Abdication [Archive] - Wizards Community - Pages Merged by Solauren

Abdication [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Caterane
05-04-07, 04:25 AM Hey all,

following MWB's suggestion, I've taken some time off to think about my decision but as I've expected, nothing has changed because the reasons have nothing to do with emotions that could cool down but with the realization that the coco community and I drifted to far apart.

The trigger was the Merman fight. I don't want to go into detail as I've already said everything about it but it's not the fight itself but the fact that 75% of the Elders ratified what the pitlord did here. Perhaps this wouldn't be that much of a problem if I had other things to fill that new gap but without playing characters, what's left is my job as Game Master. And here we come to the main problem: the accusations. I ignored them and swallowed them down in the past year even though I wanted to adress each one of them. But now that this will be my last communication with the community, I want to say some things about that.

To use D&D terminology, I consider myself Lawful Good. My friends often call me a paladin. Ok, you don't know me personally but you know my work here. I made many rules after I saw that there is a need for such a rule when I experienced an imbalance caused by or observed with my characters. Let's take a look at all major rule changes I made in the last 12 months: the 1/3 Rule... who plays all the casters? And when that wasn't enough, I installed the 3-Fight-Cycle. Why else would I do that when not for the fact that I put the well-being and balance of the coco above everything else? The Expendable Cap: no one uses the tactic to spend a hell of expendables like I do. No one benefits from the diversity of expendables like my characters. No one is hit by this cap as I am. And if you remember: It wasn't that I had to make such rules, no, I even had to fight those rules through against a fierce opposition. Here someone fights to handicap his characters for the improvement of the board. The skill packages. Only one of my seven characters uses them. They help skill monkeys and rogues, none of which I play. These rules were made to help handicapped classes and I don't think my clerics and wizards belong to them.

These rules (made by me) and their effects on my characters are hard facts. I don't lie, I don't cheat, and above all, I always had an ear for the opposition of rules proposals and explained everything in detail. You have no idea how time consuming and energy intensive it was to answer each and every objection to new rules individually (as an extra work atop of all the rest a GM has to do, not to mention that I also have a life on my own to lead) but I always wanted to explain my reasoning, no matter if it needed to be explained to everyone individually. I did that because I valued and respected everyone here as an important member of this community and didn't want to appear as a tyrant. Ironically, that's one of the other accusations against me. Why do we have a council? Why Elders? Why do I even bother with anything but an announcement that a new rule is up?

I seldomly said anything about that but it often disapointed me. I got accused of exactly those things I wanted to prevent, avoid, or oppose. I know that it was still a minority that did that but it's like with the few drops of oil that can pollute a lot of clean water. That sometimes led to heated discussions and I know that I wasn't always as level-headed as I should have been but perhaps you can now understand me a bit. This might sound as if I'm miffed or something but I'm not; I've made my peace with that and in the summary, the good things have much more weight than the bad things. Perhaps it's just that my level of tolerance has decreased but I definately leave in friendly terms.

Still, a word that should help my successor(s)...

You know, the position of Game Master is a volunteer job. As much prestige you might connect to it, it's four times the workload, especially if you're GM of the Core Coliseum. And this voluntary work - which you do in the free time of your real life - cannot be taken for granted! There are dead boards out there. Even on living boards, I've seen GMs vanish for half a year and still be GMs. In the beginning it's cool to be Game Master but you need a lot of stamina in the long run. In the four years I'm here in coco I've only seen a handful of members who fall into that category and there's always the possibility that the board lacks a GM that fulfills the high requirements; in that case, the nature of coco will let it crash itself.

The Core Coliseum is lucky though. With MindwandererB you have a good substitute at the helm. He's dilligent, experienced, punctual, delivers clean and accurate work, and most importantly, he is a honest guy and has leadership skills. I want you to see that it's a very fortunate incident for the coco (and your entertainment) that such a successor is available and I would like to ask you to treat him like that.

I've been Game Master from day one on of this board and all rules after the LivingGladius reformation, ie 95% of what you currently see in the Rules of Gladius, were made by me. I hope that I have provided you with a good and well-organized board where you can have fun playing and testing your characters and get acquainted with other regulars of this community. I always saw the coco as a neverending project and I still have many many add-ons in my mind. It seems that I won't see their realization but I want to encourage all successive GMs to continue this path. If I am granted one last wish, then this is it.

I want to thank you for the good time I had here. The CoCo accompanied me a good part of my life and I hope that you don't forget me because I won't forget you for sure :) ...and Ben, I wish you all the best in your new position. May the Force be with you.

Yours, Cat

http://www.caterane.de/Ablage/Cat-Jedi.jpg

:)
SoulLord
05-06-07, 01:59 AM oh well I read that you are abdicating the position but are you as well abandoning us or will we still have you around in either the cef or to battle some of your gladiators now without the pressure of being the boss.
MindWandererB
05-06-07, 02:49 AM Cat has at this time no intention of maintaining any presence here, beyond poking his head in occasionally. I wish it could be otherwise, but I understand where he's coming from.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Caterane 05-04-07, 04:25 AM	Hey all, following MWB's suggestion, I've taken some time off to think about my decision but as I've expected, nothing has changed because the reasons have nothing to do with emotions that could cool down but with the realization that the coco community and I drifted to far apart. The trigger was the Merman fight. I don't want to go into detail as I've already said everything about it but it's not the fight itself but the fact that 75% of the Elders ratified what the pitlord did here. Perhaps this wouldn't be that much of a problem if I had other things to fill that new gap but without playing characters, what's left is my job as Game Master. And here we come to the main problem: the accusations. I ignored them and swallowed them down in the past year even though I wanted to adress each one of them. But now that this will be my last communication with the community, I want to say some things about that. To use D&D terminology, I consider myself Lawful Good. My friends often call me a paladin. Ok, you don't know me personally but you know my work here. I made many rules after I saw that there is a need for such a rule when I experienced an imbalance caused by or observed with my characters. Let's take a look at all major rule changes I made in the last 12 months: the 1/3 Rule... who plays all the casters? And when that wasn't enough, I installed the 3-Fight-Cycle. Why else would I do that when not for the fact that I put the well-being and balance of the coco above everything else? The Expendable Cap: no one uses the tactic to spend a hell of expendables like I do. No one benefits from the diversity of expendables like my characters. No one is hit by this cap as I am. And if you remember: It wasn't that I had to make such rules, no, I even had to fight those rules through against a fierce opposition. Here someone fights to handicap his characters for the improvement of the board. The skill packages. Only one of my seven characters uses them. They help skill monkeys and rogues, none of which I play. These rules were made to help handicapped classes and I don't think my clerics and wizards belong to them. These rules (made by me) and their effects on my characters are hard facts. I don't lie, I don't cheat, and above all, I always had an ear for the opposition of rules proposals and explained everything in detail. You have no idea how time consuming and energy intensive it was to answer each and every objection to new rules individually (as an extra work atop of all the rest a GM has to do, not to mention that I also have a life on my own to lead) but I always wanted to explain my reasoning, no matter if it needed to be explained to everyone individually. I did that because I valued and respected everyone here as an important member of this community and didn't want to appear as a tyrant. Ironically, that's one of the other accusations against me. Why do we have a council? Why Elders? Why do I even bother with anything but an announcement that a new rule is up? I seldomly said anything about that but it often disapointed me. I got accused of exactly those things I wanted to prevent, avoid, or oppose. I know that it was still a minority that did that but it's like with the few drops of oil that can pollute a lot of clean water. That sometimes led to heated discussions and I know that I wasn't always as level-headed as I should have been but perhaps you can now understand me a bit. This might sound as if I'm miffed or something but I'm not; I've made my peace with that and in the summary, the good things have much more weight than the bad things. Perhaps it's just that my level of tolerance has decreased but I definately leave in friendly terms. Still, a word that should help my successor(s)... You know, the position of Game Master is a volunteer job. As much prestige you might connect to it, it's four times the workload, especially if you're GM of the Core Coliseum. And this voluntary work - which you do in the free time of your real life - cannot be taken for granted! There are dead boards out there. Even on living boards, I've seen GMs vanish for half a year and still be GMs. In the beginning it's cool to be Game Master but you need a lot of stamina in the long run. In the four years I'm here in coco I've only seen a handful of members who fall into that category and there's always the possibility that the board lacks a GM that fulfills the high requirements; in that case, the nature of coco will let it crash itself. The Core Coliseum is lucky though. With MindwandererB you have a good substitute at the helm. He's dilligent, experienced, punctual, delivers clean and accurate work, and most importantly, he is a honest guy and has leadership skills. I want you to see that it's a very fortunate incident for the coco (and your entertainment) that such a successor is available and I would like to ask you to treat him like that. I've been Game Master from day one on of this board and all rules after the LivingGladius reformation, ie 95% of what you currently see in the Rules of Gladius, were made by me. I hope that I have provided you with a good and well-organized board where you can have fun playing and testing your characters and get acquainted with other regulars of this community. I always saw the coco as a neverending project and I still have many many add-ons in my mind. It seems that I won't see their realization but I want to encourage all successive GMs to continue this path. If I am granted one last wish, then this is it. I want to thank you for the good time I had here. The CoCo accompanied me a good part of my life and I hope that you don't forget me because I won't forget you for sure :) ...and Ben, I wish you all the best in your new position. May the Force be with you. Yours, Cat http://www.caterane.de/Ablage/Cat-Jedi.jpg :)
SoulLord 05-06-07, 01:59 AM	oh well I read that you are abdicating the position but are you as well abandoning us or will we still have you around in either the cef or to battle some of your gladiators now without the pressure of being the boss.
MindWandererB 05-06-07, 02:49 AM	Cat has at this time no intention of maintaining any presence here, beyond poking his head in occasionally. I wish it could be otherwise, but I understand where he's coming from.