Post by pattyfathead on May 13, 2013 4:58:09 GMT -8
Hello Total Recoil!
I want to talk for a moment on a key part of maintaining a thriving outfit. The server, and in fact all of PS2 needs to know our doors are open. There are a few ways to do this.
First: Websites.
We maintain a post in the recruitment thread at Planetside2.com: forums.station.sony.com/ps2/index.php?threads/total-recoil-txr.72254/
If you ever have time, check out the thread, watch some of the videos, and give the thread a bump by replying to it. The word bump is not an acceptable reply, try to be a bit more creative, and that's against the forum rules.
If you have any cool videos or screenshots of our adventures, please put some of them up in that thread so people can see what we are about.
We keep our outfit updated at planetside-universe.com, outfitpoints.com, and on the PS2 wikipedia. Check those websites out and see how we stack up against the other outfits on our server every now and then.
This shows where we stack up against outfits about our size: www.planetside-universe.com/outfit_leaderboard.php?server=Connery&members=192
Outfitpoints has a good break out of how active our outfit is. Compare us to an outfit like TRG or 666 and see the difference in how active the player bases are.
Second, and this is the most important one: Open Platoons!
Now I know many of you cringe when you hear that term. What infuriates me to high hell is when I hear hints of elitism. We were all publics once, we were all beginners once. But remember most of the people that joined our outfit, myself included even though it was in beta, just randomly join up with a TXR squad one day. We learned from the experience, we enjoyed the experience, and we became a vital member of the outfit.
To be honest, I think it’s fun as hell. Especially when it comes to alerts showing up. Maybe it’s the times I play, but as of late have been winning almost every alert we participate in it seems, so it’s not as important as it used to be. But early on, it seems like we would never win Esamir, BUT, when I opened a platoon, got a full public platoon, and was able to guide and coordinate such a big force of people which would have been doing their own random thing, we absolutely stomped the NC and therefor had a dominating victory in Esamir, with only a slight population bonus.
Now I know not everyone is into an open platoon, or leading in general, I just want to at least plant the idea in your brain, and you can decide from there, so here are some tips for if you ever decide to run an open platoon.
Initiating the Squad:
Make sure you have a small TXR member base to start the squad. Many people joining public squads or that are new to the game basically go to the conglomeration of dots on the map, or the squad way point. If you have a TXR group that will focus those dots that helps set the tone started for how organized the squad will be. If you start with dots all over the map, it will continue that way.
If you want to make a squad public, be sure to ask the TXR members first. It is absolutely a different style of play, and maybe they just want to role with a crew that they know they can depend on and communicate that day.
Another option to Initiate:
Consider joining an open platoon if there are not a lot of members to start with. Most of the public squads I run, are actually other open platoons, where the other leaders had to go, and I helped them out with squad leader, and then moved onto platoon leader. It’s a nice way to inherit an already cohesive force, and use it for good and success. It’s also fun just to get to know some of the other great outfits on the server, be social able and have fun with them, we should have a good relationship with our allies in TTA.
Now that you have the squad up and running, maintaining the squad:
Adding Members: People only join squads that look like they are strong. Meaning they see 10/12 or 11/12 in the squad list. While you are growing your member base, your first squad, or first two squads should stay at 10 or 11 members, and then you shuffle them into Charlie to fill it up. Many leaders I see when they open a Charlie squad, immediately disperse the members evenly, so as not to handicap one squad. A noble goal, but then they are left with a bunch of 6/12 squads in the recruitment window and no one joins. While Charlie squad is growing, just let them know they should operate like Alpha squad and move along with them, until they are strong enough and you can give them their own missions.
Dealing with people not at the waypoint: There are MYRIADS of reasons people are not at the waypoint. Maybe they only recently joined, Maybe they were in a mossie and recently got shot down, maybe they accidentally clicked the wrong spawn dot on the map, the bottom line is don’t snap at people over it.
Let them know that this platoon is focusing on this waypoint, and while there are other bases that are strategic on the map, your specific strategy involves being where you are going, and if they want to fight over there, they should join up with the platoon that is operating that way.
In Game Comms: The in game comms work FINE! If they do not work for you, something is wrong with your settings. Tweak your computers inbound and outbound, whatever you have to do. I understand they take up more bandwidth and there are some scenarios, people with bad internet connections, that cannot play while they are on, in your situation just follow waypoints. But once a squad goes public all communication should go public. As in directional call outs of enemy contacts, requests for repairs, revives etc. People walking into a totally quiet platoon, because all the TXR members are strictly chatting on TS, won’t get the full experience and coordination of our outfit.
So, get your in game comms working! And use them when it’s appropriate. Feel free to turn off proximity, if you don’t want to hear obnoxious music or what not.
The recruitment message:
Don’t constantly bombard people about recruiting. Just at key moments. Maybe you just took a base after a big assault. Maybe you just finished a big defense. It should be at good intervals, and a nice concise line and to the point.
Mentioning our various divisions is a great idea. Mentioning events like FNO or Traitor Tuesday is a good idea. If you do decide to check out outfitpoints.com you can mention some of the stats from our outfit there.
Keep in mind with recruiting. We are not trying to take players from other outfits. They are our allys, we want them to stay strong outfits. We want to let the server know what we are so that people that have not found a good fit either playing solo or with their outfit, know what we are and can join us if they think they will fit in better here. It’s all about finding the outfit that is closest to their style of play.
And finally, Don't Burn Out!
If leading open squads is something you enjoy and it makes the game more fun for you, do it as often as you please! I know thats the case for me. But platoon leading is a lot of work, even if its with the outfit, and a tremendous amount more work with non-outfit members. If it is wearing you down, DO NOT BURN OUT ON IT! Take a break, maybe only do it once a week. Only do it as much as you see value in it, and once you are not enjoying it, let someone else take the reigns.
And just remember folks we are the Number 1 outfit on the server until you get down to an outfit that is only 150 members, and that’s Hostile Takeover. Our niche is having the quality of members like HT and FCRW while having the size of an outfit that can actually take on a 666th devil dogs.
SO SOLDIER! What are you waiting for, get out there and show the Connery TR what we are all about.
Also if you have any other tips or tricks I am forgetting, please feel free to respond with them below!
I want to talk for a moment on a key part of maintaining a thriving outfit. The server, and in fact all of PS2 needs to know our doors are open. There are a few ways to do this.
First: Websites.
We maintain a post in the recruitment thread at Planetside2.com: forums.station.sony.com/ps2/index.php?threads/total-recoil-txr.72254/
If you ever have time, check out the thread, watch some of the videos, and give the thread a bump by replying to it. The word bump is not an acceptable reply, try to be a bit more creative, and that's against the forum rules.
If you have any cool videos or screenshots of our adventures, please put some of them up in that thread so people can see what we are about.We keep our outfit updated at planetside-universe.com, outfitpoints.com, and on the PS2 wikipedia. Check those websites out and see how we stack up against the other outfits on our server every now and then.
This shows where we stack up against outfits about our size: www.planetside-universe.com/outfit_leaderboard.php?server=Connery&members=192
Outfitpoints has a good break out of how active our outfit is. Compare us to an outfit like TRG or 666 and see the difference in how active the player bases are.
Second, and this is the most important one: Open Platoons!
Now I know many of you cringe when you hear that term. What infuriates me to high hell is when I hear hints of elitism. We were all publics once, we were all beginners once. But remember most of the people that joined our outfit, myself included even though it was in beta, just randomly join up with a TXR squad one day. We learned from the experience, we enjoyed the experience, and we became a vital member of the outfit.
To be honest, I think it’s fun as hell. Especially when it comes to alerts showing up. Maybe it’s the times I play, but as of late have been winning almost every alert we participate in it seems, so it’s not as important as it used to be. But early on, it seems like we would never win Esamir, BUT, when I opened a platoon, got a full public platoon, and was able to guide and coordinate such a big force of people which would have been doing their own random thing, we absolutely stomped the NC and therefor had a dominating victory in Esamir, with only a slight population bonus.
Now I know not everyone is into an open platoon, or leading in general, I just want to at least plant the idea in your brain, and you can decide from there, so here are some tips for if you ever decide to run an open platoon.
Initiating the Squad:
Make sure you have a small TXR member base to start the squad. Many people joining public squads or that are new to the game basically go to the conglomeration of dots on the map, or the squad way point. If you have a TXR group that will focus those dots that helps set the tone started for how organized the squad will be. If you start with dots all over the map, it will continue that way.
If you want to make a squad public, be sure to ask the TXR members first. It is absolutely a different style of play, and maybe they just want to role with a crew that they know they can depend on and communicate that day.
Another option to Initiate:
Consider joining an open platoon if there are not a lot of members to start with. Most of the public squads I run, are actually other open platoons, where the other leaders had to go, and I helped them out with squad leader, and then moved onto platoon leader. It’s a nice way to inherit an already cohesive force, and use it for good and success. It’s also fun just to get to know some of the other great outfits on the server, be social able and have fun with them, we should have a good relationship with our allies in TTA.
Now that you have the squad up and running, maintaining the squad:
Adding Members: People only join squads that look like they are strong. Meaning they see 10/12 or 11/12 in the squad list. While you are growing your member base, your first squad, or first two squads should stay at 10 or 11 members, and then you shuffle them into Charlie to fill it up. Many leaders I see when they open a Charlie squad, immediately disperse the members evenly, so as not to handicap one squad. A noble goal, but then they are left with a bunch of 6/12 squads in the recruitment window and no one joins. While Charlie squad is growing, just let them know they should operate like Alpha squad and move along with them, until they are strong enough and you can give them their own missions.
Dealing with people not at the waypoint: There are MYRIADS of reasons people are not at the waypoint. Maybe they only recently joined, Maybe they were in a mossie and recently got shot down, maybe they accidentally clicked the wrong spawn dot on the map, the bottom line is don’t snap at people over it.
Let them know that this platoon is focusing on this waypoint, and while there are other bases that are strategic on the map, your specific strategy involves being where you are going, and if they want to fight over there, they should join up with the platoon that is operating that way.
In Game Comms: The in game comms work FINE! If they do not work for you, something is wrong with your settings. Tweak your computers inbound and outbound, whatever you have to do. I understand they take up more bandwidth and there are some scenarios, people with bad internet connections, that cannot play while they are on, in your situation just follow waypoints. But once a squad goes public all communication should go public. As in directional call outs of enemy contacts, requests for repairs, revives etc. People walking into a totally quiet platoon, because all the TXR members are strictly chatting on TS, won’t get the full experience and coordination of our outfit.
So, get your in game comms working! And use them when it’s appropriate. Feel free to turn off proximity, if you don’t want to hear obnoxious music or what not.
The recruitment message:
Don’t constantly bombard people about recruiting. Just at key moments. Maybe you just took a base after a big assault. Maybe you just finished a big defense. It should be at good intervals, and a nice concise line and to the point.
Mentioning our various divisions is a great idea. Mentioning events like FNO or Traitor Tuesday is a good idea. If you do decide to check out outfitpoints.com you can mention some of the stats from our outfit there.
Keep in mind with recruiting. We are not trying to take players from other outfits. They are our allys, we want them to stay strong outfits. We want to let the server know what we are so that people that have not found a good fit either playing solo or with their outfit, know what we are and can join us if they think they will fit in better here. It’s all about finding the outfit that is closest to their style of play.
And finally, Don't Burn Out!
If leading open squads is something you enjoy and it makes the game more fun for you, do it as often as you please! I know thats the case for me. But platoon leading is a lot of work, even if its with the outfit, and a tremendous amount more work with non-outfit members. If it is wearing you down, DO NOT BURN OUT ON IT! Take a break, maybe only do it once a week. Only do it as much as you see value in it, and once you are not enjoying it, let someone else take the reigns.
And just remember folks we are the Number 1 outfit on the server until you get down to an outfit that is only 150 members, and that’s Hostile Takeover. Our niche is having the quality of members like HT and FCRW while having the size of an outfit that can actually take on a 666th devil dogs.
SO SOLDIER! What are you waiting for, get out there and show the Connery TR what we are all about.
Also if you have any other tips or tricks I am forgetting, please feel free to respond with them below!
