Voting for the new Faction Leader

[Corvus Raaf]

OK, time to start the voting process. The rules are simple:

1. You can only vote once per writer. Multiple votes per writer i.e. using multiple characters will see those votes discounted

2. Voting is typically restricted by posts. From memory, characters with under 50 posts cannot vote (it might be a lower threshold, but if you can’t vote, this is the likely reason)

3. Voting is open to any writer that is a member of the Galactic Republic at the time the voting started

4. The voting ends next Friday and the thread will automatically close

5. The results will be announced as soon as the votes have been verified

6. Once the Invasion with the One Sith has been concluded and a result declared, the new FL can be formally appointed. Until that time they will form part of the FA team to ‘learn the ropes’

7. The new FL can choose their own FA team to start at the same time they take ‘office’

8. The current Moderators will remain in post

9. Anything else I didn't think of but subsequently remember

And finally nominees should feel free to make a speech below if they wish...

 

[Nikolas Faselli]

The Galactic Republic has been here in Chaos for about two years and even more now, most of the time being the most powerful, active, and largest faction here. I have been a member of SWRP: Chaos for about the same amount of time. My first character ever was a Jedi and thus, a member of the Galactic Republic. Ever since that moment I pressed the "Join faction" button with my first character, I have always had at least one of my characters here. I can't remember a single moment I would have lost my loyalty to the faction OOCly.

It is my favourite faction, has always been. There's this powerful feeling of democracy, freedom, civil rights, politics, this strange feeling of good to it. Unlike any other faction, this one has had the member base I have adored. Nearly everybody who has been amongst the members of this faction has had a warm place in my heart. I love the Republic, I love its members.

We've been incredibly strong. Although we have lost countless battles, it means nothing. Perhaps the leaders of this faction have tried to create an IC story which needs us to lose? In the end, battles don't mean much -- what's more important is the result of the war and the way this community acts. We've crushed the Sith Kingdom, we've controlled the Sith capital worlds. The loss of our planets is not much when compared to the greatness we have achieved.

If we stay and fight together, we can achieve even more. I want the community of this faction to stand untied against all difficulties we face and I want to do what I can to make the faction the place everybody would love to stay at. I would like to see it prosper again, not have to deal with members losing faith. I want to give the faction the best I could and make it so that it will be the most powerful force of Chaos. I want it to reach the pinnacle of friendship, story development and unity.

Together, we are invincible.

Stay classy, Republic!

EDIT: As per a special request for more information about what I would do about the Senate and its activity, I am going to talk about that as well.

The Galactic Republic's Senate is a thing which is one of the main symbols of the Republic, along with the Jedi Order. Senate is a large influential body of the faction which should be able to discuss the political matters of the faction and not be "background noise". Most of the RP done by Senators is just fictional -- people don't talk about them a lot after these things happen. I would like to change that.

The Senate has always been one of my favourite things of the faction. As a huge political enthusiast in real life, I have always found it fascinating and interesting to see such a legislation. But if the Senate has nearly no power at all, I feel slightly offended and aimless.

Discussing a faction's ruling should not be a Jedi Council thing, nor should it be in the hands of only one person. The Senate should be able to discuss and make changes to the IC-OOC part of our faction. They should be able to discuss relations with other factions, they should be able to talk about the state of the Republic. About the things which affect our faction both ICly and OOCly.

I am not saying OOC and IC leadership should be the same. The forum's matters and the OOC things (Dominions, Invasions, future of the faction, etc.) should be handled by the OOC staff. But we should give the Senate more power. If politicians don't have the power to do something, I personally see no point of having it at all.

Therefore, I would bring the Senate more power and not make it just a background noise.

 

[Kenrath]

I am going to keep this short and sweet because I hate speeches.

The Republic could be more. It is not enough to sit around and say you have nothing to do. You have to create opportunities, you have to be willing to make hard decision that at times can be unpopular for the long term good of the faction IC and OOC.

The Senate is stagnant and without purpose. I can fix that by providing more threads with true IC impact outside of the Senate then you could ever want. Committees, Diplomacy, laws a little bit of it all.

For the Military guys an increase in Skirmishes, Dominions, and even invasions. There is no reason people should have to wonder what dominion is next or when it will start if at all.

Lastly people holding IC positions actually doing those jobs IC instead of just carrying pretty title tags. PM leading the Senate, Supreme Commander actually leading Dominions and Invasions. The works. For those already doing those things good job and keep it up. For the rest it is time to step up or step aside

 

[Selena Halcyon]

Aight, so I'm gonna be up front and honest. I'm not a candidate who is going to offer an IC presence that is anything more than minor. I know this is unusual, but quite honestly the drive to RP is not very high for me. Instantly this should turn off most of you, and that's not unreasonable. However, I have lead many factions in my years of RPing, all with great success and quite honestly those were some of the times I also RP'd the least.

-I'm not a controlling faction leader.
I honestly view those who act as demagogues and the entire faction revolving around them as being bad for a faction. In essence the entire faction hinges on them. They control the ebb and the flow. They are the ones at the center of everything. I view that as short sighted. The faction is truly about the members. The members should be the driving force of the faction with leadership being there largely to put out fires and in small ways direct the faction in various directions.

-Complicated rules and structures aren't my thing. I keep it simple.
The more emphasis you put on rules the more everything becomes about the rules. It is a dangerous tactic to employ in a lot of things and honestly just starts more arguments. When it comes to invasions at most I like limitations on the number of characters a writer can bring to a thread. If you remove the rules then it allows things to flow more naturally. Perhaps the thread is best decided by the number of individual victories. Sometimes it is best decided by objectives being taken in story (for instance, I was once in an invasion on another board where the thread was pretty even or borderline favoring the Jedi. I, RPing a Sith, took a week and something like 15 posts to get into the Palace on Naboo and eventually declared myself King of Naboo. No one stopped me. And while everything else was fairly even or in the otherside's favor, the objective was so significant it shifted the fight. Rules can limit potential like that).

-I'm a leader who often says, "Sure, go out and do it. Have fun."
I might offer a little bit of caution or input on the idea, but if people want to go and do things then they should. Have fun. Get out and RP. A faction leader should -never- stimey activity. If a group of people want to do a dominion. Go. Do it. Have fun. If it dies... so what? No real loss has occurred in the end. I'm not going to micromanage you guys. You don't enjoy that. I don't enjoy that. No body has fun that way and it hurts the faction all around.

To the Jedi:
This is not a slight to the other groups of the faction, but the Jedi are typically the biggest group and "most important" group in the Republic just from a numerical standpoint. What I would seek to do is to harness the idea that you guys are the guardians of the galaxy. The Republic does its best when this is the case. When the Jedi are fully vested in the idea of going out and putting an end to the threat, in this case it would be the One Sith. I witnessed this when the Sith Empire was brought down. The Republic did this mostly on the backs of the Jedi who were driven and focused on that goal.

I understand there are a segment of "pacifist" Jedi. War is NOT your enemy. You simply have another avenue of RPing in it. Be the support. You don't have to like the war, no one does, even the Jedi fighting in it don't. They just view it as their duty, but respect the necessity. Support them in nonaggressive ways. Heal, do diplomacy on other fronts. But don't be divisive.

To the Military:
Unique opportunity presents itself. Story wise there is the great story of being tired of war but knowing that the Republic is important. The One Sith have to go. I -hope- to push you guys to attack the One Sith hard. Skirmishes, invasion, everything should be your battlefield. I would love love love to see the military folks on the army side decide to get together and centralize into a squad or two and just focus on skirmishes. Harass the enemy like crazy. The realm for you guys to be active is so free and beautiful right now it is insane. Shoot, if there is an area where I would insert myself IC it would/will be here.
To the Senate:
Finally to the Senate. Typically the smallest group of the faction but no less important. I would simply encourage you to get active in the diplomatic side of things. I do not know if it is in vogue these days but when bills and policy was a huge part of the senate it really hamstring'd it. I can offer more explanation on that if people need it. I see the appeal in it. You are RPing senators, of course the idea of the nitty gritty like that would be interesting to you but I can assure more often than not the internal politics of the senate can be bad for the faction. When the Senate shines the most it is involved externally through diplomacy in a number of forms. From basic diplomacy (meetings with other factions) or securing information (diplomatic mission with an emphasis on espionage). Working alongside your other members of the faction adds not only life to the faction as a whole, but it better unifies it as well.

Back to All:
I cannot force activity in any way. At most, I can throw out ideas and concepts which some might find motivating, however, activity is ultimately on the members. What makes me different from many (if not most) faction leaders is that I truly allow you guys to do basically whatever you want. I can talk about giving focus to the war against the Sith and if we do x y z then we'll win but that's silly. Ultimately it is the most active faction that wins, and in my experience the faction most free to do what they enjoy is the most active faction.

-One thing I would -definitely- do is get rid of the absolutely absurd practice where joining a faction comes by approval.
We are the Republic, what should be the biggest and freest faction of them all and we vet who enters? Look, I get the whole idea that we don't want people spying on each other. I get it, but secrets seldom exist here unless they are held in TIGHT groups. Most of the real talking goes on in skype anyways (a fact I dislike but accept) and most every one is in chats or info is being leaked all over the place as well. There should be no barrier for membership aside from the obvious you can't be an active member of an opposing faction. We want new members to feel as free to join this place as possible.

-What I have to offer is experience.
I have lead factions, including this one, many times and usually have had great success. However, the one thing that I have truly failed to do is to properly set up a faction for when I leave. I thought I had last time here, but I was mistaken. I ended my time a little early and gave it over to the wrong person simply because they were popular. I realized my mistake though. I never actually taught the guy how to run the faction. I just assumed he was watching how I did things and would replicate it, and I also did not take into consideration his nature. I chose wrong. This time I would not.

Which brings me to the point that is most important, I would not intend to be the faction leader for very long (though honestly... it'd probably be as long as most people have been given the insane turnover we have seen). My entire goal would be to come and clean up the faction. Cut to the core identity factors of the faction, create vision and mission ideas and push those.

 

[Mak Manto]

Well, if I'm going to stick with the honesty part like the rest of my candidates, might as well go for it. The following speech is going to be a mix of IC and OOC aspects.

I'm an old-line Jedi who's views on the Galaxy have really remain unchanged. If the Jedi and the Republic want peace, if they want this Galaxy to remain safe, we must take an extremely proactive stance against the darker forces that also are here. That means a strict view on not consorting with those who use the Dark Side in any way and taking away the influence the One Sith have.

The fact we're somewhat two factions in one means that both sides should work together in threads more often. If you're part of the military or the Senate, RP with the Jedi, and vice versa. RP outside of your accepted boundaries and you'll find new and exciting threads to want to be in.

Also, I have some big ideas for the military involving new technology. Mak might be old, but he's always looking into the future with what can be used to keep the Republic safe and help others out.

OOC, I really have one suggestion for RPs: don't have a set storyline. It's such a bad move, because knowing what's going to happen sucks the fun out. I've been RPing Mak for ten years and some of the greatest RPs I've been in have been RPs where I kept it open with no set goal in mine, and I thought that something was going to happen only to have something entirely different occur, throwing Mak into a whole new world of RPs.

These are the best kind of stories, and everybody, be it Jedi, Senate, government, etc. should have that kind of mindset. We're RPing with other people, and sometimes the stray post can change everything up, for good or for bad, but a set storyline means you know what will happen.

Also, for the Senate question which was posted: What will YOU do to raise the activity and involvement with the Senate and the civilian government of the galactic republic IN CHARACTER?

IC, Mak really doesn't care for politicians, but he believes that a democracy is best and that the Senate is needed to keep the peace in Republic space. If he were to become the FL, he would want Jedi and politicians to come to know one another. As stated above, both sides should be in more threads together.

Also, why not have politicians and Jedi have threads where both are working together in a setting in which a Jedi has to use their skills to protect others and the politician uses their skills to keep the peace, such as an RP where a Jedi and a politician are on a new world that wants to join the Republic, and both have to help each other? This is only one of hundreds of ideas that could be employed.

As for the civilian government, such as the people who are working in it, I would try to see more threads in which they expand the influence of freedom, such as a thread in which the faction sets up outposts on small worlds to destabilize dark factions grip. Once again, there are many ideas that could be used, but you can step outside of the box.

So, there you go, those are my views on a short part...

Oh, one more thing. If Mak is chosen as FL, droids should be welcomed into the Republic with open arms. That's the only view point that's changed for the most part in his life. I don't know what the laws are or how people feel about them, but accept droids like you accept others.

As they say in Canada, peace oot!

 

[Seraphina Shel'tah]

This thread is for the voting process and for those making speeches on behalf of their candidacy. The next spam post I see that I have to hide will see that member removed until the completion of the voting. Please keep this on topic and civil.