I want to start off by saying that I don't mean anything personal to you @Pengu or to anyone else. I am not downplaying your abilities or skills at all but rather just wanting to discuss something about the region.
I would appreciate it if we talked without the hostility you're directing at me.
I don't like when people come in and say that our system is bad and that we should restrict certain people from being able to take part in free democratic elections. It rubs me the wrong way and goes against what Wintreath stands for.
Any hostility is coming from that field.
Being as that's not the case and everyone who had accepted stayed in, a fear of losing automatically to a Jarl isn't something that's real, because everyone here aside from apparently you knows that they have a chance to win regardless of whether or not they're a citizen, jarl, or other title.
Saying people should've dropped out is not an argument. It is not black and white and if people think they have a low shot they should just drop out. Most people would stay in hoping they get the votes to win.
It's not the citizens or the jarls faults that the people in high positions of governmental power, like the Jarls or thane, will always have an advantage. They're heard about more often, they have a sense of accomplishment about them, they're regarded in a higher sense than someone who is a non-Jarl. It's not their faults but it just doesn't seem right to allow someone with a beginning advantage who is already running a higher governmental position to run for yet another set of office.
Actually, it really is that black and white. If people are scared that someone else is going to get the automatic win over them, they usually drop out unless they're a hardcore candidate that sees it to the end no matter what. If I knew an election was rigged to where only current senators were going to get voted in no matter what, I wouldn't take part. After all, it's completely obvious at that point, so why bother running? However, our elections aren't rigged, and people have an equal chance to win regardless of their title/position. We've had new members earn a spot, Jarls, long time citizens, and many others. For you to step in after quite some time and jump in with trying to start talk about restricting who should be able to campaign is being ignorant of Wintreath's customs, mission, and history.
Grasping at straws. Stop it. It makes you look bad. It's not like the Jarls even got ALL of the votes, they just got the majority. If you were someone that has been here for more than just recently, you'd know exactly why we got the most votes. As you don't, please stop throwing in this argument for the sake of trying to keep us out of the UH. It's really getting quite offensive to me now.
I'm not trying to keep you, or anyone else out of the UH like it's personal. I'm not saying you, or anyone else is bad. What I am saying is that out of the 11 nominees the 4 jarls and 1 thane were the ones who were elected.
I don't care the reason. The fact is you're talking about wanting to restrict a democratic process in a region that has clearly never had a problem with how we do things. If they did, then we wouldn't be in the UH right now, because nobody except you has seen our being in dual positions being a problem. Continuously throwing out the number statistic is being intentionally ignorant of the facts that have been presented about those Jarls beyond them being a government title.
And our region is different. Deal with it. We're not Region Inc. We're Wintreath. If you don't like the way we do things, then that's your issue.
I didn't mean that in any offensive way and I'm not sure why you're so defensive over it. So Wintreath can never adopt ANYTHING any other region has done? I'm just speaking from my past and my past in legislation.
Intention and result are two different things. You may not have meant it offensively, but it comes out as highly so, at least to me. I've worked my ass off in this region because I love it and the members to death, and respect everyone here. To say that I shouldn't be allowed to be in a spot that better represents them simply because I have a position as Jarl of Culture is highly offensive because I should be able to run for it if I want it. The beauty of elections is that even if I ran for it, it's not guaranteed that I'd get it.
I'm not saying we shouldn't adopt things that other regions has done, but you're using your own region as an example, and you just stated not too long ago that, and I'll quote:
Huge hit of inactivity. I tried to help revive it but it is difficult when there are leadership spots empty and the forum being dead. I was in the works of adding in an entirely new section to the forum with an entire comprehensive history of the region and subforums of directors explaining how to properly do their job. I started that big project when we were just hitting a little bit of inactivity and I thought it would help keep new people but then everything just died.
So I'm telling you that Wintreath isn't a large region. The majority of our members are NS dwellers and have no intentions of coming here. Our forums have a fair number of active members, but not much.
You've already stated yourself that you had leadership gaps because of inactive members, and that despite everything you tried to do, it died.
Whereas here, we HAVE a working system regardless of the only fair amount of active members. We have multiple positions that we allow, yes, but we're still fluidly active and continuously introducing new things to bring even more people to Wintreath.
Please don't spout off things like this when what you tried didn't work, and you're spouting it off to a region to where our methods are clearly working to some extent. It comes off as borderline arrogant, and again ignorant to what Wintreath stands for. We don't restrict, or "ban" people from taking on multiple duties if they choose to. I'd rather have a UH full of Jarls that are completely active rather than an empty one, and your methodology of restricting multiple roles would do just that.
And I said it once, and I'll say it again: If you don't like the way we do things, either deal with your issues or move on. Nobody is asking you to like our system or to get on board with it. We're not a place that restricts the rights of members due to them having multiple positions. We embrace the fact that members want to do more around the region, and encourage people to take on the workload that they personally feel like they can handle. If that means they just post in the forums, great! If they want to get involved in the UH, even better! If they're a jarl and want to get active in the UH, then terrific! If that's not something that appeals to you, then perhaps Wintreath isn't the place for you.
