Rust Reaches Full Spin-up! Vanguard are pleased to announce that RUST have now been made full spin up team. As such, this also means they are now open to general TAW transfers. Anyone wishing to transfer or interested in Rust should contact Cocoa, & Alternatively please contact the Vanguard staff. Passing on the torch: Cocoa has stepped up to Spin Up Leader to Rust & will lead his team as we hope into a full Division in a corps, he has proven himself worthy of such! Current Staff Promotions:
Appaloosa [SO] - Joining us from War thunder App is our go to guy for every and anything when needed!
Calidrin [XO] - Joined us from an honored discharged come back to serve! We thank him for his time and all he is doing for us!
Onikaze [FS] - Also joining us from War thunder he has stepped down to FS to help lead practices and create arenas and matched events Can I get a hoorah for the whole Rust team! Check out the upgrade for RUST to come!
TAW on the Social Media Scene The community of TAW has been expanding outward by means of social media. We are currently involved in these social medias: Twitter, YouTube, Facebook,Anook and also Twitch. (Broadcast all the games! There’s a universe of gaming video waiting to be discovered on Twitch. Whether you’re into retro favorites, strategic eSports titles, first-person shooters, or massively multiplayer pasta cooking dating simulators, if you love playing it, you’ll find it on Twitch..) Currently there are 1,531 members on TAW’s Facebook page. Also we have 500+ subscribers to the TAW Official YouTube channel. If you are interested in checking out any of these exciting progressions for TAW; all you need to do is click on the appropriate link on the TAW website. They are located on the top left corner of the TAW website.
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Tides of War 3: Breaking Ground—A Battlefield 4 Campaign Tournament The Art of Warfare (TAW) Battlefield 4 division's North America battalion is proud to present Tides of War 3: Breaking Ground (TOW3), the third season of a large-scale, 32 vs. 321 campaign-style tournament that pits two teams against each other through a dynamically driven, turn-based "Battle Map" where the first team to successfully takeover the enemy's territory--either by aggressive capture of a strategically placed HQ or through attrition--will be deemed the winner. The tournament commences on Sunday, May 18; matches are every Sunday and Thursday at 9 p.m. Eastern time. For a full overview of the format and rules for TOW3, including links to related resources (e.g., Battle Map, schedule, draft pool, etc.), please refer to the Tides of War 3: Breaking Ground Overview and Rules.
This season's format has been created by newly appointed Field Specialist2 (FS), Witness. TOW 3 fuses both traditional components of a TAW-structured Battlefield tournament and completely new ones that look to shape how future campaigns are forged. With the implementation of a Battle Map, inspired by the game of Risk, players will get to go beyond the in-game experience and work as a team to tactfully progress towards victory.
TAW is renowned for its structure and organization, borrowed from the world's militaries, all of which are intended to give its members a superior--and most importantly, fun--gaming experience. The structure allows staff to execute events flawlessly. In addition, TOW3 will rely more than ever on its players' teamwork through camaraderie, communication and skill, attributes fostered through TAW's Code of Ethics.
Both teams will be led by a Platoon Leader (PL), assisted by a Squad Leader (SL), and those two will work together to draft players onto their teams based on specific criteria (e.g., skill, leadership, attendance). The draft presents another element of strategy, as PLs will be looking to fill their team with desired players, but also blocking the other team from picking their desired players; a game within a game. It is arguably the most important aspect of the campaign because it sets the table for how teams will perform throughout the season. Knowledge of the player pool and how each of them will fulfill a role is crucial. While some players may be highly skilled in infantry combat, that player may be weak in vehicles or as an outspoken leader, the latter of which is one of the most sought after attributes for a PL. Another new component added to this season is how tiebreakers will be handled for Capture the Flag (CTF) and Obliteration game modes. In the event of a tie, the PLs will have to choose two players to battle it out in a 2 vs. 2 Air Superiority (attack helicopters) match on Guilin Peaks. The caveat is that the same two players cannot be used more than once. This places yet another layer of strategy the PL has to consider. For non-TAW members wishing to participate in TOW3, please visit the TAW website and click the "Join Now" button at the top right of your web browser. Or, e-mail GhostEye@taw.net.
Previous campaigns have implemented smaller player counts and/or teams divided into four. The FS is a staff position in TAW that is responsible for creating and facilitating competition events. Quick Links: Tides of War 3: Breaking Ground Overview and Rules Battle Map Schedule Team Rosters
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In the Scope Interview with 1lt Rustic Let's get to know you - can you describe yourself in five words? A Human Being On Earth. Tell us about your history in TAW. I've come and gone over the past two & a half years, typically down to R/L situations, but I have mainly held staff positions. XO & SO & also stepped up as Acting CO in the absence of our CO whilst he was on a deployment exercise over a 4 week period. God was that first briefing I had to take scary..! What was your initial impression of TAW? I was lucky enough to join at a time of Wardy & KingCheese as the main influence & standard setters within my battalion. They had respect & you always knew where you stood. It was a time of unrest within the division on a whole (what do you expect when you merge a "AAA" title FPS & all the social testosterone that comes with it I guess) but with that said, Wardy brought together Myself,Heidebitt,Botch,Stim & Hood. And few of these chaps have moved on up the ladder over the past few years so to speak. How I approach & try to operate within TAW to this day, is off the back of what I first experienced when joining, & how it was being run at that point in time. Job well done gentlemen, you hold a positive & constructive way that all should aspire to achieve. @ Wardy & KC. Tell us about your current division, and what you do there. Always been with the Battlefield Division, and I returned at the tail end of Battlefield 3 after a three month break, to help spin up BF4 & build the BF Division with the rest of the team at the time. (You know who you are) I currently hold the SO position after a term as XO. What would you like someone considering joining TAW to know? The fact that we have been an established online gaming community since 2001 & currently have over 2000+ members with over 30 games supported. And even though a member joins a specific unit, they are always welcome to join other TAW TS gaming channels if they also have that game & wish to play with other members from our community. Tell us about some of the people you've met during your time in TAW. Like I mentioned earlier, the 2 people that set the standards for me within TAW were Wardy & KingCheese. But I've met many different people during my time here.
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Botch,Heide,Stim,Istrul,Verm and many others, and the great thing is....they are all individuals who I've spent many an hour with (usually boring the backside off them with my constant wittering...@ Stim, I won't mention Damavand & the high heeled Scout heli extravaganza.....Doh!) What's your favorite thing about TAW? The structure and the fact that for me, being on the EU side of things, We have a much broader cultural member base, I have heard many times from applicants that join with English as a second language say "But my English isn't very good" actually build confidence with their spoken English whilst in our TS channels. What's your favorite retro video game? Why? Binatone TV Master set on Shooting Mode of course (and yes Istrul, I was rather poor at this too!!! even at this primative stage of gaming..Grrrrrr..lol) Then it has to be...Manic Miner/Jet Set Willy/Commando/ Daley Thompson's Decathlon for the ZX Spectrum (with a full 48k....wahooooo) Arcade based......1942/R-Type/Defender/Hyper Sports/ Kung Fu Master/Dragons Lair Hand Held.... Astro Wars
If you could choose any TAW member to be stranded on a desert island with, who would it be and why? Is Penelope Cruz a member.......? I'd be hard pushed to choose just 1, as there are so many I have met & would cherish inflicting my constant wittering upon in R/L, but on a serious note, all of the above mentioned.... Do you admire any celebrities? Why or why not? All my fellow members of TAW for starters... followed by, but in no particular order.... Ayrton Senna,Quentin Tarantino,Clint Eastwood,Sony,KRS1,Nelson Mandela,Ole Gunnar SolskjĂŚr,Technics,Gianfranco Zola,Ed De Goey,Pele,Primecuts,Robbie Maddison,Valentino Rossi,Barry Sheen,Shirley Bassey,Colin Mcrae,Roger De Costa,Brad Lackey,Dave Thorpe,John Peel,Norman Wisdom etc etc. Who do you believe is going to be the most influential figure in gaming in the next three years?
TAW.NET surely......!
50 day milestone for 7th Corps This week marks 50 days since the launch of 7th Corps. It is a milestone for us as a newly formed group of players within TAW - and we're recognising this by bringing you the first edition of a monthly 7th Corps Blog. In each short blog we'll take a look back on recent key achievements or developments from our Divisions; Guns of Icarus, Hawken, Minecraft and Neverwinter. We encourage you to read this and look beyond your own Division to learn more about other gamers in TAW. We know that it can be difficult at times to understand the wider community, all the different units and the people who run it all and hope that this monthly blog will help all of us to learn a little bit more about what goes on around us. So, to our first month... The Guns of Icarus Division have been working closely with Muse, the developers of their game, on the implementation of features to support clan gaming. Members of the GI Division welcomed representatives from Muse into TeamSpeak and held an extended Question and Answer session with them. Guns of Icarus are also working hard on implementing their TransAtlantic Wargames - a tournament to be held in the near future, keep an eye on their blog for more information soon. Hawken also recently invited the development team of their game onto TeamSpeak - holding an event where eight members of Adhesive Games took part, playing alongside even more TAW Members. The Hawken Division has received substantial support and contact from within Adhesive Games - and the evening reflected that by being very well organised and lots of fun, which you can read even more about here. The Minecraft Division have just launched a new public portal in the form of a mini-site and a new TAWcraft server address. TAW members and public players now connect directly to the server by using tawcraft.net in their Minecraft client! This change also sees the return of dynamic maps to thetawcraft.net mini-site which track how the different worlds on the server look and change over time. You can keep track of other recent news from Minecraft here. Neverwinter are experiencing steady growth with their innovative and regular schedule of events which they now run on a daily basis! With the third expansion module of Neverwinter having just launched, the Division is continuing to grow and evolve. They are also using a daily feedback form to learn exactly what kinds of events their Members are interested in and when they want them to take place. For more information on Neverwinter, check out their blog here. Thanks for taking the time to read the first of our monthly 7th Corps blogs! If you're from 7th Corps and you've got any idea or items you'd like to see featured - please pass them through the Chain of Command in your Battalions and Divisions, who will put them together and forward them onto us. dajaroo [CC 7CLC] Draxton [CC 7CC]
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Natural Selection 2 Natural Selection 2 is an FPS-RTS hybrid which is best described as Alien Vs. Predator meets StarCraft. Marines fight against Aliens in (usually) six to eight player teams, of which one plays commander.
Commander’s play the game from an RTS perspective, meaning they place buildings, research upgrades and direct their teams into battle. Meanwhile Ground forces play an FPS-game: in direct contact with the enemy, they fight to capture and defend resource nodes. Controlling resource nodes is essential as they provide income to the commanders and players. Team resources allows commanders to build bases, research upgrades and support their team. Player resources allows players to buy advanced weaponry (Marines) or evolve into deadlier lifeforms (Aliens). To win, teams must destroy all opposing command structures, which are Alien’s Hive’s or Marine Command Stations. Communication, teamwork and strategy are all critical and often gives the advantage over a team of superior loners. Over 50 teams compete in the ENSL - a community-driven worldwide league. Volunteers stream and cast nearly every match - and watching them can be as entertaining as your usual e-sports-cast. Overall the NS2-community sticks out as friendly, active and helpful. This allows new players a smooth entry into the game, which - due to its unique and asymmetrical game concepts - is challenging to learn. Recently the developers of NS2 consigned control of the game’s development to a group of dedicated modders. By this, the circle was complete, as NS2 originally evolved from a Half-Life-mod. Check it out!
Phenom NS DC
Team Fortress 2 In case anyone's been living under Patrick's rock for the last 8 or so years, Team Fortress 2 is a class-based hat simulator with secondary first-person-shooter gameplay on the side. The game focuses primarily on team-based objectives (over simply killing the enemy team), such as capturing control points or king-of-the-hill. Although, we goofwads at TF probably spend just as much time calling out that "We need a dispenser right here!" as actually carrying out the missions, which I think is really where the game's charm is: it’s incredibly silly, and should not be over-thought. All of that aside, why do people love TF2? The game is about 8 years old at this point and it’s community is still going strong. Well, while everybody probably has their own opinions, my reasoning is just because of how ridiculous this game is while still being one of the more competitive multiplayer games I’ve ever seen. Team Fortress 2 does not care in the slightest about making any sense at all. What I mean by this is that when you actually go to analyze a drunk demolitions expert running around slicing people in half with a frying pan, things get pretty weird; and yet, TF2 is one of the first that comes to mind when I think of ESports. We even have a TF2 competition (hat comparison) going on right here in TF NA called “Domination Fortess.” That, to me, is what TF2 all about: the team with the best hats will always win.
SlightlyAmiss TF4-CO
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Ghost Recon Phantoms Welcome ladies and gentlemen to Ghost Recon Phantoms! Our FREE TO PLAY game is a third-person shooter, and takes place on a futuristic, urban battlefield. You’re equipped with cutting-edge weaponry as your 8-man fire team captures strategic points. The official Steam launch happened about 3 months ago, along with some massive lighting and graphics upgrades, so the game is still evolving. There are three classes: Assault, Support, and Recon, each of which has a choice between two special devices, armor options, and a massive selection of weapons. Assaults have “Blitz” which allows you to run at superhuman speeds with a blitz shield to storm the point, knock down, and stun enemy players, while your team cleans up the mess behind you. Assaults may choose “Heat”, which is a weaponized microwave emitter that suppresses the enemy. Supports have “Aegis”: a bulletproof shield that encompasses you, and your team, as you push to the objective. Support’s second option is “Blackout”, an EMP device that disrupts enemy technology, disabling them briefly. Recons have “Scan” which detects and highlights enemies in red for all to see, providing hugely valuable intel for your team. The second Recon option is “Cloak”, which is short term invisibility. Anytime a teammate takes advantage of your device, you get a bonus, even when THEY make the kill ! We have a fantastic TAW community here, and we’d love to give you in-game TAW tags! Please join us!! EU Download Link NA Download Link Minion, GRP DC
Smite “Our” battleground is SMITE! A Third Person MOBA game where two teams of 5, battle it out with their chosen deities from various cultures past and present. There are other modes; but the basic premise is to destroy structures on three lanes heading towards the enemy Headquarters from the outside “in”. Once you’ve finally made it inside… you will have to defeat a Titan for the win! Guarding their dominion every step of the way; will be the enemy team, supported by steady streams of minions pushing each lane towards YOUR base! Smite is easy to learn but difficult to master. And the 3D Third-Person experience really amplifies excitement: As you’re ambushed in the jungle or chasing down a fleeing enemy. Customize your character; (countering enemy builds)…, coordinate with your teammates for some amazing plays..., go forth and SMITE thine foes in order to WIN! What else could you ask for in a FREE game? So if you feel like wielding powers the likes of ZEUS, RA, ODIN or many more in casual or competitive settings. Feel free to try it out and look us up when you’re doing it. Glengis [SM DC]
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Far Cry The Far Cry series is a first person shooter with a long history within TAW. The first part was released in 2004 and the following parts all shared the same unique open world atmosphere with loads of freedom in the single player campaign. The current Far Cry 3 has an thrilling single player story, beautiful scenery of lush tropical island and exciting gameplay. The multiplayer is built around the domination gamemode (with firestorm as a hot version of it). Inside TAW the Far Cry division is one of the oldest divisions and especially during FC1 and FC2 had a large ‘garrison’ in multiple battalions. The current Far Cry 3 was launched after a 5 years wait and there was much anticipation. The single player experience surpassed all expectations. The multiplayer is good, but unfortunately has his limitations, especially the lack of dedicated servers makes it harder for clan gaming. The incredible and user friendly map editor really make up for some of this. The editor is a distinctive feature of the series . Within the FC3 division there are many gifted mappers who have battled multiple times for the trophy of ‘master mapmaker’. The ongoing flow of new maps (from TAW hands and others) keeps the game and internal tournaments fresh and exciting. Recently Far Cry 4 was announced for November this year, this times set in the Himalaya and promised to feature another memorable bad guy, like Vaas in FC3. More exciting details are expected to be revealed in upcoming E3. Sharky DC FC
Minecraft What is Minecraft? In its simplest form, Minecraft is a survival game where players must collect resources to build a shelter, grow food, and craft gear, all while avoiding deadly monsters. Minecraft is also a sandbox with a set of tools to create your own games and content; this is what the Minecraft Division mainly focuses on. In the Minecraft Division, you will often see members playing various Minecraft mini-games, some of which were created by our own members. We have a game called Chunk Wars, by dajaroo, where two teams must destroy the other team’s bed, negating their ability to respawn. Ffaen is currently working on an attack & defend map called Frozen Frenzy where one team must protect their core for 20 minutes while the other team tries to destroy it. I personally have created a game named Destroy All Leaves where four teams have 15 minutes to craft gear and defences before the walls separating the teams crash down. Minecraft isn’t just about survival or PvP, we also hold regular build competitions where contestants must make something within the limits of a theme. Past themes include New Beginnings, Winter Holiday, and Asian Architecture. Currently, we have a build competition going on with the theme of Childhood Video Games. So I’ll ask again, what is Minecraft? Well...it’s whatever you want it to be. Come check us out in the Minecraft TeamSpeak channel if you want to find out what all the fuss is about. Hope to see you soon!
Viperious [MC DC]
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The Law of Diminishing Players Part 2 Maxim #17 - Enthusiasm for your game mixed with initiative produces the fuel that fires growth in a team. Maxim #32 - No one here gets paid, we are a volunteer army. Therefore, there is absolutely no room for "primma donnas." Maxim #34 - 80% of the work in TAW is done by 20% of the membership. Always try to improve these odds. If your desire is to have a successful and thriving team, you need to read this article through to its conclusion. Much of the content in here is common sense, but I've tried to organize it in a way that is (hopefully) fresh and with some new insights. My hope is that this article transmits the true sense of weight behind the concept. In my previous article in this series I talked about the law that governs every clan, guild, or esports team. It is the Law of Diminishing Players. It affects all teams at all times, even teams that have been around for ages and seem to have a large stable member base like The Art of Warfare. All teams are subject to The Law. LIKE TAXES AND DEATH… Thus far, man can never truly break free of the earth's gravity while on the surface or in the atmosphere. But man has developed a tool to counteract the force of gravity and in fact uses gravity with the atmosphere to take flight. It's called an airfoil. I'm hoping that this article coupled with your determination and action will be your airfoil. Because no team can ever truly break free of the Law of Diminishing Players, you can only counteract against it. The moment you stop caring about the effects of the Law is the moment your team stagnates and begins to decline. The tool I am presenting is no surprise, its called recruiting. Duh. I know, sounds stupid to say this right? It's completely obvious. But mark my words, recruiting new members onto your roster can have the potential not only to counteract the Law, but also to remedy a host of maladies that can often plague teams that are in the latter stages of the game cycle. On the average team, only 1% - 2% of members actively recruit, if at all. If it is substantially more, then you are an anomaly and I'd like to know your secret. A DOSE OF REALITY The first dose of reality is that you may be one of the only people on your team who is the most interested in recruiting new members. More succinctly, you're probably one of the only ones who will do the things necessary to recruit new members consistently over an extended period of time. So if you have trouble getting other members to take your orders, or your request to recruit new members, don't feel alone. I'm right there with you and so is 99% of all the other team leaders out there. I have established teams where I found members who were very passionate about recruiting new teammates… and one team in particular I had an individual whose passion for recruiting new members surpassed mine… we had to run 4 servers to contain all our members.. but he and people like him are an anomaly. At the end of Part 1 I talked about what you need to do to start taking positive action. You need to have your mission/vision/goals established and you need to know who your ideal teammate is. In marketing this is called identifying your customer. Who is she? Is she an adult? Is he a beginning player, or is he a top-of-server raider? Does this person need to have disposable income to support a server or some other infrastructure? Who ever that person is you need to figure it out. Because you will attract exactly who you put the call out for. If your call for players is not precise, you will get aimless players (no pun intended!). If you appear like a clan-noob, like you are a beginner, then you will attract beginners or no one at all, or maybe possibly people who will try to take advantage of you. POSTURE This leads me to another concept that I want to bring to you that you may be familiar with. Either way, you may already have this concept down even if you don't realize it, or you may not even be aware of it. In embarking on establishing or running your team, as the leader, you must have the correct posture. I'm not talking about how you sit in your chair, or how you stand, etc.. I'm talking about your mental or spiritual attitude.
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The Law of Diminishing Players Part 2 POSTURE – A MENTAL OR SPIRITUAL ATTITUDE When you are recruiting new members the correct posture to have is that you will take the people on to your roster that you are specifically looking for, you know exactly who it is you're looking for, and no matter what an individual claims they bring to the table, you don't need any one individual. Does that make sense? I'll repeat that last bit: You don't need any one individual. A key ingredient of the correct posture is to have a healthy dose of skepticism at your command. Be skeptical of words, but pay close attention to actions. If your in-game recruiting messages or your forum posts sound whiny or like you are desperate for members, you're opportunities to attract quality players is much lower BE SKEPTICAL OF WORDS, BUT PAY CLOSE ATTENTION TO ACTIONS. I used to believe that the success or failure of my team would hinge on certain people. I thought that my success hinged on an in-game pilot who owned the skies and really helped my team achieve key victories, or a maxed out healer that brought all the right gear and had a massive amount of gold at her disposal. You know what I found out over time? After those people left the team, we carried on and had a great time. All the things that I got stressed about that wouldn't happen when they left didn't come true. There were others that eventually came onboard and filled their roles either immediately or over time… but only because I persevered to counteract against The Law of Diminishing Players. Whether you are recruiting in game or on a forum don't chase after players. If you chase after players you are in a state where you believe yourself desperate. And, by “chasing players” I don’t mean to not actively try and engage potential teammates. On the contrary, my greatest personal successes in terms of team building have come from when I personally engaged players and worked to become their friend. I am talking about stalking after players to join your team after you have delivered your message. Remember, if you have a mission or goal, and you know what your ideal teammate is, then all you need do is conduct the search and your message will draw in the players you are after. N-GAME RECRUITING In-game recruiting is your bread-and-butter medium for finding new players. There are so many games and so many variations of in-game interfaces and mechanisms that I cannot go into the details in this article. Each game could probably contain its own article full of information. But, there is one key principle that applies to all games that I can speak about with total authority. The principle that applies to all games is very simple, it's activity. I know, another "duh!" moment… you're probably saying, "like why are you wasting my time with this? It's common sense!" But, like most "common" sense it is not commonly practiced. If you want people to be interested in what you are doing to the point that they sign up with you, then you must have mucho activity. Every game has different types of activities. Some universal teamwork-based activities are: Be online playing and logged into the Teamspeak server. Work together with other players whenever possible. Compliment other players when they do well. Help others freely and without expectation of recompense. (Particularly lower-level or newer players) Give players items they need without expectation of recompense. When people see you doing these types of things, it will attract them to you. Most players are only out for number one. i.e. themselves. They never think about or care about what other players are dealing with. It is most players' chief goal to level-up or rank-up their player and that is usually all they care about. Will people take advantage of you for behaving in an open and helpful manner like this? Of course. People are selfish by nature, but when you provide help to a person who recognizes your helpful posture and is not so selfish, they will become your friend, and maybe a teammate. Throughout my many years of gaming I have always enjoyed helping newer players who were cool, and friendly versus getting a teammate that is totally absorbed in their leet-ness and only looks to see who worships the ground they walk on. These latter primmadonnas really repulse me. One more point on this… think about the person looking at your team. Typically, people join a team to be a part of something bigger than him or her self. They are looking for an experience that will provide entertainment, and camaraderie beyond what they can find running around by themselves in-game. If they come to a team where there is no activity or very little activity they will most likely not join or won't be there for long if they did join.
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The Law of Diminishing Players Part 2 RECRUITING OUTSIDE YOUR GAME I have ran several teams in the past where this method of recruiting was actually my most successful path. For my Battlefield 2 & 3 and Enemy Territory: Quake Wars teams I had forum posts out that I bumped (posted on) daily and they produced hundreds of members for each team. (Bumping is simply replying to your own forum posts so that they remain near the top of the forum topic listing.) For each game-team I had well over 200 members each at any given time. Over the life of the team this number ran into the thousands. And, in each case there was primarily one forum for each game that produced the vast majority of the members. In a moment I will dig a bit deeper into recruiting in forums, but before I get into that, let me point out a few areas you can recruit new members that you may or may not have thought of… Family & Friends – You might be surprised. For one game, I recently invited some friends to help me launch my team and they got fired up, bought new computers. Ask. You may be surprised. Co-workers – Just like family and friends, there may be people you work with who are looking for a new hobby or are already gamers and looking for some fun times. Tell your co-workers what you are doing. Ask people via bulletin boards, coffee rooms, etc.. CraigsList.org – Craigs list is free and there are all kinds of people posting and looking. Plus you can target specific locales such as your own city. Social Media – Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, you name it. There are hundreds of communities that people belong to. Whichever communities you belong to, spread the word that you are looking for players. Gaming Facilities – If you live near a gaming facility that hosts LAN parties, they may have a place for you to post your flyer or card, etc.. Google Alerts – This is a neat feature that is very powerful. Set up an alert for your game.. lets say you play World of Warcraft. You might set up an alert to search the web for: "looking for wow guild" and google will send you alerts for when that phrase pops up anywhere on the internet. Naturally, in this case someone would have typed that phrase on a webpage, forum, facebook, etc… These are most of the ones I employ. Do you have one that you employ and I don't have it here? Let me know below in the comments and I will add it in CRAFTING YOUR PITCH In the first article in this series, I mentioned how you needed to identify who your ideal teammate is. This was not an idle exercise. There is a reason to go through the process of figuring out who exactly it is you want on the team. Once you have this person identified the next step is to create a pitch to them, tailored for the attitude and skills you're seeking. Are you seeking newer players or seasoned veterans? Is your team an open community more focused on fun and relaxation or more on competition and training? Are you running a strictly PvP or PvE team? Both? Maybe you're putting together an all-girl team? Whatever qualities, skills, or interests you would like your teammates to have, you must write them down somewhere. Once you have that figured out you must turn those characteristics into a pitch, and once you have your pitch you must play Johnny Appleseed and spread it around. I have a pitch that I have been working on for years. I have honed it, polished it, changed it with the changing games but at its core it attracts the exact type of player I look for. First, I state what kind of attitude I am seeking in a player. Second, I state some minimum requirements for entry (attitude is part of this) such as a microphone, age, etc.. Third, I give some brief points on the types of activities a prospective member can expect to find themselves participating in. Lastly, I tell them how to join or where to go to find out more information about our team. That's it. It's very simple and short but what it does is creates a desire in the person with those qualities and desires (or someone who want those qualities) to find out more. Many players will hunt around different forums looking for a team to join. This is great because we can typically create a small ad and post it in the proper place for those prospects to see. There are some generalizations that I employ when crafting and posting my team sales-pitch (sorry, that is exactly what it is). Some of you will take these gems and put them to use while others will skip past them… consider yourself forewarned. 1.People don't like to read. It's a fact. If you've made it this far into the article you are in the top 20% of gamers who don't mind reading. So, when crafting your pitch don't post things like the history of your team or your life's gaming-story, nor post things like your rules, or your deployment structure. It is a common misconception that "More information will create desire." There couldn't be anything farther from the truth. You are fishing for members. You need your pitch to be bait, not a whole meal. 2.In line with number one above, paragraphs should be no more than 2-3 sentences at most. If someone opens your pitch in a forum and it is one long block of text, you're going to lose many potential members. By the way these two are "maxims" that hold true for all team communications. Keep it short if you want people to read it.
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The Law of Diminishing Players Part 2 3. Quality equals quantity. Another way to say this is in order to get quality players you must go for quantity. I cannot tell you how many times I've had someone try and convince me that in order to find the "quality" players I should not go for quantity. This is a total misconception and misunderstanding of some very basic principles. Let me use the fishing analogy here again… One of my chief aims in recruiting is to try and find the one-percenters, the players who are cool, stick around a long time, are willing to help run aspects of the team, and when they do help they do it well. When "fishing" for these types of players it has always been more fruitful if I cast my net rather than one single fishing line. With a net, I can haul in a pile of fish and throw back the ones who aren’t what I'm looking for. If I were using just a line it might take me months or years of fishing to find them. Make sense? If someone ever tries to say to you that quantity is not quality, then they are simplifying a more complex and deeper idea. In short, they don't have a clue. (See my addendum at the end for more on this.) Keep track of where you post and tell your teammates where you post. Some might actually pitch in and help keep your recruiting threads bumped.
MAKING THE PITCH So you now have your pitch and are ready to spread it around for players join your team. But where should you put it? This is going to take some time in the beginning but once you get it setup it's usually just a matter of maintenance. You need to find the official website(s) for your game and as many unofficial fan-sites as you can find. Find all the competition (i.e. ladder, leagues, etc…) websites you can, and any generic game forums too. Some examples of generic game forums are IGN, GameSpy, or FPS Admin. There are many more out there. Be careful where you post. Most forums have rules about posting and in particular are fussy about teams recruiting players and where you can post it. I have been banned from forums for not reading their posting rules. This exercise usually takes me a few days of searching and sifting through candidate websites, but in the end I usually come up with a list of 20-30 forums where I post my pitch. Make sure when you post that you specify that you want to be notified of any replies. Some boards have this feature defaulted to off. I've often had people post questions or comments in my thread and if I didn't have notifications turned on I would have never known about it. MAINTAINING After you have posted your recruiting ad you have to stay on top of it to get the maximum benefit. For the first couple days you should revisit the forums where your posts are at. Is your post still on the front page of the forum? If not, you need to bump it. Be careful and be sure to know each forum's bumping policy. In time it will be apparent which forums are getting traffic and which are not. The ones that get heavy traffic should be looked at and bumped frequently. Why? Because if you're recruiting post is not on the first page of the forum your chances of recruiting players from it goes down significantly. As I mentioned above, you should notify your current team members of where you posted so that they can also bump threads and help keep them on the front page. I typically do this by creating a post in my own forums with links to each post that I've made. This makes it easy and accessible to all your members. Also, if possible you want to use something like Google Analytics to see which threads are bringing traffic to your website. You want to be double sure you attend to the websites that are coming from your most highly trafficked posts. You will only know this if you have a way to see how people come to your website. CONCLUSION You cannot defeat the Law of Diminishing Players. Like taxes and death it is here to stay and will never go away no matter how long your team has been active or how large it is. It is simply a matter of whether you are engaging your airfoil (recruiting) or not. Are you rising above, using the Law as a touchstone to future greatness? Or, are you stagnating by not recruiting new members and allowing your player base to dwindle away? There is no in-between, no grey, only black or white. If you are playing a game or games that are dying and the community is small, then you may want to consider moving to a newer more vibrant game. There is only so much you can do when a game is in its final phase. It is vital that you determine exactly who you want to join your team then craft a pitch for that player and entice them to visit your website or game server. It is vital that you are active and are active in server. If you don't have regular team activity yet, then you must stubbornly resolve to create it yourself. Time and again you will hear me preach how you are the key to the success of your team. No one else. Your daily positive actions are what separate your team from glory and from becoming digital dust. ...YOU ARE THE KEY TO THE SUCCESS OF YOUR TEAM. NO ONE ELSE. Fox
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