MSN - Discussion on hive acitivity and work allocation

[Kody]

Kody = John
Voltaire = Sicut erat in principio, et nunc et semper, et in saecula saeculorum


John says:
hi
Sicut erat in principio, et nunc et semper, et in saecula saeculorum says:
hello
John says:
I wanted to propose a method we can get people more involved
Sicut erat in principio, et nunc et semper, et in saecula saeculorum says:
I'm more than willing to listen to any ideas.
Sicut erat in principio, et nunc et semper, et in saecula saeculorum says:
Several people have already suggested some.
John says:
well I was hoping you guys would organise it
John says:
but apparently it looks like I need to give a bit of a nudge
John says:
firstly lets start at the top
John says:
as chairman it would be great if you organised our long term goals
John says:
like say, we want to kill off this faction
Sicut erat in principio, et nunc et semper, et in saecula saeculorum says:
I have been doing so, only in private... HongHu, the Marshal, and Octavian have been my confidants, as well as Jamski and Tass.
John says:
or make pacts with this faction
John says:
yup but if you don't reveal this
John says:
then people don't sense your presence
John says:
so if you like post long term goals for the hive in the public forum. You don't have to reveal everything
John says:
also it would be good if you organised tasks
Sicut erat in principio, et nunc et semper, et in saecula saeculorum says:
I understand, part of my absence has been due to the fact that there has not been much to decide in-game wise in the short run thanks to your abilities.
John says:
there are short term tasks that need to be done
John says:
that I'm only half doing
John says:
or often delaying until the last minute
Sicut erat in principio, et nunc et semper, et in saecula saeculorum says:
I have been attempting to do precisely that, the problem is that not enough people participate in the relivant discussions.
Sicut erat in principio, et nunc et semper, et in saecula saeculorum says:
The policy making is dominated by a few.
John says:
well the general feeling people seem to have is that the problem is at my end
John says:
however I can't get these tasks out to people
John says:
not effectively that they get done.
Sicut erat in principio, et nunc et semper, et in saecula saeculorum says:
Yes, HongHu has spoken to me about that opinion.
Sicut erat in principio, et nunc et semper, et in saecula saeculorum says:
Let me put it this way...
Sicut erat in principio, et nunc et semper, et in saecula saeculorum says:
We need to do things by the book, by the constitution... the majority of decision making has been done by yourself, with my approval, most often unchanged. The new system I designed was meant to bring forth public discussion, but not enough people are interested in planning the game.
Sicut erat in principio, et nunc et semper, et in saecula saeculorum says:
But what people are interested in is having a final say.
Sicut erat in principio, et nunc et semper, et in saecula saeculorum says:
Let's try an experiment...
Sicut erat in principio, et nunc et semper, et in saecula saeculorum says:
More polls, for all decisions.
John says:
hrmm which is stupid giving people the final say for mircomangement issues.
Sicut erat in principio, et nunc et semper, et in saecula saeculorum says:
From now on instead of planning out every turn in percise detail, we release a 10 turn general plan for approval.
Sicut erat in principio, et nunc et semper, et in saecula saeculorum says:
But of course...
Sicut erat in principio, et nunc et semper, et in saecula saeculorum says:
I'm not suggesting that...
Sicut erat in principio, et nunc et semper, et in saecula saeculorum says:
The 10 turn general plan would set the goals for the faction
Sicut erat in principio, et nunc et semper, et in saecula saeculorum says:
how they are acheived becomes a matter of the details
John says:
we would be allowed to adjust it as we go right?
Sicut erat in principio, et nunc et semper, et in saecula saeculorum says:
The problem we face is a lack of participation
Sicut erat in principio, et nunc et semper, et in saecula saeculorum says:
we just don't have enough people
Sicut erat in principio, et nunc et semper, et in saecula saeculorum says:
or active members at least
Sicut erat in principio, et nunc et semper, et in saecula saeculorum says:
with the approval of the people
John says:
we have active members, but people don't want to commit themselves
Sicut erat in principio, et nunc et semper, et in saecula saeculorum says:
therefore if we need a chance there needs to be a formal vote
Sicut erat in principio, et nunc et semper, et in saecula saeculorum says:
you have comited yourself more than anyone asked
Sicut erat in principio, et nunc et semper, et in saecula saeculorum says:
i comend you for that
John says:
well can we have someone to handle it.
Sicut erat in principio, et nunc et semper, et in saecula saeculorum says:
but HongHu has stated that she wishes you would take on a more of a teaching role alongside your normal duties
John says:
someone to handle the polls, compile the ideas
Sicut erat in principio, et nunc et semper, et in saecula saeculorum says:
discuss the matters in detail, as well as the reasons for our actions in order to educate others
Sicut erat in principio, et nunc et semper, et in saecula saeculorum says:
of course
Sicut erat in principio, et nunc et semper, et in saecula saeculorum says:
i do not expect you to do that
Sicut erat in principio, et nunc et semper, et in saecula saeculorum says:
if need be I will do it myself
Sicut erat in principio, et nunc et semper, et in saecula saeculorum says:
your job is the plan
John says:
I can provide most of the details
Sicut erat in principio, et nunc et semper, et in saecula saeculorum says:
No one wants the responsibilities of planning
John says:
I tired to teach honghu how to organise a poll.
Sicut erat in principio, et nunc et semper, et in saecula saeculorum says:
that is the problem
John says:
she wiggled out
John says:
you can see the thread where I tired.
Sicut erat in principio, et nunc et semper, et in saecula saeculorum says:
I think the problem lays in the fact that your policies are often the best ones...
Sicut erat in principio, et nunc et semper, et in saecula saeculorum says:
People feel as though they cannot do any better, and hence do not try... or in effect agree with what you propose.
Sicut erat in principio, et nunc et semper, et in saecula saeculorum says:
I know that you consult with quite a few people on matters.
John says:
the only reason why they're the best is because I talk to those people first
Sicut erat in principio, et nunc et semper, et in saecula saeculorum says:
But since more of the Hive decision making has moved off of hte forums it is not in the public eye.
John says:
*nod*
Sicut erat in principio, et nunc et semper, et in saecula saeculorum says:
The strange thing is that the Hive is far from inactive, just that the activity is on MSN
John says:
oh yeah can you skim the base layout place, and see if you notice anything that might need changes?
John says:
LOL
John says:
yeah definately
Sicut erat in principio, et nunc et semper, et in saecula saeculorum says:
I did
Sicut erat in principio, et nunc et semper, et in saecula saeculorum says:
As well as the borehole layouts
John says:
any comments, adjustments ideas
Sicut erat in principio, et nunc et semper, et in saecula saeculorum says:
I must say I'm impressed, all those boreholes...
John says:
borehole layout added an base and adjusted one base to make it sea
John says:
so we don't get land locked probe ships
Sicut erat in principio, et nunc et semper, et in saecula saeculorum says:
No, in fact I think a great job was done of putting all those bases on our small continent...
John says:
the problem is the land may change when we do our landraising, but that's too far into the future atm.
John says:
Jamski did the majority of the base placement
Sicut erat in principio, et nunc et semper, et in saecula saeculorum says:
several people were invited by our active members
Sicut erat in principio, et nunc et semper, et in saecula saeculorum says:
posted once or twice, or not at all
Sicut erat in principio, et nunc et semper, et in saecula saeculorum says:
and then we never see them again
John says:
*nod*
Sicut erat in principio, et nunc et semper, et in saecula saeculorum says:
See, people are activly participating in decision making
John says:
perhaps we better start posting every single MSN conversation
Sicut erat in principio, et nunc et semper, et in saecula saeculorum says:
lol, I was just about to suggest that
Sicut erat in principio, et nunc et semper, et in saecula saeculorum says:
of course just change my nick from the MSN think to Voltaire when the things is posted... or somehow indicate who it is
John says:
okay
John says:
so post all of this?
Sicut erat in principio, et nunc et semper, et in saecula saeculorum says:
indeed
Sicut erat in principio, et nunc et semper, et in saecula saeculorum says:
in the turnchat transcript thread
John says:
I think we should make them seperate threads
John says:
with headers on what the conversation is about
Sicut erat in principio, et nunc et semper, et in saecula saeculorum says:
not a bad idea
Sicut erat in principio, et nunc et semper, et in saecula saeculorum says:
In fact I like it
Sicut erat in principio, et nunc et semper, et in saecula saeculorum says:
IMO we should also close some of the spam threads
Sicut erat in principio, et nunc et semper, et in saecula saeculorum says:
PRAVDA can stay, it adds character to the Hive
John says:
some of the worse ones
Sicut erat in principio, et nunc et semper, et in saecula saeculorum says:
but we simply have too much spam
John says:
maybe arrange to give Jamski mod powers
Sicut erat in principio, et nunc et semper, et in saecula saeculorum says:
lol, i'll look into it
Sicut erat in principio, et nunc et semper, et in saecula saeculorum says:
though the mod functions i have cannot do that much
Sicut erat in principio, et nunc et semper, et in saecula saeculorum says:
i cannot for example delete posts or threads
Sicut erat in principio, et nunc et semper, et in saecula saeculorum says:
only edit them or close them
John says:
yeah all Jamski needs to do is be able to close them
Sicut erat in principio, et nunc et semper, et in saecula saeculorum says:
i will speak to the admins
Sicut erat in principio, et nunc et semper, et in saecula saeculorum says:
But from now on we will make it Hive policy to post ALL MSN discussions
Sicut erat in principio, et nunc et semper, et in saecula saeculorum says:
no matter the content
Sicut erat in principio, et nunc et semper, et in saecula saeculorum says:
If nothing the forums will serve as an archive of our activity
John says:
okay then
Sicut erat in principio, et nunc et semper, et in saecula saeculorum says:
a demonstration of the fact that we are indeed active
Sicut erat in principio, et nunc et semper, et in saecula saeculorum says:
One other thing that IMO has contributed to the decline of interest in the game...
Sicut erat in principio, et nunc et semper, et in saecula saeculorum says:
And I've said this on numerous occasions...
Sicut erat in principio, et nunc et semper, et in saecula saeculorum says:
The lack of policits, that made the initial ACDG interesting (until they got rid of parties)
Sicut erat in principio, et nunc et semper, et in saecula saeculorum says:
We just need to be patient and wait to encounter the other factions.
Sicut erat in principio, et nunc et semper, et in saecula saeculorum says:
Then the planitary council discussion will be of much interest.
John says:
okay
Sicut erat in principio, et nunc et semper, et in saecula saeculorum says:
Given the fact that we need not limit ourselves to the in-game resolutions...
John says:
I wonder if googlie can increase the frequency of disasters?
Hmm, good question... I'm not sure.
John says:
if we have disasters
John says:
then we can roleplay relief work
Sicut erat in principio, et nunc et semper, et in saecula saeculorum says:
Very true

[Googlie]

For anyone else who found Voltaire's MSN moniker annoying, here is the transcript again:

John says:
hi
Voltaire says:
hello
John says:
I wanted to propose a method we can get people more involved
Voltaire says:
I'm more than willing to listen to any ideas. Several people have already suggested some.
John says:
well I was hoping you guys would organise it but apparently it looks like I need to give a bit of a nudge.
firstly lets start at the top: as chairman it would be great if you organised our long term goals like say, we want to kill off this faction
Voltaire says:
I have been doing so, only in private... HongHu, the Marshal, and Octavian have been my confidants, as well as Jamski and Tass.
John says:
or make pacts with this faction, yup but if you don't reveal this then people don't sense your presence, so if you like post long term goals for the hive in the public forum. You don't have to reveal everything. Aalso it would be good if you organised tasks
Voltaire says:
I understand, part of my absence has been due to the fact that there has not been much to decide in-game wise in the short run thanks to your abilities.
John says:
there are short term tasks that need to be done
that I'm only half doing or often delaying until the last minute
Voltaire says:
I have been attempting to do precisely that, the problem is that not enough people participate in the relivant discussions.
Voltaire says:
The policy making is dominated by a few.
John says:
well the general feeling people seem to have is that the problem is at my end however I can't get these tasks out to people not effectively that they get done.
Voltaire says:
Yes, HongHu has spoken to me about that opinion.
Voltaire says:
Let me put it this way...we need to do things by the book, by the constitution... the majority of decision making has been done by yourself, with my approval, most often unchanged. The new system I designed was meant to bring forth public discussion, but not enough people are interested in planning the game.

But what people are interested in is having a final say.
Let's try an experiment...More polls, for all decisions.
John says:
hrmm which is stupid giving people the final say for mircomangement issues.
Voltaire says:
From now on instead of planning out every turn in percise detail, we release a 10 turn general plan for approval.

But of course...I'm not suggesting that...

The 10 turn general plan would set the goals for the faction - how they are acheived becomes a matter of the details
John says:
we would be allowed to adjust it as we go right?
Voltaire says:
The problem we face is a lack of participation. We just don't have enough people - or active members at least
with the approval of the people
John says:
we have active members, but people don't want to commit themselves
Voltaire says:
therefore if we need a chance there needs to be a formal vote. You have committed yourself more than anyone asked

i comend you for that
John says:
well can we have someone to handle it.
Voltaire says:
but HongHu has stated that she wishes you would take on a more of a teaching role alongside your normal duties
John says:
someone to handle the polls, compile the ideas
Voltaire says:
discuss the matters in detail, as well as the reasons for our actions in order to educate others of course

i do not expect you to do that. If need be I will do it myself. Your job is the plan
John says:
I can provide most of the details
Voltaire says:
No one wants the responsibilities of planning
John says:
I tired to teach honghu how to organise a poll.
Voltaire says:
that is the problem
John says:
she wiggled out. You can see the thread where I tried.
Voltaire says:
I think the problem lays in the fact that your policies are often the best ones... People feel as though they cannot do any better, and hence do not try... or in effect agree with what you propose. I know that you consult with quite a few people on matters.
John says:
the only reason why they're the best is because I talk to those people first
Voltaire says:
But since more of the Hive decision making has moved off of hte forums it is not in the public eye.
John says:
*nod*
Voltaire says:
The strange thing is that the Hive is far from inactive, just that the activity is on MSN
John says:
oh yeah can you skim the base layout place, and see if you notice anything that might need changes?

LOL, yeah definately
Voltaire says:
I did. As well as the borehole layouts
John says:
any comments, adjustments ideas
Voltaire says:
I must say I'm impressed, all those boreholes...
John says:
borehole layout added an base and adjusted one base to make it sea so we don't get land locked probe ships
Voltaire says:
No, in fact I think a great job was done of putting all those bases on our small continent...
John says:
the problem is the land may change when we do our landraising, but that's too far into the future atm. Jamski did the majority of the base placement
Voltaire says:
several people were invited by our active members -
posted once or twice, or not at all and then we never see them again
John says:
*nod*
Voltaire says:
See, people are activly participating in decision making
John says:
perhaps we better start posting every single MSN conversation
Voltaire says:
lol, I was just about to suggest that - of course just change my nick from the MSN think to Voltaire when the things is posted... or somehow indicate who it is
John says:
okay - so post all of this?
Voltaire says:
indeed in the turnchat transcript thread
John says:
I think we should make them seperate threads with headers on what the conversation is about
Voltaire says:
not a bad idea. In fact I like it. IMO we should also close some of the spam threads. PRAVDA can stay, it adds character to the Hive
John says:
some of the worse ones
Voltaire says:
but we simply have too much spam
John says:
maybe arrange to give Jamski mod powers
Voltaire says:
lol, i'll look into it
Voltaire says:
though the mod functions i have cannot do that much
i cannot for example delete posts or threads - only edit them or close them
John says:
yeah all Jamski needs to do is be able to close them
Voltaire says:
i will speak to the admins. But from now on we will make it Hive policy to post ALL MSN discussions no matter the content. If nothing the forums will serve as an archive of our activity
John says:
okay then
Voltaire says:
a demonstration of the fact that we are indeed active - One other thing that IMO has contributed to the decline of interest in the game... And I've said this on numerous occasions... The lack of politics, that made the initial ACDG interesting (until they got rid of parties) We just need to be patient and wait to encounter the other factions. Then the planitary council discussion will be of much interest.
John says:
okay
Voltaire says:
Given the fact that we need not limit ourselves to the in-game resolutions...
John says:
I wonder if googlie can increase the frequency of disasters?
Hmm, good question... I'm not sure.
John says:
if we have disasters then we can roleplay relief work
Voltaire says:
Very true

[Googlie]

Originally posted by Kody
I wonder if googlie can increase the frequency of disasters?

No - unfortunately it's not possible to change the alphax.txt once a scenario'ed PBEM game has started.

G.

[Jamski]

maybe arrange to give Jamski mod powers

:eek!:

-Jam

[Snowflake]

John says:
I tired to teach honghu how to organise a poll.
she wiggled out

lol. I didn't mean to wiggle out from anything. I thought it was Jamski's place to do the polls but I would do it if you all think I should.

As for giving Jamski mod powers, as far as I know Marshal had also PMed the administors and he was urging me to do the same. I haven't got a chance to speak to Jamksi and Chairman, if you all agree then I will do that too. I guess if Chairman would do the PM maybe it will be more effective.