So! You're thinking about joining the ranks? I'm guessing that else you probably wouldn't have sat and read through all the spam above. Spam, but very important spam. This is a collection of culmulative knowledge from alot of goldriders across the Pern Games and they generally apply whether it be a MOO or MUSH. Here at Xanadu Weyr, there are a few different things that might not apply to other Weyrs. First of all, all Xanadu Staff have just about the same weight of opinions and control as the rest of the Weyr. While I might hold the 'title' in name, I expect the other Weyrwomen (if they are on the Weyr Council, not every Jr. Gold is!) and Staff to do their share of helping out too! Call it on site training.That goes for the Weyrleader and WeyrlingMasters too, not to mention all Head Staff. You might have wondered why some of the rules governing Weyrfolk at Xanadu Weyr were so strict, well that's why. They're just as much a part of this weyr as anybody else. The Color of Your Dragon doesn't matter as much as what you are willing to dedicate to the well being of the weyr. Our ex-Weyrsecond A'razi is a greenrider, but he's was one of the most dedicated and wonderful players at VirtuaPern (which is why we asked him to be Weyrsecond.)

Riding Gold is a pain in the neck, not glitzy, nor glory-filled at all. I learned it the hard way. Kalanthe and I didn't have a jr. WW period. We were created characters. But we did have two years of riding experience across several M*'s under our belts before we under took the project of building VirtuaPern. We couldn't have done it or stuck with it without the help of our friends who were gold riders elsewhere, and most importantly we couldn't have done it without being there for each other, keeping each other sane, and being there whenever one of us was having some sort of crisis.

When you ride something as glaringly visible as a gold dragon (it's that high gloss I'm tell ya.) people expect you to know everything, to be perfect, to have everything under control and in hand. Well tough. We're just as human as everybody else. We just lucked out more than most and were willing to do the work, handle the pressure, deal with the problems. When you're the one people try to look up to (for what ever delusional reason they think you're better ) you can't just go away and pretend nothing has happened. You have to deal, maybe not right away, but you can't leave people hanging.

There's also the point of uncertainty. When you Impress a gold, you know that you'll become a jr. Weyrwoman. What you don't know is when/if you'll ever become the senior Weyrwoman. It could be the day after you graduate Weyrling training (which is just as important for gold riders as it is for the rest of the class!) or it could be years down the line or even never. If you've got your heart set on being the Sr. WW, don't make it your absolute goal, after all, those gold riders who may be already in the weyr with you are probably just as ambitious or at least attached to their characters as you are. Different games have different standards and some allow jr golds more or less responsibility. For a while it was only the metallics and the occassional chromatic at Xanadu that were allowed staff responsibilities. Lately we found it prudent that a weyr wide election of volunteers makes for a far larger group to work with and gives others a chance to do something for the Weyr as well. That's why not every jr at XW gets to be staff every season, but it usually switches back and forth. It's wise to keep in mind that being the goldrider isn't an issue about who's in charge or who's in power, but to keep the Weyr (and the Game) as a whole, to keep things going, to help out, and to make the Game as enjoyable as possible. That's more than just being about to resident a person, but also being around for rp, being visible, which is harder if you're a staffer than if you're not. It's more important than that pretty knot on your shoulder. Because any firelizard can come by and eat it after all...

Since there is so much attention focused on the golds, you have to take serious considerations about what you're setting yourself up for when you try to become a weyrwoman. There will be times when things just don't go your way, or people are unhappy with you, or worse, you've just made a whole mess of the situation. If you can't handle stepping away and let things cool off, or if you find that you just don't know how to fix it, then don't. Just because you're a gold rider doesn't mean that you must strive for perfection or try to fix every little problem. Sometimes you're just not the right person to be involved or to handle it. What you could do is find someone else to help, instead of always stepping in yourself. I mean there is 'hands-on' and then there's letting people grow too.

What you really want to avoid is letting yourself think that a gold dragon means you're better in anyway, or that it gives you some sort of special status. Because really now, if you take a good look at the situation, the dragon is just a few bytes of data on a screen, nothing more. If you were a boring person or a boring character before Impression, well surprise, you're still you. In the books sometimes Impression changes a person, well having that dragon being with you all the time, a constant companion and symphathic ear, of course it'll make it all better right? But on the games, it's just you or a player-dragon puppeting her, but it's not REAL. It's JUST A GAME. If the game or the dragon becomes your emotional crutch or the sole reason you have to live, or some reason to justify your self-worth, then don't get a gold. Get therapy.

Sound harsh doesn't it? Well surprise, life isn't fair. But it can be fun, don't spoil it for others if you know that you can get too emotional over bad situations, or are impatient, or have problems working with others. Because that's what a weyrwoman has to deal with the most online. It's not the 'visible' things that you do the most, the scheduling of events, hatchings, weyr-stuff...any one who can keep track of a stack of papers can do that. It's helping to keep an emotionally stable, happy clime in the Weyr that's the real hard part. If you're afraid, then good. Having persepective is a Good Thing(tm). If you can't do it, or think it's too much of a hassle, try something else. After all, most of the OOC work for the Weyr can be delegated to anyone else to do, volunteer for that as a rider of a different color if you want. Or if you find out that you can't handle it, or that you've just had enough, a graceful 'out' might be a Good Idea(tm).