Rules Marshalling and the Feb 09 Event

A great many people have expressed concerns over some of the incidents surrounding some of the mods this past weekend and especially the main mod.  My purpose in making this post is to settle some of those concerns and explain, to some degree, how things unfolded as they did.

Before I begin, allow me to be explicitly clear: When it comes to Rules Marshaling, the buck stops here.  The responsibility of Rules Marshaling for all Mods is mine and mine alone.  No other officer is responsible for this, nor are the weekend plot authors responsible for mistakes made by NPCs.  This must be made crystal clear because some people have insinuated other officers are responsible for some of the mess of the past weekend.  I alone am responsible for ensuring that the rules of KR are being enforced and this includes making sure both PC and NPC alike are following their stats and the rules of the game.

One of my responsibilities is to arrange for RMs to go out on plot mods.  To be blunt, I completely and utterly failed in this and have been for the past few events.  Up until now, it was not really that big of a deal.  However, this event was a breaking point.  Coupled with this, I made a very bad assumption that one person in particular was going to be RMing the main mod.  It is both not that person's responsibility and my fault for not checking with the person.

What should happen is that I coordinate with the plot author(s) for the weekend to arrange for an RM to be present for a given mod.  In fact, its one of the main reasons I decided to become a long-term ST and give up my ability to play my character whenever I want to; to make that coordination more certain.  The bigger the intended mod, the more RMs.  Main mod typically needs three RMs to adequately monitor it.  This event there were none.  Because of this, a great many errors occurred, holds took far longer than they should have, and the general player base felt they had no one to turn to to resolve disputes.  Simply put, this is unacceptable.  I believe if I had done my job, a great many, not all, but a great many of the problems that occurred would not have happened or would have been resolved in a quick and efficient manner. 

This did not happen this past event, nor for a few before it, because I have had some very large real world changes in my life recently.  This is not an excuse, merely an explanation. 

While I know a great many of you think I'm more than a bit of an ass, I truly try to be fair to everyone and I believe that by ensuring the rules of KR are followed, the game runs better for everyone. I believe this past event showed what happens when the rules are not followed, whether intentionally or not. I am not blaming anyone nor am I convinced that anyone was maliciously ignoring the rules.  But what should have been a great mod, was ruined for a great many people.  I try to treat everyone the same so that every player knows they can expect fair treatment from me.  The reason I say this is because the entire reason I do my job is to try and make KR a better game and more enjoyable for the players.  I hope all of you believe me when I say right now I'm most concerned with that fact that my mistake affected the experience of players in a negative way.

I understand that I have not been doing my job adequately lately, at least not in some of the areas that directly affect the players.  Honestly, you and KR deserve better than that.  Because of this and the changes in my life, I have asked James for a three month hiatus while I get things settled on my end.  It will also be the time I need to determine if I can continue in my current capacity with KR.

So I ask first and foremost that you'll forgive me for the failure of proper Rules Marshaling this past event.  Second, I'd like to personally apologize to Alex and Andy for not providing them RMs for their mods.  Third, I ask that if anyone has any issue relating to the rules from this past event to please address them with me or James and to not blame other staff members or plot members. 

To end on a positive note, there are a good number of new RMs in the works and so the number of RMs at a given event should be bolstered soon.  Also, please don't forget, players can always seek out an RM to resolve a situation they think is unfair even if that RM isn't marshaling the mod.  We try to do everything we can to take the initiative in these matters, but we can do it even better when the players talk to us.

I asked James for a three month hiatus and he was kind enough to let me have it.  In that time I actively did not check these boards, its been at least two+ months since I was last on, so for anyone that sent me a PM, sorry :)

I have decided to step down as both the Rules Enforcement Officer and a Storyteller.  I simply don't have the time needed to commit to the game and the players that I once did.  It is unlikely I'll attend more than one event a year from now on, if that.  As I said to James on the phone, I have truly enjoyed and been honored to contribute to KR at the staff level.  I hope I have served KR well enough to honor my friendship with James and the memory of Rob.  Ultimately though, I think its just my time to move on.  I'll still poke my head in from time to time and will hopefully make an event a year.  Of all the officer spots, mine and Atmosphere require attendance and I can't give it.  I also take great pride in the fact that I'm "leaving" on a positive note.

Perhaps more importantly, James has been doing a fantastic job of getting stuff done at the game, which I'm ecstatic about.  It also means I'm not needed anymore. While I have certainly fought for those things I believed were good for the players and the game, I have always said and will always say, my greatest desire was simply for James to make the call (and of course my version was always the right call *grin*).  I'm not sure if the player base has seen the increased activity by James, but I certainly have.

My only regret is that Psions still exist and the fighter/mage hybrid was not born in its place.  It is my single greatest failure at KR and mars all my other good works:)

Thank you to everyone, but especially to my friend James.  That guy has put up with more nagging and pestering from me than perhaps any of you realize. 

I wish all of you (well most of you  ;D) the best!