Words of the King
Ad Sanctum members of Daoine Sidhe,
September was a tough month for DS management.
First of all it was decided that our Travians division will be downgraded to ‘group’ status. This decision was made based on the fact that the division proved to lack stability. This concerned the number of members in the first place: on average gamers don’t stick long to the game. Secondly the quality of leadership was insufficient: apart from myself as founding leader there are not enough leaders for creating a stable division.
The small number of DS members in Travians will stay in DS, yet the group status gives them a chance to proceed with less organizational matters to pay attention to.
Secondly, our Travian alliance at NL server 5 experienced an internal crisis that started with a change of division leader. Like it often happens with divisions: the first generation of leaders starts up on a community based profile, the second generation of leaders generates expertise in-game and lacks focus on connection to the community, and the third generation of leaders feels there is insufficient connection left to remain part of DS. This third generation of DS leaders at server 5 indeed planned separation of the entire alliance from DS. Fortunately members loyal to our community stood up for DS.
Not surprisingly those who turned against DS then split up from those who remained loyal to our community, thus now we have a smaller but loyal group of DS members at NL server 5.
My sincere compliments to everyone who remained loyal to DS during this crisis. It is easier to look the other way, but quite some people proved to be willing to truly defend DS.
Thirdly, I decided it was time to deal with the situation I am both Merlin (leader of the Sidhe) and Community manager (head manager of DS, King) at the same time. Before the summer holidays I asked the Sidhe to discuss who could be the next Merlin, as I personally feel it should not be the case that one person in DS fulfills all duties that come along with these two ranks. It is both too much work for a single person, and not healthy for DS as it evokes a kind of dictatorship that merely teaches the members of our community it is alright to not take responsibility for their own actions.
Yet at that moment no one among of the Sidhe was willing to take upon him, or her, the tasks of the Merlin. And unfortunately it seems this situation hasn’t change still, even though I announced that I will no longer be Merlin from October on.
Since also the Sidhe will have to take responsibility for their own actions, I shall not accept that the Order of the Sidhe remains leaderless. Either its members show sufficient dedication to organize themselves properly and live up to the standards that the Sidhe hold dear, or the Order of the Sidhe disappears. Motivation is a must, among the Sidhe more than anywhere else in DS even, as their task of protecting Daoine Sidhe’s values is a heavy one.
Writing this makes me look back on a month during which I asked myself whether ‘it is all worth the effort’. And the truthful answer is: Rayendir, you darn fool, of course it is. It is the gaming world around you settling for ever lower standards of social contact and participation in something bigger than what is directly connected to individual gains in-game. It is not you, nor the people around you that you trust, failing to provide your community with the things it needs for surviving another twelve years.
It does make me realize how much work needs to be done still: on theMember Involvement Team and communication between divisions and DS as a community.
I can only conclude it is a shame that first things must go wrong before the necessary lessons can be learned.