I don't really have faith in Kiri giving out the swords, some have literally been sealed for years. I could care less if one guy has all seven, just get them to an owner. But as with most topics, Kiri is going to do what Kiri wants. Anti-Kiri will do the same. You all despise each other, so there will be no compromise ever.
This is what I came here to focus on more. I'm hoping my background on this site proves to be enough to be lent an ear for my point here. I would like to also note my RP inactivity shouldn't be something to deem as a point against me, but rather a point towards me as it shows my non-bias beliefs, specifically that this outcome will not have any benefit to my character.
In my time on SL, I've seen these issues with Kiri first hand (regarding inactivity and an agenda where power goes into Kiri but never out). As a former Kage, I understand the necessity to bolster the defensive and offensive abilities of a village. I also understand the desire to maintain as much of a resource as possible and manage it so there's no chance of it escaping; should it somehow fall out of our hands, I also understand needing to have enough in my arsenal to retrieve it and enough in my arsenal to maintain a certain status of power. All this considered, I feel Kiri is not going about this the right way. This may sound like "Kumogakure way is the only way" propaganda, but I promise you it's anything but.
In regards to the swords:We once had, I believe, 2 or 3 swords in Kumogakure's possession. Hiramekarei was one of them that Jinzo (Now Osho Kiba) was in possession of along with the eight tails. After a tragic loss, both were taken from him and sadness ensued. Once this happened, I heard there was some scroll that recalled the swords back to Kiri anyhow (I believe Cmage told me about this [Rakudo is his name now?]). Beyond wanting the sword back and wanting to retrieve it, nothing was done due to the aforementioned fact. Of course I wanted to call BS on such a
troll scroll, but at the same time my only grounds for not agreeing with it was with how anti-RP it was. What's dead is dead and I left it at that. As time went on, I kept track of the swords and their owners in my own lurking manners to keep up with current events and be in the know, y'know? Due to my old age (not really, just my excuse) I forget the order of owners and just about anything else except the fact that sword movement began to dwindle (which, in its defense, so did everything else that was an "official claim") until it just halted at least over a year ago. I remember the vacancy of seats and how shoddy tryouts for seats were done, but they tried to show sign of activity, all without really getting things done.
TL;DR for this: New resource was implemented that secured other resources to the point that nothing could really be done. Due to this security, nothing
was done.
In regards to inactivity:I've had run-ins with Mioku and Shigeo and questioning how swords are distributed and from them both I understood one thing: swords could be taken the same way they are received: fight for them and prove yourself. Although they specified swordsmen could apply for seats, they did not specify that sword holders needed to be seated. Validation of that came when I asked Mioku if challenging for swords was possible. He said yes, they were and, much like bijuu fights, required proper requests. So off I went, requesting to fight for his Needle (the sword). That's where the mess-up happened -- that's where I realized how bad of an idea it was to involve Kiri in RP. That's where I realized that the pre-requisite to be an elite Kiri shinobi is to be very busy with life. I never got my fight, even though I proposed it to Mioku as I should have. I never got my fight even though I kept following up time and time again as I was asked to do. Eventually, I never got a response as he pulled an Avatar Aang and vanished.
TL;DR for this one: Kiri abides by the rules in the sense that they will instruct you on proper networks and protocols (hoops and bounds) needed to go through, but fail to tell you that part of the challenge is to play the waiting game until you lose.
My point:Changes need to be made. If not by Kiri's Kage, then by us as a community. Lack of RP and the waiting game until we give up caring is not the way to go about this (see: Chapter "Kirigakure", Section "Bijuu challenges", word: "lol".) Consider how suddenly active the sword's RP and talk about the swords is now that Bocc is involved. Why not be progressive with this new-found activity and push for something new and revitalizing? After all, if you want to get something done, make it someone else's problem. That's exactly what Bocc is doing.
TL;DR for all of the above: we need to work something out collectively if we cannot rely on Kiri. That's what us as a community have as a responsibility of doing.