Right, as you all know I'm over in Europe so the times that I can get on and play are quite different to the times that the majority of NNG are on at. After hearing the meeting last night I'd like to toss in my two cents in regards to the hosting of a public platoon. As I'm on during said odd hours I tend to arrive on with only a few people on. I've always been of the opinion that running a public squad is relatively simple. If the squad leader keeps abreast of the situation it usually doesn't take long to weed out the random pubs to the experienced pubs. By that I mean some pubs play solo, join by pushing the join squad button and hop from one to the other day to day. Then there are the second kind, who are in a much smaller level but know who they want to join. They search for the same people and are trying to find the one that is good to them. As the squad leader is running it's an easy thing to note that Alpha 1 to 10 are with you, following the plan, yet 11 and 12 are farming at the crown or some biolab. Simples, kick 11 and 12, if another 11 and 12 join keep track of them and see how they perform. Keeping that stuff up and you eventually weed yourself down to having a good pub squad. Typically by the time I have a good pub squad running we're 50/50 pubs and either NNG chaps or guys from other outfits. So it's not so much running a pub squad, but filtering the pub squad down to the good ones. Also, once down to that level the pubs remaining are the ideal recruitment material, but at the moment I really have no idea what the story with recruiting is. I can safely say that I've ran squads, platoons and the recruitment sections all at different times, being here since November at this bloody point I've been through all the changes in recruitment policies and leadership. We're slowing down our level of recruitment but in the process we're also recruiting less chaff and more substance. So, in conclusion I feel as if we need more recruitment people and I feel as if more people need to be able to add people into the outfit. I had a problem there the other night where (while running the platoon) there were people looking for invites and I did not have the ability to recruit them, so what rank does one need to be for said ability? One good thing I've been noticing is the change in squad and platoon leadership passing off. The fact that it's no longer "Can someone take this?" but rather "You are taking this, enjoy" (While swiftly running away). I myself will then pick the people I recognize as being good at this and shove responsibility in their general direction, with surprisingly good results for the most part, the simple act of following orders means that most people who have been here for any length of time know what to do and how to do it, meaning that even week old new guys have a better understanding of the game mechanics to people from other outfits that have been in game for more than a month. (I think). Also, the age limit, while running with random platoons during the odd European hour I've noticed that the age limit of 21 is a fecking beautiful thing. The fact that it's a soft limit to a certain extent is bloody lucky also. Being in platoons with people of high pitch or who are consistently overtly emotional was driving me mad at one point. (Squeakers and ragers is a phrase for said group apparently).
I agree with you oin the early morning stuff. Sometimes when I log in before class to play a little there will only be a handful of NNG on, but with the pubs we get about 2 squadsworth of people. With these squads we can actually hold bases and perform assaults, rather than being a little thorn in the other faction's side. Also, typically there will be members of other outfits here (AT, test etc.), because there aren't any other pub squads open. To give up one of our outfit perks, that of squads running 24/7, seems like a bad idea to me, one that will harm our future recruitment. I suppose if this idea is to work we will need more recruitment officers, and more designated squad leads to aid in the function of the recruitment platoons.
I am here as a direct result of the recruitment platoons that Jamaw was running after the server merges last month. I was playing with V404 on Soltech and switched over to NNG because I like the way the platoon worked together. The prior group consisted of a bunch of stoners and squeakers who would get online and talk about getting high all the time. Not a big deal, I imagine that we've all been there but it did make me a little uncomfortable when half the platoon is obviously 12-14 years old and some douchebag is doing bong hits in platoon chat. Point being, that the the recruitment platoons are a good tool at getting the right kind of people into the oufit and provide an excellent avenue to show other games who are looking for the NNG experience where to get some. Keep up the good work guys!
No, it wasn't you. I don't have problems with the stoners either. I've always been a bit of an enthusiast myself...but it gets a little weird with kids around. I suddenly felt like the responsible uncle who is trying to keep these kids out of trouble. Best just keep it to tactical information only. Things are simpler that way.
After the leader of 404 purposly crashed my scythe with his galaxy while I was repairing it, I was like yeah..... That guild is going places...
Definitely. If possible, always keep one squad NNG-only. Doing so will make sure you'll have always one squad filled with people who know to follow orders and how to get things done. This helps the PL (by not getting frustrated at pubs for not following orders), helps the rest of the platoon (for being sure they don't have to bother about that task) and it's also a boost for your recruitment. Why? Because the pubs will see how we do things and how to do them in an efficient way. They see there is one squad that gets things done in less time and with less manpower: the NNG-only squad. They'll long to more of that and flock to join us. Or something like that.
