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Star Wars Age of Alliances: Hadrix and Cujo
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Given that a fellow player on Area of Assholes once referred to Merek as ‘a cancer’, crabs is probably getting off easy.
Well, yes. I just see him everywhere. And well, Crabs is easy, but you know how everything eventually evolves into a crab?
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@Warlander said in Star Wars Age of Alliances: Hadrix and Cujo:
Anony Mouse knows more about this than me, so I’ll leave the details to them.
You summed it up pretty well, but I can supply a little extra.
<First Order> Kylo Ren says, “While tbere’s a bunch of you here”
<First Order> Kylo Ren says, “Someone requested we do posts to give orders and objectives and what-not.”
<First Order> Kylo Ren says, “Can you guys not see the motd?”A little background here: Kylo/Banshee was fachead of the First Order, and insisted on doing the faction’s overall plotting. Trouble was, he wanted everyone else in the faction to do all the event-running, and without telling anyone what he had in mind. Not even an overview. Sure, there was the MotD as he said, but this was the MotD:
. o O Org MOTDs O o ..—< First Order (FO) >-----------------------------------------------------.
| Kylo Ren(#4588) @ Sat Jan 02 01:53:17 2016: |
| Chapter 1: War on Serenno |
| |
| Current Objectives: |
| |
| Stormtroopers: Eliminate 6 Militia checkpoints (4/6 complete). |
| Naval: Eliminate/Subdue 7 Airbases (2/2 Militia, 0/5 Civilian complete). |
| Politics: Subvert/Eliminate radical efforts within House J’Kar. |
| |
| Questions? Contact the following (order preference listed): |
| |
| Stormtroopers: Captain Phasma -> General Hux -> Kylo Ren. |
| Naval/Air: General Hux |
| Politics: General Hux -> Kylo Ren. |
| |
‘-==========================================================================-’Aside from the near-total lack of useful information, note the contact list in order of preference: Phasma, Hux, then Kylo. In short, Kylo/Banshee did not want to be bothered about the plot arcs that he was in charge of. And trying to run events based on the MotD was a complete waste of time. Also noteworthy was that the MotD almost never changed, and not just because the coded commands were hard to find and cumbersome even when you did find them.
On top of that, members of the faction were expected to keep the faction rosters updated and plot events based on no information at all. Not the leaders, the members. While the fachead did no facheading whatsoever, content to ignore his own faction, and the leadership did no leading.
Those requirements were dropped on everyone a few weeks after the First Order started getting interested players, mostly Stormtroopers. Since nobody’d bargained for any of this, the faction all but emptied out within the next month. Bad leadership squandered a large pool of interested talent. This happens a lot on AoA.
Over the next couple months, staff deigned to notice.
Message: 12/1 Posted Author
First Order & Leadership Roles Sat Feb 20 Kylo RenWhen the First Order was conceived as an organization, it was built in a very particular way. Limited types of players, limited roles, and a, ‘You can only play a trigger-puller’ kind of attitude. The ranks filled much faster than anticipated and it became apparent we would need to fill the ranks with appropriately ranked individuals to help IC and OOCly with managing, running and encouraging RP within the org. You might be asking yourself why I’m posting this here, but, I want to make sure everyone see’s it in case they have FO alts they don’t frequent. I also want to make sure any new leaders that wish to app in the wake of the coming vacancies have a full understanding of what is expected of a Leader in the First Order.
IC: Different IC leadership roles have different expectations. The Lieutenant is responsible for Company-wide RP in the form of logistics, inspections, deskwork, and the like. This role is intended to be Phasma’s Enforcer (not that she needs one). Every mistake made by individual troopers, the Lieutenant answers for. Other roles are more aligned towards Dorn Squadron and the active military role it plays. Exciting scenes and stories about the members of Dorn.
OOC: OOCly, all leadership roles are responsible for a few things. Making sure the roster is fleshed out (+org/roster afo and nfo) with all fields filled in appropriately. Making sure the MOTD has the most up-to-date information regarding current plots and storylines (+org/motd afo and nfo). I don’t expect you to run a scene every week, but every “few” weeks is not an unfair expectation. These OOC expectations amount to a small amount of time, and I do not feel that with 9 leaders in the Org we should continue to have a blank roster.
-Very Important- We will be looking at current leaders to determine compliance with these expectations. -Very Important-
==============================================================================
Unfortunately, Banshee remained as clueless as ever. That, or he refused to believe his complete and total lack of effort was the cause of the faction depopulating almost entirely within a month. Leaders, in the context of the post, referred to officers and NCOs within the faction, not the actual faction leadership, which remained as useless as ever. Also, there were slightly more than nine total players in the FO at the time, not counting Kylo/Banshee. Unsurprisingly, activity sank to almost nil.
After a few months of near-total inactivity, another message came along, probably posted by Cujo:
Message: 19/1 Posted Author
Snoke Is Watching Wed Aug 31 SnokeRK-8801 46d 16h
DZ-1141 42d 1h
FN-4126 19d 8h
Oozlevort 6d 20h
PR-3742 6d 17h
EM-1710 6d 13h
Mara Jade 6d 6h
FN-2432 5d 6h
Aurra Sing 5d 6h
FN-2187 2d 17h
HM-8668 23h 28m
Kylo Ren 22h 5m
FZ-4792 1h 41mThe abovce is the current roster of active/inactive players in the First Order.
Mostly, you’re all ‘here’ in some capacity. However. based on my observations, one of the major underlying issues is a connect/almost-instantly-disconnect mentality.
This does not help this org flourish. If you’re connecting simply to see if ‘others are doing things’ and then immediately disconnecting, then you’re essentially propogating a ‘ghost town’ experience for all.
Please, if you have the ability, log in and do not immediately leave. If you’re playing on other (more active) games, then consider leaving this game open in the background and checking in on it frequently to chat with other members of the org to help inspire new and fun ideas.
Only with this sort of effort, can this org make it.
There is leadership, but it needs your hot bodies around in order to continue the story.
-Snoke is Watching You
By this point, nobody really cared about being part of the First Order. Virtually no one shared a schedule, and most players had lost all interest in a faction that was just a lot of work for no fun at all. And as usual, staff (mostly Banshee) continued to push the obviously-untrue line that the faction was dying because of lazy players, not incompetent leadership (his). The idea that ‘there is leadership’ was frankly laughable.
Months later, Cujo gave the Kylo Ren character bit and leadership of the First Order to another player. The other FC leaders had long since idled out or surrendered their bits, and the faction was nearly vacant. It took another recruitment drive (and knowledge that there was a different Kylo Ren) to undo some of the damage, but the faction never again saw its initial levels of membership and enthusiasm.
Banshee got a super-powerful Darksider Force bit. I suspect it was a bribe to get him to give up Kylo, the most powerful Force User on the grid.
This pattern has echoed in perpetuity with Banshee: Cujo will give him a faction, and said faction will rot out from under him because he won’t do anything with it. Lather, rinse, repeat.
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@Selira said in Star Wars Age of Alliances: Hadrix and Cujo:
oh, hey look, it’s Merek, the least surprising thing about all this.
The particular Merek on AoA is currently a torso and a head. The rest is all cybernetics.
This is what happens when you’re dumb enough to commit treason against the First Order, join the Resistance, and constantly charge into combat against Knights of Ren when you’re not a Force User. To be fair, he actually tried to run away the fourth time… which only meant he was gasping and fatigued when the last limb was lopped off. He was shipped back to the Resistance in a box, still alive.
Prior to that, he was also known to brag about dueling Jedi, duels that he nearly always lost. You’d think that would’ve encouraged more caution about dealing with less kind Force Users…
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@Anony-Mouse said in Star Wars Age of Alliances: Hadrix and Cujo:
Prior to that, he was also known to brag about dueling Jedi, duels that he nearly always lost. You’d think that would’ve encouraged more caution about dealing with less kind Force Users…
If you know anything about Merek, two things are always consistent. 1) They’ll always play the same character. 2) They’ll never back down from a fight they can’t win.
There’s been at least one game where he died on an almost monthly basis due to trying to fight the story NPCs with a new Merek showing up right after each time.
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@tmp said in Star Wars Age of Alliances: Hadrix and Cujo:
@Anony-Mouse said in Star Wars Age of Alliances: Hadrix and Cujo:
Prior to that, he was also known to brag about dueling Jedi, duels that he nearly always lost. You’d think that would’ve encouraged more caution about dealing with less kind Force Users…
If you know anything about Merek, two things are always consistent. 1) They’ll always play the same character. 2) They’ll never back down from a fight they can’t win.
There’s been at least one game where he died on an almost monthly basis due to trying to fight the story NPCs with a new Merek showing up right after each time.
#2 is actually surprising to me, because it’s the exact opposite of how I’ve known him on Arx, where he is notoriously paranoid about engaging in any danger. But on Arx, you can’t just remake the same character, so maybe that’s the difference?
she/her | playlist
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Referenced by
KarmaBum
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My #1 memory of Merek on Arx was also my first time ever meeting/playing with him, in a PRP.
Everyone’s characters had been planning for a good 45 mins in scene on how to proceed, reached an agreement and then turned to go when he just “threw his cloak up” to justify some stealth rolls in the middle of a bright and sunny day (immediately after his pose and without clearing it with the GM, mind) and ran off on his own to go fight some guards, completely off task and jeopardizing the entire plan we had just discussed.
That was like a couple years ago tho, maybe he’s become more risk-averse??
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My only real memory of Merek besides his consistent seasonally inappropriate attire is, as a Whisper, having to decline the opportunity to take nude baths with him a couple of times, and him being low-key mind-blown by that.
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@helvetica said in Star Wars Age of Alliances: Hadrix and Cujo:
… consistent seasonally inappropriate attire …
Proof that Exalted is the best setting. Everybody Zerg-rushes the charm that lets you hang out in bikinis in arctic temperatures,
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@junipersky said in Star Wars Age of Alliances: Hadrix and Cujo:
Someone get that No Arx, fine pic to post
He/Him. Opinions and views are solely my own unless specifically stated otherwise.
BE AN ADULT -
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@helvetica It has been requested, more than a few times, that the ‘go back to your Arx corner’ joke be allowed to die.
ETA:
Also@helvetica said in Star Wars Age of Alliances: Hadrix and Cujo:
because I do like you.
He/Him. Opinions and views are solely my own unless specifically stated otherwise.
BE AN ADULT -
@Pavel said in Star Wars Age of Alliances: Hadrix and Cujo:
@helvetica It has been requested, more than a few times, that the ‘go back to your Arx corner’ joke be allowed to die.
That’s actually the first I’ve heard of the request? I’ve never had a problem with the whole “Arx is a big game and conversation about it can be chatty so there is an Arx thread for it” thing.
(As an Arx player, I love the Don’t Arx sign.)
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@Roz said in Star Wars Age of Alliances: Hadrix and Cujo:
That’s actually the first I’ve heard of the request?
Okay?
He/Him. Opinions and views are solely my own unless specifically stated otherwise.
BE AN ADULT -
lol at this point the Arx ppl have taken that joke back anyway
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@Pavel said in Star Wars Age of Alliances: Hadrix and Cujo:
@Roz said in Star Wars Age of Alliances: Hadrix and Cujo:
That’s actually the first I’ve heard of the request?
Okay?
Well the way you dropped it made it sound like a thing everyone should have seen/noticed already or been aware of or something.
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I have found that the “don’t talk about Arx” can be stifling to conversations; it’s a huge game that handles some things very differently than other games do, with lots to be dissected and talked about and learned from. But it doesn’t matter how relevant the point might be to whatever given discussion if somebody just throws up a “shut up about that” image – it can shut the conversation down.
I have not complained or requested that it stop, but I have observed the chilling effect (and skipped offering input at times to avoid getting told to shut up).
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The only time the ‘don’t talk about Arx’ stuff is thrown out bothers me is when people are using their experiences, in a serious way, on Arx to explain their side on a matter Arx is their primary place of play and where the most of their experience is. Otherwise I just ignore it. It is not hurting anyone or ending conversations.
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@icanbeyourmuse said in Star Wars Age of Alliances: Hadrix and Cujo:
It is not hurting anyone or ending conversations.
Except that it does give people pause before they speak, or they choose to remain silent instead.
