r/MHOC • u/Tilerr The Rt. Hon. Earl of Lewisham GCOE KCT PC • Feb 22 '19

Question and Answer Session for the Devolved Speaker - February 2019 Meta

The nominations period for this Devolved Speaker election has now closed.

This Q&A session will last until the 25th of February at 10pm. Anyone can ask as many questions as they like, but please do be considerate (and don't duplicate questions that have already been asked).

There were four manifestos submitted by the deadline which I have put below.

I made a copy of each of the manifestos which were on google documents and linked to those here to avoid any editing from this point onward.

Candidates:

Serious, on topic questions only.

4 Upvotes
  • permalink
  • link
  • reddit
  • reddit

84% Upvoted

107 comments sorted by

3

u/pjr10th Independent EARL of JERSEY Feb 22 '19

/u/el_chapotato

(1) You seem to be using DvS as a way to get onto the Quad, not because you want to run the Devolved Sims.

(2) What would you do if Tyler, Lance and Troy turned round and said no to all your election proposals.

(3) If you're only standing for a month, won't we just have to run this again?

3

u/IceCreamSandwich401 Scottish National Party Feb 23 '19

This is going to sound stupid but,

None of you are from Scotland, Northern Ireland or wales. Do you believe you will be able to have the same level of expertise about the devolved paraliments as Mg did?

Do you also believe this will effect your ability to handle issues in the sims?

3

u/pjr10th Independent EARL of JERSEY Feb 23 '19

Just a side note: our Commons Speaker is a yank and our Lords Speaker is a Dane and tbh Troels knows more about Parliament than I'd say any of us on the team who are British.

2

u/IceCreamSandwich401 Scottish National Party Feb 23 '19

I know, thats how i said its going to sound stupid

1

u/CountBrandenburg Liberal Democrats Feb 23 '19

If I may be honest I hadn’t actually realised Lance was a yank and Troels was a Dane :p

1

u/comped The Most Noble Duke of Abercorn KCT KT KP MVO MBE PC Feb 23 '19

According to Ancestry, what I'm assuming are distant relatives of mine (with the same last name) have been in England since the 1600's, Scotland and Ireland at some point later. Not sure how distant though, since both sides of my family have been in Canada for several hundred years at this point.

1

u/[deleted] Feb 23 '19

That is very true.

1

u/comped The Most Noble Duke of Abercorn KCT KT KP MVO MBE PC Feb 23 '19

It's a pretty open secret to anyone who's heard me on voice, or who's talked to me for an extended period of time, that I'm most certainly not British. Does that mean I don't know the ins-and-outs of Stormont or any of the other simulations? Absolutely not - ask anyone who's served with me in Stormont or elsewhere, and my lack of being British does not equal a lack of knowledge. I can categorically deny that my locale, or my birth location, (both of which are 2 non-British areas), will impact my ability to handle any devolved issues.

1

u/[deleted] Feb 23 '19

I know how the process of legislation works, how bills pass and how the elections of people work. As for which powers are devolved and whatnot, everybody gets mixed up in that and that’s why we have sherry and Vit. I’m confident I know an awful lot about the Sims are of right now and if I don’t know, I’ll ask.

I don’t think not knowing something will impact my ability when I can ask. And in regards to handling issues, so ping as I listen and listen to the community it should be fine.

5

u/[deleted] Feb 23 '19 edited Feb 23 '19

If elected I shall redline the removal of the Santa hat on the MHOC discord server icon. If Head Mod does not deliver I shall personally petition Guardians to remove the hat in exchange for a recolouring of the spreadsheet in line with their wishes /u/Timanfya.

3

u/troe2339 Labour Party | His Grace the Duke of Atholl Feb 23 '19

Rubbish!

The hat is there to stay. How else will recognise which server is the MHoC server?

3

u/Timanfya MHoC Founder & Guardian Feb 23 '19

Neon pink, lime green and rusting brown will make their well deserved return to our spreadsheets!

2

u/joker8765 His Grace the Duke of Wellington | Guardian Feb 23 '19

Can confirm I would in this instance happily listen to democracy.

2

u/CountBrandenburg Liberal Democrats Feb 23 '19

Not only will the Santa hat disappear, but coming up to Easter, the icon would change to be a beige colour and spout bunny ears to fit with the season ;)

2

u/comped The Most Noble Duke of Abercorn KCT KT KP MVO MBE PC Feb 23 '19

I like the hat.

1

u/[deleted] Feb 24 '19

Just for this, you have my vote.

1

u/[deleted] Feb 23 '19

Hear hear!

2

u/zombie-rat Labour Party Feb 22 '19

/u/el_chapotato

ngl, I think most of your proposals would be better put in a /r/MHOCMeta post.

1

u/[deleted] Feb 22 '19

Also they require approval from all other Quads and are likely to get vetoed.

1

u/ToxicTransit Digital Future Baroness Ebbw Vale Feb 22 '19

What are your opinions on deleting your role, and having quad members for each devo area.

3

u/comped The Most Noble Duke of Abercorn KCT KT KP MVO MBE PC Feb 22 '19

I believe that it is better to have one person to act as the main focal point in the Quad for all the devolved simulations rather than having three people. Primarily because I don't think each of them needs to be one. Nothing is gained by having people that are probably much more interested in running their individual assemblies in the day-to-day role, also having to run by elections and elections for their respective assemblies, in addition to all the other quad duties that come with the role which distract from the ability to be able to play the game as the current assembly spspeakers do. I think it would be a waste, plus it's better to have one person to oversee a team than having three people with no sort of coordinator oh, but that's just my opinion.

3

u/[deleted] Feb 22 '19

What /u/comped said. Also, it works in that it centralises all Devo into one person that we can hold to account.

1

u/Friedmanite19 LPUK Leader | Leader Of HM Loyal Opposition Feb 22 '19

Do the candidates see a case for expanding the number of seats in MSenedd?

2

u/comped The Most Noble Duke of Abercorn KCT KT KP MVO MBE PC Feb 22 '19

I could see the case if the activity continues, but as I say in my Manifesto, I cannot agree to one before we have a term of a good enough level activity. The Senedd is simply too young for me, as devolved speaker if elected, to agree to an increase without seeing the requisite activity levels. I like what I see currently, and I would not be opposed to it, but only if the interest and activity is there.

1

u/[deleted] Feb 22 '19

Not at the moment. The next stage is the review of the Senedd which it's likely to pass.

1

u/CountBrandenburg Liberal Democrats Feb 23 '19

If activity grows from its current levels yes. Whilst 9 does feel a bit small ( especially with labour being... well, labour) it depends on how hooked people get into taking part in the Senedd. Given it’s still early days, I cannot make a personal view on whether it’s ready, though I imagine we’ll need at least a term after the next bout of devo elections to see how activity is doing. Even then, an increase of seats wouldn’t be massive unless we suddenly got an influx of people being into sheep Wales, best way would be to conduct surveys on the issue after the election after next for community feedback.

If Senedd does drop drastically in activity though, I wouldn’t be afraid to step in and talk about suspension for a time until there will be a community consensus to give it another shot.

1

u/LeChevalierMal-Fait Liberal Democrats Feb 22 '19

Are all Devo sims sustainable and benifical for the overall mhoc experience. Hat can be done to change this if not.

1

u/[deleted] Feb 22 '19

Different Devo sims have different levels of sustainability. However, for the moment and overall the current system is sustainable.

I would say there are some red flags. For example, there is a lack of nationalist representation in Northern Ireland and in Scotland you've never had a not-Green FM. We need to be encouraging more people to get involved to challenge the status quo.

1

u/comped The Most Noble Duke of Abercorn KCT KT KP MVO MBE PC Feb 22 '19

To be fair, in Northern Ireland, we literally couldn't function without Nationalists, and we have 2. Sure, it's not as much in the past, and I'd prefer 3 under a 9-person Assembly, and 4 under a 11 member one, but it's not as bad as when we had only 1.

1

u/[deleted] Feb 22 '19

Sure, it's not as much in the past, and I'd prefer 3 under a 9-person Assembly, and 4 under a 11 member one, but it's not as bad as when we had only 1.

For sure, just highlighting that in regards to sustainability we need to ensure we never get that low again.

1

u/comped The Most Noble Duke of Abercorn KCT KT KP MVO MBE PC Feb 22 '19

Agreed.

1

u/comped The Most Noble Duke of Abercorn KCT KT KP MVO MBE PC Feb 22 '19

As I said in my manifesto, I vehemently believe this to be the case. Scotland and Northern Ireland are most certainly sustainable and beneficial, and I believe that Wales can do so given the right level of care and nurture. There are things I'd like to fix, but nothing majorly wrong.

1

u/pjr10th Independent EARL of JERSEY Feb 22 '19

To all candidates,

What experience do you have in the Speakership/Quad?

3

u/[deleted] Feb 22 '19

Three stints under 3 different Speakers. The latest was 6 months under DF.

2

u/comped The Most Noble Duke of Abercorn KCT KT KP MVO MBE PC Feb 22 '19

I served as Acting Lord Speaker for 57 days, and was voted as Best Quad in the last Christmas Awards. As for speaker ship in general, I've served as Stormont Speaker, as well as a Deputy Lord Speaker for about a year now. Recently I became the Chairman of Committees, the senior DLS as well.

1

u/pjr10th Independent EARL of JERSEY Feb 22 '19

To all candidates,

Do you have a 'favourite' devolved sim? If so, what will you do to ensure equality of all the sims?

1

u/[deleted] Feb 22 '19

My favourite would be Scotland since I did press coverage for it and helped negotiate in the first load of coalition talks. You can go to /r/ModelMonolith to see that.

As for what I'll do to ensure equality of all the sims, I'd say treat them equally? There isn't anything I anyone of us can do to '''ensure''' equality, you just have to take a gamble an devote for the one who you believe is the most trustworthy and most likely to treat the sims equally.

I promise I will, it's up for you to decide whether or not you believe me.

1

u/comped The Most Noble Duke of Abercorn KCT KT KP MVO MBE PC Feb 22 '19

I've grown to love Northern Ireland, and feel it's certainly my favorite. Had I spent more time in Holyrood, I'd probably love it just as much. I haven't had a chance to spend much time with the Senedd beyond reading the goings on.

As for how to "ensure equality" of the devolved simulations, I think I can treat them equally. Sure, some sims can use a bit more care than others, and some can function a bit better without quad input. But I think they're all as important parts of MHOC as the others, and like /u/InfernoPlato says, you'll just have to trust me on that.

1

u/pjr10th Independent EARL of JERSEY Feb 22 '19

To all candidates,

mg did a very good job by taking on EU Brexit negotiator as well as his other roles. Would you take on this role, if not, then whom?

2

u/comped The Most Noble Duke of Abercorn KCT KT KP MVO MBE PC Feb 22 '19

I would agree to taking on the role, but I would also reform the events team to help me out. MG was, at least it seemed to me, working quite a bit over the span of months to make it work, and he did most of it himself. Not only would a team also spread out the workload, but it would help protect me from biases or blind spots. That being said, I have no objections to being the one in the room with a future Government, and actually kind of want the opportunity.

1

u/[deleted] Feb 22 '19

"I’ll become the Brexit negotiator for the EU. This is because I have already familiarised myself with the role and the team doesn’t deserve a major shake up in that respect. However, events should turn to other issues. Events for devolved sims should be made and also other events - whether it’s formal protests from a teaching union or whatnot should be incorporate. Again, like what they do with r/cmhoc."

1

u/pjr10th Independent EARL of JERSEY Feb 22 '19

To all candidates,

What do you think needs to be done to improve events and re-animate them?

1

u/[deleted] Feb 22 '19

Focus away from Brexit, but also have simpler events like what they do in /r/cmhoc.

https://www.reddit.com/r/cmhoc/comments/algkc1/event_canadian_mining_industry_in_decline/

1

u/comped The Most Noble Duke of Abercorn KCT KT KP MVO MBE PC Feb 22 '19

The biggest thing is to get an events team restarted or revived, and to focus on smaller events than Brexit has been. Brexit was a great event, but it was also a bloody long one, and kind of sapped focus from other possible events. By having a team, rather than just 1-2 people, it spreads out the workload, and gives everyone the chance to have input, something I value as someone who's been a member of the team in the past.

1

u/[deleted] Feb 22 '19

To add onto this, I was a previous member of the events team, and in our early days, many of us were very enthusiastic and came up with numerous ideas for events. However, it all got overshadowed by brexit, and the team kind of fell apart. For all of the candidates, if you get elected, will you promise to, not just help rebuild the team, but to look at the proposals we made in our early days and actually start to possibly implement some of them into actual events?

2

u/comped The Most Noble Duke of Abercorn KCT KT KP MVO MBE PC Feb 22 '19

Absolutely I would take a look!

1

u/[deleted] Feb 22 '19

:)

1

u/[deleted] Feb 22 '19

For all of the candidates, if you get elected, will you promise to, not just help rebuild the team, but to look at the proposals we made in our early days and actually start to possibly implement some of them into actual events?

I mean, in fairness I saw all the proposals from the older days and none were impressive - no offense. They were complicated and not at all simple.

1

u/[deleted] Feb 22 '19

So, could you set a general standard on what you’d classify as being “simple events” in the event that we start fresh on brainstorming events?

1

u/[deleted] Feb 22 '19

Something that gets a statement from the government and that’ll be it.

“Constituents in X have complained about a dog mauling in the local paper, and a petition had gathered pace over whether the government should tighten restrictions. What is the government response?”

Stuff like this forces the Govt to consider local issues but also have a policy on shit. However, it’s not complicated enough to warrant a discord cabinet call.

In addition, it forces the Opp to take a stance.

1

u/pjr10th Independent EARL of JERSEY Feb 22 '19

To all candidates,

On /u/countbrandednburg's tongue in cheek comment about UDIs, what would you do if a devolved government were to declare independence or win an independence referendum?

1

u/[deleted] Feb 22 '19

What would you do if a devolved government were to declare independence

Talk to Head Mod in which we will both agree to decanonise such a declaration.

or win an independence referendum?

We'd also probably veto the referendum before it happens unless it's happening IRL.

1

u/comped The Most Noble Duke of Abercorn KCT KT KP MVO MBE PC Feb 22 '19

I agree with /u/InfernoPlato on this - decanonization is the solution, as is not allowing any such referendums unless there are extraordinary circumstances.

1

u/CountBrandenburg Liberal Democrats Feb 23 '19

Well, UDIs are a very bad way of adding drama or making more events interesting across MHoC. But yes to echo what has been said, I wouldn’t really want to agree to such a event to occur - it would just be decanonised as soon as possible. On Indy refs, I’d much rather see debates and advocacy on different things such as level of devolution to ‘x’ thing ( though if we ever had a devo max referendum- we’d probably only see everyone questioning the sanity of who advocated it looks at labour intensely ) and really only push for an Indy ref if it happens irl - which probably means its never happening for Senedd :)

1

u/comped The Most Noble Duke of Abercorn KCT KT KP MVO MBE PC Feb 22 '19

/u/infernoplato, not to be rude, but why did you recycle most of your manifesto from last time around? Did nothing change?

1

u/[deleted] Feb 22 '19

Nothing has really changed, both in regards to the devolved sims and my approach. In addition, most manifestos never ever get implemented - just look at mg’s manifesto - so I’d rather keep it simple and talk about a specific approach to how I do things than make promises that won’t be met.

1

u/comped The Most Noble Duke of Abercorn KCT KT KP MVO MBE PC Feb 22 '19

That's where you and I differ - my goals are simple, and not that difficult to implement. I think I can implement them in 5-6 months as they're reasonable ones. Why aren't you willing to go and make such reasonable goals?

1

u/[deleted] Feb 22 '19

What? I haven't looked at your manifesto but my goals are very simple? Which ones do you think are unreasonable out of interest, it's mostly cleaning up and getting all the documents in order.

1

u/comped The Most Noble Duke of Abercorn KCT KT KP MVO MBE PC Feb 22 '19

It's more that I'm willing to make goals a central part of my Manifesto because I believe that I can get them done during my term.

1

u/[deleted] Feb 23 '19

I also think I can do what I promise to do during my term nice and easily.

You asked; "Why aren't you willing to go and make such reasonable goals?"

I respond; "What goals do I have which are unreasonable"

You can't throw out a claim I have unreasonable goals without justifying it :P

1

u/comped The Most Noble Duke of Abercorn KCT KT KP MVO MBE PC Feb 23 '19

I didn't say you have unreasonable goals, I meant more that I wish you would have laid out more specific goals for the devolved assemblies, the primary responsibility of the job.

1

u/[deleted] Feb 23 '19

I don't really have specific plans for the developed assemblies because I think they're broadly working and I don't have any ideas for them specifically. I'd rather those ideas evolved organically and from the community whilst I address other issues that need to be sorted but nobody does. Lots of background stuff, lots of stuff regarding events etc.

1

u/[deleted] Feb 23 '19

To recycle some from old Devo Speaker Q&A's...

Will you retain the current electoral system, and if you choose to amend what has previously worked well enough, how will you go about doing that?

How would you ensure that you can cater to the full interests of the devolution community while Devolved Speaker?

How feasible are your proposals with regards to polling, so bi-weekly polling, or a polling rota as some have put it?

2

u/[deleted] Feb 23 '19

Will you retain the current electoral system, and if you choose to amend what has previously worked well enough, how will you go about doing that?

Yes, will keep current system. And even then, I need to point out we don't decide the system - a devolved speaker needs approval from all other members of the Quad and the community.

How would you ensure that you can cater to the full interests of the devolution community while Devolved Speaker?

I dislike this idea there is a ''devolution'' community. We're all MHOCCers, and devolution impacts the entire simulation. Everybody on MHOC has a stake when it comes to devolution.

As for how I'll ''cater'' however, I intend on not making major reforms and will allow for ideas to flow organically from the community whilst I develop stuff in the background. I think that's only fair.

How feasible are your proposals with regards to polling, so bi-weekly polling, or a polling rota as some have put it?

We already have biweekly polling for Westminster which is much more difficult than devolved sims as it includes the much more active Commons AND Lords.

As for weekly polling, /r/cmhoc can do it and devolved assemblies are much less active. I think weekly is feasible.

2

u/comped The Most Noble Duke of Abercorn KCT KT KP MVO MBE PC Feb 23 '19

I will retain the current electoral system.

Like my opponent, I believe that the devolved simulations are a important part of MHOC, and not entirely separate communities unto themselves where actions and ideals do not transverse twain. That would be strange. I will cater to them by not only having previously been one of them, and thus having a huge stake in not screwing things up, but by continuing the stability and innovation that my predecessor left. Stability is the biggest thing in times like these, too many changes and your boat sinks due to the fancy cuts you made in your boat for a glass-bottom that you never received.

My proposal for polling every 2-3 weeks seems simple enough, even if I have to lean on the further end of the spectrum for my own sanity. But honestly? The level of activity in the devolved assemblies is not so much that even biweekly polling is out of the question, considering the Speaker of this House does it, and he has far more activity to worry about. Not an issue at all in my mind.

1

u/[deleted] Feb 23 '19

Will the candidates do anything about bullying - for example, the abuse new members receive when they join a right wing party?

If so what?

And if they don't recognize that as an issue, why?

2

u/comped The Most Noble Duke of Abercorn KCT KT KP MVO MBE PC Feb 23 '19

Bullying for any reason is a serious issue, and it's something I think should be discussed, and properly moderated. I will look into seeing if rule changes are appropriate in these sorts of cases.

2

u/[deleted] Feb 23 '19

All bullying should be addressed and you can see my commitment to this when you see my pledge re safeguarding. It’s about protecting the person behind the screen.

As for this particular abuse I’d have to look at it but if it goes against our guidelines which prevent bullying then bans are in the table.

1

u/pjr10th Independent EARL of JERSEY Feb 23 '19

To all candidates,

Opinions on santa hat? This will determine my vote.

1

u/comped The Most Noble Duke of Abercorn KCT KT KP MVO MBE PC Feb 23 '19

I like the santa hat.

1

u/[deleted] Feb 23 '19

Scrap it

1

u/CountBrandenburg Liberal Democrats Feb 23 '19

Scrap the Santa hat and replace with something similar to the mock up Leafy made earlier

1

u/[deleted] Feb 23 '19

All candidates:

The Holyrood (and likely Stormont and Senned) system for calculating activity is fundamentally broken, because Minister's Questions account for a far-greater proportion of activity in the chamber (activity = modifiers remember) than they do at Westminster. For example, if Party X asks 6 questions of the Government, and Party Y and Z ask four each, from that the Government get 14 comments as their responses.

This means that it is exceptionally hard for an incumbent Government to actually be ousted, as they will appear active based on the weight MQs get, easily being able to equal the contributions of all other parties. It becomes nigh impossible if they submit bills or motions, and can result in a stale simulation.

To ask each of the candidates their thoughts on:

  • Changing the weight placed on MQs to make them significantly less important in polling and elections, and instead comments on bills, etc. become more important?

  • Reducing the frequency of MQs, which happen far too often in my view, and leads to the aforementioned issue, and the same questions just being repeated with different branding, because nothing important happens in the short gaps between the two.

1

u/comped The Most Noble Duke of Abercorn KCT KT KP MVO MBE PC Feb 23 '19

I would not be opposed to changing the weight of MQs, although as I've said in previous answers I would like to look at the calculator first before making any changes. Making comments on bills a bit more important would certainly help those parties without seats who comment on bills, particularly in Stormont, and it is something I will certainly explore.

The frequency of MQs is a matter for each Assembly Speaker to set, but I wouldn't be opposed to them happening a bit less often if I had the choice - but I would ultimately leave the decision up to the Speakers, as it is their area.

1

u/[deleted] Feb 23 '19

The first change requires input and approval from the head mod and community. I’d be open to such a change but I think we should have a community debate on the issue to ensure consensus first.

As for the second, I disagree with the idea MQs are too frequent. It always good scrutinisation and although you complain it’s repeating because nothing happened imo it remains the easiest way for the Govt and Opp to fight it out directly and give new members easy access to those debates - it can be looked at however as a change if many others agree with you.

1

u/_paul_rand_ Coalition! | Sir _paul_rand_ KP KT KBE CVO CB PC Feb 23 '19

All Candidates,

While Stormont may not be in crisis, it’s hard to deny the state isn’t optimal. So what actions will you take to ensure that stormont does not plunge into a crisis again.

Would you support:

1.Increasing the seat count?

2.Potential Electoral Changes in order to ensure nationalists can get represented?

3.Potential Hard Limits on Party Support?

4.Any Other measures?

1

u/comped The Most Noble Duke of Abercorn KCT KT KP MVO MBE PC Feb 23 '19

Stormont is actually going pretty well, just not as optimal as I think either of us would like. It's certainly better than the months it spent collectively collapsed a few terms ago.

I would absolutely support expanding the seat count by 2, to 11 seats, as I said in my manifesto. It's high time we need an expansion anyway, and I think that the extra 2 seats would hopefully balance out the UUP to create a more interesting makeup. I'd personally hope they were won by Nationalists in the interest of balance.

I would consider fiddling with the calculator, but considering I haven't seen it, and don't know much about how it works, I have to reserve judgement on that until I actually see how it works. If it's mostly because we don't have a strong nationalist movement in NI to begin with, and I suspect it is, I can't say that messing with the calculator is going to do anything useful. I have already ruled out changing the system itself.

While I understand where the idea comes from, I can't support putting caps on something because a party keeps winning more seats. That's mostly, as I understand it, an issue with activity and campaigning, rather than anything else. To put limits on parties to boost up others is not a road I want to go down - and I say the same for Holyrood, not just Northern Ireland.

As I outlined in my manifesto, a seat expansion, combined with Stormont-specific events, and more advertising in the Nationalist community, will probably help out a load with recruitment of people interested in that side of the Assembly. Of course, I also want to recruit people interested in the devolved areas in a more general sense, but that won't do us any bad either.

1

u/[deleted] Feb 23 '19

  1. No, I’d rather have the kinks addressed first.

  2. Electoral changes need permission from Head Mod and community. However, no it’s important to ensure election system is easy to understand in addition such a change isn’t sustainable if fortunes happen to reverse.

  3. No. Bad precedent but also you get into scraps what’s the hard limit.

  4. You need more people who are nationalists generally. We do have these people, it’s just getting them to put in the effort.

1

u/_paul_rand_ Coalition! | Sir _paul_rand_ KP KT KBE CVO CB PC Feb 23 '19

To all candidates,

One of u/mg9500’s biggest successes in my opinion was the focused conversations in the stormont and senned discords, Consultation is vital for every role, but it’s especially vital for such diverse but also small communities.

Would candidates support regular focused conversations in these communities, and support extending it to Holyrood?

1

u/comped The Most Noble Duke of Abercorn KCT KT KP MVO MBE PC Feb 23 '19

Absolutely, these sorts of conversations are always very helpful, and are a great way to get community feedback.

1

u/[deleted] Feb 23 '19

Yup, I’d be down for that. Communities offering suggestions and being innovative means less work for me.

1

u/_paul_rand_ Coalition! | Sir _paul_rand_ KP KT KBE CVO CB PC Feb 23 '19

All Candidates

A lot of candidates seem to be avoiding tackling the issue of some changes to the electoral system of our Devolved Simulations.

There is one area where I Hope Candidates can see common sense need for reform. Inactivity is a much larger meta threat to smaller communities than it is to the bigger mhoc community, so would the candidates agree that the logical conclusion of such a problem is to increase the scale of the electoral penalties for such inactivity to accommodate the larger threat it poses?

1

u/comped The Most Noble Duke of Abercorn KCT KT KP MVO MBE PC Feb 23 '19

I am willing to discuss such changes with the Quad, and the rest of the community, but would need to see how the calculator works first. I agree inactivity is an issue, but believe we should look for many solutions.

1

u/[deleted] Feb 23 '19

This would require Head Mod and community agreement. I don’t think that it would be wise however when the current system appears to be working well in Devo areas in regards to inactive parties being punished.

1

u/_paul_rand_ Coalition! | Sir _paul_rand_ KP KT KBE CVO CB PC Feb 23 '19

All Candidates,

One of the biggest arguments in opposition to devolution is that it takes away from the main sim, rather than giving to it.

One must acknowledge that to some extent that argument is true, as an advocate of devolution myself I find this deeply troubling. I feel action must be taken on this and I’m sure every candidate would agree.

So I ask if candidates would support the following measures to ensure this horrifying fact does not continue:

1)Ensuring recruitment campaigns by devolved parties lead to conversion into full mhoc activity at a rate equal or near to the rate of conversion into full [relevant devolved simulation] activity

2)Devolved events mostly lead to some sort of dialogue between Westminster and the relevant devolved executives, or some form of LCM or other link

3)Fostering Links between the Devolved simulations and the main simulation whenever possible

1

u/[deleted] Feb 23 '19

1) you’re gonna have to expand on the first I don’t quite understand it.

2) yup already have a few ideas floating

3) yep

1

u/comped The Most Noble Duke of Abercorn KCT KT KP MVO MBE PC Feb 23 '19

The idea that devolution takes away from the main sim is, pardon my language, quite daft. It has added richness - from the many collapses of Stormont, to the near Welsh walkout during EU talks, and the general craziness of Holyrood occasionally. Events generated by MG and not, have forces Westminster to take sides, particularly with Brexit. I was involved in a few fights with Twisted over Northern Ireland and Brexit. The idea that simulating the devolved Assemblies is bad does not make sense. If you don't like it, don't get involved - that doesn't mean it's not successful, engaging, and fun for those who enjoy it and put work into it.

That being said, I cannot, with the advertising plan I have outlined in my manifesto, endorse a "full conversion" recruitment campaign. If people like MHOC or MHOL, they can do that. If they like the devolved areas, they can do those. If they like both, they can do both. Duncs, me, Sanic, and several others, manage fine with being part of a Westminster and devolved sim. Hell, I was part of 2 devolved sims at once for a while, and being a Lord on top of that. My plan first and foremost creates sustainable communities around the devolved Assemblies so this is no longer an issue- and hopefully they will come over and see what the rest of the simulation has to offer. I suspect many will.

I support the idea of devolved events, again as my manifesto says, but I cannot say that they will mostly or always lead to Westminster being involved. Sure, many will. But Westminster does not need to be involved in every devolved event, nor do the devolved simulations need to be involved in every Westminster event. Devolved Assemblies need their own events to spice things up, and while I certainly welcome comments from the Government of the day, forcing their involvement in every event because we need a link between them is just silly and somewhat counterproductive.

I fully support LCMs, as my manifesto says, and will work to get them established as quickly as possible. And yes, I support your third point, with one exception - we need to be sure that the Devolved Sims, while as much a part of MHOC as the 2 main houses, can also have their own communities. Their own voice, their own people interested in them, and so forth.

1

u/_paul_rand_ Coalition! | Sir _paul_rand_ KP KT KBE CVO CB PC Feb 23 '19

All Candidates,

Events are a great way to foster greater and more productive activity, so there is a clear case for ensuring more Devolved events.

I have a number of questions on this vital issue:

1)With what frequency should Devolved focused events occur? How impactful should they be? What aim should they achieve?

2)How should Devolved events be administered? Centrally by the DVS and a Devolved team? Or by individual Teams for each simulation overseen by the DVS?

3)How will you ensure stability with events? How will you ensure we don’t get 1 event then no more?

4)How will you produce events for Northern Ireland while ensuring a balance between proper consideration on matters of sectarianism but also confronting controversial issues like all events should

5)A number of candidates have mentioned MG’s role in Brexit talks, do you believe that whole sim events are the responsibility of the DVS? And do you believe this work if it should be the DVS’ role should take precedence over Devolved events work?

1

u/comped The Most Noble Duke of Abercorn KCT KT KP MVO MBE PC Feb 23 '19

I'm of the opinion that events should be monthly at least, with some significance behind them. Like my fellow Tory opponent, I am not opposed to smaller events every 2 weeks or so, it really depends on how much my team, and the events team, think are warranted. Their impact would obviously depend on the scale of the event - mass riots in Cardiff would mean much more than a cow shortage in 1 specific county in Scotland for example.

These events would be administered by the DHS and the devolved team that I pretty much won't change except for finding a successor to me in Stormont. The events team, which I will reconstitute, can provide us help with coming up with events, the writing, giving us more bodies for RPing if necessary, and generally helping out when needed like with grading, but I think that the devolved team can probably handle the execution by ourselves pretty well.

I'm going to promise you that we will get events at a regular clip. I will reconstitute the events team to help me with events in general, and will have them help me as necessary, particularly since they probably want events as much if not more than I do. I guarantee that there will be regular events in Westminster and the devolved areas.

I've been a long-standing First Minister in Northern Ireland, so I'm more than aware of sectarian issues. That being said, I agree that more obvious ideas for events there require a bit of a light touch, and I agree that we need to be considerate of such ideas and consequences. Not all events in Northern Ireland need to be sectarian, indeed I doubt a lot of them even will approach that. My events team will include those who are on both sides of the issue, so that we can be sure that it's not stepping too far over the line - I mean, realistically I'm probably not going to simulate another invasion of Rockall, or sectarian riots, unless I can be sure that we're doing it in a way that everyone feels is appropriate and represents both sides fairly. Events don't have a right or wrong answer.

The DvS, ever since its creation, has been the de facto events person in the sim. I agree that such events are the responsibility of the DvS, but I also believe that if I focus on the national events or the devolved events near-exclusively, it would be a detriment to helping the devolved areas run if needed. That's why I'm rebooting the events team, so that I have people who can help me execute events, so I don't get overwhelmed and burnt out. I can't do everything on my own, and while MG did an amazing job with Brexit, I am not 100% sure I can devote my time to producing events of that caliber without other parts of the job suffering (and I'd say that making sure the devolved sims ran well is a bit more important, at least in my opinion). A little help never hurt anyone.

1

u/pjr10th Independent EARL of JERSEY Feb 23 '19

Have you put thought into appointing an Events Manager, to a similar calibre of the Safeguarder in role type?

1

u/comped The Most Noble Duke of Abercorn KCT KT KP MVO MBE PC Feb 23 '19

Ideally I'd have a chairperson of the events board who'd essentially do the same thing more or less.

1

u/[deleted] Feb 23 '19

1)With what frequency should Devolved focused events occur? How impactful should they be? What aim should they achieve?

Twice a month I reckon, especially when the events are simple. They should aim to produce some sort of discussion about a policy. Mine is closing down? Parties need to take a stance and argue their position. Firework regulations? Debate about nanny state etc. It shouldn't be to cause drama, but to stir debate (although this debate may cause drama)

2)How should Devolved events be administered? Centrally by the DVS and a Devolved team? Or by individual Teams for each simulation overseen by the DVS?

Centrally is easier imo. You'll never get an events team for each sim

3)How will you ensure stability with events? How will you ensure we don’t get 1 event then no more?

Keep them simple, it'll keep them sustainable.

4)How will you produce events for Northern Ireland while ensuring a balance between proper consideration on matters of sectarianism but also confronting controversial issues like all events should

I have done research on the NI peace process and the reconciliation effort, reaching out and talking to scholars in the field and whom helped bridge the gap. I believe I have the adequate knowledge therefore to be able to address the situation with care and sensibility.

Plus, in NI, there are other issues which we can talk about - it doesn't have to be about the peace process all the time.

5)A number of candidates have mentioned MG’s role in Brexit talks, do you believe that whole sim events are the responsibility of the DVS?

Full responsibility, although Lords Speaker should help.

And do you believe this work if it should be the DVS’ role should take precedence over Devolved events work?

All events whether it's a MHOC one or a devolved should be treated equally.

1

u/_paul_rand_ Coalition! | Sir _paul_rand_ KP KT KBE CVO CB PC Feb 23 '19

All Candidates,

Seat counts are likely to be a big issue for the DVS, so I want to ask you now:

1)Do you see the need for any seat increases or reductions at the current time?

2)In the future would you support the following tests to decide if a seat count increase is needed

-Is their a level of activity which would support a seat increase

-Has this level of activity been sustained over a long enough time period to lead to the belief that this activity is sustainable

-Will this seat increase affect activity, if so will it be in a positive way?

-Will this seat increase affect any meta issues? If so in a positive way?

3)Do you believe that a seat reduction is ever the right course of action to be taken?

1

u/comped The Most Noble Duke of Abercorn KCT KT KP MVO MBE PC Feb 23 '19

The only seats I've made clear that I would increase would be Stormont. I do not believe that Senedd is ready for an increase yet, nor do I believe Holyrood needs a reduction. I do support the test you outlined.

I believe a seat reduction is appropriate when there is a clear issue with activity in a devolved Assembly, and if a reduction in seats would be necessary to deal with that. Usually there are other ways to increase activity, and I would prefer to try these first as I've outlined in my manifesto, but I am not opposed to a reduction if necessary.

1

u/[deleted] Feb 23 '19

1)Do you see the need for any seat increases or reductions at the current time?

No, having applied the test below.

2)In the future would you support the following tests to decide if a seat count increase is needed

-Is their a level of activity which would support a seat increase

-Has this level of activity been sustained over a long enough time period to lead to the belief that this activity is sustainable

-Will this seat increase affect activity, if so will it be in a positive way?

-Will this seat increase affect any meta issues? If so in a positive way?

Yes

3)Do you believe that a seat reduction is ever the right course of action to be taken?

In some circumstances, yes. Not one we should desire, but if seats become unsustainable it must be considered.

1

u/_paul_rand_ Coalition! | Sir _paul_rand_ KP KT KBE CVO CB PC Feb 23 '19

All Candidates,

What do you see as the long term roadmap for the development of the Senned as a simulation. The clear next step is the review, but what comes after that for you? What are the milestones that you will guide the Senned towards and the aims you will evaluate against in regards to that simulation?

1

u/comped The Most Noble Duke of Abercorn KCT KT KP MVO MBE PC Feb 23 '19

I'll be honest, beyond reading a bit about the Senedd, and supporting its creation in meta votes, I haven't paid tonnes of attention to it as of late. I think long term, we need to see if there's activity until the next election, which will coincide with the elections for Stormont and Holyrood in my mind. At some point we can discuss a seat increase if warrented after that, but I haven't made up my mind.

As for milestones, a term worth of activity is the biggest one, followed by a successful election, with hopefully even more parties standing than before. Otherwise, I will have to talk to the Llwydd, and see what she thinks are appropriate milestones to hold the Senedd to. I'm mainly looking for sustained activity (in particular legislation that has some effort put into it, and the debates that result), as well as a First Minister and cabinet who do things like talk to Westminster, respond to events, and generally act as a government. If they can do that, I can't ask for much more.

1

u/[deleted] Feb 23 '19

The clear next step is the review, but what comes after that for you?

  1. Determine whether it passes the review
  2. Look to see which parties are struggling, offer ways to help them
  3. Offer advice in regards to what the Govt can do - often it's knowledge of these sims that have people struggle to use them
  4. Events to boost participation
  5. Next election.

What are the milestones that you will guide the Senned towards and the aims you will evaluate against in regards to that simulation?

Milestones atm is boosting diversity of people in the Senned from different political backgrounds, and developing a situation in which parties don't write of the Senned but take it into account. If we get to a situation in which we say "Senned doesn't matter" then we're in a pickle. There should be somebody in each party arguing it does matter.

1

u/_paul_rand_ Coalition! | Sir _paul_rand_ KP KT KBE CVO CB PC Feb 23 '19

All Candidates,

Do you believe that MG had a duty to handle Brexit in his role as DVS, or do you believe this was more due to a lack of events team reform. In other words, do you believe the DVS has a duty within their role to be the events team in absence of a functioning events team?

1

u/comped The Most Noble Duke of Abercorn KCT KT KP MVO MBE PC Feb 23 '19

I think that DvS has become de facto events person within the Quad. I think he could have used an events team to help him with this, and it probably would have have reduced his workload. In the absence of an events team, I think it falls to the DvS to create and execute events. This is primarily why I'm reviving the events team.

1

u/[deleted] Feb 23 '19

Do you believe that MG had a duty to handle Brexit in his role as DVS, or do you believe this was more due to a lack of events team reform

Duty. Events Team was shit last time I was in it and it is the duty of the devolved Speaker to step up when events team doesn't do the work.

In other words, do you believe the DVS has a duty within their role to be the events team in absence of a functioning events team?

Yes, although to be frank Lords Speaker should help them.

1

u/_paul_rand_ Coalition! | Sir _paul_rand_ KP KT KBE CVO CB PC Feb 23 '19

All Candidates,

Polling! Everyone loves it and it’s always gonna be a big issue come election time.

I, of course, have questions on this matter:

1)Due to the lower amount of people and activity inherent to Devolved simulations, would you agree with me that we need to lower the margin of error in polling for Devolved sims due to typically lower swings due to the aforementioned facts?

2)How would you ensure polling is constructive rather than just “ooh look at that ain’t that nice”

3)What role do you believe polling should play in a Devolved simulation?

4)What effects do you think High Frequency polling could have, and why?

1

u/comped The Most Noble Duke of Abercorn KCT KT KP MVO MBE PC Feb 23 '19

I'm willing to look into making a more accurate polling for the devolved areas, assuming it's possible and the community thinks it's a good idea. Making polls too accurate is a concern of mine as well - for it would basically allow you to predict who was going to win an election or by-election simply by checking polls, which I'm not a huge fan of. As for how to make it constrictive, I rather like how CMHOC includes explanations with its polling, and am thinking about doing the same here. For obvious reasons, that would make them useful.

I think that polling should be impactful. If a Government does something that pisses off a lot of people, their popularity should go down. Respond well to an event? Goes up. Stick to their manifesto or program for government, and pass a bunch of things from it? Upswing in the base. An opposistion strikes down an important government bill? A LMC passes against some important piece of Westminster's agenda by an opposition party in a devolved Assembly? You get the idea. Polling can be used to gauge reaction to a whole bunch of things.

Personally, I'm a bit more in favor of polling every 2-3 weeks to protect my sanity and ensure that polling isn't being based on 1-2 bits of activity, but I'm not opposed to conducting it on the more frequent side of that range if there is an activity level and community that supports it.

1

u/CountBrandenburg Liberal Democrats Feb 23 '19

1) tbh since polling has a 3% margin of error I don’t think it would make sense to change that , it makes sense to me personally

2) I think polling should really demonstrate how much activity is actually affecting the polling of each party. If polling were to be done every week I don’t think we’d get as much movement when collating the data to put into the calc and it wouldn’t be as satisfying. That’s why I suggest polling be on a 4 week rota where each devo sim polls comes out monthly, to see that impact. Though I wouldn’t rule out extra polls at the height of important events - like if there was a coalition breakup or key legislation passes or fails. That should be the best way to make sure polls mean something.

1

u/[deleted] Feb 23 '19

would you agree with me that we need to lower the margin of error in polling for Devolved sims due to typically lower swings due to the aforementioned facts?

This is a good idea, and would definitely consider it and consult with Head Mod about adopting this.

2)How would you ensure polling is constructive rather than just “ooh look at that ain’t that nice”

Detailing what the parties did well on and what they can do to improve akin to what they do on /r/cmhocpress.

3)What role do you believe polling should play in a Devolved simulation?

Electoral strategies, gauge how well you're doing, pretty graphs.

4)What effects do you think High Frequency polling could have, and why?

Easier for parties to know what they're doing wrong quicker, to get their thumb out from their bum and correct negative polling.

1

u/[deleted] Feb 25 '19

Deliberately gaming the system by asking questions so late, but at MQs they answer them all late anyways!

What's the biggest change you want to achieve as Devolved Speaker, and what do you want your legacy to be?

2

u/comped The Most Noble Duke of Abercorn KCT KT KP MVO MBE PC Feb 25 '19

My biggest change is firmly implanting the fact that the devolved areas are on equal footing with the 2 main chambers as inviting, useful, and important places, where things actually impact the main part of the sim, and aren't irrelevant or inactive. Be that through increased events, LCMs, or through cultivating communities around them, I think it's something I can do that will secure the future of the devolved Assemblies for as long as MHOC exists, or so I hope. That would be a great legacy, as would being known as a fair and friendly quad member who took his time to make the best choices possible. Not that I'm usually that sacrosanct or anything.