State of the Forum - Summer 2010
Mr. President-Elect, Mr. Vice President-Elect, Distinguished Members of the MyLEGO Network Organization Staff, and my fellow Citizens of the MLNO:
We come gathered here today at a monumental period in MLNO history. At this very moment, we are awaiting the inauguration of our honorable winners of the 2010 Presidential and Vice Presidential Elections. Within a few days our future leaders Blade and Green: The Trainer will take my place, and a new leaf will be turned. Speaking from the perspective of a private citizen of the MLNO, I am proud of the fact that we are a community that chooses its leaders, a forum that holds democratic ideals in high esteem, and an entity that has and always will be a leader in freedom and justice. It is a philosophy that all of us as MLNO citizens abide by and embrace, and one that I hope we all continue to respect in the years to come.
The past six months have undoubtedly delivered us some of the most enduring challenges our community has ever faced. Problems existed that had ranged from our internal structure, to factors that were beyond our control. Activity dropped to an all-time low, and our repository of ideas was near exhausted. On a much more personal level, many of us had emotional rifts that hindered our way of life here. Our integrity as the MLNO was threatened, and it seemed as if the end was nigh. For the first time ever, the MLNO was having its own Dark Age.
Earlier this year, our staff faced perhaps the worst crisis it has ever faced since the creation of this forum. One of the virtues that a harmonious staff demands is unity. Unfortunately, it was a cardinal rule that quickly was forgotten in the midst of the turmoil that ensued. It is exorbitant to remind ourselves of what happened. We must instead take away from that experience. Let it be known that we are not here to turn our community into a political bloodbath. A certain degree of dissonance can only be anticipated in a conglomeration of ideas and perspectives, but the point where staff members lose trust and respect for each other is simply unacceptable. For a MOC to be complete and whole, its bricks must be united. Apart and divided, these bricks are only destined for an undetermined amount of time in our storage bins. Art can only arise if a plethora of bricks are assembled and united. A staff can only perform its duty if it acts as one entity under one banner, not numerous people serving different factions.
From a broader perspective, it is imperative that the community itself continues to maintain its integrity and woven by the threads of friendship. We are all bound by our universal love for the LEGO brick. Whether it continues to play an integral part in all of your lives is one story, but the fact of the matter is that it brought us all here in the first place. Spreading negativity about others, or depicting an individual as someone that they aren't will only lead us back to the Dark Ages that we just left. These actions will only fray our threads of friendship, and cause the foundations of this community to crumble. It is time to break free of our chains to the past, and to let our grudges and resentment to fall with those chains. Let us move on to a future with love and respect for each other, a future that this community justly deserves.
Even though we were internally crippled in recent months, I am proud to announce that our forum security remains as strong as ever. This administration has viewed forum security as one of its highest priorities, and we have never taken the issue lightly. There has always been at least one staff member online in most hours of the day, leaving a very small time frame for an attack to go unnoticed. The response time of the staff towards a potential threat has always been at its prime, allowing for unsuitable content to be neutralized immediately. We have continued to weed out spambots pending registration, and have made full use of available technologies to reject accounts that may be suspected to be linked to banned accounts. In light of a time where numerous adversaries have threatened our way of life, the MLNO Staff has maximized security without compromising the privacy of our members. While 2010 has been mostly quiet, it is of utmost importance that all of us must collectively continue to remain acute and attentive for any signs of an extraneous attack or domestic corruption, and that protocols set in place over the years continue to be followed.
The first semester of this year introduced to us several challenges within the foreign political atmosphere. We were faced with a significant interaction with the MLNTeam, and unfortunately, an interaction that left a lot to be desired. The recent rebellion against the MLNTeam administration created many rifts within our niche of communities. It was a crisis that kept some of us up late at night, a crisis ridden with elaborate schemes and even more controversy. Grievously for the MLNO, the conflict had spilled over into our borders. The protesting spread like wildfire on the MLNO and soon began to chip away at our foundations. The decision to allow the protesting to take place was not without its repercussions - it had undoubtedly created some form of tension between the MLNO and the MLNTeam.
The epoch of antagonizing the MLNTeam administration must now end. Beating a dead horse and gripping onto old conflicts cannot lead to a thriving future; it will only return to more conflict and strife. Even if we may share differences in governing ideology, we must endorse the right to disagree, and remember that we are to discuss LEGO. Petty politics will not lead to unity of the MLN community. Let us make amends, and return our strong friendship with MLNTeam to its prime.
Positive relations with all MLN communities will be important in order to tackle the issues that affect the MLN economy. A perverse sense of entitlement runs rampant within the universal MLN economy, as if advancing ranks became a right and not a privilege. Activities carried out by many MLN players have inflicted detrimental effects on the economy. The dirt-low prices offered by powerful MLN players make it ever so difficult for new or low-ranked players to start their own business. The fair business practices that were once prevalent when MLN first started have seemingly gone extinct. It would not be an exaggeration to say that our own forum economy has died.
I must implore everyone to reflect upon the business practices that have ingrained themselves into the mindsets of MLN players. It is obligatory of all of us to restore the integrity of the MyLEGO Network, to restore the spirit of the game, to create the memories and joys of advancing a rank, knowing the effort that it took to get there. Business owners who are driven by pure greed and engage in unscrupulous business practices must be discouraged. It is incumbent upon buyers to vote with their clicks and to support only those who still respect the spirit of the MLN. Only after we collectively shift our mindset is when economic prosperity will be feasible.
We must remain independent and sovereign, but united with the MLN community. There are those who will be in denial, and those who try to stop us. More challenges will arise, and it will be up to the MLN community to overcome them. But we shall triumph, as we always have.
Dawn has come upon us, and it is up to you all to let the golden rays of the sun shine once more on our beloved community. From the ashes, a baby phoenix is born. We are that phoenix, and we must soar once more. Sagely stated in the First Thessalonians 5:8, "But since we belong to the day, let us be self-controlled, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet." With the inauguration of the two new leaders of the MLNO in due time, a new doorway of opportunities will be opened. As the sun rises once more, let us rise with it, let us rise to the Golden Ages once more, the only position that this noble community deserves.
Thank you, and may God Bless the MLNO for today and many years to come.
"We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope."
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