NJ's LA platform and Q&A (take II)

[Vendrin]

Central control causes issues. HDMs should be the decision on what kind of players they want on their server. If one HDM rejects it, you don't go to another HDM make the character and bring it over without the original HDM's permission.

[Nalo Jade]

Central control causes issues. HDMs should be the decision on what kind of players they want on their server. If one HDM rejects it, you don't go to another HDM make the character and bring it over without the original HDM's permission.

That sounds difficult to implement / monitor. Since the player/special race is of global consequence it makes no sense to require HDMs to have to inter communicate on that to make sure it works. The logistics of having it controlled by all the HDMs is more work than should be required.

HDMs do not currently have any control over what players are on their servers, If a player makes a PC on server X and then decides to make their way to server Y, what control did the HDM of either server have over the player? Worse if a player is approved by HDM A and then moves to HDM B's server and HDM B doesn't approve of the concept what control measure does he have? Do you really want to allow HDMs to ban "certain" players from just their server?

I think while your method has good principles in that you would like the HDMs to have more control over their own server and not have "big brother" breathing down their necks...I think it becomes a fissure that can be used to claim favoritism from HDMs to their players, it can become a point of division between HDMs, it can/will become a NIGHTMARE to keep track of how many "active" Tieflings we have in the world.

But like I said, I have my opinions, and thats all. The decisions should be made by the HDMs/DMA/TA/Standards/PA and community, all giving their input for the big picture. I would just do what I could to get the process moving and completed in a reasonable time, in the mean time I would move that we begin beta testing the races with a very small "test group".

[Vendrin]

Central control causes issues. HDMs should be the decision on what kind of players they want on their server. If one HDM rejects it, you don't go to another HDM make the character and bring it over without the original HDM's permission.

That sounds difficult to implement / monitor. Since the player/special race is of global consequence it makes no sense to require HDMs to have to inter communicate on that to make sure it works. The logistics of having it controlled by all the HDMs is more work than should be required.

They don't need to intercommunicate. The player knows his pc wasn't originally accepted there, and if he ever wants to bring that pc there, maybe a few months later on a cross server plot, he sends a pm to the HDM saying, hey, my pc was created on another server, you mind if I come over on a plot?
If he says no, well then I guess he won't be able to come to that server.

HDMs do not currently have any control over what players are on their servers, If a player makes a PC on server X and then decides to make their way to server Y, what control did the HDM of either server have over the player? Worse if a player is approved by HDM A and then moves to HDM B's server and HDM B doesn't approve of the concept what control measure does he have? Do you really want to allow HDMs to ban "certain" players from just their server?

Every HDM already has the option to ban any player from there Server for 24 hours. They can continue to do this every day, and while that is an interesting application of the rule, it has been done before, and never been challenged.

I think while your method has good principles in that you would like the HDMs to have more control over their own server and not have "big brother" breathing down their necks...I think it becomes a fissure that can be used to claim favoritism from HDMs to their players, it can become a point of division between HDMs, it can/will become a NIGHTMARE to keep track of how many "active" Tieflings we have in the world.

A system can be developed when we have another server coming live. Until that point we shouldn't delay planetouched on the one server we do have at the moment while we wait for some system to be created.

[Nalo Jade]

I agree to a point, which is why I would advocate a test pool. Knowing that things may change the player(s) involved in the test pool need to know that changes are very possible if not guaranteed.

As I said before, though I have opinions, my position as LA would be to move things forward as quickly as realistic.

So here is another opinion...

I think ultimately it should be up to the PA, as it is a player issue. It doesn't fall under control/training of DMs or plots. So I would propose that the PA handle this issue, make liason with the DMA, Tech, Standards and the Players as to what they want and/or can do. Once a proposal was created from the PA I would say the Admin should vote on said proposal and begin implementation. I would suppose that a base proposal for implementing the races should be due no later than 1 month after being assigned (LA deadline motion) in the mean time while a system is being implemented it does make sense to allow a few to start beta testing.

Note: I don't think the DMA should have anything to do with a Player issue the same for most other "Player standards" Feats, spells ect, all of the balancing of players falls in line with PA IMO. It does not globally affect DMs other than understanding the ECL, HDMs would be responsible for ensuring the DMs on their server understood how to RP reactions of the local populace. DMA should be responsible for the standards that concern the NPC/Monster/Content of the playing world not the players.

These are my thoughts so people know what I think about the issues, but again ...

The decisions should be coming from others, I as the LA only acting to keep momentum and get people to make these choices in a reasonable time.

[Wynna]

Every term by every Lead has one overriding legacy and one overriding unreached goal. What would you like your legacy to be and what do you suspect will be your unreached goal? Asking this now, before any term, ensures that the candidate goes into his term looking forward.

I think the absorption of Standards under the Lead portfolio is a good idea. Do you agree and how would you go about it?

How would you support the PR team?

Thank you.

[HATEFACE]

Every term by every Lead has one overriding legacy and one overriding unreached goal. What would you like your legacy to be and what do you suspect will be your unreached goal? Asking this now, before any term, ensures that the candidate goes into his term looking forward.

I think the absorption of Standards under the Lead portfolio is a good idea. Do you agree and how would you go about it?

How would you support the PR team?

Thank you.

LOL!

[Nalo Jade]

What would you like your legacy to be and what do you suspect will be your unreached goal?

I would like my legacy to be: (in order of priority)
1. Installing a "LA Deadline" ability to help give the LA position a tool to use to keep things moving.
2. Making standards at least visible to the community.
3. Transfer player related standards to the PA's portfolio
4. Begin implementation of testing the plane touched races as well as the classes that are held up right now.
5. Work on recruiting from NWNConnections as well as streamlining the rules/standards to something more easily digested/inviting for prospective new members as well as potential returning members.

The unreached goals will likely be:
Races and classes, I think those will be "in the works" so to speak forever, I would expect to have a a good platform system in place and being tested at the end of my term. So I do think they will be playable by December, however I can also see more changes being made to them or how they are monitored.

All my goals would be subject to my ability to work with the current voting body. I would suppose that if elected, this would indicate a mandate of people who are willing to work with me. If I was not elected then it wouldn't matter. I have received encouraging PMs, and though there are some folks that are very vocally opposed, personally I think they are confusing an old NJ that was in a VERY tough time in his personal life with the NJ that is currently running for LA.

All I can do is hope for a chance to prove the "Anti-Nalo" folks wrong.

I think the absorption of Standards under the Lead portfolio is a good idea. Do you agree and how would you go about it?

I actually disagree a bit. If it works don't fix it until it breaks, If I can help make it work with minor tweaks, that would be ideal. I don't want to spend time re-inventing the wheel. I do agree that it needs to be visible, otherwise decisions are being made without the ability of the average ALFA to at least speak their mind about it. I would probably move for a more minor distiction on standards. I do think it is too big for one Admin to handle. I think player related standards should be handled by the PA, classes, races, ect...I think the DMA should still handle standards for DMs, EXP, Wealth and balancing of the game world. LA imo should be responsible for the standards of, well, Admin and how effectively they accomplish the goals of the community.

I would propose an amendment to the charter to this affect, Player standards, shall be the responsibility of the PA, Game world standards shall be the responsibility of the DMA, in the event a domain is contested the LA will act, as previously stated in the LA's responsibility.

How would you support the PR team?.

I am a member of the team, though I have not been as active as I would like. I am not sure what further support they need other than a few more members jumping in to help. I will be sure to ask them and do everything I can to help. They have done an excllent job, reviewing the Zoho project I can see that the foundation for great things has been laid out. I will be working on the NWNConnections site and will be trying to get members to reconsider ALFA as an option. This community is not oblivious to our existance, but unfortunatley we have gotten a bad rep because of our image as an overly rule based group. I would like to see ALFA become more concise and inviting with regards to how our rules are presented to the NWN community.

As a side note I would be very concerned about the sometimes hostile and uninviting perception our forums can be to new commers. I would work with the community to try to make sure we are putting our best foot forward and that treating each other with respect is the rule not the exception. Behavior that is counterproductive to recruiting / retention is subversive to the project, argueably the biggest counter weight to success. I doubt I would have any major impact, however a journey of a thousand miles begins with but a few steps. I would like the PR department, LA and the board administrator to work together on ways that we can cultivate positive discourse and discourage negative behavior. Without censorship, I know that will be hard, but I would not ever advocate censorship. My counterpart Paazin said it best in his platform, "We may disagree but we have to force ourselves to compromise and make sacrifices."

Thank you.

You are welcome.

[Brokenbone]

LA's current charter role:

A. Lead Administrator—Oversight of Administration, Veto & Referral Authority, and Public Relations. Also responsible for resolving disputes over domain classification of any particular issue.

Arguably, the LA hasn't got a lot to do with the NWN1 / NWN2 game, except for promotion (PR). Guess there's a significant, but indirect game-changing power if they pick an Admin whose views they feel more sympathy for, in categorizing a cross-domain dispute (i.e., policy making by proxy, pick someone whose views match yours and claim it was due to "blurry domain lines").

Other than domain classification, LA does have a chance to stop or at least delay game-changing policies which originate with other Admin. Could be based on their own views, could be because some group has lobbied them to exercise power due to reasons they argue well enough to move the LA to action. Veto though is not final, other Admin & HDMs can always override that.

Anyhow, if you support giving LA an actual "game-changing" item in the portfolio, would you also support one or more admin also gaining veto powers? I.e., today, Standards policies out of the DMA can be vetoed (not that past LAs have done much of that), in the future, could Standards policies out of the LA be vetoed? You do not need to describe in any detail that "yes, each will have a veto", or "yes, any alliance of two can veto" or any other formula, just seeing if this tradeoff has been considered. Note I do not see the lack of any other Admin authority to veto "PR policy" as actually important ("hey, I veto using a blue background for that logo?")... it's the game-changing stuff I am interested in.

Basically, making a "checks and balances" Admin into a "policy making admin" might mean someone or everyone else needs to borrow some of the "checks and balances" power. As a candidate for Lead Admin, are you supportive of this idea?

[Nalo Jade]

good question.



I know in my orginal post I said, that I may consider moving Standards to the LA's Domain...however after more thought it doesn't make sense to me to have LA doing standards, I think that each Admin should have its own "Standards" that revolve around their domains. LA's standards would then revolve around standards for Admin, so maybe a code of conduct for Admin kind of stuff. DMA should not work on standards for players, DMs, and builders ect... That really is just too much to ask of any one Admin, and it gives fuel to accusations of "DMA Overlord". So I agree standards would need to be moved, but not to the LA, instead spread out to the relevent Admins, with the LA making decision calls on contested domains, as the charter already states.

I don't think LA should be involved in creating standards, that should be left up to the PA for player issues, DMA for DM and Setting issues, Tech for tech issues, ect...

So a Veto for LA should not be needed. If the LA proposes a change to its portfolio's it should be voted on by the rest of the Admin or the whole membership depending on its scope.

This also illustrates why I think a "deadline" power should be granted to the LA, right now the position has the ability to slow or halt progress (veto), which IMO is needed but should be balanced with a tool designed to move things forward.

[Brokenbone]

Thank you for your reply.

I know some of your ideas had shifted since first posted, but I decided to ask the exact same question of all three candidates, ie, without update / customization / spin.

[Nalo Jade]

Thank you for your reply.

I know some of your ideas had shifted since first posted, but I decided to ask the exact same question of all three candidates, ie, without update / customization / spin.

np, it was still a very good question. I think its important to think about the "big" picture and steer away from tunnel vision.

[Nalo Jade]

I am withdrawing from the race.

Both the other canidates have much more experiance than I do, and though I don't think it was likely that I would have won...I wouldn't want to have been the "Ralph Nader" of the race.

Good luck to the both of you!

I did learn some stuff, I think it was a cool experiance to be involved in all these discussions. Thanks to those that supported me and my "cock-e-mamy" ideas.

...and for the rest of you may your jubilations begin, with me buying your first round.

[Rick7475]

LOL, take it from me, three - time election loser and last place in each one, you probably did the right thing, no sense in taking votes away from the two more experienced contenders.

[Rick7475]

LOL, take it from me, three - time election loser and last place in each one, you probably did the right thing, no sense in taking votes away from the two more experienced contenders.

[Nalo Jade]

I'd like to run again.

I have RL things that will keep me busier than normal, but LA position would require time spent posting and reading posts...and I have always found the time for that sort of thing.

I will be losing the 4-5 hour blocks of time, but I can always find a few minutes each day to hop into the forums...as if you hadn't noticed.

I think I can make a positive difference for ALFA.

Since the last election things have changed so the following is an updated list of "goals".

(in order of priority)
1. Installing a "LA Deadline" ability to help give the LA position a tool to use to keep things moving.
The LA position has been referred to as a figure head position with no real "teeth", I would propose that the LA should be able to help move things along. The LA should be able to set deadlines for Admin decisions to be made, if Admin cannot come to a decision by the deadline then the LA would be able to put the item up to a public vote or ask for volunteers who wish to champion the cause.

Something to put things to rest. I see the LA position as a motivator, not a dictator of policy as much as a force to keep the cogs of progress churning.

An example would be the planetouched races for NWN2. In this example the LA could have set a deadline for a workable ruleset for going beta with these races. If the deadline was not met then the LA would have the ability to do something to push things forward to prevent stagnation.

2. Get decisions on multiple PCs, and higher start level made so the interested parties have a final answer.
3. Transfer player related standards to the PA's portfolio. Let the DMA concentrate on the server, narrator, environment & DM focused standards, and have the PA focus on balancing classes, allowable feats, races, advancement, PC wealth et al "player" focused items. DMA position has too much power, and worse than that just too much to worry about.
4. Work with the new PA and the rest of Admin to get all out "ducks in a row" for a big PR push.
5. Work on recruiting from exterior sources, as well as streamlining the rules/standards to something more easily digested/inviting for prospective new members as well as potential returning members. Rotku is ahead of me on this, but I would make him do it even faster...

I can't stress this enough, I do not see the LA position as a means for anyone to further their own agenda, as a leader in a democratic organization it is your responsibility to put aside your personal desires and attempt to represent those who elected you.