I know I am very new here (2 days in, and this is my very first post here), and maybe I have no place to comment, but forums are all about commenting, so here goes.
I wasn't party to the big TS meeting that happened between the CE members and the AltisLife.Co.Uk admins last night, but I gather that a bunch of stuff was said (probably by both sides) that upset both sides. I understand this is why TS bans and game-server bans have happened - not so much because of the fact that CE is a separate entity in its own right (i.e. another clan), or it's desire not to lose its links with its past, but more because of the things that were said to admins and individuals on a personal level, both here on the forum and elsewhere.
That said, I think it is really sad to see the CE clan-members be banned. If this is a permanent ban, I am definitely of the opinion that it's over-done. Sledgehammer to crack a nut. A temporary wind-down and time for apologies (from all sides) is probably a much better approach.
I have to say that yesterday, my character (Ed Williams) got into a chance meeting with The Shadow (from CE/Rebels) and had some seriously interesting (life-changing for him) roleplay with Shadow and a bunch of guys from the CE Rebels. We were having an amazing few hours of top-quality roleplay with Shadow, ArmouredNinja, Adolf, and many others from the CE team, and it's obvious that they *can* roleplay well, and that their talents would be a loss from this server if they were never seen again.
What is worse is that a few members of the 'AltisLife.Co.UK CE Rebels' (as distinct from the CE clan itself) were actually only AltisLife.Co.Uk 'members'. They were nothing to do with the CE community itself (off-server); they had just become part of the 'official' rebels (as they perceived it) on our server, used the 'tags' to represent that fact, and now as a result, they are banned from TS and the server too, I believe. Achmed fell into this category. There may be others who were in the game-server CE 'gang' (via the Altislife menu) who got kicked/banned - I am not sure. I escaped, probably because even though I had joined the 'Gang' I didn't have any CE tags in my gameserver character-name. Perhaps those innocent rebels can pitch in and let us know if this happened to them... I know Achmed was furious, and felt really, really aggrieved by it, and couldn't understand what or why it had happened. I really feel for him, because he was an excellent RPer and I shall miss him.
I totally understand Asdrubael's and Wilco's wish to have the primary, official rebel organisation on their own server be managed, networked and ultimately 'controlled' from within their own website and forum. I agree with it, and that's how I'd do it, if this was my server. This is completely sensible, and no right-minded server admin would want their rebel groups operating from 'satellite' websites outside their control (because there is too much scope for that 'external community' to cause damage to the main community which could not be handled or rectified properly). If there is to be an 'official' rebel group on Altislife.co.uk, it really needs to be on THIS forum, even if it's in its own locked-down area with a totally different set of procedures, ideals, graphics, whatever. Just so long as the main server's admins can step in if there is a serious problem.
That said, it's even madder to expect the main server's admins to allow the rebel faction to be controlled by or homed-on a competing game-clan! To be offsite and beyond reach is crazy enough... to be in the hands of a competitor who may one day run their own AltisLife server or attempt to upset this community, is even more crazy. Surely people can see that without becoming too partisan about their Circle of Enmity roots?
The CE guys who joined AltisLife.Co.UK from that external gaming community must surely be able to see that, as rebel faction members, they will one day have to 'go it alone', away from the old CE website and forum and Ventrilo, if they truly believe in this server? They can be in both camps (for different games) without problems, surely? It's not a case of turning away from their roots, or losing their original patriotism or identity, surely? They've started a good thing here - a structured rebel community with some great RP and a lot of fans, many of whom have NOTHING whatsoever to do with CE, but a lot to do with AltisLife.co.uk, and just want that rebel faction to continue, with the new friends that they have made. Most of the current players don't care about the history or the roots - we just want the good RP and our new pals to continue!
Please, guys - CE and Admins - sort this out amicably. Bury the hatchets, make some apologies, send each other flowers, kiss and make up. Just do what you gotta do to get things back on an even keel. Make a new rebel faction TOGETHER. Run it from here, TOGETHER. Play great games and do fabulous RP here, TOGETHER. You can call it CE or CircleofEnmity if you want, or you can call it Charlie's Enemas or Core of Exasperation for all I care (and I'm sure that goes for most of the players here). The name is not important. Having an official rebel faction RIGHT HERE which builds on what we had already (thanks to the hard work of these CE clan-members'), plus a lot of great players with great RP is what matters, surely? Regardless of their roots, they're good people, even if they are feeling angry now, and some are lashing out as a result. No, they can't expect to 'advertise' a rival gaming community, but they can still be a part of this Great ThingTM with us, without being considered 'traitors' or 'turncoats'. They should revel in what they've created here, and love it for what it is - their rebel 'gang', for AltisLife.Co.Uk.
Please, guys. Sort it out. This kind of banfest and public-airing of dirty laundry is only going to make this community suffer in the long-run. Be big and grown-up. Apologies all round, and lets get back on with the GAMING, can't we?
Written in the spirit of improving our new, high-potential community, not in the spirit of criticising or blaming anyone, ok?
