Bring back freedom of choice!

[barliman]

How do other Fellowship members feel about Mithril's apparent adoption of a policy of telling us what figures we're permitted to suggest?

For effectively three months in a row now we've been categorically told what we can (and therefore can't) suggest. First we were told that we have to suggest a good guy for one month and a bad guy for another - which wasn't so bad, but began to make me feel a little uneasy about where this was leading; and now it's led where I feared it might and we're being told that we can only suggest one particular 'ethnic group'.

Unlikely though I concede it is, if we carry on down that road it could eventually lead to us being told that we can only suggest members of a particular family, or a particular type of warrior - or even versions of a particular character.

That would be like being told in an election that you can vote any way you like so long as it's for the party you've been told to vote for.

More to the point, perhaps, why are we suddenly being deprived of the freedom of choice at all? A shift in that direction is surely counter-productive. It's not as if the suggestions being made each month up till now have ever been bad, insufficient or uninteresting - far from it! But being told that I can only suggest an Elf, when - I admit - Elves don't hold any particular fascination for me means that I find myself with little or no interest in what happens this month. I certainly won't be suggesting a figure,l and I may not even bother to vote - which would be the very first time, since in other months there's always been a figure of some kind that I've been happy to back.

Well, that's got it off my chest. Now I'll be very interested to see what other members think...

[aelfwine]

Now me, I love Elves, so an Elf month is great.

But I have purchased precisely one Mithril Hobbit (oh, and some in a vignette ), and I don't see myself in the market for any more. Annoying little snots ruining perfectly good evil master plans. And I'd despise it if I HAD to vote for a bleedin' hobbit (d**n furry feet and mummerset accents).

So I sympathise with Barliman's position.

I would suspect some problems could be solved with -

A system of blind voting.
A firmer idea of what's coming down the pike in the M series. Hopefully if its well known that's there's (say) an Easterling warband coming out, then we won't see an Easterling Captain in contention.

Now, I know the Fellowship system is really us voting for the use of a block of Mr. Tubb's time, so we cannot be too demanding. Sure we are customers, but we are also sort of putting ourselves into the process, where there is more of a give and take. We get more power in the process, but lose some of our "market" power. Since Chris Tubb is putting aside his time to involve us, his wishes have a LOT of weight. So if he decides he wants Elves, then we should listen.

So I'd propose maybe, tops, one "theme" month a year. Maybe around the "difficult" christmas/new year period. (Another possibility would be to reduce the number of votes per year to 11).

Gavin

[Michael O'Brien]

First off, do not panic. I just thought it might make it more of a challenge to focus members ideas more, thats all. It was an experiment. Like any club, we try new ideas to keep it fresh. People responded favourably to the idea of a good guy and a bad guy months so I thought I would try out a race month. If members do not want that then I will open it up again. March is an open month with no theme.
I am responsible for the forum and have tried to listen to members opinions since day one. We have adjusted the forum and the club to suit suggestions from members already (e.g.: double vote system.)
I have stated that a blind vote is just not possible with Proboards software so we must look elsewhere if that is to be tried out. Any suggestions are always welcome.

As far as giving you prior notice of upcoming releases, well I do give you any news that passes my desk, as soon as I can. Some projects get reprioritized as time goes on. I stated that Chris wants to do the easterling range (which is started), and then another good guy range and then the corsair range. That is his wish, however reality may cause that to be distorted.

The Fellowship takes up a lot of Chris's time, which is needed for other projects too, including Prince August releases like the upcoming Romans. Sometimes we move other projects around to fit a gap in his timeslot.

[Hammershield]

I'm not that worried. I am not keen on elves but I think I could suffer, or even enjoy the occasional theme-month. Not to often though, Michael, please.

[Theobald]

I also was angry about the restriction of voting
I think that since the beginning of the Gold Board there were so many interesting suggestions each month that any restriction on this could lead to a lack of interest in voting with many members, as barliman pointed out.
The restriction to have some single figure, vignette, etc. months makes sense to me, because this idea is based on financial problems some members might have got. That is alright (I don't mean the problems) to me. But why restrict a vote on certain races, poses, characters or else?
I would be very much pleased if voting turned back to the old form of voting as it was before December 2006.
Though it's not possible at the moment I would also prefer a "blind vote" in future, but that to me is the minor concern.

[Ori]

I agree with most posts. I would like open months with blind voting. I can not help with the software or host that can provide blind votings. Maybe we just can send an email to you Michael with our choice until we can solve the "problem"

[Wendy]

I appreciate the effort you put into the fellowship, Michael. I know you were just throwing an idea out there and trying something different. But please, no all hobbit months, I beg you. The restrictions on size (and therefore cost) was a positive move, allowing more people the ability to afford the fellowship.

Barley does have a point. It perhaps would be better not to have specific theme months just because it limits the suggestions some and limits the choices of voters. I would prefer no theme months or perhaps one theme month per year. Thank you for stating your thoughts, Barley. Everyone's input helps improve the fellowship.

Regarding Mr. Tubb's schedule - I don't know how he does it! I'll have to take a peek at the Romans when they are released.

[ddaines]

I supported Barli's point of view on the MMP site and I reinforce that support here.

I am however 'comforted' by Micheal's post in response and hope as he says that this is a one off 'experiment'; I feel that the variety of suggestions over the Fellowship's life-time have really got the creative juices flowing and to be channelled into set subjects would not be a good thing.

The restrictions on single figure, vignette, mounted months etc. I do fully support.

Anyhow, an elf suggestion has been submitted.

[twrich]

Hi Michael,

In your Mithril newsletter for Feb you comment about how surprised you are at the great list of Elf suggestions given the complaints about the restrictions implemented regarding our suggestion options. First, it is pretty much the same group who makes suggestions every month, and although WE DON"T LIKE THE IDEA OF BEING STUCK WITH A RACE OR PROFESSION OR WHATEVER, (single and vignette, though necessary to help members afford the club, are enough) we still hope to have a great Fellowship and appreciate the opportunity to suggest an idea that Chris might make; second, you stated that it was only a one month experiment, and I know that many of us felt relieved by that, and didn't begrudge you trying something new, appreciating that you so quickly responded to our concerns and told us that you would drop the "theme month" idea going forward.

But please trust me that if that practice had continued, Mithril would have slowly and surely lost participation in the suggestion process, and members as well.

--twrich

[barliman]

Well said, Twrich! I don't think there was ever any doubt that it would be possible to come up with figure suggestions for any LOTR 'theme' anyone might care to suggest. I suspect that what worried Fellowship members - certainly it's what worried me - was simply that those themes were being decided for us rather than by us. I'm very glad to hear that it was only a 'one-month experiment', even if it did last three months...

[Michael O'Brien]

This topic is closed now. I will reinstate the open month suggestions. No themed race months.
The good and bad idea was useful for separating the two months at Christmas time. It was fruitful and certainly contained a lot of very clever ideas.
There is no need to comment further.