Jedi Council OOC planning

Minutes sounds like a good idea. Allows the group at large to see what's being discussed and offer up the current opinion so the Council can take all that into account while deliberating. I can agree to that, for sure. Hell, I'm even willing to volunteer Aerandir to the position of Jedi Secretary. That's how much I support it.

... No, but seriously, good suggestion. I'd be willing to post Minutes up on Council stuff for fellow Jedi, if everyone else is cool with this.

Now, those are some concerns, I can understand.  

I think that much of the "idea planning" isn't done solely between the Council members.  In fact, most of it doesn't seem to be, but rather is a collaboration between writers of Jedi and adversaries who want to attack the Jedi.  That said, I don't think anyone would be opposed to using this board as a place to throw out ideas, events, crossovers, etc.

The main, of what I believe my fellow Council members meant, is that sometimes we discuss the merits of different things.  Sometimes with each other we spout off quick messages that aren't eloquently written or even very tactful; but are honest in the moment.  It's not that we don't want to have transparency, but there is something freeing in knowing that your quick, raw thoughts can be expressed without the need to weigh every word for how someone else might read it.  Plus, it's easier to condense our rantings, ravings, inane nattering, terrible jokes, and random comments into one easy to follow, cohesive message.  

I'll be the first to admit, my thought process is messy.  And, I don't think anyone wants to see that.  But here goes: that said, I'm not opposed to the idea of the Council having the discussions public for everyone to read; but I will say there is an inherent risk involved in that some people may not always be the most honest, unless they know that their words will only be viewed by trusted friends.  Because, this Council, first and foremost--in my mind--is a group of friends (which isn't to say, I don't have friends outside the Council...I don't, but I'm not saying that here).  Writers coming together in a safe haven to hash out what the Jedi are and where they want us to lead them.  

In fact, most of our discussions since the move haven't been behind closed doors, but have been on this thread.  Minus the current issue we've tabled: How to replace Vesten? i.e. do we just add one member at the moment or fill the Council to the original 9 seats.  Hard to fill the remaining seats when there are only 10 Jedi who've written on this thread...that 10^th Jedi will certainly feel left out.  (Sorry, Mike. j/k)  Plus, who wants to read 100 pages of a Council member saying, "I think X should happen" and the rest of us responding, "I agree", "Spot on, mate", "Good show", or "I have a giant ego"?  Trust me, we're actually sparing you. If you're ever given the chance to see into our private PMs you'll notice just how many of us think we're actually stand-up comedians and just how far from the truth that is...okay, that one's mostly just me.  You'd be surprised how often we can get off track, even in short discussions (again, thanks to me), and someone loops us back on track in a timely (Time Lord?) manner.

But, if you want to see the discussion, and the weighing of options...well, once the decision is posted you'll know then, I suppose we could transpose a brief minutes along with the announcement we were going to dramatically reveal, shortly anyway...unless I'm speaking out of turn and my fellow Council members veto the idea (thus the problem with speaking before seeking the Council's approval...they like to keep me on a short leash, it's better for all...as you can now see why).

The only real caveat I can see to having private PMs is when discussing appointments of Jedi to positions.  That way, if someone doesn't get a position, they don't know who didn't want them to get it only why.  That's when anonymity can spare people the quick wrath that might come from not getting a spot that was wanted...in the rare case that happens.

Other than that, it's at least the second time I've heard mention that the Council needs to get out more.  Which is understandable.  But sometimes all that's needed to know of a situation is the basics.  For example, in the Mandalorian attack on Yavin.  We know Dragon squad will do something, do we all need to know their exact location in the sector?  And, do we really need to know anything about the Mandos, beyond the fact that the Manda'lore is sitting in his flagship polishing his beskar'gaam?  For a while there it felt like the Manda'lore changed too often to keep track; the Mandos seemed to fight over the helm once a month and if the fight took too long, they'd just abort and two new challengers would arise. 

But seriously, maybe we could stand to leave our enclaves more often.  But not all of us like to write split timelines (I mean, we can't all be Time Lords).  

And, I swear, every time I leave Ossus, it gets attacked, no joke.  It's actually one of the few predictable things about 1.5.  Besides, do you know how hard it is to wrangle Gray Jedi when fallen Jedi are trying to sneakily infiltrate them and you know the fallen Jedi are going to do something bad, but you want to look for the good in people, and the Gray Jedi are hoping to redeem the fallen Jedi; but then the fallen Jedi blow up the Gray Jedi temple?  And you just want to say, "I told you so." but you can't because you're a Jedi.  So you just hide in your office, face palm, and order construction crews and rescue teams to help.  Then, of course, if you do call for aid from the Jedi when your Praxeum gets attacked, they end up destroying your library.  I mean, really, it's just easier to lock the door and never leave.  ...Those are the days I just want to hide in the woods and meditate. You know?

But, I suppose I could make the effort to leave more often...then, I wouldn't have months of training RPs on Ossus.  I'd have months of running back trying to keep it in one piece.  And trusting the Jedi to come to its aid and not demolish the place (ever seen the morning after one of Adi's binge ragers?  It's not pretty.).  Or even just going out into the galaxy and poking a few bad guys, just to see if they don't like Jedi or really don't like Jedi.

And, I don't know about you, but have you ever seen the posts written by Adi, Dav, Jago, Raven, Aer, or Serrin?  They're downright intimidating.  Herculean, really.  I refrain from reading them due to their sheer awesomeness; they make my efforts seem puny by comparison.  Then there's the rest of the Order, who are by no means slouches.  I definitely think there are a lot of quality posts put up by the Jedi in general.  We all have strengths and weaknesses, of course; but it can be a daunting task to try and keep tabs on the goings on of the Order when there are all these amazing posts to read.  Keep it up!  I'd rather be intimidated than read a billion 3 word posts...though those would make me feel better about my own writing.

Though, I do think the Council needs to be a good mix of those who are "out in the field" and those who are "keeping the home fires burning".  We can't all be everywhere.  Generally, I'd say we all have a rough knowledge of the large picture of the goings-on, but not necessarily a grasp on all the minute details.  As a group, the Council generally keeps each other aware of the galaxy- at-large and what the Jedi are doing (...except on the remote Jedi worlds, those are just too far).  But that's just me, I could be wrong.

Hey, I poked the bear, might as well try and coax it back to sleep...(with a long, boring, unskilled, verbose response)

Is it bad form to "like" my own post?   

Sometimes, I surprise even myself.  And am both   and   at the same time, rather than just .

 

... Normally I'd say yes? But go for it, lol.

You DID touch on an interesting idea, though, that I quite liked: the idea of "Stationary" Councilors and "Field" Councilors. Ones where you'll always know where to reach them, no matter what, and ones that are content to travel and wander around the Galaxy, touching base with our worlds abroad, keeping actual IC Intelligence up to date and spread around The Order as a whole. That's ... A pretty cool concept, and I think it might be worth some thought, but I'm unsure exactly on how it'd be implemented.

That's Devlin, not Vesten, you goof!

And you all wonder why we never talk to you guys! Harumph!

I'll volunteer to stay at home. I need to level up my hermit skill. lol

Maybe you should just abandon Ossus, Devlin. I've heard that there are such things as "lost causes" when the same thing keeps happening over and over...

Dork.