I want to stress a couple of points which seem to have been widely neglected, especially by those complaining or requesting loudly.
1. This is the second year after the fusion. Not all pre merge features have been restored yet, problems seem to have arisen unforeseen by the devs. This may even have repercussions on projects of the CSR and event managers.
2. Roleplay has been restored only during an even shorter period. The relevant RP sessions, supported by the event team, started mid of march, 2013. The event team has faced a number of problems, technical as well as internal, the latter mainly in constituting a working international body of event managers. I recall a feedback session of german roleplayers with Limai where she confessed that the internal work had absorbed german EM to an extent that they had been unable to write new events (that has fairly improved, since, but, as I suspect, on cost of overwork by the event managers).
I want therefore dare an analysis, from my point of view, what has been gone wrong, done wrong, or could at least have gone ore done better. I want to stress, as a disclaimer, that I have no more insight in CSR and ET internals than everybody else in the playerhood (in fact, for example, I never heard about the "hidden ways" of the Rangers allegedly serving as future faction teleporters). Assumptions are all my own, based on observations, meetings minutes and transcripts, and beyond that more or less speculative.
Problems
The main mistake that was made, in my opinion, was to allow interference into the pre-planned event to build the Rangers' faction. That was the initial sin the evils of which are still spreading forth.
It was planned and announced, already begin of 2013, as I recall, that the Rangers should shut down the Kitin Mounds after the defeat of the Kitin occupants. Rangers' roleplay started well two months later, and only later (in May, during a session with Ardan Kaele and Daeronn Cegrips), the plan was unveiled to use termites for that purpose.
At that time, there was no contradiction against that project. Even in the theocracy, the assemblies, especially in Min Cho and Hoi Cho, voiced their approval and offered assistance.
Later, some enlightened from one of the circles ruled that usage of termites would be blasphemic towards Kamist creed and could therefore not be tolerated. While a really logical and conclusive reason for was never delivered, religions do not require logic, after all. The problem was that hence an interference into a running event and mission series was created and later adopted by the event managers responsible for the Zorai roleplay - and later accepted by the not equally active Min Cho and the Hoi Cho circles.
In that course, a "botanical solution" was set up with help of the insurgent tribe in the Matis Kingdom, the Ancient Dryads, which suggested the usage of Rotoa trees. The - roleplaywise not overly logical - cooperation of the Matis was won by promising to search for the needed research secrets of the famous and ingenious ( though at least in Leanon Lore controversial ) Matis Botanist Gilado Almati.
At that time, an opposing event thread had been requested and started directly controversial to Rangers' gameplay and roleplay. It confronted Rangers as enemies, in the beginning that radically that they were blamed "Ruin of Mother Atys" and "the greatest danger". Though this inacceptable and inexcusable confrontation was somewhat softened after some interventions (and the opposing event stopped for rewriting), the hostile attitude against the Rangers prevailed. In particular, Zorai and Matis concentrated on blocking any activity of the Rangers in their nations concerning the Kitin Mounds, and based quite much of their roleplay upon keeping out the Rangers. Ranger Applicants, at the same time, widely ignored the hostile attitudes and helped to find out the mission steps of the "alternative solution".
Normally, juxtaposing factions, nations, tribes, guilds, individuals etc. in confrontations is not a big deal and may be a means to make roleplay more interesting and spicy. Only (something Salazar will probably never understand) it is not the same thing to push nations, creeds (or non-creeds) into controversy as doing the same thing to Rangers.
In fact, interaction between different entities may be seen on a scale from very friendly towards very hostile, symbolized as below.
++......+......0......-.....--
This relation has two sides, the graph has to be thought doubled: Every individual, guild, nation, faction etc. may choose, in parts or as a whole, within the constraints of faction and nation reputations etc., an attitude towards any other inside this continuum, being either very friendly and cooperative, bit cooler and reluctant, indifferent or even ignoring, negative, or openly hostile. Every individual or group confronted with any of these attitudes or comportments may choose to react at her own choice, responding to hostility by staying calm and friendly, cooling down, ignoring, answering or even outreaching unkindness.
Not so Rangers. They are held to be friendly and cooperative towards anybody, even those blaming them, accusing them, bickering on them. They are nailed to the utter left side of the above graph by the duties of their faction. Confronting them as enemies is an unfair and dirty game, always probing their patience and tolerance and punishing them for the slightest transgression. That game, btw. has been played over months, and me, being not a saint, rather quite catty and foulmouthed by my nature as a desert-homed and desert-loving trykette soldier and not a damn courtier, am totally fed up and frustrated by it. We have done a shitload of work in patrolling, scouting, building the camps, killing white kitins, and much more, risking and losing our lives left to the grace of the powers infinite times only to receive renewed suspicions like that by Ozwomen above. I have even been reproached for using my freedom of speech in our own assemblies.
I can say that I repeatedly considered to leave roleplay altogether.
Again: It was a shitty idea to play an "anti-Ranger" roleplay. And beneath that, the Matis (and probably the jungle) roleplayers have taken an "all or nothing" stance, digging in in a position only allowing total victory or total defeat. When it became clear that the Karan - by the event team - had allowed Rangers to experiment in the forest, an outcry of Matis Nobles occurred, mainly against the Rangers, of course. And then, the resistance stiffened until two internal meetings with the Karan where the Nobles were allegedly mollified, the experiments not stopped, anyway. Only because Matis and Jungle roleplayers never considered a "Plan B" they are now facing a humiliating situation nobody has wished them (indeed I still hope for at least some face saving).
At the time the permission of the court for the Rangers' experiments became public, the Event Team was not sufficiently cross-informed. This seems to have been the case, again, during local Matis Assemblies, lately, when Duke Rodi only informed the Nobles of Avalae, not those of the other cities. I think that interlingual and intercommunity communication is matter of improvement, here, sure. But might those picking on the ET consider the effort or possibly try to help? Ok, I have my problems there, too. Isn't there an admin channel where ET members may inform one another when attending a meeting etc. and telling or learning something possibly important to their colleagues? Was it wise by one ET member, e.g., to send an angry roleplayer to the meeting of a colleague, without informing himself before or briefing the colleague?
I still think this all has to come to an end and players should look more constructively on it. As to Salazar I can say that I possibly invested more time and effort into services for the Kingdom than he invested in Matis roleplay during the same period. I admit that at least Ser Djaimse and the Royal advisor at Avalae thanked me for, sometimes, so did Ser Erminantius. We are damn no enemies of the kingdom, and will never be.
1. This is the second year after the fusion. Not all pre merge features have been restored yet, problems seem to have arisen unforeseen by the devs. This may even have repercussions on projects of the CSR and event managers.
2. Roleplay has been restored only during an even shorter period. The relevant RP sessions, supported by the event team, started mid of march, 2013. The event team has faced a number of problems, technical as well as internal, the latter mainly in constituting a working international body of event managers. I recall a feedback session of german roleplayers with Limai where she confessed that the internal work had absorbed german EM to an extent that they had been unable to write new events (that has fairly improved, since, but, as I suspect, on cost of overwork by the event managers).
I want therefore dare an analysis, from my point of view, what has been gone wrong, done wrong, or could at least have gone ore done better. I want to stress, as a disclaimer, that I have no more insight in CSR and ET internals than everybody else in the playerhood (in fact, for example, I never heard about the "hidden ways" of the Rangers allegedly serving as future faction teleporters). Assumptions are all my own, based on observations, meetings minutes and transcripts, and beyond that more or less speculative.
Problems
The main mistake that was made, in my opinion, was to allow interference into the pre-planned event to build the Rangers' faction. That was the initial sin the evils of which are still spreading forth.
It was planned and announced, already begin of 2013, as I recall, that the Rangers should shut down the Kitin Mounds after the defeat of the Kitin occupants. Rangers' roleplay started well two months later, and only later (in May, during a session with Ardan Kaele and Daeronn Cegrips), the plan was unveiled to use termites for that purpose.
At that time, there was no contradiction against that project. Even in the theocracy, the assemblies, especially in Min Cho and Hoi Cho, voiced their approval and offered assistance.
Later, some enlightened from one of the circles ruled that usage of termites would be blasphemic towards Kamist creed and could therefore not be tolerated. While a really logical and conclusive reason for was never delivered, religions do not require logic, after all. The problem was that hence an interference into a running event and mission series was created and later adopted by the event managers responsible for the Zorai roleplay - and later accepted by the not equally active Min Cho and the Hoi Cho circles.
In that course, a "botanical solution" was set up with help of the insurgent tribe in the Matis Kingdom, the Ancient Dryads, which suggested the usage of Rotoa trees. The - roleplaywise not overly logical - cooperation of the Matis was won by promising to search for the needed research secrets of the famous and ingenious ( though at least in Leanon Lore controversial ) Matis Botanist Gilado Almati.
At that time, an opposing event thread had been requested and started directly controversial to Rangers' gameplay and roleplay. It confronted Rangers as enemies, in the beginning that radically that they were blamed "Ruin of Mother Atys" and "the greatest danger". Though this inacceptable and inexcusable confrontation was somewhat softened after some interventions (and the opposing event stopped for rewriting), the hostile attitude against the Rangers prevailed. In particular, Zorai and Matis concentrated on blocking any activity of the Rangers in their nations concerning the Kitin Mounds, and based quite much of their roleplay upon keeping out the Rangers. Ranger Applicants, at the same time, widely ignored the hostile attitudes and helped to find out the mission steps of the "alternative solution".
Normally, juxtaposing factions, nations, tribes, guilds, individuals etc. in confrontations is not a big deal and may be a means to make roleplay more interesting and spicy. Only (something Salazar will probably never understand) it is not the same thing to push nations, creeds (or non-creeds) into controversy as doing the same thing to Rangers.
In fact, interaction between different entities may be seen on a scale from very friendly towards very hostile, symbolized as below.
++......+......0......-.....--
This relation has two sides, the graph has to be thought doubled: Every individual, guild, nation, faction etc. may choose, in parts or as a whole, within the constraints of faction and nation reputations etc., an attitude towards any other inside this continuum, being either very friendly and cooperative, bit cooler and reluctant, indifferent or even ignoring, negative, or openly hostile. Every individual or group confronted with any of these attitudes or comportments may choose to react at her own choice, responding to hostility by staying calm and friendly, cooling down, ignoring, answering or even outreaching unkindness.
Not so Rangers. They are held to be friendly and cooperative towards anybody, even those blaming them, accusing them, bickering on them. They are nailed to the utter left side of the above graph by the duties of their faction. Confronting them as enemies is an unfair and dirty game, always probing their patience and tolerance and punishing them for the slightest transgression. That game, btw. has been played over months, and me, being not a saint, rather quite catty and foulmouthed by my nature as a desert-homed and desert-loving trykette soldier and not a damn courtier, am totally fed up and frustrated by it. We have done a shitload of work in patrolling, scouting, building the camps, killing white kitins, and much more, risking and losing our lives left to the grace of the powers infinite times only to receive renewed suspicions like that by Ozwomen above. I have even been reproached for using my freedom of speech in our own assemblies.
I can say that I repeatedly considered to leave roleplay altogether.
Again: It was a shitty idea to play an "anti-Ranger" roleplay. And beneath that, the Matis (and probably the jungle) roleplayers have taken an "all or nothing" stance, digging in in a position only allowing total victory or total defeat. When it became clear that the Karan - by the event team - had allowed Rangers to experiment in the forest, an outcry of Matis Nobles occurred, mainly against the Rangers, of course. And then, the resistance stiffened until two internal meetings with the Karan where the Nobles were allegedly mollified, the experiments not stopped, anyway. Only because Matis and Jungle roleplayers never considered a "Plan B" they are now facing a humiliating situation nobody has wished them (indeed I still hope for at least some face saving).
At the time the permission of the court for the Rangers' experiments became public, the Event Team was not sufficiently cross-informed. This seems to have been the case, again, during local Matis Assemblies, lately, when Duke Rodi only informed the Nobles of Avalae, not those of the other cities. I think that interlingual and intercommunity communication is matter of improvement, here, sure. But might those picking on the ET consider the effort or possibly try to help? Ok, I have my problems there, too. Isn't there an admin channel where ET members may inform one another when attending a meeting etc. and telling or learning something possibly important to their colleagues? Was it wise by one ET member, e.g., to send an angry roleplayer to the meeting of a colleague, without informing himself before or briefing the colleague?
I still think this all has to come to an end and players should look more constructively on it. As to Salazar I can say that I possibly invested more time and effort into services for the Kingdom than he invested in Matis roleplay during the same period. I admit that at least Ser Djaimse and the Royal advisor at Avalae thanked me for, sometimes, so did Ser Erminantius. We are damn no enemies of the kingdom, and will never be.
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Daomei die Streunerin - religionsneutral, zivilisationsneutral, gildenneutral