Aryte

Also there was a butthole named Dirk Sasilva who tried to front it on Keno Pontoppidan while I was on vacation.

Okay! Pull up a seat, my good sir. Long ago on the land of Second Life, there was this peculiar desire to try to turn a sandbox platform with terrible physics into a combat simulator. In early 2006, one of the few combat groups (the Alliance Navy) had an internal spat that resulted in one of it's leaders breaking away. Now, bless this leader's heart (Shadow Keegan), but he was terrible at naming. Thus, he created the Alliance Navy II. They were a humble band of misfits. Much akin the New Conglomerate. Around June of 2006, Shadow Keegan's girlfriend (see: Fladara Eingmare) approached me for donations toward their cause. Being a bored land baron with no desire to randomly donate to some community I had no knowledge of, I volunteered to participate with the Alliance Navy II. For most of June and into July, I served as the Chief Diplomat and pretended I had some clue what was going on by attending various diplomatic meetings with the Alliance Navy and our new allies, the Merczateers. Alas, in July a great schism occurred. Fladara went to visit Shadow and . . . much to Shadow's chagrin, he learned his girlfriend was actually his boyfriend. Whoops. Needless to say, this created some tension. Ultimately, Fladara attempted to overthrow Shadow and tried to rally the support of the Alliance Navy II command team. That did not go so well. Instead, some dude named Ethan Schuman proposed that the group be turned over to this bright eyed Chief Diplomat Aryte Vesperia. I accepted. Promptly, I changed the name from Alliance Navy II and started building the group into something more akin to the Terran Republic. From 2006 to 2012, we grew to be one of the largest Second Life Military groups. We were largely considered to be the "most serious" and were often credited as being the evil fascist empire of doom. We had a great time and accomplish a many great things. But then the SLMC got really boring and shrunk to a dismal size. So now we've moved on to re-start our journey as a gaming community!

I shall answer this during my break at work! Haha.

Welcome a board! ;]

Holy shit yes.

Thank you for sharing, Recalibar. I don't have anything to add, as Scarlet's assessment is quite accurate to my sentiment.

No, really, it's okay. I am not sure where this sentiment may have been reborn, or if it's just a matter of confusion with recent . . uh, fire and brimstone. But let me take this time to remind the old folks and expound for the new people: I will not bite if you disagree with me. I welcome your input. I want your input. And I especially want to know negative sentiments. My door is always open. Without exception. If you ever just want to be heard, or have something to gripe about regarding a choice I made (or the group overall), you are always welcome to express it to me. But do so tactfully. There are plenty of people here who are among my oldest and most trusted, who, oftentimes, have very polar opinions from my own. Sometimes we have pretty heated discussions about those opinions-- but we do so in an appropriate setting. Trust me. You can say some pretty terrible things about me or my ideas and it won't impact my opinion of you, at all. However, if you try to make those comments in a setting that, by context, erodes my standing as the group lead . . . Not only are you probably on my shit list, but you'll likely not get anywhere close to your goal. That said. Even if you do wind up on my shit list (see: recent people), that does not mean I hate you. I don't have any ill sentiments for Teron, Ratchet, or Salem. All the more power to them. But do not mistake my lack of "hate" for a lack of desire to respond. I will never let someone's show boating drive the narrative. I owe it to myself and to the group to respond. So, at times, you may see a little fire and brimstone. It isn't "drama." Drama is such an overused term. Drama is for children. No. It's just part of how things go. Sometimes people say stupid things, and it gets called to the carpet. Sometimes, people do shitty things, and it gets answered. But, once again, I underline the key element here: if someone makes a public scene, it's going to get a public response. If someone brings up their concerns appropriately, it gets addressed. Teron could've PM'd me his every concern (even the one where he called me a "snarky bitch") and I'd be more than happy to discuss it with him. Ratchet could have told me after the meeting he didn't respect my choice enough to understand the importance in it, and I'd of been happy to explain to him why it's critical. Salem could've sent me that letter decrying my lack of professionalism because I respond to things in public, in private, and I'd of been happy to respond to him privately. Rather than in public. Where he posted it. Nevertheless, that's fine. They made their own beds. We expected that there would be some tension due to this whole transition away from the SLMC. We've bled a few (5?) folks because of that. But such is normal for any major change we have ever made. And frankly, if they are so keen to view the "SLMC" as the critical piece that made the Ordo the Ordo . . . well, we don't want them anyways. Funny enough, a couple of them were on the other side of the fence looking at people years ago, saying "they just don't understand that we're evolving. They need to get with the times." The future is ours, and always will be ours. So as long as we're willing to take it. :}

:{ Can't this year. Dallas PD test the week after eating all my PTO. Have a wonderful time!

I hate you. You (and anyone else) is always more than welcome to object to anything I do or say. The only time I'll find fault is when it's done publicly during a formal atmosphere. I have an open door. ^

Rumor mill time, hooah! As apparently folks are buying into this line of "Ratchet Exonar did nothing wrong, and Aryte flipped out on him for no reason," let me paint the picture for you. After I spent forty minutes going over intricate details as to what the Ordo is doing, how we're going to do it, and what our future will hold . . . Ratchet decided it was a good idea to raise his hand and ask a question. So far, so good. His question? "WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT?" So let me get this straight: you do not understand why the future of our group, its structure and design, is important? Now, I gave him the opportunity to adjust that query and asked back. "Were you paying attention, or?" To which he replied. "Yeah, I just don't see why this is important to me." If the group's future, its structure, and intricate design isn't important to you . . . at least have the dignity to not undercut an entire presentation I just did, by essentially trying to call it out in the middle of 44 other people. I removed him after that and spoke to him in world. To which he simply told me that I "am a dick" for ejecting him and underlined he saw nothing wrong with his action. He then told me he asked because he "didn't understand the idea behind Ordo moving out of SLMC" and was objecting to it by asking that question. Okay, so that only underlines the fact what he did was incredibly disrespectful. The decision to leave the SLMC is long passed. A meeting on structure of our future =/= the opportune moment to try to be a rebel and "challenge" the status quo. Think of it this way. Let's say we're all in a classroom, and Professor Aryte is giving a lecture on the history of World War II. After I elaborate on the intricacy of some critical event in battle, I open up the classroom for questions. A bright eyed, young man raises his hand and asks. "Professor, why is this critical event, which you just explained in great detail, important to me? I object to the outcome of this battle, so I want you to answer for it, in front of these other 44 students?" You'd get thrown out of the classroom. If you are his friend or just generally don't see where this was a disrespectful event, well, I'm sorry. But I'm not one to let someone's social aloofness be reason to downplay spitting in my face. Question me in private if you don't like the group's path. Not in the middle of a public meeting. I don't let that fly.

No worries!

Worsedoughnut, welcome to the outfit! Please see an officer on TS3 or nudge me in world (Chrysalis). I'll get you invited!

O m f g. EPIC.

Awesome! Welcome aboard!

Welcome aboard!

Oops. I FIX.

^ exactly!

It'll be recorded, my bat friend.

^ do it! We'll go over structure soon!

HOW IS 2013? ARE THERE ROBOTS AND FLYING CARS?

LOL

Just a forewarning, the first weekly meeting of 2013 will be an important one! We will be talking a lot about group structure and re-imagining how we handle units in the Ordo. Try to make it! 05JAN13, 6:00 PM PST.