Talk:Dorsai Irregulars

There is a troll at 204.69.225.104

Check the history page of the site for examples of his "work" Can Admins purge those historical pages so we aren't reminded of them? --SargeAbernathy 22:55, 16 Aug 2005 (UTC)

It's not recommended to remove history of any type unless there is a lot of said history. Typically, reduce to one copy if it's the same thing over and over. The important thing is to at least keep one. JarrodHenry 17:28, 25 Aug 2005 (UTC)

"Dorsai" or "Dorsai Irregulars"?

Maybe I'm being a little too pedantic here, but I could sure use some guidelines on how to properly refer to the group. Technically speaking, the "Dorsai" are a race of mercenaries created by Gordon R. Dickson for use in his books. Contrast with the Dorsai Irregulars, who are a group of science fiction fans that provide security services at sci-fi and furry cons.

That being said, should I always refer to the group as "Dorsai Irregulars", or would "Dorsai" alone be sufficient? Perhaps someone with more formal writing experience could advise me here. Thanks. --Douglas Muth 15:51, 9 January 2007 (UTC)

I'm not sure it counts as anything close to formal editing experience, but from my Wikipedia editing . . . if it's in an article about the topic, then it is appropriate to use a shortened form in subsequent mentions as long as it will not cause confusion - and I don't think it will here. After all, you wouldn't say "Bill Gates" all the way through an article about him just because there are other people called Gates. Alternatively, you could use the acronym DI, or even "the Irregulars", though the latter sounds somewhat awkward.

For references in other articles, it's probably best to use the full name unless there is a serious space constraint. --GreenReaper^(talk) 18:30, 9 January 2007 (UTC)

"Sgt." Steve Simmons, DI here, speaking as a member: We are about equally likely to refer to ourselves as "the Irregulars" or "the Dorsai", depending on context. In more formal situations, such as interviews or tentative contract negotiations, we'll say "the Dorsai Irregulars." Outside of the group, the most common usage I see is "the Dorsai." We have no official preference. Since "the Dorsai" seems to be what most folks outside the group use, I suggest that be used here. The linked-to compliants in the Controversy section are illustrative. :-)

Megaplex?

I noticed that the article mentions the Dorsai beginning to work for Megaplex. I believe this is inaccurate - according to http://megaplexcon.org/staff security is run by Mach Stormrunner. I was also involved on Megaplex security last year and I've been attending Megaplex since 2004 and don't remember seeing the Dorsai anywhere. Yet this edit to the article was made in 2007 by Sgt Steve himself, so I am beginning to doubt my sanity. Was Megaplex perhaps only considering hiring the Dorsai at one point? skippyfox 23:26, 6 February 2010 (UTC)

Greetings, I'm Colin Lamb of the DI, and I was the one who has spent the most time with Megaplex. If you do not remember seeing us there, I will take that as a compliment on a job well done :) I first worked Megaplex with another DI, Karen Dolley, back in 2007 (I think) When Mach called and asked for assistance. The next year, 2008, Mach was technically in charge of Security, but he brought us in as "consultants" and workers. Mach was the liaison between Megaplex and the Dorsai, and I gathered the volunteers and ran the schedule. That year there was not only myself, but my wife Heathyr, Steve Simmons and Cori Jeffery who were there as DI, plus Mach and a couple of others (I forget their names off the top of my head, but I have them in my notes for reference if need be) to help round out the security force. Last year, Megaplex changed months, and they picked a date that already had a DI contract on it up in Pittsburgh, pulling a number of other DI I would have tagged for duty, and a weekend, that I was on a family vacation camping on, so I was myself unable to assist.

As far as I know the relationship between Megaplex and the Dorsai is good, and we would be willing to assist or take over security in the future should they wish, assuming dates and people can be worked out. Seeing as Florida is a bit far afield for the majority of our members (Only 3 of us live in Florida currently) it can be tricky to get enough of us able to travel for it.

Anyways, that is the tale of the Dorsai working Megaplex. ~Colin Lamb, DI

Thanks Colin! Hopefully you guys will get to make a return in the future. :) skippyfox 04:54, 7 February 2010 (UTC)

Looking back from late 2010, that section is now pretty misleading. Megaplex turned out to be a one-time deal, as Colin stated (tho we'd love to go back if the circumstances work out). I've reworked that section so it's more accurate but neglected to log in; the changes are dated 20:57, 11 September 2010 75.133.49.28. Thanks for the heads-up, Skippyfox. - Steve Simmons, DI

Controversy

Controversy is always a sensitive topic, and I've possibly made it more so by editing that section while neglecting to log in. For the record, my only intent was to make the phrasing clearer and more concise while retaining what I believe silver seren meant it to be. My apologies for not logging in, and if silver seren or others feel I've changed their meaning, feel free to revert my changes. "Sgt." Steve Simmons, DI.

I don't see anything wrong with the edits. I've seen the complaints myself, but I don't feel their current frequency indicates a major problem - just that there is always going to be some portion of a group that has problems with security at large events (and, in fairness, a varying level of skill among the Dorsai, like any volunteer body).

As for not logging in, it's no problem - I've done that myself more than once. And apologies if you hit any errors saving; we had a comment spammer hitting the server with several requests a second for different articles and it swamped it for a few minutes. (For future reference, you can use ~~~~ - four tildes - to produce a dated signature for discussion pages. If you wish to customize it, specify the "raw signature" in your preference.) --GreenReaper^(talk) 21:33, 11 September 2010 (UTC)