Since my appeal was locked so quickly

First a bit of a disclaimer: I know I'm making a statement with little understanding of the exact political state of Shadecrest. I just know what I know from being Staff in the past and as my recent return awareness of discussions that happened in TeamSpeak. Exact details of the Shadecrest hierarchy, politics, and drama I have only had recent exposure to them. I don't have all the facts, but what I do know is that Max doesn't have time to observe day to day operation, we are without a central leader role, and there is a group of admins working together in a council of peers. Oh and there is a single person who has power over console which ultimately gives that individual more power than the other peers.

Now onto your statement:

While I don't care "who" is in charge of any given thing, I think there is a certain lack of a singular person where the buck stops at. I agree with you that we do need stronger leadership on this server. I disagree that it needs to be from the server owner. The UO server I setup and co-owned 15 years ago I stopped being an "owner" and simply a leader after the first 5 years. My other co-owner who is still the own stopped being in a position of leadership about 5 years ago. Regardless the owner is not necessarily the primary leader of the community. The owner ultimately has veto rights of anything he disapproves of but I'm sure the leader of the community does a good job for the owner, that he is basically given free reign in the owner's eyes.

So about the leader. Yes we need a stronger SINGLE leader at the top of the totem pole of Shadecrest. That person should be a significantly mature individual who can think rationally about issues and has a history of being objective and unbias. That individual also needs to be someone willing to shape a long term vision for the server. He / she needs to be someone with strong leadership and communication skills. He / she needs to be more of a leader and problem solver, not necessarily someone who's hands on doing day to day tasks. As you put it if "one of those dudes takes on that responsibility" that's fine, but I would wager those who desire that position are least qualified for it. Generally the best leaders are those elected into or forced into the role because they have the right skills and/or there is no other qualified person for the job, not those who seek power.

 

A vote then?

We have a public referendum, people will put forwards their vote in the comments along with their reason as to why. While anyone can be voted in, it would be recommended that people who are already staff are voted for, and nonsensical ones ("I vote for myself bc I'm awesome" type votes, not genuine ones from none staff members) are deleted. 50 - 60% majority needed, if not, then we take the top 5 candidates and repeat the process.

One vote per person, only a strong veto from Max can disallow it. This would result in a singular leader as we seem to need now. We could also do an anonymous ballot using google forms.

 

lel... ultima online <3

 

Then it becomes a popularity contest

Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk 2

 

You're dating yourself a bit there, cyber

No voting necessary... the point of the post was to express my support of the server, leaderless or not. I would just prefer to know who to turn to during moments of turmoil. If the answer is "no one", then so be it, but at least i know.

<3

 

#WelcomeToPolitics

But what happens if we just assign someone who people don't like?

We need strong leadership yes, but I don't see that actually happening. The system we worked under previously's worked quite well up until recently (ish), but now people are unhappy that we, as staff, are apparently above everyone else.

So then, we need a watchdog of sorts, someone to maintain the server standards. That's what most of the staff who came late to the party have said, and I agree, that's where most of this stemmed from.

I suggested to the staff (on the mod board) that when big things happen, we make sure to actually enquire with other staff if bans and such are the right course of action. That didn't happen needless to say, but it did get support at the time which I suppose counts for something. Then when we tried to make rules to protect the integrity of the server for next time something like this happened, we got shot down because apparently these things don't happen.

Back to the watchdog then. What should we do? Everyone's clearly unhappy about the present state of things.

This situation spiraled out of control so fast. The bans were made fast and without much thought, and in a few days most of this would've been behind us. Grudges would've been held, but that's how people work.

I do have one question though. How long has everyone been displeased with how things have been run on SC?

(Apparently I got rather more frustrated than usual here, for which I apologise. I've only been trying to act in the best interests of the server as a whole. If I have overstepped my bounds, then feel free to send me a pm, I can't always see when I've done something I shouldn't be.)

 

Pretty sure it's well known that I'm by far the oldest person on the server, kind of crazy considering I do not consider myself old. I think the fact that I have more years experience running gaming communities than most peoples' ages on the server dates me more than the fact that I created a UO server 15 years ago. ;-)

Also, the answer of "no one" is a poor one.
Furthermore, the voting idea, not a good one either. Popularity contests are not wise.

Regardless how the server decides who ultimately is at the top of the totem pole, I think that one of the most important factors like I've stated previously is maturity. Ideally it should be one of the older staff members we have. Even though we have a lot of people mature for their age as staff, there is a lot of maturity, rational problem solving, communication, and just life skills you develop 21+. I would suggest that whoever ends up at the top of the totem pole, that should be a base requirement. While age is not everything, I've found that in a position of power, it's more likely to not be taken as seriously, used fairly, etc when given to those under a certain age. 21 is a good benchmark for that. I would even go higher in age like post college, but I think that would seriously limit the options of people even qualified for the job.

P.S. Legend, I don't know you very well but you seem like a well collected individual. Please change your signature. It makes me not want to read your posts.

 

hurr duurrr

 

Guys this is a just a game

 

I agree with most of that... ^_^
It seems that in the long term, it's ultimately fruitless to try and resolve a method of leadership appointment, as the community is somewhat transient and fleeting. An older, more long term, or well respected person may naturally fill in the role with time... in the meantime, things run remarkably well here most of the time.

*It is just a game, but...
-Many people have paid to play here, which also makes it a service.
-Many people have developed interpersonal relationships based on common interest, which also makes it a community.
-Many people have volunteered their time to monitor and maintain the server, which also makes it a responsibility.

You take responsibilities, community relationships, and personal services seriously in real life, so respecting that online (even in a video game) is important. <3

 

geez... i sound like such a grumpy grandpa... xD get off me lawn, ya dang whippersnappers!!!

 

I never even saw this. I like that you think about what is best for the server, but the painful truth is that people who are "mature" enough to be in charge simply aren't here enough. Their lives don't revolve around the server. Yourself and Z_Millla are amazing examples. Definitely two of the most appropriate people to lead us, but you simply aren't on enough. The idea of a medium sized minecraft server is very flawed in itself. Not small enough to need little moderation, and not large enough to provide money so the person funding it can put a large majority of their time to the server. I absolutely hate nostalgia, but I wish that the server could be more like it was when I first joined.

 

Well last time I was staff, I was also the Guild Leader of a 25m raiding guild (and my life did revolve around that), but retired from that position after 7 years. I certainly have more time now and while my life doesn't "revolve" around this server, I would be open to the idea of being more involved in the server again because I do enjoy this community when it isn't being completely stupid.