Squads

[TheBored]

Maybe they just wanted to consistently play squad games?

TB

[Picobozo]

QUOTE (TheBored @ Jun 26 2008, 02:18 PM) Maybe they just wanted to consistently play squad games?

TB

Before our mass exodus we were playing a game a week.

We lost a good 75% of our vets while I was squad leader. Every time one of the guys left they would leave me a pm saying they were sorry and explaining why they left. The majority of those pm's listed their reason to leave as wanting to join a more competitive squad. The rest said they wanted to try something new, but almost everybody left to join one of the better squads.

Not much mystery to that one.

[ImmortalZ]

I really don't understand people who left BS at their peak. Players who left SRM, I know their reasons and I understand them. But not the people who left BS.

[MadAccountant]

People are attracted to talent and reputation. This isn't necessarily the same thing. Squads have to be visible both in the forums here and in pick up games so that non-squadded players can see how those players act and whether they want to be associated with that group. Personalities are important but can be mitigated somewhat by talent. The reverse also holds but not to the same extent imo.

Sometimes people think they've joined the right group only to find out that they just don't fit. or they disagree with the squad's philosophy or just how people communicate within the squad as opposed to externally. Other squads may simply not be active enough. Yet again perhaps someone just wanted a change.

For ACE 63% of our playerbase are from other squads while the rest were either from cadet or unaffiliated (based on all 63 players). Most of the squadded players came from SysX (14), XT (12) and RT (7), over half our roster. Very little from the other squads. Draw your own conclusions.

We've had this discussion internally for quite some time about the desire for other squads to grow but at the same time needing to remain competitive. I don't have a solution but we have resisted recruitment and even more so now. We recruited 5 players this year and I don't see much change from that unless some turnover occurs.

[MadAccountant]

Re the BS exodus, there were two. When XT was first reincarnated by elephanthead and romeo, a few of us old-time XTers (Raindog, Duckwarrior and myself) were in BS and left to help the XT resurrection. BV was SL at the time and it seemed a good time to move for various reasons. The internal strife that occurred later saw the majority of the change and I've never known the whole story. It pains me though.

[Snack]

There is no quick fix. Advertise game, get more players, 10 more squads and some of those problems will go away.
Also, it is interesting to see how some people who used to belittle the ACE as a squad to no end, now consider us (still largly HELO underperformers) as some kind of super-squad. Amusing even.

P.S. Spidey, if you don't mind stopping with your out-of-thin-air "stats" you seem to come up with lately, for the sake of fair argument.

[Ramaglor]

Well there is one way that might do it:
when a squad's active players reach a total HELO that was in the top 2 or 3 highest total HELO of all squads, they are no longer allowed to recruit.
edit: of course, when they are no longer having the highest HELO they can recruit again.

[quackdamnyou]

QUOTE (Snack @ Jun 26 2008, 12:23 PM) There is no quick fix. Advertise game, get more players, 10 more squads and some of those problems will go away.

The problem is that there are just enough pilots who DON'T want new players to stay that they do not feel welcome. Personally I'd rather increase our retention rate than advertise and shove ever more fresh meat into the grinder. These new players show up late at night, or during screwball hour and get completely the wrong idea about the game. I was fortunate enough that the first full game I played was a balanced, competitive prime time game, which made me fall in love with the teamwork in allegiance. We need more of those games to keep the attention of more of the right people.

Let me tell you the story of my brother. I convinced him to try the game, we came on a couple nights, but the games were crap and failed capture him. It was just one cluster$#@! after another with lots of screaming for nans, screaming about stack, booting, resigning, bitterness, and so on. If he'd come during one of the two good games a day I bet he'd still be playing. Also if he'd been willing to try TS so I could hand hold him a little better.

I say focus on a quality experience for rookies over getting more rookies in. But the squad system can only take so many rookies at once. To add 10 squads in a stable way would take 10 years. Personally I'd rather see the existing squads with 100 active pilots a piece playing a squad game every night.

BTW: Don't use HELO. HELO can be manipulated.
And, if anyone is wondering, Mad had already run those numbers in the context of another conversation, where I had something of the same thought spidey did, and everyone busted out the numbers to put me right /wink.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=";)" border="0" alt="wink.gif" />

[spideycw]

QUOTE (Snack @ Jun 26 2008, 03:23 PM) There is no quick fix. Advertise game, get more players, 10 more squads and some of those problems will go away.
Also, it is interesting to see how some people who used to belittle the ACE as a squad to no end, now consider us (still largly HELO underperformers) as some kind of super-squad. Amusing even.

P.S. Spidey, if you don't mind stopping with your out-of-thin-air "stats" you seem to come up with lately, for the sake of fair argument.

I would pay good money to hear of a legit player who considers @ACE to be a kind of super-squad. They seem to be average against @XT and @PK

None of those stats are made up(though the 95% is exaggeration) my point is just to show the proportion of one of the largest squads. They are carefully cacluated by me opening the squad page and knowing how to count. Try counting how may people in your squad @ACE was thier first squad then give me the numbers please

p.s. Snack if you don't mind stopping your out-of-thin-air sayings from non quoted sources who used to say "blank" that you seem to come up with lately, for the sake of fair argument

[spideycw]

QUOTE (Ramaglor @ Jun 26 2008, 03:37 PM) Well there is one way that might do it:
when a squad's active players reach a total HELO that was in the top 2 or 3 highest total HELO of all squads, they are no longer allowed to recruit.
edit: of course, when they are no longer having the highest HELO they can recruit again.

Sounds like that could lead to some sort of recruiting cold war!

QUOTE (quackdamnyou @ Jun 26 2008, 03:51 PM) And, if anyone is wondering, Mad had already run those numbers in the context of another conversation, where I had something of the same thought spidey did, and everyone busted out the numbers to put me right /wink.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=";)" border="0" alt="wink.gif" />

So am I way off base then with my first post? I have not ran any numbers just posted with gut feeling