Midnight's Leadership & Action Plan - May - June 2020
Midnight's Action/War/Leadership plan.
Since I was elected by the Quorum, I have agreed to fill-in as Supreme Commander (SC) for the remainder of the current term (1.5 months). As such, I do not plan on making any dramatic or sweeping changes. This includes personnel. I have reached out to all GCs on discord and they have agreed to continue acting as GC staff until the end of my term.
Game Commander Jo4Play STO Commander
Game Commander Casper SWTOR Commander
Game Commander Squange Neverwinter Commander
Game Commander Thundaaahhh League of Legends Commander
Game Commander Tertullian Star Conflict Commander
Game Commander Kajh'oot World of Warships Commander
Game Commander NexXxus ESO Commander
Game Commander Satsuko Peg Com Server Guild Commander
Guild Games/GCs: Since the monthly Game Commander (GC) meeting has already passed, I met individually with each GC. The purpose of these meetings was to get a feel for each game (since I do not play them all), what its unique needs are, what challenges they see, etc. We also discussed the budgets for the upcoming annual Anniversary Event, and ideas for each games’ Anniversary Ops. I also briefly touch on the subject of recruiting in each game, to find out what challenges each GC faces. The goal is to find ways to increase recruiting where needed. I have no plans to set specific requirements on this subject at this time. Such numbers can only come after speaking with each GC, seeing the recent trends, and learning more about their game's unique needs.
Actions/Goals: As essentially a "placeholder" Supreme Commander, I do not plan on making any major changes to the way things function for the guild, as a whole. I’m mostly looking to do some “housecleaning”, and get things organized. My immediate goals are to...
1) Officially revoke the "trial run" currently underway of Devious Delight's (DD) new rule/command system. This includes all requirements for GCs to create new plans and present them to the SC for review, etc. As DD was a duly elected SC, I believed that we needed to support his attempt at trying a new system. Unfortunately, I believe this system has proven to be a failure in both format and execution. As such, I see no reason to continue it.
2) Spend time cleaning up our current SC General Orders (GO) list. This is one area where I did agree w/ DD. At DD's request, the Quorum looked at the list and made a few modifications, but wisely determined that SC GOs are the responsibility of the SC, not the Quorum. In that light, I will take on this task and conduct some housecleaning as needed.
3) Identify more social/team-building activities for each game. ESO created “Karaoke Night”. I’ll admit, I was skeptical at first, but it’s a lot of fun, and it’s open to all. Turned out to be a great success and builds comradery. I will interface with the GCs and solicit ideas for each game to try. While I’m not expecting to replicate the success of “Karaoke Night” with every idea, I do believe that there is opportunity here to further our since of community in many ways.
4) Rebuilding SC/GC relations. It is my opinion that the events of some of our past SCs have damaged the SC/GC relationship dynamic. In my opinion, onerous reporting requirements, heavy-handed oversite, and micromanagement have made people less-willing to step-up as GCs, and feel like the role was “too much of a job.” I want to undo this feeling, and roll things back to the way they were previously, while still being able to track some simple (yet worthwhile) metrics (see below).
5) Game “Chain of Command”. I think we need to tighten up on this a bit. Many games of multiple command-level offices (such as XO, Communication officers, etc), even though the player base is quite small. I’ll be working with each GC to find out why these positions exist (did they need them, was it a SC idea, etc.), if they are still needed, and what thoughts the GCs have for command organization of their games.
Number of Guild Games: As I will only be here for 1.5 months, I have no preconceived notions of adding any additional games. If an opportunity arises for a new game that is supported by our members, fantastic. However, I have no plans to introduce or remove any games at this time. I will discuss w/ the Quorum the notion of paid games (which we already approved) and the cost threshold we wish to set (if any).
Communications: I liked the "Open Office Hours" concept that Jo4play created, and very much see the utility it provided. Unfortunately, my work schedule is chaotic to say the least, so I will not be able to continue this practice. However, I will make a "24 hour pledge". I usually check our website several times a day and will endeavor to keep Discord running on my home system, even while at work (I work from home). I will do my best to respond to any Discord direct messages (DM) or IMs on the website with 24 hours. Given the fact that I may work anywhere from 8 - 18 hours a day, this is the best that I can do at this time. I will make a maximum effort to be at all Quorum meetings, including special/emergency meetings where I am invited. My door is always open to my GCs, and I will endeavor to work on any issues, ideas, or concerns they have. I want to be approachable and responsive to the Q, the GCs, and our members.
Metrics: I am a numbers guy at heart, so I see the value in ongoing recording of various metrics. However, I’m also a gamer, who wants to log on and play for fun, not have a “second job”. To that end, I would like to continue the gathering of metrics from each Game Guild, but I want to make this process is non-intrusive and time consuming as possible. I am not interested in any invalid/gamed numbers, such as those reported by DD. I am only looking for 4 simple numbers from each GC.
1) Total number of UNIQUE players in your guild. (Monthly)
2) Attendance at your Ops. (Per Op. Just the number of UNIQUE players at each op. If you wish to list the individual players, that's great. It is not required however.)
3) Total number of UNIQUE new recruits. (Monthly)
4) Total number of UNIQUE losses. (Monthly)
These should be simple to get and non-time consuming. If your game makes the gathering of such numbers difficult for some reason, the GC needs to educate me on the challenges so that I may understand where the difficulty lies, and make accommodations as necessary.
I believe that these numbers will be quite valuable to the next SC in formulating their plans.
Note: UNIQUE is defined as the player themselves. In some games a single player can have multiple characters/toons. As such, the only important number is the players themselves.
Privacy: As someone who has both been the victim of, and seen the impact on others of identity theft, this SC will respect everyone's right to keep all personal information strictly private. As such, I will be immediately discontinuing the use of Google Docs for any and all information sharing. This prohibition will also extend to all GCs. Google Docs has the unfortunate habit of revealing people's personal information (often including real names and personal email addresses) when people are collaborating on a document. As many people have their google account tied to their Android phones, their Gmail addresses often contain their real name. I would never dream of requiring anyone to use a product that forces them to disclose personal information over the Internet.
Instead, I will be using ge.tt for anonymous file sharing. Here's an example...
http://ge.tt/5Tu7ON33
There is a picture and a Word file there. Some files may not render the preview properly, but they can be downloaded without issue. There is no need to sign-up for an account with this page, it can be totally anonymous.