In my defense.....
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by Zansi
I have recently been accused of being a control freak and overstepping my boundaries, and would like the opportunity to explain my actions.
As the owner, administrator, and developer of the eSA Community website, I have been accused of interfering in government and trying to control everything. To a certain extent this is true, but to a certain extent it is also untrue.
As the owner, administrator, and developer of the website I do have control of the facilities I provide to the community and am entitled to specify the rules or requirements for using those facilities.
I have always tried to implement as little control as is required for the facilities to be used efficiently for the benefit of every user, and also to provide tools and facilities to the community to ensure the safety and security of our eNation.
I have, however, been forced into a situation where I have had to implement certain basic rules to ensure that the facilities and mechanics of the website are used efficiently and not misused in any way by individual users of the website.
I have no desire to ultimately control every minute detail of everything, but I do desire consistency in the basics as that is important for the community to grow and develop safely in an eworld that is not very well thought out.
Everything I have implemented has been based on discussions and opinions that I have followed on the forums, combined with the practicalities of implementation.
Without ground rules (or in essence a type of constitution) every person that is given temporary authority comes along and wants to change everything and I am just expected to dedicate time and effort to institute their will - until the next person comes along.
Nobody seems to have an interest in setting up efficient and consistent "laws" or in enforcing them.
Security at one point will declare a party or individual a security threat but then not bother to officially change the declaration if circumstances change.
One arm of government (e.g. security) will make a decision that other arms of government (or a party or individual) is either not aware of or doesn't take into account - resulting in conflicting statements made to the public.
My intention was to take the initiative that others are afraid to take and to set ground rules that would have parameters that can be changed by government while keeping basic consistency between administrations.
The way Congress has tried to set laws in the past has always been problematic so a simpler system based on game mechanics would work better.
Congress cannot change the mechanics of eRepublik but can change certain parameters, such as tax rates etc.
Likewise Congress could change certain parameters of the community rules, such as the requirements of citizenship certification, the requirements to qualify for the position of Cabinet Minister or Director of a government Department etc.
The CP could propose changes to certain aspects of the rules as well, with Congress voting on those changes.
The intention was to have ground rules that can be modified by government while maintaining overall consistency. But until the tools for making changes are available, certain default parameters were required.
As is the case with any website, the owner or manager of that website has a legal right to set rules and parameters for the use of the website and the facilities provided by that website. I am simply using that legal right to implement consistency in the community, but with the community having a say in the ultimate implementation of the rules.
Even real life countries cannot operate efficiently without some form of constitution or there will be chaos and the opportunity for dictatorship etc.
As for the situation with Immigration and Kiko, I (as Al Kazar) implemented the new Immigration system as part of government. I was Minister of Security at the time and instructed my Director of the DBI to use the new system. When a new MoS was appointed Kiko stopped using the new system which caused problems as the new system was built into the mechanics of the website.
I communicated with the MoS about his behaviour and was assured that the situation would be handled, but Kiko did not seem to care what his superiors in government wanted. He was a law unto himself and was breaking the built-in mechanics and causing confusion. As his superiors in government seemed to be too scared to take any steps to stop his behavior, I used the website rules to ensure that he could not continue with his behavior.
All he had to do was to agree to follow the rules and mechanics of the website, but he flatly refused to do so. He was only Director of a department under the Ministry of Security which is under the CP, but he as one individual citizen in eSA was trying to dictate the situation and I would not let him do so.
The current government and certain citizens then made their choice and decided that Kiko and his rebellious demands were more important to eSA than the website that I had put a lot of time, effort, and money into.
The facilities that I had implemented for eSA at personal sacrifice to help make things run efficiently and easier for the small handful of people available to work for eSA were considered unimportant compared to the wishes of one single citizen.
So I have removed what was not wanted. Only groups and positions that are built into the game itself are now part of the website and government can do what it wants within the limited facilities available to it.
If government wants more and better facilities they can request it, and if they agree to the rules for such facilities, it will be provided.
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"The current government and certain citizens then made their choice and decided that Kiko and his rebellious demands were more important to eSA than the website that I had put a lot of time, effort, and money into."
That sounds exaggerated.
You do realize that even with the considerable amount of money put into the maintenance and facilities of the website the community won't be satisfied? People like the familiar, people like the simple. Allow people to use the modus operandi that works the best.
Okay, i have to agree, i rebelled, but i rebelled for a reason.
The old mechanism was simple, and simple = good. You made it overly complicated, to a point where i couldn't do my job and the citizen had to be uncertified.
The old system? The old system was perfect. None of the bs that were in the new system were present in the old system. Sure, the automation was pretty nifty but you can't just force people to work under unworkable condition.
And thus, we had to open our offices via ingame pm's.
A little bit about this:
http://prntscr.com/1a2y9b
Yes, i refused, but i refused because i couldn't do anything on the forums. I've explained it a couple of times. I can't post or shout (In the shouting board). My access was restricted by Al/Zansi uncertifying me so i couldn't access the topic i used to.
"I understand where Kiko comes from"
What the hell did that mean? I don't have a language barrier. Sure, sometimes i misspell words and rarely don't get what it is in a certain sentence, but it doesn't happen too often.
http://prntscr.com/1a2yap
Claudio nailed it.
http://prntscr.com/1a3016
Also this x∞
P.S Who payed for the forum last year?
paid*
Kiko, all I have been doing so far is defend you and try to keep DBI running in difficult times. I sent you a pm. That comment has nothing to do with language barriers.
I was just curious Li. I didn't mean to offend you.
People are unfortunately never satisfied. Look at eRepublik itself. Make it complicated but interesting and people complain. Make it simple but boring and people complain.
People complain if I exercise too much control, or they complain if I don't exercise enough control.
You can't please all of the people all of the time.
At some point someone has to take the lead and do what has to be done. That's why there are leaders. People then either follow you or they don't. It is ultimately their choice.
Simple and familiar is not always what works best. People can either use the facilities I provide according to the requirements for their use, or they can choose not to. It is ultimately their choice.
Not it was not our choice. What happened to Kiko when he decided not to use it, he got kicked...
Al, let us be honest with each other here. The Kiko thing first. I did speak to Kiko. He did mess up because there was no one in security to change the security level. I did send out a pm to say I was in hospital, and Angel was MIA as usual. That was the first time. The second time was when I rage quit. Once more there was no one who could change the security level for Kiko. What the hell was he suppose to do? Angel was missing. Claudio eventually took over from Kiko when he was kicked. Why was Claudio not reprimandec? He did exactly what Kiko did by deciding by himself who was legit and who was not and he shouted it as well. What was the difference there?
Next, these changes you brought in, yes they were elaborate and fantastic, but were they needed? Did Rico, Alfredo, or anyone before them complain? I remember suggesting that the public have more of a say, but that was it. You made your own deductions on what DBI apparently wanted and implemented the changes. When Kiko complained about them, he was told he is not using them correctly, to basically shut up and use it properly, or else. He did cimplain more than once.
I still dont get the certified citizen thing. It should not be required by applicants for citizenship to register on the forum. Your rules meant that if an applicant does not register and make at least one post, he cannot be accepted by congress!? Which other eRep country enforces such rules?
We do appreciate the effort you put in for the forum, but you do that out of your own free will. You cannot blame us for not liking your ideas you implement without consulting the people. The game mechanics are such that government, congress and parties change often, and each set of government, congress and pp's needs will be different. Tbc...
For once, sit back and see the forum from our eyes. Read the rules and regulations from our eyes as well as a CP's eyes. Maybe the you will see that you are running the show by yourself. If we dont like it we must leave. Who paid for the forum last year? I know for a fact it was not you. No one said you have to pay for it. I am sure we are all willing to contibute in some way. Can't do the forum all by yourself? Hand SOME of the reigns over to someone who can help you. You are one person trying to do too much, and in the end it will snowball.
There's always been a fine line of "Do all this stuff for us so we can complain more about it, Al." Then there's always been Presidents, like me who come to you and say "Ugh, change all this up, I don't want this here and that there." I appreciate you doing it all for me.now there are some certain aspects of the game you can't push on people. Forum certification is important, but if those are the criterion for being a cit, I'd have never been accepted. For the first year that I played, I was satisfied being an "only in-game" player. When I found the forums I loved them. I loved the community I became a part of and I got enjoyment out of being there.
The forums are still a place a lot of people don't wish to go. Everyone should be aware of them, since they are important to the community, but they should never be a requirement to be a citizen. Congress, probably, but not for most other things. By forcing people to join the forums, you push them away.
Wrt the Kiko situation, tbh, I'm unaware how the mechanics work and did work, so I'm at a loss of how they changed, but you said it yourself, consistency is key. You changed something and then Kiko was thrown into a situation that he didn't sign up for, with a new way to do things. It sucked for him. I know he's stubborn, but so are you, so maybe you could have chatted with him and gotten to the root of the problems, since he was complaining to a bunch of people who don't know what he was talking about.
Yup, making people register to the foruns and posting at least one post was one of my concerns about the new system. By that you're basicly saying that you want more traffic to the site and that could eventually mean that you can get ad revenue and you wouldn't have to pay for the forums AND you'd get some money for yourself. Now, that wouldn't necessarely mean that you'd do it, but GODDAMNIT! People have the freedom of choice of either joining the forums or not! No eNation has the citizenship requirements like we do, and WE are a small eNation. Yes, I'm stubborn, but it doesn't mean that i can't or won't compromise. It's all up to you on making some changes to the new procedure or not. I can still do it ingame through pm's.
Why force people to use a system? If it's there, it is an OPTION to do so. If people don't want to use a certain system because it's too confusing or they just don't want to...that's their choice. Seriously, I don't even understand what the big deal is.