Hiya M.O.M! We've had some comments and questions about recruiting protocol, Star Chamber deliberation time, the flow of information regarding new recruits:
We have ten or fifteen applicants in the hopper at any given time. We desire to inhibit, not accelerate, the expansion of M.O.M. Therefore, to wit, in lieu, et al, we've decided to admit no more than three new M.O.Ms at a throw. Once on the first-ish of each month we'll announce three or fewer applicants who've been reviewed, assessed, vetted, voted upon and accepted by The Star Chamber. (don't look it up, it won't help) Only newly accepted members' names will be announced. We will not be posting a list of all candidates under consideration. One purpose of creating the Star Chamber system was to free the thread of endless backing and forthing about who's up for membership, who thinks he/she should be out/in, and blah blah bleedin' blah.
The one month recruitment cycle will give a new applicant more than enough time to arrange to fly with Star Chamber members, give us time to get to know the person behind the player (posting casual "get to know me" stuff is strongly encouraged) and allow us to weigh the best of the month's crop of applicants one against the other before making selections to put up for a super-sized squad vote. If you've recommended a player to apply via the link on Page 1 it's your responsibility to PM me, Coop, SheiBe, Bopes or any SC member if you want to follow up. We won't call you, you call us. All of this is designed to ensure that we're not all out there slinging "invitations" around like hits of X at a Deadmau5 show. Nothing says you must follow up, but if you're a sponsor of a prospect you should, and you should keep comments about recruiting off the thread.
For recruits who've applied, don't despair if your name isn't one of this month's three. When we limit ourselves to only three some percentage of the better candidates will roll over to the following month. No reflection on your skill, your sparkling personality or the weight your sponsor M.O.M carries in the squad. Stay active in the pipeline as long as you like, or write and ask for a definite IN or OUT, or withdraw your application if you're impatient to get into a less discriminating squad...I have one I can recommend. It's entirely up to you.
Again, we aren't withholding info, we're handling the initial steps of the process in a slightly more organized fashion so the squad doesn't end up sinking under the weight of an endless incoming stream of new members. History shows us that M.O.Ms are so mean they can't bear to say no. By the time a player has been steered to Page 1 to apply (NOT "invited to join", please) and has gone through the SC process, we've established a lot more about that player than we ever did in pre-SC days. When we put that player up for a squad-wide vote, the only vote that might matter would be a vote against. "Hey, I know this guy...he eats live baby pandas!"
Wait. Bad example. Eating live baby pandas will get you automatically unanimously voted IN.