Ser Battlecat Resigns

To Whom it may concern,

I had always said that i would continue to do this job, as a commerce officer, for as long as i had friends in the guild left. I look at the roster and i have no idea who 90% of these people are, and more so, i have no idea who these officers are that are being promoted. there was a time where i could have told you anything about any character frontwards and backwards and what they were doing ic and ooc and what made them special and unique, but now, i have no idea anything about these people.

the reason primarily why i hadn't been Rp'ing in Sren'ja is because i couldn't rp my character in a town overrun with vampires and daedric cultists who are allowed to do their evil in plain view with no repercussions. I was Told by Gata, that my Character was to much of a white knight and was oppressing people. Its Frustrating to me to see such a lack of Canon that it feels im playing in a World of Darkness (Vampire: The Masquerade) game instead of the Elder Scrolls setting ive come to love. That travesty of Gata's lore breaking wedding I attended the other day was the straw that broke the camels back. Having a Priest of Hircine Officiating a Wedding between a vampiress, a dominion officer and a sorta paladin only have the priest take off mid ceromony then some other person start invoking the rights of mara to join them together was just terrible. Over the past few weeks i have randomly shown up to Sren'ja to Rp and didnt recognize a single person there, nor did they know who i was. Furthermore the level of RP i saw whilst i was there was at such a dismal state, it broke my heart to think that this was once the RP guild i had so much fun in and could go to the clan mothers house at any time of day and take part in something interesting and involving but now cannot. Its also disheartening to read in BSR guild chat the GM begging ppl to come rp in Sren'ja and trying to recruit officers like a Cell Phone salesmen in a Mall, just randomly shouting out to any passerby.

All that being said, I hereby Resign my Officer Commission, and may actually just leave the guild altogether because it bears no resemblance to what i know it can and should be, nor has it since gata was given the reigns.

May the Moon Light and Guide your Path,
Ser Krynger Battlecat - Paladin of the Two Moons
@Malatorius

./Rides into the sunset

Goodluck in your travels Battlecat

May the moons watch over you all!

Ser Battlecat,

Without addressing your specific concerns about RP and lore (which I think naturally vary in quality as new story ideas are developed and new members come in), I would like to voice support for Gata, Ice_Eye, and other officers. I sat in on a recent officer's meeting, and I've been monitoring activity on these boards quite closely for the past month, and I am confident that these officers are doing their level best to ensure that Blue Skooma remains a vibrant and fun roleplaying guild that is responsive to its members. Why do they it? Apparently because they love it. Might they make mistakes? Sure. But they are doing their best, and I am grateful.

Val

In response to Valyrian,

I was an officer of Blue Skooma. But I resigned because I couldn't do the job while having irl work weighing down. I really do understand that the officers are doing their best. But frankly, that does not excuse the blatant disregard for the lore of this game and how it is constantly misused in this guild. Characters such as "white knights" are forced to make tremendous changes just so they can roleplay in this guild, which to me, is quite contradictory. And down right rude I might add. Why should a player have to change their character just so they can roleplay without being told that the character is being too oppressive? That is wrong. Its really sad to me as a former roleplay officer to see people change the behavior of their characters just so they can avoid the ooc berating they may receive from another player.

Elros

As is often the case, departures are sometimes for the best. I hope you find a place where you feel welcome, known and valued. (tbh, I think you already have)

Z'en's blessings upon you.

Oh, and in order to know and be known you have to participate--read character sheets and forum posts, attend officer meetings and auctions, look for ways to interact with the group. Absence and criticizing our values and gameplay in and out of character do nothing to endear you to anyone. As individuals we are all responsible for our own fun and happiness--we can choose to be critical, denigrating and destructive or assertive, supportive and constructive. Pretty sure the last three are much more effective at promoting a fun and positive group experience.

And it's "reins" not "reigns". So far Gata has had one "reign" and I think she's done a great job considering this is her first experience as a Guild Master.

Sorry, tried to take the middle road and failed....

Elros Delodil wrote

In response to Valyrian,

I was an officer of Blue Skooma. But I resigned because I couldn't do the job while having irl work weighing down. I really do understand that the officers are doing their best. But frankly, that does not excuse the blatant disregard for the lore of this game and how it is constantly misused in this guild. Characters such as "white knights" are forced to make tremendous changes just so they can roleplay in this guild, which to me, is quite contradictory. And down right rude I might add. Why should a player have to change their character just so they can roleplay without being told that the character is being too oppressive? That is wrong. Its really sad to me as a former roleplay officer to see people change the behavior of their characters just so they can avoid the ooc berating they may receive from another player.

Elros

It isn't uncommon for this to HAVE to happen though, especially in large RP guilds. It also isn't just "white knights", a player acting as a criminal with support of people around, could essentially kill off Roleplay characters just like the white knights could as well... this would cause chaos which is why sometimes people need to tone down extremist characters.

Such as the wedding that took place that Battlecat spoke about, sure it deviated from lore a bit, which is saddening surely, and we will constantly work on that. However if a white knight chose to attend a vampires wedding, do you think that white knight would normally be allowed to leave alive? Would it have been more satisfying if the numbers of vampires and supporters killed IC those that opposed vampires? That would only have led to the white knight complaining OOC or godmodding IC.

Sadly extremist characters are just hard to RP with, on both ends of the spectrum. We could either let it continue and have people getting their characters killed all the time, or make certain compromises. If the aggressive character "doesn't" tone down certain actions, then they could not be mad if other characters took aggressive actions as well and killed the player if they walk into the wrong area.

It isn't to avoid OOC berating that we tone down characters sometimes, it is to avoid IC mass killings.

Alright I'm starting to get frustrated here.

Elros, Battlecat, you both are good friends to me, obviously. I love both of your characters and you're both wonderful OOC. I talked to Battlecat, in hopes to sort of smooth things out for myself, as I felt like talking to Battlecat would just make me feel better about everything that happened, plus I was really missing you guys. And of course I'm always talking to Elros. I was trying to come to terms with things, with you all leaving. But frankly, having something I am pouring most of my free time into being called, "dismal" and "rude" is getting to me, especially when it's coming from people that I do care so much about and from people that I really do value opinions from. It makes me wanna drop everything and walk away.

If you want to be so painfully critical of us, that you at least do so without directly attacking us. I'm feeling like a lot of these things are coming specifically from a place where you are still upset with the guild.

I understand lore-breaking is extraordinarily frustrating, and as Ri has said, it is hard to RP as extremist character's — Battlecat's white knight and Gata's criminal vampire happen to be at opposing ends of the spectrum. We try, we really do. We're attempting to create a place where everyone's RP characters and styles can coexist peacefully. Of course it's hard to do so when you've got opposing characters. Battlecat, it's even harder to balance such things when you're hardly around anymore. I mean of course there's going to be a vampire wedding and a difficult setting for you to RP in when you haven't been around us for weeks and Gata's on every day. People will know Gata better and let it happen. But if you're unknown and come in and expect everyone to jump on your side and call it an abomination, I have to tell you that's not going to happen.

That being said, I don't disagree with either Elros or Battlecat. We could always use improvement, lore-breaking being one of the things we need to work on. It just kills me, like you honestly don't even know how much these things have been bothering me, when two people that I really value come in here and tell me that what I'm pouring parts of myself into is just so bad and not even worth it it, that it's basically a sinking ship.

And I guess I'm saying all of this in hopes of getting it off of my chest and making myself feel better. I still adore you both, I'm just a little hurt by all this, really. I'm feeling like my two best friends (BSR & SCC) were in a relationship and it ended in a bad break up and I'm now just in between, afraid to hurt either by saying or doing anything much with the other. And I had to help one move out. And it got even more awkward when the one moving out left some underwear in the top drawer of the dresser and had to go back in to grab it.

As I was reflecting on what I said and the feelings that came a long with it, I've realized the whole thing has made me stop RPing. Something I used to be so excited about has become something I dread. I've turned to dungeon delves and Undaunted pledges, even started questing again, because RP is now awkward for me.

I go into the Clanmother's and it's empty now, since you all have left. There's hardly anyone ever there for RP and when I do walk in and see a few people, I miss the familiar faces. Like going back into the house my two best friends used to live in, and now only one stays there. It's missing life, community, that it once had.

On the other side of that, when I go to Baandari for RP, I feel like a traitor. I feel unwelcome and that people there tend to ignore me, even the ones that would recognize me. I mean yes, there are about 3 + Krimie that I could say would always at least say hello, Battlecat and Elros being other the other two, and Beth being the last. But other than that people don't tend to acknowledge that I'm there, even if I'm just sitting on the couch in the common house. It's like the other friend's new apartment and I took a seat on the new couch that's still covered in plastic and I get sideways looks now and again for still being friends with the ex, and the only sound breaking the awkward silence in the near empty new apartment is the sound of my fidgeting on the plastic that's covering the couch.

I'm stuck in limbo, it seems. Plastic-y, awkward limbo.

I know I probably cant make you stay, but for what its worth I too dislike plain evil in rp. Maybe a new faction could be made for vampires and daedra worshipers, but still I hope you enjoy whatever you do from now on.

As my general rule, I do not get involved in squabbles which neither affect me or are not directed towards me. However, regarding the resignation of Sir BattleCat, opinions and argument has been made which is causing a ripple effect of mixed emotion across the Members of Blue Skooma. To any Members of Blue Skooma experiencing mixed emotions I offer this reply:

1. No person, thing or event can upset you unless you grant to said person, thing or event, the power and/or authority to upset you.

Let us think about that. If you agree with this statement, all of a sudden, you are in control of your own happiness and contentment; or lack thereof. Nobody can make you happy or sad; that is your job. It also reasons that a third party has no obligation to make you happy. You make yourself happy.

2. Everybody in the world has an opinion. Just because a person states his/her opinion in loud and forceful manner does not make that opinion any more correct than a different opinion. (The one who yells the loudness is not by default right.)

3. People use many methods to obtain power, control and obtain his/her own selfish wants/needs. When I talk or listen to a person I often ask myself, "What is their agenda?" Just yesterday, I received an email stating, "How Much Do You Love Your Dog?" The ad then listed 28 items I could buy to show my dog how much I loved her. ALWAYS WATCH OUT FOR THE SALESMAN. What does he really want. I have personally heard Sir BattleCat state, "He could sell ice to an Eskom."



Sir BattleCat has narrowed his opposition to Blue Skooma by claiming Blue Skooma does not adhere to Lore. Keep in mind, this is not the first time we have heard this allegation. This was a claim made to support the last split in membership. I wonder how much of Sir BattleCat's influence was involved in the split of membership?

After the split in membership, Sir BattleCat not only remained a member of Blue Skooma but also retained his position as an Officer. Why? Why would he want to do this? Maybe to assist Blue Skooma in becoming more lore friendly. No, because Sir BattleCat had little or no involvement in Role Playing or Officer's Meetings after the split. What we do know comes directly from His resignation wherein he says he has been hanging around to see if things would change in Blue Skooma. He remained within Blue Skooma to be a spy.

It is a fact that after the wedding, Sir BattleCat resigned.

WHAT IF:

1. Sir BattleCat wanted to be in control of the (or a) Guild.

2. Sir BattleCat was the primary cause of the split in membership via sewing discontent over this lore issue. If the split gave him a new Guild, he would be GuildMaster (or in control of who he backed for GuildMaster). On the other hand, if the split resulted in Blue Skooma being so weakened as to fall apart, then it would be available for Sir BattleCat, especially in so much as he never resigned his membership of Officer's position.

3. Sir BattleCat remained in Blue Skooma. Did any of the others who split? Sir BattleCat wanted to stay close to his friends and even closer the Blue Skooma members who didn't follow him over to the new Guild. We know that Blue Skooma did not self destruct. In fact, A Gate remained as GuildMaster, membership increased, new story lines came out, new Officers were elected and things in general are going well at Blue Skooma. Sir BattleCat said in his resignation said that he no longer knew the Members or Officers of Blue Skooma. Another way to understand this comment is that Sir BattleCat has no influence over the new Members or Officers.

4. At the wedding, Sir BattleCat saw the Role Playing Members, witnessed them buying in (joining in) on the not so lore friendly wedding and when he tried to object, he was the one noted for being negative.

Game over. Sir BattleCat resigns.

All I know is Blue Skooma does not need a negative aggregator as a Member or Officer. I accept Sir BattleCat's resignation and no Member should feel the lesser for it.

I'm gonna go ahead and lock this thread, it has nothing to do with his resignation anymore and nothing good will come of further talking about it.

Battlecat I truely wish you the best of luck wherever you call home. Although we never spoke much, I always smiled when I saw your armorclad khajiit outside the clanmothers as if you were watching over us :3