At the current time, out of the 4 public council members who originally stood we have one member, Syrian. This is in no way demeaning or being rude towards the other members who stood down or went inactive. I have been exceptionally happy and proud of the work that has been done by this first generation of the PC. The question I have now is whether there is a point to make a second generation.
Before I created the idea of Public Council I spoke with the Council and Mur. The premise was to create a council like structure but make it entirely public, Having their names, jobs and voting public. In this respect the PC worked quite well. However, one of the issues Mur raised was that, unlike council, The members would not be chosen for having skills to manage, organise, and do things in MD, but by some arbitrary judgement from the public. He didn't believe that the public would be able to choose people who would be able to work together and get work done like the council does.
It was unfortunate that Zyr went inactive pretty soon after it was formed and Maeb had to resign due to getting busy IRL. This crippled the PC pretty quickly in terms of losing half of their workforce, but also was a unique opportunity, It made their organisation a lot easier to manage because all their decisions only had to be agreed by the two of them. The organisation of the group took a long period of time and this caused problems with deciding on issues. Many ideas were discussed but after being discussed once they were never looked back on, and readied so they could be implemented. This is something that a future PC or group needs to remember that they cant just discuss every idea that comes along, but needs to actually see ideas through to the end.
So, In dissection of the PC I see the issue that the players were picked by the public and do not necessarily have the skills needed to function as an entity deciding things in MD. This is where the bonus of Mur picking the council comes in, He choose people who can get things done, understand organisation and plans.
Currently I dont think that a publically voted group of peolpe will satisfy these problems of having skills becuase the public doesnt nesscarily vote for people who can do the job well. To quote Douglas Adams "it is a well-known fact that those people who must to rule people are, ipso facto, those least suited to do it."
So, While I still like the concept of a PC, I'm unsure if it can be done in a nice way. Here suggestions are welcome to try and improve it, If people want to volunteer for a new round of voting feel free to, because unless there are actually people who want to go for the vote then its not going to be implemented anyway. My current thoughts is that instead of having a public council, I shall continue to create authorities that I or the council are responsible for. These will be people who have shown their ability to manage tasks nicely and will be able to the the job given to them. The most recent example is Nim being awarded her role for her exceptional good work with quest creation and organisation.
Comments are welcome, Im currently thinking about how we proceed.
Full Quote:
“The major problem—one of the major problems, for there are several—one of the many major problems with governing people is that of whom you get to do it; or rather of who manages to get people to let them do it to them. To summarize: it is a well-known fact that those people who must want to rule people are, ipso facto, those least suited to do it. To summarize the summary: anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job.” ― Douglas Adams, The Restaurant at the End of the Universe