WEREWULF wrote: Viper, we need to define back to basic. To get back to basics, we need to care more about playing the game, and less about dramatizing every complaint we get about our members. (think about the message it sends, plus, if we make a big deal about every little thing some whiner has to say, photos or no photos, then people will take advantage of it and start playing us for fools)
It seems clear to me that too many people care more about what others think about how we run our squad than watching each others backs.
Otherwise, there's no point to being in a squad.
Werewulf, back to basics in my opinion is flying and having fun. If folks are worried about "Whiners" as you put it then don't give folks anything to whine about. Its just that simple.
Personally I haven't dramatized any complaint we have ever received, regardless of the source. The way I have done that was by keeping it out of our squad thread and all in private via pm's. The phrase "praise in public, punish in private" has always applied to this squad.
I have, in the course of doing this whole XO thing, fielded several complaints from various sources, most of which I deemed to be unfounded. Folks are always going to try to use our code to take shots at us. So far we have all managed to watch one anothers backs pretty well. Nobody has tried, so far, to play us as fools and been successful. At least not to my knowledge.
The point of being in a squad in my opinion is to share camaraderie with other pilots. Camaraderie with players you have things in common with and can interact with and play well with. If that is folks that play the game with the same intensity, the same skill level, the same basic ethics, whatever that means to each one of us. These parameters may differ from one player to the next. This squadron, Wolf Pack, was designed to be an elite group of pilots who share a common ethical gameplay based on the guidelines set by the squad founder. If I missed anything in this general definition and reason to be in a squad I am open to everyones differing opinions.
So to answer your question Werewulf, getting back to basics should indeed be defined by getting back to the gameplay and having fun. I am all for keeping our complaints in pm format, thereby eliminating any kind of drama for the whole df world to observe and hopefully eliminating the possibility of anyone playing us for fools.
We have a code for ethical gameplay for all the world to see right on our first page. Just like athletes on the field who are losing, folks are going to look to the referee and cry foul when we are beating them, in order to gain some kind of vindication for their losing. Just like in sports those rules and code for ethical game play should be (In my eyes) interpreted in a "let them play" type stance. I do that, exactly that, when looking at the various complaints as they arise. People get emotional, fingers get pointed, and the game goes on. Visualize a long pass play in football with all the hand fighting and no call by the referee. That is an analogy for how I look at the different complaints. All part of the game.
I will point out that the reason we have been unable to move on already is because our squad Air Marshals, who by virtue of their position have a big say in things, cannot agree on what actions should be acted upon and what those actions should be. Every member of this squad should have a voice, because it is not my squad, Dunc's squad, LiL's squad, or Dire's squad... its OUR squad because we make it what it is. I know some folks are frustrated with my actions, or lack thereof, for not adhering strictly to the code we have all accepted. I am trying as best I can to keep this a fun, interactive squadron of folks with generally the same mindset when it comes to game play and esprit de corps while remaining within the guidelines Digger had set forth when he founded the squad.
So here is what I am asking all of you. Are we too strict, to lenient, or just right when it comes to our ethics and code? Do we brush aside small infractions and keep an eye out for one another as Werewulf suggests? Or do we strictly adhere to our code, thereby creating a stringent environment but very structured and organized? Which one do we feel is best for our squadron's future as we move forward.
I honestly would love to know what we all think.
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