[Gossamer's Scrapbook] The Ethereal Canyon I

[Jasmine Stormblood]

All that snow makes me glad it's in the 80s down here

[Gossamer]

Health

Its funny how sometimes you are so worried about everything else in life that you don't realize you yourself are sick. I like to think I had a good handle on my physical health. I've always been a larger person, but that has never stopped me from doing things I love. I routinely work like a maniac and can generally do my job running circles around others to the point that they complain that I am too efficient.

But I guess I never realized how exhausted I've been. I started sleeping more. Meaning I would go to bed earlier and earlier and then take a nap after I got off of work that sometimes lasted two or three hours. That's unusual for me. I blamed my work hours. I usually am at work anywhere from midnight to three am and I work anywhere from noon to a few hours later.

I started having weird problems, problems that have persisted more than a year. They included horrible leg cramps, back pain, aches all over, and sometimes my heart would race. I never put symptoms together. Sometimes things creep up on you and you don't put things together until its almost too late. Honestly, I never gave it much thought. I'm tough. I work through things. I don't whine. But when I went to the doctor to literally BEG him for more muscle relaxants to help with the leg cramps (so I could sleep through the night) he took pause. He started asking questions. He gave me all the reasons right back at me that I gave him which to me explained my leg cramps... long hours, lots of driving, new equipment, and he explained it didn't make sense. Then he asked more questions and finally did a blood draw saying he thought he knew my issue.

I was anemic and in a really bad way. My blood came back with an iron count of 8. Normal is 27-157 and even if you have it in the lower twenties, you are still tired. I had other deficiencies too. He immediately put me on iron and other suppliments. He changed my diet (I'd been avoiding red meat and got a huge lecture from him that my blood type did matter and that someone with 0 positive blood needs a lot of red meat in their diet... I had no idea!). Anyhow. I'm going on week two and I can't tell you how good I feel. It's soooo much better. I'm not a walking talking puppet of exhaustion.

It's amazing how one tiny pill three times a day and a diet change to include a lot of iron heavy veggies and red meat puts a girl back into shape. Oddly enough I've lost like 30 lbs too. Adjusting my diet back to what I consider 'real food' and cutting out a lot of things I don't cook myself... has straightened me right out.

I actually want to be here now.

Why would being tired not cause me to do a lot of Mizing? Well, think about it. Brainfog was the number one culprit. I'd log on and look around and not know where to start. I'd want to write but have no creative idea what to write about. I have a to-do list a mile long but none of the 'to do' seemed doable atm. I did some offline development of magic disciplines which need to be implemented soon, but I've written them over a long period of time. Little things, like trying to remember how to do a spoiler code, were eluding me. It was frustrating... especially coupled with my slow internet. We're still on pre-dialup speeds.

So now I think I can be happily back, and get some real work done as well as some good writing. And I want to thank people who stuck around, like Prophet, and kept things going in my absence. I really do appreciate the hard work and sacrifices folks have made.

Jen

[Gossamer]

The Viscous Storyteller Cycle

It's a common thing. People love playing here so often they volunteer to join the Staff. Then they get caught up in Staff stuff and forget to RP. Then they get burned out a bit but don't return to their PC to actually remind themselves how much they love playing their PCs because they have too much staff stuff to do.

The Staff Stuff takes up all their free time. The PCs languish off to the side, because players are too guilty to for not having had much time to do 'staff stuff' and not wanting to write until they do the staff stuff they committed too.

The Staff Stuff is frankly not nearly as fun as writing for a PC... so we end up not only loosing a Staffer (to retirement due to inactivity) but we loose their PCs too. Why? They harbor guilt or shame and don't want to actively write when they didn't actively 'work' as a Staffer.

And ultimately the player turns to other hobbies to feel better... hobbies that are guilt free and that they can discuss with their friends without feeling a bit goofy.

I wish there was a way to counter this cycle. I see it over and over again. I hate it. It destroys the community and associates writing sites like Mizahar with guilt.

[Prophet]

I think a lot of it boils down to expectations.

When I say that, I don't mean what the players or other staffers expect from a storyteller but the hurdles that we -as STs- set for ourselves.

You love to write so you join a forum that gives you the freedom to express yourself, vent your frustrations and develop your talent in a way that feels like a game. It's like therapy that doesn't involve medication or long couches and weird people asking you how certain situations make you feel. Many players becomes addicted to Miz (I certainly am) and there's a high that comes from achieving certain character goals or realizing that your writing and plotting have improved over time. At this point, you want to give back and volunteer or maybe you want to step it up to the next level and use your writing to challenge other players. Maybe you just want to take a turn at developing a city and creating places, people and events that impact the world of other PCs.

So you sign up for staff.

No one signs up without goals and ambitions; designs for a domain. The truth is that most people miss what the first step means. AS is NOT about domain development...like- at all. So many people join up and the first thing they want to do is gut half of the city and start creating new locations so the domain molds to how he or she sees it. Then when it's learned that this type of development is something one has to earn, the rush fades quickly. The spark dims or dies altogether. An AS's job is write plots and events for players as well as help players fulfill THEIR goals. After a certain amount of invested time in this role, the AS can apply to become a DS. That's where the fun starts. You can play the gods and goddesses, run gnosis quests and add locations that your domain might be missing.

What I have noticed in my short time here is that the trouble comes when the AS spends most of his or her 'staff time' micromanaging plans for development set aside for 'down the road'. This ho-hum kind of plotting is like a fog and creates writer's block so the ST now neglects his or her PC at the same time. During this phase, plots and quests are few and far between, poorly managed or poorly thought out which kills any moral or momentum.

Ask any vet of the site and they will tell you that things change like the weather around this place. A few seasons ago, Lhavit had 44 people register for play. By season's end, both STs had vanished and all but a handful of the writers had dwindled into inactivity. Goss pointed to ST burnout which was witnessed not that long ago. The ST was so excited to be in his domain that he did fantastic things with plots, player interaction, planning and writing. This enthusiasm was impressive and it was also coupled by a very strong drive to read and know the lore which was something most people didn't see. I couldn't tell you how many hours this staffer racked up in the first month of being an ST but it was very obvious that it was bound to be short lived.

I don't know everything -hell, I'm still a pup in Miz years but I'm also a very observant man. I've coached several STs and some are still here but some have gone by the wayside. There's a few things I've learned along the way and a lot of it has nothing to do with how I write or what I write. If you're considering being a staffer, please take some time to think over my little list.

Be aware of your life. I am married, have a family, a steady job and the ability/luxury of knowing that my schedule doesn't change much. I'm home almost every night and I can write for an hour or two almost every day of the week. This gives me the flexibility to maintain my PCs (not as well as I'd like but you have to leave room for improvement) and do the staff thing. If you're out and about constantly, fight with shifting schedules at work or school and have limited access to the internet -now's not the time.

Be aware of your personality. I know who I am (I'm kinda old and set in my ways)
so I know how given situations will cause me to react. I handle stress well,
can absorb criticism and adjust to change easily. If you're OCD about how your plots go and have to take a week off when another player throws a wrench in your plans then maybe being an ST isn't for you because that -to me- is part of the fun. If you don't like to help people and just want to develop cities and locations then being an ST isn't your cup of tea because I spend most of my staff time answering PMs, helping players find jobs and doing SS or HD stuff. Go view my profile. I recently broke a thousand posts and almost a quarter of those are in the SS forum. Just so you know, I was an AS for almost three months before I was allowed access to Storyteller Secrets.

Be aware of the game. I get things wrong all the time. ALL the time. Ask Goss,
she'll tell you. I don't get mad or bitter. I have no right to react that way. I've thrown out five ideas for every one that's made it to a thread or location. It's just the way things go. This is Mizahar not Prophet's World of Wonder. It's been around for a long time and will continue to hang around for a long while more. There's a place where anyone can add to the game but not everything can hold water in the lore. Misinterpreting something is ok. Getting pissed off and throwing a hissyfit when the Founders look at your idea and cringe is not.

Be honest with yourself. We won't know if you're lying on your application in regards to these types of things. Do everyone a favor, including yourself, and don't force an issue.

Don't forget what brought you here. No one stumbles upon Miz and sees the amount of work it takes to create a character then says "I guess I'll spend my time this way." We do it for a variety of reasons but it all boils down to satisfaction. Don't make staff into some achievement. Staff is about reciprocating the same 'warm fuzzies' that we felt as players to others. If you stop experiencing the awesomeness of posting with your PC because you're doing staff work, you've missed the boat. You're half frozen clinging to a door and lost your whistle while everyone else is climbing into lifeboats, killing monsters, saving the girl and becoming a legend.

If you can't handle rejection but want to volunteer-> BE A GRADER. If you want to develop but can't handle players-> Breath some life into the World Development forum. If you want to write stories for other people but don't want to be confined to the staff requirements-> Advertise your services as a GST (PEOPLE WILL BEG YOU FOR YOUR TIME).

This was way longer than expected and a bit disjointed but I think I got my point across. That is all.

[Ball]

I want to say that I am sorry. I knew what I was getting myself into when I applied for ST this time around. I let down the players and the staffers that are still around -- again. I don't plan to ever leave Miz as long as I am welcome, but I do want to admit that I screwed... Again.

I don't know where I screwed up entirely though. Proph's statements related to development when I should've stuck to plotting and posting. I also think I spent too much time reading lore and making notes and... Well... All of that stuff.

[Gossamer]

Placeholders

I hate them, even though I myself utilize them. They are some of the biggest drag on Storyteller resources out there AND they are some of the most disruptive factors in any cohesive storyline.

Why? Think about it.

You are behind on your PC. You scramble and often take a season off to catch up. It's an age old story. Then you plan like mad for that PAST season and want to get a Storyteller involved. The Storyteller is often busy with THE CURRENT SEASON and really doesn't want to plan for your shortfallings or lack of attention or being away etc etc etc. But they feel the must... and so they give you some insight or some permissions and boom... suddenly you run storylines that cannot IN ANY WAY SHAPE OR FORM impact that region/domain's current doings because you are retro enacting them and the storyteller can't get involved or drag other PCs into it or have it impact the game. Its creating a microcosmic niche of doings that selfishly just revolves around YOUR PC.

Good grief people. Just limit your placeholders to simple job threads and DONT OVERPLOT THEM. Save that for the current season so you can involve others and the ST has a chance to involve the game and impact the game with your own personal doings.

It's godamn selfish to take a season off to 'catchup'. Play the current season and catch up your PC's past doings with simple threads in your spare or bored time when you can. Don't placeholder shit. It's getting to the point I'm thinking of seriously limiting the abilities of placeholders to actually function.

They are already being abused in closed cities. People are RPing in closed cities in placeholders and turning in the grades to get them awarded EVEN THOUGH THE CITY IS CLOSED AND THERE's NO RP ALLOWED.

It's beyond irritating. Utilize the time of your Storytellers for the CURRENT season. Don't drag them into your PCs past unless its just a simple 'yes or no' permission thing. This is happening FAR TOO MUCH and because of it I'm about ready to implement some rules so this whole thing can stop happening.

I'm really tired of this and consider it ST abuse in many respects. Don't abuse your ST. Support them so we can keep them around. Play out their carefully planned plots IN THE CURRENT TIMELINE.

[Gossamer]

Country Music

We were talking about the best music in chat earlier. Here's my favorite video ever that I really feels embodies Country Music. It's a production by 30 CMT Award Winners.

[Gossamer]

One of my favorite authors...

For the first time EVER The Scribe is available for a limited time FREE!! Download the first book in this bestselling romantic fantasy series reviewers have called “simply stunning.”

➜ Amazon: http://amzn.to/2aHGk17
➜ iBooks: http://apple.co/2hOkXMb
➜ Nook: http://bit.ly/2ieVVXA
➜ Kobo: http://bit.ly/2i8nBPS

[Jasmine Stormblood]

Already done

[Gossamer]

Hi Folks!

I just wanted to make a quick post to let everyone know I've just come through what has started to be my annual lung infection and I've made it through to the other side. I think I'm completely caught up. So if I promised anyone anything or anyone is waiting on anything from me... I've frankly hopelessly forgotten. Just let me know what you need or are waiting for and I'll see if I can catch up on it this weekend.

My next step is to get some of the threads that have been lagging caught up in terms of moderation posts, and move forward there. I will also need to get my PCs going this season as well.

Anyhow, thank you for the patience!

Goss