High Reaches Weyr . PernMUSH: November 2, 2006 Color Information Meeting
Search Cycle: Autumn 2006
Color Information Meeting
Nov 2, 2006

Candidate Barracks(#430RAJs$)

Josilina waves and passes around chocolate-covered blueberries.

Melata ooohs! Fancy food!

Tavrie says "Yum!"

Bayan takes some.

Shanlee says "Thanks, but too early for me" and grins

Dassah says "Tasty!"

Satiet bounces and sprawls about.

Ashenna licks the chocolate off.

Melata takes the candy away from Satiet: a hyper goldrider is not a good thing.

Satiet takes in a deep breath. Ok! Welcome to High Reaches, in case you haven't felt the love yet. While dragonriding tends to have similarities cross-Weyrs and cross-games, some things might be different, might not be. You might have questions that you want to know about dragonriding and specific colors here. :) Please save your questions for the end of each rider's spiel, just to save sanity and so nothing gets missed in the spam. :)

You say "We'll start with Amilin's speech she left with us about greenriding and then move on to blues after. :)"

Amilin
As you likely know, greens are the smallest and most numerous of the dragon colors. And while they are also shortest on endurance, (not always lasting an entire Fall) they are the most agile, making the tightest turns both in Fall and flights. And S'din would likely sit on me, if in regards to the latter, I don't point out that greens _always_ win. ;) The nice thing with green flights is that you can have them more frequently than a gold does, and without then getting tied to the resulting clutch golds have to deal with. You also get to find your own style of proddy that can be as close to or as far from the stereo types as you like. Anything from throwing knives at snowmen or hitting on anything that moves, to simply hiding from the 'crowd' in the LiC during dinner. And when it comes to that, you don't even have to RP flights at all. It varies from person to person how much of flight RP they enjoy. It's also perfectly alright to RP the flight, say who caught and then leave it there. We all know what happens next ICly, but some people get the idea that you have to play it out and that scares them from greens. But no one will push you to RP more than you like of flights.

As far as rank with in the weyr, it's conceivable to gain anything but WW if you don't like the 'easy' life of a wingrider. Of course, if you manage WL it's generally only in he 'acting' capacity between SR flights. ;) And as with any color, you can do as much as your willing behind the scenes too. The Weyr always needs people to set up and run events, desc eggs, greet new people and simply RP. And that can be done regardless of what you do or don't ride. :)

Rilsa waves.

Satiet sneaks candy back from Melata. "If you have any questions, while we don't have one of our illustrious greenriders with us, I think a lot of us might be able to answer questions." :)

Satiet takes another peek about. If anyone has objections on moving on to blue, sneeze now?

Melata looks around...oooh, quiet crowd.

Shanlee would simply like to know "Are the greenriders wary of Candidates?

Ashenna says "Achoo. No, okay, seriously. How often are greenriders expected to have flights? On camera or off camera."

Satiet laughs. "I don't know, does K'nder seem wary of candidates?" ;)

Shanlee just chuckles and pleads the 5th

Dassah snickers softly.

S'din saunters in as a greenrider should.

T'en wolfwhistles.

Melata snorts.

Shanlee shakes her head and grins

S'din lifts his hand and waves at the lesser colors. "No, seriously. Greens tend to be looked at as nothing more than flirts or just simple-minded, flight machines. There is much more to greens than that.

Wilf smiles do tell

Melata blinks, "You mean they aren't???"

Bayan laughs.

Dassah says "Well, not .just. that, anyway. :)"

Josilina says "They come with a saunter, apparently. ;)"

S'din says "Greens are fast. Greens are nimble. Greens may not last very long but in the time they do last, there is so much maneuverability, complexity. Consider the greens and their movements like dancers.""

Shanlee nods "So graceful?"

S'din saunters. J'lyn sashays. It depends. ;) "Greens are also not the bottom of the proverbial food chain. We can be any rank. K'nder and Ceres were Weyrseconds. I was for YEARS the Weyrlingmaster. You can be what you want to be. The color only limits you for two position - Weyrwoman and Weyrleader.

Satiet thinks K'nder might've been acting WL once too, for a while.

T'en is pretty sure he has.

S'din nods. "Yes, he was.

S'din says "Then there are those things called flights and what we greenriders have a motto. "Others may chase but we always win!""

Shanlee snickers

Melata nods, "He was."

S'din grins. "It's true, we never lose a flight! Technically, greens can rise 2-3 times a year ... the more ... um ... ambitious can do 4. If you are uncomfortable with running a flight, you can do none or all off-camera. If you want to run them on-camera, that's great too. As a rider of a female, you are responsible for putting together the rules for the flight that the males need to follow.

Shanlee asks what is perhaps a stupid question "On-camera.....Off-camera?"

S'din says "It helps move it along and sets expectations. Running a flight is a lot of fun if you approach it that way. On-camera means you actually have the RP of the flight. Off-camera means you said it happens."

Shanlee nods "Get it"

S'din says "So, the end my off-the-cuff speech. Choose whatever color suits your character but if you want a winning dragon, choose green. Remember: Greenriders never lose a flight and we are the sexiest!" He saunters to the back. "See?"

Melata snorts again.

Rilsa snickers. "Definitely style."

Satiet snickers. "Any more questions for our sauntering greenrider?"

Tavrie whistles!

T'en eyes Rilsa. "Is that what we're calling it?" ;)

Rilsa says "We need to be nice to the underprivileged."

S'din hehs.

Bayan can only chuckle.

Wilf shakes his head

Shanlee laughs

Tavrie waves a green flag.

S'din pumps a fist at Tavrie.

You say "Ok then, next up is our long-time Avalanche wingleader, Melata to tell you why blue is best. :)"

Tavrie grins.

S'din will excuse himself.

Melata yups, blue is best, "My name is Melata, and I'm the rider of blue Verenth. For those who don't know, I am also the Avalanche Wingleader. I am going to tell you about riding a blue dragon."

Melata continues with her cut-and-paste fun! "Blues are one of the smaller chromatics, although on the average they are larger than greens. A blue dragon is probably a bit less manuverable than a green, but he has a bit more staying power in Fall. Blues, along with greens, make up the main fighting force of a Wing, with individuals changing out throughout a Fall to rest as they become tired. This is in contrast to the bronzes and browns whom tend to act as the anchors. However, whereas one of the larger colors may not be able to get to a Thread (or rope!) that is a wee bit out of reach, blues can dart forward (and back/up/down/etc) and then get back in line."

Melata waits for a minute for people to read, and adds some more, "During Flights, blues put their speed and manuverability to good advantage to catch greens more frequently than the larger male colors. However, as blues can be thought of as sprinters, they do not have the stamina to last in a gold flight."

Melata conitnues...almost done! "Most Weyr leadership positions are open to blueriders. For instance, as said earlier, I am a Wingleader. Blue riders can also be Wingseconds, Weyrlingmaster, Weyrlingmaster staff, Weyrsecond, dragonhealers, and so forth. They also make excellent searchriders. As blue dragons are not allowed to sire gold clutches on this board, a bluerider is technically not allowed to be Weyrleader. There may be an IC emergency situation that dictates otherwise until a "proper" color was chosen, but such things are very rare and based around specific plots and such. This was mentioned in Amilin's green speech. Of course, if you are a rider of blue, you cannot be a Weyrwoman, either junior or senior! (Unless you wrangle up enough gold paint, of course)."

You say "And lots of padding."

T'en says "Stilts."

Melata aaaaand, "And that's about it about blue riders. Any questions?" And blue riders don't saunter...they sip cider.

You say "Not klah? ;)"

Melata well, "Not this bluerider. Other blueriders can sip klah. But /never/ slurp...that is uncouth."

Shanlee notes to self "Blueriders are genteel"

You say "Greenriders are stylish, blueriders are genteel. If no one has questions, we'll go on to what brownriders are with Rilsa. :)"

I'daur waves little blue flags for L'sen, so. ;)

Melata heys, "I want one of those blue flags."

I'daur hoards them.

T'en says "You've stunned them all into silence, Melata."

Dassah has no questions. =)

Melata yups. "They all want to be blueriders now, I feel it. Well, I'm done."

Bayan is all good here. ;)

Dassah says "Any rider who isn't a bluerider is simply blue?"

T'en says "Ten points for sucking up, Dassah. Nicely done."

Wilf smiles good here too. :)

T'en clarifies that he meant that nicely. Honest.

Dassah is keeping the brown on her nose for the next speaker. ;)

I'daur facepalms. XD

Shanlee offers Dassah a hanky

Melata starts to mention something about brown-nosing...but decides not to. Wait...I just did, didn't I?

Tavrie facepalms.

Melata goes and steals a blue frag from I'daur when he's not looking.

Wilf laughs Brown's next be patient

Melata sighs, a blue flag, even.

T'en says "Don't frag the WLM, Melata."

Rilsa takes center stage and bows with a flourish. "Unlike the others who claim that the blues are best, browns are the epitome of draconic and rider perfection from the cunning and sheer brilliance of the riders to the strength and power of the dragons. After all, we have the best of all worlds. We are smaller than the bronzes and golds which makes us maneuverable but we have the strenth and size of the larger dragons which provides us with the ability to stay through a Fall and keep up with a gold flight which browns have won on a regular basis. Also, unlike other riders, the stereotypes that afflict the other colors are not as prominent with the browns. Greens=flirty. Blues=flighty. Bronzes=lisetious. Browns seem to range across the board." (more)

Melata ahs, "So, boys and girls, browns are flirty, flighty, AND lisetious, all in one bundle!"

Rilsa says "As with other colors, we can hold any position with the exception of full Weyrleader and any Weyrwoman. Personally, I have held positions of Wingsecond, Wingleader, WLM, Weyrsecond and Acting Weyrleader so you can see, it is what you make of it." She grins. "And gorgeous, perfect, brilliant, cunning and go one-on-one with evil and survive, thank you very much, Mel!"

Melata gives Rilsa her cape and tights, then. Although, that might look silly on a dragon.

T'en says "Super Rilsa."

Rilsa says "Browns can sire clutches and take part in the IC and OOC work that is involved in that aspect. There is a lot of behind the scenes work involved in running a hatching so taking on a brown also takes on that responsibility if you choose to involve yourself in a gold flight." She grins, "That's Ms. Divine Goddess to you, T'en." (more)"

Melata adds in 'egotistical' to Rilsa's descriptors.

Shanlee thought it was the Greenrider's who were the flirty ones :O)

T'en says "Oh come on. There are new, young, enthusiastic folk to Ms. Divine Goddess you. Can't I just leer charmingly?"

Tavrie coughs.

Dassah says "No, it's riders, period, Shan. :)"

Satiet isn't flirty!

Tavrie eyes Satiet. "Nope, she's not."

Tavrie says "She's dangerous."

Shanlee thinks Tavrie could be right

Dassah says "Satiet is scarey, yes. :)"

Rilsa says "Then there is the situation that I, Sria and several others have to deal with. We are females riding a male dragon which can wreak havoc on us. Male brains and female brains just don't work the same way so there is the added aspect of RP to deal with that situation - learn to co-exist, etc."

Wilf will rather not air an opinion at this time :)

Tavrie says "Bad enough sharing a barracks with males...can't imagine a mind!"

Rilsa says "Flights are something we don't worry about too much because we don't have to schedule or run them. All we really have to do is show up on time, follow the rules and pose well enough to convince the flight person that our dragon is da bomb. :)"

Shanlee mutters "Chicken"

Ashenna grins. "Possibly smart, Wilf."

Bayan can't help but to agree with Wilf. XD

Rilsa says "The difficult thing about a color meeting like this one is that each of us really loves the colors we have. Not because it is a certain color ONLY but because we have the ability to make our dragons and characters what we want them to be. You have S'din who is a flirty, sauntering greenrider but is military-mindset when he was WLM. He made Meli and himself to what he wanted. Melata plays a serious, non-dress-wearing, cider-sipping brilliant Wingleader who is wonderful to RP with. I love being a cunning, evil brownrider who has a dragon who loves messing with other people. It is what we wanted to do. So, think about that and choose what makes your character grow and enjoy yourself. Done."

Melata raises her finger, "Only /once/ have I been /forced/ to get into a dress. So...unpractable. However, if there is ever a cider shortage...stand back!"

Shanlee says "That makes sense"

Rilsa grins at Melata. "One of my finer moments. ;) Except I had to endure Vorlin hair sniffing to get to that point."

Wilf is not going to aks he knows when to keep his mouth in check.

Melata becomes serious, "Really, unless you really want to be a goldrider or full-time Weyrleader, what color you ride isn't really as important as the character you are trying to grow. The dragon becomes, well, window-dressing. REally big window-dressing with not so good breath, true, but that is the basic truth from how I see it."

Rilsa nods.

You say "If there are any questions for Rilsa? :)"

Tavrie smiles and shakes her head.

[The game broke after this point. -- We will attempt to get bronze and gold up on the site if a rescheduling of the latter half of the meeting is impossible.]



Josilina
Everyone - or nearly everyone - has heard the gold horror stories. Staying up late for nights on end, juggling more people and duties than anyone should have to deal with, and having your every move under a microscope. But in my experience, at least here at High Reaches Weyr, it never gets that bad. That said, there will be things you have to do. The very distinct thing about Impressing a gold is that rank is automatic. With any other color, even bronze, you can opt out of taking a position with IC and/or OOC responsibilities. And there are truths in the stories: if you ride gold you'll have to talk to people you don't want to deal with, and you'll have to work with them anyway, polite all the while. You'll have tough situations, and you'll have to lay down the law when no one else wants to. But we also have a strong administrative team in place and there'll always be people you can go to for advice and support, particularly as an incoming junior (but, really, at any stage: even as senior I've turned to fellow staff members for help; it's just not something you can do solo.)

I'm not trying to sway anyone one way or the other in regards to applying gold. I do, however, encourage any and all applicants considering it to make sure it's what they want. Before I made my final decision about applying for gold I had a couple conversations with Matheny, Yenne (a junior at the time), and even a couple non-goldriders, and it was getting to ask questions and have an actual conversation that made me confident in my decision. As I see it, you can become a huge, contributing part of the community without gold, maybe even contribute more since you're less in the spotlight. But if gold's something you really want, try for it. It's a fairly unique position and HRW is, I've found, a good place to take it on. We have a lot of knowledgeable, helpful people on staff and in the Weyr in general. But yes, the sum of my advice is: talk to people (personally I'll be glad to chat with whoever wants), and make sure it's something you're really willing to commit time and (a lot of) patience too.



Satiet
Riding gold, like all other colors, is one where people's mileage varies depending on their character as well as what they are prepared to handle OOCly. Truth be told, when I applied with Satiet, I applied with a concept I thought might not meet with much approval: a contentious, snobby, basically 'Mean Girl'. I applied with the hopes of being a predominately IC and very plot-oriented goldrider - but soon found myself wanting to assist here and there, be it code, plots, general admin foo, in whatever way/means possible for me. The fact that I don't get out to RP as often as I did before has as little to do with OOC adminfoo as much as how much my RL has exploded with work promotions since I first Impressed. Never fret, RP is still, as always, the top thing on my MUSH to do list and the top thing I think junior goldriders should be capable of doing: create interesting and enthusiastic RP.

ICly, goldriding has shaped my little fireball into something that stays true to who she was, but she's grown - it's hard not to after eight years when you have responsibilities, dreams, and rather ambitious aspirations, and has been shaped by the people she's interacted with and events that have happened. It's specifically opened doors to her that she would never have imagined could be real and allowed her to aspire even higher. In the end, Pern is a hierarchical society and there are opportunities for a goldrider (ICly), that a fisherman's wife would never have.

To wit, I have never felt burdened by or found my RP time cut short by my OOC duties at High Reaches. It might be many reasons, but mostly, I think we're pretty laid back here when it comes to administration. Even so, there are a few guidelines I like to follow riding gold here, though these pertain to almost any color: It's a game and should be for fun. :) That's it. Every rule of thumb that follows after goes back to that gem. Be professional in OOC dealings. Be courteous and remember the person you're paging might be having just as hellacious of a day as you (and if you are having that bad of a day, get thee to a bubble bath instead!). RP, RP, RP. Sometimes, _sometimes_, I admit sacrifices have to be made, part of the job (whether actually assumed or presumed by others) but those instances should be rare and far between rather than the rule and when things stop being enjoyable, it's time to step back and take stock of the situation.

There are definite OOC aspects to goldriding, that's undeniable whether you choose to be involved OOCly or not. Even as a junior, you have to be aware that one day, maybe never, but maybe some day, you might step up to be senior - but it shouldn't dictate who your character is, or more importantly, your RL. All the other OOC stuff? It's gravy. You can learn how to code, how to build, how to desc, how to use spellchecks, how to run Search, and whatever else your heart might desire, or find a splendid staff that can balance out your positives -- but you can do that with just about any character as it is an active decision whether or not to commit OOCly to that stuff. In the end, basically, it's about having fun and interweaving stories together in an intriguing fashion.