Political MUCK
Politics has a way of screwing things up and making me annoyed at people on both sides of an issue. It can be positively infuriating, especially when it rears its head in my recreational space.
What are the duties of a head wizard on a MUCK anyway? I suppose opinions may vary. In my book, the position entails:
- Delegation of duties to other staff and oversight of such, including appointment and removal of other wizards
- Final say in matters of policy or direction (because someone has to)
- Responsibility for anything not assigned to someone else
Now, I strongly feel a headwiz shouldn't be making major choices without any other input or against the grain of the staff or player base. Like any leadership position, maintaining the post requires a certain level of appeasement of the masses (you can't exactly play tyrant and roll out tanks to force people to keep playing there).
So on one side we have a headwiz who is prone to making seemingly-abrupt decisions and standing there saying something akin to "and if you don't like it, screw you." It wouldn't be so bad if they didn't seem to come out of left field. It wouldn't be so bad if they weren't reversals of policy that's existed for years. It wouldn't be so bad if there was some support from others for the decisions. But when pretty much all the online staff members object, it's probably time to reconsider rather than draw a line in the sand. While a headwiz should be the final word, that degree of inflexibility is self-defeating. In the extreme, even ultimate control over MUCK commands doesn't leave you with much if you end up banning everyone to prove a point.
On the other side, we have a former headwiz who won't let the current one exercise any real responsibility. One change he didn't like caused him to seek a copy of the database to run a copy of the MUCK elsewhere. Seriously? If you're going to pull that, why did you ever step down to begin with? He can't accept the MUCK steering away from his vision with any measure of grace. And whether he sought it or not, getting a nod from the owner of the physical hosting setup only further undermines the situation, making the current headwiz feel like he has to be adamant to do anything. No. To me, voluntarily stepping down from the position means accepting what comes after. You don't have to be silent or withhold all objections, but don't act like the place is yours either, because you gave it up. As mentioned before, I'm pissed off by people who effectively sit out an electoral process and then do everything they can to fight the system as soon as something happens they don't like.
So whose fault is the disruption to the MUCK (or my headache)? It doesn't matter. You're both making it worse.
Yes, I feel some of the changes border on assinine. But y'know what, I've felt that way under previous administrations too. I made my objections, but lived with the changes. I didn't go trying to set up a competing copy of the MUCK or insist my opinion was the only one that mattered.
Most of it seems to boil down to personality conflict between two people. Still. It's all pushed me to thinking, once again, about seriously just leaving Furryfaire entirely.
What are the duties of a head wizard on a MUCK anyway? I suppose opinions may vary. In my book, the position entails:
- Delegation of duties to other staff and oversight of such, including appointment and removal of other wizards
- Final say in matters of policy or direction (because someone has to)
- Responsibility for anything not assigned to someone else
Now, I strongly feel a headwiz shouldn't be making major choices without any other input or against the grain of the staff or player base. Like any leadership position, maintaining the post requires a certain level of appeasement of the masses (you can't exactly play tyrant and roll out tanks to force people to keep playing there).
So on one side we have a headwiz who is prone to making seemingly-abrupt decisions and standing there saying something akin to "and if you don't like it, screw you." It wouldn't be so bad if they didn't seem to come out of left field. It wouldn't be so bad if they weren't reversals of policy that's existed for years. It wouldn't be so bad if there was some support from others for the decisions. But when pretty much all the online staff members object, it's probably time to reconsider rather than draw a line in the sand. While a headwiz should be the final word, that degree of inflexibility is self-defeating. In the extreme, even ultimate control over MUCK commands doesn't leave you with much if you end up banning everyone to prove a point.
On the other side, we have a former headwiz who won't let the current one exercise any real responsibility. One change he didn't like caused him to seek a copy of the database to run a copy of the MUCK elsewhere. Seriously? If you're going to pull that, why did you ever step down to begin with? He can't accept the MUCK steering away from his vision with any measure of grace. And whether he sought it or not, getting a nod from the owner of the physical hosting setup only further undermines the situation, making the current headwiz feel like he has to be adamant to do anything. No. To me, voluntarily stepping down from the position means accepting what comes after. You don't have to be silent or withhold all objections, but don't act like the place is yours either, because you gave it up. As mentioned before, I'm pissed off by people who effectively sit out an electoral process and then do everything they can to fight the system as soon as something happens they don't like.
So whose fault is the disruption to the MUCK (or my headache)? It doesn't matter. You're both making it worse.
Yes, I feel some of the changes border on assinine. But y'know what, I've felt that way under previous administrations too. I made my objections, but lived with the changes. I didn't go trying to set up a competing copy of the MUCK or insist my opinion was the only one that mattered.
Most of it seems to boil down to personality conflict between two people. Still. It's all pushed me to thinking, once again, about seriously just leaving Furryfaire entirely.
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