Ew Speaks! On Proto Energy
Entry posted by EmperorWhenua
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Proto Energy: What Is It and What Does it Mean for You?
Proto. We all want it. Some have more, some have less, others are just at the dead center. But why? Why are some people so eager to have it? And furthermore, what does it mean to have it?
Well, let's start with an example. Member Asdfg has just joined BZPower and is brand new to the system. He's a good member, has been tutored through by a Greeter-- errr, Mentor, and he's doing pretty good with a couple dozen posts so far. He's a nice member of average maturity and excitable brain, basically what one would expect of a member of his standing. He's a, what, Tohunga? Yeah, a Tohunga. He looks around, and ooh! Orange! What's this? Oooooh, "Outstanding Citizen!" He must be something special. What does this member do? He compares. He sees the big difference is that he's got 0 proto and this member, who we shall dub EW, has a full bar, or 5 proto. He's fairly impressed (remember, he's excitable).
Here's a question for you: Who doesn't wanna be outstanding? When in school, don't you love it when the teacher comes by, slides a quiz on and says "Outstanding work, Doofus"? By the way, your name is Doofus-- she wasn't calling you anything demeaning. Anyway, everyone likes praise, and the word "outstanding" is synonymous for praise. Naturally, just as you were when you were in Asdfg's position, you longed to be deemed fitting for the entitlement of being an "Outstanding Citizen." It's natural to want to be the best, to be the greatest. Little Asdfg, being human, is no exception.
So, what next for our little adventurer? He tried to get to the top, at first being a Captain Obvious (Dundunduuuun!) and pointing out the most obvious rule violations. This didn't get him anywhere, as saying "This is spam (hurr)" only got a staffer to tell him "This was not needed (durr)."Finally, he starts reporting, and he does well, squeezing in a couple reports every week or so, even if they were a week or so late. He tries his best.
OHMIGAWSH! A PM! It's from a staffer! It's-- a proto reduction. Awww, mannn. He tried to hard! Political discussion, apparently. Bummer, dude.
We'll get back to Asdfg in a moment. But for now, let's take a peek at what Proto is in the first place. It's a reward system. a merit system, and a sign of helpfulness, right? Well, not entirely. See, the proto system is indeed a merit system in that it shows that you've helped BZPower, but by no means is it an accurate measurement. Let me ask you this: who helped BZPower most? The member who send in money three times ($33 total) and got boosted the whole way, or the member who gave two valid news reports, countless signature reports, and hundreds of post reports and was given boosts according to his help? They both got treated the same in the end. Obviously, we'd say "the second guy-- he really helped" and you'd be correct. The first guy got proto because he gave money, not because he's up to snuff or anything. But, again, they look the same in the end. They're both active members, post a lot, have their blogs, all that jazz. What's more, member Asdfg looks up to them both because of their proto.
The point of this is to show that proto is not equal. Anyone can become an Outstanding Citizen, anyone, but that doesn't make them actually outstanding. Members, like Asdfg, look up to them because of what they are, not what they did to become what they are. The moral, however, is more harsh: proto doesn't matter.
It doesn't. Why? Well, aside from the fact that it's just pixels in a virtual reality, it really is useless. I've seen truly great members in regular Arial font and I've seen absolute fools in bold orange. How much proto you have doesn't indicate how great a member you are. But Asdfg and other like him don't understand that, and most people don't even teach that.
This is where people confuse being Outstanding with being outstanding. One of a couple fallacies appear: 1) the member assumes that by becoming Outstanding one becomes outstanding, or 2) the member assumes all Outstandings are outstanding. Since neither is an absolute, they are fallacies. But people buy them, because they sorta make sense to them.
My point: Proto isn't a balanced system and cannot be used to determine the actual quality of the member.
Back to little Asdfg. He's gotten over his loss of pixelly goodness and he's back. He's mproved a bit, and he's actually doing pertty good. He's bought a Premier Membership package, posts responsibly, etc. He still sees members in orange as being the best, though, and he's still aiming for that climax of his BZP career.
Asdfg seems to be doing fine, so back on the subject of proto for now. What does it mean to be Outstanding? It means you're supposed to be outstanding. You're among the best of the members, you're one of the most qualified in their groups. Maybe you're an artist or a veteral writer, or maybe a roleplaying god or a forum old guard. Or maybe you're just a brand new Outstanding Citizen and you're a bit clueless as to how you got there. You -- we -- have no actual duties, per se (unless you're a Judge or something similar, like me, in which case you do have duties =P), but you do have an obligation: to be a role model. Members like Asdfg will copy you, will look up to you, will listen to you. If you say "Yeahh, doing this is almost against the rules, but it's fun and funny and I like it," hey, guess what, people are gonna copy you and do it, too. Is this good? Is it bad? It's like a computer: it can go both ways, so long as it's used responsibly.
Being an Outstanding Citizen means you gotta act your best, obey the rules, and show how being a member is done. Not just any member, an outstanding member. It's awesome. Bottom line: if you're an Outstanding Citizen, act like one. All eyes are on you. You da man. And if you're not, act like one anyway. Being an outstanding member isn't something shown by a title, it's shown by how you are, how you act, what you do and how you do it.
Asdfg has received full proto after two years of being good and helpful. He's now the one showing the example. He's the one being the really outstanding member. Maybe someday he'll be blue or green. Anything is possible for anyone.
~EW~
About the author: EmperorWhenua, also known as Rene, became an Outstanding Citizen in summer of '08. He's received only one actual proto boost out of merit; the rest was bought. He considers himself an old guard member because he's outspoken about what he considers the real way of a member. Sometimes emotional, sometimes vindictive, he's always level-headed and likes to think of himself as the epitome of the average, struggling member. He doesn't think of himself as any better than Asdfg, though sometimes will need a little schooling. A COT RPG Judge, he's one of the most famed roleplayers on the site, though he's still clueless as to why. EmperorWhenua lives in his house on Earth and enjoys debating, hiking, and reading. You can reach him by commenting in the box below.
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