State of the Community: March 2013

[Jenson]

Hello everyone,

Only a couple of months have passed since my last State of the Community. There have been little changes game-wise, though I am pleased to announce that our Star Trek Online sub-division seems to be doing much better at the moment, and I am looking forward to seeing its continued progress. A special thanks to Jim for his hard work in the STO sub-division—I am optimistic about its future!

The only thing I will note further on the gaming front is my desire for Team Fortress 2 to be made a sub-division by the Senate. Several TLO members have been grouping together and playing TF2 regularly, and the Community Day event went well and was well attended despite technical difficulties. I'd like to thank Dendo Hellen for his efforts in rallying TLO members to TF2, and I look forward to seeing what this game's future will be in TLO!

I want to turn attention now to the main topic of this term's address. It's no secret by now that the last Senate was really torn apart over deep divisions, centering on very different philosophies of how TLO should be run. Unfortunately, as a result of this, several prominent Senators decided to not run again in the new elections. Others have decided not to run because of time commitments. I thank all of our outgoing Senators for their service: Criminula, Griffiths, Grizz, JohnF, and TalusRoben.

A new Senate has been elected, and it is my hope that this Senate term will be different. Indeed, this is the first time where a majority of the members of the Senate will not be incumbents. There will be some tough questions the new Senate will have to deal with early on. What changes, if any, do we need to make to our governance system? What tweaks do we need to make to this community to help it run better and make it more fun? How exactly will these things be accomplished?

With the absence of so many voices on one side of the equation, the temptation may be for the new Senate to veer towards strong change on the other side of the spectrum. I strongly discourage the new Senate to do this, and to try to find a good "middle way" forward even if it does not need to worry about forging a compromise for the sake of votes. There is a lot of healing that needs to be done by the new Senate, and the best way to begin that healing process in my view is to find a fair common-sense solution for the situations that have caused us trouble last term.

Let me make one thing perfectly clear to everyone: I will not continue to tolerate disrespectful actions on our forums and servers, be they passive or active. Enough is enough, and this stops now. Be aware that no matter who you are or what my personal opinion may be of you, I will refer posts that I deem disrespectful in violation of the CoC (be they active or passive) to the IA Senator, and make sure that some form of action is taken against you. Please keep personal and negative remarks to yourself or, at the very least, off of our forums and servers. The very first rule of the CoC is that members need to treat each other with respect—and I think our failure to enforce this rule with vigor because of a fear of causing instability or making talented people resign is part of the underlying problem. I intend to make sure this problem ends, now.

It is important for us to remember that we are first and foremost a gaming group dedicated to the idea of having fun. We must also realize, however, that due to TLO's size, the old systems we had when we were a third of the size will simply not be enough to run this organization. I have been pleased to see in many candidates' Q&A topics a recognition of this, and a desire to try and incorporate the spirit of the old system within the mechanisms of the new. This, I believe, is a wise approach. I myself have many ideas on how to tweak the system, and I look forward to working with the new Senate on crafting these changes.

I also strongly encourage members to be involved in the discussion process by utilizing the governance discussion forum. I once again emphasize the importance of your involvement in this community. TLO is uniquely designed to allow members several opportunities to participate in the system and have their voices heard—but often times these are not taken advantage of by the members. Your voice really can make a difference—our system was designed to ensure this!

I will also be working closely with whoever is selected as Speaker to make sure that Senators are held to account for their activity both in and out of the chambers. I also want to make sure that the members can keep track of the performance of individual Senators in terms of missed votes, meetings, etc. and will be working with the Senate next term to find a way to do this to help our members stay informed on how well Senators are representing them.

I leave you with this thought: the State of the Community is good. Although there have been issues these past couple of months, TLO and the leadership have quickly taken steps to deal with the situation once it was brought out in the light for open discussion. I am confident that because of this, TLO will be fine moving forward and will quickly make the tweaks that need to be made in order to make this system work. Furthermore, all of our divisions and sub-divisions are doing well, and many are improving and/or expanding in activity. I am optimistic that this new Senate term will be more successful than the last, and that the discussions that the new Senate will have will be more productive than the last. I assure members that I will do what I can on my part to make sure this remains the case for the good of the community, and will work closely with whoever is next selected as Speaker to ensure that Senate decorum is observed at all times.

I look forward to seeing what these next few months bring for TLO, and I look forward to seeing you all out there in the game-o-sphere! As always, if you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please don't hesitate to contact me.

Signed,



President of The Last Outpost