Myth@Bungie.Org

Saturday August 23rd 2003

State of the Community Address { Zandervix }

I'm not so sure we're a community at this point. It?s more like a political system. I therefore appoint myself as President. Yeah, you heard me. President Zandervix. Sure, it's just an honorary title at this point, but who knows?

Well, as President, I say we should stop all the bickering, and get back to a community state. I've got a feeling that we're going to have our own little version of red vs blue here.

Webster's defines 'community' as: a unified body of individuals. (Oddly enough, just two words up from community is communist, but I digress.) Note the unified body of the definition. Right now we are not unified. Heck, we're more seperated than Tom and Nichole; Bruce and Demi; Sonny and Cher; Michael and Bubbles. It's just sad, people.

Yes, people will always have their differences. There is no stopping that. But do we have to split the community over things? Now, I admit, I don't know every little detail of every little tiff, but I do know a group of quarrelsome pre-schoolers when I see one.

Let me just point out, and I've said this before, that I appreciate all the work that is done by members of this community that furthers the game and a community as a whole. I appreciate people who put time and money into game servers and file servers and websites. I appreciate the fact that all of these things are free to me. We must be aware that with these priviliges comes responsibility. We have to be responsible for our actions. Just as I'm sure I'll get some back-lash for my comments here.

Clem, just the other day, posted a rather wordy point about the use of The Mill. I won't re-cap it all here, but I will say that I agree with it for the most part. It basically states that if you want to post to The Mill, you should be free of problems and issues with it's management and members. Also meaning philisophical differences with these same individuals. I won't pretend to know exactly what that means, but I get the point. Unfortunately, with a lot of organizations, the entity as a whole, no matter how good it may be, may be overshadowed by the negative actions of just a few individuals. These few individuals can make a problem out of the whole system. The Myth organizations are no different. While I'm fine with all of the organizations within the community based on the the work they do and what they can contribute, there are those few individuals within these organizations that can make [Myth] life unbearable. These individuals, with continual flaming and hate spewing, continue to try to be above the community. No one person is above a community, not even it's President. :)

It's important we remember what got us here. We came for a game. We came for a good time. Sure, some of us came to exhibit our skills, or even to display our vanity; but in the end of it all, it had to do with a game. Some of us came for the comeraderie, for the friendships. I personally came for the story itself, but stayed for the fun. Whatever the reason we are here, we originally came here for, and because of, a game. Why we stay, well, that could be for various reasons. But I don?t believe in staying just to spread dissent and to try and push members of this community out. We can't all agree, it's true; but we have to live with each other, so let's play nice.

I?ve been through a lot of forum posts with people claiming 'Myth is dead.' I don't believe that. This community has been in various states of living and dying; but it is/was never dead. Currently it's not in it's glory days, and hasn't been for a while; but with the talented individuals that are currently residing within this community, it could come back to being close. However, that will never happen if we continue the infighting that is occuring. If you push away talented individuals, you're dooming us to continue on a downward spiral. However, that doesn't give those with the talents the right to act like complete asses.

This community can't be patched up overnight. I know not everyone will suddenly decide to be civil to one another. What I do ask is that everyone sit back and think real hard about why they are here and what motivates them to stay.

I know this is nothing new. This is all stuff we've heard before. "Get along and play nice." But when single individuals begin making things unbearable for others at the cost of the community, it makes me sick. We're a community. This is no place for selfishness and politics. This is not a business. This is a place for a game. And the advancement of that game. If you're on a high horse, get off of it. You don't own this planet, you just live here for a time.

It's okay to thank people for the work that they do. It's also okay to admit that you may not always be right. Everyone has their own point of view, and not every point of view is in the wrong. Just like not every point of view is in the right. Going back to Webster's, just a few pages over from 'community' is the word 'compromise.' I invite you to look it up for yourself.

My views may not neccesarily reflect the views of anyone else, including those of the community or others involved with this site. But they are my views amd I'm not afraid to say it. My name is Zandervix, and I am the President.