Things change, though. by
JulyFlame
on 2011-06-17 00:40:00 UTC
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I can't help but think that you're forgetting that the community has changed in scope and size.
The PPC now, in 2011, is far, far larger than it was in 2004, 2005, and so on. Even when I first joined up.
The PPC has become far more solid and evident; we're a larger group in more ways than just community size; we're not some tiny hole in the wall people can peek into while browsing in the Lord of the Rings fandom anymore. I know full well that most of the newer PPCers have nothing to do with that fandom; some of them don't even like the books (despite what the constitution says!) Goodness knows I can't remember the last mission that was written in LotR.
When a group gets larger, there are two choices to make; further structuralize and organize, or stay unregimented and risk the chance there are people who you don't know well enough- or at all- playing in the same playground as you who don't agree or respect that you and others are playing in it as well.
The charm of the PPC, when I first joined, was getting to know everyone and basically being able to go 'oh, hey, X is awesome, don't you think, Y?' and there wouldn't be any groping and flailing on Y's part to remember who X is or why they're awesome. In this last week, we've had five new people introduce themselves to the board, the last couple weeks have been absolutely innundated with permissoin requests, and then various questions, and a couple mission plugs.
I can't see the community for all the different people! The wild and varied conversations we used to have about all sorts of random things or fandom items are for the most part a thing of the past, and I miss those sort of conversations. The amount of people joining or asking small things has made it all but impossible to have extended conversations where we can learn more about each other.
As I understand it, the 'hey hang around for a month before you ask for permission' was an attempt for us to remain a community and stay a community, so we would know each other. But it's become increasingly hard to do that- even with regulation and the authority I know you don't want here- when the community outgrows itself.
To try and put it into a matter of simply 'back when I first joined' ignores all the factors that have changed, and that this isn't the same community as it used to be when I joined, which wasn't the same as the community that Vixenmage joined, and the community that she joined wasn't the same you joined.
Re: Not many, I'm afraid. by
Vixenmage
on 2011-06-16 23:35:00 UTC
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On the one hand, I would really want that to come back. I hate the idea of the PPC becoming formal and bureaucratic and red-tape-draped and "Fill out this form, then wait the requisite X amount of time," and so on. I even hate all the back-and-forth sniping that often seems to go on about the canon and the wiki and the constant "So, in this specific situation, how do I handle this as a writer?" questions, because it seems like everyone's terrified to step on the toes of the Almighty Precedent. And I know I've contributed to that, and I wish it wasn't so.
But on the other hand, back in the day, the PPC was a little tiny corner under a little tiny trapdoor in a corner of the LotR fandom, and a handful of others. Now, we've got our own bloody TvTropes page, all attempts at cleaning of which get filed under "censorship" or "whitewashing," so yay them. I worry that if we tried to be more informal, we'd wind up inundated with badfic ourselves, as well as even more This Is Srs Bsns types. Maybe I'm just paranoid, though.
I dunno. What does everyone/anyone else think? I doubt there's only two people in the community with an opinion, here.
