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May 9 , 2007
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I planted a mound
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Posted at 12:00 EST
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Thank you SkyEyes and the Tsalagi people for this lovely plaque, which I display with pleasure for helping your harvest! |
April 1 , 2007
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Further to the previous
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Posted at 16:00 EST
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Well, Kallistos's original post referred to above has certainly stirred some conversation - what a shame its all taking place in the journals rather than on an open board though!
Moonbeam made a very good point regarding the same handful of people posting at all the festivals - they are indeed all patrons because citizens and novices are excluded by their lack of posting power. That's so true. Frankly, I would not pay for a patronage simply to boost my posting abilities for a virtual pub crawl. I might consider it to participate in worthwhile, interesting activities and discussions - you know, the kind of thing that used to happen in groups? *chuckles*
I've long been of the opinion that membership here suffers because newcomers to the site are so severely limited in their early, crucial days that many simply lose heart and interest and fade away. Other people have commented on it too. Yes Patrons make the site financially possible - but to get people to take up patronages they have to become interested and participate and yes - get obsessed! - with the site like they did the old AS. As it is, a newcomer is liable to get quickly frustrated by lack of communication (limitation on grams) and lack of participation (posting and group membership limitations).
It's good that the 10th anniversary of AS/AW is reviving nostalgic memories of how things used to be at AS. It reminds us of why we came here, and makes us question the way things have become. Hopefully something positive may come out of it for AW's future. |
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On the death of groups and too many festivals
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Posted at 12:00 EST
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Kallistos Alexandros, who always has a positive and helpful attitude towards AW and whose opinions I respect very much, has made a great and thought-provoking post over at Hellas Groups Central about the groups, hoods and social activities here at AW. I cannot respond over there, so with all respect to him, I post this in my blog since I don't see any other place for it.
Group activities at AW must be at an all-time low, but I think there no single reason for this. I do think the rot set in for many groups even before the advent of hoods and the plethora of open boards - over the 4-5 years I've been here I have seen AW gradually focus less and less on history and more and more on social events (of which more later). All groups I have been in have been practically dead or dying for a long time, so even though the 'hoods are now practically the sole 'academic' reason for anyone to be here, I'm not sure they are entirely to blame. I too miss the historical content of the groups (I think back fondly to the lively groups and active historical discussions at AS). But I've given up trying to keep them active on my own or with the participation of one or two people, and turned my attention to trying to encourage historical posting in hoods instead - simply because I want to see historical discussion revived at AW, and if open boards is what it takes, then that's what it has to be.
Maybe AW has so many festivals because without them the site would be dead. Maybe the sheer quantity of festivals - one after another, back to back - is what has killed off much other activity around the site. I don't know how the Scribes find time to do anything nowdays but organise these constant festivals, and frankly - for those of us who came here looking for history as well as virtual beer-drinking - you CAN have too much of a good thing!!!. Have you noticed how its just the same handful of people who participate in all these festivals?
Call me a party-pooper, but I say give us a break from back-to-back festivals and make them the treats they once were, so we can look forward to them instead of groaning "Oh god, not another festival....".
Who knows - maybe Scribes will have more time to encourage group and hood participation in their worlds instead of their role being relegated to glorified party organizers! |
September 5 , 2006
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Something new to play with
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Posted at 15:00 EST
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Well, I've treated myself to a top-of-the-range estate in Tenochtitlan - heck, what else would I do with the virtual sestercii? LOL I have rather grandiose plans for the Jaguar House. I've set up an initial 'groundplan', but building the 'rooms' will be an ongoing project as and when I get the time and inspiration to work on them.
And further to my previous notes, I'm very pleased the decision was taken at the last moment to allow Citizens to buy properties in the 'hoods, albeit at the lowest level - it's good to know the voice of the people is heeded at times and I think the 'hoods will be all the better (and more populous) for it. |
August 31 , 2006
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More thoughts...
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Posted at 13:00 EST
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Thinking about this a little more, I realised the main objection to only Patrons being able to take up residence is their chosen 'hoods is more about disappointed expectations than anything else.
The 'hoods have been under development for literally years. A lot of Citizens (and I include my other personae in there) have got interested - even excited - about them in that time. And yet its been left till almost the very last moment to confirm that only Patrons will be able to buy properties in them. I'm betting even Citizens who've worked on the hoods didn't know they wouldn't be able to 'live' there at the time they volunteered their help. Okay, so maybe the PTB needed 2 years to reach this rather important decision, but its small wonder then that the Citizens who have been following the 'hoods progress in the meantime and looking forward to moving into one are disappointed by finding this out so late on in the day.
It's almost like being promised a gift, then at the last moment being told you have to pay for it if you want to accept it. Better to have known from the start LOL. |
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No plebs in THESE hoods
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Posted at 08:00 EST
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While I'm excited at the prospect of moving into the 'hoods, I am very much disappointed that the decision was taken to make this a Patron-only feature. Sure I can appreciate Patrons expect a few extra perks for their subscriptions, but I think this is a real shame after all the hard work that's gone into building the 'hoods that they will be effectively closed off to the majority of AW members. Most of us have several personae and can't afford individual subs for them all (I can't help but compare this to other sites where the subcription fee covers you for ALL characters created under a login). It will also greatly disadvantage less-populous regions like the Americas that has such a tiny number of Patrons - actually, in the case of the Americas, it has more Territories than Patrons so we'll be rattling about in there LOL
Seems like a lot of effort has gone into something I presume was intended to provide a 'community feeling', and yet it will actually benefit only the priviledged part of that community. |
June 24 , 2006
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I know my Sun Gods!
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Posted at 20:00 EST
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I just took a trip over to the Inti Raymi festival at Qosqo. Sadly, at 1.10am I am not going to start hunting for 76 sheep (sheep??? shouldn't they be llamas?) but I did take the Sun God Quiz and am pretty pleased with the results - 90% - even if most correct answers were lucky guesses but we won't mention that....;)
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April 25 , 2006
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We Traded Pyramids... and won!
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Posted at 17:00 EST
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Well, you could have knocked me down with the proverbial quetzal feather... Sak and I won the Trading Pyramids humor category and we came in 3rd in the traditional category!
We'd only decided to enter at practically the last moment on a spontaneous whim, because it was something different and a chance to be silly. It was a shame there weren't more takers for it because the idea was great fun, but with so many peripatetic private parties going on, I think it just sunk into the collective Fest ennui. In fact, I probably wouldn't have even known we'd won it till the badges arrived if Sak hadn't left me the URL for the announcement of the winners, since I would never have found it on my own buried beneath the partying on that thread. Upstaged by a food fight! *rolls eyes* LOL
Trading Pyramids SpringFest 2006 |
April 23 , 2006
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Americas SpringFest Quizzes
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Posted at 07:00 EST
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March 27 , 2006
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Anahuac
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Posted at 17:00 EST
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Was what the Aztecs called the Valley of Mexico. The Florentine Codex translates it as "on the coast" - hmm.
Anyway, just to give an update on the Anahuac group Sak and I started recently: the board is decorated though since I did it, it won't win prizes *chuckles*. I plan on starting to put the boards and threads in very soon, as soon as we've poured over the list together and agreed what should and shouldn't be included.
I must say, I am getting quite excited about looking more into the mysteries of Teotihuacán and the Toltecs, neither of which I understand a great deal about - yet! *S*. |
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