[FAILED 07/05/09] [Citizen] Mega Tortas (Patron: Heinz Guderian)

**Augustus Lucifer** · June 27, 2009, 09:57 PM

Client: Mega Tortas
Consilium de Civitate
Curia
TWC Forums
www.totalwarcenter .net

Gentlemen & Ladies:

Thank you‘all for once again allowing me to stand before you today. Before proceeding further I would like to
clarify an issue of mine which contradicts me submitting an application for Citizenship. This past December I argued
against two bills in the Q&S. {links provided}. Given the atmosphere of the “Grey Bill” I swore to not adorn
myself with either colors or titles. Recently however, many learned members of the TWC Community impressed upon me
that for folks who truly wish to assist in the growth and well being of the site that Citizenship is a crucial
foundation block of that endeavor. So with those words in mind, I’ll proceed with my presentation….

I am told that debate is a subject taken into consideration when tabulating Citizenship qualifications. Now I am
not a debate enthusiast however I have appeared in Fight Club and various bill discussions in the Q&S. Some of
those links are provided below.

Last year in the Halloween Story contest, I was fortune enough to place. In the Tale of the Week Competitions I
have been fortunate enough to take 1st place once and place a few other times. In this Year’s Annual Scriptorium
Writing Competition, my meager entry is honored to be on display among-st some brilliant pieces presented by some
very talented authors.

In addition there is my work with TFT Carthage. I have been honored to perform impromptu community theater with
some absolutely dynamite folks. Unfortunately due to time constraints and other matters I have not been able to be
an active TFT Member for some time. Hopefully this will change in due time. I am additionally a member of the
L’Outremer Mod team. When I came on board when Swagger was basically holding fort by himself. I went out and
recruited most of the current team members and spent time working on the L’Outremer forum. Admittedly recently my
efforts have been mainly out of sight. {recruiting}.

However the thing that I am most proud of and that I believe serves the site best is working with the incoming membership.
Saying a kind word or two and offering to help new members acclimate to the site in some cases helps them avoid some
of the painful aspects of the learning curve that some of us suffered thru. Sevasti is a good example of this…He went
from lurcker/noobie to TWC Uni graduate because a few of the folks here were kind enough to extend a warm welcome
and express interest in him and his growth here. During my time here, hopefully I've evolved somewhat since my early days as an
over-enthusiastic newcomer, and hopefully now am in a position to make a positive contribution to the site.

Finally, I’d like to thank the Members of the Consilium for taking time out of their schedules to look over my application.

Sincerely,

Mega Tortas

Spoiler for links:

Patron: Heinz Guderian
Hello esteemed members. I would like to put forward Mega Tortas for patronisation.

I first came across Mega in the Q & S forum. MT struck me as an extremely amiable member who enjoyed helping out new members and pointing them in the right direction. I remembered this, but put it to the back of my mind.

But after a while, this member kept on popping up, dispensing help and offering good-spirited posts. i noticed MT never offended anyone, ignored those that would seek to belittle him and never seemed to become annoyed or dispassionate. I began to admire Mega's passion and patience. Two virtues which are often missing in many Citizens.

Intrigued, i dug deeper. I enjoyed reading MT's Halloween Scriptorium submission for which MT won the Scriptorium Writing Competition: Bronze Medallion. I noticed MT is an avid contributor to Garb's Fight Club (please see his momental effort vs Caradog - Caradog is well known for his brilliant debating manner). Mega's efforts here showed what a great, patient debater Mega is, posts exhaustive and beautifully crafted.

Mega is a big participator in The First Triumvirate (one of your member at least will know this well) and often sumbits entries for many writing and picture competitions. MT's participation and contribution to TWC is second to none. Mega is an ideal member who never trolls, likes to contribute, tries to get others involved.

In fact, to me, this is what attracted me most to Mega. Mega adds so much to TWC by his participation, all done in a friendly and well-intentioned manner. I love the way Mega wants others to get involved. It is this reason that Mega is currently writing his magnum opus Guide for Newcomers. Mega loves TWC and wants to gain strength and popularity. If any of the CdeC members have had any correspondance with Mega, i'm sure they will realise what a sweet member Mega is. MT is an innocent, an obviously well-schooled and well-mannered member. Mega's attitude is excellent and certainly puts in many hours contributing to TWC.

ENJOY and the good luck.

heinz

**y2day** · June 27, 2009, 10:07 PM

Finally Megas application arrives.

Mega truly does love helping any and everyone. Will look over the links to make sure the contributions are there but it is hard to find anyone friendlier on TWC.

**Justinian** · June 27, 2009, 10:09 PM

He got the URL of the site wrong...

I will have to review. No doubt he is friendly and outgoing.

**Pontifex Maximus** · June 27, 2009, 11:40 PM

I don't see any 'real contribution' other than competitions which he has already been awarded for. He is very helpful and kind, but I don't think that in itself warrants citizenship. I like him a lot, but I am leaning towards a no.

**Viking Prince** · June 28, 2009, 02:07 AM

I am his friend, but I will not abstain. However I will abstain if any member feels that my support is too biased to vote on this patronization.

I encouraged him to seek citizenship. My argument then and now is that he is active, an able debater that keeps a level head, helpful to all with questions, and he can write.

Call this a test case.

From Wiki:

If a member of the Total War Center forums posts are of sufficient quality and they abide by the rules of the site, an existing Citizen may "patronize" them (propose them to become a Citizen).

I know this is not the true 'unofficial' rule, but I believe the Wiki entry is met by Mega.

From the Constitution (Sec.III, Art. I):

Citizens
Contributing members of TWC have the opportunity to become a Citizen of the Forum as per Article 2 below. Once a member becomes a Citizen, they can then choose between 3 different badges. Artifex, designed for those who are modders, Civitate, designed for those who have contributed to the debating side of the Site, whether in TW or CC, and Citizen, for those who associate with both.

I suggest that the body of his nearly 2250 posts from January 2008 through today meets the criteria.

He has not published an extensive guide to a TW game faction. He has not helped create a modification. He does not take on political debates. Never mind what he has not done. Look to the contributions to discussion in the Q&S, the writing competitions, and also to the encouragement of others to write and contribute.

I would not have entered the Tale of the Week, except for his persuasive efforts. I also credit him for my very recent and tiny start at an AAR.

To be honest, I think he is an ideal candidate. I would like to see dozens just like Mega as citizens.

*** Shuffles off of the soapbox ***

**Captain Blackadder** · June 28, 2009, 09:25 AM

Previous Attempt Here
http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?t=221081

**Soulghast** · June 28, 2009, 11:04 AM

And where exactly are his contributions? I see none. And while he might appear to be helpful and friendly to some people, his weird font and color usage is confusing, and most of his posts make zero sense to me. I don't doubt his good intentions, but he's nowhere near Citizenship material in my opinion.

**Viking Prince** · June 28, 2009, 11:18 AM

@Soulghast -- you were a part of the Rep Whore Debate. This was an event of his doing. Does this not count as a contribution?

**Augustus Lucifer** · June 28, 2009, 11:20 AM

Just as an aside I'm curious why he doesn't post like he did in his paragraph more often. I like the guy and his quirky style but if he put the effort to format and phrase his opinions as he did in his paragraph all the time, there wouldn't even need to be a discussion here about whether or not there's contributions.

**Soulghast** · June 28, 2009, 11:22 AM

Originally Posted by Viking Prince

@Soulghast -- you were a part of the Rep Whore Debate. This was an event of his doing. Does this not count as a contribution?

Participating rather inadequately in a Fight Club debate? I wouldn't think so.

**Astaroth** · June 28, 2009, 11:27 AM

While Mega Tortas is certainly a friendly and helpful member, I'm not sure whether that is enough to qualify for Citizenship. He isn't a great debater and has neither modded a lot nor written many articles or TW guides. I acknowledge that Mega has been part of several Fight Club debates but I don't think that his posts there warrant Citizenship. Friendliness is a great plus but it can't compensate for the lack of contributions in my opinion.

Therefore, I'll have to go with a no.

**Viking Prince** · June 28, 2009, 12:34 PM

The constitution gives little guidance on what is needed to become a citizen. If they stay out of trouble, are active, and contribute to a section of the site, they are eligible for citizen. The task is really why CdeC exists. We are the soothsayers of the requirements for citizenship.

Here we have a prospective citizen. He does post in colors and fonts. That is the nature of his personality. I do not think the style and look of the posts should be a reason to fail at the threshold of citizenship.

And there are posts of his that I am unclear as to what he has meant to state. I can ask for clarification -- again, this is not a reason to fail at the threshold.

If the candidate had only been a member for 3 or even 5 months, I would agree that more time is needed. Mega has been here for nearly 1.5 years. We know him as well as is reasonable to know any candidate. If he is not acceptable now, this is really suggesting that this type of candidate shall never be acceptable for citizenship.

For those who have taken or will take a position on this candidate, please try to separate the personal bias against the style from the nature of what is really required for citizenship.

**Soulghast** · June 29, 2009, 05:08 PM

Poll added.

**Каие** · June 30, 2009, 02:21 PM

HELL YES

**Xavier Dragnesi** · June 30, 2009, 06:10 PM

I have been rather quiet on this case. I know Mega Tortas quite well, and I have seen his participation in a great number of things. In many ways, he looks very much like me when when I put in my application before I joined the ES, which was my 2nd attempt, I believe. I'm currently sitting on the fence, unsure which way to swing, as I don't want to be biased due to connections, yet neither do I want to undervalue a guy who has clearly made some good contributions. I am going for an abstain for the moment, unless someone can push me to one side.

**Каие** · June 30, 2009, 06:13 PM

There is no shame in voting yes because he is your friend or for personal reasons. You won't lose face either.

**y2day** · June 30, 2009, 06:19 PM

XD, I know how you feel, I'm ready to abstain as well. It is a tough one, I think gaining citizenship would only inspire Mega to do more. I think he has done alot already and will continue to welcome new members and offer advice and an ear to everyone and anyone. While not the typical contributions I think attitude goes alot farther in some cases than say writing 3 or 4 articles for the ES. Still on the fence myself, I think Mega could bring some more life into the Curia if he wanted to, but that shouldn't be a reason to vote yes, and it wont for me anyway. Will wait and see I'm still on the fence (and now I have a splinter in my ass).

**Каие** · June 30, 2009, 06:20 PM

My god men, vote yes.

**Viking Prince** · June 30, 2009, 06:44 PM

I am reading through the thread and I see that many councilors have a favorable relationship with Mega. This does indeed bring up why one should or should not abstain due to bias. When co writing an article, you are too close to the article to truly judge the merits of the other author and certainly clearly biased regarding your own work. The same if you are a leader of a mod team with a candidate up for citizenship.

Now if you are in the midst of a giant flame war with an applicant or have truly fought hard and not ever made up, that is a different story. You should abstain, just as you should abstain if you or the applicant has a position of authority within your relationship.

But abstaining and not discussing your thought are two different matters. I will vote on this matter. I am perhaps even a closer tie to Mega than some. If I can only vote for those that I am not familiar with, what sort of an honest review is there from this committee when an applicant is well known? Even if you have a negative view, that is no reason to not vote. Bring the concerns and the reasons forward in an honest discussion and let things fall where they may.

**Каие** · July 01, 2009, 04:43 AM

As I said, being friends with someone is not bias, nor is it grounds to not vote. You vote on merit. If your friendship with someone allows you to know him better than others and better than what is possible from observing posts then you should not only vote, as it puts you in a better situation than us, but you should let us know your opinion too.

View Poll Results: Shall Mega Tortas become a Citizen?

Thread: [FAILED 07/05/09] [Citizen] Mega Tortas (Patron: Heinz Guderian)

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