Social LS drama, plz halp

[Empedocles]

I need a set of people that are truely impartial to clear something up for me.

Okay. The leader of my social LS has a mental illness. He's quite dependent on people actually giving him feedback and listening to him when he's trying to lead, in order to well... lead the shell.

Recently, out of nowhere imo, it's been decided by a small group of unnames within the linkshell that he has to step down from leadership. He has agreed, now the 'impartial mediator' has put forth a vote.

I have been in the linkshell for the second longest period of time out of all the current members (The only one that has been in the shell longer was one of the founding members) and I'm a pearlsack holder. I would have thought that a management decision be discussed amongst all the sackholders before being put forth to the general LS, and neither myself nor the founding member had any idea what was going on.

So far, only the main culprit has come forth from the start, and only one other of this group has posted since the shit hit the fan.

Ugh, that's the background.... this is the thread. Pictures 9, 10 & 11 are the same post, I have screenshotted the thread in it's entirety.. the colour codes are because I'm somewhat of a privacy idiot...

(For those that are going to go through it.. I dunno if anyone will but hey, it's there. "Arbitrator" = brown / Main Culprit = Black / Leader = Light Blue / Longest member = Pink / Random LS member 1 = Blue / Random LS member 2 = Yellow / Othersackholder who's in the know = Green / Person part of the group = Purple / Guy who's in it but hasn't posted = Grey / Others (past members and random person) = Dark Red )

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Now ... I think I've gone too deep in this to see objectively. I have actually spoken with the leader, at great depth, and he's very hurt that people he trusted so much have stabbing him in the back with this instead of actually speaking to him when they first started thinking like this.

Am I in the wrong, wanting to know what these people want and who they are?
Have I overracted? Am I speaking more from wounded pride that I wasn't involved, instead of genuine concern of my 3 year social linkshell's well-being?

I need some advice.... what should I do? Should I leave the linkshell as it seems that I'm not even considered for serious matters, and they don't believe I'm unbiased enough to give a valid advice/reasoning?

[Taskmage]

Re: Social LS drama, plz halp

Uhh ... wow. Ok, I only scanned but these seems like a retarded amount of drama over nothing. It's a social. It's basically a chat room. Why the political divide and struggle for power? What is the divide even over?

[Ameroth]

Re: Social LS drama, plz halp

Ya that's my question TM. If this is merely a social, what in the world is to fight over? My suggestion would be to just allow the current leader to continue being the shell holder, and the people that apparently have an issue with that find another social.

[Empedocles]

Re: Social LS drama, plz halp

Well, my problem is that I don't know both sides of the story, and no-one consulted me on anything. They are giving me no information at all... Yet they think I'm opposing the actual change of leadership, which I'm not, and reacting to that. How can I convey to them that?

[Ameroth]

Re: Social LS drama, plz halp

My advice:

Talk to them; not us. We have no control over the situation. So unless someone apart of your LS is a member here, I don't see how anyone here is going to help you convey that message other than yourself.

[DakAttack]

Re: Social LS drama, plz halp

Orange claims to be impartial, but he's obviously got an agenda running in the background.

What matters is the survival of the linkshell. If you can't decide who'll be the leader, just elect a body of individuals and play a weekly game of hot-potato with the shell.

[fallenintoshadows]

Re: Social LS drama, plz halp

Your linkshell sounds very much like mine.

I think I can shed some light as something similar happened (without the uprising). Our LS leader is taking a break from the game purely because of an increase of work, it's been a few months, but the LS has not fallen apart without him. That's what officers/sack holders are for. If your leader needed a break/wanted a break he could have done it without stepping down I believe so it is my opinion that he felt forced to step down.

<black box guy> was totally out of order IMO. He seems like the type of person who feeds drama to LS, fair enough he claims he had the best of interests for the LS but it clearly doesn't seem that way if he went whispering with other LS members (IMO getting them on his side) before even mentioning it to an Officer/Long term LS member. If he had issues he should of A) spoken directly to the leader, if that failed then B) contact an Officer or post in your LS forum to ask for everyone's opinion in public rather than sneak around like a rat.

It's a social LS for crying out loud, what do these people want the LS leader to do? Hold their hands constantly? NO.

LS's can survive without the leader with good officers especially if it's only a social link. The leader going AWOL for awhile shouldn't change the objectives of the LS, to bring people together/talk/help eachother out? You can do all that with one less person and when he felt fit to return just slip back into place.

It definitely seems to me like you have a mutiny on your hands and I completely understand the LS leader being upset and feeling betrayed.

[TheGrandMom]

Re: Social LS drama, plz halp

Drama is inherent to any ls, social or HNM. Where there is power, there is always a struggle. But I do agree with others, its over nothing. Does your social have a coffer? Does your social do organized events like Limbus, Dynamis, etc? If the answer is no, then this is all a to do over nothing. Just tell the leader that no one can gake away his shell, and they can't. If a group of people don't like the way he leads it, then let them leave. Better yet, kick their asses out.

[Empedocles]

Re: Social LS drama, plz halp

Thank you for your replies, everyone.

I'll make a post apologising for my actions and a small explaination of what I was thinking while flanning the flames of drama.

Does anyone mind if I post a link to this thread, on that thread, so people can read this for themselves? So they know that I'm not just an asshole?

[Vyuru]

Re: Social LS drama, plz halp

I would tend to agree with the others. This is a social shell, and by the sound of it, it's a pretty basic social/chatroom LS at that.

There should not be any power struggle going on because there IS no power. The only potential problem is that sack holders leave, leaving no way to create new linkpearls.

I suspect that if leadership changes, then this will start to become an event shell, because I see no other reason for it.

That said though, I feel like we're missing something because of the camp incident, that implies that the LS leader has some power, or percieved power over the LS, which, as a strictly social shell, he should not beyond a certain extent.

Too, I may just not "get" what you mean by a social shell, what I would call a social shell other people would probably call more of an event/social shell.

[Empedocles]

Re: Social LS drama, plz halp

Well the camp event was this:

There was some LS members in a meripo at Nyul Isle bird spot. Another party turned up, with different LS members and started roaming.

First members start to bitch, in LS chat. Second members come into the shell (They were in another at the formation of the party, then must have recognised names) and start to bitch back. Arguement ensues. The leader of the shell asked politely at least twice for them to take it out of LS chat, asked once again more firmly, and then exploded, at both of them for not paying attention to what others were asking.

Amusingly enough, the one that left the shell because of that, realised he was actually at fault, and admitted it to me.

[Ameroth]

Re: Social LS drama, plz halp

So basically drama got started because certain people were acting like 5 year olds? Sounds right to me.

Having never actually been the shellholder of a large social, but a very close friend to the leader of one (that eventually turned into a sky LS), there were a few times when drama would spout up and need to be dismissed. My idea was usually to ignore the people for the most part until it started to get a little out of hand. In a social LS, you can't do much other than kick people out, but in a sky LS, you take members' points away and that either makes them straighten out or leave. Either way, problem solved.

In the end, the LS ultimately belongs to the shellholder. People that have issues with that can go ahead and find another shell or start their own.

[Feba]

Re: Social LS drama, plz halp

Honestly, all I really thought was "Is this some kind of Reservoir Dogs spoof or something?"


I have never seen the movie.

[TheGrandMom]

Re: Social LS drama, plz halp

Ok I finally read through all that drivel. The ls leader lost his temper...OOOOOO *GASP* OH NO! But the best is, he lost his temper and was deemed emotionally unstable. (Someone needs to tell the "educated person with no agenda" <insert roaring laughter here> that I believe he studied law and not psychiatry.) Wow if thats the case then my shell is run by the most unstable people I know......wait hmmmm... that is actually true for some of them....

It's just the circle of life in FFXI....ls's are made and ls's die. In those screenshots there is so much posturing going on its not funny. With an open election, its highly unlikely a sac will get elected. In the course of being a sac you have 3 types of friends.

1) Friends that are your friend because you have power and use that friendship to manipulate the power in their favor.

2) Friends that are similar to 1 but they use the power to manipulate it and stab you in the back with it.

3) And the last group can't even be called friends, they are just the people that hate you for <insert reason here> or just because your a sac and have something they want.

I'll never forget the time I was trying to change our HNM for the better for EVERYONE. I had some great ideas and presented them and was promptly ignored. Why? Because the leaders loved using their power to get stuff for themselves and their ass kisser friends. I was the only one fighting for the regular guy. Then this long time member starts being nice to me and silly me, I thought it was genuine. I told him my ideas and he agreed they would help so much and said if he was a sac he'd agree with me and help me. He then played the pity card about how he should have been a sac even before me since he's been in the shell so much longer but that the leader doesn't like him he guesses...blah blah blah. One day a sac said to the leader that we should have another sac and I quickly brought up this shunned member for nomination. I went on and on about him until other sacs were thinking "ya he was kind of looked over and deserves a shot". So then the leader ok'd it. The SECOND that guy got his sac he joined the "good ole boys" club and said every nasty thing he could about me behind my back. When you are a sac, you have no friends in the ls.

[eticket109]

Re: Social LS drama, plz halp

Honestly, all I really thought was "Is this some kind of Reservoir Dogs spoof or something?"


I have never seen the movie.

How about if I'm Mr. Purple? That sounds good to me, I'll be Mr. Purple


Seriously though, this all sounds like a rather large misunderstanding with everyone acting like 5 year olds. I at least applaud you for stepping up and apologizing and trying to rectify everything.