I've got nothing to say, but.......

[Taiko]

I’ll rant anyway.

I once had a buddy who thought of himself as something of a comedian, even went so far as to get a ‘gig’ at the local comedy club here in town where he played a couple of times a month. He was in fact pretty funny, but what always gave me a kick was that whenever I would introduce him to someone and mention that he was a comedian, the first thing out of the persons mouth would be: “Say something funny. Come on, anything.” My buddy would just stand there with this panic look on his face with no where to run and mutter a “Um….er….” Boy would that make me grin.
I’m not grinning anymore, because now I know how he felt. Here we all sit in the Entrance Hall trying to think up something interesting and witty to say in the hopes that some moderator will smile down and knight us “worthy”. I’m sure we all felt the same way when we figured out how things now worked around here. To say I think this is a ridiculous spectacle is an understatement. Their reasoning (from Papewaio): some don’t get their tongue in cheek humor, to stop riff raff diminishing the core values of the org, and to ensure that members can manage to write in complete sentences and have a logical flow to their argument is nothing more than an elitist agenda.
First will these individuals who have no tongue in cheek humor be required to sit thru taped copies of 70’s British Comedies in hopes that they may someday find humor in the ironic.
Second, are these core values that the org values so highly anywhere to be found? How can I re programming. myself to these values if they are not posted. I would think they would flash up every time a person logged on like a Visa pop-up ad if they were so highly treasured.
Third, members that can’t write in complete sentences or have a logical flow to their arguments. Will there be any training to these members to ensure the proper use of the queens English in an attempt to make them a more productive members of the Org, or will they be banished to the Entrance Hall until they pass the sixth grade. Lord forbid anyone voice their opinion who speaks English as a second language.
Come to think of it I think there core values are blatantly clear: If your not like us, change or your place is in the Entrance Hall. All I wanted to do is get involved with some people from all over the world, from different backgrounds and education in a forum area to discuss a game that we all like to play…. Shogun Total War . In retrospect I think I’ll be staying here for quite sometime after this. I did not mean to offend anyone and I’m sure that what I’ve said has been said in other posts by persons more eloquent than myself. I’ve done did beat this dead horse, but like I said…..I’ll rant anyway.

[Gregoshi]

First of all, welcome to the Org Taiko.

Next, regarding your rant, I'll quote from the Guild Membership Information thread posted near the top of this forum:

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Promotion to Senior Patron
There is no set number of posts or time limit for promotion to Senior Patron. Promotions are agreed upon by the Entrance Hall moderators Gregoshi and KukriKahn and require that you participate in discussions in the Entrance Hall. You need to post often enough so that we can see how you interact with others in the forum environment. Your posts **need not** be profound, intelligent, witty or even agreeable. They **do** need to be respectful of others, not profane and non-hostile. We can promotion a Junior Patron based on one well constructed, informative post or, more typically, at least four multi-sentence posts. Although not guaranteed, most promotions are made within a day of your participation in threads at the Entrance Hall. Unacceptable behaviour will, at best, delay a promotion.

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The bolded, italisized part is mine for emphasis as are the words bracketed by *.

BTW, your post is not considered unacceptable behaviour. You expressed your point of view in a non-hostile manner...but I did find all those &#8221 quite annoying.

Just join in some of the discussions that are going on in the Entrance Hall and you'll be fine. Actually, your lengthy rant is probably worth at least 10 posts.

[Azrael]

Hey Guys,

Taiko, I felt very much the same way you did when I arrived at the Guild Forums.

If you read through the Can't Post in the Main Hall thread, you'll find you are not alone in the way you feel.

You'll also get a better idea of why this system is in place and what is expected of people who want to get through it.

Saying that, my opinion hasn't changed. I still feel the system is in some ways elitist, not to mention very off putting for new members, and I feel it's wrong to keep people out, however, that is balanced by the fact that to be fair, the Moderators do seem to be promoting people to full posting status in anywhere from 1 to 2 days.

Ironically, the Medieval Total War Guild Forum is a microcosm of the Total War Gaming community, much like Heorot, Hrothgar's Hall in Beowulf represents a microcosm of Anglo Saxon society.

Grendel (the monster), when he attacked the Hall, dismembered the bodies of his victims. This is important as it represents the dismemberment of society.

Are we seeing history repeat itself, as the Guild creates a segregated society?

To a degree, I think yes. However to be fair, 1 - 2 days worth of intelligent posting? It's not that bad.

The Moderators have said this system is currently under review.

Is that still the case? If so, what are the timescales involved?

Hang in there Taiko. Don't be put off. You can see in most of the threads that alot of people with Main Hall privileges come to the Entrance Hall to discuss or even post their own topics.

Azrael

[Taiko]

I know, what's up with that? It looked so beautiful on Microsoft word. Maybe it had do with the copy and paste? And to think that I wasted my lunch for that. Woohoo 10 posts.

[Taiko]

Hey Azrael,
I did read your posts in the Can't post in the Main Hall thread. In fact your one the eloquent individuals I was refering to. Great stuff that motivated me to post my rant. As for one or two days of intelligent posting, well...I am in trouble then as it's all dribble from here on out.

[Gregoshi]

Don't sell yourself short Taiko. That was a pretty darn good first post. If you didn't have anything to contribute why would you be put off by not being able to post in the significant forums? (no, my feeling aren't hurt - much) And don't tell me it's the principle of it Any unregistered person can read the forums to their heart's content. You've got something to say...I can tell, I'm psychic...or did the doc say it was schizo?

[Taiko]

Quote[/b] (Gregoshi @ Nov. 21 2002,17:47)]Don't sell yourself short Taiko. That was a pretty darn good first post. If you didn't have anything to contribute why would you be put off by not being able to post in the significant forums? (no, my feeling aren't hurt - much) And don't tell me it's the principle of it Any unregistered person can read the forums to their heart's content.

You've got something to say...I can tell, I'm psychic...or did the doc say it was schizo?

Gregoshi
You too? I thought we were the only ones. And again I didn't mean to hurt anyones feelings. The point I wanted to get out, was this whole Entrance Hall thing comes across as wrong to people when they first learn about it, and it might deter good people from joining. Myself, I have next to nothing to say but now I'm pushed to post. I love to read the posts (I've haunted for weeks now) and if something comes up that I'd like to add then I would like to add to it, otherwise I'm pretty quiet. But now I've got to come up with some good posts and I've got no one to talk to here at the Hall because nobody plays Shogun anymore

[Taiko]

And I've screwed up that whole quote thing....maybe it's not such a bad idea to keep us newbies in one place.

[Hosakawa Tito]

Taiko, if you want to talk about STW then fire away. If we can't answer your questions we can move your thread to the STW forum for help there. Do you play the original STW or the Warlord Edition?

[Gregoshi]

I'll talk Shogun too. I haven't played it in quite a few months, but I was teaching my son how to play it not too long ago. I have many fond memories of the game. Doh Now I'm getting nostalgic. Where is that CD?...

[+DOC+]

Quote[/b] (Gregoshi @ Nov. 21 2002,22:47)]You've got something to say...I can tell, I'm psychic...or did the doc say it was schizo?

Ummmm, you called....?

Right then, definite schizo i'm afraid

[barocca]

IIRC Gregoshi's son tried to charge peasants over a bidge into the face of muskets...
he was not terribly impressed when the cowards turned tail and ran...