Snuff

[One Man Bucket]

Good point. If there are other captains though, I think they'll be new characters. The main characters can't be the ones who get the best jobs, just because they've been there longest (that's no way to run a Watch ).

Because they've been there for the longest they're the most experienced,any way, it's not like my suggestions are incompetents bordering on semi-competence like Nobby and Colon. Cheery is good at her job as is Dorfl. Now Detritus seems to be a question mark as he's been having deeper and deeper thoughts as the series progresses so he might be capable of doing the job without needing to adjust his helmet. People like Reg and Visit aren't described as more than competent and someone like Salacia is too new even with the rapid promotions that take place in the Watch. In addition the leadership of the Watch being diverse sends a good message

 

[Dotsie]

I don't think Terry would be so dull as to make all the main characters from the first three watch books captains. Length of service is no indication of ability to do a captain's job, neither is competence as a lower ranking officer. The watch is huge now, why should it be these characters just because you like them?

 

[Sjoerd3000]

Detritus is a natural born sergeant It would be a shame to promote him to captain

 

[One Man Bucket]

I don't think Terry would be so dull as to make all the main characters from the first three watch books captains. Length of service is no indication of ability to do a captain's job, neither is competence as a lower ranking officer. The watch is huge now, why should it be these characters just because you like them?

It's not a matter of liking them, though I do, I'm looking at most competent known characters and considering the fact the Watch has been used from Men at Arms as an example of the diversity of AM. I'd be just fine with new characters taking the spots but Angua's promotion suggests to me that Terry might very well do what you so strongly believe he wont. It's not like Angua stood head and shoulders above every other copper like Carrot and Vimes did so her promotion could very well be favouritism on Pratchett's part and possibly on Carrot's.

 

[Dotsie]

I doubt very much Carrot would show favouritism, and Terry certainly wouldn't. Angua got the job because she has a very different skill set from any other officer, that goes beyond competency.

I'm looking at most competent known characters

Exactly. But if you really wanted to fill a post, you wouldn't just look at people you know, would you?

Anyway, Snuff will probably settle it

 

[poohcarrot]

It's not about Troll drugs, it's about goblins!

 

[One Man Bucket]

It's not about Troll drugs, it's about goblins!

I thought Goblins were mentioned in the extract rather than the story being explicitly stated to be about them

I doubt very much Carrot would show favouritism, and Terry certainly wouldn't. Angua got the job because she has a very different skill set from any other officer, that goes beyond competency.

She was capable of using that skill set to maximum effect as a Sergeant so how would being a Captain help. She didn't do anything in I Shall Wear Midnight that we haven't seen her do before, If anything she did less. As seen with Carrot, the spot of Captain seems to involve a lot of paperwork especially in light of the fact Vimes doesn't like it [things may have changed since he started using his Disorganiser] and putting Angua behind a desk is a waste.

I'm looking at most competent known characters

Exactly. But if you really wanted to fill a post, you wouldn't just look at people you know, would you?

Anyway, Snuff will probably settle it

Indeed, it will.

 

[Dotsie]

No, you misunderstand. The last word was this:

Anyway, Snuff will probably settle it

 

[One Man Bucket]

I'm not fluent in smileish so I don't what you're saying or implying

 

[Dotsie]

Don't cry, I was just kidding!

 

[The rat]

Ahh, but don't forget that Vimes has A. E. Pessimal now to help with the paperwork so Vimes and hopefully the rest of the Watch's upper ranks don't need to do the paperwork. I think A. E. would love to do that type of work. He is a copper like he always wanted to be, but also doing the paperwork which seemed just right for him.

So I think that Carrot is still doing the paperwork and Vimes made Angua a Captain to replace Carrot most of the times when not much is happening, and even more so when 'times are happening'.

No matter what I still want to be arrested by Angua!

 

[CJDobs]

Bah, Watch Schmatch! We want Witches! In Lancre! Doing Witch stuff!!

. . but of course I'll take a Watch book as a very good substitute. hehehe.

8)

 

[One Man Bucket]

Ahh, but don't forget that Vimes has A. E. Pessimal now to help with the paperwork so Vimes and hopefully the rest of the Watch's upper ranks don't need to do the paperwork. I think A. E. would love to do that type of work. He is a copper like he always wanted to be, but also doing the paperwork which seemed just right for him.

So I think that Carrot is still doing the paperwork and Vimes made Angua a Captain to replace Carrot most of the times when not much is happening, and even more so when 'times are happening'.

No matter what I still want to be arrested by Angua!

With Vimes, Pessimal, the Disorganiser and Carrot dealing with everything related to running the Watch there must have been one hell of an increase in the size of the force to justify having another Captain.

 

[The rat]

Ahh, but don't forget that Vimes has A. E. Pessimal now to help with the paperwork so Vimes and hopefully the rest of the Watch's upper ranks don't need to do the paperwork. I think A. E. would love to do that type of work. He is a copper like he always wanted to be, but also doing the paperwork which seemed just right for him.

So I think that Carrot is still doing the paperwork and Vimes made Angua a Captain to replace Carrot most of the times when not much is happening, and even more so when 'times are happening'.

No matter what I still want to be arrested by Angua!

With Vimes, Pessimal, the Disorganiser and Carrot dealing with everything related to running the Watch there must have been one hell of an increase in the size of the force to justify having another Captain.

I have been thinking about a similar thing. Supposedly the Guilds take care of their own crime and those who are not part of their guilds and if this is so then why is there an increase in crimes that the Watch needs to investigate. It was stated early in the DW stories that this was the reason of the creation of the Guilds to cut down on crime, but they don’t seem to be doing their job.*

Plus it was Vetinari who made the Guilds and he could have foreseen that this would not work out and needed the Watch as a back up plan if the Guilds ‘policing’ didn’t work out, as it seems it isn’t.

*I know what the answer to this argument is. When Terry wrote this bit of history he was a young writer and the DW was still being hashed out and that idea didn’t work

 

[Doughnut Jimmy]

I think its part of the development of Ankh Morpork from a Medieval-ish city to a Victorian-ish one. The guilds were probably ok at making sure their members didn't get too far out of line but there's still all the domestic squabbles, traffic control work and "political" crimes that fall outside the guilds responsibilities - plus as far as I can remember none of the dwarves or trolls are guild members, so who's responsible for them?

And dare I suggest once you have policemen looking into crime they'll find more and more of it and so need more people?

 

[One Man Bucket]

I expect policing the city was using more resources than the Guilds found profitable so with the increasing role of the Watch they likely stopped dealing with certain things in the hope the Watch would pick up the slack. Take thieves for example we used to hear about unlicensed thieves suffering unpleasant fates from the Guild but these days whenever we hear about unlicensed thieves they're in the hands of the Watch

 

[Dotsie]

It's also been mentioned (I forget in which book) that the Shades no longer exist (not in their previous incarnation at least).

 

[One Man Bucket]

It's also been mentioned (I forget in which book) that the Shades no longer exist (not in their previous incarnation at least).

Wouldn't that cap the growth of the Watch rather than increase it. I feel I'm missing what you're trying to say

 

[Dotsie]

It's the growth of the Watch that has enabled the Shades to no longer exist, so even though Vetinari initially wanted the watch to atrophy & disappear, they have been of great benefit now that they have swelled in numbers. If the growth of the Watch was capped before time, the Shades might come back.

 

[One Man Bucket]

I see now. The Watch would actually be a whole lot bigger if it wasn't for other cities luring away freshly trained recruits and veteran officers with high ranks and generous payments. Vimes might hate politics but he's pretty much created a spy network without even wanting to.