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- Oct 2, 2008
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**This is something we have been working on as a team since the leadership changes were made. We wanted to push it out sooner but we also wanted ALL of leadership to have a chance to comment on it, as we are a team.**
Ladies and mentlegen of the Team Fortress 2 Division,
First and foremost, I would like to address the elephant in the room which is that we are all very sad about Caelestis and Kazoo stepping down, myself included. They have left a legacy that I never can, nor never will try to replace. With that said, I am very proud to be a part of the great group of people we have in this community and to be able to lead you to the absolute best of my ability.
It's also important to me that you know that I am here for you. You may reach out to me at any time and with any concern, no matter how trivial it may seem. Do not ever feel that you are being a bother or wasting my time. I am here for you, as is the rest of the leadership team and it?s very important to me, especially now, that you all know this.
If anyone is struggling with the recent changes or fearful of what the future holds and wants to talk to me about it, my virtual door is always open.
Next, I?d like to clear the air on something else. When the RHs and I planned TF2 Appreciation Night, we did NOT know that our leaders would be stepping down nor did we know that members would be leaving the community. The event was not planned for that purpose and I truly hope the mass exodus that prior members decided upon will not ruin the event, as I'd truly like to do it again in the future. This is an event we planned to help boost morale in the community and for fun. Upper level leadership was also on board with the idea as a way to celebrate the division and overcome some of the negativity that arose from our stress about server rankings and low recruiting numbers.
Only I learned of Caelestis? choice to step down just shortly before the event. He did not wish to ruin the event and chose to wait until it was over to share his news. I respected his wishes, as I have always deeply respected him, and allowed him to go out in the way that he chose.
The RHs knew nothing of it. The event was not made for that purpose and it truly saddened me both to seem them go, and also to have it happen on the eve of an event we had planned with so many good intentions and positive vibes. What was meant to be a time of celebration has now been tainted and there's really nothing I can do about that now.
I also understand that some of you may feel that celebrating the new leaders within the community might somehow be disloyal to those who came before us. I can understand. I won't try to fill the big shoes of those who came before me but instead, will walk in my own and hope to leave an impression that is worthy of even half the admiration and respect they obtained in this division.
That being said, the show must go on and our division must continue. We are on the upswing of a very tumultuous summer and I do not want to see anything stand in our way. We only risk standing in our own way if we allow gossip, rumors and personal frustrations to divide us.
With that, I'd like to offer a little reality check.
Server and Recruiting Status
As for server rankings, as A Nudist Colony pointed out, we have seen great improvement even in only 2 months.
This summer we had a big drop... The following is an excerpt from July 18th.
Hightower: Rank 718
2Fort: Rank 900
Harvest: Rank 983
Dustbowl: Rank 1004
Foundry: Rank 1699
Egypt: Rank 2327
And this is our servers on Sept 27th:
Hightower: Rank 555
Dustbowl: Rank 659
Harvest: Rank 807
2Fort: Rank 861
Foundry: Rank 1059
Egypt: Rank 1551
Almost all of our servers are in the triple digits for rankings now. Recruiting has gone from 14 in July to 38 in September. That?s more than double.
We are doing very, very well and I want each and every one of you to remember that. Yes, the numbers matter. Yes, the rankings matter. But we are not here to threaten you with statistics and remove all of the fun from your game. That was never the intentions of anyone here, current or former leadership.
Wilson!, Community Manager
Insomnia Princess, Division Leader
CrashRIT, Advisor: Admin Training
Maserati, Advisor: Events
Mister Adam, Advisor: Events/ Support
VP :3, Advisor: Competitive
And now, for the next order of business. We do, indeed, have some leadership changes to report. Just recently, Mister Adam returned to TF2 as an Advisor to help with the EC team and Special Events. His easygoing personality, previous experience in leadership (as Advisor and DL) and his willingness to step up and teach and lead when needed are just some of the reasons he was chosen for this position. Just don't tell him I said all that, lest his head grow so large he floats away.
With Kazoo and Caelestis stepping down on the same night, Wilson (with approval from the rest of the Comm Mgrs and above) made the decision to promote the senior advisor to DL status (that's your resident princess who never sleeps).
Even before Kazoo stepping down, the topic of promoting a Competitive Team Advisor had been tossed around more than once. VP was a natural choice due to his already leading the team and his years of dedication within the community. One issue with this was the age restriction that eGO has as a general rule for leadership. However, given the circumstances and the fact that he was exactly 2 weeks away from his birthday, we promoted VP a little early (should have made him wait for b-day promos like me and Adam). It was in the best interest of the comp team and also TF2 Division as a whole that we made this very slight exception to the rule and that, my friends, is how a Poptart got promoted.
I'm telling you all of this because as a team, we believe in full disclosure. We want to be open and honest with all of you. However, we also need you all of you to understand that sometimes issues or topics will stay leadership-only until we come to a resolution on things, or when it's needed to protect the privacy of members or the division itself. This is how any community with a hierarchy works and it's not because we don't trust you. If you're ever concerned about something, please reach out to us. We'll do what we can to reassure you or give you the facts, as we are able.
With all that said, let's try to embrace the future, respect one another and continue to be DABES division.
Sometimes our members will move on to do other things in their lives, or to join other divisions. Sometimes our leadership will leave us behind, while others stick around to haunt the halls after dark and move the cheese in the breakroom fridge. People will come and go and will we will miss them greatly but we will remain strong because what has been created here is bigger than me and you- bigger than any one individual. It's bigger than those who came before us and bigger than those who will come after us. TF2 Division is a legacy and you are part of it.
On behalf of all of the leadership team, here's to the future!
Ladies and mentlegen of the Team Fortress 2 Division,
First and foremost, I would like to address the elephant in the room which is that we are all very sad about Caelestis and Kazoo stepping down, myself included. They have left a legacy that I never can, nor never will try to replace. With that said, I am very proud to be a part of the great group of people we have in this community and to be able to lead you to the absolute best of my ability.
It's also important to me that you know that I am here for you. You may reach out to me at any time and with any concern, no matter how trivial it may seem. Do not ever feel that you are being a bother or wasting my time. I am here for you, as is the rest of the leadership team and it?s very important to me, especially now, that you all know this.
If anyone is struggling with the recent changes or fearful of what the future holds and wants to talk to me about it, my virtual door is always open.
Next, I?d like to clear the air on something else. When the RHs and I planned TF2 Appreciation Night, we did NOT know that our leaders would be stepping down nor did we know that members would be leaving the community. The event was not planned for that purpose and I truly hope the mass exodus that prior members decided upon will not ruin the event, as I'd truly like to do it again in the future. This is an event we planned to help boost morale in the community and for fun. Upper level leadership was also on board with the idea as a way to celebrate the division and overcome some of the negativity that arose from our stress about server rankings and low recruiting numbers.
Only I learned of Caelestis? choice to step down just shortly before the event. He did not wish to ruin the event and chose to wait until it was over to share his news. I respected his wishes, as I have always deeply respected him, and allowed him to go out in the way that he chose.
The RHs knew nothing of it. The event was not made for that purpose and it truly saddened me both to seem them go, and also to have it happen on the eve of an event we had planned with so many good intentions and positive vibes. What was meant to be a time of celebration has now been tainted and there's really nothing I can do about that now.
I also understand that some of you may feel that celebrating the new leaders within the community might somehow be disloyal to those who came before us. I can understand. I won't try to fill the big shoes of those who came before me but instead, will walk in my own and hope to leave an impression that is worthy of even half the admiration and respect they obtained in this division.
That being said, the show must go on and our division must continue. We are on the upswing of a very tumultuous summer and I do not want to see anything stand in our way. We only risk standing in our own way if we allow gossip, rumors and personal frustrations to divide us.
With that, I'd like to offer a little reality check.
Server and Recruiting Status
As for server rankings, as A Nudist Colony pointed out, we have seen great improvement even in only 2 months.
This summer we had a big drop... The following is an excerpt from July 18th.
Hightower: Rank 718
2Fort: Rank 900
Harvest: Rank 983
Dustbowl: Rank 1004
Foundry: Rank 1699
Egypt: Rank 2327
And this is our servers on Sept 27th:
Hightower: Rank 555
Dustbowl: Rank 659
Harvest: Rank 807
2Fort: Rank 861
Foundry: Rank 1059
Egypt: Rank 1551
Almost all of our servers are in the triple digits for rankings now. Recruiting has gone from 14 in July to 38 in September. That?s more than double.
We are doing very, very well and I want each and every one of you to remember that. Yes, the numbers matter. Yes, the rankings matter. But we are not here to threaten you with statistics and remove all of the fun from your game. That was never the intentions of anyone here, current or former leadership.
Wilson!, Community Manager
Insomnia Princess, Division Leader
CrashRIT, Advisor: Admin Training
Maserati, Advisor: Events
Mister Adam, Advisor: Events/ Support
VP :3, Advisor: Competitive
And now, for the next order of business. We do, indeed, have some leadership changes to report. Just recently, Mister Adam returned to TF2 as an Advisor to help with the EC team and Special Events. His easygoing personality, previous experience in leadership (as Advisor and DL) and his willingness to step up and teach and lead when needed are just some of the reasons he was chosen for this position. Just don't tell him I said all that, lest his head grow so large he floats away.
With Kazoo and Caelestis stepping down on the same night, Wilson (with approval from the rest of the Comm Mgrs and above) made the decision to promote the senior advisor to DL status (that's your resident princess who never sleeps).
Even before Kazoo stepping down, the topic of promoting a Competitive Team Advisor had been tossed around more than once. VP was a natural choice due to his already leading the team and his years of dedication within the community. One issue with this was the age restriction that eGO has as a general rule for leadership. However, given the circumstances and the fact that he was exactly 2 weeks away from his birthday, we promoted VP a little early (should have made him wait for b-day promos like me and Adam). It was in the best interest of the comp team and also TF2 Division as a whole that we made this very slight exception to the rule and that, my friends, is how a Poptart got promoted.
I'm telling you all of this because as a team, we believe in full disclosure. We want to be open and honest with all of you. However, we also need you all of you to understand that sometimes issues or topics will stay leadership-only until we come to a resolution on things, or when it's needed to protect the privacy of members or the division itself. This is how any community with a hierarchy works and it's not because we don't trust you. If you're ever concerned about something, please reach out to us. We'll do what we can to reassure you or give you the facts, as we are able.
With all that said, let's try to embrace the future, respect one another and continue to be DABES division.
Sometimes our members will move on to do other things in their lives, or to join other divisions. Sometimes our leadership will leave us behind, while others stick around to haunt the halls after dark and move the cheese in the breakroom fridge. People will come and go and will we will miss them greatly but we will remain strong because what has been created here is bigger than me and you- bigger than any one individual. It's bigger than those who came before us and bigger than those who will come after us. TF2 Division is a legacy and you are part of it.
On behalf of all of the leadership team, here's to the future!
