The Search for Truth & Need for Discipline: The STAND
Day 470, 22:58
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Published in USA 
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by
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by Plugson
I can hardly stand the sight. (Of it all.)
I can hardly stand the sound. (Of it all.)
I can hardly stand the taste. (Of it all.)
I can hardly stand the smell. (Of it all.)
--‘The Stand’ by Mother, Mother
~~ Released Jan 10th, 2011 – The Day of Project Mayhem V2
There are some things we can simply cannot stand any longer
There’s been much talk about banning Rolo. Mostly this concerns IRC and the Forums. Currently there is no ‘game mechanic’ to allow us to ban Rolo from eCanada. He will go unpunished by Admins, since no rules have been broken. There’s strong irony in the fact that it is ‘illegal’ to run a National Lottery but it is not illegal to steal from the country. It’s an irony that can leave a regular citizen feeling exasperated and helpless to do anything.
So far, we have relied on forum institutions like the Supreme Court and CSIS to protect us, but currently the Supreme Court, at least, cannot function as it should. In fact, one may say it has been waylaid for some time as Congress looks at ways to amend the operation of the Supreme Court to a more efficient system.
Therefore, we cannot rely on forum admins, IRC admins, or eRep admins to deal with situations like this while we twiddle our thumbs hoping their better judgement will take care of it all. Our linked effort as one group is the only real in-game mechanism we have against citizens who actively steal and ruin our work. We need to get as many people to pull together and block problem citizens like Rolo. In short, we need an (un)Official Blacklist that would actively promote the exclusion of those deemed damaging to the nation. Blacklisting someone would entail that the community pulls together to say we don’t want these people on the forum, on IRC, in our companies, in our political parties, on our ballots, or in any position that grants them access to the public and people in power.
Rolo’s interference could have been better prevented. We all recognized his culpability in the past and his intentions to do more harm in the present. We were unable to push him from TCO or Norsefire and he retained access (even if limited) to the forum and IRC. The main problem is that he was left to associate with people like our former CP, Wes Lewis, whom he took advantage of. Letting hazardous parasites roam about to cause further damage just doesn’t cut it anymore.
We need to get the community to block these people, or as Etemenanki put it, let’s “ban them and rid us of their toxin.” To focus this sentiment, I am proposing an (un)Official Blacklist until a time when there can be an official list or when an institution like the Supreme Court can actively lead prosecution and action against these ‘criminals.’ Though they have not stolen real property, they have wasted our efforts and time, and no doubt real money invested by our players. I am proposing The STAND, The Search for Truth And Need for Discipline, a grassroots effort to identify and exclude players we all recognize as detrimental to our community.
Calling people before The STAND before they are blacklisted will need some process and the involvement of trusted, experienced, and reputable players. We need not turn this into a witch-hunt or grandstanding noise; therefore, for it to be effective, the greatest number of people need to agree to work together towards exclusion. I am calling on Congressmen, Party Presidents, the Interim Govt., and regular citizens to support and participate in establishing the (un)Official Blacklist.
Two items need to be clarified to make the (un)Official Blacklist work:
1) Holding public hearings to agree on who deserves to be blacklisted.
2) Determining and reinforcing the methods of exclusion.
A public hearing before The STAND will not be a Supreme Court trial and while you may argue it to be mob justice, well that’s the best recourse we currently have. Yet, it will be more efficient and effective, and we hope to get as many people to work together on this as possible.
There 3 proposed methods on how to hold a hearing to add someone to the (un)Official Blacklist:
a) Prepare an in-game media article stating the accusation and allowing the accused to present their argument within a 48 hour period. Likewise, those wishing to providence evidence can post comments in the 48 hour period.
b) A vote/decision will be announced in an in-game media article at the 72 hour mark. Those voting can be either
i) The general citizenry. 1 citizen = 1 vote to be tallied when the vote is officially closed.
ii) Limited to Congressmen, CP, and Party Presidents – the officials already elected by eCanadians to represent us
iii) A select group of eCanadians deemed trustworthy and experienced enough to decide on culpability. These would not be restricted as Supreme Court Judges are to the Constitution, and would rather base their decision on reason and opinion.
If a person is placed on the list, it is our intent to encourage as many eCanadians as possible not to associate with this person. The methods of exclusion could consist of:
a) Report, Report, Report whenever you see a possible infraction of eRep rules
b) No contact – ignore them in the media and by PM, try not to even acknowledge their presence whenever possible. Don’t even PM them your complaints.
c) Unfriend them
d) Pressure admins for Forum and IRC removal
e) Pressure military organizations or any social group not to allow them to join/remain
f) Pressure General Managers not to employ this person
g) Pressure Party Presidents and party members to limit this person’s activity in a political party
h) Ignore their media articles, no votes, no comments, no subs
i) Keep an up-to-date Official Blacklist that is posted regularly or where it is easily viewed (forum, article links) that will serve to remind old and new players alike that the people on this list are not to be associated with.
This no doubt sounds drastic. It’s not friendly or polite. However, it can be effective, as we saw with 1ronman who was forced out of our country with similar measures. Having trouble hang around without an active pressure to push it away will only lead to Party Presidents like Alastar Aingleis and CPs like Wes Lewis from being mislead by deceivers like Rolo Tahmasee.
“Tell me your fears.
Okay, it's everyone here.
You mean just all of the people?
Yeah, and all of their peers,”
…tired of being worried what your ‘peers’ like Rolo are up to?
It’s time to take to The STAND and make a list that sticks in our minds and sticks it to the trouble-makers.
“Show me a man or a woman alone and I'll show you a saint. Give me two and they'll fall in love. Give me three and they'll invent the charming thing we call 'society'. Give me four and they'll build a pyramid. Give me five and they'll make one an outcast. Give me six and they'll reinvent prejudice. Give me seven and in seven years they'll reinvent warfare. Man may have been made in the image of God, but human society was made in the image of His opposite number, and is always trying to get back home."
The Stand by Stephen King
Let’s not let the Randall Flagg’s out there work their way back into our ranks. Let’s point them out and shun them to place from which we hope they’ll never return
The STAND procedure, commencing in 24 hours….
Stage 1 ~~ On the STAN
An article will soon be released to announce a hearing to gather accusations, evidence, and defense regarding the actions of Rolo.
Stage 2 ~~ On The STAN
It has been elected to go with public vote until a council is established to oversee the (un)Official Blacklist. 1 citizen = 1 Vote: Yes, No, Abstain
Stage 3 ~~ On The STAN
After votes and comments are tallied, the (un)Official Blacklist will be prepared in a media article.
Next on the docket….?
I can hardly stand the sound. (Of it all.)
I can hardly stand the taste. (Of it all.)
I can hardly stand the smell. (Of it all.)
--‘The Stand’ by Mother, Mother
~~ Released Jan 10th, 2011 – The Day of Project Mayhem V2
There are some things we can simply cannot stand any longer
There’s been much talk about banning Rolo. Mostly this concerns IRC and the Forums. Currently there is no ‘game mechanic’ to allow us to ban Rolo from eCanada. He will go unpunished by Admins, since no rules have been broken. There’s strong irony in the fact that it is ‘illegal’ to run a National Lottery but it is not illegal to steal from the country. It’s an irony that can leave a regular citizen feeling exasperated and helpless to do anything.
So far, we have relied on forum institutions like the Supreme Court and CSIS to protect us, but currently the Supreme Court, at least, cannot function as it should. In fact, one may say it has been waylaid for some time as Congress looks at ways to amend the operation of the Supreme Court to a more efficient system.
Therefore, we cannot rely on forum admins, IRC admins, or eRep admins to deal with situations like this while we twiddle our thumbs hoping their better judgement will take care of it all. Our linked effort as one group is the only real in-game mechanism we have against citizens who actively steal and ruin our work. We need to get as many people to pull together and block problem citizens like Rolo. In short, we need an (un)Official Blacklist that would actively promote the exclusion of those deemed damaging to the nation. Blacklisting someone would entail that the community pulls together to say we don’t want these people on the forum, on IRC, in our companies, in our political parties, on our ballots, or in any position that grants them access to the public and people in power.
Rolo’s interference could have been better prevented. We all recognized his culpability in the past and his intentions to do more harm in the present. We were unable to push him from TCO or Norsefire and he retained access (even if limited) to the forum and IRC. The main problem is that he was left to associate with people like our former CP, Wes Lewis, whom he took advantage of. Letting hazardous parasites roam about to cause further damage just doesn’t cut it anymore.
We need to get the community to block these people, or as Etemenanki put it, let’s “ban them and rid us of their toxin.” To focus this sentiment, I am proposing an (un)Official Blacklist until a time when there can be an official list or when an institution like the Supreme Court can actively lead prosecution and action against these ‘criminals.’ Though they have not stolen real property, they have wasted our efforts and time, and no doubt real money invested by our players. I am proposing The STAND, The Search for Truth And Need for Discipline, a grassroots effort to identify and exclude players we all recognize as detrimental to our community.
Calling people before The STAND before they are blacklisted will need some process and the involvement of trusted, experienced, and reputable players. We need not turn this into a witch-hunt or grandstanding noise; therefore, for it to be effective, the greatest number of people need to agree to work together towards exclusion. I am calling on Congressmen, Party Presidents, the Interim Govt., and regular citizens to support and participate in establishing the (un)Official Blacklist.
Two items need to be clarified to make the (un)Official Blacklist work:
1) Holding public hearings to agree on who deserves to be blacklisted.
2) Determining and reinforcing the methods of exclusion.
A public hearing before The STAND will not be a Supreme Court trial and while you may argue it to be mob justice, well that’s the best recourse we currently have. Yet, it will be more efficient and effective, and we hope to get as many people to work together on this as possible.
There 3 proposed methods on how to hold a hearing to add someone to the (un)Official Blacklist:
a) Prepare an in-game media article stating the accusation and allowing the accused to present their argument within a 48 hour period. Likewise, those wishing to providence evidence can post comments in the 48 hour period.
b) A vote/decision will be announced in an in-game media article at the 72 hour mark. Those voting can be either
i) The general citizenry. 1 citizen = 1 vote to be tallied when the vote is officially closed.
ii) Limited to Congressmen, CP, and Party Presidents – the officials already elected by eCanadians to represent us
iii) A select group of eCanadians deemed trustworthy and experienced enough to decide on culpability. These would not be restricted as Supreme Court Judges are to the Constitution, and would rather base their decision on reason and opinion.
If a person is placed on the list, it is our intent to encourage as many eCanadians as possible not to associate with this person. The methods of exclusion could consist of:
a) Report, Report, Report whenever you see a possible infraction of eRep rules
b) No contact – ignore them in the media and by PM, try not to even acknowledge their presence whenever possible. Don’t even PM them your complaints.
c) Unfriend them
d) Pressure admins for Forum and IRC removal
e) Pressure military organizations or any social group not to allow them to join/remain
f) Pressure General Managers not to employ this person
g) Pressure Party Presidents and party members to limit this person’s activity in a political party
h) Ignore their media articles, no votes, no comments, no subs
i) Keep an up-to-date Official Blacklist that is posted regularly or where it is easily viewed (forum, article links) that will serve to remind old and new players alike that the people on this list are not to be associated with.
This no doubt sounds drastic. It’s not friendly or polite. However, it can be effective, as we saw with 1ronman who was forced out of our country with similar measures. Having trouble hang around without an active pressure to push it away will only lead to Party Presidents like Alastar Aingleis and CPs like Wes Lewis from being mislead by deceivers like Rolo Tahmasee.
“Tell me your fears.
Okay, it's everyone here.
You mean just all of the people?
Yeah, and all of their peers,”
…tired of being worried what your ‘peers’ like Rolo are up to?
It’s time to take to The STAND and make a list that sticks in our minds and sticks it to the trouble-makers.
“Show me a man or a woman alone and I'll show you a saint. Give me two and they'll fall in love. Give me three and they'll invent the charming thing we call 'society'. Give me four and they'll build a pyramid. Give me five and they'll make one an outcast. Give me six and they'll reinvent prejudice. Give me seven and in seven years they'll reinvent warfare. Man may have been made in the image of God, but human society was made in the image of His opposite number, and is always trying to get back home."
The Stand by Stephen King
Let’s not let the Randall Flagg’s out there work their way back into our ranks. Let’s point them out and shun them to place from which we hope they’ll never return
The STAND procedure, commencing in 24 hours….
Stage 1 ~~ On the STAN
😨Rolo Tahmasee’s Public Hearing (48 hours)
An article will soon be released to announce a hearing to gather accusations, evidence, and defense regarding the actions of Rolo.
Stage 2 ~~ On The STAN
😨Public Vote and Verdict (48 hours)
It has been elected to go with public vote until a council is established to oversee the (un)Official Blacklist. 1 citizen = 1 Vote: Yes, No, Abstain
Stage 3 ~~ On The STAN
😨Announcing results and establishing the Blacklist (24 hours later)
After votes and comments are tallied, the (un)Official Blacklist will be prepared in a media article.
Next on the docket….?
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Comments
I suggest a council of elders made up of former CPs - active, and in good standing with the council itself be formed to maintain this list.
Anytime Plugson says something, I listen.
Lol, I was thinking "Elder Council" or "Tribal Council" as I read this and then hb includes it in his comments.
There are plenty of demographics in RL society that "shun", this is what we are talking about.
In a social strategy game, isn't "shunning" the ultimate sentence that one can give? It sure would put some teeth to the role-play that goes on.
Agreed. Its time to take a STAND.
Citizen B
I think your right that we need more of an effort to shun these guys but I think we should keep it unofficial. The problem I see is enforcement. 90% of the community could be shunning someone, like say Rolo, but if a PP likes him or a militia supports him there's little that can be done except trying to shun them too which won't do any good.
Anyways, I think we should keep it simple; have the government (Supreme Court, admins, CP, Congress, doesn't matter who) banish someone from the forums and IRC. If a group wants to go around reminding people not to associate with these guys that would be great and I wish them success but I don't think there's a need for one or several official Master Shunners.