Thread Closed
Blade, I wrote this as an alternative to the open debate with Castiel/Kylin that was requested of me. It is in no way meant to be an advertisement. It's a catch-22; I'm being called out for doing the exact thing you suggest: acting independently and disregarding the RPC, and at the same time I am being chided by you for taking the RPC into account and opening a line of discussion, albeit not in the same capacity that was originally requested.
Keisuna, thank you for that apology. I'm not looking to change opinions, I only want to have a discourse that is free of assumptions. After last night I wasn't convinced such a thing was possible, but I'm willing to admit I could be wrong, particularly if your own demeanor is anything to go by.
I am also willing to admit that your other statements aren't without their merit. The comparison of ZAM and GamerEscape is not a wholly accurate one because yes, in an ideal world all roleplayers should strive to create the most interactive community possible. This is why we create websites such as these, and why we try to coordinate on the same server as much as possible. For one reason or another however, the community here has fractured. Individual opinions vary, but the end result is mostly the same: they have a reason for not wanting to engage with the RPC, but are interested in an alternative. Unity would be wonderful, but some people don't feel it's a realistic goal, and so the alternative is to provide these people with a space and an opportunity capable of filling a similar role as the RPC in an environment they feel more comfortable in, or believe is more conducive to a positive future.
I'm not doing this because I want to supplant Kylan; he has nothing but my admiration and respect for all that he's done over the last few years. Consulting with him and offering my time and energy to the RPC was the very first thought I had. It's my experiences attempting to work with him in the past, and the opinions of myself and some others, which influenced me against doing so.
Part of that is due to past behaviors in which some feel that Kylin acted less as a caretaker of this website and a facilitator of community, and more as a leader and influencor. I'm not saying that this is still the case, but I do feel it's necessary to emphasize that any claims of me doing what I've done to assume any sort of leadership or ownership of the community go against my entire philosophy. The events of two years prior were due to my belief that the RPC belonged to the community, and was not beholden to any one individual. My belief hasn't changed, this is a core philosophy of mine going forward, and is in particular why I chose hosting on Enjin where no one individual has absolute control over the databases and servers.
This brings me to a concern that is being reinforced by some of the responses in this thread: I'm seeing words like "leader" bandied around. Leadership is, in my opinion, the problem and not the solution. If I am to be considered a leader, it should be in no more capacity than my designing of the website, support of its policies, and propagation of its advertisements.
Eva, I've already explained above why coordination was not attempted, so I won't reiterate that here. For what it's worth, I will say that I am sorry for not approaching Kylin prior to "going live". More than that however, because I don't believe any one person should be representative of the community, I apologize to the active members of the RPC for not consulting with you. I can't expect you to understand my reasons for not doing so, but I hope you can at least acknowledge them, just as I acknowledge your reasons for disagreeing.
I hope this helps address some of your questions and concerns. I'm at work, so I can only fit so much in a limited window of time, but I'll continue to check in for as long as people are interested in discussing this (amicably).
(Also, Sienna, I apologize that I didn't have time to respond to you directly, but I hope that some of what I explained above can at least shed some light on why not all Balmung roleplayers would want to utilize the RPC)
Keisuna, thank you for that apology. I'm not looking to change opinions, I only want to have a discourse that is free of assumptions. After last night I wasn't convinced such a thing was possible, but I'm willing to admit I could be wrong, particularly if your own demeanor is anything to go by.
I am also willing to admit that your other statements aren't without their merit. The comparison of ZAM and GamerEscape is not a wholly accurate one because yes, in an ideal world all roleplayers should strive to create the most interactive community possible. This is why we create websites such as these, and why we try to coordinate on the same server as much as possible. For one reason or another however, the community here has fractured. Individual opinions vary, but the end result is mostly the same: they have a reason for not wanting to engage with the RPC, but are interested in an alternative. Unity would be wonderful, but some people don't feel it's a realistic goal, and so the alternative is to provide these people with a space and an opportunity capable of filling a similar role as the RPC in an environment they feel more comfortable in, or believe is more conducive to a positive future.
I'm not doing this because I want to supplant Kylan; he has nothing but my admiration and respect for all that he's done over the last few years. Consulting with him and offering my time and energy to the RPC was the very first thought I had. It's my experiences attempting to work with him in the past, and the opinions of myself and some others, which influenced me against doing so.
Part of that is due to past behaviors in which some feel that Kylin acted less as a caretaker of this website and a facilitator of community, and more as a leader and influencor. I'm not saying that this is still the case, but I do feel it's necessary to emphasize that any claims of me doing what I've done to assume any sort of leadership or ownership of the community go against my entire philosophy. The events of two years prior were due to my belief that the RPC belonged to the community, and was not beholden to any one individual. My belief hasn't changed, this is a core philosophy of mine going forward, and is in particular why I chose hosting on Enjin where no one individual has absolute control over the databases and servers.
This brings me to a concern that is being reinforced by some of the responses in this thread: I'm seeing words like "leader" bandied around. Leadership is, in my opinion, the problem and not the solution. If I am to be considered a leader, it should be in no more capacity than my designing of the website, support of its policies, and propagation of its advertisements.
Eva, I've already explained above why coordination was not attempted, so I won't reiterate that here. For what it's worth, I will say that I am sorry for not approaching Kylin prior to "going live". More than that however, because I don't believe any one person should be representative of the community, I apologize to the active members of the RPC for not consulting with you. I can't expect you to understand my reasons for not doing so, but I hope you can at least acknowledge them, just as I acknowledge your reasons for disagreeing.
I hope this helps address some of your questions and concerns. I'm at work, so I can only fit so much in a limited window of time, but I'll continue to check in for as long as people are interested in discussing this (amicably).
(Also, Sienna, I apologize that I didn't have time to respond to you directly, but I hope that some of what I explained above can at least shed some light on why not all Balmung roleplayers would want to utilize the RPC)