Suggestion: Making chat ceremonies "private".

Metsu Desal wrote: There are people whom walk up and down my path every day...I fear I should not go out in case they cause me some kind of dispute...from now on I will live in isolation from fear of what CAN happen rather..

If anyone came on to ToTJO and said anything stupid...we can just ban them...it'd not be a heart break if someone interrupted a ToTJO ceremony it'd probably be seen as more jovial than an act of aggressiveness.

However I do see & agree with your concern in the matter and I do agree they should be private but that members + can access it and type...but guests can only view it...

Metsu, realistically speaking, I would think that it would be too much work to constantly ban chat pranksters. You see, I made my own account about 6 months ago, and I apparantly forgot how easy it is to make an account. What's even more disturbing is that each account does not need to be approved my an admin - meaning someone could "create-account-spam". For example, my friend made an account this past Thursday and seconds later he was able to get into chat. While he didn't break any rules and he didn't spam, others could possibly take advantage of that.

Wouldn't it be better to prevent rather than ban afterwards?

Also, I agree with you: they should be private but that members + can access it and type...but guests can only view it...

SeanChing wrote: And since we post our ceremonies, including EVERYTHING everyone said in the ceremony, sabotage would be very terrible, if it happened.

Since the posts of the ceremonies are done in the forums the poster could easily delete the text that was considered a disruption if this were ever to occur.

V-Tog wrote:

Metsu Desal wrote: I do agree they should be private but that members + can access it and type...but guests can only view it...

I like that solution...but is it even possible? Sounds very complicated...

The problem with making it novices and above is that we make it clear that members are not expected to study the Initiate's Programme if they don't want to. Don't forget (sorry to bring it up again Ren, I'm just using you as an excellent example) Ren is only a Temple Member, so if for any reason he decided to step down from the Council, should he not be allowed to attend ceremonies any more?

But then again, if you're prankster who wants to disrupt a live service, it's relatively easy to become a Temple Member, whereas a prankster is much less likely to actually do any serious work and become a novice...

It's a tricky one.

V-Tog,

I still think that only novices and above should be allowed to promotion ceremonies and certain "special" ceremonies, and here's why. These promotion ceremonies are all about formally promoting one of our members up a rank. So, shouldn't members with a rank be the only ones concerned with this type of ceremony? In addition, certain "special" ceremonies have content that only Jedi studying the TOTJO curriculum could connect to, empathize with, and seriously learn from. Now, of course, general sermons should be open to anyone - since general, moral talks are given then. However, there should still be some way to prevent spammers/pranksters from sabotaging those as well.

In regard to your concern with Ren...

Correct me if I'm mistaken, but I think Ren is not a Temple Member - he is a "Counselor". True, if he steps down, then he wouldn't be a counselor anymore. You are concerned that he wouldn't be able to access the ceremonies if he stepped down, correct? Well, knowing the ingenuity of all the website admins here, I'm sure they could create a new, special title for Ren and those in a similar situation for him. Basically, they should create a sort of "former Jedi leader" sort of title that would allow him to access the ceremonies as if he were still a member of the council. That would work, I think.

Ren is a Member of TOTJO with a posted Oath.

John he suggested that only novices and above be allowed (that excludes temple members).

Correct me if I'm mistaken, but I think Ren is not a Temple Member - he is a "Counselor". True, if he steps down, then he wouldn't be a counselor anymore. You are concerned that he wouldn't be able to access the ceremonies if he stepped down, correct? Well, knowing the ingenuity of all the website admins here, I'm sure they could create a new, special title for Ren and those in a similar situation for him. Basically, they should create a sort of "former Jedi leader" sort of title that would allow him to access the ceremonies as if he were still a member of the council. That would work, I think.

If I were to step down as councillor I would probably still be admin... I used to have a special title/rank/position as ex-officio member of the board. And I had the prettiest rank bar :whistle: If I were to step down as admin as well, I would basically be leaving totjo (whatever the reason). If this were to happen, that doesn't necessarily mean I would never pay a visit, but the likeliness of me attending a ceremony would be extremely low.

In my opinion, let them all in. I have seen ceremonies on skype, chat and through the forum and from what I have seen the "timeout monster" causes far more disruptions than any spammer or troll could do before they were banned. Yet the timeouts are never shown in the record after and are often used as a joke rather than to dismay people about the ceremony.

Every ceremony I have been to here has been much nicer than any I ever went to at a physical church. I would think that this would help to show guests what it is that we do during services and shares a feeling of community as opposed to the stuffy mass type feeling. This could even be the deciding factor for some of them on whether to join or not, ie. Making sure our services have no mention of getting dubbed with a lightsaber or of laced koolaid.

SeanChing wrote: In regard to your concern with Ren...

Correct me if I'm mistaken, but I think Ren is not a Temple Member - he is a "Counselor". True, if he steps down, then he wouldn't be a counselor anymore. You are concerned that he wouldn't be able to access the ceremonies if he stepped down, correct? Well, knowing the ingenuity of all the website admins here, I'm sure they could create a new, special title for Ren and those in a similar situation for him. Basically, they should create a sort of "former Jedi leader" sort of title that would allow him to access the ceremonies as if he were still a member of the council. That would work, I think.

I'm not concerned about Ren...it was just an example. He is a Temple Member...just as Jestor is a Master, Damion is a Senior Knight, Mark is a GrandMaster...being a Councillor is kind of an extra rank, not a replacement. At least, that's my understanding of it.

The point wasn't about Ren specifically...it was about how members below the rank of novice can give a lot to the site and be very involved members without having done any formal TOTJO training, and therefore probably shouldn't be excluded from ceremonies.

Temple Members are just as much a part of the community as anyone else and so probably shouldn't be banned from celebrating with the community

He also said, "Correct me if I'm mistaken, but I think Ren is not a Temple Member - he is a 'Counselor'".

As requested I'm setting the record straight. Ren is a Temple Member and a Counselor.

I agree with V-Tog. Training and ranks are optional.

Resticon wrote: from what I have seen the "timeout monster" causes far more disruptions than any spammer or troll could do before they were banned.

Hahaha too true!

It's always good when the person leading the ceremony times out, or the person being honoured...it's happened to me a few times! :laugh: