Lord Minimus
[12/22/2004] [Arminius]One of the things that make Amtgard unique is the structure we use to award titles. Unfortunately, too many people believe that simply holding the office and being buddy-buddy with the monarch is all it takes to earn them. This should not be the case. Getting a title should mean only one thing: you busted your ass while holding an office. d Essentially there are two types of officers: space holders and title earners. Space holders view taking an office as a status symbol or popularity contest. They don’t really have to do any work while serving. . . they just have to show up, post occasionally to their list, and be able to say, “Hi, I am Choadling, Sheriff of BFE.” They talk to people and brag about the land they hold no real share in the development and maintenance of, but because they have the office, outsiders initially believe they did. Most of the time, the actual workers get no credit, and some of them simply write it off as needing to work harder! The key to defeating space holders, especially if you are one of the workers under them, is to recognize it and stop providing the support. This doesn’t mean doing absolutely nothing, but it does mean finding the courage to say ‘no’ to these leeches when it’s necessary. On the other hand, title earners don’t necessarily do everything on their own. Instead, these individuals know how to best use the willing workers in their land while still finding ways to keep their own hands dirty. They make the most out of their time in office. No one has to ask, “Where is your monarch?” It is pretty obvious by looking at the people getting shit done who is in charge of what. Interestingly, these people tend to lay the foundations for space holders. They get so much done and make it look so easy that everyone figures they can do it, and if they screw up, it won’t matter. And this is where the pitfall of the system comes in. More often than not, right as the recognition for these achievements is coming down, a space holder is in charge. With their desperate need for attention and validation, they welcome the chance to get a title. Once they are Lord Choadling, they rest on their perceived coolness until the land progresses and a new title is available. The good news is that this situation is completely avoidable. All it takes is a little research to find out how the candidate actually was involved in the affairs of the land. If they had an active role in making cool things happened in their land, give them the title. If they were sitting at the keyboard talking to someone in another kingdom about Puzzle Pirates while someone else is outfitting the newbies and setting up events, then shaft them. Easy as pie. People who get titles should be the ones who busted ass for six months doing a good job so everyone else could enjoy hitting their friends with padded sticks. If you want title standardization, don’t give a space holder one, because no matter how hard you may have worked before you got yours, you’ll always get lumped in with Lord Minimus.
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