HLK News #38 - July 28th, 2004

1. Karimicus Leaves
   

SW Karimicus (or Grey Hawk for a while) has left the house. We wish him luck in his future endeavours.

1. Conclusion
   

I've been debating this for the last few weeks, but recent events out there and within have compelled me to resign from my post as Quaestor of House Ludo Kressh of Naga Sadow.

When I rejoined HLK, took on the position of AED, and later took on the position as QUA of this house, I figured things would eventually be the way they were when I was first Quaestor of this house, back in 1999-2000. I believed I could rebuild the house to the great house we used to be. Those were good times.

When I first became QUA, it seemed like that might happen. I got two skilled people to join our house. However, by the time the Third Sith War came upon us, they found themselves a bit too busy to help the effort. A lot of the members of this house felt that way. In fact, some members who think they're the greatest thing to happen to the DB did very little to help our cause. I contributed about 80% of the Clan's points in that competition, and if maybe one or two more people put forth the same effort, we might have placed better than 4th. A certain sense of futility set in after that competition, which demoralized me a bit for the Great Jedi War.

When I first took this job, I told myself that I would have something to report every week, even if it meant doing something myself. And in the beginning, I had a lot of fun playing online on Saturdays, and in the little competitions that came up later. I no longer have that passion anymore.

At this point, in two distinct periods, I have held the position of Quaestor of this house for almost two and a half years. I guess I've seen everything there is to see, and done everything that I am capable of doing. People say they will not participate in competitions because others aren't, and that would make their efforts futile and perhaps contrary to their intentions. I started to believe that, and that is a crime of neglect.

CNS has always been a faithfully mediocre clan when it comes to competitions. But to think that winning competitions is all there is to the DB is short-sighted. What CNS has that no other clan has is charm. We have personality, and we are close-knit. As much as I feared that outsiders would ruin that feeling, they proved me wrong, and CNS proved itself as a place where people can belong. Don't let people tell you that comaraderie isn't good enough.

I guess I've once again grown out of the DB. This is a reminder that the DB is an online Star Wars club. I almost never talk about the DB to people I know IRL. Yet I hear some people talk about this club, and this competition, as if it were a real war. When you take things like this too seriously, it loses all of the fun. And shame on anyone who assumes that if you aren't competitive in the DB then you aren't competitive in real life.

I was once told, "This kind of leadership style doesn't work in the real world." Well, guess what? This isn't the real world. It's a game. I could blur the distinction between my career in the DB and my IRL career, but then I have nothing.

And with that I take leave of you. I'm not sure what will happen to HLK after this. I've heard that it might be merged with House Primus Goluud, and I would encourage such an act.

I would also like to thank Tiss and Malik, and all of the wonderful people I've worked with, for bearing with me these last few weeks. They are great people and represent exactly what this clan is all about. And if you disagree, you just don't get it.

=SO Manesh Sadow