{Ed. note: Article posted with permission of author}

From:		Jacob Morley <[email protected]>
Subject:		[stcircle] More Like This
Date sent:		Tue, 17 Jul 2001 17:11:44 -0400

Okay, this is half-sarcasm, but you know what would make the game really cool? . . . . If we could fix it so that it was more like OOC politics.:)

I've remarked before that the OOC political machinations of the organization, when they occur, are far closer to what White Wolf presents the IC Camarilla as being like than our IC Sect. For instance, how would you react to the following (*IMPORTANT NOTE* I'm not advocating anyone go out and do anything mentioned below, and the scenarios are constructed to draw parallels and don't necessarily represent 'the facts' or 'how one ought to behave'):

- You find out some one has killed your Regional Coordinator and eaten his heart. This person now has MC 9 for performing that act (up from 8). How would you deal with this person? How would you look at people with lower MC than you?

- One of your friends casually mentions how he dislikes people in Domain X, and has already killed three of them himself. He wants you and some other people from your Domain to get in the act.

- Two members stand accused of violating the Code of Conduct somehow. One of them is in a clique which includes your Domain Storyteller and is fairly well respected by others. You've been hoping the DST will approve something for you, as well. The other accused person is more or less a wallflower who isn't very well liked. You have evidence that indicates the popular friend of the DST is the actual culprit. Do you help them cover it up in exchange for a favor?

- You know that people who violate the Code of Conduct on email lists are usually shunned and sometimes punished by the Domain Coordinator. Would you engage in a flame war?

- You physically assaulted some other member for some trivial, personal reason. How would you expect your fellow members to treat you?

- You and your friends hate the current DST. You think one of them would make a much better DST. Obviously, killing the current DST in cold blood would be stupid and get you in a lot of trouble. So instead, you and your friends engage in a smear campaign to make the DST look bad in front of other people with influence in these affairs, hoping he will be ousted.

- You hear about another LARP club where the members engage their officers in ritual combat to the death in order to achieve position. They're also cannibals. Would you think about joining? Would you want anything to do with them? Would you be interested in learning their philosophies on life and adopting them yourself?

Then the only bridge to cross would be making sure people got along better OOC.:)

Cheers,

Jake Morley
9933-012
DST - Dire Epiphany