So, here goes, guys....
You're all right, and you're all wrong: A brief dissection of the weird crazy, family like subculture that is WZCW, and why we can't fucking stand each other, sometimes.
First and foremost:
A disclaimer. I've just recently started to get very involved in the fed. Yes, I did bring in the Eternal Question some months ago, but I didn't have the dedication with TEQ. Partially because, while I could win with him, I didn't have fun writing the character. So, a lot of my aimless ramblings are going to probably involve my first stint in the fed, and my first stint on creative. I'm not as up to date as to the recent goings on in the fed, and there's about a good chunk of year, in which I spent in isolation away from the fed. That's only fair to mention.
Second thing I want to mention:
I'm addressing all of Pancake's points, not simply the issue of late shows. Frankly, I never really cared if the shows were late... Wasn't my place to care, even if I was on creative. Actually, I should be completely honest... I use to care. In fact, I remember one time where I bitched out everyone on creative, because we hadn't even gotten our votes in after like four or five days (Yaz or Killjoy, am I remembering correctly?). Harthan, Creative Head at the time, PM'ed me with some actually really good advice, and I apologized for pretty much shouting at everyone. But eventually, I learned that the shows arrival dates, while reasonable to care about,
don't seem to be Pancake's major issue. I don't think that's even what he wanted to be the major issue, and I don't see his post as a direct attack on Dynamite. It did, at times, attack Dynamite, but I see it more as a take on creative, and the nature of creative. It's wrong to blame Dynamite for the lateness in shows, but I don't believe that is what Pancake is blaming Dynamite for. Now, I don't necessarily know if he's blaming Dynamite for all the right things. As I told him in a PM, he isn't wrong in what he feels, but what he's been feeling has been as much a part of creative as writing matches and selecting winners. In turn, I do feel like Pancake's issue with Dynamite is a larger issue, that we should address.
Third thing to mention; This issue is something I get really bothered about. It's the same issue that, as I've alluded to earlier, has driven the likes of Jglass, Infinity, Lee (though he has returned), Coco, Gelgarin, Doctor, (I could go on, but I'll spare you all) away from the fed. Which, in turn, I've made it known in no explicit terms, at least in the creative room, that I was very upset when these writers left.
I'm still very upset about the departure of these writers, and that probably adds a bias to my writing. I feel like I should mention that now, and place that as another caveat. Not just because these writers are my friends (which, they are), but because losing writers like the aforementioned really does weaken the fed, as a whole.
Anyway, allow me to say where everyone is right to feel the way they do.
How Creative is right: The late shows aren't Dynamite's fault. Period, point blank. They aren't Dave's fault, they aren't Yaz' fault, they aren't anyone's fault.
I want to put this in annoying bold, again.
It's no one's fault that the shows are late. No. Ones.
I really wish we would stop this scenario where a creative member feels the obligation to apologize for real life taking precedence. I mean, the members of creative are just as passionate as anyone else. You really think they want to delay these shows? I will say, with 100% certainty, that creative doesn't actively look to delay the shows. Dave is going through something rather personal at the moment; it's his prerogative to place the very real tragedy he's going through at the top of his importance, and I don't think he owes it to explain that to everyone. I remember working on six man rotation, because Shotaro had some real life things he needed to handle. Admittedly, I bitched about doing his stuff, but I never begrudged Shotaro, and I'd like to believe we all didn't. I more begrudged the nature of the beast, and that we couldn't find someone to help with Shotaro's stuff. But a member of creative dealing with real life personal issues does take precedence, as it should. When a member of creative has to step away, it's the nature of the beast. And while I have an idea to help that person, It may not prove beneficial to share this idea just yet.
Anyway, there's no reason to blame creative, when real personal matters occur, and I don't see the reason why creative should have to share exactly who's at fault, per se. Always felt that a little weird.
That said,
I don't think that was Pancake's main point. I feel like there's larger issues at hand, which I think was what he would rather have us talking about.
Where Pancake's right: There is, to some extent, a feeling that criticizing creative will not result in anything good, for anyone. And that shouldn't be; we all need constructive criticism. But I have noticed that, in the past, providing constructive criticism does tend to lead to the person that gave criticism leaving the fed. For whatever the reason, whenever that person offers criticism, in the past, it has led to, instead of mutually beneficial results, the person who gave criticism leaving.
Allow me to herald back to some pretty dark days:
Unscripted 2014
I think somewhere right now, Yaz, Killjoy, Pancake, and I all just rolled our fucking eyes out of socket.
Anyway, Unscripted 2014. First, a bit of personal story; I was so fucking pissed at that pay per view. I was pissed, personally, because The Beard got voted to lose a match against Drake Callahan, who was leaving the fucking fed, and for all intents purposes, had nothing to gain from beating the King for a Day briefcase. I got so pissed, that I demanded a result which saw Dr. Zeus get pinned, instead of The Beard, because it made no fucking sense for The Beard to lose, at all. Killjoy, being a saint, placated my tempter tantrum, and wrote a really creative finish to the match. So yeah, I speak from a very dark place about this PPV. But, I kept my trap shut, because we had bigger issues.
JGlass, after reading the PPV, got pissed, and shot away. And, full disclosure, I voted for Jglass to win his Heavyweight Title Hell in a Cell match against Ricky Runn, Vega, and Triple X (I wouldn't be surprised to hear that we lost Triple X as a result of that match, either). And, JGlass made some very insightful points.
The ironic thing, to all of this, is that this would be the start of the Pancake-JGlass beef, and Pancake's post does echo a lot of the criticisms of creative that JGlass had. Essentially, that criticizing creative is very difficult, and that instead of actually internalizing this, instead held resentment and bitterness towards the writer. Incidentally enough, Vega would echo those sentiments.
JGlass would never appear in the fed again. Vega would leave one month after, when I had to really push for a feud with him and Theron Daggershield. Anyone would tell you that's a major blow to the fed, when you lose two very talented writers.
Did they leave because creative pushed them out? Not necessarily, and certainly not intentionally. I know the people on creative, and they care so much about this fed. They realize that it wouldn't be smart to lose these talented writers, and they're all extremely nice guys. I look at them like brothers; Yaz, probably more than anyone, knows what led to my departure, and really went out of his way to bring me back. Killjoy, Dave, Dynamite, all welcomed me back with open arms. These aren't petty people, and I doubt that they would actively try to kick out people from the fed. That's not who they are, and I don't believe that they would intentionally make someone feel unwelcome.
However, for whatever reason, the above writers felt that they weren't being heard, and felt they had no other recourse. And, frankly, they aren't the first. Coco, Lee...I have no proof of it, but I could name others who I believe left the fed, because they got frustrated. And I can tell you why they were getting frustrated.
Where Pancake's right: There should be a bit more transparency in the actual voting process, and how we can improve as writers. This one, frankly, just means that we could all use feedback. We could stand to know how to get better as writers, and how to write better RP's.
However
Where Creative is right: There's just not enough time in the day. Look guys, this would be a great little world if creative had all of the time to people why they won and lost. Unfortunately, well, with writing shows and their own characters, there just isn't enough time. I promise you, Creative doesn't like to be seen as shadowy figures, and sometimes, it's really hard to give everyone feedback. But I do feel like if everyone got feedback for their writing, we'd all be much happier.
But Haiku, didn't you just say that was impossible?
I did.
Wow, you just wrote all of this, just to reach this point? You spent all this time, to come to this conclusion?
Well....
Fucking really?
I mean...
Jesus, get a fucking life!
There is a better way, numbnuts!
...Ok, how so?
Right, so. As currently constructed, it would be impossible to do. I mean, it just wouldn't work, giving everyone feedback right now, with the current structure in place. But that doesn't mean we can't change the structure, at all.
So here's what I'm proposing:
A. Add an eighth member of creative.
Yaz, put away that shotgun! Please, hear me out, first.
So, if you add another member to creative, to do just segments, it really cuts down the ancillary work that will help other members of creative focus on more important matters, like the actual matches. Let the eighth guy focus on segments, like the opener and closer, and other interviews. Essentially, the guy goes part time.
B. That eighth member, during the week of show building, offers feedback.
With a member of creative spacing out time among the week, you could have said member write feedback every day, for different RP's, leading up to the shows. Meaning, if the deadline is Friday, that eighth member of creative can write feedback for the fed, in one weeks time, to let people know what they liked or disliked. That way, there's more transparency to the voting process, and the writers can know how to improve their writing, making for an all around happier fed. That eighth member wouldn't get a vote, but would be able to note the reasons why certain writers won and lost. They can offer insight from the members of creative, and really help that dryspell of a week between writers turning in their RP, and waiting for shows.
And, in turn, the eighth member could be called upon to break ties. And, if I may be so bold...I'd volunteer for the position. I love offering feedback, and I know the inner knowings of creative already. I was always at my happiest helping other writers. Maybe I could also bring back my Symposium ideas.
There still is some logistics to break down with this proposed idea, but I really feel this could benefit the fed, and allow for transparency between creative and the members of the fed.
After all, as JGlass himself pointed out... It isn't us that write the shows for the fed members. It's all of us, working together, to make the best possible show.
