Meh, I don't think there's going to be a problem for leaders who are mature and have experience. They will understand that not everyone is going to follow your plan to the letter and that you have to give the guys on the ground leeway to make decisions based on what they see. Here's how I see it broken down. 1. Clans that are aligned with the war council: Following Orders for the most part but adjusting movements as they see things happening. 2. Clans that aren't aligned with the council: Chasing some objectives for the points but doing their own thing for the most part. 3. Public player group 1: New players and casual players that do their best to follow the objectives but are sometimes lost is the sauce because they're not in the commo loop. 4. Public player group 2: New players, unaffiliated players, and "die hard" lone wolfers who will do their own thing no matter what. I'm not going to begin to calculate the ratios for the groups but as long as a leader mentally prepares himself that this is the reality.. he will focus on the things he does have control over and be just fine. You track the things outside your control and use the elements you can control to continue to shape the battle as you see fit. Assign the most important objectives to elements whom you trust to follow orders and get the job done.
About two or three times a year. You mean in video games? I know how to communicate with other players, if that's what you're asking. Though, I've never lead anything like a guild before.
The more each councillor is involved in the battle, the greater should be the reward. And like the reward for the common soldier his rewards should bolster his ability to do his job - lead. Like; everyone is getting exp to level up and get new shiny items. Maybe there could be another level-tree for squad/platoon/fraction leaders where they get exp for following orders/orders being followed and with every new 'leader-level' they get something which will make them a better leader? That some people could focus on being a squad leader and others on being a platoon-leader, each with individual perks, somewhat like I imagine the classes could do?
I feel this thread is getting out of control so I'm gonna attempt to revive constructive conversation. Bear with me. - Leading people is hard. Common Sense is surprisingly uncommon. - Leaders get a thrill out of leading rather than 'I dont want that responsibility' 'I dont have the ability' type people - Commanders need a minor minor reward or graphic for commanding. Like i said above, do you really want your commander to spend 10 hours commanding and be weaker than some one who has been fighting for 10 hours (not even doing a great job). Your chapter master would be weaker than your most basic warriors. - Leading people in this MMO is a difficult task but why dont you guys suggest ways of making it easier rather than arguing and making comparisons. What can we use to make it easier? Also chill with the arguments....
Communication is key. A direct line between squad leaders and command, and from Squad leaders to their squads is a must. If this can be accomplished in game, fine if not, Team Speak, etc are good solutions. Squaddies should never be talking on command channel. Sl and above for speak privileges. Tactical maps. Basic kits issued to each soldier since they were invented. Below Sl the ability to view the map, Sl, update His/her squads WP and objective markers (not always one and the same). Platoon leader - Can place and update squad objective markers and WP's. Above Platoon leader, The ability to produce 'over lays' designating targets, supply points, secondary defense positions, jump off points, attack positions, etc. Basically the ability to plan. Also, the ability to plan but not publish, ie everything 'high command' draws on their map over lay does not get published until they hit 'send' or whatever the command needs to be. This will allow them to share among themselves, and then push it out to the boys when they feel it is ready. The best and most productive thing anyone can have as a leader is good followers. All good leaders are also good followers. What I mean is, communication is key, we have to talk to one another, being able to see your big blue arrows while you are explaining it will be much easier as well. However my willingness to follow your orders, no matter how much I disagree with them will be what makes us win. Not just mine, but all of us. Just playing your part in the machine, I can't explain to you how much easier this makes it for everyone. If command knows they tell Zulu platoon to stand in reserve while Bravo and Fox do the assault, and they know for damn sure that Zulu is going to be there when they call, it is a huge weight off a leaders shoulders. Basically, for the few hours that you are playing, put the need of your faction, even if you don't agree with it, over your own desires and do what is asked of you. I promise you the factions that does that, will be the dominant faction. TL/DR: Communicate, Be a good follower, that will make leading this beast easier for all.
http://forum.eternalcrusade.com/threads/mumble.681 Feel you might appreciate this thread on mumble - a map based communications system offering squad voip, squad leader voip and most importantly commander voip
@ the detractors who don't enjoy leadership. Just because you had a bad experience leading people, doesn't mean others would aswell. Maybe you're not cut out for the job, which is regrettable, it isn't for everyone. I've been in a lot of guilds over the years and one thing I noticed more than anything is that attitude and the willingness to forgo personal beliefs, ideals, opinions of others and emotion for the benefit of those under your leadership are keys to being a leader who can avoid drama. Now onto the more important aspects of what makes for good leadership. - Positive Attitude at all times, positive doesn't mean you have to be happy with people all the time, it means at least you should not yell at people or brutally enforce policies or subjugate your members. - Be strict but fair, all the guild policies apply to everyone, including the leadership itself, there is no favoritism. Everyone is given a fair chance in all matters, including time allocated to each member. Make everyone know you care about their opinion, themselves and above all make judgement and decisions with a fair open hand and not a closed fist. Above All Else... - It's your responsibility to organize other people, not control their lives. Your job is to tell others of events, plan events and organize people during events into roles they either selected for themselves or are best suited at, your job is to direct the eb and flow of others for best efficiency so everyone can have fun, rather than telling individual people what to do, micromanaging is BAD. I find the guilds or clans I was a part of which I enjoyed playing with the most had a strict hierarchical structure which was treated as a means of organisation based on people's skill sets rather as a means of favoritism. You get given the job if the people in charge feel you have the correct positive personality for it and are mature enough to tell the difference between bad attitudes and people clowning around harmlessly. Guilds and Clans with a military discipline I find are the most successful, you can have it without having to be "hardcore" as well. There were two guilds I enjoyed being in, they were both WoW Raiding Guilds which had a very close small team of leaders with established roles. They set out clearly set events, had an unchanging policy to how loot was distributed and had a no drama tolerated policy which had fair and instantly enforced rules. They also invited PUGs to fill the empty spaces in their raids when members weren't online, this was what they did different from other guilds which made them so successful and pleasant, they encouraged attendance and motivated members by instead of threatening expulsion or using an iron fist, but taking the approach of "If you don't show up, you will have your place taken by a PUG and you could be denied that item you wanted" This is how they dealt with anybody who only cared about gear and not about the team. And the policy worked. They had no established guild rules either, they simply had a policy, be respectful to your fellow guild members, if we the staff think you are not being respectful, we'll ask you to leave. That was that. Which made sense. But they did have additional rules for raiding which simply went as follows: All loot is rolled for, you can only roll for loot which is beneficial to you, anyone who rolls for loot they do not need will have their roll ignored, then if anyone who doesn't need the item hasn't rolled, then people can roll to greed it. If you have already picked up an item which is better than your previous item, please don't roll again for another item and let someone else roll for it. However if a tier set item token is dropped, everyone who doesn't have that tier piece and it's for their class can roll for that item. This was a good system and it worked, PUGs knew that if they broke the rules, the guild will put them on a blacklist and never invite them to come raid with them again, I was in a couple of their raids where they kicked a few pugs, but then they were replaced right away, thing is there is always bored people willing to raid with them, they didn't deny people in other guilds raiding with them. I started off as a PUG to their raids and I got invited to the guild after raiding with them for a month, that is also how they recruit, they have no application system. They invite people based on their attitude during raids with them, or if they had been a member in the past, I was a member of their guild back before they were raiders and were a leveling guild the year before and they remembered me. You need someone who is charismatic and organised with a vision to be a leader, but someone who also cares about their community. Being a kind nice person also helps. Leadership should be it's own reward, incentives for being a leader only encourages the wrong element to want to lead, who only cares about their own progression in a game, rather than caring about organizing and leading. Ultimately the people in charge are commanders directing the troops, they should inspire them and macromanage the team (point them in <insert> direction and at <insert> enemy and suggest a strategy), not micromanage the team (tell them how to play, what to do, control people).
The one thing wrong with your statement is the word "control." There's no controlling when you're in a leading position - it's about logic, common goals, respect, and initiative. Trolls are inevitable and should be disposed of by the guild/clan leaders or GM's. Casual gamers who don't respect the guidelines given; could be subject to being somehow chastised or being kicked from the guild/clan/w.e (still don't know wtf to call it).
