Tuesday update..
Yesterday was busy.. Busy enough that for the first time, I wore down my cell phone battery in less than 12 hours. I was playing the in between person on several things from the new house to utilities to Cam things.
I finally got up to wendy_lady's place and got her all the stuff that I had for my jacket. It looks like we will start working on it sometime around the beginning of October as she has a few wedding things between now and then, and I don't need the coat until January.
I have worked my way through another stack of CD's and coverted much to MP3. If you are interested in looking over my CD's before I get rid of them, please let me know. I am not going to charge anything for them so feel free to pick as many as you want. And yes, I have boy band music and other things that are probably not your "style." We all have our own tastes. *smile*
I am looking forward to Godlike tonight. I am hoping to hear from Ron P. today to set something up to meet up with him.
Finally, below is a rather long post behind an LJ cut (thanks to jeckcrow for the LJ instructional lesson. It is perhaps partial rant and partial get real. Feel free to comment.
I am going to qualify the following statement by saying if you have an issue with what I am saying, then be courteous enough to tell me that I am wrong or that you don’t like what I am saying, to my face, in an email or post it here after my comments. If you insist on going behind my back and incorrectly informing other people about things that I say, or misinterpreting what it is that I am saying, without confirming with me what it is that I mean, then bugger off.
First, I seem to be the only person running for the position of DC in Seattle and the Outlands, and as someone has stated, I seem to be the heir-apparent to that position. Regardless of this, I am not the acting DC, nor am I acting in that capacity. I have friends, whom I trust and confer with on a semi-regular basis. If you hear that I have been talking to any of the current ADC’s or other individuals in the Camarilla pertaining to matters of the Domain, it is, for the most part, fact finding.
I have consulted with three of the current ADC’s to find out what the status of certain things are. I have consulted as to the state of the Domain and whether one individual would consider continuing on as an ADC if I was elected. I have consulted with another as to the state of the Domain Treasury, which is public information, by the way, and finally with a third to confer the status of MC Reviews.
I have spoken with several members in order to get ideas as to the direction that the Domain is heading. Included in this group of individuals are members, through the Domain of Seattle and the Outlands email list and via personal conversations. As any good candidate for an elected position, I am doing my research and finding out what the members would like to see happen. While many of my viewpoints are shared with a number of members, there has also been new ideas that I had not thought of and debate on ideas that I did not like. These individuals have the courtesy to let me know how they feel and to tell me that they don’t like certain ideas.
As to other issues, which have arisen recently, both in the Camarilla and personally.
There are always going to be people that we do not enjoy being around. We can choose to do several things when this occurs. We can role-play around them, which is a simple task. If you are not willing to role-play with someone or that individual makes you feel uncomfortable, tell them. You do not have to be mean about it. Realize that there are certain levels of social skills that other people do not have, and they may be confused about what is being said. If they persist, inform a Coordinator. Another way to not deal with someone is not to go to game. I do not like this option as it takes away from the greater whole of the story. It also, to me, means that you are giving up on the organization as a whole, simply because of the acts of one individual or group of people. The final way to deal with someone that you do not like to be around is to spread rumors and innuendo about them. This should not even be an option, yet it has become the most prevalent way that people handle situations. My answer to this is grow up.
There is always going to be a certain amount of metagaming that regardless of how hard we try is going to occur. OOC information will be passed, intentionally or unintentionally, IC and the house of cards will begin to fall. If the information is unintentional, then there is not much that we can do, and we have to live with that. What concerns me is the intentional passing of IC information, OOC and then back to IC. This is a matter for the ST and the maximum penalties should be enforced when it occurs. It is also the hardest to control, as it is almost always justifiable in game. Leaps of astounding knowledge and presumptions about other character’s actions are just that, leaps, and often times show other individuals that you are willing to cheat to get your way. And just so we are clear, cheating is only cheating when you get caught. Otherwise it is considered acceptable practice. We all make jokes about the 7th Tradition. If you don’t want people to know what you are doing, don’t tell them.
Many people have been continuing on under the presumption that the old rules still apply. If you are one of these people, I really suggest that you pick up your copy of the Handbook or go on-line and re-read it from cover to cover. Coordinators and Storytellers are given broad authority to deal with problems and can act if a perceived violation occurs. So long as they inform their superiors that they have taken said actions and perform an investigation, there is no recourse. I suggest that all members re-read the Handbook, as it will be enforced to the maximum extent, when and if I become DC. If you believe that you are protected from the powers of a DC or DST of a city you are visiting, think again. Realize that the DC and DST report directly to the RC and RST, who each have authority over Regional matters. Do not think that you can visit someone else’s Domain and act like an ass. That is not going to fly, homey.
The Domain of Seattle and the Outlands are one Domain. If you need me to repeat this, I can. That means that any Chapter Coordinator or Venue Storyteller are under the purview of the Domain. If they make a call, you can expect that they will be backed up, 100% by the Domain level officers. If they are in the wrong, their superior will take care of the problem, not you. If you think that you can be belligerent to any officer in the Domain of Seattle and the Outlands, you are incorrect. If you have a problem with an “on the spot” call, do not argue the point in a confrontational manner.
Many people seem to be on cruise control as we near the end of the current chronicle. We are all aware of the ending and many people are using this to take care of what they consider unfinished business. For those people that have been around long enough, we have entered the same phase that occurred at the end of 3.0, only we have had a year to do it rather than 3 months. People are tense and are prone to taking hasty actions. Whatever the expected outcome of the end of this chronicle, the OOC side is suffering immensely. People are becoming downright nasty. We are all human and we all have intense feelings about characters that we have played for a lengthy time. Things will be said. That is natural. Try and keep those comments to your friends and outside of the game environment. Even as opinionated as I am, I am trying to just keep going on and ride out the end, even if I am playing a character that is not that involved. I love this organization and I will support it to the bitter end.
Next chronicle is on a lot of people’s minds as well. Eight years of crap builds up in people’s minds and things have become so convoluted that at least three of my characters have been killed by the same group of people. I want to start fresh and many people do as well. We should start thinking about what we want to do and how we want to do it. Hopefully we can start that very soon. The new tabletop books are going to be released this week and there will be a flurry of questions. Remember that the LARP rules are still being written and while certain people have NDA level information, they may not know all the facts.
What I am really tired of is hearing about things upcoming from NDA level people, that give no information but say things like “you’re going to like the new system” hinting that they are more important because they are in the know. Guess what, I have an NDA too and I am no more special to this organization than you are. Get over yourselves. Just because you happen to have read the draft of these rules and you happen to be on more ST lists than God, even though you are no longer an ST, doesn’t make you any more special than Joe Blow, the weekend Cammie. I am not impressed. The information will come out in due time and we will all get to read it.
I have probably spent too much time writing this. It is probably a little more reactionary than I would like it to be. This is not directed at any individual or group of individuals (though regardless of me saying this, it will be perceived as an attack.) My response again is get over yourself. I save my venom for those people that are true worth it, and currently there is only one person that I utterly detest in this organization, who is worth my effort. If you think that you are that person, you are wrong, utterly wrong, because that person doesn’t have an LJ that I know of.
This is a fan club. We are never going to like all the people, all the time, but we can attempt to try to like some of the people, some of the time.
Update: One final comment, all people (except the one person in the afore mentioned cut) are now Tabula Rasa. I have done this in the past and while many people are seeing the new chronicle as a new starting point, I am starting today.
I finally got up to wendy_lady's place and got her all the stuff that I had for my jacket. It looks like we will start working on it sometime around the beginning of October as she has a few wedding things between now and then, and I don't need the coat until January.
I have worked my way through another stack of CD's and coverted much to MP3. If you are interested in looking over my CD's before I get rid of them, please let me know. I am not going to charge anything for them so feel free to pick as many as you want. And yes, I have boy band music and other things that are probably not your "style." We all have our own tastes. *smile*
I am looking forward to Godlike tonight. I am hoping to hear from Ron P. today to set something up to meet up with him.
Finally, below is a rather long post behind an LJ cut (thanks to jeckcrow for the LJ instructional lesson. It is perhaps partial rant and partial get real. Feel free to comment.
I am going to qualify the following statement by saying if you have an issue with what I am saying, then be courteous enough to tell me that I am wrong or that you don’t like what I am saying, to my face, in an email or post it here after my comments. If you insist on going behind my back and incorrectly informing other people about things that I say, or misinterpreting what it is that I am saying, without confirming with me what it is that I mean, then bugger off.
First, I seem to be the only person running for the position of DC in Seattle and the Outlands, and as someone has stated, I seem to be the heir-apparent to that position. Regardless of this, I am not the acting DC, nor am I acting in that capacity. I have friends, whom I trust and confer with on a semi-regular basis. If you hear that I have been talking to any of the current ADC’s or other individuals in the Camarilla pertaining to matters of the Domain, it is, for the most part, fact finding.
I have consulted with three of the current ADC’s to find out what the status of certain things are. I have consulted as to the state of the Domain and whether one individual would consider continuing on as an ADC if I was elected. I have consulted with another as to the state of the Domain Treasury, which is public information, by the way, and finally with a third to confer the status of MC Reviews.
I have spoken with several members in order to get ideas as to the direction that the Domain is heading. Included in this group of individuals are members, through the Domain of Seattle and the Outlands email list and via personal conversations. As any good candidate for an elected position, I am doing my research and finding out what the members would like to see happen. While many of my viewpoints are shared with a number of members, there has also been new ideas that I had not thought of and debate on ideas that I did not like. These individuals have the courtesy to let me know how they feel and to tell me that they don’t like certain ideas.
As to other issues, which have arisen recently, both in the Camarilla and personally.
There are always going to be people that we do not enjoy being around. We can choose to do several things when this occurs. We can role-play around them, which is a simple task. If you are not willing to role-play with someone or that individual makes you feel uncomfortable, tell them. You do not have to be mean about it. Realize that there are certain levels of social skills that other people do not have, and they may be confused about what is being said. If they persist, inform a Coordinator. Another way to not deal with someone is not to go to game. I do not like this option as it takes away from the greater whole of the story. It also, to me, means that you are giving up on the organization as a whole, simply because of the acts of one individual or group of people. The final way to deal with someone that you do not like to be around is to spread rumors and innuendo about them. This should not even be an option, yet it has become the most prevalent way that people handle situations. My answer to this is grow up.
There is always going to be a certain amount of metagaming that regardless of how hard we try is going to occur. OOC information will be passed, intentionally or unintentionally, IC and the house of cards will begin to fall. If the information is unintentional, then there is not much that we can do, and we have to live with that. What concerns me is the intentional passing of IC information, OOC and then back to IC. This is a matter for the ST and the maximum penalties should be enforced when it occurs. It is also the hardest to control, as it is almost always justifiable in game. Leaps of astounding knowledge and presumptions about other character’s actions are just that, leaps, and often times show other individuals that you are willing to cheat to get your way. And just so we are clear, cheating is only cheating when you get caught. Otherwise it is considered acceptable practice. We all make jokes about the 7th Tradition. If you don’t want people to know what you are doing, don’t tell them.
Many people have been continuing on under the presumption that the old rules still apply. If you are one of these people, I really suggest that you pick up your copy of the Handbook or go on-line and re-read it from cover to cover. Coordinators and Storytellers are given broad authority to deal with problems and can act if a perceived violation occurs. So long as they inform their superiors that they have taken said actions and perform an investigation, there is no recourse. I suggest that all members re-read the Handbook, as it will be enforced to the maximum extent, when and if I become DC. If you believe that you are protected from the powers of a DC or DST of a city you are visiting, think again. Realize that the DC and DST report directly to the RC and RST, who each have authority over Regional matters. Do not think that you can visit someone else’s Domain and act like an ass. That is not going to fly, homey.
The Domain of Seattle and the Outlands are one Domain. If you need me to repeat this, I can. That means that any Chapter Coordinator or Venue Storyteller are under the purview of the Domain. If they make a call, you can expect that they will be backed up, 100% by the Domain level officers. If they are in the wrong, their superior will take care of the problem, not you. If you think that you can be belligerent to any officer in the Domain of Seattle and the Outlands, you are incorrect. If you have a problem with an “on the spot” call, do not argue the point in a confrontational manner.
Many people seem to be on cruise control as we near the end of the current chronicle. We are all aware of the ending and many people are using this to take care of what they consider unfinished business. For those people that have been around long enough, we have entered the same phase that occurred at the end of 3.0, only we have had a year to do it rather than 3 months. People are tense and are prone to taking hasty actions. Whatever the expected outcome of the end of this chronicle, the OOC side is suffering immensely. People are becoming downright nasty. We are all human and we all have intense feelings about characters that we have played for a lengthy time. Things will be said. That is natural. Try and keep those comments to your friends and outside of the game environment. Even as opinionated as I am, I am trying to just keep going on and ride out the end, even if I am playing a character that is not that involved. I love this organization and I will support it to the bitter end.
Next chronicle is on a lot of people’s minds as well. Eight years of crap builds up in people’s minds and things have become so convoluted that at least three of my characters have been killed by the same group of people. I want to start fresh and many people do as well. We should start thinking about what we want to do and how we want to do it. Hopefully we can start that very soon. The new tabletop books are going to be released this week and there will be a flurry of questions. Remember that the LARP rules are still being written and while certain people have NDA level information, they may not know all the facts.
What I am really tired of is hearing about things upcoming from NDA level people, that give no information but say things like “you’re going to like the new system” hinting that they are more important because they are in the know. Guess what, I have an NDA too and I am no more special to this organization than you are. Get over yourselves. Just because you happen to have read the draft of these rules and you happen to be on more ST lists than God, even though you are no longer an ST, doesn’t make you any more special than Joe Blow, the weekend Cammie. I am not impressed. The information will come out in due time and we will all get to read it.
I have probably spent too much time writing this. It is probably a little more reactionary than I would like it to be. This is not directed at any individual or group of individuals (though regardless of me saying this, it will be perceived as an attack.) My response again is get over yourself. I save my venom for those people that are true worth it, and currently there is only one person that I utterly detest in this organization, who is worth my effort. If you think that you are that person, you are wrong, utterly wrong, because that person doesn’t have an LJ that I know of.
This is a fan club. We are never going to like all the people, all the time, but we can attempt to try to like some of the people, some of the time.
Update: One final comment, all people (except the one person in the afore mentioned cut) are now Tabula Rasa. I have done this in the past and while many people are seeing the new chronicle as a new starting point, I am starting today.