Aye, the new ULK thread should read ULK - Since 2009 (2010?). This here is the 2003 one, the original.

Well this will be a bit of a rant, partly in reply to that essay on the front page of Aki's site (that in all honestly I only skimmed through), partly my own musings. This is my stance on the current state of things.

We can't really contest them carrying the tag, but we can and do object to it. Aki had a role in helping to build the clan for vcmp, no doubt in that, but he also managed to corrupt it. And then, when everybody agreed to demote him for his actions, he calls our votes fraud, and splits the clan. At least now he lives up to his reputation. People outside the clan have been considering him a de facto leader of ULK for a long time and I always objected to it, claiming us a democracy where nobody really stood above anyone. Yet when it came to aki, the principle for some reason didn't apply. Heh. At least now he's proven everybody right with his new clan of mutineers.

As to the ULK old leadership style (council) vs the democracy part. The council didn't really decide anything even back in the day. Most stuff was still voted on, and the truly active members of the council were Zircon and Head. Since the former has not really been around, I'll use the latter to make my point later. People always looked up to Head, in MTA and vcmp. The council's higher power was never really used, that I recall. And Akiharu quoting Zircon's post as part of the reason for their defection clearly shows zero common sense. It was a tongue-in-cheek reply, and he managed to take it seriously. This is a good example to illustrate what I mean when when I talk of having heart. I've used this argument in both XE and ULK - this is a game, why turn it into a bureaucracy. Just go by common sense. Head got to his prominent position in ULK and XE because he's a decent human being. Not because he had to wrestle and manipulate for power. People look(ed) up to him out of respect, even when we had no elected leader. The guy you faux-ULKs went with and look up to had to do the exact opposite to secure his position.

Does that not bother you? How can that not bother you?

This clan is about fraternization. F R A T E R N I Z A T I O N. ULK was always about the people, not the viewer count your forums hit per month or how much players your server gets. If the people want to defect to a leader of such ill repute over a manipulative guilt trip or for a better chance at admin on XE, well.. People follow people they can identify with and respect I guess. To be honest though, it does make me a bit sad and surprised to see some of the people on their list, and not so surprised at a bunch of others.

We'll be carrying the tag as the true and original owners of it. The people who created this tag and made it what it is, have all stuck together. It's a fact aki had a big part in building the new ULK, but it was also ruined in spirit by him. It's a shame they picked this tag post division, I wish they had the decency to at least get a new one for their organization.

So to the guys who went with the new one, please take a breather and think where you're at. If you're fine with being in that gathering of people, it's fine, but would you please kindly change your tag. Granted, we made a lot of this clan's history together but right now you're staining a good thing with a lot of history from way before you joined. Nobody will think less of you if you go with a new one, and on the other hand, we'd gladly welcome a few of you back to our ranks. But this tag doesn't belong to you, a lot of you were loyal brothers, so I have faith in your clear mind and hope you realize that this new thing you've joined, it's not ULK. The tag, the brand, the name, it's ours. The new organization is all yours, call it what you wish, just not ULK.

As I hear some that went with the new branch are claiming these ULKs here have 'left the clan'. I can assure you we have done no such thing and we'll be playing under this tag. Except on XE where we get kicked by the clan script. But to the admins on other servers: please do not kick us as "fake ULKs"; if anything you could do that to the new branch - though I understand that's asking for a lot - so I think simply abstaining from all this is a reasonable request.

To those who made the effort to read through this, thank you for your time.