsman. I know how our politics, rules and community work and figure I could keep us chugging along smoothly, even though mostly as a figurehead, since we are talking about LA here .

Welp you got me there. But when was the last time you got some Dm time?

With blessings from Curmudgeon, hollyfant has volunteered to succeed me as Staff Head of Standards & Training should I be elected. I am very glad for his support in this fashion, he is a capable and level-headed guy.

And with agreement from Hialmar, paazin would become Staff Head of Moderation in case of an electoral victory. He has an even temper and I trust him fully to keep the boards as flame-free and civil as they are now.

Good contingency plan, but what of new blood, new color, life! I think standards would suffer without you! And of course, can you run again in June if you do a good job?

[Veilan]

Hey Cloud, first of all thanks for your questions. I am curious that we have not made paazin run yet, but hey, we can keep trying.

Documentation [blah]

Yes but will it bring more players and make Dms..well Dm?

Will it bring them? No, but I think it would improve retention, as well as lower frustration among our members. If we're all happier, then we are also more likely to give word of mouth to friends and stay engaged with the project - an all around win, I daresay!

Public Relations [blah]

I totally agree but I was thinking we need to write some informational articles on our hobby for NON nwn players and post it in DnD forums and tech/gaming sites that are interested in subcultures.

Sure, why not. One doesn't rule out the other, and it's a good idea to broaden our target audience.

However, how do we deal with the enviroments of our two unfinished servers, BG (which needs statics), and the totally ready to be used TSM?

Well, that is for the HDMs of those servers to deal with, and not LA territory. But if you mean how are we going to deal with it from a PR standpoint? Oh... we will put a positive spin on it if asked: "...our servers, constantly under development, provide a rich and diverse gaming experience"

c) Annex Poland

only if I get perogies and sausage

Mhm. We can share.

Welp you got me there. But when was the last time you got some Dm time?

This morning, actually. Thangorn on the Moonshae Islands. But admittedly, he was not you! <3

With blessings from Curmudgeon, hollyfant has volunteered to succeed me as Staff Head of Standards & Training should I be elected. I am very glad for his support in this fashion, he is a capable and level-headed guy.

And with agreement from Hialmar, paazin would become Staff Head of Moderation in case of an electoral victory. He has an even temper and I trust him fully to keep the boards as flame-free and civil as they are now.

Good contingency plan, but what of new blood, new color, life! I think standards would suffer without you! And of course, can you run again in June if you do a good job?

A fair point on the new blood. However, I consider neither Standards nor Moderation perfect places to "break in" new guys, both requires an intimate knowledge of our community and our rules / philosophy. And in any case, the call is not mine to appoint other Admin's staff heads, I just had to ensure Hialmar and Curmudgeon would let me go. I hope they don't vote against me just so I have to keep slaving for them...

Anyway, good luck to you, and thanks for the fresh wind!

Cheers,

[CloudDancing]

Well, that is for the HDMs of those servers to deal with, and not LA territory. But if you mean how are we going to deal with it from a PR standpoint? Oh... we will put a positive spin on it if asked: "...our servers, constantly under development, provide a rich and diverse gaming experience"

Omg, I love you.
*struggles with inner conflicts*