Have a great weekend everyone -- we are off to an afternoon matinee of X-Men
:-)

Mare
a/k/a Sister C

++++++++++

Hi All,

Personally, I would like to thank Keith and Phil for their honesty. I guess
*I* never thought of the council as something people HAD to do. I guess
naively, I had expected that people would resign if they no longer
desired/didn't have the time/etc. to be a part of the council.

In looking thru my old email I was reminded of the days when Druss' alliance
had less then 10 members and how easy it was then. The source as we know it
now has a lot of wonderful people and I am thankful and feel blessed for
having met them. But along with 100+/- people comes a lot more
personalities and more and more potential for conflicts. I think there are
people that are tired of conflicts and tired of it taking away from the
gaming experience and then there are those that just go along with status
quo and it doesn't seem to bother them one way or another.

I think the time has come to try to find a way to get back to basics so that
we may ALL enjoy the game again. We need to find a way for people to enjoy
their gaming experiences and not always be finding frustration. I am not
sure how this can be accomplished. Maybe it can't be accomplished soley as
a "source issue" it might be that it has to be
accomplished, in part, on a personal/individual level. I think each of us
needs to take an *HONEST* look at him/herself and see if/what attitude
adjusting we each may need.

To get back to the pleasant gaming experience, it may mean that:

*people learn to NOT sweat the small stuff
*the source disbands entirely
*the source divides in two as Jamie previously suggested
*the source accepts no new members
*we put a temp stop to the source email list til people can learn to not be
so negative and/or respect each other's constructive opinions
*individuals take it upon themselves to step back from the situations that
are frustrating them and take a break
*individuals take a break from the game entirely -- or go to another server
for a bit til they can find fun instead of frustration in playing AC/HG
*etc.

Where does this leave the council?

As long as "Druss" is the monarch of this group, I think I will always vote
to have a council to ensure that people give some thought to who joins (and
if Druss wants to out vote me on that then that is fine with me as well).
Although, thankfully, it isn't a common occurence, but there are not-so-nice
people that can walk the walk and talk the talk in order to try to wiggle
their way in.

Personally, I think anyone that isn't enjoying it/isn't getting any
satisfaction out of the council (for whatever reasons) graciously resign
from the council and the council and the people graciously accept those
resignations.

Someone suggested this morning that there be one council to govern the
source on ac (HG, DT, etc.). I don't know if that is a good idea, but maybe
some thought should be given to that.

As I said before, as long as people are willing to work together, I am
willing to stay on the council as a general member (*if* still appropriate
given my time spent on DT) but for the reasons I have given previously I do
not want to be in charge of processing prospective new members on HG -- and
also seems I am spending so much time on DT I don't think it is fair to the
prospective new members to be processed by someone they rarely/if ever see.

And finally, I have set my ac list serve to "digest" for the time being and
I don't always read thru all the posts. Sooo on the off chance you/someone
on the list needs to get in touch with me directly please send/have them
send me a private email. Thanks.

Thanks for letting me share my 2 pyreals.

Mare
a/k/a Sister C

Tamo

As I read this, one idea kept repeating itself in my head:

Why not hold an election for Council seats?

People who hold positions of authority tend to get jaded after a while. It
takes longer for some than for others, but it's true all the same. Two
council members stepping down coupled with a monarch who's feeling the
weight of his crown more with each day seem like obvious signs that this is
happening.

Set terms of office for council members. Hold elections maybe three or four
times a year. Make it so nobody can serve more than two terms consecutively.
Divvy up the seats so that the "old guard" holds three positions and the
"new guard" holds three positions. That should take care of some of the
issues with people not getting to know other people. It would also give
others an idea of what it takes to run a group this large.

It doesn't seem fair that the same six or seven people should have to see
this game as a second job. There's something fundamentally wrong with that
picture.

Like I said before: we're all playing to have fun, right?

....right???

What say you all?

- Jess
Tamo, Official Tour Guide of the Blue Tunnel and Sometime Stirrer of the
Political Stew