By the time most people look here again, I’ll be gone from the DJB. I sent a note out to a select number of people explaining it before they see the news post that will eventually come.
I sent in my complete resignation Thursday afternoon, but it seems like it’s taking forever for it to get off the ground. I just want to be out, and the slow process I’m facing is making it even more painful of a decision. In a way it’s actually starting to really tick me off. I made my choice, now let it happen.
I might be back someday – working in the background as usual – but for now I just need a serious rest.
Friday, September 28, 2007
Monday, July 02, 2007
Just About Had Enough.
A topic has been floating on the forums asking why you joined or why you stay in the DJB.
Why I joined? Well that's pretty easy. I had never encountered anything even close to what the DB was offering - a community with a rank/award system that played STAR WARS games and wrote STAR WARS fan fiction. I was heavily into the WEG SWRPG and Jedi Knight/MOTS when I started focusing my interests away from the EH and more on the DB. As you all know, at the time they were the same club.
I stayed with the DB through the Exodus, and in changing to the DJB. I stayed because I was having fun, helping the DJB expand and thrive - and in my own way I did for a while. I left the HRLD office because of my lack of time, but also because the negativity was starting to wear on me.
When Muz was elevated to DGM, I was asked to come back as HRLD to offer some stability to the Dark Council. I was reluctant but felt that they were only asking me because they needed me. I was hoping to not just oversee the position but to help expand it some more.
I'm starting to regret the decision to come back. Those who persist with the negativity are in full force. It's like they insist on being assholes for the sake of being assholes. I know there are a few who support me openly, and of course they are getting ridiculed by those people too. There's also the vast, and I'll assume neutral, majority of the membership who say nothing one way or the other. That's almost as bad as being negative.
Custom Robes? They're not even an official part of the club. Muz did them for fun. I do not have CorelDRAW, do not know how to even use CorelDRAW, or the ($600+ to go get/time to go download) CorelDraw, so I won't be offering them anytime soon. Cry all you want - I don't give a fuck. I'm tired of catering to the whims of people who don't care and shit on everything you do.
If everyone thinks they can do such a stellar job themselves - fine... Fuck you all. I have so many other things I could be doing with my time and efforts than babysitting a bunch of whiny little peckerheads. When the chaos ensues, the club will whittle down to the few that bitch the most just hanging out on IRC, verbally pissing at each other and looking down on everyone else, and that will be JUST great.
Thursday, May 10, 2007
Distance, Going The
Recently, in a topic about the possibility of the Sith Order falling out of favor with members - mostly because they are still under the impression that activities are tethered to the social group's title - I had suggested the "unthinkable"...
Remove Obelisk.
Seems sensible to me. The Obelisk order was created for the Emperor's Hammer. It has no official standing in the Star Wars lore, though the name was derived from a creature in their universe. The DJB just uses it out of familiarity. If we really wanted to make a further departure from our former club, we'd eliminate the one piece that still truly ties us to them.
Should this happen? Yes. I'm sure somewhere in all that EH legal mumbo jumbo they say something about it all being their property. I'm sure Blazer couldn't possibly care less, but someone out there does. We should sever this final stagnant piece of our oppressive history, if only to keep them from holding it over our heads that we're using something one of their members created.
(I won't go into detail about how, for years after the Exodus, they used images of mine without giving me credit on a number of sites...)
Would this ever happen? Would the DJB cut off Obelisk and force their members to choose Sith or Krath? Probably not while I'm still hanging around.
Remove Obelisk.
Seems sensible to me. The Obelisk order was created for the Emperor's Hammer. It has no official standing in the Star Wars lore, though the name was derived from a creature in their universe. The DJB just uses it out of familiarity. If we really wanted to make a further departure from our former club, we'd eliminate the one piece that still truly ties us to them.
Should this happen? Yes. I'm sure somewhere in all that EH legal mumbo jumbo they say something about it all being their property. I'm sure Blazer couldn't possibly care less, but someone out there does. We should sever this final stagnant piece of our oppressive history, if only to keep them from holding it over our heads that we're using something one of their members created.
(I won't go into detail about how, for years after the Exodus, they used images of mine without giving me credit on a number of sites...)
Would this ever happen? Would the DJB cut off Obelisk and force their members to choose Sith or Krath? Probably not while I'm still hanging around.
Monday, April 02, 2007
To Defy the Laws of Tradition
Another year has passed, and with it I have officially passed a decade in my membership to the Dark Jedi Brotherhood. Along with the only person who comes to mind right now – Oberst – I’m one of the few who has been around that long. This installment deals with a few things that used to happen, but for some reason we just stopped – or things that we’ve never given a chance.
April Fool’s Don’t.
I was genuinely disappointed that nothing happened to the site this year for AFD. I sent in a suggestion last summer that I thought for sure would have been used, but when I went to DJB.COM yesterday – nothing. Well, I should say ‘nothing unusual’ because there was stuff there, but it was the usual DJB crap. Since Michael Halcyon’s exodus from the Dark Side, the AFD website change joke has been something I’ve waited all year for. The Pokémon one was kind of funny, though completely out of fashion. Not that my suggestion was any closer… I had thought either Smurfs or Snorks would have been a great AFD complete site change.
At one point yesterday I started writing my own little AFD joke – a complete defection from the Dark Side – but I was quickly put off at the thought of hundreds of hate e-mail flooding my gmail inbox. It’s not a whole hell of a huge stretch though – I mean, just look at my dossier… or my wiki entry.
Hard Roles
Since the DJB SPG system is a long way off, I think we should just give general RP a chance. Sildrin and I have discussed starting an IRC channel for RP only. We’ve started defining some ground rules such as no OOC talking, no idling and no power tripping – this means all those low level people who like to talk big would find themselves in a world of hurt. This channel also wouldn’t tolerate much of the overly dramatic/quasi-romantic “nearly VTM” garbage that the Lounge (on the Forums) became.
I also wanted to extend this out to a JA map for strictly RP, but that’s a bit tougher I think. The server would have to have like 40 custom skins installed in order to satisfy the diverse choices people make for their characters. I kind of wish SWG had a ‘free local server’ option. The DJB’s own environment like that would be awesome.
WARNING – Tangent – A few things really pissed me off about SWG though. For one I couldn’t just use my damned character name. Secondly no one was ever really around when I was. Third the game punished non-combat classes with massive taxes and no viable way to make a living. Fourth, by the time I decided I wanted to try for Jedi I totally lost interest in the game because I was so heavily in debt.
R-E-S-P-E-C-T
Everyone knows all about how I ranted about respect being lost on the newer members, right? Well in some capacity I’m still right. However – in browsing the forums, I came to the realization of something I didn’t quite consider at the time of writing my original rant; Respect is truly a two-way street. I knew this before, but I was so blinded in my rage I disregarded it.
The one thing that popped up in a thread was that sometimes people who have not earned enough or do not deserve respect find their way into positions of power. These self-absorbed, megalomaniacal freaks latch on to low level leadership positions, then slowly work up the ladder. They do a good enough job in those spots, churning out activity and keeping people interested, but they lack in social graces (or they lose it when dealing with specific members). I’ve dealt with some people I flat out hate. Do they know? Probably not. Friend or foe, I’ve tried to be equal in dealing with people and their problems, even if their problem is me.
The point here is that sometimes you have to just suck it up and be the bigger person. Let the jackass dig their own grave. I know we’re all “dark jedi” and “evil” and all that crap but we’re also humans who make mistakes and communicate using technology that can easily distort one’s intent. Your character can be an evil monster. You shouldn’t.
April Fool’s Don’t.
I was genuinely disappointed that nothing happened to the site this year for AFD. I sent in a suggestion last summer that I thought for sure would have been used, but when I went to DJB.COM yesterday – nothing. Well, I should say ‘nothing unusual’ because there was stuff there, but it was the usual DJB crap. Since Michael Halcyon’s exodus from the Dark Side, the AFD website change joke has been something I’ve waited all year for. The Pokémon one was kind of funny, though completely out of fashion. Not that my suggestion was any closer… I had thought either Smurfs or Snorks would have been a great AFD complete site change.
At one point yesterday I started writing my own little AFD joke – a complete defection from the Dark Side – but I was quickly put off at the thought of hundreds of hate e-mail flooding my gmail inbox. It’s not a whole hell of a huge stretch though – I mean, just look at my dossier… or my wiki entry.
Hard Roles
Since the DJB SPG system is a long way off, I think we should just give general RP a chance. Sildrin and I have discussed starting an IRC channel for RP only. We’ve started defining some ground rules such as no OOC talking, no idling and no power tripping – this means all those low level people who like to talk big would find themselves in a world of hurt. This channel also wouldn’t tolerate much of the overly dramatic/quasi-romantic “nearly VTM” garbage that the Lounge (on the Forums) became.
I also wanted to extend this out to a JA map for strictly RP, but that’s a bit tougher I think. The server would have to have like 40 custom skins installed in order to satisfy the diverse choices people make for their characters. I kind of wish SWG had a ‘free local server’ option. The DJB’s own environment like that would be awesome.
WARNING – Tangent – A few things really pissed me off about SWG though. For one I couldn’t just use my damned character name. Secondly no one was ever really around when I was. Third the game punished non-combat classes with massive taxes and no viable way to make a living. Fourth, by the time I decided I wanted to try for Jedi I totally lost interest in the game because I was so heavily in debt.
R-E-S-P-E-C-T
Everyone knows all about how I ranted about respect being lost on the newer members, right? Well in some capacity I’m still right. However – in browsing the forums, I came to the realization of something I didn’t quite consider at the time of writing my original rant; Respect is truly a two-way street. I knew this before, but I was so blinded in my rage I disregarded it.
The one thing that popped up in a thread was that sometimes people who have not earned enough or do not deserve respect find their way into positions of power. These self-absorbed, megalomaniacal freaks latch on to low level leadership positions, then slowly work up the ladder. They do a good enough job in those spots, churning out activity and keeping people interested, but they lack in social graces (or they lose it when dealing with specific members). I’ve dealt with some people I flat out hate. Do they know? Probably not. Friend or foe, I’ve tried to be equal in dealing with people and their problems, even if their problem is me.
The point here is that sometimes you have to just suck it up and be the bigger person. Let the jackass dig their own grave. I know we’re all “dark jedi” and “evil” and all that crap but we’re also humans who make mistakes and communicate using technology that can easily distort one’s intent. Your character can be an evil monster. You shouldn’t.
Thursday, January 11, 2007
Winter Update
Boy I've been busy. Real Life and Virtual Life are in serious competition for my time. Luckily I can spend some "real life work" time to do "virtual life work".
Begun This Crackdown Has…
Like it or not, the DJB is getting strict on some formerly loose policies. I know this is going to make some people cry themselves to sleep at night, but frankly I don’t care. Rules are there to help everyone, and those who break the rules citing that it’s ok because it was once approved by someone who isn’t around anymore are guilty.
The Wiki
Star Wars Realism. You’ve heard me bitch about it before, but now it has a bit of weight behind it. I’ve discussed it with a handful of the DC and have been given positive feedback paired with some serious interest in making it happen. It begins with Character Histories. On the Wiki we’ve started tagging articles that have problems. We’ll work with the author to fix these issues until they are at an acceptable state. Hiding behind the blanket of “The Shadow Academy approved it!” doesn’t work with anymore. The current HM knows there were many mistakes by previous administrations in letting things slip through, and much like how a pebble can cause an avalanche, these minor issues have gotten out of hand.
Character Histories are very important to the fictional realm of the DJB universe. Not taking it seriously is about as big an offense as cheating. By not bothering to formulate a decent, believable back story is a disgrace to the genre, the club and all those who participate by writing fiction. Those who write their backgrounds without a shred of regard for the Star Wars saga shouldn’t be allowed to be here.
I don’t mean to come off sounding like some sort of Star Wars zealot. This is the reasoning behind my thoughts. Imagine if you will a run-on competition involving a few members. One has no history written, one is filled with tales of single-handedly killing rancors through the Force when they were a child, and one person actually took the time to formulate a realistic-sounding background. The ability of the members to draw off each other is seriously hindered, and the quality of the run-on will fall in favor of the last person.
It doesn’t take long to come up with something semi-useable, but then again it’s difficult to not feel like a carbon copy. There are so many fallen jedi and orphans it’s amazing. My story? Fallen jedi… and a clone. Yeah it’s far from original but at least I took the time to think it through. Hell I even made it super confusing until recently. The history I had on my dossier up until recently was a combination of jumbled ideas and intentional deceit.
The Forums
The crackdown is going to involve a great many things. Signatures are getting ridiculous. Obvious spam posting is getting out of hand. The place just looks out of date.
Signatures: I’m going to start flagging people. I’m making a new User Class, and moving people into it who need to change their signature. The rules are posted, but I suppose I’m going to have to clarify or refine them. The reasons behind changing people’s signatures are as follows:
The sig shouldn’t be bigger than your post. This occurs more often than anything else.
It says an image of a certain size OR 7 lines of text. Frankly I think it should only be an image of the correct size or your ID line minus your medals and Shadow Academy stuff. We know who you are if you filled out your forum profile correctly. There’s a link to your dossier under your avatar.
Image size restrictions are not there because we have a problem with disk space – they are in place because we don’t want the formatting of the forum to get thrown off. Plus, believe it or not, some people are on dial-up.
Spam: Unfortunately I had to be a bad guy and squash people’s fun. I’m all for people doing whatever they want for kicks, but when it directly affects my work I tend to get mean. The Dark Brotherhood of Spam were an unofficial group in the DJB who were competing with each other on who can get their post count highest. They started annoying me when they’d make useless posts all over the forums, so we opened up the Spam section to tally post counts. They had a website outlining all their participants, their mission, and their accomplishments. I gave all the DBoS people 31337 posts as a post count. I gave them all the 1337 5p4mm3r title. I was clearing out the trash and rebuilding the forums to accurately calculate their counts, so it was just some fun for them before they all got bumped back to their proper number a couple days later. They made me an official part of their little club but I really didn’t want that, so they removed me. It was nothing personal, but “spammer” is up there with “prison rapist” on my list of un-cool titles.
They wanted a Wiki article, and that’s where I had to start drawing the line. They were an unofficial piece of the DJB, and thus really had no reason to be up there. Plus it made it seem like the DJB was rewarding people for being a nuisance. I ignored the request at first, thinking that no response meant they’d given up the idea. I even asked someone to tell them I didn’t think it was a good enough subject for a wiki article. I tried to be nice about it, but then they got approval from Jac. He had no idea I had already refused it, so I don’t really blame him.
In the end they decided to just give up, disband the unofficial group, and go back to being normal members. I hate to ruin people’s fun, but when that fun is at the expense of many hours lost on my account I get angry.
The DC
The DC’s been kind of quiet, so I don’t have much to say on them.
GM: We had some conversations over the last month that had nothing to do with the DJB, but as for the DJB stuff, everything’s doing well.
DGM: He’s had his hand in a lot of stuff recently, but most of it is secret. I’d tell you, but I’d have to kill you.
HM: Talked to the HM here and there, but overall it seems the SA is doing well with its new format.
HRLD: He’s been busy. New robes and sabers, yay! Everything’s looking great.
SCL: Believe it or not, we don’t talk much, and when we do it’s usually not DJB related. I taught her some of the inner workings of the Forum Admin interface, but other than that it’s been quiet.
Tribunes: I rarely speak with any of them. They all seem to be getting along just fine with their respective positions.
Begun This Crackdown Has…
Like it or not, the DJB is getting strict on some formerly loose policies. I know this is going to make some people cry themselves to sleep at night, but frankly I don’t care. Rules are there to help everyone, and those who break the rules citing that it’s ok because it was once approved by someone who isn’t around anymore are guilty.
The Wiki
Star Wars Realism. You’ve heard me bitch about it before, but now it has a bit of weight behind it. I’ve discussed it with a handful of the DC and have been given positive feedback paired with some serious interest in making it happen. It begins with Character Histories. On the Wiki we’ve started tagging articles that have problems. We’ll work with the author to fix these issues until they are at an acceptable state. Hiding behind the blanket of “The Shadow Academy approved it!” doesn’t work with anymore. The current HM knows there were many mistakes by previous administrations in letting things slip through, and much like how a pebble can cause an avalanche, these minor issues have gotten out of hand.
Character Histories are very important to the fictional realm of the DJB universe. Not taking it seriously is about as big an offense as cheating. By not bothering to formulate a decent, believable back story is a disgrace to the genre, the club and all those who participate by writing fiction. Those who write their backgrounds without a shred of regard for the Star Wars saga shouldn’t be allowed to be here.
I don’t mean to come off sounding like some sort of Star Wars zealot. This is the reasoning behind my thoughts. Imagine if you will a run-on competition involving a few members. One has no history written, one is filled with tales of single-handedly killing rancors through the Force when they were a child, and one person actually took the time to formulate a realistic-sounding background. The ability of the members to draw off each other is seriously hindered, and the quality of the run-on will fall in favor of the last person.
It doesn’t take long to come up with something semi-useable, but then again it’s difficult to not feel like a carbon copy. There are so many fallen jedi and orphans it’s amazing. My story? Fallen jedi… and a clone. Yeah it’s far from original but at least I took the time to think it through. Hell I even made it super confusing until recently. The history I had on my dossier up until recently was a combination of jumbled ideas and intentional deceit.
The Forums
The crackdown is going to involve a great many things. Signatures are getting ridiculous. Obvious spam posting is getting out of hand. The place just looks out of date.
Signatures: I’m going to start flagging people. I’m making a new User Class, and moving people into it who need to change their signature. The rules are posted, but I suppose I’m going to have to clarify or refine them. The reasons behind changing people’s signatures are as follows:
The sig shouldn’t be bigger than your post. This occurs more often than anything else.
It says an image of a certain size OR 7 lines of text. Frankly I think it should only be an image of the correct size or your ID line minus your medals and Shadow Academy stuff. We know who you are if you filled out your forum profile correctly. There’s a link to your dossier under your avatar.
Image size restrictions are not there because we have a problem with disk space – they are in place because we don’t want the formatting of the forum to get thrown off. Plus, believe it or not, some people are on dial-up.
Spam: Unfortunately I had to be a bad guy and squash people’s fun. I’m all for people doing whatever they want for kicks, but when it directly affects my work I tend to get mean. The Dark Brotherhood of Spam were an unofficial group in the DJB who were competing with each other on who can get their post count highest. They started annoying me when they’d make useless posts all over the forums, so we opened up the Spam section to tally post counts. They had a website outlining all their participants, their mission, and their accomplishments. I gave all the DBoS people 31337 posts as a post count. I gave them all the 1337 5p4mm3r title. I was clearing out the trash and rebuilding the forums to accurately calculate their counts, so it was just some fun for them before they all got bumped back to their proper number a couple days later. They made me an official part of their little club but I really didn’t want that, so they removed me. It was nothing personal, but “spammer” is up there with “prison rapist” on my list of un-cool titles.
They wanted a Wiki article, and that’s where I had to start drawing the line. They were an unofficial piece of the DJB, and thus really had no reason to be up there. Plus it made it seem like the DJB was rewarding people for being a nuisance. I ignored the request at first, thinking that no response meant they’d given up the idea. I even asked someone to tell them I didn’t think it was a good enough subject for a wiki article. I tried to be nice about it, but then they got approval from Jac. He had no idea I had already refused it, so I don’t really blame him.
In the end they decided to just give up, disband the unofficial group, and go back to being normal members. I hate to ruin people’s fun, but when that fun is at the expense of many hours lost on my account I get angry.
The DC
The DC’s been kind of quiet, so I don’t have much to say on them.
GM: We had some conversations over the last month that had nothing to do with the DJB, but as for the DJB stuff, everything’s doing well.
DGM: He’s had his hand in a lot of stuff recently, but most of it is secret. I’d tell you, but I’d have to kill you.
HM: Talked to the HM here and there, but overall it seems the SA is doing well with its new format.
HRLD: He’s been busy. New robes and sabers, yay! Everything’s looking great.
SCL: Believe it or not, we don’t talk much, and when we do it’s usually not DJB related. I taught her some of the inner workings of the Forum Admin interface, but other than that it’s been quiet.
Tribunes: I rarely speak with any of them. They all seem to be getting along just fine with their respective positions.
Monday, October 30, 2006
It's Been Quiet...
Nothing to really complain about lately, so it’s been rather quiet here at ‘Words’…
Wiki
The Wiki project is moving along nicely now that my staff is getting the e-mail I’m sending. I was beginning to think that the group, comprised of some of the most active people in the project, just flat out doesn’t read their e-mail. Turns out I had the wrong address for a couple of them, and others have three or four addresses and don’t always check the one on their dossier (to which all I can say is… WTF?). I have received a few inquiries from people looking to join the staff, and though I don’t need anyone now I keep their messages flagged for follow up in case I do need more people. So essentially, if you’re interested in being on the Wiki staff, let me know. I’ll keep your info on file.
Forums
The forums have been rather eventless, except for some rogue spam from some unregistered people. This was easily thwarted by making it so that unregistered guests can’t post anything. Can’t make new threads, can’t post on existing ones, can’t even send PM’s to people on the boards. The retards who were spamming? Well they can eat shit and die for all I care. If I can find a way to ban them by IP, I will. I need to keep watch on the wiki to make sure they don’t strike there as well…
Herald
This wouldn’t be the same without an observance of the Herald position.
Muz put a call out to a few skilled people for some work for him. I’m not sure if it’s a hush project so that’s all I’ll say other than I’ve started working on some images for him. I hope to make a few components and send them his way for integration.
I’ve also changed my mind on the robes – again – and sent a few pics to the P:HRLD to adapt the “Knight” robes into my color scheme, but he said something about not knowing how to work on robes yet. I might have to send it to Muz to get it done. I was hoping by going through the Praetor it’d just be done quickly since there’s not much to it other than a recolor and a slight mod to the boots.
I’ve also contemplated getting ahold of the program they use just so I could do the mods myself without bothering them. This, of course, is not something I’d want to do. I know I’d always hate it when people would just request the ‘working file’ for whatever I was in charge of so they could modify it to their liking. People constantly requested the Warbanner template so they could screw with it, and I’d almost always say NO. I think I actually only gave it to one person – Muz.
Titles and Realism
Titles have been under debate a lot lately, and I don’t mean the “real” DJB titles like Darth or some Clan Name title. It’s the bullshit ones people give themselves, like “Prince of…” or “Scourge of…” something they make up. It’s just plain dumb because, as others have said, it’s just a way to stand apart, to make themselves look ‘better’ than everyone else at their level. Frankly I’d rather people accept that they are lowly nobodies, but since that won’t happen I’d like to see the Prestige System in place so people can waste points on such stupid things.
This leads me to “realism” within the scope of the DJB. I’ve pissed and moaned before on the Capital Ship debate, but let me rehash that slightly. The Clans all own these huge capital ships. It takes about 1,200 people to run one of these things, yet a 25-person group has not one – but a few. This is retarded. The entire active DJB population might be able to perform as the skeleton crew of a VSD. Maybe.
My point here also applies to people who are under DJK (or even under DA for that matter) who are trying to make themselves out to be these big, bad motherf-ers by adding a few bullshit titles. Truth be told a DJK is a Jedi Knigbht in name only. A true Jedi Knight would be far more powerful. Remember the words of Yoda:
Luke: ”Is the Dark Side stronger?”
Yoda: “No, no, no. Quicker, easier, more seductive.”
Wise was the small, old Jedi, and heed his words we should. Let’s not get too hasty about how powerful we really are. A DJK won’t be able to lift starfighters out of a swamp with ease. Hell – it might even challenge a DA. Did you see how Yoda struggled? He was a Jedi Master – the Jedi’s Grand Master in fact - and the single most powerful being on the Council.
The Force allows you to use powers to augment your abilities – it does not turn you into a god. What I’m trying to say here is that the meter of “what is possible” is initially, and in my opinion ultimately, set by what you see in the six films made under George Lucas’ supervision. Anything else is skeptical.
Going all the way back to the beginning, I think titles like Darth should be a tad more accessible. I mean… how many people in the DJB currently have that? Two? Three? Yeah that’s makes them special and elite, but I think there should be a few more, purely based on their service.
Wiki
The Wiki project is moving along nicely now that my staff is getting the e-mail I’m sending. I was beginning to think that the group, comprised of some of the most active people in the project, just flat out doesn’t read their e-mail. Turns out I had the wrong address for a couple of them, and others have three or four addresses and don’t always check the one on their dossier (to which all I can say is… WTF?). I have received a few inquiries from people looking to join the staff, and though I don’t need anyone now I keep their messages flagged for follow up in case I do need more people. So essentially, if you’re interested in being on the Wiki staff, let me know. I’ll keep your info on file.
Forums
The forums have been rather eventless, except for some rogue spam from some unregistered people. This was easily thwarted by making it so that unregistered guests can’t post anything. Can’t make new threads, can’t post on existing ones, can’t even send PM’s to people on the boards. The retards who were spamming? Well they can eat shit and die for all I care. If I can find a way to ban them by IP, I will. I need to keep watch on the wiki to make sure they don’t strike there as well…
Herald
This wouldn’t be the same without an observance of the Herald position.
Muz put a call out to a few skilled people for some work for him. I’m not sure if it’s a hush project so that’s all I’ll say other than I’ve started working on some images for him. I hope to make a few components and send them his way for integration.
I’ve also changed my mind on the robes – again – and sent a few pics to the P:HRLD to adapt the “Knight” robes into my color scheme, but he said something about not knowing how to work on robes yet. I might have to send it to Muz to get it done. I was hoping by going through the Praetor it’d just be done quickly since there’s not much to it other than a recolor and a slight mod to the boots.
I’ve also contemplated getting ahold of the program they use just so I could do the mods myself without bothering them. This, of course, is not something I’d want to do. I know I’d always hate it when people would just request the ‘working file’ for whatever I was in charge of so they could modify it to their liking. People constantly requested the Warbanner template so they could screw with it, and I’d almost always say NO. I think I actually only gave it to one person – Muz.
Titles and Realism
Titles have been under debate a lot lately, and I don’t mean the “real” DJB titles like Darth or some Clan Name title. It’s the bullshit ones people give themselves, like “Prince of…” or “Scourge of…” something they make up. It’s just plain dumb because, as others have said, it’s just a way to stand apart, to make themselves look ‘better’ than everyone else at their level. Frankly I’d rather people accept that they are lowly nobodies, but since that won’t happen I’d like to see the Prestige System in place so people can waste points on such stupid things.
This leads me to “realism” within the scope of the DJB. I’ve pissed and moaned before on the Capital Ship debate, but let me rehash that slightly. The Clans all own these huge capital ships. It takes about 1,200 people to run one of these things, yet a 25-person group has not one – but a few. This is retarded. The entire active DJB population might be able to perform as the skeleton crew of a VSD. Maybe.
My point here also applies to people who are under DJK (or even under DA for that matter) who are trying to make themselves out to be these big, bad motherf-ers by adding a few bullshit titles. Truth be told a DJK is a Jedi Knigbht in name only. A true Jedi Knight would be far more powerful. Remember the words of Yoda:
Luke: ”Is the Dark Side stronger?”
Yoda: “No, no, no. Quicker, easier, more seductive.”
Wise was the small, old Jedi, and heed his words we should. Let’s not get too hasty about how powerful we really are. A DJK won’t be able to lift starfighters out of a swamp with ease. Hell – it might even challenge a DA. Did you see how Yoda struggled? He was a Jedi Master – the Jedi’s Grand Master in fact - and the single most powerful being on the Council.
The Force allows you to use powers to augment your abilities – it does not turn you into a god. What I’m trying to say here is that the meter of “what is possible” is initially, and in my opinion ultimately, set by what you see in the six films made under George Lucas’ supervision. Anything else is skeptical.
Going all the way back to the beginning, I think titles like Darth should be a tad more accessible. I mean… how many people in the DJB currently have that? Two? Three? Yeah that’s makes them special and elite, but I think there should be a few more, purely based on their service.
Wednesday, September 27, 2006
Introspective
I haven’t forgotten – I’ve been sick. In fact I still am. This damned cold/flu just won’t go the hell away. Anyhow – enough about me…
Building Blocks
I feel like there is giant gap in the membership. Maybe gap isn’t quite the word, but that’s all I can really equate it to. Let me explain:
There are three types of DJB member these days:
1 – The Newbie. This is a person who just joined, has joined fairly recently, or joined but isn’t all too active (at least not enough to know how things work in the DJB). These people ask a lot of questions, do a lot of things ‘wrong’ in the scope of the DJB procedure, but generally keep things interesting.
2 – The Sophomore. These people have been around long enough to know the rules and procedures. They follow them for the most part, and stay marginally active. These people answer a lot of questions, correct some mistakes made by newbies, and make the DJB machine function with their activity. Some of these people have contributed rather positively to the community, though there are quite a few troublemakers in the group.
3 – The Veteran. This is a broad range of members who are all too familiar with how things work in the DJB. They are divided in their activity, with some being inactive mostly and others picking up the slack. They tend to think they can get away with anything, and they’re usually right. These people are usually sarcastic, opinionated, a bit full of themselves, occasionally helpful but often can’t be bothered.
Sad to say but even I fall into the third category. This blog is solid proof. The part that truly annoys me about the third category has to be the “sarcastic, opinionated, a bit full of themselves” bit. These people tend to toot their own horn about how great they are for the DJB when in fact they haven’t done a damned thing. Some have done a couple good things and are playing those up as the greatest contribution to the club since the invention of the Internet.
With myself as an example – there are things I have done for the DJB, and there are things I continue to do for the DJB, that are shaping it into a better experience. You may not see my name attached to the memo or news post but doesn’t mean I wasn’t doing something on it. In this way I’m not quite like the stereotypical member presented in the third category. True – I have a bit of self-promotion here and there – but a lot of what I’ve done I haven’t really said anything about. That’s why there’s a huge article on the DJBWiki on me. Yeah – I’m there in the Influential Members section, and for a reason. I’m chock-full of ideas, and most of them never see the light of day because I tend to think well beyond my own capabilities. Depending on other people is probably the worst thing I do, especially when I trust them to follow my vision without doing much follow up.
Another rather particularly disturbing fact in my representation of the third category is when people are looking for help but the vets can’t be bothered. I saw some newbie say they aren’t going to bother with one of the key pillars of activity because no one would help him understand it better. It should NEVER come to this. Sure – some people are borderline retarded at reading the simple rules, but even still there are factors to consider, such as language and educational barriers.
There are notable exceptions to these categories, though their kind is few and far between. There is hope, however. If people change their attitudes a little, the health of the club could be improved. In a perfect world, the whole club would be full of #2’s... For now, 1’s need to strive to become 2’s, and 3’s need to re-evaluate their reasons for being here.
Myself included.
Spreading Thin
A lot of why the vets become so jaded is what I’m experiencing now – I’m nearly spreading myself a bit too thin. From Real Life interests to inter-club dealings I feel like I’m doing a lot without the time to spare. So far in just the DJB I’m:
- Administrator of the Forums
This might not sound like much, but just think: any time there is any change in leadership, I have to manually change their status around on the forums. Anytime someone wants any change there, I’m the one to do it. I'm the one often editing people's posts for spelling or grammar, or just flat out deleting messages that are really pointless. My editing doesn't leave a trace, and I don't keep track of what I do, but I'm usually fixing a handful of posts a day.
- Administrator of the DJB Wiki
Again, might not sound like much, but I’m heading up the newly formed Tribune. We’re supposed to expand the rules, templates and general ‘help’ files. I need to get a dependable staff assembled soon. I know a few people I want on it, mostly for their current level of dedication. I'll have to work more on this later this week.
- Advisor to the DC
This is unofficial, but rather an often occurrence. Some members of the DC include me in their conversations, asking my opinion on a range of topics. Not really all too time consuming, though I tend to throw in my 75 cents worth. Recently one topic was on education of the membership in an area I'm rather familiar with. It was a simple proposal offered, but what I had to say about it begged for the course to be expanded into a series of courses. Whether that will happen or not remains to be seen.
Outside of that there’s a host of RL things I’m trying to keep on top of. Work consumes 45 hours of my week. Sleep begs for 56 but is lucky to get 48. Time with the dogs and my wife kills about 35. That leaves me with about 4 and a half hours a day on average to do EVERYTHING else, including play games (either alone or with friends), work on DJB stuff, talk to internet friends, or look into some of my other interests like all those swords I collect or the latest “Weird Al” news.
Luckily a lot of my time at work seems to be relaxed on an average day, allowing me to do some of this while I’m supposed to be working. This blog entry? I’m typing it at work. A vast majority of my personal-interest research? I check things at work. Most DJB Forum administration? You guessed it.
My point here is that I do make an effort to devote the time, but when it comes down to using this little time I have to do the stuff that newbies want, I’ll get frustrated. I’ll ignore people or act a bit irrational because I’m just not in the mood to deal with things that other people are supposed to be doing. I know this is a flaw of mine, and I’m quite sure it’s one that others share.
It’s half the reason I stopped being HRLD. I didn’t have the time to devote to the DJB. I’m finding that I’m slowly getting back to that point.
Building Blocks
I feel like there is giant gap in the membership. Maybe gap isn’t quite the word, but that’s all I can really equate it to. Let me explain:
There are three types of DJB member these days:
1 – The Newbie. This is a person who just joined, has joined fairly recently, or joined but isn’t all too active (at least not enough to know how things work in the DJB). These people ask a lot of questions, do a lot of things ‘wrong’ in the scope of the DJB procedure, but generally keep things interesting.
2 – The Sophomore. These people have been around long enough to know the rules and procedures. They follow them for the most part, and stay marginally active. These people answer a lot of questions, correct some mistakes made by newbies, and make the DJB machine function with their activity. Some of these people have contributed rather positively to the community, though there are quite a few troublemakers in the group.
3 – The Veteran. This is a broad range of members who are all too familiar with how things work in the DJB. They are divided in their activity, with some being inactive mostly and others picking up the slack. They tend to think they can get away with anything, and they’re usually right. These people are usually sarcastic, opinionated, a bit full of themselves, occasionally helpful but often can’t be bothered.
Sad to say but even I fall into the third category. This blog is solid proof. The part that truly annoys me about the third category has to be the “sarcastic, opinionated, a bit full of themselves” bit. These people tend to toot their own horn about how great they are for the DJB when in fact they haven’t done a damned thing. Some have done a couple good things and are playing those up as the greatest contribution to the club since the invention of the Internet.
With myself as an example – there are things I have done for the DJB, and there are things I continue to do for the DJB, that are shaping it into a better experience. You may not see my name attached to the memo or news post but doesn’t mean I wasn’t doing something on it. In this way I’m not quite like the stereotypical member presented in the third category. True – I have a bit of self-promotion here and there – but a lot of what I’ve done I haven’t really said anything about. That’s why there’s a huge article on the DJBWiki on me. Yeah – I’m there in the Influential Members section, and for a reason. I’m chock-full of ideas, and most of them never see the light of day because I tend to think well beyond my own capabilities. Depending on other people is probably the worst thing I do, especially when I trust them to follow my vision without doing much follow up.
Another rather particularly disturbing fact in my representation of the third category is when people are looking for help but the vets can’t be bothered. I saw some newbie say they aren’t going to bother with one of the key pillars of activity because no one would help him understand it better. It should NEVER come to this. Sure – some people are borderline retarded at reading the simple rules, but even still there are factors to consider, such as language and educational barriers.
There are notable exceptions to these categories, though their kind is few and far between. There is hope, however. If people change their attitudes a little, the health of the club could be improved. In a perfect world, the whole club would be full of #2’s... For now, 1’s need to strive to become 2’s, and 3’s need to re-evaluate their reasons for being here.
Myself included.
Spreading Thin
A lot of why the vets become so jaded is what I’m experiencing now – I’m nearly spreading myself a bit too thin. From Real Life interests to inter-club dealings I feel like I’m doing a lot without the time to spare. So far in just the DJB I’m:
- Administrator of the Forums
This might not sound like much, but just think: any time there is any change in leadership, I have to manually change their status around on the forums. Anytime someone wants any change there, I’m the one to do it. I'm the one often editing people's posts for spelling or grammar, or just flat out deleting messages that are really pointless. My editing doesn't leave a trace, and I don't keep track of what I do, but I'm usually fixing a handful of posts a day.
- Administrator of the DJB Wiki
Again, might not sound like much, but I’m heading up the newly formed Tribune. We’re supposed to expand the rules, templates and general ‘help’ files. I need to get a dependable staff assembled soon. I know a few people I want on it, mostly for their current level of dedication. I'll have to work more on this later this week.
- Advisor to the DC
This is unofficial, but rather an often occurrence. Some members of the DC include me in their conversations, asking my opinion on a range of topics. Not really all too time consuming, though I tend to throw in my 75 cents worth. Recently one topic was on education of the membership in an area I'm rather familiar with. It was a simple proposal offered, but what I had to say about it begged for the course to be expanded into a series of courses. Whether that will happen or not remains to be seen.
Outside of that there’s a host of RL things I’m trying to keep on top of. Work consumes 45 hours of my week. Sleep begs for 56 but is lucky to get 48. Time with the dogs and my wife kills about 35. That leaves me with about 4 and a half hours a day on average to do EVERYTHING else, including play games (either alone or with friends), work on DJB stuff, talk to internet friends, or look into some of my other interests like all those swords I collect or the latest “Weird Al” news.
Luckily a lot of my time at work seems to be relaxed on an average day, allowing me to do some of this while I’m supposed to be working. This blog entry? I’m typing it at work. A vast majority of my personal-interest research? I check things at work. Most DJB Forum administration? You guessed it.
My point here is that I do make an effort to devote the time, but when it comes down to using this little time I have to do the stuff that newbies want, I’ll get frustrated. I’ll ignore people or act a bit irrational because I’m just not in the mood to deal with things that other people are supposed to be doing. I know this is a flaw of mine, and I’m quite sure it’s one that others share.
It’s half the reason I stopped being HRLD. I didn’t have the time to devote to the DJB. I’m finding that I’m slowly getting back to that point.
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