I had a much longer post typed up, replying to all of your previous post Thorgrim, but then it hurt my head to read it and figured that no one would probably read it to the end, so I edited it to this much shorter post. I think I answer most of the pertinent issues I haven't already answered in previous responses. If I left anything out let me know. If I need to I'll cut and paste the original answer into a reply.
The reason we kept the loyalty bonuses intact when we made the OH was that it made sense to do so from an xp perspective. It was better under the old system for the chain to do things that way. With Turbine's recent changes the idea of a built up loyalty bonus doesn't work anymore.
I tried to make people aware placement would be based on XP. I mentioned it in the original post. I clarified it in another post and even boldfaced the "based on xp" part. I understand perfectly that it is very easy to read over things. It's human nature to see what we are expecting to see.
Yes, I painfully remember all of it. I remember having to tell people like Gimped Mage something they didn't want to hear. I remember hearing them argue that the millions and millions of xp they had generated before they left should count for something. I also remember it was decided that what was best for the overall chain is what needed to happen so their petition to be placed higher up was denied. Yes, I remember all of the arguments both for and against maintaining loyalty bonuses when the OH was formed, many of which were in the manager's forums and which general populace never saw. I remember explaining, along with some of the other managers at the time, that loyalty bonuses were a GOOD thing, that they helped the chain because they added a lot to the productivity of the chain, etc.
Why in the world would we think to put the highest producing people at the very top? Because the next highest producing people would be directly below them. This way, everyone gets rewarded proportionately to what they give to the chain and it makes for a stronger, more stable chain.
Putting the highest producers at the top has nothing to do with maximizing the xp to the monarch. To think otherwise is insulting to the monarch.
You said placing Blue Wizard goes against what we did previously with Starting Over, Gimped Mage, and Seabrook. That is a completely wrong statement. S.O., Gimped, et al were denied preferential placement because they left the clan. Blue Wizard never left the clan to go wear another tag. He quit playing AC for a time, but to my knowledge never left the clan. Gimped and the others were told at the time, that if they hadn't changed tags to someone else they would not have been placed below the bottom 126.
I never stated nor implied that Kazsam, or Thorgrim, or anyone else wasn't "good enough" to be at the top. The current top xp producers are at the top of the listing because that's the way it should be. Let's say I were to decide to reward loyalty to the chain and decided to put Oof at the top of the listing. There would be complaints all over the place and you know what the number one complaint would probably be? "Oof doesn't deserve to be on top because he hasn't earned it. I make way more xp than him!" If you think about it you know it's true.
I understand how you felt when you saw your name was eighth on the list instead of second, knowing that you were thinking the OH listing would just be collapsed into the new listing.
WHAT WAS I THINKING?? I was thinking that in order for us to have a strong chain that attracted other people we would need to group characters by similar output levels (not capability, but output. we are all pretty close to each other in capability). I was thinking that if we didn't reward high producers by giving them a strong chain vassal, the patron would get disillusioned and quit.
Regarding me making quota, I appreciate your sentiments and thank you for them, but I should have to make quota. Especially under the new system, making quota is even more important. If I don't make quota now, I cheat the chain member above me of his or her well-deserved xp.
Rules change to reflect changes in the game. That's also in the nature of the beast.
Regarding people afraid to get removed from chain and therefore not speaking up, I hope that isn't true. I wouldn't remove anyone for anything other than breaking chain rules.
Yes, you were removed from the chain due to moves, but you haven't left the clan. As long as you haven't left the clan you can come back to the FC or the OH at your true level. If Kazsam decides to stay out of the chain, you just became #1 in the OH. I don't know about with the new chain, we haven't talked about what happens if someone leaves one chain and wants to come back in that one.
I don't get where you are seeing they apply differently to different people. By this point, I also wish people would post stating either approval, disapproval, or even "doesn't matter to me." Yes, I agree with you that xp at the top (in the old chains) was worse than partway down. For what it's worth, btw, when Oof dropped from the top to the bottom, I was getting about 90 million a day on average near the top and about 30 million a day at the bottom of the OH, so your question about whether my move was driven by a desire for more xp is answered now.
You said,
Do what you will. Once you come up with a final decision, I don't know if I'd apply. Cause as far as I know, you'll simply dump me in the bottom or the middle.
I'm sorry you feel that way. There was no reason for you not to know what would happen, since it was all written out in the chain threads. I followed the criteria I had stated in writing I was going to follow when I built the chain listing.
[Edited to take out something else I wrote I later decided wasn't appropriate. My apologies to all who saw the original content. I lost my temper and said some things that were probably out of context so I removed them. Oof.]
I probably understand the new chain mechanics better than anyone else in the clan, and everything I've done with this has been an effort to make the new chain work as efficiently as possible, be as stable as possible, and, hopefully, to make it something to be striven for.