vulic

Now I know links, esspecialy links on sites that relate to packs are universaly despised here, however I am not asking you to join the site I am about to post, rather I would like to get your feed back.
A few days ago I posted my tghouths on packs saying that it is better to use one site where packs can be better managed. Now to put my money where my mouth is I did make a site which can literlay prove helpful for packs as well as lonners or those who othervise dont want to be part of any pack system.
The site has 2 goals, make individual packs sites redundant and bring all arms of the werewolf communty togheter on a working forum.
Since 43 things is considered to be ground zero I would appreciat any feed back you could give me on the following site, that is to say your opinion and what you would like to have on the site if you where to use it. I thank you in advance.
http://werewolfmegapackforums.webs.com/

As dusk turns into twilight, as day goes into night, as moon replaces sun, so to do I change into a wolf during a moonlight night.

A man I was a beast I am, a curse or a gift is the question I ask. To live or to die, to move or to stop, to go or to stay, I cannot say.

The moon is my master, my mistress, my mother. She rules by her light, she guides whit her glow, guiding one very lost soul.

An orphan I was although surrounded my many, poor I was although I had money, cursed I was although I no longer see it.

Death and restraint is a nightmare to many,

Wisdom and courage is a desire of many,

Power and glory is but a distant memory for my humanity.

Cursed I was and gifted I am-

Power and glory my eternal quarry,

Wisdom and courage my greatest desire,

Eternity and freedom the right of my power.

My body now changes, my mind rearranges,

A man I was a wolf I am running towards endless night, ending my own humanity endless plight.

Join me now my brother, my sister. As the moon does now beckon, as night is now endless, the darkness will consume our eternal madness.

Well whit summer here and free time plentiful I am more than free to write a few forums on 43 things again.
So recently I have seen a lot of posts on here commercializing packs and so on. I have been involved in several of the packs and know several of the alphas of the packs (either newly established or old-timers) so I have a pretty good idea of how packs are generally run on the internet.
Now why do people join packs?
If you take a look at any pack, a pack is simply a site, whit a forum, a ranking system and a few subjects on shifting, plus a few extra pages and maybe a symbol to make the site look pretty. By all accounts an internet pack is nothing more than a glorified forum.
However whether the site is well run and or not isn’t really an issue for most people. All those ranking systems and similar are simply there to attract new members, after all everyone will go whit the site that is better organized and join that pack rather than one which is poorly built. So why do people join packs? Well I noticed two particular groups of individuals who join a pack, those that want to learn how to shift and those who want to be in a pack because they want to belong somewhere (of course role-players and twilight fans aren’t included in this post).
Now both of the reasons for joining are fair in my mind. If you want to shift than chances are a pack is a good place to be in as you will no doubt meet other similar individuals there and will be able to expand your knowledge. If you want to belong somewhere, well a pack can offer a form of brotherhood and belonging that is unlike anything I have ever experienced.
So if everything is so perfect why are there so many packs stuck in the gutter?
Well there are several reasons why packs are in the gutter as they are but there are a few which are particularly hard to avoid. These are: youthful enthusiasm, motivation and lack of general control. Now if we go into each of them Ill tell you what I mean. Youthful enthusiasm isn’t a problem if one wants to shift, but I am talking about people getting enthusiastic about being alphas. When an alpha first forms his pack he feels like he has everything under control, adding members, making ranks and so on. But the position of alpha is as much work as it is a privilege. The position of alpha is nowadays filled by primarily younger individuals who, although enthusiastic, lack general order and it isn’t long until the alpha starts to feel the load of his pack or is frustrated because something isn’t going his way. In this way packs fall apart, just like the moon goes through its cycle so to does a pack, which is formed on uneasy terms, fall (how’s that for poetic). An alpha simply gives up when the going gets tough which is more to a lack of motivation than anything else. An alpha and his pack must be kept motivated. For this reason they must always have a goal in mind, be it shifting, meeting one another or taking over the world (kidding). Without motivation a pack feels hollow and there is really no reason for anyone being in the pack anymore. Motivation is easy to find, but it is easy to lose and it is usually lost due to a lack of self control or an overabundance. When an alpha organizes his pack he must always be vary not to press his pack to much or to be to gentle whit it. A hard hand and a soft touch are needed. The pack is made up of many individuals and some need a kind word and more trust while other need a firm hand and must be kept at a distance before you trust them (believe me on the first part I learned the hard way).
So basically what you’re talking about is the problems a pack faces?
That’s true but that’s not all I am trying to say. Many of the packs are now keeping to there own tight little corners or sites. This is a behavior that I believe will be the death of us. If each alpha has his own pack site and his own forum than much of the member’s potential will go into nothing. I believe that it would be prudent if there was a site for all packs to be on, using a single forum and a single site. That way, ideas can be exchanged, not to mention whit a concentration of alphas there would be more order. Role players come and go but true committed individuals stay.
But wouldn’t that just be like 43 things or razgriz?
No. No it wouldn’t. 43 things is simply a forum we happen to use, it does not have the property of a pack and thus it isn’t visited constantly by alphas and pack members. And Razgriz would be nice, if organization was better, but Razgriz was a site/pack formed on uneasy terms.
You talk a lot about alpha don’t you?
Well of course I do. An alpha is a mayor part of his or her pack. I think it is safe to say that all alphas are at the very least committed individuals who want to make a difference; nobody takes a load on his back without knowing why he did it. But one should never assume an alpha to be absolute in what he does. I noticed that some packs really go stupid if an alpha isn’t there and to them all I can say is, learn to stand on your own 2 feet. If you feel like the alpha is no good than replace him (if everyone opinion matches), but don’t cry when he isn’t there, you need to be independent sometimes and it is truly the entire pack that matters. The alpha isn’t the pack he is part of the pack thus he is outranked by the pack itself, this means while authority is given to an alpha it is also in part given to every pack member.
Why do you make such a fuss over something internet related?
Well do you want to stay on the internet forever? If everyone simply sais ohh well it is only the internet than we will never get anywhere and we will still be stuck in front of our PCs 50 years from now. I agree one should never lose perception of the world around him but one should also never close himself out from everything.
Why should I belive anything you say?
Well don’t. But if you want to know why I can talk about this, well than the answer is simple. My pack the Dark Hearts has been around longer than any other. We are approaching our 3rd year, I have been involved in packs even before I formed it and we were one of the first to use free webs programming as a site base (something which has been copied and re-copied several times)

P.S. for all the alphas here, stop recruiting members from become a werewolf, yeah I know I did it as well, but we do have a topic on here titled Join a werewolf pack, post it there.