Ah yes. The curse of the college student. You have to write so many essays that, whenever you’re in front of a blank page, you’re inevitably thinking “Intro, Body, Conclusion” and “So what’s my thesis?” But fear not. I have no thesis, and I’m proud of it. This is just a bit of a ramble, so please bear with me. It does have to do with ISA though. I’m not completely random.

It seems that the past month has spawned more complaints, musings and suggestions than ever before about how strict OTF is. Do not misunderstand me. I’m not taking a swing at the people who started those threads or sent those e-mails. No organisation is infallible. Not even ISA. A healthy dose of questioning and suggestions for improvement is good. Even vital. Here I want to pause and ask you to consider this. ISA work is not easy. Are we the most revered and feared department? Perhaps. But we’re also, undoubtedly, the most despised one as well. I’m certain that most ISAers have had times when they felt they hated their job and they wished they wouldn’t have to deal with that, pardon my French, crap. But in the end, it is us who have to deal with it. Yes, sometimes it may seem that ISA is too strict and comes down too harsh on peeps. When you feel like that, please remember that you would probably appreciate a quick draw of the phaser the next time some foul-mouthed flooder comes to ruin Trivia. Also, please remember that we are, more often than not, privy to additional information about people who visit OTF. It would be both impractical and harmful to our operations to share all the info with the OTF community. And honestly, how many of you want to read all the files and transcripts on all the troublemakers and go hunt down their IP addresses?

With that said, I do admit that we can and do make mistakes. Not only is the interpretation of the PDs at least somewhat subjective, but we’re also all human. Many ISAers are fairly new to the game but they are all experienced and trusted OTFers. More importantly though, they are all loyal OTFers who do this difficult and, oftentimes, thankless job, for no other reward that keeping OTF safe and fun for everyone. They often pay for it by spoiling their own time. Time they take off from their RL duties. Time they are forced to spend dealing with the worst of what comes to OTF. We are not power hungry or trigger-happy. Neither are we out to get you. Not unless you come to OTF to break the rules. But developing the feeling for exactly what is too much and what is not takes a lot of time. Trust me. I’ve been in ISA for a long time, so I know a thing or two. So cut them a bit of slack, it’s a tough job and they are trying hard.

Captain Pace,
Director, ISA