The Great Tree

[brian]

I just wanted to make it clear that everyone is doing an incredible job getting members of the 'hood and members of the cause! Great work!

Thanks for Kam for starting The Great Tree Hood, and for helping it grow.

I'm astonished at how fast word is spreading, we trully have some great people on board.

Thanks to everyone!
Keep it up!
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#Brian Fioca
#KI: 11882331
#KI: 1504111 [disconnected]

[Vandel]

It really is amazing. And all thanks to Kam.
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KI- 02339446

[Jon]

Also we really have to thank Deadalus for the great new look for the forums, and his upcoming work on teh site.

And thanks, Brian, for giving us a banner to rally around! You're as important to the Great Tree as anyone here, I think.
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The laws contrived by the Proud are their security, and their undoing. Such laws make disobedience a virtue and obedience a sin.

[Kam Uraki]

Personally, I think he's the most important.
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Pleased to meet you, won't you guess my name?...

[Thanakar]

[brian]

agreed.

Thanks, Thanakar.
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#Brian Fioca
#KI: 11882331
#KI: 1504111 [disconnected]

[LadyAnastasia]

I agree with you Thanakar. But that's what happens when numbers increase.

Okay, here's what bothers me, and maybe this isn't the thread to put it in, so if the moderator wishes to move it, feel free.

I started playing UruLive in November, and although it started out rather innocuously such as the initial exploring, it got unpleasant rather quickly. You had the people who agreed with the DRC and then you had the people who followed Yeesha, the Baron and Phil. And the feeling around the cavern was if you weren't one, you had to be the other. It was ugly, it was hitting a boiling point, and it was definitely cult-like. I had my opinions, and I kept them to myself, because I could see the points to both sides, although my perspective is unique perhaps to due to my education being in archaeology. But you had characters being elevated to a status I don't think Cyan intended for them to be, and hostility between players, and so the end result being a character gets buried in rubble in the city and we get the Great Zero. But whatever happened, the tension seemed to break, and things calmed down a bit.

Throughout that whole episode though, there was one thing I never understood: how anyone could stand in that cavern from a civilization that destroyed itself from it's greed and hunger for self-importance, and NOT see that it was happening all over again. If you weren't all together as one, you were no different from the ones that were long gone. And that was why I NEVER got behind a single individual, and I never will. And again, that may be because I've been on so may digs and handled so many objects of long-dead people and wondered what they thought, or what they did. But this is no different, even though it's virtual.

So when I hit the UO neighborhood a couple of days ago and heard Daedalus talking about the concept of the Great Tree and how we are all equal and how we need to all come together as one, I wholeheartedly agreed then, and I still do. It's something I can support because it's something I've thought all along. People who are divided won't accomplish anything. But there are a few things that bother me.

During that discussion in the UO neighborhood someone kept bringing up "Who will be the leader?" and although Daedalus was trying to deflect as nicely as he could, it kept coming up. And when I saw the post saying that Brian is the most important person we have here, I thought, well, you're totally missing the point of this web site and neighborhood. You elevate one person, it goes from the Great Tree to Great Person, and it's then officially a cult, and I refuse to support that. If everyone isn't equal, there's no point. And if it's just about getting your numbers up in the neighborhood, well then, it's just become a social club, not a cause.

It's an incredibly good concept, and one that I fully support. But it is so fragile that it can be so easily misread or perverted into something else, even by your own members. And it would be a shame to see that happen because I truly think you are on the right track.
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LadyAnastasia (all shards)

Atrus KI# 00479151
Katran KI# 00180085
Achenar KI# 00213948

[NSymon]

Shorah Lady Anastasia

Wow what you said is just excellent and spot on and I couldn't agree more. We definitely need to get away from the idea/philosophy that one person is the leader or one person has authority or it will all just fall apart and we will just go down the same route the D'ni people did. I certainly don't want to see that happen.

Thanks again for your excellent words.

[Guest]

Lady Anastasia, you have reflected my thoughts exactly.

A few weeks ago when things were particularly tense in Uru and we were feeling rather despondent, Brian, Daedalus and I started sharing our thoughts on where the character plot was leading, what we thought about “side taking” and what was expected of us.

We lamented on how awesome the Beta was, that we were all one big happy family testing a game. Despite the frustrations and usual problems that go hand in hand with Beta testing (I am sure most of you have experienced this recently) we all had one aim, we were united in our frustrations and we all worked together to achieve a common goal.

After much speculation it suddenly dawned on all three of us …..

What we must strive to achieve now is unity amongst the explorers, work as one just as we did in the Beta.

As Thanakar said and I quote “We are all in this together, working together for a common goal.”

Although Brian and Daedalus have been instrumental in building the momentum of the GT and we may look upon Brian as our leader, I think that we all need to realise that each individual has much to offer and we must never lose sight of this. Everyone has a unique strength and I would hate to see anyone feeling that they are not as important as someone else.

This is not a hierarchy, we are all on the same level and we all have the same mission, not only those that carry the GT banner but each and every explorer.

I am aware that there are some who totally oppose any side taking and that’s fine but what we should strive for is to show all the explorers that our motto is not “us against them” but rather “us working side by side with them” and in this way perhaps bring about events and changes for the good and benefit of ALL!!!

[LadyAnastasia]

Estrelle and Farlesis,

I agree with you and I honestly think we all have the potentional to do some great things in the cavern and in the other ages, with some time and perserverance. I believe we could be one big happy family, generally normal, with perhaps the weird uncle, or the odd cousin that no one really wants to invite to the family gatherings but you HAVE to anyway.

But then again, I can't jump a balcony to save my life and that tie-dye shirt eludes me all the time in Teledahn, so what do I know?

Seriously though, you are all great people here, and that's an incredible base to start from.
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LadyAnastasia (all shards)

Atrus KI# 00479151
Katran KI# 00180085
Achenar KI# 00213948

[Daedalus]

It is positive response like this that makes it all worth while.

Thank you, Lady Anastasia.

[Jon]

Lady Anastasia, beautiful sentiments, and I think you really understand what the Great Tree is all about.

There's a unique thing about being a part of the great tree; if we call ourselves such, we are incapable of excluding anyone in good faith. It's even more extreme than that, really- everyone is a part of the Great Tree; Sharper and Phil and all of us here, but also Plinthon, Zardoz and the DRC itself. Fighting against them is an anathema to someone who really understands what we are all about, because the only reason we can be percieved as being in two different 'camps' is because we have not yet lived up to our responsibilities. We haven't helped them to see that we are already on the same side, and helped them to understand what that means.
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The laws contrived by the Proud are their security, and their undoing. Such laws make disobedience a virtue and obedience a sin.