01-27-2009, 02:49 PM
So yeah The Coalition. It's a really awesome thing. It's full of a bunch of people, many playing different games. I've made a lot of friends there which is why I hope that some of you will want to take a look. Here's the designer of The Coalition talking about what it exactly is:
If you are looking for people to play games with, looking to learn about new games, looking to make friends, looking to chat up on ventrilo or chill out on the forums, then I'm begging you to at least give it a chance and apply.
See you guys there!
http://www.coalitiongaming.org
Code:
Hello and welcome to the Coalition.
You probably have a million questions about this place. What is it? Why are communities getting involved? Who came up with the idea? What for? What are the goals? Who can join? What are the rules? Over the next week there will be posts made which can answer those questions. For now, a basic overview should help answer a good portion of inquiries.
My name is Ambient and I am a leader of a gaming community known as Agents Gaming Network. We started in Planetside like most of the people who are founding this group. I have led AGN for some time and have met many good friends in my gaming experience who have helped me build this tight knit group. Even now that community is growing more than ever before. Why approach other groups with the idea for the Coalition now, when things are going so well? It isn't too complicated.
Leaders of the communities involved in this can see similarities in their groups; slow growth is necessary for quality, activity can be an issue due to the majority of members having real life commitments, influence in games is limited by size, etc. The Coalition is meant to create a new type of organization that has not yet existed in gaming communities. It is a collection of groups, each with their own atmosphere and rules. Each of which have come together to achieve something greater than what any could accomplish alone while maintaining a good balance of size and quality. It is not a merger; mergers cause drama and deemphasize the importance of the member in favor of the mob. The organization grows too large, too fast and many members are forgotten in the process. It is not an alliance; an alliance is non-committal and the bonds between the members of the alliance are never able to grow as strong as those between the members of the groups that form it. Often the goal is temporary or related to a single game. What we are doing here relates to multiple games and goals both short and long term. Essentially, we hope to create an organization that maintains member diversity, shows maturity, shows a sense of humor, facilitates strong friendships, upholds high standards of recruitment, remembers the importance of member identity, compartmentalizes management, expands easily, and leverages the advantages of both large and small groups simultaneously to become more than a considerable force in the games we play. How can this be done? Isnt it impossible to bring so many people together without drama?
The Coalition relies on four core principles; structure, leadership, management, and membership. Structure is important for supporting the other three parts. The community is broken down into factions, branches and members. Factions represent the communities which are incorporated in the Coalition. Branches are outfits or guilds which are run by leaders and members of those factions. Members are the people who are either in a faction or just in the Coalition community and choose whom they wish to play with. In summary, communities are coming together and sharing members between their branches in order to cross-strengthen their in game groups and out of game friendships.
Leadership belongs to the faction leaders. It is our responsibility to continue to succeed in game, improve conditions for members, and cooperate with the other leaders in the Coalition. A strong and unified group of leaders is required to bring this community together. Management is a similar deal, though its importance is organizational and functional purely out-of-game. Tasks like moderating and web development need to have people assigned to them. This will be facilitated by a team of "Community Managers" who handle out-of-game organization.
Finally, the Coalition is about the members. Games are meant to be enjoyed. Every member deserves to do what he or she wants in a game without being inhibited by their community's size. Nobody should have to give up their group of friends simply because they want to be a little more or a little less serious at a given time. The purpose of the Coalition community is to build on the bonds already made. Members continue to exist in their faction but are provided a larger group, with gaming as it's sole focus, in which they can find an incredibly diverse group to play with. We want to give people as many options as possible. We will play games on the same side, lead groups together, fight together, build our base, share a forum, share ventrilo, and continue to strengthen the core. We will stack the odds against those we fight and we will laugh every time someone cries about it. We're here to have fun however we can without being immature. We're here to make more friends. There's nothing impossible about it.If you are looking for people to play games with, looking to learn about new games, looking to make friends, looking to chat up on ventrilo or chill out on the forums, then I'm begging you to at least give it a chance and apply.
See you guys there!
http://www.coalitiongaming.org