Ideas for the Revitalization of the Vestigia

[Gaius Baltar]

While browsing some old Prothalamus proposals, I came across this curial decision proposed by Augustus Lucifer. Basically the idea was to establish a board of historians to manage the forum. The decision was approved but I don't remember if it was ever implemented.

http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showt...-of-Historians

The Vestiguia (VV) could use some reorganization and TLC using some ideas I have propose for the graphic competitions. That is, some rewards for quality threads (reputation boosts, perhaps a medal system?) and some news exposure (Helios most likely).

The VV is another area of the board that is an integral part of the TWC environment. An upgrade in this area could stimulate overall board activity, and could possibly be used as a model for other forums as well (MUDpit?).

Comments? Suggestions?

[♔Greek Strategos♔]

It seems like an interesting suggestion for sure. I'm on the road atm, but I'll certainly recheck the thread later.

[Augustus Lucifer]

Not sure how active all those areas are right now to facilitate something that requires as many hands on deck as the Board of Historians did, but I suppose there's no harm in proposing/trying something similar again as it's been 8 years since the previous one. I think it was somewhat implemented at the time but didn't end up doing much? Could be misremembering, it's been a while. Check for the election threads for the Board and any ratification vote at the 3 month period to see, the proposal thread cuts off rather abruptly.

[Gaius Baltar]

Not sure how active all those areas are right now to facilitate something that requires as many hands on deck as the Board of Historians did, but I suppose there's no harm in proposing/trying something similar again as it's been 8 years since the previous one. I think it was somewhat implemented at the time but didn't end up doing much? Could be misremembering, it's been a while. Check for the election threads for the Board and any ratification vote at the 3 month period to see, the proposal thread cuts off rather abruptly.

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Some history here

Amendment proposed by Augustus Lucifer, goes to vote and is approved.

http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showt...-of-Historians
http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showt...-of-Historians

Nominations are taken for board members and an election is held.
Board of Historians nominations and vote threads...
http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showt...-of-Historians
http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showt...an-SigniferOne

Initial board members elected were;

Viking Prince
rez
Sher Khan
SigniferOne

After the three month period had elapsed, a ratification vote is held, and again the proposal is approved.
http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showt...s-Ratification
http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showt...ification-Vote

There are no additional threads in the Prothalamus or Tabularium after this.....

So basically the amendment was approved by the Curia, an election was held and four members chosen for the Board of Historians. A forum was created in the VV and several threads were moved into it. After the specified period of time a ratification vote was held and again the idea was approved. After this I find no mention of the board in the Prothalamus archives or the Tabularium. So the nomination and election of additional board members never occurred after the ratification vote, as detailed in the amendment.

What happened to this project/proposal..?.

I know there were issues with board member activity, and that Viking Prince was the most active member, and the only one who responded to information requests.



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Ideas about resurrecting the board.

In terms of the current proposal I had some ideas to integrate and modifications in mind.

1. Board of five (5) members (all citizens) drawn from both active members in the VV and from other areas of the board. The stipulation being that said members would have a history of posts of a reasonable quality, free from moderation interactions and infractions and of course the time to devote to the Board of Historical Writing Composition, naming is a WIP. As in your previous proposal, after a three month trial period there would be a ratification vote, and the seats on the board themselves would be elected positions (via the Curia). Perhaps the self-management is a bit to radical, which is why I suggest getting good posters from other areas of the board to get some diverse points of view, maybe include some from Content as a "structural" adviser. Another aspect would to try and avoid a member composition that reflects the polarization we see on many issues, open to suggestions there.

2. Quality threads, as evidenced by good informational value, writing structure and references, would remain in the main VV forum. Other threads would be moved to subforums classified by content and type of interaction (debate pieces vs name that cannon).

3. Threads in the main forum (quality) would then be appraised of their contributions (same mechanisms as above) and posters involved would be allocated +rep and points towards a Historical Writing Composition Medal. (HWCM).

4. These quality threads would also be given some Helios exposure, and perhaps an interview and short biography of the main thread contributors.

Perhaps even add a debate moderator, an individual who presents a structured list of questions on a particular subject.

[♔Greek Strategos♔]

Any updates ?

[Gaius Baltar]

Any updates ?

Not on this end, I was hoping for some curial feedback but I dont see much interest in this project. I am considering this material for a short article in the symposium though. Any ideas welcome.

[Iskar]

Maybe this could be linked with the Post of the Fortnight proposal in the Prothalamos? The VV is probably less about debating and more about exchange of quality posts on history, so the new award could have two sections, one for political/philosophical debating (Mudpit, Academy, EMM) and one for historical and science writing (VV, Athenaeum). A register of rewarded posts would naturally create an anthology of the best the VV has to offer.

[Gaius Baltar]

Maybe this could be linked with the Post of the Fortnight proposal in the Prothalamos? The VV is probably less about debating and more about exchange of quality posts on history, so the new award could have two sections, one for political/philosophical debating (Mudpit, Academy, EMM) and one for historical and science writing (VV, Athenaeum). A register of rewarded posts would naturally create an anthology of the best the VV has to offer.

This proposal was originally intended for expansion into areas like the D@D. For some unknown reason this whole thing was abandoned after originally being at least somewhat successful in the Vestigia. I suspect that there was a HEX veto cast at some point but at that time I was working and on the road and not here for those events. There is no record of any threads in the Curia dealing with this outcome.

In terms of the D@D I think there is a decent level of activity but the nature of the material being discussed may be confounding when it comes to council or citizen votes. But I think it is at least worth a try to see what happens. I would support some form of organization for rewarding superior posts, perhaps even a medal system. Perhaps invited contributions where verified superior posters would answer questions on a particular topic. This way the trolling spammers could be excluded.

[HorseArcher]

This proposal was originally intended for expansion into areas like the D@D. For some unknown reason this whole thing was abandoned after originally being at least somewhat successful in the Vestigia. I suspect that there was a HEX veto cast at some point but at that time I was working and on the road and not here for those events. There is no record of any threads in the Curia dealing with this outcome.

Abandoned, most likely due to lack of care.

[Gaius Baltar]

Abandoned, most likely due to lack of care.

It seems there was an unusual lack of activity during this time period. For example, the nomination thread created by Viking Prince literally has no replies.

http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showt...e-College-here

In addition, there seems to have been a lack of activity by the board members themselves. The only recorded activity was by Viking Prince, who was not overally active himself. I found a thread where I nominated a piece on the port of Ostia, but was turned down because, "it came from a slow forum.."

http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showt...cussion-Thread

I also was wondering about the board composition itself, which included several members who were not particularly active in historical material. And true to form, none of them appears to have done any work at all with the project.

A missed opportunity for sure because there were many people who wanted this project to move forward, unfortunately none of them were actually on the Historians board itself.