City of IF

[Key]

Hey everyone,

It's time again for our semi-annual election! Our illustrious Mayor, Thunderbird, has decided not to run for re-election. Thanks to Thunderbird for his most welcome service, and that means the field is wide open.

:cheers:

The Mayor's term is six months, and the office is open to any interested citizen. The official list of the Mayor's duties is below:
Running the Spotlight competitions, as applicable.
Disbursing fables for all prizes, including Spotlight, linear stories winner, completion of storygames, etc.
Moving storygames to the Hall of Stasis when finished or when they go on hiatus, and back when they're back off hiatus
Warning, banning and deleting inappropriate/spam comments and users as needed
Bestowing custom ranks when paid for.
Creating new groups and forums as needed
Selecting new City Council members and moderators if and as needed
Setting configurable forum options, such as inbox and signature size
Managing the money supply, including setting how many fables are awarded for what activities.
Chairing Council and Citizen discussions on City issues
Being the path of escalation if a citizen is unhappy with a moderator's actions or decision.
Mediating disagreements between citizens
Post here if you're interested in being the next Mayor, or if you have any questions about the Mayor's duties. If there's more than one candidate interested, we'll have an election...

:-)

[PopeAlessandrosXVIII]

*Looks around with a bit more confidence this time* I, um, I would like to run this time. If I may.

[Guest]

Goodluck guys!

[misterbiz]

Ok...against all my better judgement and in spite of the overwhelming self-doubt I feel...

I nominate myself for the position

[Vikas Muralidharan]

Im not sure how it's gonna go down...

I WOULD have been the 1st to post, had I not had this debate within myself as to whether Im up for it.

After a lot of thinking and persuasion (from myself) I've decided to stand for the elections, If I could.

All the best to everyone else. Im not confident bout winning, but I'll give it a try :)

[Key]

All right, we've got three candidates: Vikas, misterbiz, and Pope! Thanks for volunteering to run!

Let's open the floor to questions and discussion. Candidates should feel free to make statements, and citizens feel free to ask the candidates questions. Ask whatever would make a difference to you in determining who would be the best Mayor.

We'll leave it open for a few days at least, depending on how the conversation goes, and then we'll start voting.

:-)

[Muaddib]

This question is for all the candidates: what are your specific plans to spur activity on the site?

[Vikas Muralidharan]

Muaddib wrote: what are your specific plans to spur activity on the site?

Well, past mayors (and citizens) have tried a lot. We've had (great) ideas like more competitions, guilds, discussion threads and so many other stuff being thrown up but none of them have yielded satisfactory results. The problem I see is not *lack* of activity. The average posts per week on IF are far higher than ppw in other sites.

Just quoting Ingro here (from Hak's Hey Ifians! thread):
Quote:
Another thing with the city is the sheer volume of new posts makes it where keeping up takes a distant second to some of the other sites I follow.

http://www.google.com/reader/view/#stream/feed%2Fhttp%3A%2F%2Fnovel.oddsquad.org%2Ffeeds%2Fposts%2Fdefault - Posts per week: not enough to list

http://www.google.com/reader/view/feed/http%3A%2F%2Fwww.princerevolution.org%2Ffeed%2F - Posts per week:1.4

http://www.google.com/reader/view/feed/http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2FEvolvingExcellence - Posts per week:3.7

City of IF - Posts per week:95.9

However, it is true that we're not yet satisfied with the amount of activity.

My feeling. NO plan, however brilliant it is, can be entirely successful unless IFians choose to make it successful. The Guilds were an amazing idea, but IFians just chose to turn it down. This doesn’t mean I'll be ignoring the activity part. As IFians we all want that to happen, but I dont see myself promising anything more than already tried out (or suggested) methods : Competitions, advertisements, discussions, flash games etc., etc., etc.

The debate of Advertisements is particularly funny because it might increase the number of users on the site, not necessarily the activity.

So, yeah.. unfortunately, I might be able to cause a spur of activity for a few days, or maximum a week, but the best I can do is try to get more activity.

I have ideas of personal member pages, (even) more competitions and discussions and advertisements. (though Im no coding expert and will need help with that), BRINGING BACK THE IFYs and even inter-guild competitions of various kinds.

^ Those are my ideas as of now. I'll definitely be able to think of more if I sit down and think longer but at the end, the ball is in your courts... you need to hit it back to get a return ;)

[Muaddib]

Hmmmm.... so more of the same?

[Vikas Muralidharan]

Muaddib wrote: Hmmmm.... so more of the same?

Quote: BRINGING BACK THE IFYs and even inter-guild competitions of various kinds.


A mayor is not a dictatorial tyrant who can take decisions on his own, you know. Nor can any one single person be expected to have all ideas that will work and strike gold. Any suggestions are welcome :)

[HalfEmptyHero]

Vikas Muralidharan wrote: Muaddib wrote: Hmmmm.... so more of the same?

Quote: BRINGING BACK THE IFYs and even inter-guild competitions of various kinds.


A mayor is not a dictatorial tyrant who can take decisions on his own, you know. Nor can any one single person be expected to have all ideas that will work and strike gold. Any suggestions are welcome :)

True, the mayor should not be a dictator. But someone running for office should have may ideas on how to improve IF. The basic tasks of a mayor are relatively easy, but why vote for someone who is just going to do that.

Okay, so you are bringing back the IFYs. I'm fine with that, but that's not enough. A once per year awards ceremony will not stimulate activity; that has been the main complaint as of late, has it not? As for inter-guild competitions, this has already been attempted. Guilds have already proven to be rather unpopular, how are you going to change this? With the population of if so small, and everybody being able to join three guilds, will it not just be folks competing against themselves? How will you make the guilds more active and more useful?

[Muaddib]

F5 or F4 HalfEmpty.

Things might not change as hoped for, but I would like to see the mayor keen on trying different things to increase activity.

Also, the candidates should all ask themselves how active are they as a non-mayoral members of this site currently? And not just as authors but as readers. Do you read as many stories as you write? Do you read stories of all genres or do you usually stick to just one or two genres. And more so, if you were elected mayor would your participation change and/or increase?

[Vikas Muralidharan]

HalfEmptyHero wrote:
Okay, so you are bringing back the IFYs. I'm fine with that, but that's not enough. A once per year awards ceremony will not stimulate activity; that has been the main complaint as of late, has it not? As for inter-guild competitions, this has already been attempted. Guilds have already proven to be rather unpopular, how are you going to change this? With the population of if so small, and everybody being able to join three guilds, will it not just be folks competing against themselves? How will you make the guilds more active and more useful?

Muaddib wrote: F5 or F4 HalfEmpty.

Things might not change as hoped for, but I would like to see the mayor keen on trying different things to increase activity.

Also, the candidates should all ask themselves how active are they as a non-mayoral members of this site currently? And not just as authors but as readers. Do you read as many stories as you write? Do you read stories of all genres or do you usually stick to just one or two genres. And more so, if you were elected mayor would your participation change and/or increase?


In response to HEH.

You have brought up some great points, but the fact remains, IMHO, that authoritative and administrative changes will do HARDLY ANYTHING to improve the activity of IF as long as the IFians are sleeping. The guilds were a great idea, competitions are a great idea, bringing back the IFys (which should attract activity) is a good idea IMO. Personal pages, flash games, ads, expanding IF to include Arts, Poetry and even mature content are all great ideas.

My point is simply this: I WILL try to increase activity. And like Muaddib said, apart from what I've thrown up... yes, there will be more of the same. If the guilds are to enjoy more success, it IS up to the IFians to spur activity. Our *amazing* group of around 15 active members is just not enough. We don't need new members... we need new members who are committed to stay on the site and read stories, write stories etc. We need to get our old members back as well and the only way we can do that is by being active. The question should not be "What are YOU going to do to increase activity", it should be "What are we gonna do?"

I can try all I want, but what we are aiming for cannot be acheived by one single person on top with brilliant ideas. THAT is my stance. It may sound absolutely amazing or ridiculously retarded and that will decide your vote but then again, Im the only mayoral candidate who is here to give my stance and defend it in front of you.

That line, I hope, will get the others here, but in conclusion- Activity begets activity. IFys and pages are one thing and I can try more of the same. You guys need to be willing to take part.

Now.. To Muaddib.

Currently, Im reading

Line of Kavanagh
(Catching up on) Escaping Eternia
(catching up on) Heavy Metal
(catching up on) Worms of The Wasteland
Fading Immortality
Alice
(waiting for next chapter of) Color of Sound
(waiting for next chapter of) Rotch
Eden's Call.

And Im writing
HATE
and thinking about continuing NightDead.

So yeah.. Im reading a LOT more than I write and frankly, I should be writing more. You would have noticed that all those stories are of different genres. IF I become mayor, my activity would undoubtedly increase and I will start reading stories of a few more authors because I will definitely have a sense of responsibility. Im already trying to get my butt up to New Chicago but that'll have to wait, considering the large amount of stories Im regularly following or trying to catch up to. I'd put the 2 other candidates and myself up as a few of the more active members of the site currently and Im sure that whoever gets elected will definitely become more active. They should atleast.

[PopeAlessandrosXVIII]

What do I plan to do to increase activity here, hm? And I need to be specific. . . . .


Well, first I must give a nod to Vishal, one person can not be expected to have all the good ideas, but I must say here, that simply having an idea would be better then abstaining.

I've had ideas in the past, some silly, but I guess I'll lay them out here:


Many of the inactive members have left E-mail on the site, so I'd like to formulate a genaric e-mail message to advertise to these members about what's new, what's going on, and how we'd love to have them back. Things like that.

The love of pictures and bright colors seems to be rather universal among humans, so at the least, i would like to come up with some bright, eye catching banners that IFians can use on other sites to advertise for IF. Simple, but I believe it could be effective.

I also had the thought of back when I was a kid, my curch held attendance competitions. The person who brought the most new visitors per month got a prize. It was a cheap toy, but it did inspire people to invite as many people as possible. I was thinking that here we could so somewhat the same thing, and each month the top three people could get an honorable mention in the IF Quirer, and the person who invited the most each year could get a trophy of sorts on their user page. To qualify as a true invite the one invited must at least be active for a week. Now, this will bring more people, only if the IFians feel this would be something they'd like to do. But like with the church competinion, only about 10% of each month's invitees actually stayed permenantly, but still, it was an increase.

Personaly, I will do my best to be much more active. I know with my moving issues I have been abcent a lot, and as such, I have fallen behind on many stories. I have been working slowly but surely towards catching up, but it will take some time.

I would like to re-activate the stimulus plan, it seemed to work while it was up. It got people reading more of the stories that had otherwise been ignored.

Two-Words-At-A-Time was a big hit with many IFians, and I think that perhaps expanding it to "One-Line-At-A-Time" would bring even more interest to the game and get those small time activity bug back and playing around here on IF.

Spotlight is fun, and the prize is one many IFians long for, but I would like to add a new competition that IFians can shoot for. Now, we all know Andolyn and misterbiz have joined forces to write a story. I believe that writing a joint story help the tale to keep going for two reasons. One, you don't have to do all the work. You get stuck, and you have someone on hand who can throw threir minds into it, knowing where you're trying to get. Two, having a partner gives you more of a sense of responsibility and keeps your mind on task mor then sitting alone and wondering when to go on. I would like to hold a competition for joint stories, one where there are two or more writers. We only have one right now, but I believe if we can get this competition up and running, there will be more insentive to colaberate, and as a result, more activity. This may be an insane idea, but I think it would work.

Activity is a big "Argh" in IF, but in truth, I don't really see getting more members being the solution. True, we need more members, but we need more members like Myself, Vishal, Vikas, misterbiz, Andolyn. We need more who will come on each day and actually want to move IF forward. I know it is hard to find people that dedicated over the internet, so I would like to put forward a small plea here. I became active because of a RL friend, and it was a lot easyer to stay active near the beginning because she was there beside me in RL asking if "Have been on yet today?" This is not something I put forward as a candidate, it's something I put forward as an IFian who wishes to see the city I love grow.

All I can really say is that I will do all I can personaly, and do my best to inspire my fellow IFians to do the same. I have found that a pat on the back and a thumbs up can go a long way in modivating people. :P

Side note, I am doing my best to read all the stories on IF, to answer Muaddib's question.

[HalfEmptyHero]

Vikas Muralidharan wrote:
In response to HEH.

You have brought up some great points, but the fact remains, IMHO, that authoritative and administrative changes will do HARDLY ANYTHING to improve the activity of IF as long as the IFians are sleeping. The guilds were a great idea, competitions are a great idea, bringing back the IFys (which should attract activity) is a good idea IMO. Personal pages, flash games, ads, expanding IF to include Arts, Poetry and even mature content are all great ideas.

My point is simply this: I WILL try to increase activity.

I can try all I want, but what we are aiming for cannot be acheived by one single person on top with brilliant ideas.


You seem to be missing my point. I am confident that all of the candidates are able to moderate the forum, and that need not be put up for debate. The real question is what makes you any different than the other two candidates. Why should I vote for you?

This question is for all candidates: Why should I vote for you?

[Lilith]

Aha.

Well, I'm going to F5 Muadibb's point about it not being how active you are as an author, but more about how active you are as a reading and participitator of StoryGames and also that the Mayor is not there to be a sole dictator. In fact, the responsibilities that Key outlined above are just the basics of what the previous Mayors of the past have done, and not a single one of the candidates have discussed the above. You're all snatching onto the one big issue that's been a bother to most of IF's citizes lately.

Guess what? It's not your job nor responsibilty to worry about the activity levels of IF. While it's quite lovely that you have the ambition and drive to *want* to help, you do have to take into consideration that there is no real way to force humans to join up and be active. Every website goes through a slump like this, and it's understandable. But because IF used to be so welcoming by the members and the way people actually acted with common courtsey and politeness, people wanted to stay.

Now most of the more welcoming members have pretty much gotten tired of the behind the scenes drama and for a lack of better term "b.s." and taken off. If the next Mayor of IF wants to make the site like it was when activity was rampant, then a swift kick in the buttocks of growing up is required. That being said, I have one final irritation of people speaking before they think.

Pope?

Quote: True, we need more members, but we need more members like Myself, Vishal, Vikas, misterbiz, Andolyn.

So, should the rest of us that have been reading and posting and sloughing away just take that as a middle finger, or what? Because I haven't seen you really active in that many StoryGames as of late. I can think of several people whom I have seen active and that list just doesn't quite cut the muster.

And before any of you have the cajones to ask what right I've got to be opening my mouth to ANY of this, I've been administrating an active forum for the better part of three years now, which included a move to a different one half way through, meaning I had to recreate boards and sub-boards and coding all over again from the bottom up.

And that's what being the Mayor really means. It's hard work, it's giving up a lot of your personal time to handle issues that you normally would scoff at, it means you are the problem solver. And it also means you have to be here, as much as possible, nearly every day for at least four hours or sometimes more, besides the normal time you spend writing your own SGs and reading.

I can't blame the previous Mayors and District Moderators we've had for leaving the place with no remorse with the B.S. they've been given in recent years. I wouldn't stay if my co-admin(s) handed me this kind of rubbish.

So here's my question, which is more of expanding on HEH's:

Why do you think you're qualified and worthy to be Mayor of IF? What is it that you hope to accomplish that makes you better than the rest of the candidates? If you feel it necessary to bring up your past activity, please do so and point out specific examples.

[HalfEmptyHero]

PopeAlessandrosXVIII wrote:
Many of the inactive members have left E-mail on the site, so I'd like to formulate a genaric e-mail message to advertise to these members about what's new, what's going on, and how we'd love to have them back. Things like that.

The love of pictures and bright colors seems to be rather universal among humans, so at the least, i would like to come up with some bright, eye catching banners that IFians can use on other sites to advertise for IF. Simple, but I believe it could be effective.


This seems reasonable. I know I also get an email every time someone PMs me, so if they did not enable emails maybe they didn't change that.

PopeAlessandrosXVIII wrote:
I also had the thought of back when I was a kid, my curch held attendance competitions. The person who brought the most new visitors per month got a prize. It was a cheap toy, but it did inspire people to invite as many people as possible. I was thinking that here we could so somewhat the same thing, and each month the top three people could get an honorable mention in the IF Quirer, and the person who invited the most each year could get a trophy of sorts on their user page. To qualify as a true invite the one invited must at least be active for a week. Now, this will bring more people, only if the IFians feel this would be something they'd like to do. But like with the church competinion, only about 10% of each month's invitees actually stayed permenantly, but still, it was an increase.


But what incentive could be given? Right now we have an influx of fables, people are earning them and not doing anything with them. How would you change that?

[PopeAlessandrosXVIII]

Lilith, I am very sorry you took offence to my not putting all the active members on the list. I didn't mean that the other active members are not appriciated, and the list was just a small sample of the active members that are what IF needs. Exclusion wasn't intended to be offencive, but to me it felt as a give in that all current active members are of whom I was speaking. I am sorry for not being clear on that. *Bows*

*Smiles* And for Hero-kun, I have to give you the first answer that popped into my head at your question. Why should you vote for me? I think you should only vote for me if you feel I would be a good mayor for IF. Okay, sorry, it was the smarta** in me. Now, for a better answer! *Thinks* I can say that I honestly love IF and will do all in my power as an IFian, even if I don't get elected, to help it live and grow. So, I guess, the why? Because I love IF and will devote as much of my life as it takes to see it continue being the wonderful place it is, and if possible, to help it grow into something better.

As to Lilith's questions. . . . . I honestly can not say I am any better a candidate then the other two, so I can find no way to argue that point. As for qualification, I feel I can keep up with all the duties set before the Mayor, and that is as far as qualifying goes. Again I must say, I love IF and all it's IFians. If I get elected, I hope to help IF continue being it's awesome self, and grow into a more awesome place. For now, that involves keeping it up and running!


As for Hero-kun other questions. . . . .*Shrug* I figured getting a honor spot in the paper and a trophy at the end of the year is good incentive, but for me the biggest insentive would be the reward of having more members and hopefully, active ones. I had an idea once what to spend fable on that would bring more members, but it got shot down quite quickly, so I'll have to think more on what IFians would feel is something worthy of fable spendings.

[Thunderbird]

I've been watching, smiling. Interesting answers and even more interesting questions and side comments.

Those against the Mayor having ultimate authority should consider how difficult it is to have a group of individuals come to a consensus. A Mayor unwilling to take a solid stance on a matter puts the city in danger of destructive disagreements and arguments that can shatter the community. Sadly, I learned all too late the dangers of democracy. There is a reason that Key wished to have just one authority figure. Even if that authority figure is willing to listen to advisers does NOT mean he should not feel completely comfortable being a final and last word on any subject. I think any Mayor that would under-exercise this power and authority is going to find out the hard way why such a stance would be a mistake, much as I have.

Anyhow, I have largely stayed silent so as to keep my experiences in office out of the mix for now.

But I do have another pressing question for all candidates: What are your plans and opinions regarding the guilds structure? Are you planning on keeping them? Dissolving them? Changing them in some way? Winging it as you go?

Whether they have been 'successful' or not is a matter of subjection and I feel we may not have seen what all can be accomplished with them but we've also seen some of the drawbacks to having them. So what's your take on that?

[Muaddib]

I have another question: does everyone still think that the current layout of the site is the most efficient? What I mean is that the site seems to be too vast for the level of activity we've seen. We have different forums for all different genres and most of those forums haven't seen any activity for months. I liked the more compact layout of the old Interfable site. It was more inviting because you felt that the site was a lot more active even though the number of active members was around the same.

Another point in favour of reverting to a compact site is that it would be more manageable.

Also, a compact site would mean that people wouldn't necessarily ignore certain SGs just because of their genre. They might begin a story without knowing the genre and realize they like it. We might see a lot more user participation that way.

Another thought: maybe the next mayor should put a chapter limit on SGs. We can't pretend that SGs are comparable to novels. After a certain number of SG chapters new readers get put off by the size of the story and don't want to catch up. This is certainly how I feel regarding a lot of the older stories on this site.

I realize that none of the above have much to do with a mayoral election :D . But they're valid concerns in my opinion. I'd love to put in my candidature for mayor but I know I'm too flaky and I'll disappear occasionally.

[Andolyn]

so...part of me really thinks about running for this position...and part of me is scared of it & knows i'd need A LOT of support & help with it...especially the technical side...and i dont know how my Ifian community would feel about that either...so i'll just throw it out there for now...

anywho, to the current candidates, i'm rather liking where this is going...Vikas had excellent points with the "activity breeds activity"...it's total truth & something we must keep in mind. i very much liked Pope's email idea...but i'd say can we run with that & maybe do an emailed newsletter? maybe create an app for smartphones and such so that If can be mobile?

i'm liking what i'm seeing from our candidates so far...my concern is just this. is there anything in your foreseeable future RL that would inhibit your duties here on If? *bows to TBird* though it was completely out of your control, i know that your time as mayor was definitely limited by RL goings on. i'd like to see that minimized as much as possible.

that's Andy's two cents. take it as you will.

[Shillelagh]

Here's my question.

Love it or hate it, T-Bird made a lot of changes around here during his term as mayor, and there is a lot of evidence of his work throughout the city: the guilds, the subforums, the dark zones... But when you are elected mayor, the city will be yours. What will you do with it?

How many of his changes will you leave in place? How many of his changes will you tweak? How many of his changes will you reverse?

[misterbiz]

ok...to answer all of the questions asked, in the order they were asked:

Muaddib: Well, first off, I am starting the Tournament of Icarus Faraday. I also plan to get myself more active in the reading and commenting of other's people's work. I will admit that I haven't been as active a reader as I should have. And a recent revelation has made it clear why I should start. And I would bring back the Ify's as well.

HEH: I've got a simple answer to yours. Because a vote for Biz is a vote for the best there is. In all seriousness though, I may not be the most active reader or commenter but out of the three of us I really am the most active. Pope's activity is very sporadic and V is on/off it appears. I know the RL can do that and I understand. Another thing, V is not old enough to read the stuff in the dark sections, and thus might therefore be able to mayor over his those sections. I am of age and am on the sit every single day (with some weekend exceptions). I think the mayor should be someone who is actually here on the site.

Lilith: I'm gonna go with my above comments on this one. And expand on them that for the most part then when B.S. drama has come about I have tried not to contribute to it. Sure, I will admit that I didn't try to end any of it either but still. I will just stick with my above comments.

Thunder: I like the guilds. I think they are a good idea and be given some more time to try and reach their potential. However, I think that all fees and dues should be ended with the sole exception of the entry fee. I would also change the rules a bit to allow people more than three guilds in a hope to stimulate more activity from them.

Muaddib: I like the current layout actually. Mainly because I'm OCD and think that each genre should have its certain place. That's just me though. As for the chapter limit, I am 100% against the idea. Just as I am with a word limit for chapters. Limiting work like that is just stupid. Sometimes a story just needs to go for a while. I understand why something like that might sound appealing but in actuality will hamper the work instead. It may end up rushed and half-assed. And well, we want people to give their best on this site. As far as I'm aware.

Andolyn: Ah...well, in all honesty, the only RL issue I would have is laziness (and the lack of technical expertise) but yeah...only laziness. I have no job, no school, no real life to really speak of. The only times that my activity will be really lacking will be if I have a trip to go on...like next June/July-ish, next august/septemberish and most likely a weekend in March...but yeah...that's about it.

Shille: I am going to leave the dark zones where they are. I like them. I think they have a good purpose. I may tweak the guilds a bit (see above). and I haven't seen anything I would outright reverse.

[Andolyn]

dont forget your trip to TN in 25 days, Biz...XD

[Vikas Muralidharan]

Okay... I'll take similar questions first and then go one by one

First, HEH and Lilith

Quote: You seem to be missing my point. I am confident that all of the candidates are able to moderate the forum, and that need not be put up for debate. The real question is what makes you any different than the other two candidates. Why should I vote for you?

Quote: Why do you think you're qualified and worthy to be Mayor of IF? What is it that you hope to accomplish that makes you better than the rest of the candidates? If you feel it necessary to bring up your past activity, please do so and point out specific examples.

Why should you vote for me? Simple. Hardly any RL demons haunt me.. I have a lot of time at hand and I spend most of it here. I've always believed in my leadership skills and they have hardly let me down. So yes, I feel I AM qualified enough to take up the post of mayor. What makes me different from the two? Well, Im still a school-goer. Not too much work to do and again, it means I can concentrate on the City a lot.

Better than the othe other 2? I dont think Im better than any of the other candidates, nor do I feel that any of them is *better* than me in any way. We're all different. It's up to you to decide which one is better for you as an IFian.

Next... Tbird and Shillelagh

Quote: Love it or hate it, T-Bird made a lot of changes around here during his term as mayor, and there is a lot of evidence of his work throughout the city: the guilds, the subforums, the dark zones... But when you are elected mayor, the city will be yours. What will you do with it?

How many of his changes will you leave in place? How many of his changes will you tweak? How many of his changes will you reverse?

Quote: What are your plans and opinions regarding the guilds structure? Are you planning on keeping them? Dissolving them? Changing them in some way? Winging it as you go?

Im not really looking at reversing much of the changes... excepting the guilds. My plan is to give it some time. Try to get more publicity, probably tweak the rules round a bit to make it more attractive and If it doesnt work, the Guilds have to be, very sadly removed... however, I do plan on having different moderators for every section of the city.. you know, to get more IFians involved in the administrative process.

I think the guilds is the only change that needs to be made. The change in the currency system needs more planning and discussion though.

Now... To An

Quote: is there anything in your foreseeable future RL that would inhibit your duties here on If?

Inhibit? Nope. I'd find to log in atleast one every day except for may be 5 days, max. due to competitions around here or maybe (god forbid) an RL demon. I AM having plans of getting an Assistant or vice-mayor to run the city if and when Im away or not logged in. Hopefully that should put to rest your concerns.

Now.. finally Muaddib

Quote: does everyone still think that the current layout of the site is the most efficient? What I mean is that the site seems to be too vast for the level of activity we've seen. We have different forums for all different genres and most of those forums haven't seen any activity for months. I liked the more compact layout of the old Interfable site. It was more inviting because you felt that the site was a lot more active even though the number of active members was around the same.

Another point in favour of reverting to a compact site is that it would be more manageable.

Also, a compact site would mean that people wouldn't necessarily ignore certain SGs just because of their genre. They might begin a story without knowing the genre and realize they like it. We might see a lot more user participation that way.

Another thought: maybe the next mayor should put a chapter limit on SGs. We can't pretend that SGs are comparable to novels. After a certain number of SG chapters new readers get put off by the size of the story and don't want to catch up. This is certainly how I feel regarding a lot of the older stories on this site.

I dont find a problem with the current layout and I wasnt around when Interfable layout was being used, so I'll need explanation. But I read through "Our Story", Key's piece on City Of If's history and it is my judgement that the layout has changed for the better. Managing the city has been made easier with moderators for forums.

I think this actually makes it easier for people to find what they're looking for. We dont what a IFian to return and think "Where the hell are the stroies I was following?". It'd be easier for him to look genre-wise or in the archives rather than go through a jumbled mess. And that answers your q about making the site "more inviting".

About Activity, the solution is just to be more active. Not to make it seem like we're more active. No fakery. :P

Your suggestions about a chapter limit need to be discussed more. Are we willing to compromise the author's wish to write more chapters just to make it easier for the readers to follow the story? Needs to be discussed. Cant give a definite answer to that.

[Vikas Muralidharan]

misterbiz wrote:
HEH: I've got a simple answer to yours. Because a vote for Biz is a vote for the best there is. In all seriousness though, I may not be the most active reader or commenter but out of the three of us I really am the most active. Pope's activity is very sporadic and V is on/off it appears. I know the RL can do that and I understand. Another thing, V is not old enough to read the stuff in the dark sections, and thus might therefore be able to mayor over his those sections. I am of age and am on the sit every single day (with some weekend exceptions). I think the mayor should be someone who is actually here on the site.

Well, Im not sure if you are right about my activity.. I have been logging in pretty much every single day for the past month and a half (except on the exam days) and on most days before that. Activity wise, Id put myself on par with you, if not over.

About my age... concern, yes. But I was allowed to be the Humor Guildmaster with
an assistant to moderate the darker sections. This is pretty much on a larger scale. That was the only thing that was bugging me about my decision to run in the elections and Im glad you brought it up. Look at my previous post (which was being written while you posted, so I couldn't read..). I do want an vice mayor or an assistant. I will appoint a person of age (could even be you.. lol) If I become the mayor to help moderate the darker sections. IF Im away (which would be rare), that person will have to mod the city for that period of time. And to An-The only forseeable absence I will have is from 17-19 of November and maybe for a couple of days in December. Shouldn't be much of a problem

I don't really see a problem in having a Mayor and an Assistant Mayor... any questions about that, Im willing to answer.

[PopeAlessandrosXVIII]

Oh boy, lot's to answer. . . .Well, here I go!


To Thunder-sama: I plan on keeping things the way they are. I feel that if we can get some more activity in IF, some of the more infrequet members would have a little more of a tie to IF by joining guilds. This again falls back to the feeling of responsibility. The guilds themselves I feel are under advertised, and I would like to make a campain for them outaide of IF, perhaps even just a small notation on an ad banner. I was thinking. We have the 'Group' button at the top of the screen. . . .Perhaps instead of a scroll bar to look at them, make buttons to each guild. Personaly I'd find that a more attractive thing then the scroll bar. And perhaps a little section on just what each guild is on the join page. Just some ideas to get more activity in the guilds.

To Muaddib-kun: I like the layout for IF right now. I agree with misterbiz about everything having it's place, and I feel it easyer to find SGs based on genre. I do agree, this keeps some members over here, and some over there, so perhaps insted of compacting, making a page on the site that lists all the stickied SGs. I know stickying puts the active qualifying SGs at the top in their forum, but having a page with all the active SGs would be a place to stop by and check out other genres with much more ease the surfing the site through each genre. As for, word limits. . . .I can't say I like the idea, but I do see the point. I do not want to impose word limits on SGs. I do think that we can do something for the longer ones. I know some IFians have made "What has happend up to this point" posts in their SGs, and I think this is a great idea. It gives reader not only a chance at a quick catch-up, but allows new readers a chance to get into the story without reading much. It's kinda like how authors put little excirps on the inner flaps of hardcovers to catch reader's attention. But personaly, I think most of the time it falls on the author to advertise their SGs. We have places on IF to advertise, and if people want their stories read, they should utilise them. Also, just a thought, if Authors began advertising their SGs on other sites, and people come here to read them and like them, we may get more members that way! Just a thought.


To Lyn-chan: I see nothing in my forseeable future to hinder my duties on IF. I have work, but I can log in from there durring my off hours, and at home, other then my sis and BF demanding some of my time, I am free. I do have at rip comming up in April to Minnesota, but that's only for 2 weeks, and I can log on while I'm there. While it is true I seem to be on less, I asure you all that I am on every day, but moving problems and getting use to living with my god-brother has hindered my making responses to all the stories I read, and working on my own. Things are calming down, and I'll be getting to responding to all the SGs on IF that are new, and that I have not yet comented on within the next week.


To Shille-kun: Off the top of my head I can not recall all the changes Thunder-sama has made to IF, so I can't go into detail on all of them. I feel his work into the guilds and the additions of sub forums was for the best of IF and will keep them. I will make some modifications useing imput from the members, and with ideas of my own as I find them necissary. For the council, which I think is the bigger part of this equasion, I'ma hafta think hard on this one. I do not mind the council acting as advisors, and feel letting them moderate the way they see fit. I would like for those in the position of coucil members to understand that I will have to make decissions, but I will always try to consult them on what I'm going to do first. I also know that I can't make everyone happy, but I want to assure all IFians that I will always do what I believe is in IF's best interest. I wish to avoid another war between council and Mayor, and I hope these concessions will sufice. Those are the two big ones I can think of right now. . .


That is all of them I think. I would like to make a statement though.

IF is my second home. I know I have only just recently celebrated my first full year here as an IFian (10/10/2010-10/10/2011) but short time or no, I love this place, and it's people, as I love my own family. The strife I've seen between Mayor and Members is something that hurt me badly, and I do not wish to see it again. I know there is a hich probability of it happening again no matter who is elected, but I want to pleasd in enrnest to all IFians, don't let words said in anger be taken so seriously that it sprouts war here in the city. I know there will always be "sides" on matters of city polotics, but if IF hits all out war, I'm not sure it would be able to crawl out of th rubble. Whoever you decide on IF, make sure it's really ther person you want.

*Bows* Thank you for listening.

[Muaddib]

Pope, I've been meaning to ask, why do you refer to me as Muaddib-kun? What is kun?

[PopeAlessandrosXVIII]

It's a Japanese suffix translating into, or near to, "Friend" in a respectful manner when speaking to males.

So, it means in general, Muaddib my respected friend.

[Muaddib]

Aaaaaaah okay. I never knew that. You learn something every day.

[PopeAlessandrosXVIII]

I would like to make an announcement.

Through mutual agreement, Misterbiz and I have decided to run together in a coalition. What this means per our agreement is that if either of us is elected, the other will take up post as High Lord Chancellor along side Anolyn who will have the post of Co-High Lady Chancellor. We feel that this would be the most beneficial towards helping IF to move forward.

*Bows* Thank you for your time.

[Muaddib]

I've decided to wear a Guy Fawkes mask and call myself V.

[HalfEmptyHero]

Muaddib wrote: I've decided to wear a Guy Fawkes mask and call myself V.

Now, now . . . that was two days ago ;)

[Muaddib]

Quote: Now, now . . . that was two days ago Wink

:D

Quote: the other will take up post as High Lord Chancellor along side Anolyn who will have the post of Co-High Lady Chancellor.


I want to be known as our Glorious Leader of the Midwinter Revolution. Can we do that? That would be winning.

Quote: We feel that this would be the most beneficial towards helping IF to move forward.

The Jedi Council has spoken?

[Andolyn]

Co-High Lady Chancellor...? Geez, that's a mouthful of a name...

so...is EVERYONE joining forces? i thought it would just be that i'd assist Biz from the background. lol that's what Biz and i had tossed around, anyways...if he's elected, that is.

*****

actually, after giving it quite a bit of thought, i'm refusing Pope's offer of a co-vice mayoral position. one assistant mayor is plenty. i'll still be more than willing to help with anything the winning candidate needs, but as i said, one official assistant is plenty, and since Pope has shown interest in the position, i'm stepping aside.

and Mauddib...Remember, Remember, the 5th of November. The Gunpowder Treason and Plot. I know of no reason the Gunpowder Treason should ever be forgot!

[HalfEmptyHero]

Andolyn wrote: Remember, Remember, the 5th of November. The Gunpowder Treason and Plot. I know of no reason the Gunpowder Treason should ever be forgot!

Remember, remember, the 11th of November, the Haymarket massacre and riot. I see no reason, while in this season, free voices should ever be quiet.

Now just so I am not completely off topic . . . .

To all candidates: If you were elected mayor, would those who voted for you get any sort of special treatment, perhaps monetary?

[Andolyn]

teeheehee. XD

[Vikas Muralidharan]

PopeAlessandrosXVIII wrote: I would like to make an announcement.

Through mutual agreement, Misterbiz and I have decided to run together in a coalition. What this means per our agreement is that if either of us is elected, the other will take up post as High Lord Chancellor along side Anolyn who will have the post of Co-High Lady Chancellor. We feel that this would be the most beneficial towards helping IF to move forward.

*Bows* Thank you for your time.

Wow.. Nice :/

Never. Give. Up.

Still running for your votes.. Any more questions I need to answer?

[misterbiz]

Vikas Muralidharan wrote: PopeAlessandrosXVIII wrote: I would like to make an announcement.

Through mutual agreement, Misterbiz and I have decided to run together in a coalition. What this means per our agreement is that if either of us is elected, the other will take up post as High Lord Chancellor along side Anolyn who will have the post of Co-High Lady Chancellor. We feel that this would be the most beneficial towards helping IF to move forward.

*Bows* Thank you for your time.

Wow.. Nice :/

Never. Give. Up.

Still running for your votes.. Any more questions I need to answer?

We didn't give up...We are BOTH still vying for the top prize...all this means is that the loser will take the "vice mayor" type position...as it happened in early american politics where the winner becomes president and the loser becomes vice president...

Don't think that because we're semi-teamed up that either one of us is going to just lay down and let the other win.

and HEH: no...i will not pay for votes...instead people who vote for me get to rest easy in knowing that the chose the best

[Vikas Muralidharan]

Sorry... Was stunned by that, I didnt see the question..

HalfEmptyHero wrote:
To all candidates: If you were elected mayor, would those who voted for you get any sort of special treatment, perhaps monetary?

Are you asking me to bribe? o.O

Corruption levels from where I am are high enough already, No thank you. Those who voted for me (and those who didn't) WILL get one benefit, If Im elected though- A better mayor ;)

Secondly..

Andolyn wrote: actually, after giving it quite a bit of thought, i'm refusing Pope's offer of a co-vice mayoral position. one assistant mayor is plenty. i'll still be more than willing to help with anything the winning candidate needs, but as i said, one official assistant is plenty, and since Pope has shown interest in the position, i'm stepping aside.

Well, I have asked for a vice-mayor and no-one has stepped up yet...

Note: I need a Vice-Mayor. That's the only disadvantage of not being 18 and running for mayoral elections in this site. I think the other 2 can do their jobs perfectly well without a vice-mayor but it's their choice and Im cool with it :) So, yeah...