Jedi Council OOC planning

Just because someone goes inactive for a period of time, doesn't warrant their positions being filled and the gaps in their story filled by others. Real life takes precedence over JvS any day, and if you can't accept that.. I think it would be best that you re-organize your priorities. Yes, it sucks that they won't be able to respond to you and your questions as fast as you like, but I'm sure whatever is happening on their end is far more important. Two weeks ago, my dog was finally laid to rest and I stopped writing on another site of mine. Because of that, using what you've alluded to, I would've lost my position because I was grieving for someone that's been part of my life far longer than any of you. Therefore I think something else should be suggested in order to foster the spirit of community, I'd assume we'd like to project.

Therefore, my suggestion, is just place them in the back seat. Make assumptions as to what they might be doing, should they miss an event, but do not fill in the gaps for them. If there is a gap in the council and it requires a voice to break a vote or something of the like, temporarily endow a Knight Advisor the right to fill the esteemed Councilor's spot for the time being. When said councilor comes back, the Knight is placed back where he was originally.

Replacing entirely would be better suited to the Sith and their Empire, not to the Jedi and their Order.

I understand the direction their going and you folks were the first people that I've told about my dog's passing, I have yet to talk to anyone from my other site and still they wait patiently. However there are things that happen that can cause you to lose out on a month of your RP time without a moments notice, You and I should know this better than most, Mike. Yet while the replacement idea has merit from your point of view, being on the receiving end sucks. They might even consider it punitive. Therefore, I came up with something that would give us the ability to have a better and stronger community without being a stickler to the rules. A win - win for all parties involved.

Could you possibly coordinate a way to maintain an allowance between council members to NPC one another should a sudden leave of absence occur and stall an RP from progressing for more than, for example, a two week time frame? Have a ready agreement, since most of the Jedi story lines are planned out OOC ahead of time, between council members that their characters can be positioned by specific trusted collaborators in a way that RP can continue should something important or tragic pop up, but will not impact that character overmuch when the writer is able to come back to the story.

Arcky bro, Im not talking about something like that. You would also have relayed that to us, had we asked. Im talking about absences, like Mike said, that have no explanation. I am -quite- sure you would have told us had something happened, at least a 'Im not going to be here for a while.' Im talking about people that dont have an excuse. Even keeping in touch OOC is enough in my opinion, just like you did here, kinda. A good example is what Dunta did in the GBA....he took the HC position, and just simply vanished for over six months, and no contact. THAT is what Im talking about. When I say active, I mean both IC and OOC....a lot of what we discuss is OOC, and its just as important to be part of those conversations...be they here, or a message on skype/yahoo/whatever.

Sy, I like that idea....it would serve to get things done a little more rapidly. Im prolly gonna be outvoted on that, but I think that idea has potential.

Kinda like me.. I have two Jedi Characters.. however IC I haven't posted with Clem for nearly a year... however.. ive been in constant communication with Aer and Raven (basically the people my character is in contact with) Kulaan was closer but has also been quite some time.. ( i think it was July of 2012) Both characters are on Felucia (both at the initiate/padwan level (neither really knows how to do much of anything with the force .. Clem's good at hurting himself with it tho... but that's about it..))

would i call myself inactive.. not entirely..

more like to patient for my own good >.<

Jedi First Responders: I think the solution here is that we create this as an OOC group. No official IC name, or rank, or callsign, or anything, just an OOC list of people that, when shit goes down, we know are always up for a scrap. Simple, clean, direct, and a pretty good chance two or more of the High Council will be on the list anyway - I know I would be, and I imagine Jago would be too. So, you know, it'll have IC legitimacy as being Council approved action when it needs it.

Jedi Council: I think it's important to remember that activity isn't the only qualifier. The writers fulfilling those roles are, perhaps predictably, every bit leaders in an OOC sense as they are in an IC sense. Not the only leaders, but important ones. So there are many factors to consider - is their character ready for such a responsibility? Safe from falling to the Dark Side, experienced enough? Is the writer level headed, broad minded, knowledgeable enough of the myriad sub-groups of the order? Certainly, you're all right, there is a question of activity. People do fluctuate in this, though - someone can hold the record for most JvS posts ever, but go through a phase where they just don't have the time, the energy, the focus, or the immediate inclination to write. I agree that if someone disappears for months with no explanation, then they're probably best shunted out and replaced, and they shouldn't get an automatic pass to return. But I also agree that a little flexibility is required, because I think consistency and continuity is important in this context. Changing High Council members every three months is only going to throw us into disarray.

In short, it's a complicated thing putting together a team that works in this role. As Adi and a few others have touched upon, the OOC leadership is as important as the IC.

I also think that a few words said on this thread have perhaps been a little... not harsh, per say... I guess I'd say I don't think it's too much to ask that the Council is given a little slack. After all, whichever way you want to cut the bread, this Council has had more success than any other attempted high-council that preceded it, by a reasonable margin. It's lasted, it's remained active, it's kept going, it's got all the Jedi under one banner (more or less), and it's pushed Order wider RP. It has achieved quite a bit, and I think that's down to who we have working on it. They're certainly some of the best RPers I've ever had the pleasure of being involved with, and I'm glad I've had the chance to be a part of the team.

However, that is, as pointed out, not to say that we should be complacent about our activity and achievement. We need to seek out new members when we need new members, we need to make sure we have the mix of people that makes it work - active ones who are going to handle day to day leadership, and ones who don't need to necessarily be as active to add a few more heads to the mix on bigger stuff that needs more deliberation.

Vesten, who never really took his seat, doesn't seem to be returning. The Council have, over the past 3 days, discussed filling that slot. We'll have some kind of info for you all in the next couple of days - and I think that where the discussion is trending will be a decision most people will be happy with.

Beyond that, though, on the activity issue; There are two possible responses that I can think of, that can, I think, be operated side by side. The first is the idea Syren put forth. It's a good one, and as Jago said, he and I have written together long enough and know each other well enough that there's an almost unspoken agreement between us that we trust each other with our characters. We're also in contact every day, or at least can be at a moment's notice, which helps. As a whole, for the High Council, it could work for a few of us.

The second is a Council quick approval... thing. I guess. Similar to some of the Player's Guild Council approvals, like Patents. The High Council seem to be in agreement on most things anyway, we tend to trust each other's judgement, so maybe what we can do is go for a two-or-three High Council Master approval to give an idea the green light. That way, basic ideas can be tended to by whichever two or three are around, quickly and efficiently, and sha-pow. Done.

As for the matter of transparency and discussions; we have the discussions in private so that we're able to keep focused and get it done without too much disruption. It just works better if we can have our chats, figure out precisely what we as a Council want to say before we say it, so wires don't get crossed and arguments don't flare up over non-issues and things like that. We're not trying to hide anything from anyone, and we'll always tell y'all what we're saying and why we're saying it - just as soon as we figure out exactly what that is.

Well, 'cept, maybe, when we want to make a reveal nice and dramatic and exciting. Maybe that's just my own overly developed sense of Theatricality there. Jago will tell you I'm like that with my writing too. I like to play the cards close to my chest until I can reveal them IC in a suitably dramatic reveal. Because oooh it's so much better when there's a twist. It's the M. Night Shamalamadingdong methodology of RPing.

Well, I think one of the things we agreed as a Council was that the IC High Council meetings took so damned long all the time that we thought it'd be better if we just had the discussions as quick OOC conversations, and translated them into IC through another means - perhaps for the Council-only discussions, through narrative summary posts or the like. Just to prevent a Council meeting dragging on for three months. We tend to run quick, Guild Council type votes in our PM conversations when we need to anyway - although a lot of the time, we can see that we've reached a general consensus just by what we say. As a team, we generally seem to gel on our thinking, which I think is a real positive.

Not us, just you