GCLUB Hiatus/Break
Author 	Message
Sslink
Online
User avatar

Joined: Sat Oct 12, 2013 9:16 pm
Posts: 1827

Unread post GCLUB Hiatus/Break
Alright guys. This isn't quite how I wanted this all to go down, but I guess at this point this is a necessary step.

Effective immediately GCLUB is going to suspend PVP operations. I am not using the "D" word intentionally, because at this stage I still intend to move forward with the format change and new direction when my game time fully returns to normal this winter. However, in the meantime, it is becoming abundantly clear that we do not have the leadership infrastructure, FC participation, or fleet participation to maintain a viable PVP format for the next month or two in the interim.

I do NOT want to see us meandering or doing things half assed. We have earned an excellent reputation, and I would rather just say we are going to take a break for a couple months, than watch things slowly deteriorate and see more pressure placed on Mister Toucher, or other members of our leadership team. Toucher in particular needs a break!

The truth is that we have been busting our asses for the last 3 years straight, and have maintained an op schedule averaging 3-5 CTA's a week for well over a year. I am sure our other FC's and members could probably use a break as well, so for those who stick with us, this is just the intermission, stay tuned for the next act :P.

I will say it again, we are NOT going to fully disband, and will not be kicking any corps (unless they do something to earn it). We are simply going to be standing down from official PVP operations, and we will not be defending Immensea sov at this time. We may roll it back, but we are not going to fight a half assed defensive war against an invading SW. Our PVE corps are also welcome to stay, and we will not be collecting dues until such time as we secure new space.

At some point in the next couple months, I expect to have time to re-commit to Eve. Instead of trying to make time I don't have, and feeling guilty when it is still not enough, I am just going to wait until my play time fully returns to normal and I can do this shit right. At that time, I will dig in, work with what we have, and re-build the rest. The new format will be roughly what was outlined in the discussion that was leaked. Expect us to be scaled down considerably in size, and to be FAR more focused on fun PVP, pilot quality, training, and skill. We will still use some bling and caps, but we will not be bling for the sake of bling, and we will PVP (for the most part) on our terms, not because we "have to" most of the time. Obviously details will have to be filled in as we execute the plan, but the basic principles are pretty clear.

So for those corps who love who we are, can handle taking a break for a month or two, and are excited about this new direction, relax, enjoy the break, and stay tuned. If any corps don't like this new direction, or can't handle a short break... feel free to bounce. There may be some corps who jump temporarily and come back later, and others may find a permanent home in the interim. Whatever you choose to do is totally fine, and there will be no hard feelings. I will stay in touch, and you will be welcome to rejoin once we get rolling again, if you so desire.

As for allies, those members of the Borderlands Coalition who want to stay with GCLUB will be welcome to do so. As long as you are on board with the new format we would love to have you along. You are welcome to try to hold your current space, grab a couple new systems, relocate with us, or whatever you want. We will keep you updated, but as long as you don't join a hostile entity, we will remain friends, do anything we can to assist you, and continue to look for ways to work together in the future.


What Led Up To This Decision:

With this decision a lot of "opsec" is lifted (certainly not all, but a lot). So I thought I would take a little time explain in more detail the exact events that have led up to this decision.

In early July my IRL work schedule peaked and my available game time was massively reduced (from 40-50+ hours a week to 10). My primary IRL company is seasonal, and I was expecting to have a much busier year this year than I have in the recent past (basically since 2008). That coupled with some other IRL shit going on, I expected my play time to be severely reduced through summer/fall, and to return to normal by winter.

Though I have stayed involved throughout, I delegated a ton, and kept my coordination at the top levels only. I largely turned military decision making (ops, campaigns, doctrines, JFC team management, etc..) over to our SFC team. I turned acting CEO (coalition coordination, alliance to corp relations, etc..) over to Meandeane. I made the POS and rental/dues teams more autonomous, and I asked corp CEO/Directors to step up more on matters of member morale, motivation, etc...

Though I have been perceived to be completely AFG, in reality I have continued to spend ~10 hours a week coordinating and overseeing all of the above through Skype as best I could. However, I have been unable to invest the kind of one-on-one time with allies, corp CEO/Directors, FC's, key members, training, forums, etc... I used to spend a TON of time just working with people (particularly corp leaders, FC's, and allies) in TS, skype, etc..., and that was a big part of our ongoing growth, development, and cultural uniqueness. Honestly, more than anything, not investing that direct, one-on-one time really seems to have taken the biggest toll (primarily on morale and internal/external relationships).

By early October, a lot of concerns were starting to surface. First and foremost, Meandeane (who was doing his best to handle the coalition and internal politics) let me know that he was burned out, and planning to leave nul sec all together. Mean had taken on a good chunk of the direct communication stuff, and was the comprehensive "buck stops here" throughout the last couple months. Though I totally understand his decision, and applaud him for doing what it takes to make his game fun again, this was a big blow to our ability to keep things functioning in my absence.

At the same time, I was getting information from our SFC team that they were also burned out. With Chucky in China, Mister Toucher was doing almost all of our big fleets for a couple months straight, and that was really starting to wear on him. Further, our JFC program had deteriorated considerably, and a lot of the ongoing FC development just wasn't taking place. I was told that fleet numbers were starting to dwindle, and that defending sov in the new sov system was generally tedious, and not fun. I was also getting an increasing number of complaints and concerns about culture/atmosphere (something that we have always cherished) and member morale.

Finally, I was getting intel that SW was planning to try to "evict" GCLUB from Immensea, and some reports that they expected some CFC help along the way. We had tried to negotiate a more solid NIP with them (basically protecting our respective core space, and allowing for ongoing content fighting over moons and sov over the buffer regions between us). However, they abruptly broke off negotiations, and seemed committed to removing us, largely due to being worried about us trying to "rebuild the N3". Though nothing was farther from the truth, they couldn't be convinced.

Under normal circumstances, war with SW would have been an expected (if not welcomed) part of winter game play in Eve. However, it was apparent to me that A) we would not be going into such a war as strong as we should be and B) (WAY more important) even if we were to successfully fight and win such a war, the process of fighting a sustained defensive sov war under the new sov system would be miserable, and would probably result in a continued deterioration of our PVP participation levels.

Before the convergence of all of the above, it had been my intention to wait until winter (when I had serious game time to invest) and then restructure GCLUB to adapt to the changed game environment. In fact, if my IRL work had not gotten busy, dynamically adapting to the new game environment would have already taken place incrementally over the last couple months. Basically I had hoped to let the status quo continue until mid winter, and then restructure us when I was active and able to steer the process "hands on". This would involve having access to one or more pockets of space for our PVE'ers, and free our PVP focused players to be more mobile, chasing fun content around the universe, possibly doing some light merc work, etc...

However, there was too much happening too fast to allow for that timeline. I was forced to announce the intended changes earlier. There was a shit storm on the way, and I had a responsibility to mitigate the risk and damage to our members and ally assets. Therefore I went ahead and began the discussion among CEO/Directors so they would know what was coming, have time to adjust and give input, and would be able to be flexible through the transition. It was my intention to come up with a solid direction through that discussion, then announce to renters and allies, and minimize tumult.

Though I am always prepared for something to get leaked, honestly (for the first time ever) this was leaked earlier than I wanted, so it ended up becoming a public announcement a bit earlier and messier than intended. This created a huge mess during a period of time I had limited time to do damage control. I have spent way more time on Eve for the last couple weeks (time I really don't have, and my work has suffered as a result) trying to create a scenario where there would still be content (and hopefully home space) for our members for the next couple months to give us time to restructure without a break in operations.

My intention since then has been to free our FC's and PVP arm to keep their content fun and minimize burn out. Instead of feeling obligated to form for every timer, I was trying to give them the freedom to pick and choose, go on the offensive, etc... It was also my intention to give all of our members and allies ample warning to secure major assets, but to keep our space open for PVE until such time as we either lost it, or chose to leave it.

However for some reason, when I told people to move their heavy assets to NPC space and keep day to day PVE activities in home space, they instead basically abandoned our space from almost all PVE operations (even though our core space hasn't even been attacked yet). Even though we could have spent the last couple weeks having FUN PVP encounters on our terms, instead we have seen less fleets put up (those that were, mostly by Toucher), and dropping numbers in fleets.

I mean change is coming, and of course there will be those who panic unnecessarily, but I am still a bit baffled at what has transpired over the last couple weeks. Maybe it is just that the game itself has deteriorated to a point where people are looking for an excuse to not log in. Maybe GCLUB culture/morale has dropped lower than I thought. Maybe the timing of the leak had a bigger impact than I thought. I know FC burn out has been a huge factor over the last few weeks. Honestly I think it is a combination of all of the above, but no matter what the reason, I am certainly not going to watch us spend the next several weeks putting shitty fleets up to defend space that we are not likely to keep long term anyway.

Ultimately, the scaling down, reduction and/or relocation of space, and the change in direction was something that was going to happen anyway. In an ideal world these changes would have waited until a time when I was active and able to execute them properly and make for a smoother transition. Unfortunately things came to a head faster than I had hoped, and the process is going to be messier than intended. That said, this is certainly not the end of GCLUB, just the end of one chapter, and a short intermission before the next.

Since it was leaked that we would be going semi merc, I have had several offers and options presented. Though I am not going to be doing any official merc work until we have time to do it right, I may try to work something out for those who will be sticking around for fleet access to one of the developing hot spots around Eve. If I can sort standings and fleet access I may have some fun content for our members in this interim, but there will be no pressures or participation expectations. Just access and available content. This may or may not include access to sov nul PVE as well. I will try to have more details on this in the next week or so.


Thank You's:

Few people understand the sheer volume of work involved in running an organization of this size. Everyone jokes about how I need to learn to delegate more, and there is truth to that (I do tend to go into "just do it myself" mode a lot). However, in reality there is a rather large team of individuals who keep this thing going. It is my job to keep it going in a productive and cohesive direction, but the motion itself... that involves a rather large machine with a lot of moving parts.

I would like to take a few moments to be sure to thank everyone who has made this last chapter of our history possible. The following list is nowhere near comprehensive, as there are many others who have contributed to the success of this alliance. However, I would like to take a few moments to mention a few stand outs. Some people on this list have parted ways, some may be with us for this next chapter, others may not. However, their contribution to the success of GCLUB throughout the last 2 and a half years should be noted, and no matter what the future holds, they have been an important part of something great. I would like to personally thank you all for your contribution to GCLUB thus far!


Mister Toucher: Has been with us since April 2014. He has been one of our two primary FC's throughout the Pheobe war, the collapse of the N3, and the subsequent defense of Immensea. For the last couple months (since Chucky moved to China) he has taken on the brunt of the major fleets, and has done an excellent job keeping things afloat despite being the only active SFC. He as much as anyone deserves a break!

Chucky O'Brian: Has been with us since the Halloween war. He was the other half of the Dynamic Duo that led our fleets throughout the Pheobe war, and everything since (running roughly half the major fleets until moving to China a couple months ago). Rumor is that he will be returning to the states in the fairly near future.

Rhaegar: Was one of our main FC's through the Halloween war, and remained active through Spring/Summer of 2014. Though he has not been super active as an FC for the last year+, he has remained an invaluable part of the navigation of the N3 collapse, and has been an excellent adviser and sounding board throughout. We just need to get him excited about Eve again :P.

Advent Etherean: Has been an AFC for some time, but has also run the Recon team, and has been invaluable with "behind the scenes" work like making sure timers are posted, SBU/TCU/IHUB's are placed, staging POS, etc... Advent is an excellent strategist, and has been very helpful in the development of overall military strategy (particularly through the Pheobe war in Detorid).

ALL FC: Every FC who takes out a fleet and generates PVP content for our members is critical to our success. Whether you took out a few roams, or were a regular provider of content... your contribution is appreciated!

Meandeane651: Mean was in EICO/GCLUB before I joined. He has been head diplo throughout, assisted with numerous behind the scenes duties, and most recently was acting CEO maintaining both alliance and coalition for the last couple months. He has moved on (at least for now) but his contribution was major, and he will always have a home here.

Cornelius Maximo: Someone most people may not know but who has done the majority of the alliance hauling for the last 2+ years. He is consistent, reliable, and very reasonable.

Bon Gladius: Provides and hosts GCLUB services (forums, jabber, TS, etc...). Most high end technical issues escalate to him for resolution. Though his play time is limited, he has always found time to address any major technical issues that have arisen.

Mhowatt: Has been tech support for GCLUB for the last year and a half. There was once a time when most tech issues came directly to me, and I can tell you there are a lot of the day to day issues that arise in an alliance of our size. Mho has done a lot behind the scenes to help keep our services running, and (more important) has kept my mail box clear of tech shit :P.

Beaute Suprenate: Has been managing alliance towers and reactions since our early days in Insmother. He has been steady, reliable, and extremely helpful in maintaining our POS team.

Dragon Darkness: Joined the POS team shortly after our move to Immensea. In his time here he managed towers in two regions of space, and made major contributions in reaction strategies.

Stud Duficious: Helped us to launch GSP0T and the dues program. Later as we added the rental program, he along with Badboris co-managed both the dues and rental program.

Badboris: Joined us about a year ago (almost to the day). In addition to managing the rental/dues program, and recently taking on the role of head diplo, she has performed a number of misc. administrative tasks such as SRP management (and recently payouts), managing channels, assisting with alliance purchases, system upgrades, etc... Her assistance with administrative stuff has been absolutely invaluable over the last few months in particular. She is rock solid, reliable, and an invaluable part of the last year of GCLUB!

Buck194 & Leyanora Varkain: Have recently been officially added to the diplo team, but long before that were a very active and important part of our day to day culture. Their contributions and participation in leadership discussions has been extremely helpful, and I have always valued their input and perspective.

ALL CEO's/Directors: One of the core GCLUB principles is that we are ultimately a collection of corporations. Without each of you doing your jobs, keeping your corps healthy, keeping your members trained, and active, our fleets (and space) would be empty. Those corps who engage in industry, market seeding, and doctrine contracts have provided the industrial infrastructure that has kept this machine functioning.


Summary:

That's about it for now. I am very disappointed that things worked out like this, but I am not upset or disappointed with anyone. I think everyone did the best they could with what they had to work with. It was just a chain of events including major changes to game format during a time that I was not able to be super active in the game to adapt properly.

That said, I have faith in the uniqueness of what we have built, and know that this is just a temporary set back for GCLUB. There are other groups out there who have big fleets, and good FC's, and space, and... and... and... However, GCLUB has always been about WAY more than that. Space, moons, income, ships, etc... are all easily replaced. However, a good community of good pilots who maintain that perfect balance between competence and a good culture/atmosphere.... that is not so easily replaced. To whatever degree it has deteriorated, I am genuinely sorry that I have not been able to invest the time and energy for the last couple months to help sustain it. However, it is still at the core of who we are, and those who cherish it will help to rebuild it.

No matter what is in the future for GCLUB, or the individual corps, or individual members, I wish each and every one of you the best. For those who choose to stay with us through this "hiatus" I look forward to a time when I can actually participate in the community again because ultimately that is what it is all about. In the meantime, stay classy, and do whatever you have to do to keep your game fun.