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RSCD NL 06-22-02
Commando Division Newsletter 6-22-02
Welcome back to the latest edition of everyone's favorite commando oriented NL. I've got a number of Command Staff changes to discuss this time around, as well as a major announcement regarding the RSCD structure so let's get into it.
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Command Staff Changes-
Last week I completed an evaluation of the current RSCD Command Staff. I'm pleased to say that Talon and Dragon should be in good hands as Commanders John Leelsabs and Randy Starkiller have shown a willingness to improve the image of their squads for the future. Unfortunately, both LCM Zak Ciredik and LCL DashClone have had to resign in the last week from their posistions, meaning the Shadow and Raven CO posts are currently vacant. I'm sorry to see both DashClone and Zak go, but wish them luck in whatever they decide to do.
Also in Command Staff news, Lt. Col. Topachea Nabbirie has been named as Commanding Officer of Knight Company, and LCM Isoldur "Dragon" Cauthon has been appointed as Executive Officer of Talon Squad. Congratulations to both on their new posistions, as I'm sure they'll do excellent jobs.
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RSCD Melee 06-21-02
Results:
(JK) Gambit 12 John 3
(JK) Gambit 9 John -2
(JK) Dragon 3 John -2
(JK) Dragon 8 Topachea 4
(JK) Dragon 7 Topachea 2
(JK) Topachea 1 Dragon 0
(JK2) Gambit 14 Arill 0
(JK2) Gambit 7 Arill 0
(JK2) Gambit 13 Arill 3
(JK2) Arill 1 Gizmo 0
(JK2) Gambit 10 Arill 0
(JK2) Kaz 4 Arill 0
(JK2) Kaz 9 Gizmo 0
We had a respectable total of 13 matches this week, with one more Jedi Outcast game than JK which is good to see. The only thing I'd like to see if we can change is the total number of people playing in the Melee. This week it was almost all Gambit and Arill, with one or the other appearing in 8 of the 13 today. For those who aren't able to make it, I'm just curious as to why. I'd really like to get a feel for how many people we have who want to play in a melee but just can't find the time on a Friday to drop by. If that's the case with you, drop me a line, and if there are enough of you I'll see about coming up with possibly a mini-event for you to compete in.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Awards-
The following Commandos are hereby awarded the RSCD Legion of Merit *{0}* for Melee participation:
Gambit
Dragon
John
Topachea
Arill
In addition, for managing to play in more matches than Gambit and never giving up in any of them, Lt. Col. Topachea Nabbirie has been nominated for the Violet Cluster.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
RSCD Melee Ladder-
Below is a list of how everyone stands so far on the ladder for Friday Melee matches.
Wins Losses
GambitRS 13 0
Isoldur "Dragon" Cauthon 7 1
Rahj Tharen 2 0
Kaz Falcion 2 0
Jon Anchorage 0 1
Harley Quinn 0 1
John Leelsabs 1 5
Wes Belden 0 3
Arill Wiltker 1 6
Topachea Nabbirie 3 12
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RSCD Restructure Announcement-
I'm very pleased to announce what I feel to be one of the bigger announcements in recent RSCD history. Recently I stopped and thought about the most enjoyable time I've experienced as a member of the Commando Division, and why it was so enjoyable. Shortly after joining RSCD and becoming CO of the then Delta Company, I noticed something about the unit I must've forgotten. For those that may not remember, there was a period of time when Delta was truly among the best units in the RS. However this success wasn't due just to winning matches, but to the squad itself. Being a member of Delta in those days really felt like being a part of something special. The members interacted with each other on more than just a melee day, we had our own colors and identity, our own individual activities.....and I was truly proud to be a part of it all.
Somewhere along the way things seemed to change. The Commando Division still enjoyed great success in terms of match numbers....yet it felt as if something was off, there was an ever decreasing feeling of that same squad pride I used to see and feel. I'm not sure what the exact reason for this decline was, but I suspect it was in part due to the way we've always been set up. When Jedi Knight was a relatively new game it was easy to do little more than play it and have a great time doing so. As the game began to age, playing each week to win a Melee that didnt really matter became to be less fun. Where's the enjoyment if all your work doesn't gain much of anything for you or your squadmates?
Since we'll have Jedi Outcast as a popular game for the next few years, I feel something more needs to be changed in how we work to avoid falling into the same pattern later on down the road. So the question is how do we restore a sense of unit identity to the Commando Division and how do we make it as special as I found it to be back 3 years ago. The answer I've found lies in a new system of structure that may at first seem strange, but which Im sure will be a lot of fun for everyone.
Over the course of the next two to three weeks, it's my intention to implement a House based system within the Commando division, to replace our current Company structure. If anyone's played Mechwarrior you'll know what I mean by the term House. Due to how it will work and the results from the last melees, we'll still be supporting JK with the House system. To start, we'll be having a pair of Houses for JK/JK2. While a House will be similar in size to a Company, it's within the structure of it's subgroups that the real changes will be seen.
I know that while most of us will play any kind of match, we all have our own favorite kind of game. Some of us enjoy the challenge of a lightsaber battle while others would rather use weapons to win a fight. Making use of force may be the way some opt while others prefer to fight totally without force powers at all. Up until now, we've always had a problem with members of one type of play or another not being able to find opponents to play against. One of the advantages of this system will be that if you're for example a sabers only kind of player, you'll be able to join a small group within a House full of others who share your preference. This will not only make it easier to find people to play, but will lead to better training opportunities as well.
In addition to this, members of each House will be able to better identify themselves with their unit. Through the use of House colors, mottos, fictional history, etc, it's my hope that people will become proud of the House they represent in competition.
I know at this point there may be some people wondering why we dont just keep Squads and Companies as names in our structure, but the reason for this can be found in our newest game. Jedi Outcast is a mix of the military and the force. In using a strictly military structure I feel we may rob ourselves of some unique opportunities for activites and events. By allowing a structure that supports force use I think we better represent the games we play.
I realize that the above paragraphs may be a lot to take in all at once (not to mention being possibly incoherent since Ive missed some sleep working on this today :P). There will of course be a more detailed description in next week's NL, but I wanted to let everyone know about this as soon as possible. This will be an exciting new direction for our Fleet to take, and I hope to see everyone having an enjoyable experience along the way.
Until next week,
VA Kaz Falcion
RSCD CO
Welcome back to the latest edition of everyone's favorite commando oriented NL. I've got a number of Command Staff changes to discuss this time around, as well as a major announcement regarding the RSCD structure so let's get into it.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Command Staff Changes-
Last week I completed an evaluation of the current RSCD Command Staff. I'm pleased to say that Talon and Dragon should be in good hands as Commanders John Leelsabs and Randy Starkiller have shown a willingness to improve the image of their squads for the future. Unfortunately, both LCM Zak Ciredik and LCL DashClone have had to resign in the last week from their posistions, meaning the Shadow and Raven CO posts are currently vacant. I'm sorry to see both DashClone and Zak go, but wish them luck in whatever they decide to do.
Also in Command Staff news, Lt. Col. Topachea Nabbirie has been named as Commanding Officer of Knight Company, and LCM Isoldur "Dragon" Cauthon has been appointed as Executive Officer of Talon Squad. Congratulations to both on their new posistions, as I'm sure they'll do excellent jobs.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
RSCD Melee 06-21-02
Results:
(JK) Gambit 12 John 3
(JK) Gambit 9 John -2
(JK) Dragon 3 John -2
(JK) Dragon 8 Topachea 4
(JK) Dragon 7 Topachea 2
(JK) Topachea 1 Dragon 0
(JK2) Gambit 14 Arill 0
(JK2) Gambit 7 Arill 0
(JK2) Gambit 13 Arill 3
(JK2) Arill 1 Gizmo 0
(JK2) Gambit 10 Arill 0
(JK2) Kaz 4 Arill 0
(JK2) Kaz 9 Gizmo 0
We had a respectable total of 13 matches this week, with one more Jedi Outcast game than JK which is good to see. The only thing I'd like to see if we can change is the total number of people playing in the Melee. This week it was almost all Gambit and Arill, with one or the other appearing in 8 of the 13 today. For those who aren't able to make it, I'm just curious as to why. I'd really like to get a feel for how many people we have who want to play in a melee but just can't find the time on a Friday to drop by. If that's the case with you, drop me a line, and if there are enough of you I'll see about coming up with possibly a mini-event for you to compete in.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Awards-
The following Commandos are hereby awarded the RSCD Legion of Merit *{0}* for Melee participation:
Gambit
Dragon
John
Topachea
Arill
In addition, for managing to play in more matches than Gambit and never giving up in any of them, Lt. Col. Topachea Nabbirie has been nominated for the Violet Cluster.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
RSCD Melee Ladder-
Below is a list of how everyone stands so far on the ladder for Friday Melee matches.
Wins Losses
GambitRS 13 0
Isoldur "Dragon" Cauthon 7 1
Rahj Tharen 2 0
Kaz Falcion 2 0
Jon Anchorage 0 1
Harley Quinn 0 1
John Leelsabs 1 5
Wes Belden 0 3
Arill Wiltker 1 6
Topachea Nabbirie 3 12
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
RSCD Restructure Announcement-
I'm very pleased to announce what I feel to be one of the bigger announcements in recent RSCD history. Recently I stopped and thought about the most enjoyable time I've experienced as a member of the Commando Division, and why it was so enjoyable. Shortly after joining RSCD and becoming CO of the then Delta Company, I noticed something about the unit I must've forgotten. For those that may not remember, there was a period of time when Delta was truly among the best units in the RS. However this success wasn't due just to winning matches, but to the squad itself. Being a member of Delta in those days really felt like being a part of something special. The members interacted with each other on more than just a melee day, we had our own colors and identity, our own individual activities.....and I was truly proud to be a part of it all.
Somewhere along the way things seemed to change. The Commando Division still enjoyed great success in terms of match numbers....yet it felt as if something was off, there was an ever decreasing feeling of that same squad pride I used to see and feel. I'm not sure what the exact reason for this decline was, but I suspect it was in part due to the way we've always been set up. When Jedi Knight was a relatively new game it was easy to do little more than play it and have a great time doing so. As the game began to age, playing each week to win a Melee that didnt really matter became to be less fun. Where's the enjoyment if all your work doesn't gain much of anything for you or your squadmates?
Since we'll have Jedi Outcast as a popular game for the next few years, I feel something more needs to be changed in how we work to avoid falling into the same pattern later on down the road. So the question is how do we restore a sense of unit identity to the Commando Division and how do we make it as special as I found it to be back 3 years ago. The answer I've found lies in a new system of structure that may at first seem strange, but which Im sure will be a lot of fun for everyone.
Over the course of the next two to three weeks, it's my intention to implement a House based system within the Commando division, to replace our current Company structure. If anyone's played Mechwarrior you'll know what I mean by the term House. Due to how it will work and the results from the last melees, we'll still be supporting JK with the House system. To start, we'll be having a pair of Houses for JK/JK2. While a House will be similar in size to a Company, it's within the structure of it's subgroups that the real changes will be seen.
I know that while most of us will play any kind of match, we all have our own favorite kind of game. Some of us enjoy the challenge of a lightsaber battle while others would rather use weapons to win a fight. Making use of force may be the way some opt while others prefer to fight totally without force powers at all. Up until now, we've always had a problem with members of one type of play or another not being able to find opponents to play against. One of the advantages of this system will be that if you're for example a sabers only kind of player, you'll be able to join a small group within a House full of others who share your preference. This will not only make it easier to find people to play, but will lead to better training opportunities as well.
In addition to this, members of each House will be able to better identify themselves with their unit. Through the use of House colors, mottos, fictional history, etc, it's my hope that people will become proud of the House they represent in competition.
I know at this point there may be some people wondering why we dont just keep Squads and Companies as names in our structure, but the reason for this can be found in our newest game. Jedi Outcast is a mix of the military and the force. In using a strictly military structure I feel we may rob ourselves of some unique opportunities for activites and events. By allowing a structure that supports force use I think we better represent the games we play.
I realize that the above paragraphs may be a lot to take in all at once (not to mention being possibly incoherent since Ive missed some sleep working on this today :P). There will of course be a more detailed description in next week's NL, but I wanted to let everyone know about this as soon as possible. This will be an exciting new direction for our Fleet to take, and I hope to see everyone having an enjoyable experience along the way.
Until next week,
VA Kaz Falcion
RSCD CO