Demi-Pharaoh/Jan2010-Blue Moon

Final Candidates for the 2nd DP Contest of January 2010 (aka the Blue Moon election) include: Hanid, Murtha, Reyzer, blondie, Trillian, Shebi, and Lukeera.

Feel free to post your views here candidates!

Some basic questions people can expect to answer:

• Tell us a little about yourself and what you like about ATITD
• What you feel the role of DP is
• Why you think people should vote for you

(You may be asking what is a Blue Moon election and why is this DP election described as one. This is the first month this tale we have 2 DP finals in the same month! And like a month with 2 full moons, we are calling it a Blue Moon election. Exciting isn't it?)

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Lukeera

• I was originally brought into the game in Tale 3 by the man I married almost 2 years ago. I have always been a compulsive crafter in MMO's, so the whole concept of building from the first brick up really appealed to me. Telanoc and Nox took me under their wings and made me feel right at home, introducing me to people and making sure I knew what was going on. I discovered the fun or research and digs and best of all mentoring. I really love the more people oriented disciplines best. Leadership and Worship are my favorite disciplines (even if Leadership feels like Politics as often as not).

In real life I am a homemaker because the job market is non-existent where I currently live. I have a lot of time, and Egypt provides me with entertainment and engagement with other people. I know that many people dismiss online friendships as trivial, but I find that I share more with many of my fellow Egyptians than I do with my next door neighbors.

• Demi-Pharaohs are the arbiters of Egypt. Occasionally they are the executioners of Egypt, as well. A DP should be someone that is able to engage others' viewpoints and help arrive at solutions to conflicts without imposing their own opinions too strongly on the situation. I found in T3 that in most cases the job was just listening to someone's complaints. More often than not, in the process of explaining the problem, the plaintiff arrived at their own solution. Often with active listening to both sides of a dilemma the solution becomes apparent to all parties involved. On the more rare occasions, a behavior is so intolerable that it warrants a ban. The addition of temporary bans is a great boon for enforcing a cooling off period. Thankfully, Egyptians are a community minded lot on the large, and bans are rarely an issue.

• I know myself to be capable of listening and helping people come together on solutions. I believe that I am approachable, reasonable, and open minded. I am also capable of doing unpleasant things if they become necessary.

Murtha

Hello egypt!. I'm sorry I wasn't able to attend the debate. Anyway, alot of you know me as the Mom of a litter:). I am the Mom of 10 kids, all of whom lived to adulthood. Before you faint, most were adopted and my rainbow family is my biggest and best accomplishment! I'm an older player (agewise) and also a retired psychologist. I love the creativity and social aspects of the game and plan on being here a very long time. I take the DP role very seriously, I see it as rather a parent of egypt trying to help mediate disputes and conflicts with a minimum of drame and healthy dose of humor. I've spent my life pouring oil over troubled waters. I am able to listen to both sides objectively and have come down on friends and guildmates if they are in the wrong. Other players find it easy to talk and confide in me because they know I'll listen and consider carefully. I've even had folks from other regions chat me up for advice. My career,both past and present is listening/negotiating/resolving issues and I put that experience to good use here.

My special delight is in mentoring new players and watching the lights go on when they get it!!

I think the ban is useless as the players that have been banned in the past have wanted to be banned. Their moment of glory so to speak. Social isolation works much better in my opinion. And while every problem can't be resolved, I will call in help for fresh viewpoints/advice for those issues that I can't resolve on my own.

If you have any special questions/comments/concerns please feel free to chat me anytime.

Thanks for listening to me

Trillian

• Hello :) I am a stay at home mum and live in the UK. In the game I love the wonderful puzzles and buildings we can all create. I love learning how to do the vast amount of tasks in the game. I've dabbled with most aspects of atitd but still have a ways to go to really learn some of the trickier parts. I enjoy meeting the huge variety of people in game, everyone is so different and I enjoy getting to know a lot of people on various levels. I like to feel useful and enjoy helping other players in any way I can. I mostly love the way the majority of atitd community all help each other in many ways. I'm enjoying learning how to 'work' the wiki, how to set up tables and add to maps, I like to update stuff here as much as I can, I felt a bit lost when it wasn't working recently and realised just what an important aspect it is to the game and players. I help with many guilds in sunny Shabbat Ab and really enjoy working with my neighbours on projects and assisting people with trades as a teller for the goods and newer folk with how to use the goods website and service.

• The role of a DP? I see the DP role as one of a facilitator of peaceful resolution. Many people in this community fill the role without being named DP's within their own circle of friends and guilds but having 'official' named players give options to all players on who they can seek out to help if conflict arises. A DP should be open, fair and impartial in all disputes. They have ban sticks, which should only come into the equation for serious and ongoing griefing where a player is ruining the enjoyment of the game for others and will not even begin discussions on how to resolve the situation, it is of course a last resort in any situation and all other means of resolution should be attempted first. As DP's cannot be banned by their fellow DP's it is also important that they try to avoid personal conflict and seek out help to resolve situations swiftly from other DP's. I think a DP should not get involved in resolving disputes where they may be seen through personal connections/history to favour one party over the other even if they can be fair and impartial in the matter, as the community may not view it this way whatever the outcome and this could create more drama instead of peace.

• I am approachable, open and fair minded. I think I will be able to listen and evaluate facts and take a thoughtful and impartial view of situations and can help people to come to a peaceful compromise over disagreements. I will continue to conduct myself in as friendly fair and helpful manner as, I hope people who know me would agree, I do at present. I would use a ban if its completely necessary as discussed above, I would treat it as seriously as an execution in r/l, as it in affect removes that player from his life in atitd and don't feel it should ever be used without serious thought and discussion with other DP's.

Shebi

I find the term "DP role" a little misleading. As we know, the only real things attached to the title are the ban and the immunity from the ban. All other aspects of "DPness" come from our general inclination (for good or ill) to give extra credence to statements coming from someone with a title. (Ok, in fairness, the ban stick does mean a lot, but given how infrequently it is used or even threatened to be used, I don't really think that's what makes folks listen to DPs.)

That said, I agree that as such DPs have, can and should:

• be involved in facilitating disputes when they occur;
• be able to hear what isn't said, to recognize what the true issue may be beneath the surface level;
• be able to articulate their opinions clearly, rationally and without partisanship, with appropriate respect for dissenting opinions.

These are things I feel I can do well.

This is the first time I've actively pursued advancement, after playing for two and a half years. Generally, I am content to participate and support from outside the center. I consider myself a casual as opposed to power player (in the sense that I am not concerned about passing competitive tests), with a strong avocation for wine-making and wiki updating.

Recently, however, after participating in several of the shard-related discussions, I realized that people seemed to respond well to what I have to offer. I encourage folks to chat me if they want to hear more about me or my philosophy, or feel free to chat folks in any of my guilds. I expect they will give you an honest opinion (potential warts included!), so that you can determine whether I meet your own idea of what makes a good DP. Thank you.

Reyzer

Greetings :) Thank you for taking the time to read about myself and the other DP candidates.

I am currently a UK based player and live with my lovely wife blondie ( who is also a finalist, so I'll have to tread carefully ;P ) I say currently, as I have lived and worked in quite a few different countries. By profession I was a deep sea commercial diver but have changed direction and work for myself now, which means I can set my alarm for those graveyard-shift mushrooms without feeling guilty! I do miss being out on the ocean though.

Game-wise I started in Tale 2 and was hooked from the first time I finished the body initiation. The sense of community in the game was immense and impressive and helped me to hurl myself headlong into everything I could try. I took a small break in T3 during the infamous mid-tale content drought, as I'm sure many of us did. There are many things I love about Egypt----too many to list and some are closer to the heart than others but the fact remains that it is special and I feel special to be a part of it.

The role of DP: I'm not going to bore you with fluffy ideals that don't have anything to do with being a DP. I think a DP is three things---a mediator, a deterrent and a comforter. A mediator to deal with disputes and other confrontational issues/grievances. A deterrent to players who might otherwise not think twice about griefing. A comforter in the fact that players know that there is someone who has the power to deal with serious issues on their behalf. Banning is always a talking point but is very rarely ever used ( although, anyone beating me to my last spiderling shroom might be sailing close to the wind ;P ). In my experience, 99% of issues can be solved by discussion. I've known some players who have been written off as " noob trouble makers" but have turned into pillars of the community by having someone listen to them and carefully walk them through the difficult starting phase.

As far as me being a DP, I know that I have the experience. I know the game like the back of my hand by now and what issues arise from choke points and other recurring disputes. We all have different styles of playing which often clash but I don't begrudge or judge anyone their style, as long as it doesn't cause harm to others. I relish the challenge of reaching an amicable outcome to any dispute/grievance.

I hope I have shed a bit of light on who I am and what I am about. Best of luck to the other candidates and thanks for reading :)