I’ve been playing MMO’s for going on 20 years, and know that a good guild is very important for something players like me will be doing almost as much or more in hours as a job.
I’ve been searching for months/years, keeping an eye on Orgs and what’s happening, and being “choosy” knowing that with the state of the game, “I don’t have to have one yet” if there’s not a good fit for me yet.
I felt since 2.6.3 there was both an opportunity for Orgs to have some enjoyment and rigor, and that still there was no rush. But at the time of 2.6.3 I didn’t see a good fit, and with PM inquiries and other means, didn’t find any that were doing anything to start putting meat to their lofty goals. No regular events, no training formalized or laid out, no Org charts formalized (or at least at all turned to action in any other way), no plans for drilling down into areas of responsibility or even assigning responsibilities beyond a vacant Org Chart, no standards or protocols for communications (brevity) or wingmen or squadrons or marines, or use of Teamspeak/Mumble with channel use suited to success of missions. Or see Orgs all wrapped up in elaborate website cosmetics and pomp, and “out of the game” efforts like elaborate signatures and badges and videos and graphics (whooplah that will take efforts to sustain and maintain) that has no impact/benefit to the game, in the game, and otherwise with nothing actually going on in the game … all vaporware and “not ready yet” and “someday” when the opportunities were becoming available even in 2.6.3.
I posted a thread in Spectrum seeking an Org (as I do every so often to test the waters) with some specifics of what would make a good fit, and I was PM’d by an ADI recruiter. I had of course noticed ADI in the past, but at the time didn’t see some of the organizing principles that are apparent today, and was skeptical of such a large Org being able to meet the needs of rank and file players. I know that in order to fund all the Star Citizen careers, an Org must have a good couple hundred to five hundred players, but 10 times that … I didn’t see how that was manageable.
One thing that I looked for was that leaders were actually playing the game with the members regularly, in touch with the community and needs, and on the flip side one time actually found one very large Org that once you joined, said in their member areas, “the game’s not ready yet, so we’re dormant for the time being,” with maybe a few posts in a week on Discord. LOL
When I came to have another look about what ADI was about, I saw things in the website that I don’t recall were there in the past. Things like articulated Divisions, names assigned with time zone assignments, and an expectation for foundational training/certification for aspects of career/activity gameplay. I’ve always felt that certification programs were the way to go with this game, and need not be burdensome to develop and administer from within Division delegation, and when made organic to daily activities - bringing candidates along for missions we’d be doing anyway and training them on the job sort of thing. Anyway, I saw a lot of infrastructure and activity that was timely and relevant, and struck me as a good fit - worth putting both feet in to test the waters.
So far everything has been excellent. Enjoyed a couple OPs, completed some basic training certs, enjoy a good blend of protocols and standards with daily enjoyment of groups. A lot of planning work by leadership in Events, and Mumble Communication Channels and protocols setting events up for success - unlike other Orgs, ADI certainly has meat on the bone. Players give and take to support what other players want to do … it’s all been great so far. The outcomes matching the marketing and what’s hanging on the shingle.
How to handle hundreds to thousands of players online simultaneously? Still not sure I understand that, but know that the leadership takes mission success to heart and approaches challenges in organized and thoughtful ways.