Command Tent - Cavalry OOC thread

[Dimcairien Luiniel]

@Amadhrill IC is fine. I’ll be posting there later today. If if we need to coordinate something beforehand, Facebook messenger Is fine with me. My name is on the “plaza name to real name” list in the Facebook group.

[Allacan ob Burzum]

@Amadhrill Dim likes to plot; I can’t wait to see what the two of you get up together!

Also, a heads up to everyone:-

Marshal nominations are likely to close early, so we could really do with people coming to a consensus about who can vote, how many votes people get and how those votes are scored.

[Taethowen]

In regards to voting rights, I think this would be reasonable:

1. Any trainee who has begun training by the time the ballot goes live is eligible to vote. By 'begun training' we mean: have requested to enlist in the Dragon Room AND are either participating in the current Cav training RPG or have begun their assigned task from the current Marshals in the Cavalry Courtyard.

2. All currently enlisted Cavalry members are eligible.

3. Every Cavalry member is allowed to cast one ballot, per their primary character. Votes by secondary characters are ineligible.

4. Each ballot shall include a 1st, 2nd, and 3rd choice for Marshals, to be weighted as such: 1st pick gets 3 points, 2nd pick gets 2 points, 3rd pick gets 1 point. (Edit: this has no bearing on which Marshal nominees will end up as First Marshal, Second Marshal, or Third Marshal. That will be decided among the final elected Marshals themselves.)

5. The ballots shall not include any duplicate nominees in multiple spots. If they do, the duplicate vote is stricken and does not count. Voters do not get the option to re-vote in this case.

6. Marshal nominees are allowed to vote for themselves, provided they follow the previous rule.

[Gwai]

I think Taeth's plan makes sense. I agree trainees should be allowed a vote (posted their willingness and are also in the Courtyard or the new RPG). I agree just one vote per primary character--the NPCs do not get a vote.

I also like the idea of weighted votes (1-3), and then those elected will decide from there among themselves.

[Amadhrill]

@Taethowens plan sounds good to me!

@Dimcairien Luinielcan you add me on facebook, I cant remember where the thread is. Name: Signe Ingebrigtsen Bø

@Allafyrefleorhtlig you should have a friendly request from me now.

[Fairy Nuff]

I agree with Taeth's outlined plan

[Dimcairien Luiniel]

I think Taeth's plan makes great sense. As a new trainee, who is currently involved with the Cavalry RP event (which look like it will be interesting and fun) it would make sense to have some say in who the potential leadership is.

Weighted votes makes sense as well and can hopefully help prevent ties.

@Amadhrill Just did that.

[Shivased]

@Taethowen I like that idea! Sounds like the best option and fairest way to do it.

[Allacan ob Burzum]

I’d like to suggest a 6) addition; in the event a marshal nominee votes for themselves, they must also vote for their second choice and third choice.

And finally...

7) Allacan, as a cavalry member, unlike everyone else will only make two votes for first and second choice. In the unlikely event of a tie, she will use her third vote as HCMA to decide the tie, based on what she believes is best for the cavalry.

Also:

Nominations are now closed

Windy or I will shortly be posting the list of candidates up for election along with a blurb from each of them about why they would like to be Marshal, what they believe they could bring to the role, their relevant experience, etc. So hopefully a consensus can be reached on the voting soon.

[Rowena Ellenweorc]

Oh crap... you mean I actually need to vote three times and pick an order? Excuse me while I find a bed in the infirmary. Decision making makes me weak in the knees, and not in a good way

[Taethowen]

I’d like to suggest a 6) addition; in the event a marshal nominee votes for themselves, they must also vote for their second choice and third choice.

And finally...

7) Allacan, as a cavalry member, unlike everyone else will only make two votes for first and second choice. In the unlikely event of a tie, she will use her third vote as HCMA to decide the tie, based on what she believes is best for the cavalry.

Yes, perfect. I meant to clarify #6 further into that, thank you.

[Winddancer]

Anyone else have an opinion on the voting and how it is to be done? If so, please speak you mind now or it looks like we will be going with what Taeth suggested as several have said they were ok with that.

[Fairy Nuff]

@Eldrith we're paired up in the Lost and Found RP, but as you hadn't answered roll call I made some sweeping statements in my response to the first prompt in case you weren't available to take part. I may have to leave our spot without you and let you catch up, or I'm at risk of godmoding you.

[Eldrith]

@Fairy Nuff My apologies. Going to catch up now. Things have been crazy here with trying to work from home, two kids and sixteen different plans for school reentry!

[Allacan ob Burzum]

The debate on how to manage the votes is now closed, and I am very pleased to announce that...

VOTING IS NOW OPEN
(placeholder post for forthcoming updates)

Please check out this post for a list of the candidates and their blurbs on why they would like to be a Marshal, what they believe they could bring to the role, relevant experience, etc.

Before you cast your vote: Please carefully re-read the opening post guidance on "Stage 4 - Voting and Concerns" and the Question and Answer section regarding ''Who can vote?', 'How many votes do I get?' and 'What if I change my mind after sending my votes?'. Any votes that do not follow the guidelines detailed in these sections may be discounted.

Voting will close midnight PST on Wednesday 23rd July (which is 3am on Thursday 24th July EST, or 8am on Thursday 24th July for BST) OR after every valid voter has cast their votes, or until such a time as it becomes clear that the remaining votes would not impact on the outcome of the election; whichever of these three comes first.

The next topic of debate should ideally be the following (no need to wait until the election is over to decide this, in my personal opinion):-

2) How long a term should we be suggesting Marshals hold the position for? Should there be any adjustment to this if more than one new Marshal team gets voted in during these elections (so we don’t have them all step down at once) and if so, how?

[Amadhrill]

Terms of marshals

I don't remember who said it, but whoever pointed out that the NuPlaza is just two months old, and terms of 1 year or even longer is quite long in current days. On the other hand, all the nominees know much of what will come and should be expected of them. So I propose terms of 12 months for the future, however, for this first round, I suggest we do a little different, ideally I would like that one or two marshals are up for elections every 6 months to ease the handover and safeguard continuty.

Also, I was thinking July/August is summer holiday time for most (?) Plaza members. So we might want to change that, as long as everyone is happy with the way this round has worked, I propose that we hold elections every September and March, starting with nominations ever 1st, followed by election within 15th. Just to be clear, I do not suggest we vote again this September, but wait until March. That will mean that the first elected marshals will serve a little less and a little more of a year, but also give the marshals time to settle into their roles and do something in the time they have.

I have thought about how to decide who should be reelected in March (or whenever if we go for a split voting as proposed above). One way is that Alla informs us about the two marshals with the least votes, and those persons will be up for election in March. Or the marshals can wait and see if anyone is ready to move on/resign/offer their seat in March. Or if Rowena and Shivased are elected in, their seats will be up for election in March, as they will by then be close to one year as marshals.

Should we make a maximum number of terms?

I think not, at the present moment. First of all, this might not be possible if we are very strict. In this elections there were 5 nominees, and I think we were 2 elegible candidates who did not want to be marshals. Obviously, if we are very strict on, say one term maximum, then we might quickly (within a few elections) go throught all eligable candidates, and bar some of those best suited for it. Second, I do believe democracy is at the NuPlaza to stay, and that anyone no longer serving the cavalry and the democracy will be voted out fairly quickly. Thirdly, I find it is hard to set a strict rule for this at the moment, which goes for both the lenght and amount of terms. The reason is corona and summer holiday, the rebirth of Plaza came for me at a point in time when we in Norway had very limited options when it came to activities outside of our home and while much here is slowly opening up again, now is summer holiday. In about one month, however, schools reopen, extra curriculum activities restart, and in general, much will be back to somewhat normality. I know this is not likely to be the case for all of you now, however, that day will eventually come and change how we want and/or must prioritize our spare time due to RL. Therefore, at the moment I think we should leave the maximum amount of terms and whether or not the terms can be back-to-back, and then we can take this debate say in March and/or September 2021, when we see how the NuPlaza is working in connection with RL events.

[Winddancer]

Just FYI in regards to the votes for this round. Alla does not have access to who voted and how many each nominee got. Just thought I would clear that up as Alla is saving 1 vote that she can place on someone in case of a tie and therefore isnt going to know who got what :)

[Elarith]

I like @Amadhrill's suggestion of future elections in March / Sept, giving the first set of Marshals the best part of 9 months to get things settled and implement things. Then rotate one or two out each time. I don't quite know how we'd decide who swaps out first - someone might volunteer which saves the headache. Consult with HCMA otherwise if there's a deadlock?

In terms of terms (as it were), I suppose we don't need to decide immediately, but I think someone serving two terms back-to-back would be plenty. They can always come back and serve as Marshal again after at least one stint out.

[Allacan ob Burzum]

To confirm what @Winddancer has said, in line with my own wishes I have intentionally been kept completely ignorant to who has nominated whom.

I was given a list of all the people nominated (so that I can contact them about if they wish to stand or not, and to obtain their blurbs). But I wasn’t told who nominated them; I wasn’t even made aware who self-nominated and who was nominated by a third party (unless the candidate chose to tell me themselves).

When it comes to counting votes, Windy will do this (with the assistance of another admin if necessary) and will simply tell me who the three successful candidates were. I will not be told how close it was, or what the final scores were. At no time will I be told who has voted for whom or what positions people came in.

The only exception will be if there is a tie, when I will be given the names of the outlying winner(s) and the people who have tied, at which point I vote with my last single-point vote to break the tie and give us three successful names.

I’ll be honest and say I prefer not to know any of the details; you are all my comrades and I would hate to keep secrets from any of you; mostly I’m just dealing with the admin so the lovely Windy doesn’t have too. It also makes it easier to stay impartial if I do have to step in for a tie. As they say, ignorance is bliss.

@Amadhrill In the event we need another election in March, or at any time for that matter, then I would recommend treating it as a fresh election and start from scratch. In the world of today things can change so rapidly, and someone who might be keen today might not be as willing to stand for election in three months times, let alone 6 or more. Similarly, someone who excused themselves for election today might feel differently next time election comes around.

Those who are not selected in this election can still choose to stand for the next one if they wish, as long as they remain an active member of the cavalry. Also, we are seeing loads more people join the cavalry, and I think it would be unfair to favour those who lost the last election over new members who joined after it.

If we treat each election as a separate entity, then everyone gets a fair chance each time, and the people can pick who is most suitable on each occasion.

In summary

For my part, I will not be gaining or sharing any information about who came last or second to last, or the score order. I won’t ever know it. There will be three successful candidates, and two that we will thank for their efforts and willingness to stand.

Speaking of which...

---

We have had such an overwhelming response to the voting that it looks like we will be able to close voting very soon; we require only one more person to vote to enable us to close early.

Voting will close early at 3pm PST on Friday 17th July (which is 6pm EST or 11pm BST)

[Shivased]

ATTN ALL CAVALRY: If you are not already involved in the Lost and Found RP, feel free to jump in! Just post being dropped in a blindfold somewhere, and I will add you to a team with my next update! @Eólath I will drop you into the RP in my next update this evening, but will leave it open-ended so you can join whenever you have time.

[Rowena Ellenweorc]

Can someone please explain to me, how I know the Isen river is on the left side of Rohan on a map, yet somehow my dumb brain concluded its on the East side of Rohan? Especially given I know I live in the Western US, which is on the left side of a map? *faceplant* Can I start this day over?

[Rowena Ellenweorc]

And I do see what you mean by Esme... So I guess lets remove her from the chart and just keep her as the filler assistant that isn't on the official roster so that people don't think that place is filled, especially since I'd rather have Audley on the roster than Esme, since he's actually a developed character and Esme isn't. (Hell, I don't even have an appearance for her! Except she's older)

@Shivased I think you missed this post

[Taethowen]

Ok, on the topic of how long a term (and how many) Marshals serve:

(I have read up on all the comments here, it's just difficult to go back and forth and pull quotes the whole time, so I'll be condensing a bit and adding my thoughts overall.)

1. I propose that we rotate Marshals out one at a time, unless real-life circumstances demand otherwise. This will overall create a more cohesive team, and get the Marshals used to being in-flux but also have some stability.

2. It makes the most sense that the marshal with the most seniority be the one to resign for each election period UNLESS another Marshal is already planning to resign for personal/real-life reasons. Presumably, this will be the First Marshal, unless the new Marshal team decides to really shake up the bag in deciding 1st-2nd-3rd. This then opens the door for each Marshal to get to work their way up

3. I think planning future elections for March/September each year is more than reasonable. This initial Marshal-elect team would have through March to really get things finalized and the Cavalry in the best shape it can be, and then either the Marshal with the highest seniority, or the one(s) who *need* to resign for whatever reason can do so. If I have it figured right in my head, this would basically mean that any Marshal would serve for a minimum of 6 months and a maximum of 18 months before coming up for re-election.

The anticipated schedule would look something like this for each election cycle:
- Marshal resigns. Remaining Marshals are bumped up in the seniority ranking, unless they wish to remain at a lower seniority. New Marshal is elected. In theory, this would rotate the first Marshal-elect team through by September 2021. At that point, term *lengths* could be opened for discussion again.

4. On Term Limits - I agree with @Amadhrill that limiting terms right now is not really an option. The pool of candidates is too small at the moment. This could be something that we revisit in March or September, though, depending on how much new interest there has been in the Cavalry. I do propose, though, that we limit consecutive terms to only TWO, and then a Marshal needs to sit a term out before running for re-election again.

[Shivased]

@Rowena Ellenweorc Nope, didn't miss it. Just haven't gotten around to it with everything else going on.

[Rowena Ellenweorc]

@Shivased oh okay. Just wanted to make sure because I also totally forgot to tag you in the original message hahaha. Probably should have lol. Also I sent you a couple FB messages, did you get them cause my FB is being weird again.

[Allacan ob Burzum]

THE CAVALRY MARSHAL ELECTIONS ARE CLOSED

Congratulations to @Gwai, @Shivased and @Taethowen who were successfully elected as our new Marshal Team.

Thank you to @Rowena Ellenweorc and @Elarith for their willingness to stand as Marshal candidates and the efforts they made with their blurbs.

Thank you also to everyone who engaged in the election process, from its first tenuous sprouting of a half-formed idea through to the last minute votes. We had almost a 100% turnout among all those cavalry people who could vote, so Bema's blessings on you all!

And especially massive thanks for the wonderful @Winddancer, my support-admin throughout this hectic and wordy endeavour; much obliged!

I have removed all posting restriction in the Cavalry Election thread, so you can all go wild with welcoming in the Marshals and offering your gratitude and commiserations to the runners-up there

Especially Rowena who will now step down as Second Marshal. Love you honey

---

This Command Tent Thread will shortly be closed and the new Marshal team will be re-opening another one shortly.

We will leave this thread open until the end of Tuesday at least so people can respond to any of the earlier comments or discussion topics if they wish, as the new Marshal Team will likely have new discussion points to raise.

Once again, thanks all

[Éolath]

@Shivased Saw your note, working on a post now. Sorry for the random disappearance, can't promise it won't happen again since people are... le sigh.

[Allacan ob Burzum]

@Shivased and @Éolath I will try and get a RPG post up this weekend but it may not happen. I know exactly what I want to say Allacan does but may not have time to type it up straight away as the priority is spending time with the boyfriend, so it may have to wait until Monday.

In summary Allacan will be chatting to the guard a bit, then turning back towards the fields where after a while she spots Éolath. She hides herself and her horse so she can watch Éolath and see what he gets up to, eventually with the intention to sneaking up on him and going “Boo!” Hopefully that will be a bit of fun, but also means Firi doesn’t have to wait for me before posting again.

I leave it entirely up to @Éolath to decide whether he spots me trying to sneak up on him. Allacan is exceedingly good at stealthing, but she isn’t normally being followed around by a beautiful but undeniably large palomino horse while doing so.

[Éolath]

So, now that I've had a chance to skim this thread (a lot sure happened in my week and a bit ...erm, two weeks away) I'll make a slightly more coherent post.

Per the first page request to list cavalry ranks held: None by Eolath. As Berutiel/Firimar (can I even remember back that far? sheeze): Sperewigend, spere first class, haelend, aethel, whatever the heck the trainers were called Larm something or other, bealdorhaelend, third and first marshal - all in the Westmark. I don't believe she ever held the rank of feld, but that was ten years ago and more, nor was she ever a paeth as the westmark basically voted she never use a bow and arrow. Firimar may make brief appearances if I can drag her from her happy little corner of my brain, but she will not be active cavalry (long story short, I've written a lot of story for her in the last ten years and post war Firi is not physically capable. She'd be willing to train haelends, if there is a need).

Despite missing the voting deadline, I really like this approach and I heartily congratulate Gwai, Taeth and Shiva. If there is anything I can do to help, please let me know.

[Taethowen]

...whatever the heck the trainers were called Larm something or other...

Larmægister, IIRC.

And thank you! We'll definitely be pulling resources/knowledge from Cav people in general, but we'll let you know if there's anything specific we need help with.

[Taethowen]

In preparation for the Marshal Switchover, we've been going over the current roster and trying to fill in some empty spots.

(@Elarith - Would you be interested in taking up the Æthelwigend post for the Westmark? We can easily re-examine that in a couple months when you go off maternity leave, if need be, depending on your time/energy. Could you let us know sometime tomorrow if possible?)

(@Amadhrill - We're going to be allowing Cav people to create a secondary character to help fill out the ranks, especially the lower levels. We're in need of an Æthelwigend for the Eastmark. Since you currently rank as a hæland and have previous Cav experience, we wanted to offer you that chance instead of one of us Marshals having to run another 'command' position as a secondary character. You could, technically, choose to take the position as Amadhrill and then create an NPC as hæland for Meduseld, or create a character for the Eastmark Æthelwigend position. Could you let us know sometime tomorrow if you might be interested (no firm commitment required yet, we can discuss details further)? We would need a character name, and are more than willing to help you come up with a Cav history for a secondary character if you need help.)

[Amadhrill]

@Taethowen - your summary and opinion on future elections are very much in line with what I was thinking.

I propose that the marshals and/or HCMA takes the initiative to start the election process every March/September, and that we state that an election must take place by end of the month.

We ought to have all of this written down in a condensed way, and perhaps vote for it? As part of a general IC/OOC rule book or statute (I dont know if that is the legal term, best google translate would come up with) for the cavalry?

@Taethowen I guess I can give it a try, and in case it turns out it is too much I can have the NPC resign or killed? *g* I already have quite a lot on my Plaza plate and with RL picking up after the summer, I am not sure how much time I want to spend on the Plaza. Oh, and would probably use some help with getting a NPC up to par, but I guess we can figure that later on?

[Taethowen]

We ought to have all of this written down in a condensed way, and perhaps vote for it? As part of a general IC/OOC rule book or statute (I dont know if that is the legal term, best google translate would come up with) for the cavalry?

Yes, this is one of the things at the top of the list!

((@Amadhrill - It can be temporary too, until current newbies and trainees on the roster have a little more experience. Amadhrill's haeland duties aren't exactly going to be enormous right now either, hopefully. Depending on how well we come out of this training RPG. As for the NPC, it can be as simple as RPing it as someone who's been overlooked in the ranks for a while at the Aldburg (or even another eored), such as a stockade guard, etc, who wants the opportunity to advance. And then when it's time, they can retire due to wanting to marry, a family situation comes up, they get killed, etc. etc.))

[Elarith]

@Taethowen Sure, sounds good!

[Amadhrill]

@Taethowen Sounds good!

[Taethowen]

THIS THREAD IS NOW CLOSED.

Please continue to Command Tent II for further discussion.