Nepotism

[Kinaed]

In the past two days, I've been accused of favoritism and Conflict of Interest (CoI) twice. I want to address this matter as best I can and publically because it is a matter of confidence with our staff.

It is true that I am friendly with some players more than others. Some players get reputations for being naughty (Wilderop and Jaxon are obvious examples). Others tend to be quite reasonable and nice, and may even cross the boundaries into friendship. This does impact my decision making with regards how I treat those players, and in times of important decisions, it also impacts those. I believe most people would agree it should, and several would say we're overall too lenient - I was told that Wilderop simply shouldn't have been given a chance on TI:L because of his history on TI:A, for example.

The question of "favoritism" and whether or not it exists isn't really an issue. It exists. It's natural and inherent in human relationships. Those who do not wish to participate in the social graces that allow one to gain favor tend to simply appear to be jerks, anti-social, and frankly, not deserving of said favor. This is true both amongst peers as well as in a heirarchal structure where some people have more power than others (take staff or guild leaders, for example).

So this raises questions that I've attempted to answer for myself. For example, should people who are friendly with me allowed to hold positions on TI, or should they be automatically disqualified from any role simply because they are friends? I don't think so. Should I be allowed to have friends? I definitely think so and don't think my relationship with any given player is anyone else's business. It does irritate me that people think so poorly of me overall to believe that I always put friendship before running a good game. I have to balance those priorities, and in general, I'd like to think I'm balancing them reasonably well, and better than most other games around. Certainly, overall, the staff seem to be very open with most of the GL positions and so on, so anyone who wants to do those sorts of things, can.

Should all players have equal opportunity for all roles? Well, at first thought, because of my democratic upbringing, I want to say yes. But when I think about it, I believe the answer is no. Firstly, not all players can handle roles of authority (see players mentioned above). Secondly, some roles (such as the monarch) are extremely important for the success of the game. Not everyone can pull it off, not everyone would act with the best interest of the game over their own best interests, etc. And, not everyone has the rapport with the staff necessary to carry out big decision activities, so in a way, a relationship with staff is required. The players who can cut it are few.

Another thing that bugs me is that I've seen a plot that seems against Cellan solely because the players enacting it don't agree with my decision OOCly to put Cellan in the monarch role. On one hand, I think players should be allowed to do anything they want ICly, provided they have an IC reason to do so. On another hand, I see that as a bit of an OOC attack, and I think it's pretty sad because I think Cellan should have to do something to deserve the rancor she's receiving from that quarter other than simply be friends with myself or Sephone.

In the long run, it just makes me sad and feel abused when the accusations come flying my way.

On that note - if a player has a beef with staff, I'd like to encourage them to speak up. But please, when speaking up, be careful about HOW you speak up. The message can be lost in the context, and if staff feel attacked (or heaven forbid, actually are being attacked), there's a good chance they'll respond in a negative, and quite possibly damaging, fashion. I don't support my staff being abused, called names, patronized, or in any other way socially molested, and I will support them if they decide to do something about it, even if there was a message under all of it that should be addressed. It's that good old saying "What you're doing speaks so loudly, I can't hear what you're saying."

[Estelle]

For example, should people who are friendly with me allowed to hold positions on TI, or should they be automatically disqualified from any role simply because they are friends? I don't think so. Should I be allowed to have friends? I definitely think so and don't think my relationship with any given player is anyone else's business. It does irritate me that people think so poorly of me overall to believe that I always put friendship before running a good game.

Just my 2 cents:

Just as I agree with your logic that people should not be disqualified from holding roles they are capable of simply by virtue of being your friends, for the sake of preempting accusations of favouritism... Neither should people be discouraged to enact plots against someone in IC authority simply to preempt the possibility of those plots being driven by OOC motivations. Where do we draw the line? I think reasonable benefit of doubt should be given - there have been plots against many, many people in the history of TI, and as long as the desc notes involved are acceptable, it is seen as acceptable. We do not immediately assume that just because player X does something harmful to player Y and they are both OOCly not on good terms with each other, that the whole thing was motivated by 'OOC rancor'.

Similarly, as Cellan is in a position of high IC authority, there are definitely going to be plots against her by virtue of her IC position alone. There have been others plotted against for no crime other than the position they hold, be they Rubeus, Justiciar, or Cardinal. Cellan should not be ICly exempt to that. If a character ICly disagrees with her selection, surely he or she is allowed to RP it out ICly, with the corresponding IC consequences, no? I am sure Cellan's player is welcoming of RP and would not be averse to it as long as it is well RPed out.

Not sure if I'm misinterpreting your words here, Kin, but that's just the rough feeling I get from interpreting them.

[Kinaed]

Hi Estelle,

Cellan is not exempt, nor was I trying to say she was. She is not propped up by the staff in any regard (that's why I went to ask Bardane if Sephone had, as another player indicated might have been the case, spoken to him because he raised a plot against Cellan ICly. It turns out that Bardane freely admits he approached Sephone about it instead, and the results ended up in an argument).

I agree with your post completely. I have done nothing to intervene with regards to the current threads of RP. I was just mulling over whether or not OOC stuff was impacting IC stuff here in the reverse by electing to put Cellan in as Seneschal by using their OOC disagreement with our decision to target her ICly (eg, rather than IC favoritism extended to her, IC discrimination extended to her). I guess I'm feeling a bit guilty for putting someone in that position. On second consideration, however, Cellan's a big girl and she knew what she was dobbing herself in for. :)

Same with me running a game! I'll quit the self pity train now. :) Thanks for the reminder!

[Estelle]

Thanks, Kin. :)

I do personally feel that the current anti-Cellan plots that I know of (although I'm sure that isn't the whole story) are pretty cool, and have been inspiring lots of RP amongst players. I think that is a good thing for a game that has been slowing down a little, and I'm very glad they won't be stifled.

[Jei]

People always have favorites, people they're comfortable with and people they're friendly with. They always have unfavorites and people they dislike associating with two. It's true in real life, fiction, muds, everywhere. It's not often that people are so frank and honest about it as Kinaed. I respect that, personally.

I only feel it is a problem when it breaks suspension of disbelief, in regards to fiction/muds. You end up getting a Mary Sue type person. Is this what has happened with Cellan? Nope. She was picked as Keeper of the Seal, or whatever, by the last PLAYER Monarch, and the new PLAYER Monarch has now named her Seneschel. Whether or not the immortals pushed for it in this case is irrelevant, to me, because her elevation doesn't disrupt my willing suspension of disbelief. While a lot of people may not LIKE that she was chosen, I don't think anyone can honestly say that her appointment is so outlandish that it is inconceivable.

That being said, OOC influencing IC is inevitable. It just is. Unless you literally take on a split personality while you RP, everything your char does is impacted by your preferences, or your preference for how you shaped your character, so I feel like badgering the people who are OOCly upset for ICly plotting is a waste of time, and pointless.

Now, -that- being said, OOC plotting is an entirely different thing, and something that we should harshly punish. If things organically grow ICly, so be it, but when players start OOCly making plans and/or characters for the purpose of using for their OOC plots, that's when we have an issue that needs addressing, IMO.