Election QA Transcript Summary - 18.05.2018

Election QA Transcript Summary - 18.05.2018

Host: Gabrielnight

Candidates

Silver

Hello, I'm silver, I live near Tanis and, together with some new friends I met this tale, run a little public camp : /info silver for details on the facilities.
I'm not sure what else to say, since you probably already know me from MW chat :)

Sabuli

Greetings all.
I've been playing the tales from t2. In real life I'm married, with a daughter that is now 30 years old and I have worked all my life as a software engineer.
I was born in Cuba, that I left in 1992. After 12 years in Spain, I came to the States in 2004
I'm not too talkative in public chats. I prefer private chats and guild chats.
So probably most of the people knows me more for my helper tools than for my talking

First Question

As experience from the rounds of Elder elections shows, becoming an Elder requires an idea and a belief that people can support and get behind.
What made you want to become an Elder in the first place, what brought you onto this path?

Silver

I was a little worried about how idle BalourHotho and Feyth have become and thought we needed a more present Elder, who is here in the MW chat and in Discord quite often and keeping up with news/events/etc.
As for my beliefs: peace, cooperation and optimism.

Sabuli

The reason I decided to run for Elder was that I didn't like to see atitd converted in a war game because of the factions.
The amount of resources wasted each week in tributes is insane.
Some factions were taking regions that obstaculized the gameplay of other players, making them to run long distances to reach certain University.
I got tired of complaining about what I was seeing. This is not the game I love.
I don't know if it is possible to reach and agreement with the other factions to put an end to the insanity and be more rational.
But I knew that I wanted, a least, to give it a try.

Second Question

The position of Elder brings power to both ban 8 people from our faction, and invite 8 people to our faction.
Under what circumstances would you use an Elder Ban to ban someone from the faction?

Silver

I probably wouldn't.
Someone would have be a serious griefer and totally immune to all reasoning - even then it would hardly be worth it because a nomad could do just as much damage to someone's hard work.
Needless to say, I don't consider "tech stealing" a reason - and not just because we're "behind".
I think the whole game is better the more people have access to skills and technology.

Sabuli

An Elder ban is less drastic than the old DP ban.
But it has bad consequences for the banned players anyways.
Looking at the story of the DP bans there were good ones, bad ones and very bad ones.
The bad ones were always unilateral ones, so an Elder, before banning somebody, should consult with the other elders.

Third Question

With this in mind.
Under what circumstances would you use an Elder Invite to invite someone to the faction?

Silver

The trick with that is the limited number - if given unlimited invites, I'd let almost anybody in (unless their faction elders can explain to me why they were banned and it's a reason i agree with) -
the more people working and chatting here, the greater the player retention in my opinion.
Given the limited number, I'd prefer to limit it to real human players who intend to live in Meshwesh territory and contribute to our faction.
The I'd follow Tortellini's fine example and check with faction chat to see if there are an yobjections and any positive references.

Sabuli

If I don't know personally the player, I would talk first with him to know his motivations.
And then ask to the people of Mesh if they agree.
That was what Feyth did when I came from Hyksos and I think it's a very good procedure.

Fourth Question

Granting someone the position of Elder, would entail a requirement of some kind.
As an Elder, what would you be able to offer MeshWesh as a faction, community and as a people?

Silver

I hear a lot of what people will do if they become Elder.
Personally, I don't see the position as enabling any actions I can't already do.
It just lends a small amount of gravitas to some debates.
So I'd continue what I do: public workds, teaching, helping, etc.

Sabuli

What I offer is my knowledge of people of other factions.
I live in Hyksos and have several friends there, including the Elders, that are in my Alpha guild.
My Egyptian wife Orchid is in Kush.
And I have several good friends in Kush.
That could help in conversations to reach agreements between factions about the distribution of region, that is my platform and the main reason I decided to run for Elder.

Fifth Question

The elder elections so far in MW has mostly focused on inter-faction diplomacy as a major plank for most candidates.
Do you see your role as an Elder as primarily or exclusively diplomatic, or do you have reason for seeking other aspects that has to do with serving the MW community specifically?

Silver

No, it's either the primary nor the exclusive job of the Elder to be the diplomats.
Given the inability to enforce treaties, I'm not even sure it's *a* job of Elders to be our diplomats.
People deeply involved in the tribute wars are probably our diplomats since they're usually talking to other people involved in the tribute wars in the other factions :)
I think an Elder's service is more local: a word of advice, a helping hand, a nudge in the right direction for the members of the faciton.
Things they can and should be doing regardless of their title.

Sabuli

I consider that, being an elected representative, an Elder is more a mediator than a leader.
Personally I have some rejecteion to the word "leader" because of a particular leader I had to suffer a lot f years, so my opinion can be a bit biased,
Due to my relations with players of other factions, in my case I would give more weight to the diplomat part.
There are several Elders and, even when all of them must assume all the roles in case of need, a distribution of functions according the skills of each one could be a good idea.

Sixth Question

Taking this a step further, an Elder can hold many roles in relation to a faction and its people.
Be it as a servant, a mediator, a conflict solver, a diplomat, a leader, and many more.
What do you picture yourself as in the role of an Elder?

Silver

I believe I just answered that in the last two questions. Thank you everyone. Thank you Gabrielnight.

Sabuli

I think I answered that in the previous question.
In my case, I would put more emphasis in that part, because of what I already explained.
In the diplomatic part without ignoring the other roles.