Good morning!
We have - somewhat delayed, but no worse for it - your list of candidates for the 2022-2023 Council election. As always, this is approval voting - you should vote for all candidates that you would like to see on the Council and vote for none of those you would like not to see. The 18 candidates with the most approval votes will be elected, though only the first nine Councillors already seated will qualify.
Below, please find - in a random order - the statements of all members on the ballot:
We have - somewhat delayed, but no worse for it - your list of candidates for the 2022-2023 Council election. As always, this is approval voting - you should vote for all candidates that you would like to see on the Council and vote for none of those you would like not to see. The 18 candidates with the most approval votes will be elected, though only the first nine Councillors already seated will qualify.
Below, please find - in a random order - the statements of all members on the ballot:
Hello, @Q99 here!
Last time I campaigned and got in on the strength of having several years of modship on other fora, this time that still applies and you have my track record as a councilor this time as well, where I missed zero tribunals and made it a point to write out my thoughts behind my vote whenever possible. I can also report that on rare occasion, my presence on staff on another forum has allowed me to share information with the staff here on issues present on both.
If elected, I will continue to try and provide transparent informative decision making in tribunals, and lend my viewpoint and experience to decisions both on up front and staff/council discussions backstage. I'll continue to try and represent the posters of the forum and give a fair eye to those who are on tribunals.
This time with the benefit of one term experience and having gotten to work with the other councilors, I hope to do an even better job!
Thank you for your consideration, and see you around the forums!
Last time I campaigned and got in on the strength of having several years of modship on other fora, this time that still applies and you have my track record as a councilor this time as well, where I missed zero tribunals and made it a point to write out my thoughts behind my vote whenever possible. I can also report that on rare occasion, my presence on staff on another forum has allowed me to share information with the staff here on issues present on both.
If elected, I will continue to try and provide transparent informative decision making in tribunals, and lend my viewpoint and experience to decisions both on up front and staff/council discussions backstage. I'll continue to try and represent the posters of the forum and give a fair eye to those who are on tribunals.
This time with the benefit of one term experience and having gotten to work with the other councilors, I hope to do an even better job!
Thank you for your consideration, and see you around the forums!
Hi there!
I'm @PoptartProdigy, and this year, I'm running for Council.
I've been on SV for six years, now, and I've always thought the Council was one of the things that really made it stand out for me. I don't exactly cruise around the Internet a ton, but I've never found a space that does things quite like we do.
In terms of qualifications, in addition to my time spent on the site, I also run multiple quests here, and have for nearly the entirety of my time on the site. I also bring years of experience in managing online communities; I run a Discord server of several hundred users centered around servicing my quests, which also serves as a home for many of the planquests that have popped up in recent years. Finally, in my time on SV, I have never been infracted. What these allow me to bring to the table is a varied perspective. I've been a user and a quest master, and I've done staffing work elsewhere. I understand what the Staff want out of their rules well enough to navigate them very proficiently, can approach them from the perspective of somebody who has to set rules of their own, and I know the users-side experience in engaging with ours in particular, as well. I would use this perspective to help me in understanding an issue thoroughly and from multiple perspectives before making a decision and giving my opinion.
As Councillor, I would see it as my job to be a community advocate. My first concern is and will always be how policy affects the community that has led to SV standing out so much to me. This means keeping an open ear to people who have concerns, participating in every Tribunal with an eye to the implications and side effects of any given decision, and doing my utmost to facilitate communication from the users to the Staff. That last one is crucial; the Council is not a part of the Staff, but they have massive access across SV that the typical user lacks. I would see it as my job to use that access in ensuring the users' interests are represented and advocated.
Beyond that, my goal would be to watch, listen, pay attention, and learn. I've not served on the Council before; I'm certain there's much for me to learn about how it functions and what its members can do. I won't enter office with a wealth of experience, but I'll approach my duties with an open mind and an active interest in doing more. And, as in all other things, I shall do so with my eyes fixed on my ultimate goal of ensuring that SV continues to be an excellent space for people on the Internet to gather in a rich, safe space and share their thoughts with one another.
I'm excited to have the chance to serve on the Council and do my part to ensure SV remains as excellent a space as it has always been to me. Thanks to everybody who nominated me, and thank you to those who vote in the election!
I'm @PoptartProdigy, and this year, I'm running for Council.
I've been on SV for six years, now, and I've always thought the Council was one of the things that really made it stand out for me. I don't exactly cruise around the Internet a ton, but I've never found a space that does things quite like we do.
In terms of qualifications, in addition to my time spent on the site, I also run multiple quests here, and have for nearly the entirety of my time on the site. I also bring years of experience in managing online communities; I run a Discord server of several hundred users centered around servicing my quests, which also serves as a home for many of the planquests that have popped up in recent years. Finally, in my time on SV, I have never been infracted. What these allow me to bring to the table is a varied perspective. I've been a user and a quest master, and I've done staffing work elsewhere. I understand what the Staff want out of their rules well enough to navigate them very proficiently, can approach them from the perspective of somebody who has to set rules of their own, and I know the users-side experience in engaging with ours in particular, as well. I would use this perspective to help me in understanding an issue thoroughly and from multiple perspectives before making a decision and giving my opinion.
As Councillor, I would see it as my job to be a community advocate. My first concern is and will always be how policy affects the community that has led to SV standing out so much to me. This means keeping an open ear to people who have concerns, participating in every Tribunal with an eye to the implications and side effects of any given decision, and doing my utmost to facilitate communication from the users to the Staff. That last one is crucial; the Council is not a part of the Staff, but they have massive access across SV that the typical user lacks. I would see it as my job to use that access in ensuring the users' interests are represented and advocated.
Beyond that, my goal would be to watch, listen, pay attention, and learn. I've not served on the Council before; I'm certain there's much for me to learn about how it functions and what its members can do. I won't enter office with a wealth of experience, but I'll approach my duties with an open mind and an active interest in doing more. And, as in all other things, I shall do so with my eyes fixed on my ultimate goal of ensuring that SV continues to be an excellent space for people on the Internet to gather in a rich, safe space and share their thoughts with one another.
I'm excited to have the chance to serve on the Council and do my part to ensure SV remains as excellent a space as it has always been to me. Thanks to everybody who nominated me, and thank you to those who vote in the election!
Let's learn a classic architectural pattern with @Jemnite
View-Controller-Model is essentially the most popular architecture pattern thanks to its introduction and popularization among developers with its incorporation with the Ruby-on-Rails framework for the Ruby programming language. Essentially we have three components. The Model is an abstracted ORM (Object Relational Mapping) ActiveRecord that maps to a table in a relational DB, usually SQL. The Controller is generally a collection of methods that handle request logic. And the View is the thing that the client sees, usually HTML and Javascript. For a common frame of reference, let's use SufficientVelocity's Xenforo.
When you click on a link it sends a HTTP/2 GET request. We send this off to cloudflare, because SV uses that to prevent DOS attacks. Within this request you have some cookies. (Btw you can see network packages yourself by clicking on inspect within basically any browser, just FYI).
xen_user, xen_push_notice_dismiss, xen_emoji_usage, xen_csr, xen_session. These are fairly self explanatory in title. Xen user is the specific user, this is probably some hashed version of my userid, which I just realized that you could probably use to impersonate me to make an https request so I've colored htat over with crayon
. Xen push notice dismiss is because I closed the push notice stop sending me those Squishy. Xen session is similar to user. generally speaking websites don't like making you constantly authenticate so once you log in once, what they do is they keep a log of active user sessions with a managed timeout in like a table and just check if your user session is still alive or not. The rest of this is just standard TCP/IP.
(And yes, if you make a post you do send POST requests. It looks like Xenofor sends a post request for every version of draft, which is stored in their servers.)
(Here's what the request payload looks like for a post)
(Yes this is an actual post in my post history you can find if you're really curious.)
What this does is hit Cloudflare and then the router, which routes it to the controller. The controller will process this task and then hand it over to the repository, plugin lib or service, which uses the ORM ActiveRecord to make changes. These get returned to a renderer which creates an View from the thread/post/user records which will be HTML and Javascript-
(Like a lot of Javascript)
-which it hands over to your browser, which loads it in window.
And that's how you're able to use SV.
Anyway technically speaking this is 467 words which fits under the limit but I'm not really sure how all these image integrations are concerned as far as wordcount works so if Squishy deletes all the images it's going to look really fucking stupid.
View-Controller-Model is essentially the most popular architecture pattern thanks to its introduction and popularization among developers with its incorporation with the Ruby-on-Rails framework for the Ruby programming language. Essentially we have three components. The Model is an abstracted ORM (Object Relational Mapping) ActiveRecord that maps to a table in a relational DB, usually SQL. The Controller is generally a collection of methods that handle request logic. And the View is the thing that the client sees, usually HTML and Javascript. For a common frame of reference, let's use SufficientVelocity's Xenforo.
When you click on a link it sends a HTTP/2 GET request. We send this off to cloudflare, because SV uses that to prevent DOS attacks. Within this request you have some cookies. (Btw you can see network packages yourself by clicking on inspect within basically any browser, just FYI).
xen_user, xen_push_notice_dismiss, xen_emoji_usage, xen_csr, xen_session. These are fairly self explanatory in title. Xen user is the specific user, this is probably some hashed version of my userid, which I just realized that you could probably use to impersonate me to make an https request so I've colored htat over with crayon
. Xen push notice dismiss is because I closed the push notice stop sending me those Squishy. Xen session is similar to user. generally speaking websites don't like making you constantly authenticate so once you log in once, what they do is they keep a log of active user sessions with a managed timeout in like a table and just check if your user session is still alive or not. The rest of this is just standard TCP/IP.(And yes, if you make a post you do send POST requests. It looks like Xenofor sends a post request for every version of draft, which is stored in their servers.)
(Here's what the request payload looks like for a post)
(Yes this is an actual post in my post history you can find if you're really curious.)
What this does is hit Cloudflare and then the router, which routes it to the controller. The controller will process this task and then hand it over to the repository, plugin lib or service, which uses the ORM ActiveRecord to make changes. These get returned to a renderer which creates an View from the thread/post/user records which will be HTML and Javascript-
(Like a lot of Javascript)
-which it hands over to your browser, which loads it in window.
And that's how you're able to use SV.
Anyway technically speaking this is 467 words which fits under the limit but I'm not really sure how all these image integrations are concerned as far as wordcount works so if Squishy deletes all the images it's going to look really fucking stupid.
Okay, so, that happened. Somehow.
Let me get straight to it then: if you elect @Random Member as Councillor, I will begin my Reign of Terror by banning Worm from the site.
That's right. No more Worm fics, no more Worm quests! No AU's, no SI's, no Crossovers and certainly no Alt-Power thingies!
And once SV'ers have been freed from the burden of having to write Worm, they'll start writing other stuff, thereby bringing SV into a Golden Age of Fiction!
Or maybe people will just write a wave of shitty LitRPG Isekai? Meh, not my problem.
Sorry, what's that? Oh, okay.
Alright, I've just been informed that Councillors apparently don't have the power to ban entire fandoms. (Sounds like a major oversight if you ask me!)
Change of plans. Instead of banning it, I'll shove anything Worm into a subforum, then give literally every SV'er a permanent subforum ban for it so that nobody can ever read or write Worm ever again! That's right, I'll treat Worm the same way @Student of Zelretch treats News & Politics!
Second, I'll also abuse my position as Councillor topurge permaban everyone I don't like. Which will definitely include all the people who nominated and voted for me, since they are obviously too stupid to be trusted to remain on our fair SV!
Thirdly, rather than ads, which nobody likes, I will have SV collect money by forcing our richest members to contribute a monthly tax! How will this be enforced, you ask? Details, we'll decide on that in committee later!
Number four, I will impose quotas on my favorite QM's and Author's. Update at least once a month, or get permabanned! I'm looking at you here, @Vocalend ! Update your F/GO Quest already, or I'll come for you! To sweeten the deal for the rest of you SV'ers, I will also hold a monthly contest where people can suggest and vote for quests and fics that the author needs to update within 1 month or else they get banned. Imagine how much more content we'll get this way!
Numero cinque, I will create a Committee of Public Decency, a secret organization with secret members, who will be tasked with aiding our mods by trawling through SV for objectionable content. Especially the large threads and long fics that nobody has the time to read entirely through.
Sixthly, I will revamp Town Halls into public Struggle Sessions. I think we can all do with a little more self-criticism.
And Lucky Number Seven, all SV'ers will be required to replace their profile pic with a portrait of Chairman Mao, to demonstrate their loyalty to the CCP.
That's all.
I expect to achieve all my campaign promises on my first day in office. So on Day 2, I'll immediately resign and let someone far more qualified than me take up the position of Councillor.
Let me get straight to it then: if you elect @Random Member as Councillor, I will begin my Reign of Terror by banning Worm from the site.
That's right. No more Worm fics, no more Worm quests! No AU's, no SI's, no Crossovers and certainly no Alt-Power thingies!
And once SV'ers have been freed from the burden of having to write Worm, they'll start writing other stuff, thereby bringing SV into a Golden Age of Fiction!
Or maybe people will just write a wave of shitty LitRPG Isekai? Meh, not my problem.
Sorry, what's that? Oh, okay.
Alright, I've just been informed that Councillors apparently don't have the power to ban entire fandoms. (Sounds like a major oversight if you ask me!)
Change of plans. Instead of banning it, I'll shove anything Worm into a subforum, then give literally every SV'er a permanent subforum ban for it so that nobody can ever read or write Worm ever again! That's right, I'll treat Worm the same way @Student of Zelretch treats News & Politics!
Second, I'll also abuse my position as Councillor to
Thirdly, rather than ads, which nobody likes, I will have SV collect money by forcing our richest members to contribute a monthly tax! How will this be enforced, you ask? Details, we'll decide on that in committee later!
Number four, I will impose quotas on my favorite QM's and Author's. Update at least once a month, or get permabanned! I'm looking at you here, @Vocalend ! Update your F/GO Quest already, or I'll come for you! To sweeten the deal for the rest of you SV'ers, I will also hold a monthly contest where people can suggest and vote for quests and fics that the author needs to update within 1 month or else they get banned. Imagine how much more content we'll get this way!
Numero cinque, I will create a Committee of Public Decency, a secret organization with secret members, who will be tasked with aiding our mods by trawling through SV for objectionable content. Especially the large threads and long fics that nobody has the time to read entirely through.
Sixthly, I will revamp Town Halls into public Struggle Sessions. I think we can all do with a little more self-criticism.
And Lucky Number Seven, all SV'ers will be required to replace their profile pic with a portrait of Chairman Mao, to demonstrate their loyalty to the CCP.
That's all.
I expect to achieve all my campaign promises on my first day in office. So on Day 2, I'll immediately resign and let someone far more qualified than me take up the position of Councillor.
Hello, I'm @The Laurent . I don't want to spend too long introducing myself, but I know that assuming that everyone knows me is a bit silly. I'm an author on this site, as well as a QM and regular of both Fiction and political discussion sub-forums. I've seen a little bit of most, though not all, corners of SV.
I've written fics for Worm, recently started a Warhammer Quest, and keep a very busy schedule. But in that time I've also found time to participate pretty regularly as a member of the Community Council for the last two years. This last year I've missed only a few meetings, and voted in all but one of the Tribunals, which was a unanimous decision. I've also participated in said Tribunals as often as note, arguing and making my opinion heard. You can read what I have written and judge me for that.
I've been a user of this site for many years, and I hope that this speaks for itself. If you want to ask me personal questions, I'll answer as best I am able.
If I am re-elected, I promise:
--To represent all of SV, including areas where I am most commonly found: Quests and User Fiction, N&P and Fiction Discussion, as well as the historical side of SV.
--To participate in meetings and Tribunals to the best of my ability.
--To continue my work on Content Promotion.
--Along those lines, to encourage the creation of more contests and ways for users to participate in the site.
--Try to encourage the process of Forum Reorganization. I am especially interested in the idea--though it will need to be discussed, agreed upon, and so on--of Alternate History as its own forum-category. Time will tell!
--Continuing to be on the lookout for new and interesting ways to improve SV beyond those that I can think of in the moment.
--To do so while continuing to write and participate in SV: those who like my work don't have to choose one or the other.
I've written fics for Worm, recently started a Warhammer Quest, and keep a very busy schedule. But in that time I've also found time to participate pretty regularly as a member of the Community Council for the last two years. This last year I've missed only a few meetings, and voted in all but one of the Tribunals, which was a unanimous decision. I've also participated in said Tribunals as often as note, arguing and making my opinion heard. You can read what I have written and judge me for that.
I've been a user of this site for many years, and I hope that this speaks for itself. If you want to ask me personal questions, I'll answer as best I am able.
If I am re-elected, I promise:
--To represent all of SV, including areas where I am most commonly found: Quests and User Fiction, N&P and Fiction Discussion, as well as the historical side of SV.
--To participate in meetings and Tribunals to the best of my ability.
--To continue my work on Content Promotion.
--Along those lines, to encourage the creation of more contests and ways for users to participate in the site.
--Try to encourage the process of Forum Reorganization. I am especially interested in the idea--though it will need to be discussed, agreed upon, and so on--of Alternate History as its own forum-category. Time will tell!
--Continuing to be on the lookout for new and interesting ways to improve SV beyond those that I can think of in the moment.
--To do so while continuing to write and participate in SV: those who like my work don't have to choose one or the other.
Sup. @Katsuragi here. Don't really have a big "speech", just laying it out.
Did the council thing for 1.5 sessions before, with a near perfect attendance record on tribunals and meetings, where I think I was pretty even handed on my dealings.
If elected back into council, expect more of the same general "blue collar" work. No mess, no fuss, just a solid work ethic for a forum I care a great deal about.
If not, I recognize a lot of the other names up for this thing, either from time previously on council or just from around the forums, and trust it's in good hands regardless.
Anyhow, peace.
Did the council thing for 1.5 sessions before, with a near perfect attendance record on tribunals and meetings, where I think I was pretty even handed on my dealings.
If elected back into council, expect more of the same general "blue collar" work. No mess, no fuss, just a solid work ethic for a forum I care a great deal about.
If not, I recognize a lot of the other names up for this thing, either from time previously on council or just from around the forums, and trust it's in good hands regardless.
Anyhow, peace.
Hello, I'm still @CallMeIsmail , and I still haven't actually read Moby Dick.
I'd never really thought of myself as an especially 'prominent' SV user until I got nominated out of the blue last year. When that happened, I made a ginormous pitch, which you can still read here, where I desperately listed every single good post I could remember making on the forum. I'm going to try and be a little more organised this time. Here's why I think I'd be a good Councillor:
I'd never really thought of myself as an especially 'prominent' SV user until I got nominated out of the blue last year. When that happened, I made a ginormous pitch, which you can still read here, where I desperately listed every single good post I could remember making on the forum. I'm going to try and be a little more organised this time. Here's why I think I'd be a good Councillor:
- History: I've been a member of SV and by extension this weird corner of the internet for nearly 7 years now. I know the rules, I know the history, I know a lot of you, and I know and understand a lot of the big flashpoints and issues that might come up during a council term.
- Dedication: I spend hours on this forum every day, reading discussion threads and quests and people's fiction. I am more than happy and able to dedicate some of that time to Council business. Not only would I be an active participant in discussions with, but I'm eager to get involved in areas like content promotion and events. I'm not the most creative, but I'm very good at busywork!
- Availability: Some of you might recognise me from the various SV-adjacent Discord servers. If I'm elected, I'll be more than willing to answer PMs on SV or messages on Discord as soon as possible. So you'll be able to contact me whenever you need to, whether it's for a request, something you'd like me to raise at a Staff meeting, or just to shout at me about how I fucked up at the last Tribunal.
- Contribution: I don't post too much compared to some users, but I'd like to think that whenever I do it's a valuable addition to whatever discussion is being had. I have over 1400 posts on this site with an average reaction count of 9.1 ratings per post. That's not as much as a big QM or writer might have, but for someone who doesn't have any big creative works I think that's pretty good! So if I'm elected, I think I'll make worthwhile contributions to staff discussions and Tribunals.
- Good Opinions(TM): Speaking of Tribunals, I've been a pretty active and engaged commentator in this year's tribunal discussions. So if you want a sense of how I think about these issues, feel free to check out my posts:
- Clean Hands: I have never been infracted. Is that good? Is that bad? That's up to you!
- Excellent Taste in Music: billy woods is the greatest rapper of all time. stream Aethiopes now. Also @Gargulec said I'm "very hip".
Hello! I'm @Khona Moshr and thank you for the nomination this year, SV has for the past 6 years been the main online community I have been apart of. The main sub-forums I interact with are User fiction, Quests, N&P and the Chat lounge.
my main goals are for this year are
1. Be open to communication from users and expressing their thoughts and interests to the Staff.
2. Be active during Tribunals and meetings.
3. help with adding clarity for the more ambiguous rules, where the start of that discussion began last Council.
4. help the staff with announcements so unnecessary confusion doesn't happen.
5. help keep SV being an open and friendly community.
my main goals are for this year are
1. Be open to communication from users and expressing their thoughts and interests to the Staff.
2. Be active during Tribunals and meetings.
3. help with adding clarity for the more ambiguous rules, where the start of that discussion began last Council.
4. help the staff with announcements so unnecessary confusion doesn't happen.
5. help keep SV being an open and friendly community.
Hi, I'm @etranger01. If you're voting for me, there's a good chance you already know me. If not, I'm a regular quest QM and participant, as well as a GSRP GM and player. I also sometimes weigh in on Tribunal results, so this is an exciting opportunity for me to get weighed in on going forward.
If elected to the Council, I'll represent the interests of the user base during Tribunal sessions in a straightforward, uncomplicated manner. No convoluted arguments, no penalty escalations unless it's an especially egregious situation, and no tolerance for abusive behavior that targets vulnerable groups. I'll bring the same attitude to staff meetings, too.
Also, I'd like to see some content promotion for our roleplaying sections, in addition to expanding existing promotions for quests and user fiction. I'm open to further suggestions from other less-represented sections as to how to better promote their content, as well.
Thanks to everyone who nominated me, and thanks to everyone who votes!
If elected to the Council, I'll represent the interests of the user base during Tribunal sessions in a straightforward, uncomplicated manner. No convoluted arguments, no penalty escalations unless it's an especially egregious situation, and no tolerance for abusive behavior that targets vulnerable groups. I'll bring the same attitude to staff meetings, too.
Also, I'd like to see some content promotion for our roleplaying sections, in addition to expanding existing promotions for quests and user fiction. I'm open to further suggestions from other less-represented sections as to how to better promote their content, as well.
Thanks to everyone who nominated me, and thanks to everyone who votes!
Hello, everyone – I'm @Walker, and I'm pleased to be announcing my candidacy for Community Councilor this year. You've probably seen me around the site in Quests and in Mafia, or occasionally in the Chat Lounge; you might also know me as Mournival on Discord, where (like most of us) I'm present and active in a number of SV-adjacent servers. Every candidate has a few policies they're interested in pursuing should they be elected, and for my part, I'm interested in addressing some of the Council's actions regarding moderation, in improving transparency between the community and the staff, and building a greater sense of community and encouraging participation on SV.
The Community Council acts as a check on moderation, as well as assisting them in their duties for particularly large or onerous cases – the most memorable example of which might be tribunals. If elected to a position on the Council, I will attend and participate in tribunals with a focus on accountability, both for users and for the staff, so that moderators, arbitrators and advocates can expect Council support as long as they respect the users' rights, while users have their rights and privileges respected unless engaging in harmful behavior. In the interests of transparency, I'd also like to see the Council notes be continued, and potentially be expanded with some thoughts from the Staff on what issues they regularly see or about the regular function of the site.
Another topic, in which I'm personally interested, would be a return of community events – flash fiction, writing workshops, even tournaments or game nights, and if elected as a councilor, the reappearance of these activities would be one of my priorities. Some of the most enjoyable parts of SV history have been activities not in the traditional mode of long-form writing, and I'd like to see those come back. SV is a community, and shared entertainments like these are part of what brings us together– and they're fun.
I'd like to express my gratitude to everyone who nominated me, and to the voters considering me for a position on the Council. As a Councilor, I'll guarantee my consistent attendance at tribunals and meetings, and I'll be easily available for any user to contact either over Discord or on the site itself. If you're interested in more transparency and accessibility in SV's internal workings, and in more frequent community-oriented events, I encourage you to vote for me.
The Community Council acts as a check on moderation, as well as assisting them in their duties for particularly large or onerous cases – the most memorable example of which might be tribunals. If elected to a position on the Council, I will attend and participate in tribunals with a focus on accountability, both for users and for the staff, so that moderators, arbitrators and advocates can expect Council support as long as they respect the users' rights, while users have their rights and privileges respected unless engaging in harmful behavior. In the interests of transparency, I'd also like to see the Council notes be continued, and potentially be expanded with some thoughts from the Staff on what issues they regularly see or about the regular function of the site.
Another topic, in which I'm personally interested, would be a return of community events – flash fiction, writing workshops, even tournaments or game nights, and if elected as a councilor, the reappearance of these activities would be one of my priorities. Some of the most enjoyable parts of SV history have been activities not in the traditional mode of long-form writing, and I'd like to see those come back. SV is a community, and shared entertainments like these are part of what brings us together– and they're fun.
I'd like to express my gratitude to everyone who nominated me, and to the voters considering me for a position on the Council. As a Councilor, I'll guarantee my consistent attendance at tribunals and meetings, and I'll be easily available for any user to contact either over Discord or on the site itself. If you're interested in more transparency and accessibility in SV's internal workings, and in more frequent community-oriented events, I encourage you to vote for me.
Hello, I'm @FantasticMsFox! I've been a participant in the quests section of SV for a while now and am one of the mods on PoptartProdigy's discord server. The two and a half years spent moderating said server has left me scarred and deformed with a solid base of experience to bring to being a counselwomanfox.
My decision to run for councilwoman has been driven by a desire to help out the community and the site as a whole as it's just been a wonderful place for me for some time now.
My intentions are as follows:
1. Do my utmost in tribunals to be as fair and considerate as possible.
2. Assist my fellow councilors in their endeavors.
3. Transparency in the goings on of the council as much as possible.
4. Be accessible to the common poster. Feel free to PM me on SV or Discord.
5. Make puns. As many puns as I can. A vote for me is a vote for more puns.
TL;DR: I wanna help SV and make puns.
My decision to run for councilwoman has been driven by a desire to help out the community and the site as a whole as it's just been a wonderful place for me for some time now.
My intentions are as follows:
1. Do my utmost in tribunals to be as fair and considerate as possible.
2. Assist my fellow councilors in their endeavors.
3. Transparency in the goings on of the council as much as possible.
4. Be accessible to the common poster. Feel free to PM me on SV or Discord.
5. Make puns. As many puns as I can. A vote for me is a vote for more puns.
TL;DR: I wanna help SV and make puns.
So, Hi. I am @Ithillid, and have been on the site for several years. For the last eighteen months I have been running Attempting To Fulfill the Plan: GDI Edition, the third, and currently longest of the Planquests.
Otherwise, my goals on the council are simple.
Otherwise, my goals on the council are simple.
- Advocate for greater opportunities for authors to promote their work and engage with the broader communities.
- Encourage smaller contest programs similar to the GDIQuest carol contest.
- Push recognition that the problems of News and Politics are caused less by the users, and more the nature of how current events have been stressful and caused people to see their lives and culture as being under existential threat, that has caused shifts in political discourse.
- Push recognition that current events commonly cause tempers to run high and advocate for greater mercy for first time offenders especially in News and Politics.
I am @Wind-Up Citrus and I wish to continue supporting my constituents into the new year. If you were to vote for me, I would like to continue my efforts in pushing for Advocates for users in the Appeals and Tribunals. Many postsrs on this forum would have been able to receive lighter sentences in their respective cases or even outright overturns had they not said or should have said the right things. Such words would have more likely been found by the generous and hardworking members of our volunteer Advocates group.
In previous years I have stated to be present in every tribunal and meeting I can and hear out my constituents in various manners. In the formers I have managed to vote in every tribunal and provided users reasoning for the votes in question. In the meetings there were suggestions and mentions to help speed along processes users have requested us of Council to bring to staff. This has also been met and shall be our aims this term.
The third point shall be from what was the start and shall remain. Users are the reason I have been here for multiple terms, and with your support I would like to continue supporting you all in turn.
In previous years I have stated to be present in every tribunal and meeting I can and hear out my constituents in various manners. In the formers I have managed to vote in every tribunal and provided users reasoning for the votes in question. In the meetings there were suggestions and mentions to help speed along processes users have requested us of Council to bring to staff. This has also been met and shall be our aims this term.
The third point shall be from what was the start and shall remain. Users are the reason I have been here for multiple terms, and with your support I would like to continue supporting you all in turn.
Hi, I'm @Shrike.
I'll probably run an art contest or two, those are always fun.
More broadly I'll be an advocate for creative sections that are not quests - by weight of numbers they tend to dominate, but there's many other creative activities on this forum that also deserve attention.
I'm also an advocate for community policing in preference to retroactive infractions.
I'll probably run an art contest or two, those are always fun.
More broadly I'll be an advocate for creative sections that are not quests - by weight of numbers they tend to dominate, but there's many other creative activities on this forum that also deserve attention.
I'm also an advocate for community policing in preference to retroactive infractions.
Hi, @EarthScorpion here. You may remember me from such previous Sufficient Velocity activities as "writing fanfiction", "running quests", and "being a Councillor before".
As before, I'll represent the interests of the whole userbase, including the fanfiction and questing communities which make up the majority of the activity on the forum. This site has a lot to be proud of as an open, tolerant community which manages to safeguard against much of the nastier elements that can be found on the web. Therefore I believe that the role of the Council is to work together with the Staff to help keep the good healthy and catch problems early, not throw ourselves against them in antagonism which will simply ensure nothing gets done.
I'd also quite like to get the fiction prompt short-story challenges that I got most of the way towards setting up last year running properly, as a fun little activity for board members.
As before, I'll represent the interests of the whole userbase, including the fanfiction and questing communities which make up the majority of the activity on the forum. This site has a lot to be proud of as an open, tolerant community which manages to safeguard against much of the nastier elements that can be found on the web. Therefore I believe that the role of the Council is to work together with the Staff to help keep the good healthy and catch problems early, not throw ourselves against them in antagonism which will simply ensure nothing gets done.
I'd also quite like to get the fiction prompt short-story challenges that I got most of the way towards setting up last year running properly, as a fun little activity for board members.
Hello! My name is @Omicron.
You may know me from my fiction work, notably Quests such as Now You Feel Like Number None, my review work and Let's Read/Let's Play threads, from my occasional posting in News & Politics, or from my previous tenure as Councilor in years past, or my brief career as a Moderator. These should give you an idea of my broad areas of interest on SV and the subjects I care about!
I like SV, I think it's one of the cooler places on the Internet, and I both think it can be made better but also that it works pretty well as it is. I've past experience on Council/Staff, so I have a good idea of the internal mechanisms that go into running the forum. I would like to put that enthusiasm and experience to work in helping keep the forum good and making it even better.
As the recipient of several "Pick of the Months" selection, I've grown keenly aware of the power the forum has to increase visibility and drive up engagement towards users' creative works, and I'd like to consider ways to reinforce that in the future. I am also one of those people who believe that N&P is one of the better places to discuss news and politics on the Internet and not some god-forsaken hellscape to be shunned, so I'd like to consider ways to make it better without acting like it's some existential problem that hurts to even look at the way some do.
I hope you'll consider me for a position among the Council!
You may know me from my fiction work, notably Quests such as Now You Feel Like Number None, my review work and Let's Read/Let's Play threads, from my occasional posting in News & Politics, or from my previous tenure as Councilor in years past, or my brief career as a Moderator. These should give you an idea of my broad areas of interest on SV and the subjects I care about!
I like SV, I think it's one of the cooler places on the Internet, and I both think it can be made better but also that it works pretty well as it is. I've past experience on Council/Staff, so I have a good idea of the internal mechanisms that go into running the forum. I would like to put that enthusiasm and experience to work in helping keep the forum good and making it even better.
As the recipient of several "Pick of the Months" selection, I've grown keenly aware of the power the forum has to increase visibility and drive up engagement towards users' creative works, and I'd like to consider ways to reinforce that in the future. I am also one of those people who believe that N&P is one of the better places to discuss news and politics on the Internet and not some god-forsaken hellscape to be shunned, so I'd like to consider ways to make it better without acting like it's some existential problem that hurts to even look at the way some do.
I hope you'll consider me for a position among the Council!
@DocMatoi:
Yeah I'll give being councilor a try. Never done it before, I'll probably suck at it, but hell I'll try.
Clarification edit: yes this is my statement.
Yeah I'll give being councilor a try. Never done it before, I'll probably suck at it, but hell I'll try.
Clarification edit: yes this is my statement.
Hello, everyone, @BlueHelix here. To my great surprise, I find myself nominated again for election. I'll leave it to your imagination whether if it was a pleasant surprise or otherwise.
It is extremely likely that you do not know who I am, and I think that's fine! I personally think it's a whole lot better to not be super well-known on an internet forum if you're not a content producer, to be completely honest.
So who am I? I'm BlueHelix. I've been on this website for 5 years, turning 6 in about uh, a week or a two. I'm present in the Questing section, naturally, and bouncing around in other areas. Been around the block a few times, I've seen quite a bit of this website, and being a Councilor this past term has certainly expanded my horizons.
I've made it for pretty much almost every single tribunal this term, made every meeting I could, balancing a pretty hard work-life balance and pretty easily slotting Councilor into it. With a year of experience added to that, I think I can do even better. I've actively communicated with people outside of the typical SV community, encouraging them to interact more and lifting the curtain a bit to explain what's going on.
I am also a gacha game player, so let me tell you, my tolerance for work is a lot higher than you think it is, beyond "working in frontline medical service" might have already put it at. My fellow victims, you know who you are.
That said, I'm not some big mover and shaker. I don't hard push policy decisions, I don't generate new content, so on and so forth. I'll maintain what I said last year--I'm a regular poster like you guys, not a politician. I don't make promises I don't keep. But I do make promises--and so I'll say this.
I will always strive to get all my work done, rain or shine, I will always do my best to give everyone a fair shake, and if you play fair with me, I will always, always, always try to make a welcoming environment for you.
And in the spirit of things, good luck to my fellow nominees--with full confidence, I'm pretty sure you all know what you're getting into. We are literally running for office on an internet forum, so whatever happens, have fun!
It is extremely likely that you do not know who I am, and I think that's fine! I personally think it's a whole lot better to not be super well-known on an internet forum if you're not a content producer, to be completely honest.
So who am I? I'm BlueHelix. I've been on this website for 5 years, turning 6 in about uh, a week or a two. I'm present in the Questing section, naturally, and bouncing around in other areas. Been around the block a few times, I've seen quite a bit of this website, and being a Councilor this past term has certainly expanded my horizons.
I've made it for pretty much almost every single tribunal this term, made every meeting I could, balancing a pretty hard work-life balance and pretty easily slotting Councilor into it. With a year of experience added to that, I think I can do even better. I've actively communicated with people outside of the typical SV community, encouraging them to interact more and lifting the curtain a bit to explain what's going on.
I am also a gacha game player, so let me tell you, my tolerance for work is a lot higher than you think it is, beyond "working in frontline medical service" might have already put it at. My fellow victims, you know who you are.
That said, I'm not some big mover and shaker. I don't hard push policy decisions, I don't generate new content, so on and so forth. I'll maintain what I said last year--I'm a regular poster like you guys, not a politician. I don't make promises I don't keep. But I do make promises--and so I'll say this.
I will always strive to get all my work done, rain or shine, I will always do my best to give everyone a fair shake, and if you play fair with me, I will always, always, always try to make a welcoming environment for you.
And in the spirit of things, good luck to my fellow nominees--with full confidence, I'm pretty sure you all know what you're getting into. We are literally running for office on an internet forum, so whatever happens, have fun!
Tis this time of year again, Nyeh?
Well, I'm sure most of you know who I am by this point (@Student of Zelretch ), if you pay attention to site governance - and when you re-elect me, I promise to keep doing exactly what I have been the last two years:
1. I will vote in every tribunal, for whatever seems to be the most appropriate option, regardless of any other councilors vote. I always consider arguments made, but ultimately I vote how I believe is most fitting with the rules as I understand them, regardless of the opinions of others.
2. I will provide the weekly council news updates, with at least 80% of weeks covered - I attend nearly every staff/council weekly meeting, and provide all pertinent non-confidential information that is provided in my news updates. I can't promise perfect attendance, but as I have the last two years, I will continue to attend at least 80% of meetings and, as I have this last year, I will continue to provide news updates when I do so.
3. You have problems with stuff on SV? Let me know about them. I try and provide advice to everyone who PMs me about issues within 24 hours, and if I can't give advice about something, I'll point you at the correct person to ask.
4. Staff and council no longer officially review things for content vis-a-vis rule 6… but I do. Let me know via PM if you're worried a story post will violate rule 6 and I'll let you know if I think you have anything to worry about, usually within 48 hours. I can't officially sanction things, but I can give an informed opinion and will do so. No accounting for taste, though - I've been repeatedly informed I don't have any.
I'll also 1v1 any of you in Total War:Warhammer 2 or 3 who want me to if we can schedule a time, and will give Fate/Grand Order account advice or support assistance within a couple days. That's not really a council thing, but it's the only ones I can guarantee here regardless of electoral status.
If you like what you see here, please drop a vote for me!
PS: If I can get sufficient interest, I'd love to run a TW:W3 (or 2) tournament at some point, should y'all re-elect me. ~7 people beyond myself is what we'd need for that - if I can get at least 4 interested, I'll force Squishy to let me advertise for more with banners.
Well, I'm sure most of you know who I am by this point (@Student of Zelretch ), if you pay attention to site governance - and when you re-elect me, I promise to keep doing exactly what I have been the last two years:
1. I will vote in every tribunal, for whatever seems to be the most appropriate option, regardless of any other councilors vote. I always consider arguments made, but ultimately I vote how I believe is most fitting with the rules as I understand them, regardless of the opinions of others.
2. I will provide the weekly council news updates, with at least 80% of weeks covered - I attend nearly every staff/council weekly meeting, and provide all pertinent non-confidential information that is provided in my news updates. I can't promise perfect attendance, but as I have the last two years, I will continue to attend at least 80% of meetings and, as I have this last year, I will continue to provide news updates when I do so.
3. You have problems with stuff on SV? Let me know about them. I try and provide advice to everyone who PMs me about issues within 24 hours, and if I can't give advice about something, I'll point you at the correct person to ask.
4. Staff and council no longer officially review things for content vis-a-vis rule 6… but I do. Let me know via PM if you're worried a story post will violate rule 6 and I'll let you know if I think you have anything to worry about, usually within 48 hours. I can't officially sanction things, but I can give an informed opinion and will do so. No accounting for taste, though - I've been repeatedly informed I don't have any.
I'll also 1v1 any of you in Total War:Warhammer 2 or 3 who want me to if we can schedule a time, and will give Fate/Grand Order account advice or support assistance within a couple days. That's not really a council thing, but it's the only ones I can guarantee here regardless of electoral status.
If you like what you see here, please drop a vote for me!
PS: If I can get sufficient interest, I'd love to run a TW:W3 (or 2) tournament at some point, should y'all re-elect me. ~7 people beyond myself is what we'd need for that - if I can get at least 4 interested, I'll force Squishy to let me advertise for more with banners.
So it's come to this. I am @The_Letter_K, and if you would truly unleash me on the council, you should know what that means. Since no one else is likely to tell you, I suppose it falls to me.
Some of you may know me as the girl who writes that one porn fic and posts it on SV like a lunatic. Some others of you may think that sexfic isn't allowed on SV and may be ready to report me for admitting to doing that! That misperception is one of the things I'd be looking to change. The contours of Rule Six are very unclear, and in my view, sexual content appearing only under the rule about "acceptable content on SV" implicitly positions it as questionably acceptable, despite what I know to be actual policy. Clearing that up has been tried before, but I'd like to take a whack at it.
More than that, though, I've been concerned lately about the direction of the council in the appeals process, as it seems to be slowly developing into a body more willing to escalate infractions, while my opinion of it is essentially the user's protection against overzealous rulings. I think that a lot of this stems from, frankly, the council taking itself and its duties too seriously, being too aligned with the staff as a body, and less so the advocates and users. I'd like to address this by doing my part to make being part of the council more self-evidently dorky, goofy, and lame, to make it less appealing as a position for authoritarian law-and-order types.
As such, in the appeals themselves, I will do things like; roleplaying as a very serious member of a dark cabal, voting overturn on any spaghetti-posting appeal (since that rule is lame), and taking the lawyerly self-seriousness back out in whatever way I can, with bad jokes and cringe slang, ASCII anime girls, or whatever else I can think of.
I also pledge to post more of my pornfic, making lewd content more acceptable by example, and perhaps even, if I can get my shit together, running an explicit fiction contest to encourage notable SV writers to dip their toes in, to make it more obvious to everyone it's acceptable after all.
I hope you will consider me.
Some of you may know me as the girl who writes that one porn fic and posts it on SV like a lunatic. Some others of you may think that sexfic isn't allowed on SV and may be ready to report me for admitting to doing that! That misperception is one of the things I'd be looking to change. The contours of Rule Six are very unclear, and in my view, sexual content appearing only under the rule about "acceptable content on SV" implicitly positions it as questionably acceptable, despite what I know to be actual policy. Clearing that up has been tried before, but I'd like to take a whack at it.
More than that, though, I've been concerned lately about the direction of the council in the appeals process, as it seems to be slowly developing into a body more willing to escalate infractions, while my opinion of it is essentially the user's protection against overzealous rulings. I think that a lot of this stems from, frankly, the council taking itself and its duties too seriously, being too aligned with the staff as a body, and less so the advocates and users. I'd like to address this by doing my part to make being part of the council more self-evidently dorky, goofy, and lame, to make it less appealing as a position for authoritarian law-and-order types.
As such, in the appeals themselves, I will do things like; roleplaying as a very serious member of a dark cabal, voting overturn on any spaghetti-posting appeal (since that rule is lame), and taking the lawyerly self-seriousness back out in whatever way I can, with bad jokes and cringe slang, ASCII anime girls, or whatever else I can think of.
I also pledge to post more of my pornfic, making lewd content more acceptable by example, and perhaps even, if I can get my shit together, running an explicit fiction contest to encourage notable SV writers to dip their toes in, to make it more obvious to everyone it's acceptable after all.
I hope you will consider me.
Hi, it's your girl, @Estro. I've been a member of this forum for eight years now, and I'm generally regular in most areas of this site. In the last year I've written (and completed) a worm fanfic, I've been in a couple of GSRPs, and more generally I've been active in Quests, Fiction Discussion, and N&P, where you might have seen me around.
I have spent a long time on this site, and I hope that dedication speaks to the dedication I'll bring if elected to the position of councillor.
If elected, I also promise to do my best to represent every area of the forum I participate in, and help ensure that places such as GSRP and RP gain more traffic and advertising.
I promise to be a voice of compassion and reason in Tribunals, when they come up. It is not an experience that any user wants to go through, and I feel that should be taken into account. I know what it's like to be infracted, and it's not some great sin.
I promise to participate in the weekly meetings to the best of my ability, as well as encourage and develop more contests and other ways for users to engage and participate in the site.
All in all, all I can really ask is that I hope you like me and my porposals enough to vote for me. Vote Estro!
I have spent a long time on this site, and I hope that dedication speaks to the dedication I'll bring if elected to the position of councillor.
If elected, I also promise to do my best to represent every area of the forum I participate in, and help ensure that places such as GSRP and RP gain more traffic and advertising.
I promise to be a voice of compassion and reason in Tribunals, when they come up. It is not an experience that any user wants to go through, and I feel that should be taken into account. I know what it's like to be infracted, and it's not some great sin.
I promise to participate in the weekly meetings to the best of my ability, as well as encourage and develop more contests and other ways for users to engage and participate in the site.
All in all, all I can really ask is that I hope you like me and my porposals enough to vote for me. Vote Estro!
Hi my name is @OriginalName I'm probably mostly known for being a terrible discord poster and being active mostly in the SV Mafia community, and usually reading anything with decent grammar in User Fiction, sometimes I even dip my toes into shudders Quests, but honestly I'm usually more of a consumer than a creator or a commentator even, but I've been active and around SV since like early 2015 and I've definitely seen some shit.
*shuffles cue cards*
No, not this one – definitely not this one, god damnit Plaus, oh hey here we go
Uh if elected I'm interested in encouraging people to hang out and mess around in the Active Games area, I'd like to see it used for things that aren't just Mafia which frankly tends to be a more high effort high stress kind of game for a lot of people.
I also have a background in community management, I've moderated some rather large IRC servers in my youth as well as run MMO organizations of in my opinion pretty considerable size (~150 active sweaty nerds). I do recognize the effort it goes into staying on top of people being bad kinds of weird (or awful) as well as sometimes the tougher decisions that can require a thick skin. As an aside to this I myself have reasonably thick skin and can handle being disagreed with and am willing to hop down the rabbit hole to see how bad stuff actually can get, which I think sometimes can be important for reviewing decisions holistically.
Thank you for any consideration you give me!
*shuffles cue cards*
No, not this one – definitely not this one, god damnit Plaus, oh hey here we go
Uh if elected I'm interested in encouraging people to hang out and mess around in the Active Games area, I'd like to see it used for things that aren't just Mafia which frankly tends to be a more high effort high stress kind of game for a lot of people.
I also have a background in community management, I've moderated some rather large IRC servers in my youth as well as run MMO organizations of in my opinion pretty considerable size (~150 active sweaty nerds). I do recognize the effort it goes into staying on top of people being bad kinds of weird (or awful) as well as sometimes the tougher decisions that can require a thick skin. As an aside to this I myself have reasonably thick skin and can handle being disagreed with and am willing to hop down the rabbit hole to see how bad stuff actually can get, which I think sometimes can be important for reviewing decisions holistically.
Thank you for any consideration you give me!
Hey all, @prometheus110 here.
For those who don't know me, I've been a member of SV since the day it began, and have participated in nearly every aspect of the site from Alternate History and N&P to Creative Writing and Quests in that time. As you might imagine from someone who has been running The Lords of Ruin for 3.5 years, I'm very attached to the site and its users and I genuinely think that it is a substantial accomplishment in forum governance and algorithm-free web browsing. Though I have never before participated in the management of SV, I believe that council elections represent an important opportunity for individual users to contribute to its long-term health and maintain a welcoming environment for others, and as such have put my hand up.
If elected to the council, I promise to bring the same dedication I've shown to my quest to all aspects of its management and will do my best to represent the interests of the user base as a whole.
In tribunals, I will provide even-handed, compassionate judgements and do my best to make my thinking clear and straightforward. I also promise to not escalate penalties unless the matter is notably egregious, and will always argue for any mid-tribunal change in infraction to either start from square 1 or have a meaningful delay so that people have adequate time to prepare a defense.
Outside of tribunals, I will happily help manage events and content promotion across the forum as I believe that the advent of things such as Staff and User Picks have had tremendous positive impacts on what users get out of the site and what they put back into it.
Thank you for your consideration. I hope you have a wonderful time on SV.
For those who don't know me, I've been a member of SV since the day it began, and have participated in nearly every aspect of the site from Alternate History and N&P to Creative Writing and Quests in that time. As you might imagine from someone who has been running The Lords of Ruin for 3.5 years, I'm very attached to the site and its users and I genuinely think that it is a substantial accomplishment in forum governance and algorithm-free web browsing. Though I have never before participated in the management of SV, I believe that council elections represent an important opportunity for individual users to contribute to its long-term health and maintain a welcoming environment for others, and as such have put my hand up.
If elected to the council, I promise to bring the same dedication I've shown to my quest to all aspects of its management and will do my best to represent the interests of the user base as a whole.
In tribunals, I will provide even-handed, compassionate judgements and do my best to make my thinking clear and straightforward. I also promise to not escalate penalties unless the matter is notably egregious, and will always argue for any mid-tribunal change in infraction to either start from square 1 or have a meaningful delay so that people have adequate time to prepare a defense.
Outside of tribunals, I will happily help manage events and content promotion across the forum as I believe that the advent of things such as Staff and User Picks have had tremendous positive impacts on what users get out of the site and what they put back into it.
Thank you for your consideration. I hope you have a wonderful time on SV.
Hello, I am @Aedan777 , and I am running for council to represent the interests of the Grand Strategy Roleplaying community that I see as having been lacking.
Last December SV ran a User Choice Awards to celebrate the content produced here. This was a great opportunity and way to appreciate the many stories made by SV users. However, there was a problem. The categories of the User Choice Awards provided only for Quests, User Fiction, and Alternate History. There was thus only limited opportunity for GSRPs to be recognized, in the Alternate History category, competing against both Quests and Alternate History timelines. Aside from the issue that not all GSRPs qualify as alternate history in the first place.
As such there was some discontent in the GSRP community that we did not have a place to celebrate what we had created. In response I organized a separate GSRP User Choice Awards. This was well appreciated among our community, and supported by the staff once they found out about it (you can see it linked in the regular User Choice Awards page). Still, there are some of us who would have liked to see GSRP have a spot of recognition in the site-wide User Choice Awards from the beginning.
I see this particular incident as merely an example of GSRP being something of an afterthought to site management. As a council member I would strive to increase GSRP recognition and involvement, both for the User Choice Awards and any other site wide events or activities which may be run.
Last December SV ran a User Choice Awards to celebrate the content produced here. This was a great opportunity and way to appreciate the many stories made by SV users. However, there was a problem. The categories of the User Choice Awards provided only for Quests, User Fiction, and Alternate History. There was thus only limited opportunity for GSRPs to be recognized, in the Alternate History category, competing against both Quests and Alternate History timelines. Aside from the issue that not all GSRPs qualify as alternate history in the first place.
As such there was some discontent in the GSRP community that we did not have a place to celebrate what we had created. In response I organized a separate GSRP User Choice Awards. This was well appreciated among our community, and supported by the staff once they found out about it (you can see it linked in the regular User Choice Awards page). Still, there are some of us who would have liked to see GSRP have a spot of recognition in the site-wide User Choice Awards from the beginning.
I see this particular incident as merely an example of GSRP being something of an afterthought to site management. As a council member I would strive to increase GSRP recognition and involvement, both for the User Choice Awards and any other site wide events or activities which may be run.
Hey everyone! I'm @Redshirt Army, and if you're satisfied with my previous work as a Councillor, I'm happy to go for another term!
As a brief rundown of my activities:
-I'm active in meetings and discussions on the staff discord, bringing up concerns from users to the staff, and since pretty early last term have been posting fairly detailed meeting notes.
-I've worked together with the content promotion team to put together all the graphics and banners for Winterfest, as well as several other holidays (most notably, I once again did the April Fools).
-I continue to be active in many different Questing communities across SV and associated discords, and have used that connection to both gather concerns from users and to share SV news.
-And, of course, I participated in nearly all of the tribunals this term, where I felt that I made reasonable and even-handed judgement calls.
I think I've done a good job so far, and am looking forward to continuing that good work if given the chance.
As a brief rundown of my activities:
-I'm active in meetings and discussions on the staff discord, bringing up concerns from users to the staff, and since pretty early last term have been posting fairly detailed meeting notes.
-I've worked together with the content promotion team to put together all the graphics and banners for Winterfest, as well as several other holidays (most notably, I once again did the April Fools).
-I continue to be active in many different Questing communities across SV and associated discords, and have used that connection to both gather concerns from users and to share SV news.
-And, of course, I participated in nearly all of the tribunals this term, where I felt that I made reasonable and even-handed judgement calls.
I think I've done a good job so far, and am looking forward to continuing that good work if given the chance.
Hello!
If you are any interested in Council business, you probably know @Susano and what I have done so far on the Council. So all I can say in regards to "campaigning" is that If re-elected, I plan to continue this course:
1) Treat every tribunal case brought before us with the necessary seriousness and nuance. Everyone has a right that their case is properly heard and argued about, that's what tribunals are for.
2) Ensuring, in tribunals and in staff/council discussions, that there should be no such thing as "acceptable targets" for abusive language and crowding out. After all, there is no privilege to be an asshole; not towards "unliked" forum members, either, and we should not think in such categories.
3) Fight for an acceptable and pleasant forum atmosphere, which necessarily includes upholding Rule 3 regardless of context. Everyone has a right to be treated civilly, regardless of how justified people might think their "passion" is.
Nonetheless, I have never been a hanging judge. It has sometimes been joked on the Council discord channel that I am an appellant's best defence, usually regardless of context. When it comes to tribunals, I honestly do always try to include all relevant factors, those in favour and not in favour of the appellant, and despite some protests never do even say nice things about appellants, I will continue to do so. Often, I thus dissent from the Council majority - so, if you want to retain a unique point of view on the Council, vote for me.
Outside tribunals, I try my best to keep in touch with the Staff/Council discourse, even if meetings are often at atrocious times for Europeans. So, a vote for me is also a vote for European timezone representation I also support the long-held plans for forum re-organization, especially finally, finally making Alternate History top level again. I would also support making N&P top-level again, but that is a less realistic prospect - or, alternatively, bring it under the Versus Forum, because, hey, realistically seen...
I will also help, together with other Councillors, to promote transparency on SV. There is one important rule: That it usually can't be disclosed who said or promoted something - however, that it was, that can be reported, and it should. I am in support for promoting transparency while in support of such rules.
But most important to me and my activities are the listed points: Nuance and thought in tribunals, no acceptable targets, and promoting a friendly and pleasant forum atmosphere.
If you are any interested in Council business, you probably know @Susano and what I have done so far on the Council. So all I can say in regards to "campaigning" is that If re-elected, I plan to continue this course:
1) Treat every tribunal case brought before us with the necessary seriousness and nuance. Everyone has a right that their case is properly heard and argued about, that's what tribunals are for.
2) Ensuring, in tribunals and in staff/council discussions, that there should be no such thing as "acceptable targets" for abusive language and crowding out. After all, there is no privilege to be an asshole; not towards "unliked" forum members, either, and we should not think in such categories.
3) Fight for an acceptable and pleasant forum atmosphere, which necessarily includes upholding Rule 3 regardless of context. Everyone has a right to be treated civilly, regardless of how justified people might think their "passion" is.
Nonetheless, I have never been a hanging judge. It has sometimes been joked on the Council discord channel that I am an appellant's best defence, usually regardless of context. When it comes to tribunals, I honestly do always try to include all relevant factors, those in favour and not in favour of the appellant, and despite some protests never do even say nice things about appellants, I will continue to do so. Often, I thus dissent from the Council majority - so, if you want to retain a unique point of view on the Council, vote for me.
Outside tribunals, I try my best to keep in touch with the Staff/Council discourse, even if meetings are often at atrocious times for Europeans. So, a vote for me is also a vote for European timezone representation
I also support the long-held plans for forum re-organization, especially finally, finally making Alternate History top level again. I would also support making N&P top-level again, but that is a less realistic prospect - or, alternatively, bring it under the Versus Forum, because, hey, realistically seen...I will also help, together with other Councillors, to promote transparency on SV. There is one important rule: That it usually can't be disclosed who said or promoted something - however, that it was, that can be reported, and it should. I am in support for promoting transparency while in support of such rules.
But most important to me and my activities are the listed points: Nuance and thought in tribunals, no acceptable targets, and promoting a friendly and pleasant forum atmosphere.
First-time councilor candidate @Zimmerwald1915 here. It was an honor and a privilege to be nominated; it was not my belief that I had made much of an impression on my fellow users.
I'm a fairly active quester and commentator on the W&P and N&P subforums, and I think the latter spaces should be protected. For everything that can be said about them, they are among the best such spaces for their purpose on the broader internet and ought to be protected, with the conscientious pruning but also the eye for growth of a gardener. They should not be subjected to a wholesale chemical spray - that is to say, locked or deleted. Rather, the same conscientious curation approach should be taken to the whole forum, and I look forward to working with staff to accomplish that.
I was somewhat disappointed to see the council distinguished from a jury - I have been sorely disappointed in real life never to have been selected for a jury, and saw hearing tribunals as the next best thing. As a trial attorney with dozens of jury cases over the last five or so years, I will bring to that part of being a councilor what I look for most in a juror: an open mind willing to see each case and its evidence with fresh eyes, a keen attention to detail, and a willingness to thoroughly review the whole record. I will strive to foster an atmosphere of restraint - it is not the council's job to infract appellants on appeal. And I will work with staff to ensure that to the extent they have a case to infract, it is that case, and that case alone (along with the appellant's defense) that gets placed before council.
Thank you for hearing me out, and hopefully, for your votes.
I'm a fairly active quester and commentator on the W&P and N&P subforums, and I think the latter spaces should be protected. For everything that can be said about them, they are among the best such spaces for their purpose on the broader internet and ought to be protected, with the conscientious pruning but also the eye for growth of a gardener. They should not be subjected to a wholesale chemical spray - that is to say, locked or deleted. Rather, the same conscientious curation approach should be taken to the whole forum, and I look forward to working with staff to accomplish that.
I was somewhat disappointed to see the council distinguished from a jury - I have been sorely disappointed in real life never to have been selected for a jury, and saw hearing tribunals as the next best thing. As a trial attorney with dozens of jury cases over the last five or so years, I will bring to that part of being a councilor what I look for most in a juror: an open mind willing to see each case and its evidence with fresh eyes, a keen attention to detail, and a willingness to thoroughly review the whole record. I will strive to foster an atmosphere of restraint - it is not the council's job to infract appellants on appeal. And I will work with staff to ensure that to the extent they have a case to infract, it is that case, and that case alone (along with the appellant's defense) that gets placed before council.
Thank you for hearing me out, and hopefully, for your votes.
Greetings and salutations,
@Madam Carstein is present here or there throughout the forum, my most popular haunts are News & Politics and Grand Strategy. I initially came to this site back during the AH.com exodus circa 2015 or thereabouts. Since then, I've gone through a lot of changes on this site both great and small. As a forum member, I went from being a near-exclusive participant in the Grand Strategy subforum to a broader member of the forum at large. This community has been a great place for me, and it's an incredible, tolerant, and welcoming space that I am proud to be involved with in my capacity as a Councilor.
I am running for re-election to the Council because I know that this is a good community and that we have a lot of opportunities to make it even better. I've had a strong and active tenure as a Councilor. I have a near-perfect record in tribunal participation and I feel that I have built a strong record of fair, considerate, and even-handed participation. And I'm a vocal sort. If I have an issue that I think needs more attention, I like to be forthright and outspoken about it.
When I first ran for Council, I promised that I would do everything that I could to make SV a more welcoming place by cracking down on hateful and intolerant attitudes. For me, being welcoming is about more than just being friendly and having a lot of activities available. This forum provides a safe space for a diverse userbase. And it is not enough for a community to simply not be hateful. We need to go a step farther and actually be proactively against hatred.
I have embodied this philosophy as a Councilor in my voting record at tribunals. I strongly believe that this site must not tolerate hateful ideologies and those who espouse them, and as a Councilor, I have consistently stood against users espousing bigoted attitudes and beliefs of any stripe. This is a very personal issue to me as a transgender woman living in a country with a growing level of overt hostility and brutal policies towards queer people and communities. This site is one of the few large online spaces I am present in where I feel completely unafraid to be my real self. This is a rare and precious online space that protects and supports its users and opposes hateful and dehumanising ideologies. But these spaces are not guaranteed and must not be taken for granted. We must be proactive to maintain our forum as a safe space. And current forum policy, while good, needs to go farther to keep this site the wonderful and welcoming place that it currently is.
------------------------------------------
In my next term as Councilor, I believe that I must carry forward my beliefs and my work by working to change SV policies. I strongly support emulating the example of communities such as RPG.net which explicitly ban support of hateful leaders and movements. I intend to be active and outspoken in reforming site policies to be more explicit in making sure that hate is not welcome here and that people who believe in ideas which dehumanise others must not be a part of our community.
Beyond that, I promise to continue my active record as a Councilor and be a frequent and thoughtful participant in tribunals. One major area of improvement which I would like to make going forward is to be a more accessible and open member of the Council who can hear out user concerns and pass them on to the staff and/or my fellow Councilors. I was elected by this userbase, and I wish to make myself available to anyone who wants a sympathetic ear. I don't bite, much.
Thank you kindly for your time,
Madam Carstein
@Madam Carstein is present here or there throughout the forum, my most popular haunts are News & Politics and Grand Strategy. I initially came to this site back during the AH.com exodus circa 2015 or thereabouts. Since then, I've gone through a lot of changes on this site both great and small. As a forum member, I went from being a near-exclusive participant in the Grand Strategy subforum to a broader member of the forum at large. This community has been a great place for me, and it's an incredible, tolerant, and welcoming space that I am proud to be involved with in my capacity as a Councilor.
I am running for re-election to the Council because I know that this is a good community and that we have a lot of opportunities to make it even better. I've had a strong and active tenure as a Councilor. I have a near-perfect record in tribunal participation and I feel that I have built a strong record of fair, considerate, and even-handed participation. And I'm a vocal sort. If I have an issue that I think needs more attention, I like to be forthright and outspoken about it.
When I first ran for Council, I promised that I would do everything that I could to make SV a more welcoming place by cracking down on hateful and intolerant attitudes. For me, being welcoming is about more than just being friendly and having a lot of activities available. This forum provides a safe space for a diverse userbase. And it is not enough for a community to simply not be hateful. We need to go a step farther and actually be proactively against hatred.
I have embodied this philosophy as a Councilor in my voting record at tribunals. I strongly believe that this site must not tolerate hateful ideologies and those who espouse them, and as a Councilor, I have consistently stood against users espousing bigoted attitudes and beliefs of any stripe. This is a very personal issue to me as a transgender woman living in a country with a growing level of overt hostility and brutal policies towards queer people and communities. This site is one of the few large online spaces I am present in where I feel completely unafraid to be my real self. This is a rare and precious online space that protects and supports its users and opposes hateful and dehumanising ideologies. But these spaces are not guaranteed and must not be taken for granted. We must be proactive to maintain our forum as a safe space. And current forum policy, while good, needs to go farther to keep this site the wonderful and welcoming place that it currently is.
------------------------------------------
In my next term as Councilor, I believe that I must carry forward my beliefs and my work by working to change SV policies. I strongly support emulating the example of communities such as RPG.net which explicitly ban support of hateful leaders and movements. I intend to be active and outspoken in reforming site policies to be more explicit in making sure that hate is not welcome here and that people who believe in ideas which dehumanise others must not be a part of our community.
Beyond that, I promise to continue my active record as a Councilor and be a frequent and thoughtful participant in tribunals. One major area of improvement which I would like to make going forward is to be a more accessible and open member of the Council who can hear out user concerns and pass them on to the staff and/or my fellow Councilors. I was elected by this userbase, and I wish to make myself available to anyone who wants a sympathetic ear. I don't bite, much.
Thank you kindly for your time,
Madam Carstein
Hello everyone!
I hope a lot of you know me by now, but if you don't, my name is @Pawn Lelouch and I'm running for another term. To let you know more about me, I'm a user who helps run the site's Mafia and Forum Games community. I am also a regular on the fiction end of the site and an occasional poster on the political end of the site.
So what is it that I've done in my past terms?
I've been one of the most consistently active councilors, rarely missing any tribunals and staff meetings, well past the average of my peers. This allowed me to make sure that user concerns were addressed regardless of who it was from or what area of the forum the concerns originated from during staff meetings. While during tribunals I am consistently one of the councilors giving detailed reasoning, with reasonable judgment calls for them.
I've actively supported fellow councilors in any endeavors they tried to push through like contests, helping organize things and make sure they don't drop to the wayside. Otherwise, on my end I have actively proposed, drafted, and had policy implemented that has made the council system work smoother for the site as a whole.
But above all else, I've made sure to push for the site to be a safe, tolerant, and inviting community for people, doing my best to strive for this.
Now comes the question of what I plan to bring forward into the new term. All of the above carries forward obviously, but what else could I bring to the table?
I want to take a more active part in helping and creating events compared to prior terms. I plan to make myself more accessible to people. I've always been open to being messaged if someone has a problem or question, but I hadn't made it obvious enough in the past.
I am going to work through forum reorganization plans to help shine a light on areas that deserve easier access and higher engagement. I also want to actively look and see where there might be further policy issues that can be dealt with, so that I can help create and draft new policy on those fronts.
With all of that out there, I've said my piece and I hope that you all will consider letting me continue as a Community Councilor this term!
I hope a lot of you know me by now, but if you don't, my name is @Pawn Lelouch and I'm running for another term. To let you know more about me, I'm a user who helps run the site's Mafia and Forum Games community. I am also a regular on the fiction end of the site and an occasional poster on the political end of the site.
So what is it that I've done in my past terms?
I've been one of the most consistently active councilors, rarely missing any tribunals and staff meetings, well past the average of my peers. This allowed me to make sure that user concerns were addressed regardless of who it was from or what area of the forum the concerns originated from during staff meetings. While during tribunals I am consistently one of the councilors giving detailed reasoning, with reasonable judgment calls for them.
I've actively supported fellow councilors in any endeavors they tried to push through like contests, helping organize things and make sure they don't drop to the wayside. Otherwise, on my end I have actively proposed, drafted, and had policy implemented that has made the council system work smoother for the site as a whole.
But above all else, I've made sure to push for the site to be a safe, tolerant, and inviting community for people, doing my best to strive for this.
Now comes the question of what I plan to bring forward into the new term. All of the above carries forward obviously, but what else could I bring to the table?
I want to take a more active part in helping and creating events compared to prior terms. I plan to make myself more accessible to people. I've always been open to being messaged if someone has a problem or question, but I hadn't made it obvious enough in the past.
I am going to work through forum reorganization plans to help shine a light on areas that deserve easier access and higher engagement. I also want to actively look and see where there might be further policy issues that can be dealt with, so that I can help create and draft new policy on those fronts.
With all of that out there, I've said my piece and I hope that you all will consider letting me continue as a Community Councilor this term!
Hi, It's me (@Pineapple): The Artist Formerly Known As Jackie.
You should vote for me if you like mylack of restraint, both in tribunals and other matters.
Additionally, I have impeccable tastes in practically every regard, and thus am well suited to advise on, and craft both policy and tribunal decisions.
I also make some really mean eggs. Seriously, they'll call you names.
You should vote for me if you like my
Additionally, I have impeccable tastes in practically every regard, and thus am well suited to advise on, and craft both policy and tribunal decisions.
I also make some really mean eggs. Seriously, they'll call you names.
Hi. I'm @BiopunkOtrera previously known as FBH. You may remember me from almost every previous incarnation council. I hope that my record is strong enough that you'll once again return me as one of your Councillors, so I can continue to serve you in that capacity. I feel like I've got a lot done as a councillor, including helping to create content promotion, and the SV pick of the month that it's brought.
Over the next year, if returned, I hope to continue to work on content promotion and look into other teams to better promote original fiction on SV.
Please vote for me, and thank you everyone that nominated.
Over the next year, if returned, I hope to continue to work on content promotion and look into other teams to better promote original fiction on SV.
Please vote for me, and thank you everyone that nominated.
So. I'm @7734, published as Tabac Iberez. You might know me from my quests (Magical Girl Home Base Quest, Strategic Armor Commission Quest, Situation Foxtrot, ZeppelinQuest) or my narrative fiction (NERVous Breakdown, Big Cat on Campus, Diamonds to Rust) or even my professional biography (Night Watch on Al-Sorah, A Century Turns, Night over the Bosporus). You absolutely do not know me for my views in News and Politics, as I don't like to talk about work where I come to relax. Fundamentally, I'm another CW council pick, and fundamentally my platform isn't going to be much different from most of the other people I'm running with.
Still, I'll spell it out in case I'm the first name on the ballot again. I want to run more contests. I want to run more promotions for Original Fiction and Original Quests. I want to work on organizing our tag cloud and expanding utility of tagging systems, threadmarks, and other features. I want to run more contests like our Short Story Contest from a few years back, organized by @BiopunkOtrera, one of their best contributions to the site's operation. Most importantly, I want to clean out the War and Peace forum section a little to help make sure our AlternateHistory.com expatriates have a welcoming area to discuss history in.
Just as important as what I do want is what I don't want. I don't want to end up with massive, messy Tribunals coming down the pike to feed the Commentary Thread with. I don't want to have to posit lengthily discussions on rules that should be simple to follow. I don't want Current Events to swamp this poor site in massive, controversial flame wars. To that end, we have moderation and arbitrators, the Tribunal in case of dire issues, and most importantly, the firm understanding of the userbase that if you work with us, we'll work with you to keep things moving.
So, in short: a vote for 7734 is a vote for choosing to promote this site's strengths.
Still, I'll spell it out in case I'm the first name on the ballot again. I want to run more contests. I want to run more promotions for Original Fiction and Original Quests. I want to work on organizing our tag cloud and expanding utility of tagging systems, threadmarks, and other features. I want to run more contests like our Short Story Contest from a few years back, organized by @BiopunkOtrera, one of their best contributions to the site's operation. Most importantly, I want to clean out the War and Peace forum section a little to help make sure our AlternateHistory.com expatriates have a welcoming area to discuss history in.
Just as important as what I do want is what I don't want. I don't want to end up with massive, messy Tribunals coming down the pike to feed the Commentary Thread with. I don't want to have to posit lengthily discussions on rules that should be simple to follow. I don't want Current Events to swamp this poor site in massive, controversial flame wars. To that end, we have moderation and arbitrators, the Tribunal in case of dire issues, and most importantly, the firm understanding of the userbase that if you work with us, we'll work with you to keep things moving.
So, in short: a vote for 7734 is a vote for choosing to promote this site's strengths.
Hi there, I'm @Arthur Frayn, and I don't take this seriously.
That might be a strange pitch for someone running for the Community Council, a largely thankless job that often involves long hours getting working and advising on plans for the forum, pitching and collaborating on new features, contests, etc., and most importantly weighing in on Tribunals. "Why would I want a Councilor who doesn't take the job seriously?", you ask. "Sure, he's funny and clever and rocks the shit out of that Sharpie goatee, but not taking the Council seriously?"
When I say that I don't take this seriously, I mean that I always strive to remember that SV is, at the end of the day, a goofy little forum full of eager, earnest, and incredibly creative weirdo's, and that I'm proud to be one of them. It's full of incredible and multi-layered Quest's which spans months (sometimes years!), weaving dense and interconnect stories that foster an incredible sense of community. It's got a dense and active News and Politics section that oftentimes offers insight better than anything you'll read in the news. It's lead to the creation of RPG's, novels, scripts, you name it.
It's our weird, stupid, petty, silly, incredible corner of the internet. We've all built it, together, and I want to be a Councilor to keep that irreverent spirit alive. I want to be a Councilor to inject some levity into things. That means when it comes to Tribunals, I will never, ever advocate escalating to a Sub-Forum ban. Threadbans and cooling off periods? Absolutely, but Sub-Forum bans are often, in my opinion, counter-productive. Short of obvious cases involving flagrant bigotry or clear violations of the Pirate Principal I'll vote to acquit in almost every Permaban Tribunal. I will always, always, always try and see the appellant as a user first, someone who's reaching out sincerely, and either work to find a common ground or help them understand the infraction.
I'll be a relentless, tireless advocate for the users - while I might not have any clear plans for SV myself, my PM's will be open to anyone and everyone who has an idea for a Contest, a Quest, a Newsletter, you name it. I'd be happy to host town halls or Q&A sessions (which means I might finally have to make a Disqus account) and pull back the curtain on SV's inner workings for anyone who wants to know.
I'm Arthur Frayn, I don't take things seriously, and that's why I want to be your Councilor.
That might be a strange pitch for someone running for the Community Council, a largely thankless job that often involves long hours getting working and advising on plans for the forum, pitching and collaborating on new features, contests, etc., and most importantly weighing in on Tribunals. "Why would I want a Councilor who doesn't take the job seriously?", you ask. "Sure, he's funny and clever and rocks the shit out of that Sharpie goatee, but not taking the Council seriously?"
When I say that I don't take this seriously, I mean that I always strive to remember that SV is, at the end of the day, a goofy little forum full of eager, earnest, and incredibly creative weirdo's, and that I'm proud to be one of them. It's full of incredible and multi-layered Quest's which spans months (sometimes years!), weaving dense and interconnect stories that foster an incredible sense of community. It's got a dense and active News and Politics section that oftentimes offers insight better than anything you'll read in the news. It's lead to the creation of RPG's, novels, scripts, you name it.
It's our weird, stupid, petty, silly, incredible corner of the internet. We've all built it, together, and I want to be a Councilor to keep that irreverent spirit alive. I want to be a Councilor to inject some levity into things. That means when it comes to Tribunals, I will never, ever advocate escalating to a Sub-Forum ban. Threadbans and cooling off periods? Absolutely, but Sub-Forum bans are often, in my opinion, counter-productive. Short of obvious cases involving flagrant bigotry or clear violations of the Pirate Principal I'll vote to acquit in almost every Permaban Tribunal. I will always, always, always try and see the appellant as a user first, someone who's reaching out sincerely, and either work to find a common ground or help them understand the infraction.
I'll be a relentless, tireless advocate for the users - while I might not have any clear plans for SV myself, my PM's will be open to anyone and everyone who has an idea for a Contest, a Quest, a Newsletter, you name it. I'd be happy to host town halls or Q&A sessions (which means I might finally have to make a Disqus account) and pull back the curtain on SV's inner workings for anyone who wants to know.
I'm Arthur Frayn, I don't take things seriously, and that's why I want to be your Councilor.
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