MotM! Time to vote! [Closed!]

[Winddancer]

It is that time again! Please send your votes on who deserves to be Member of the Month by the 13th!

You know the deal, mail it to the admin email, please :D

[Baphởmet]

We have voted!

[Nessa Saelind]

All of us have voted too.

[Ercassie]

Wait, you mean each of our IC’s each get a vote on who to nominate for this ? I only sent one.

[Nessa Saelind]

Wait, you mean each of our IC’s each get a vote on who to nominate for this ? I only sent one.

Either that or all our multiple personalities have agreed on who to vote for

[Baphởmet]

Wait, you mean each of our IC’s each get a vote on who to nominate for this ? I only sent one.

How do you think I ever managed to get one? 100+ characters all voting for me

[Ercassie]

Well I clearly missed a trick here. Either that, or this is why it usually takes me so long to get around to voting. My lot would never agree !

[Lailyn]

This thread always makes me happy. Sent in my vote!! I hope you all do the same!

[Baphởmet]

Since voting for the MotM is relatively low (despite activity not declining at a similar rate) I would like to propose a different type of voting to determine the MotM each month. Rather than opening the voting up to everyone, why not have the previous month’s MotM(s) and the ATRs vote and thus decide? This might be my overwhelming frustration and bitchiness with people proudly proclaiming on Discord that they “are far too inactive to vote” despite the fact that activity is not a prerequisite for voting. Laziness is apparently an issue with people clicking a button and writing the name of singular person they like so why bother giving these people the chance to give a smart ass “too inactive to vote” response to the pleas to get people to vote? Again, this might be born out of my frustration and impatience with people so take any (or all) of this with a piece of Carthaginian salt. Maybe it’s a good idea? Maybe it’s a junker, but perhaps it warrants discussion?

[Winddancer]

I am equally frustrated each month, as many likely have noticed with all my nagging :P

I dont know if there is a solution as such, 4 votes is still 4 votes. But you are more than welcome to have a discussion, but given the amount of votes it might be down to you 4 deciding.

Another option is just having the admin picked ATRs and hit this on the head.. which sucks.

[Baphởmet]

You're right, 4 votes is 4 votes, which doesn't really solve the problem of participation. I came up with the idea on an angry whim thinking that those that have received a fancy icon would be best to pick who else gets one. Probably not the best or most thought out idea I've ever had.

I don't want to simply leave the MotM behind and go back to admin choices (though you all pick wonderfully don't think I'm complaining) but if no one votes then it's just a stagnant pool of pond scum and mosquitos we're voting on.

[Winddancer]

Yeah.. y'all are just pond scum, disgusting display of awesome rping, tsk..

[Nessa Saelind]

I guess we just have to make our peace that some months only 4 to 5 people are going to vote, and some months people will stop being ostriches and get their heads out of the sand (although ostriches and heads in the sand are apparently a myth ) and vote. A MotM elected with only 4 to 5 votes is still a Member of the Month. That is if we all chose the same person or at least the majority of us chose the same person and the admins didn't get 4 different names in which case awkward much

[Winddancer]

We almost had that last month!

[Ercassie]

Could be that all the Arpy voting has exhausted people’s ability to make such decisions ?

[Tharmáras]

I've honestly given all my Arpy votes for the categories which I cared strongly about before the latest update so I'm pretty much done there. Looking forward to the awards threads which I'll enjoy attending IC as I have in yesteryear.

I sent in my Member of the Month vote. And if I'm any mosquito it's one of high lineage and famous repute, the one trapped inside John Hammond's amber walking stick.

[Baphởmet]

How about this as a counter proposal: instead of holding the MotM every single month, as taking the 60 seconds it would take to vote is taxing on a lot of folx around here, why not move it (after this current month) to a bimonthly schedule? It would line up better with the MotM and ATR lasting two months anyway. I would say let's vote on it but... well that seems rather pointless doesn't it?

[Ercassie]

taking the 60 seconds it would take to vote is taxing on a lot of folx around here

While the action of sending the nominating email may take but a minute, I suspect the greater time is taken in looking around the site, including places a person might not usually frequent themself, in order to judge what and where whichever members have been active in the last month. That is after all, the point of a Member of the Month, isn’t it ? Or is everyone just resigning to a system of choosing whoever posted last, or always choosing their best friend ?

I have not always voted for the member of the month and I have not always been quick about it when I do. So while I recognise that it’s frustrating that people aren’t taking the time to commit to voting, perhaps you are right that making it more of a rare shiny opportunity for us all to have a say might result in wider participation when we are permitted to.

Which is not to say that it’s not a very generous gift from the admins to allow a voice be raised from the general populace in assigning this sort of recognition. But perhaps yes, what was once an unattainable advantage for members has become mundane. A chore, so to speak. And that goes, I imagine, very much against what it was probably conceived to be.

[Baphởmet]

If I'm going to be blunt. Yes, choosing your best friend is better than nothing at all. Why? Because it's a vote, it's a vote that says you care about that person and love the work they do and want it to be recognized by everyone on the plaza. Putting a restriction on how or why or if you vote is (to me) unaccountably selfish, depriving someone of having the opportunity to wear a special icon.

Edit>> I apologize if I am coming off as hostile. I'm not intending to be. This is just something that is very special to me that is constantly ignored and it's beginning to grate on me. I do not mean to offend or hurt anyone's feelings and if I have, I am sorry.

[Winddancer]

I dont think Frost means dont deliberate on who to vote for. But that when you have found someone to vote for, it takes a minute to make the email. But then not trying to speak on his behalf <3

My 2 cents: People have A WHOLE MONTH to figure out who to vote for. It does not and never has to come down to the last 5 days of it being open to send in the votes. That is just to ensure that it is open for those not on every day.

I think each and every single member either knows what it feels like to receive one, or NOT receive one and wish they had and I just wish that everyone else felt the same way, bringing a little sunshine to that one special person and showing how much we all appreciate their posts. Wow that felt weird saying that.. MURDER DEATH KILL! Phew, that's better..

Btw, just so you all know.. admin voting is coming up! Time to put your thinking caps on and picking who you want! You now have a whole 2 months to think it over!

Btw, I am in favour of doing it every other month. It might make it more special if it is more rare?

[Tharmáras]

Yes, choosing your best friend is better than nothing at all. Why? Because it's a vote, it's a vote that says you care about that person and love the work they do and want it to be recognized by everyone on the plaza.

I think you're being heartfelt and I commend you for being honest about what you feel. I want you to know that I do share this noble, emotional sentiment which is probably evident in the tribute thread in AM .

I'm just usually so focused on writing my replies to folks that I forget to vote (even though a notice is staring at me in the face ; I just say "I'll get to that" but get sidetracked by posting in RP) but I'll try my best to remember more often .

[Raisins]

Here's the thing there are on average 8 active people consistently in terms of making exceptional posts. Some months it's 10 some months is less than 8.

The issue is if some people are less active then it's even less to vote for especially if it's based on activity or exceptional posts. If we have 4 atrs and motm s that basically narrows down the field to half of who we can vote for. If who is vote for this month already is wearing an atr or motm well...

Honestly this is part of why having 4 a month is almost detrimental to the voting.

[Lailyn]

As someone who received MotM, I can tell you with 100% sincerity I don't care if I received 1, 5 or 20 votes. At least one person appreciated me and that is nice to know.

However, if people are feeling frustrated, maybe it is time to re-evaluate. I can see how constantly having to nag people and a lack of engagement would be exhausting and you start to wonder why you are bothering. I really like that we have a voice about MotM on the NuPlaza and get to recognize members for their contributions. I would hate to see it go away (Not to say that the team hasn't been doing a great job because they have). I also don't want it to become an exercise in frustration or stress each month for members and/or admins. Swapping to every other month seems like a reasonable first thing to try.

My only other thought about this is - maybe some of us have different perspectives about what we think constitutes a MotM. I'm seeing the word "active" used a lot here. I can tell you with full honesty I have not always voted for someone who was necessarily the most active within the last month, but someone who did something exceptional (whether one post or one hundred, it doesn't matter to me) that grabbed my attention or those who I noticed have been contributing meaningfully and regularly over a longer period of time who I would like to see also get recognition. I basically see it as an opportunity to tell the team who I want to get an ATR. If I am wrong to vote this way, no one has told me. I am 100% open to others' feedback and thoughts.

[Moriel]

Clearly this is a topic people are passionate about, and that's fantastic- we should be passionate about showing admiration and appreciation to each other! Passion can breed frustration, and I totally get that. I would love to see a flood of votes into the admin inbox every month, but that hasn't been the case lately, for a number of reasons I'm sure. In my opinion, we're all adults here, everyone knows MotM is a thing, multiple reminders happen every month for people to vote, therefore there's plenty of opportunity for anyone who wants to vote to do so, and excessive hunting down of people is unnecessary, and could well contribute to a lack of desire to participate. As Lail said, an MotM is an MotM no matter how many votes they got.

Something I will say on behalf of the admin team, which we thought was clear, but this thread shows that maybe it isn't:

there is no one criteria for choosing a Member of the Month.

You, the members, get to vote for whoever you want for MotM based on whatever criteria or reason you see fit. And no one has to agree on what that is! You can base your vote on whatever you want- no one's vote gets tossed out because they didn't write an essay explaining why the person they voted for is worthy. If you've been holding back on voting because you don't think you can pick someone who stands up to some arbitrary criteria, let that go! Your reasons might not be the same as the next person's, and that's ok.

Back in December we had a vote based on conflicting member feedback, about how many ATRs should be given out, and how frequently, and the question was decided in favor of 2 ATRs + MotM per month, for a total of 3 ATRs per month to be awarded (4 in the event of an MotM tie, which has happened a couple times). More recently, the team decided to increase the length of wear of ATRs to two months, without reducing the number of icons handed out, in order to give people more time to enjoy their shinies. Nothing has to be set in stone, and we can adjust as needed: everyone's comments in this thread will be taken into account.

Another thing that should be taken into account: there is no scarcity of ATRs. There's been plenty of debate from all sides past and present about the idea of the "value" of an ATR and whether it diminishes if there's a lot given out, but here's my personal take on it: this isn't the Old Plaza of yore with hundreds of active members and dozens of people each month who could have been given an ATR or SCR. We're a smaller crowd now, and a much higher percentage of people are getting ATRs. Does that make it any less special, or any less important to recognize and appreciate members of our community? I don't think so.

[Winddancer]

What Lail and Moriel have said sums it up nicely, but just want to add that you can still vote for someone who has or has had an ATR! Having one does not rule them out from getting another. This is not old plaza, we CAN afford to have people have one twice <3

I know we say this a lot, but just once more: This is NOT old plaza! We get to do what we all want this time around. Speak up if you think something should be changed, word your frustration, this place is here for all members to enjoy themselves and it is the members who now have the say and not some tyrannical admin overlords (Sorry Sauron) We want feedback, we are more than happy to listen to things being done differently <3

[Ercassie]

just want to add that you can still vote for someone who has or has had an ATR!

I know I’m going to regret posting again here but this has just confused me. We are able to choose someone who currently has an ATR to have one immediately again ? The initial thread which introduced us to the Member of the Month states that we should NOT vote for someone who CURRENTLY HAS an ATR. If this changed then I was unaware.

That initial introductory thread also asks specifically that we should look at nominees who have been active, to keep it ‘relevant’ as being a ‘of the month’.

I do apologise if I have misconstrued these as prerequisites for choosing a nominee for MOTM. But honestly this is what I was basing my choice upon. And as far as activity goes, it simply made sense to me that the person be active, else they would likely not be able to take full advantage of enjoying the honour if they did receive it. I did NOT mean to imply that MotM ought be or that I always choose the ‘most’ active person, as though this is a reward for having clocked up the most posts.

[Winddancer]

Dont feel bad about querying something! Please always feel free to if something doesnt make sense <3

Yes, in the very first thread back in July 2020 we asked that you picked an active person and someone not already wearing one.

Come april 2021 and we have had a significant drop in numbers as well as most active people already having had one. Because of this we cant stick to that now, that is why we are opening it up to include those who already have one and who isnt necessarily posting up a storm. They still need to have posted within the last month, but it now isnt a criteria that they post up a storm.

Basically, vote for someone you think should get a lil love :)

[Winddancer]

Voting is now closed, if you would like to continue with the discussion, feel free to do so here or make a brand new thread <3

[Baphởmet]

I think it would benefit people if we moved MotM to a bimonthly thing or (depending on participation) every three months. Perhaps, with a smaller crowd, people feel like the special icon is less special when it's given out monthly. I don't agree with that belief personally, but I want everyone to see it as special and if spacing it out does that, then I would gladly go to a different schedule.

As to "criteria" I've always gone with "who's post(s) or discord presence made me feel good this month" I might pick the same person three months in a row or I might struggle to pick one out of a possible two dozen. But I've always voted, because we all deserve that kind of love.

[Lailyn]

I think you made a really good point, Ercassie, and I appreciate your comments (and everyone else's) here. I admit I was uncertain about the criteria/guidelines/whatever you want to call it based on that first thread you referred to, so I am truly glad you brought it up. In hindsight, I should have just asked at the time I was wondering about it. Thank you for clarifying that, Moriel.