OOC: Rodimus Prime Reviews 9-29-2008

(Rodimus' comments are in bold text.)

001 Rodimus Prime is the main reason I even think about logging in to 2k5 these days. He has been a driving force in keeping the game moving forward out of its decade-long bog of mundanity, and heading towards some kind of change to the fading scenery. The wallpaper is starting to yellow and peel off. Rodimus Prime is here with a steamer and a scraper to reveal the virgin walls beneath, upon which a vibrant canvas of fun and robot drama can be painted. Wallpaper is so 90s; and despite its name, so is 2k5. It's time for 2k5 to move into 2k8, before it's too late. Thanks for putting the spurs to the old nag, Rodimus.

'''Thank you for the kind words! I do what I must because I can. o/~'''

002 It's great having an active fachead. I'm amazed. You've turned right around and are an active, familliar presence around here. You're proactive and seem to enjoy yourself. As the Autobot fachead, know that not all of your players are into a recreation of the G1 cartoon. Some are, some aren't. Try to find a balance even if something isn't to your personal taste.

'''Keeping up activity is usually the number one burnout reason for facheads, so I'm glad you've noticed my efforts. Nonetheless, I think I can do better, and I will certainly try. While I make no secret that I consider Season 3 to be both my standard of RP and my main inspiration for my portrayal of Rodimus, I hope no one feels like I encroach on whatever particular interpretation they have of the theme. Unfortunately, as fachead, I have to set the agenda and I will probably lean more towards things that I find personally interesting rather than what the more conservative player might.'''

003 I admit I'm new here, but Rodimus and I have known each other for some time; indeed, he's the one who brought me here, for the most part. I actually don't know TF that well, and for the longest time I stayed off of TF games, but Rod and I talked about the various internet games we played on a lot, and his enthusiasm and drive really were what got me to show up here! Even just from what I've seen so far, it sounds like he's been doing good things, especially with keeping the faction coordinated (and as someone who facheads elsegame, I can say that that alone is worth commendation).

004 Rodimus is a really good guy. Not only does he play Rodimus better than any non-victory-leo Rodimus I have ever seen, but he is a good admin. He is helpful and listens to players. Like Fox News, he is fair and balanced. I would have made a 2k5 Revenge MUSH long ago with only evil thoughts on my mind if not for him. TRANSFORM AND ROLL OUT $$$

'''Non-Victory Leo-Rodimus? Have you actually seen her RP? YOUCH.'''

005 Rodimus Prime...well, I'm not sure if you'll pay any attention at all to this review but I'll give it a shot anyway.

'''I'm paying attention... Are you?'''

Sorry about the length...this is all my opinion of course, but I've interacted with a good chunk of players from all factions and I strongly feel that there is significant agreement with me on this.

'''Please, don't quote the "silent majority" in an anonymous critique. Your review is the only one to be so critical of me out of 12. If there is "significant agreement", your friends need to be posting reviews or talking to me personally. Otherwise, you "strongly feel" incorrectly.'''

I'll start with the positive. You are a truly great RPer and do an excellent job of portraying your characters the way you want to. Yup, that's it. That's my only positive that's worth putting in this review. And even that comes with a grain of salt...I have problems with your portrayal of Rodimus Prime. I always thought of him as more noble and kind (it even specifically calls out compassion and empathy on his +finger note). If the Autobots are supposed to be the classic good guys, their leader should be the best of them all. But your Rodimus shows signs of snarkiness and a lack of charisma/faction leadership that just don't belong. Normally I wouldn't point out something like this in a staffer review. But unlike most others, you, as the fachead AND the EFC leader of Autobots, really need to set an example and set the tone for all other Autobots. I'm sorry to say that while the Autobots can have their bad apples and exceptions to the norm, Rodimus Prime HAS to be the norm, if not BETTER than the norm.

'''I'm sorry you don't agree with my portrayal of Rodimus Prime. I do see Rodimus as noble, kind, and charismatic. He's also a different kind of leader than Optimus Prime. Rodimus is more cynical, sarcastic, and more of an "everyman" leader than Optimus. He doesn't talk down to his troops or see them as any better or any worse than he is. I'm not exactly sure how you can call me a "truly great RPer" and then dish up the following lines, to be honest.'''

That kind of brings me to my biggest complaint, that you seem to have your own idea of what the Autobots should be like, the MUSH's history, and the theme here, and that it doesn't match that of a good chunk of the players of Autobots OR Decepticons (in some cases both for people with alts).

'''I do have my own understanding of what the Autobots should be like, the MUSH's history, and the theme here. This is part of my job as a fachead. I put a lot of time and work into the game and weather a lot of criticism. I think I deserve some discretion in implementing whatever "vision" I might have so long as the majority of the players can get along with it and have fun. Some people are left in the cold, as you are, but I think my reviews demonstrate that most people are, over-all, enjoying the direction I'm taking the Autobots on. Again, a "good chunk of players" seems to be just you in this round of reviews.'''

You really need to understand at least your own faction's players, understand how they feel about situations and events and the direction of the faction. If you find it to be very different than your opinions, but you really want to stick to your own beliefs, then convince them, inspire them but DON'T ignore them. Most importantly, COMMUNICATE with them. Otherwise if your OOC goals/beliefs are at odds with those of your players, you simply won't get the OOC support that a fachead needs and deserves (but has to earn). Even on this MUSH, if you don't do your job as fachead the Autobot faction will suffer, as it has pretty steadily since your term as Rodimus began.

'''Do you even remember what the faction was like before I took over Rodimus? The last Rodimus was inactive, did nothing to promote RP and even went so far as to actively hinder other players' ideas. Don't compare me to some golden age that never existed. I do communicate with the players in my faction, and, strangely enough, I don't think I've heard any of these criticisms communicated directly to me. Communication is a two-way street. I am not psychic. I do want to make the faction and the game as fun as possible for the largest number of people, but you have to talk to me first if you are dissatisfied. Try out this command: "page rod=Hey, Rod. I had a few things I wanted to discuss with you." See what happens. You might be surprised.'''

As far as TPstaffing: your TPs, TP organization/support, and overall RP generation are all next to nonexistant. As an admin, I don't see you do ANYthing at all to help resolve conflicts, help with OOC miscommunications or issues, or even show the courtesy and class that should be a given from any staffer on any MUSH. I don't know if the expectations of a fachead are the same as that of normal TP staffers, so I don't know if I think that's a problem or not. Either way, I do feel you are failing as a Rodimus and as Autobot fachead which is bad enough by itself.

'''The expectations of a fachead are different from normal TP Staffers. I admit, I do not run as many scenes as people solely dedicated to TP Staff do, but we have different roles. I am heavily involved in generating story arcs for the faction and the game, though for purposes of division of labor as well as time, often other staff members will run particular scenes. I do help resolve conflicts and OOC issues, and if you've had that I've not been helpful in settling, then I'm not sure what to say as I haven't heard about them.'''

'''I found your review to be particularly unhelpful, and all that you have communicated to me here is that you are unsatisfied. As to why, it's hard to say, as your review is bereft of specific examples for me to really respond to in a direct manner. All I can say is that no, most players are not unsatisfied, and that, to the contrary, most people are having fun here. A few people are unsatisfied, and that is to be expected. I try to address their concerns and complaints when they are brought to me in a direct and respectful manner, which I cannot do with vague criticisms in an anonymous review. If you really want to improve your experience on the game, it is up to YOU to come to ME. If you are afraid of reprisals from me, you shouldn't be, as there's not much I can really do as a fachead to punish you besides demoting you ICly (which I wouldn't do anyway) or avoiding RP with you. I'm not stupid. I know who my critics are on the game, and I think even they would have to admit that I treat them as fairly as anyone else, even awarding them officer positions for being active and conscientious about the game, even if they don't kiss my aft all the time.'''

'''The ball's in your court now. What are you going to do about it?'''

006 I'm sure some people are going to give you bad reviews. I'm sure some people are motivated by less than kosher reasons to do so, too -- they want to play Rodimus Prime, maybe, or they're upset about the fact that you're not as straight-laced and boring as they'd like you to be and thusly try to lash out for some ill-conceived reason or another.

I'd just like to say, then, that despite the bad press you receive from the people who abhore change and have their own personal vendettas against you for their petty, OOC reasons, that you have been a phenomenal faction head and staffer. Your portrayal of Rodimus is spot-on -- Rodimus is NOT Optimus Prime, people who think he should be a noble, wise, all-knowing leader should look back to the TV series and the movie and realize he's just a kid (essentially) with great charisma and leadership abilities, and I think you've encapsulated that extremely well. You're also very open on an OOC level and have set up multiple Autobot meetings in order to help foster that communication; whether people choose to take you up on it or continue to quietly seethe is up to them. You're friendly at all times, and try to be understanding of everyone and their concerns, even if they're not ones you necessarily agree with. You've been keeping this MU* afloat with your work, even if people fail to realize it, and I commend you for it.

Keep up the good work, Rodimus. You're a lot better than everyone gives you credit for, and I, for one, am extremely glad to have you as Rodimus.

'''Haha, well, I appreciate your anticipation of bad reviews but fortunately the winds of public opinion aren't too harsh this round. I'm not sure I agree with your assessment that Rodimus is "just a kid" -- he's more of a young man who's just recently come into his own in his tribe and is learning how to deal with the power and responsibility of the position, though with 24 years of experience under his belt ICly, I try to downplay his inexperience lately. Even if that's a pittance in robo-years.'''

007 Rodimus is a fantastic Rodimus, I always enjoy roleplaying with him and I think he hits the nail on the head. Perfectly. In my experience with the autobots, which has been more limited than it possibly should be, there have been many fun times, and also I have seen many many autbot 'meetings' it seems like there is a certain number of wet cats in the crowd, and that's cool, I don't mean to be rude calling them that, it's just everyone seems to have their own idea of how the autobots should be and the disagreements about it, while not heated, do seem to leave cuts that get infected and scar.

Like I was at the meeting with Dee-Kal, I have heard a lot of complaints from Dee-Kal supporters, whatever that means, but basically her involvement in the scene that was directy IC Consequences for her IC actions was to be a mopey metaposer who tried to derail the scene, called people idiots and was basically just hard to work with. Rodimus handled it with poise and dignity, and I think that's good. While I thing it would be better if the autobots on the CoC could find a way to see eye to eye, at the very least I think the backbiting is counterproductive, so I won't name names, but I hope for Rodimus' sake that people will remember this is a game we play on to have fun and the point of cooperative RP is to compromise in such away that everyone does.

I think he can be a little flippant at times, that is understandable too, he gets dumped on constantly. People always say, hey you're a good rodimus but you suck as the leader of the autobots. All the time. I've heard it a million times. I don't think it's true, I think he handles these accusations well, and I think that the people in the faction need to lighten up and grow up a bit and realize that if they do have a problem, their behaviour is making it worse, not better. Big thumbs up to you Rod, you slog through a lot of hell, and you come out pretty good. keep it up, please.

'''The last time I played Rodimus, I quit in part because people complained about various issues in the Autobot faction and blamed me personally. It was very draining and made it even harder to do work for the game when such work wasn't being appreciated. I'd like to think I'm a little more mature now and can take such criticism a little better, even when it's not deserved. It's just part of being a fachead.'''

008 Rodimus Prime seems fair and easy to deal with on page. He's very helpful about making it easier for players to run their plots. He has a pretty good style of RP and seems to be fairly flexible. As just a personal thing, it doesn't seem like he's IC very much, but it's entirely possibly that he's IC a lot at times when I am not on. Also, I don't know his IRL schedule.

'''My IC times are something of a battle for me, though I do try to make hours every week. I slipped this week, to be honest. Airwolf quitting was majorly draining on me, and I think the MUSH, myself included, needed to take a step back. I'm in California, too, so I'm off-sync with most of the game time-wise, in addition to being in law school, which can be a time drain all in itself. I will work harder to get IC time in, but it'll require more scheduling and less "I can sit around all day and wait for people to show up so we can spontaneously play."'''

009 Rodimus Prime is a personable guy who has gone a long way toward making amends for his summer excursion. He loves setting up RP for his faction, and his passion for the characters on this game always exceeds even our own charstaffer's. I wish he were IC more, a bit selfishly because he's a lot of fun to roleplay with! LOL If he keeps on the current track, the Autobots will be a great faction to play in once again.

'''Thanks! Again, I will be trying to be IC more. I'm always available to RP by request, too!'''

010 Rodimus is a really great asset to the game. He is easily approachable both ICly and OOCly, and more than willing to lend a hand as a TPStaffer to help move things along. Really great guy, really great player.

011 Rodimus Prime has been a very active and great leader to work with. I appreciate his honesty and his time among staff.

012 Hey, Rodimus. I'm glad to see you IC more often lately. You've been sorely missed. Good to see that the Autobots are moving forward with the Ark and Ark II projects, even got one of them done! I'll be looking forward to when The Kinky Sugarbot flies through the cosmos and liberates innocent aliens everywhere. Still, there were concerns over you, and I hope over the next few weeks you can alleviate them by continuing the Ark II project and staying as active as possible. Thanks, and hope to see you IC!

'''The Ark II? It's just the tip of the iceberg, baby. Stay tuned for more Awesome Autobot Adventures in the near future.'''