Victoria Penny

[Victoria Penny]

Just to clarify, Victoria, the "wait list" which you are on is not in any way a confirmation that you will have the opportunity to play as a Liberal Democrat in this round. Only that, if we ever need to add a Liberal Democrat or replace a Liberal Democrat, that we will keep you in mind. As I mentioned in private message, this round has yet to start and we have three active members currently slotted to play as Lib Dems. The fact that the round has yet to start is also an explanation as to why the forum is not yet fully set up with the information that you are seeking. I would ask that you have patience and do highly recommend that you sign in as a Conservative or Labour member should you wish to play this round and, in the case that a Liberal Democrat slot opens up, you can then apply should you wish.

I would very much like to apply, again this has been a less than clear process and I am trying to follow the bouncing ball. Please let me know what you would like for me in order to apply. Yes, I will be patient and would very much like to wait in line as we have discussed. Please let me know if there are any facts or information on the application or decision-making process so that I can best prepare an application.

No, I'm afraid you've misunderstood me again. Applications for Lib Dems are closed. We are not currently taking applications.

Oh - when did the applications close? The rules clearly state that I have the right to put forward an application. If they've now closed, why is that and how were others evaluated?

[Barclay A.A. Stanley]

Ok. You have the right to put forward an application. Your application is now filed. Thank you for your application. You have not been accepted at this time. Please feel free to submit a new application or sign in to play as a Consertive or Labour Party member

[Blakesley]

Hi Victoria! Thank you for your valid criticisms - you're absolutely right to post them. A few points that I would raise. First, the fact that the Liberal Democrats are application only implies that an application may be rejected. So while the cap may not be explicit, the intention is there - but it should be made explicit, you're absolutely right about that. The forum just underwent a transformation, so we're working on getting all of the rules posted Second, the use of Discord is not particularly exclusive and I would invite you to join the Discord server. As PolUK evolved through the years it now uses Discord more and more of in game events, as well as for communications between the players. This is not a sign of exclusivity as everyone is welcome. Without joining the Discord, you may find it difficult to interact with your fellow players and participate in key aspects of the game. That said, you raised a valid point about not having a Discord link directly available on the forum (and causing exclusivity issues) and I trust that will be rectified soon. Regarding waiting for the Liberal Democrat role, you are more than welcome to join either the Conservatives or Labour and, if a spot in the Liberal Democrats becomes available, you can apply to join then.

Hopefully we'll see you on Discord soon!

Thank you, Caroline. Yes, the nuance may be implied by an application process, but there is no information about the application process at all, one might assume that the process were true of all parties by the same logic. Direct communication can only help this, so whilte I appreciate your defence of this system (can we tell that this is a debating game yet?) you clearly enjoy, it's a pretty poor argument for mediocrity.

I've also already put in an application and been informed about being on the wait list, so that is where I shall stay. I'm putting this forward because I would like to just play on the forum and not on a chat room, and because I suspect that I can't be the only person in the world who feels this way. If people want to connect online and chat, that's great, but the game should exist in one common space for all of us to engage.

Thank you for the warm welcome. Best,
V

Unfortunately I don't think you understand my point about Discord. It is not an integral part of the game, to the point where it is likely not feasible to play on the forum alone. It's not a "chat room" - it's a fully integrated aspect of the game. And I must say, joining Discord would help reduce some of the miscommunication that has occurred here.

[Victoria Penny]

Ok. You have the right to put forward an application. Your application is now filed. Thank you for your application. You have not been accepted at this time. Please feel free to submit a new application or sign in to play as a Consertive or Labour Party member

It seems like a black woman has shown up and all of a sudden new "rules" and processes have been retroactively applied. It's a shame, and what's more I seem to have to air these concerns in public because I cannot get any kind of reply from administrators around process or procedure.

I cannot understand why you cannot give any explaination for my application or give me any kind of feedback on how to properly apply? I show up and all of a sudden I have to go through an arbitrary process where everyone lectures me about not following some unwritten set of rules. Is this PolUK or PolWhiteSupremacy?

[Sir James McCrimmon]

Ok. You have the right to put forward an application. Your application is now filed. Thank you for your application. You have not been accepted at this time. Please feel free to submit a new application or sign in to play as a Consertive or Labour Party member

It seems like a black woman has shown up and all of a sudden new "rules" and processes have been retroactively applied. It's a shame, and what's more I seem to have to air these concerns in public because I cannot get any kind of reply from administrators around process or procedure.

I cannot understand why you cannot give any explaination for my application or give me any kind of feedback on how to properly apply? I show up and all of a sudden I have to go through an arbitrary process where everyone lectures me about not following some unwritten set of rules. Is this PolUK or PolWhiteSupremacy?

As a person of color myself and a former Head Admin here, I can undoubtedly state that this game is not PolWhiteSupremacy (except for when someone wants to meet with Enoch Powell or the admins want to agitate and remind us that Nick Griffin exists.)

You're correct that Barclay should have edited the post to indicate that applications were closed and the Admins should have linked to the Discord somewhere on the forum. However, I unfortunately have to state that applications opened on the sixth of December, closed on the seventh of December, and the members of the LDs for the start of the round were announced on the ninth.

Again, the link to Discord is here. I really hope you join us and you amend your character to fit a new party. Be assured that, in my position of influence as a former admin, I will endeavor to urge the current leaders of this game to prevent any future missteps.

[Victoria Penny]

Ok. You have the right to put forward an application. Your application is now filed. Thank you for your application. You have not been accepted at this time. Please feel free to submit a new application or sign in to play as a Consertive or Labour Party member

It seems like a black woman has shown up and all of a sudden new "rules" and processes have been retroactively applied. It's a shame, and what's more I seem to have to air these concerns in public because I cannot get any kind of reply from administrators around process or procedure.

I cannot understand why you cannot give any explaination for my application or give me any kind of feedback on how to properly apply? I show up and all of a sudden I have to go through an arbitrary process where everyone lectures me about not following some unwritten set of rules. Is this PolUK or PolWhiteSupremacy?

As a person of color myself and a former Head Admin here, I can undoubtedly state that this game is not PolWhiteSupremacy (except for when someone wants to meet with Enoch Powell or the admins want to agitate and remind us that Nick Griffin exists.)

You're correct that Barclay should have edited the post to indicate that applications were closed and the Admins should have linked to the Discord somewhere on the forum. However, I unfortunately have to state that applications opened on the sixth of December, closed on the seventh of December, and the members of the LDs for the start of the round were announced on the ninth.

Again, the link to Discord is here. I really hope you join us and you amend your character to fit a new party. Be assured that, in my position of influence as a former admin, I will endeavor to urge the current leaders of this game to prevent any future missteps.

Thank you. I was literally in tears before and you've really changed this around for me. Your simple explaination and ability to meet me where I am at makes me feel so warm. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

At this point, I really do want to play, and now I can understand that things opened and closed - no one has made me aware of that until now. I will join Discord once I submit my new application, I just ask to be allowed to participate in this game with this character. Barclay has offered a second application intake per his post above and I will send an application in to all admins detailing why I would like to participate along with the Maiden Speech I've already written for this character.

Please cross your fingers for me and if anyone can please give me advice or guidance on what to do next it would mean the world to me.

[Corgi]

Hi Victoria. It's nice to make your acquaintance! I'm sorry that things have unfolded as they have (and i'm particularly sorry to hear that you were in tears!). I think it's been crossed wires on both sides.

And I think there's been slight miscommunication from us re Liberal Democrat applications. At the moment we're only letting three players play them (up from two last round), and unfortunately these three were announced last week. We aren't opening up for more applications at the moment. It's not ideal, i'm sure, but please do consider signing up for Labour or the Conservatives. Both are chock-a-block with friendly and capable players, and i'm sure they'd be thrilled to have a veteran on their team!

Regarding the lack of posting on the forum, you've rasied an important point, and we'll do our best to put important information both here and on Discord.

If you need any guidance on anything, or any clarifications of rules, i'd be more than happy to help. Just shoot me a message through the forum, or on Discord (I'm JunkyardCat#8808), and i'll try and get back to you asap.

[Barclay A.A. Stanley]

To avoid doubt, Victoria has submitted a second application to play as a Liberal Democrat via PM, and I have responded to her in the same way, but will publish my response here for transparency, and then will be closing this thread as the decision is final:

Victoria,

Thank you for your application to play as a Liberal Democrat at the beginning of the 2001 round. We enjoyed reading the application. At this time, however, the A-Team has determined that three players is enough to begin the round for the third party and, since there are currently three active Lib Dem players, we regretfully have to decline your application to play as a Liberal Democrat. Furthermore, as per the custom of PolUK, we do not usually allow new players (or those whose experience is unknown to us) to join third parties as these are smaller, specialized parties which require experience and skill to play. Whereas I asked for your previous experience and you were unable to provide it, I believe you fall into this camp as well.

We invite you to join either the Conservative Party or the Labour Party. Both have centrist options to be played in this time period: the Conservatives have the Tory Reform Group who, typically, are more to the left of social issues, while the Labour Party has the Blairite group, which is to the right on economic issues. Either would make a fine home for you, and both have players of great experience who would be prepared to help re-acquaint you with PolUK and bring you up to speed on what may have changed since you were last with us.

Please accept my deepest welcome to PolUK. I look forward to you playing the game and to seeing what you can bring to the table.

Yours,

Barclay for the A-Team.