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I know that this is really soon after the last one, but, well, we've just had monthly rankings and I found them an interesting study of the political way that the Bleachanime RP divisions work. You see, yes, it is done for the fun of it, and the system of seats is primarily there to ensure the smooth running of the divisions, with the most active members and best writers taking up the highest seats, but that doesn't mean that higher seats aren't coveted.
To explain: the divisions have ranks for seated officers between 15 (it used to be 20) and 3, with the most powerful being the lowest number. Then, above them there's the fukutaichou and taichou and below there's the recruits. Every month, division members will rank each other's performance by filling in a form in the ranking recommendation thread. (No, seriously, there is paperwork involved in this pursuit.) Then, on the 1st of every month the captain and vice-captain will write their own assessments and make decisions on what everyone's new seats should be.
That's the standard format, but, this month, a few things happened that particularly piqued my interest. I mean, there were things which interested me particularly, such as the fact that I got a three-seat promo, but in other news:
1) The loss of two recruits - Actually, this isn't that weird: a recruit or even a seated officer who has a zero post-count will get booted out of a division if they don't give a good reason. What interested me here was one of the recruits in particular. The name they used was Silver NightHowl, and I'd been suspicious of them from the moment they joined. I don't want to seem cruel and/or paranoid, but her reply to all of our welcome posts rang a little hollow, shall we say?:
Then, in her application to join, she completely misunderstood the exercise and wrote about her character's strengths, not her own, citing the fact that she could use shunpo and wielded two zanpaktou. The latter is an easy mistake to make. It's just that that previously mentioned reply, kinda creeped me out. Idk, maybe it’s too much watching the news got me worried about internet predators. Maybe it wasn't a fake account, and maybe Silver was just a 16-yr-old girl who got bored with BA.
2) Sasuke's resignation + three 8th seats - Well, there's two things here, and I'll start with the first chronologically: before one of our members, Sasuke, resigned, we had three 8th seats in the division. Now, doubling of seats is pretty common, especially since the division capacity was reduced from 20 to 15. It sometimes means that someone who's had a tough month can keep their seat and someone who has shown promise can be rewarded, and it stops the ranking board from becoming one of those sliding tile puzzles. But, wow, a month where three people held the same seat was pretty unprecedented. What happened was that the two current 9th-seats had had low-activity months, but still gained a small promotion, whereas the 10th seat (Sasuke) had been an absolute boss with his activity and so gained a good two-seat promotion. Sometimes, things just work out like that, I guess.
But, as to Sasuke's leaving, this is another reality of a BA division, which sort of makes it different to divisions in the anime/manga: we have a turnaround of members measured in months not years. Sometimes RL (that's the BA abbreviation for Real Life, in case that's been confusing before) will make continuing posting unfeasible. For example, I left for a while in the past due to work commitments. Sometimes, a member might move on to the BARPG (read: the big time). Our Captain recently left the division for this reason. And, sometimes, people will just get tired, either of BA in general or a certain division. I think, for Sasuke, it was a bit of both. He stated his intention to have a bit of a break from BA, but also to join the Vizard division somewhere down the line. I’ll miss having him around in the meantime, though. I’ve known him pretty much since joining the forum about two years ago and it’ll be weird to not share a division with him.
It’s funny, though, now that I think about it: BA absences seem to come in seasons. Back-to-school months are usually slow months, as are exam times, and I just take them as a fact of life. But, I can remember back when I was in the 3rd division, the first person I ever knew leave a division. I was really scandalised. To me, the place was wonderful! And why would anyone leave?! I couldn’t understand why other people weren’t surprised.
3) The fight for 3rd - Back on topic: moar rankings drama! Yes, in last month's recommendations there was a bit of a tussle for 3rd seat. Well, I wouldn't really call it that this month. I think that will really get going next month, but, for once in my life, I really put my cards on the table very hard with rankings and put forward our 6th seat - who has now been promoted to 5th - skipping the 4th seat. I felt a little cruel for doing this: as Mitsu, the vice stated in her assessments, while Will had shown insane organisational ability (a necessity in such a high seat) this month, forming the Aesir (more on that next time ...), Ari was one of those who had stood by the division through the dark times, and, in many ways, her writing displayed as much talent as Will's. But, this is one of the dilemmas of ranking, especially at the higher level: loyalty must always be rewarded, but so must effort and skill. Once at the high level, everyone is exceptional, so it's really hard to decide between them. I mean, I was honest, and it was hard for me, as I consider Ari a friend, but if it was bad for me, what's it going to be like for Mitsu next month? She did say in this month's assessments that now that it's been brought up, she's going to base her decision of who gets the seat on this month's performance. I can't wait!
To explain: the divisions have ranks for seated officers between 15 (it used to be 20) and 3, with the most powerful being the lowest number. Then, above them there's the fukutaichou and taichou and below there's the recruits. Every month, division members will rank each other's performance by filling in a form in the ranking recommendation thread. (No, seriously, there is paperwork involved in this pursuit.) Then, on the 1st of every month the captain and vice-captain will write their own assessments and make decisions on what everyone's new seats should be.
That's the standard format, but, this month, a few things happened that particularly piqued my interest. I mean, there were things which interested me particularly, such as the fact that I got a three-seat promo, but in other news:
1) The loss of two recruits - Actually, this isn't that weird: a recruit or even a seated officer who has a zero post-count will get booted out of a division if they don't give a good reason. What interested me here was one of the recruits in particular. The name they used was Silver NightHowl, and I'd been suspicious of them from the moment they joined. I don't want to seem cruel and/or paranoid, but her reply to all of our welcome posts rang a little hollow, shall we say?:
Hey, I'm Silver Nighthowl. I'm a female aged 16, I love bleach and Okami more than anything! I love to RP and make new friends. It's so great to be in my favorite squad, I look forward to making everlasting friendships in this squad. <3
Then, in her application to join, she completely misunderstood the exercise and wrote about her character's strengths, not her own, citing the fact that she could use shunpo and wielded two zanpaktou. The latter is an easy mistake to make. It's just that that previously mentioned reply, kinda creeped me out. Idk, maybe it’s too much watching the news got me worried about internet predators. Maybe it wasn't a fake account, and maybe Silver was just a 16-yr-old girl who got bored with BA.
2) Sasuke's resignation + three 8th seats - Well, there's two things here, and I'll start with the first chronologically: before one of our members, Sasuke, resigned, we had three 8th seats in the division. Now, doubling of seats is pretty common, especially since the division capacity was reduced from 20 to 15. It sometimes means that someone who's had a tough month can keep their seat and someone who has shown promise can be rewarded, and it stops the ranking board from becoming one of those sliding tile puzzles. But, wow, a month where three people held the same seat was pretty unprecedented. What happened was that the two current 9th-seats had had low-activity months, but still gained a small promotion, whereas the 10th seat (Sasuke) had been an absolute boss with his activity and so gained a good two-seat promotion. Sometimes, things just work out like that, I guess.
But, as to Sasuke's leaving, this is another reality of a BA division, which sort of makes it different to divisions in the anime/manga: we have a turnaround of members measured in months not years. Sometimes RL (that's the BA abbreviation for Real Life, in case that's been confusing before) will make continuing posting unfeasible. For example, I left for a while in the past due to work commitments. Sometimes, a member might move on to the BARPG (read: the big time). Our Captain recently left the division for this reason. And, sometimes, people will just get tired, either of BA in general or a certain division. I think, for Sasuke, it was a bit of both. He stated his intention to have a bit of a break from BA, but also to join the Vizard division somewhere down the line. I’ll miss having him around in the meantime, though. I’ve known him pretty much since joining the forum about two years ago and it’ll be weird to not share a division with him.
It’s funny, though, now that I think about it: BA absences seem to come in seasons. Back-to-school months are usually slow months, as are exam times, and I just take them as a fact of life. But, I can remember back when I was in the 3rd division, the first person I ever knew leave a division. I was really scandalised. To me, the place was wonderful! And why would anyone leave?! I couldn’t understand why other people weren’t surprised.
3) The fight for 3rd - Back on topic: moar rankings drama! Yes, in last month's recommendations there was a bit of a tussle for 3rd seat. Well, I wouldn't really call it that this month. I think that will really get going next month, but, for once in my life, I really put my cards on the table very hard with rankings and put forward our 6th seat - who has now been promoted to 5th - skipping the 4th seat. I felt a little cruel for doing this: as Mitsu, the vice stated in her assessments, while Will had shown insane organisational ability (a necessity in such a high seat) this month, forming the Aesir (more on that next time ...), Ari was one of those who had stood by the division through the dark times, and, in many ways, her writing displayed as much talent as Will's. But, this is one of the dilemmas of ranking, especially at the higher level: loyalty must always be rewarded, but so must effort and skill. Once at the high level, everyone is exceptional, so it's really hard to decide between them. I mean, I was honest, and it was hard for me, as I consider Ari a friend, but if it was bad for me, what's it going to be like for Mitsu next month? She did say in this month's assessments that now that it's been brought up, she's going to base her decision of who gets the seat on this month's performance. I can't wait!
