Time to move on….

Since my return to Champions earlier this year, it has become clearly apparent that The Silver Guard that was is no more.  The structure, systems and standards that were so carefully crafted have been carelessly tossed aside in favor of operating at the whim of a single leader.  There was no discussion about this change among the membership, and when questioned directly about the reasons why things were allowed to deviate so drastically from what the Founders envisioned the answer given was a simple: “I’m lazy.”

I do not accept that as a reasonable answer.

The Silver Guard was designed with a clear structure of leadership for a reason and with many years of prior experience behind it.  The positions catered to each person’s strengths and made it so that no one person had to shoulder everything alone.  Running a successful guild takes a great deal of effort, and it is a balancing act between many different aspects to keep things running smoothly.  Our structure allowed for that.  Three leaders managed very different but very important aspects: Operations, Social and PR, and Administration.

The structure had always worked exceptionally well.  There were positions to be filled, certainly, but there were many capable people who could have taken up the responsibility if asked.  I had offered to continue to take care of my areas of responsibility since the great majority of it took place out of game, but I was very pointedly told that my help was no longer needed or wanted.  Strobe made the choice of going it alone, and he has made it very clear that opinions differing from his own are resented and unwelcome.

I do not recognize this “new” Silver Guard.  The Guard I knew would never have made drastic changes without the input and consent of the members.  The Guard I knew would not have allowed a member to repeatedly violate the standards set out in our charter without so much as a reprimand while another who had gone above and beyond to help the Guard was happily pushed to the point of leaving after being ridiculed and vilified.  The Guard I knew made membership something to be prized and valued and had a unique identity that made us something special, not “one and the same” with The Guardians as was recently stated in an approved application.

I had intended to continue keeping up the current site, even after the hurtful things said and done to me.  At this time, though, I think it is best if the past is completely cast off and a fresh start is made.  If Stobe wants to continue stripping away the group identity and all the things that made The Silver Guard unique then he can do so.  However, I will not allow it to continue to be done using the foundation of my work. 

I will be leaving the biography and story sections of this site open as that is the work of all the members past and present, but the documents and website design are my own creations.  Strobe had already secretly created two different sites for The Silver Guard before I left (www.thesilverguard.guildlaunch.com and www.thesilverguard.net).  I would imagine that one of those two sites will be able to serve the future needs of the group.