15 replies to this topic

[GrizzlyViking]

NOTICE: This list is not an all inclusive list. I just wrote it based on my some of my past experiences. Please add your thoughts, comments, and ideas.


GENERAL :

1. Unity: First of all you have to have a group of people that, for the most part, can get along well most all of the time. A lack of unity destroys most units well before the enemy has a chance to and having arguments while in the midst of a battle almost always results in a negative outcome.

2. Strong communication and effective modes of communication: From my experiences this is best served with a decent voice chat like TeamSpeak or Ventrillo as well as a group forum for posting times and dates of planned battles so that everyone can have a chance to participate and be on time.

PERSONEL :

Keep in mind that people can cover more than one role in a group.

1. Leader: There has to be a leader that is what I will call "a little obsessive" (obsessive and patient works best) with details and knowing most every role well enough to make effective role assignments. This guy needs to be online in-game almost daily and a person that the rest of the players in the unit are able to trust and follow.

2. Second In Command: A guy that is supportive of the decisions of the Leader and disagree only in private to resolve issues of contention between him and the leader. This guy is the leader when the main leader is absent or his computer gets struck by lightning. He is a problem-solver, negotiator, peacekeeper type. The oil that keeps the machine running and keeps the Leader from having to deal frequently with non-essential unit issues.

3. Techie: Every good unit always has some technical guys that can tell you things like weapons damage ratios, recycle times, heat dissipation, etc. and the details of what weps, armour, engine, etc. work best in a Mech design that the average player doesn't have the time or the want to to figure out. These high detail guys are invaluable for Mech design and can save your unit tons of time trying to figure out what load-outs to use for Mech variants and other technical aspects of the game.

4. Specialists: These are the guys that are the best at what they do. They Have chosen a role and they invest all of their time into being the best at it. They hardly play any other role and would rather not play if they are assigned to something else. Every units needs a few of these.

5. Generalists: These are the jack-of-all-trades guys. They like all the roles and are top tier players in at least two of them. They are almost as good as a specialist, but don't quite know all the tricks a specialist does for a particular role. These guys rely on the Techies and Specialists to gain the knowledge they need to excel at the roles they like most.

5. Recruiter: These guys are the likable guys that everyone in the unit gets along with most all the time. They like communicating with new people and they excel in all modes of communication in-game and out. These guys are always looking for prospective new people as defined by unit needs.

6. Disciplinarian: This guy is the enforcer. He is the one that enforces the unit's rules and keeps order when things get out-of-hand. He doesn't have tons of friends in the unit and he doesn't care. he is more concerned that things be done right and gets highly annoyed when excessive abuses occur. He has no problem calling people out in public or private if he thinks they are out of line.

7. People to Exclude: This is just a short list of some types of people I have known to cause problems for online gaming groups: hot-heads, highly attention seeking men and women (drama, drama, drama) alcoholics/drug addicts, manipulators/liars, low weekly game time, in a significantly different time zone then most of the unit, etc.


Thanks for listening. Looking forward to hearing your comments and additions!

[Adridos]

I'd add something like Good composition into general characteristics (because everyone knows that a recon lance under 400 tons is just a battle armor squad).

[Glory in the Highest]

Sounds about right. Except in my opinion, sometimes the Leaders and 2nds need to be Recruiters. And the Techies. And Disciplinarians.

As for #7, absolutely right. No one wants that carp.

Edited by Glory, 26 May 2012 - 08:37 AM.

[Adridos]

Glory, on 26 May 2012 - 08:36 AM, said:

Sounds about right. Except in my opinion, sometimes the Leaders and 2nds need to be Recruiters. And the Techies. And Disciplinarians.

As GrizzlyViking said: "Keep in mind that people can cover more than one role in a group."

[Glory in the Highest]

Adridos, on 26 May 2012 - 08:37 AM, said:

As GrizzlyViking said: "Keep in mind that people can cover more than one role in a group."

Consider me policed, sir.

[Saren21]

Sounds good. i would tweek some stuff here and there but it sounds like you got a good basic foundation. some things I would add to help are:

Chain of command for your unit:
Officer(COL), Junior Officer(Capt), Senor NCO(MSGT) (non commissioned officer), NCO (SSgt) and Mechwarrior (AMN,PVT, SE). and make sure that you tell your guys always go to lowest point of command first so your Mechwarrior will go to his NCO and if he can't solve the problem then that NCO go's to the SNCO and so on.Doing this helps to keep good order and discipline, gives people a guide line to fallow to ask for help and keeps your commanders free to be able to handle other things like planing battles working with his JO's and SNCO's on tactics, lessons learned, commutations and so on.

Communication and effective modes of communication: you said most of it but just to piggy back on what you said earlier i would add You must sponsor good communication at all points or your chain of command, You MUST enforce good radio Discipline (IE: no one talking all over one another it can get very hard for your lance commanders to talk to your scouts if every one is talking over every one else.)
Try to cut down on mindless chatter try to keep it about whats going on right now on the battle field, and if possible have two comm channels one for commanders and one for every one else. ( helps cut down on chatter)

[Red October911]

hmmm I wouldn't mind being a defense specialist, nice list BTW

[GaussDragon]

GrizzlyViking, on 26 May 2012 - 08:14 AM, said:

NOTICE: This list is not an all inclusive list. I just wrote it based on my some of my past experiences. Please add your thoughts, comments, and ideas.


GENERAL :

1. Unity: First of all you have to have a group of people that, for the most part, can get along well most all of the time. A lack of unity destroys most units well before the enemy has a chance to and having arguments while in the midst of a battle almost always results in a negative outcome.

2. Strong communication and effective modes of communication: From my experiences this is best served with a decent voice chat like TeamSpeak or Ventrillo as well as a group forum for posting times and dates of planned battles so that everyone can have a chance to participate and be on time.

PERSONEL :

Keep in mind that people can cover more than one role in a group.

1. Leader: There has to be a leader that is what I will call "a little obsessive" (obsessive and patient works best) with details and knowing most every role well enough to make effective role assignments. This guy needs to be online in-game almost daily and a person that the rest of the players in the unit are able to trust and follow.

2. Second In Command: A guy that is supportive of the decisions of the Leader and disagree only in private to resolve issues of contention between him and the leader. This guy is the leader when the main leader is absent or his computer gets struck by lightning. He is a problem-solver, negotiator, peacekeeper type. The oil that keeps the machine running and keeps the Leader from having to deal frequently with non-essential unit issues.

3. Techie: Every good unit always has some technical guys that can tell you things like weapons damage ratios, recycle times, heat dissipation, etc. and the details of what weps, armour, engine, etc. work best in a Mech design that the average player doesn't have the time or the want to to figure out. These high detail guys are invaluable for Mech design and can save your unit tons of time trying to figure out what load-outs to use for Mech variants and other technical aspects of the game.

4. Specialists: These are the guys that are the best at what they do. They Have chosen a role and they invest all of their time into being the best at it. They hardly play any other role and would rather not play if they are assigned to something else. Every units needs a few of these.

5. Generalists: These are the jack-of-all-trades guys. They like all the roles and are top tier players in at least two of them. They are almost as good as a specialist, but don't quite know all the tricks a specialist does for a particular role. These guys rely on the Techies and Specialists to gain the knowledge they need to excel at the roles they like most.

5. Recruiter: These guys are the likable guys that everyone in the unit gets along with most all the time. They like communicating with new people and they excel in all modes of communication in-game and out. These guys are always looking for prospective new people as defined by unit needs.

6. Disciplinarian: This guy is the enforcer. He is the one that enforces the unit's rules and keeps order when things get out-of-hand. He doesn't have tons of friends in the unit and he doesn't care. he is more concerned that things be done right and gets highly annoyed when excessive abuses occur. He has no problem calling people out in public or private if he thinks they are out of line.

7. People to Exclude: This is just a short list of some types of people I have known to cause problems for online gaming groups: hot-heads, highly attention seeking men and women (drama, drama, drama) alcoholics/drug addicts, manipulators/liars, low weekly game time, in a significantly different time zone then most of the unit, etc.


Thanks for listening. Looking forward to hearing your comments and additions!

In my past experience almost none of this mattered. I'm not trying to sound negative, I'm just saying based on my past experience. Some of the best units I winged with were almost always horizontally-organized with a few people taking care of the scheduling etc. It was a fairly organic process of just settling into what mechs you used best and being fair (or meritocratic) about who got what.

[ColonelKiel]

GrizzlyViking, on 26 May 2012 - 08:14 AM, said:

NOTICE: This list is not an all inclusive list. I just wrote it based on my some of my past experiences. Please add your thoughts, comments, and ideas.


GENERAL :

1. Unity: First of all you have to have a group of people that, for the most part, can get along well most all of the time. A lack of unity destroys most units well before the enemy has a chance to and having arguments while in the midst of a battle almost always results in a negative outcome.

2. Strong communication and effective modes of communication: From my experiences this is best served with a decent voice chat like TeamSpeak or Ventrillo as well as a group forum for posting times and dates of planned battles so that everyone can have a chance to participate and be on time.

PERSONEL :

Keep in mind that people can cover more than one role in a group.

1. Leader: There has to be a leader that is what I will call "a little obsessive" (obsessive and patient works best) with details and knowing most every role well enough to make effective role assignments. This guy needs to be online in-game almost daily and a person that the rest of the players in the unit are able to trust and follow.

2. Second In Command: A guy that is supportive of the decisions of the Leader and disagree only in private to resolve issues of contention between him and the leader. This guy is the leader when the main leader is absent or his computer gets struck by lightning. He is a problem-solver, negotiator, peacekeeper type. The oil that keeps the machine running and keeps the Leader from having to deal frequently with non-essential unit issues.

3. Techie: Every good unit always has some technical guys that can tell you things like weapons damage ratios, recycle times, heat dissipation, etc. and the details of what weps, armour, engine, etc. work best in a Mech design that the average player doesn't have the time or the want to to figure out. These high detail guys are invaluable for Mech design and can save your unit tons of time trying to figure out what load-outs to use for Mech variants and other technical aspects of the game.

4. Specialists: These are the guys that are the best at what they do. They Have chosen a role and they invest all of their time into being the best at it. They hardly play any other role and would rather not play if they are assigned to something else. Every units needs a few of these.

5. Generalists: These are the jack-of-all-trades guys. They like all the roles and are top tier players in at least two of them. They are almost as good as a specialist, but don't quite know all the tricks a specialist does for a particular role. These guys rely on the Techies and Specialists to gain the knowledge they need to excel at the roles they like most.

5. Recruiter: These guys are the likable guys that everyone in the unit gets along with most all the time. They like communicating with new people and they excel in all modes of communication in-game and out. These guys are always looking for prospective new people as defined by unit needs.

6. Disciplinarian: This guy is the enforcer. He is the one that enforces the unit's rules and keeps order when things get out-of-hand. He doesn't have tons of friends in the unit and he doesn't care. he is more concerned that things be done right and gets highly annoyed when excessive abuses occur. He has no problem calling people out in public or private if he thinks they are out of line.

7. People to Exclude: This is just a short list of some types of people I have known to cause problems for online gaming groups: hot-heads, highly attention seeking men and women (drama, drama, drama) alcoholics/drug addicts, manipulators/liars, low weekly game time, in a significantly different time zone then most of the unit, etc.


Thanks for listening. Looking forward to hearing your comments and additions!

Great post. Couldnt agree with you more. My experience has always shown that successful units encourage a similar model to the one outlined here.

[GrizzlyViking]

GaussDragon, on 26 May 2012 - 08:53 AM, said:

In my past experience almost none of this mattered. I'm not trying to sound negative, I'm just saying based on my past experience. Some of the best units I winged with were almost always horizontally-organized with a few people taking care of the scheduling etc. It was a fairly organic process of just settling into what mechs you used best and being fair (or meritocratic) about who got what.

I am not really suggesting a command structure in this post. Mainly just suggesting roles that make the experience better/worse. As for command structure I think it depends on the play style of the players. As for me personally, I am more into a casual style of play with a group of experienced guys that take the game seriously and know their stuff. Maturity level is important for a group like this and I have found that maturity has nothing to do with age. Some old guys needs to grow up a little...at least young guys can be immature because there young. lol But anyway, command structure wasn't in my mind as I posted this, but it is a good topic that deserves discussing.

Edited by GrizzlyViking, 26 May 2012 - 09:05 AM.

[Saren21]

GaussDragon, on 26 May 2012 - 08:53 AM, said:

In my past experience almost none of this mattered. I'm not trying to sound negative, I'm just saying based on my past experience. Some of the best units I winged with were almost always horizontally-organized with a few people taking care of the scheduling etc. It was a fairly organic process of just settling into what mechs you used best and being fair (or meritocratic) about who got what.

I understand what you mean a lot of groups out there are just a group of friends who get together just to have fun and throw around some lasers at people. That can work too but i think what the OP was saying is that this is the unit mix/personal type that as worked for him in the past. I have been in groups too were none of that mattered however i have also been in units that are very structured.

I feel it more or less depends on what know of person you are if your more of a laid back type who does not do well with leadership then more of a home grown grass roots type unit is for you but lets say your new or need some kind of structured environment to play in then other type unit may be for you.

[ColonelKiel]

GaussDragon, on 26 May 2012 - 08:53 AM, said:

In my past experience almost none of this mattered. I'm not trying to sound negative, I'm just saying based on my past experience. Some of the best units I winged with were almost always horizontally-organized with a few people taking care of the scheduling etc. It was a fairly organic process of just settling into what mechs you used best and being fair (or meritocratic) about who got what.

I think this is the other end of the spectrum of what can be a success. This is more a group of guys who just want to share a similar experience. This kind of unit can be very successful in its own way, but it has limited options for growth and can be poisoned in an instant by one bad seed. Its lack of coordinated organization means it can quickly become cancerous with problems a larger more organized unit like the one outlined aove would be able to easily overcome.

My experience.

[Oversight99]

GrizzlyViking, on 26 May 2012 - 08:14 AM, said:

2. Strong communication and effective modes of communication: From my experiences this is best served with a decent voice chat like TeamSpeak or Ventrillo as well as a group forum for posting times and dates of planned battles so that everyone can have a chance to participate and be on time.

By the way... I've heard some talk of Murmur/Mumble... anyone ever used it?

[GrizzlyViking]

Oversight99, on 26 May 2012 - 09:17 AM, said:

By the way... I've heard some talk of Murmur/Mumble... anyone ever used it?

I have not, but I have heard of some people using Skype in "voice only" mode.

[Oversight99]

GrizzlyViking, on 26 May 2012 - 09:19 AM, said:

I have not, but I have heard of some people using Skype in "voice only" mode.

Only works for a few though. Since it isn't server based, lag becomes a problem with larger groups.

Now, if you only needed a lance of 4, I'm sure Skype would be just fine.

[Threat Doc]

This is a very nice, and accurate, list, and I've posted a link to it on the AU forums for discussion. However, I have a question for you, GrizzlyViking... can you elaborate on the enforcer role a bit more? Such as, is an enforcer always needed in the unit? What if the unit is more a sort of laid back place? Yeah, that ought to cover it, for now.

Before anyone gets silly, I'm NOT demeaning the idea of needing an enforcer, I just feel I need to find out more.