To the =(e)='s *READ*

[Nemo]

I wanted to give a little mentoring/fatherly advice to our recruits. Recently there have been multiple instances with e's getting banned and causing heartache to the admins by talking back. Most of you do not cause problems, but there are a few who do, as with any group. So here are my tips on how to succeed as an e.

First, you are part of eGO. You represent us on all of the servers you play. Therefore, you are held to a higher standard than anyone else. Because you have accepted the rules of the servers by applying, you will not be given warnings before kicks/bans. A pub who slips on the language will be warned, while you may be kicked. Just remember that the eGO's, Advisors, and Council members are watching you all.

Second, something that was posted in our eG's forums was respect. Respect your other players. Just because someone isn't as good of a player as you doesn't justify you calling them a n00b or that they suck, or that your whole team sucks for that matter. Granted, I've been frustrated playing on servers, but hey that's part of the game. Sometimes you pwn, and sometimes you get pwned, but by all means DO NOT express those frustrations in public! The second part of respect is respect your fellow clansmen. It's fun to joke around and stuff, but sometimes people take it too far and have a laugh at the expense of others. This is not right.

Third is obey the admins. If there is an eGO in the server, s/he has the ultimate authority at that time on the server. Do not question their authority if they make a judgment call. That is how one recent e for banned was for talking back to an admin and using profanity directed at the admin. If there are no eGO's in a server, but there are eG's then we have the call at that time until an eGO arrives. You all are our first line of defense in a server. If there are no eG's or eGO's in a server, then if something happens, come find one of us. We'll gladly come into the server and take care of the problem. Remember, steam friends, xfire, and vent (especially vent) are your best friends. We have a great deal of diversity in this organization. We have 14, 15, 16 year old eGO's with full admin abilities because they have demonstrated that they can act like mature people. If you disagree with a call an admin made, then PM him/her or send them a message in steam, but DO NOT question them in public chat on a server. If pubs can get banned for abusing the admin, then e's will most certainly be banned and may even be kicked out of the organization.

As a side note, if there are eGs and eGOs on your team and someone uses foul language, etc. Let them handle it. There is no need for 4 people to say "Watch your language." I do appreciate your enthusiasm, however. I highly recommend attending Officer Friendly's e admin seminar.

Don't think I am lecturing you all because a great majority of you all are not doing anything. I was an e not too long ago, and many of you all are on my friend's list and I play with in game. I just wanted you all to know that you are held to a higher standard than the pubs. I don't want to see any of you all go from Sixxgunn's recruiting board to the Perma Banned forum list like some other e's have.

The best advice I can give is to get involved. Get on the forums; play in the scrims, late night battles, and meet and greets; go to Officer Friendly's e admin school to learn the basics; and most importantly help fill those servers and keep on playing! Wear that tag with pride!

I look forward to playing with you all in the servers. Nemo out!

Admins feel free to add/edit as you see fit.

 

[Signe]

I don't think there's any need for an edit, here. Very well stated, Nemo.

 

[Michael Scott]

Agreed, Signe.

Very well said.

 

[Purple.Huskies]

Very well written, and agree.

 

[kiniki]

I totally agree with you. I've only been here a short while but it doesn't take a much to understand what ego is about. Just last night an =e= was talking back to an admin in game in front of everyone and I really couldn't understand why. If you're an =e= the first thing you read was the rules. From the very first you need to understand them before you can join.

The rules are there to make sure everyone has a good time regardless of age or experience. I feel thats the draw to these servers. You know that you can have a good game with no trouble.

Whilst waiting for slots to come open on our servers, I jump into some other servers to see what they're like. Its not all that fun on the most part as many don't have anyone in authority looking after them. Mic spamming, cussing, porno sprays...

So far I haven't ever disagreed with admin. They're fair and enforce the rules. That said even if I did, questioning their authority in game is not acceptable. You wouldn't do it to your boss in a massive team meeting at work... Why do it here?

I realise it can be a tough job trying to be fair to everyone and keeping the majority happy. So cheers guys... You do a good job and the =e='s who care about this place appreciate it.

 

[TheJudge(inactive)]

i love you

 

[Dr. Gauma369]

very nice nemo...well stated

 

[Booster37]

I'd like to add something here:

Many of you e's and eG's may not know this, but when I was an e, I wasn't exactly the easiest person in the world to deal with. I never got kicked or banned, but you could say I may have caused a bit of problems in my "early" years. Personally, the road is actually not that hard. Really simple, to be honest. Anyone can change quick, and become a good asset to the clan, which is why I have the Good Conduct Ribbon you see to your left.

Just letting you know you do mean something, and we are watching.

 

[Captain Mental]

This thread is good place to speak your mind, i don't mean by "b!tch!ng" or bad mouthing other players, but it is a good place to let some frustration out positively. Let me explain.

I'm frustrated when i go to outside-clan servers and people are just plain morons. Also when i get shot every 10 seconds without knowing where it comes from. I dislike verbal abuse, even more insults but the thing that annoys me the most is when a twit starts playing tunes on his/her mike. You're all saying: just don't play outside the clan, or something similar... Well, when you guys were young(er), you played in your parents garden right? Most of the time, there was that fence that your mom always told you to not jump or go beyond. How many of you did actually listened? The same thing applies here: Clan members need to go out and play other servers, they should do it once in a while. Why? I'll explain.

First of all, if you've been able to read up to this point, my hats off to you because my message doesnt seem to have a point... well, it does actually.

Play outside clan servers and then compare with clan servers and it will be reason enough to join EGO. Personaly, i've never been a CLAN person. As far as i knew, CLANS were a bunch of guys defending each others, similar as a street gang. I didn't know anything better from what i had seen on different games like Jedi Knight or Unreal Tournament. I joined EGO when i found out how peacefull, respectfull and all those nice words that ends in full the organisation was.

I was quite content to "Belong to no-one", "Freebird", etc... but now, i made some friends... (gaming friends) but they are good people. Sometimes they might make fun of me, but hey, it is all in good humor. And i always could take a joke unless i knew i wasn't being respected. Anyways, I'm glad to be part of EGO, it makes my gaming a real pleasure. I get frustrated cause i'm not as good as many of them guys, but hey, it is just my pride kicking in.

Finally, joining EGO was a great move and if i had known before about it, i would have joined well before that.

Thanks, see you all in games.
Capt M

 

[DrunkenSailor]

Both Nemo and Captain Mental have made excellent points and I dont think Nemo's post could be worded any better. To hit on a point from Mental's post I believe most of us including myself played on other servers before finding eGO. I started out playing DoD 1.3 back in 02 and the skill required to become a great player hooked me from the start. The things I did not like was all the idiots calling me a noob, making fun of my poor playing skills, admin abusing me when I actually DID kill an admin, 10 year old kids screamin and cursing into the mic.....plus the disgusting porn sprays and general bad attitudes of other gamers.

I usually was a quiet background gamer and never even had a mic until about 6 months or so AFTER joining eGO. Where I felt comfortable talking on the mic and not being made fun of about my southern accent and actually working as a team to win the map. All of us who love this clan feel this way because we ALREADY have visited those other servers and been in those other clans where they dont give a damn about you. Just as long as you give em your 5 bucks a month for admin everything was hunkydory....

This place is unique in its structure and even more so because we actually nurture some skills that have made us so successful. We train you how to be a leader and you get held accountable for your actions just like in the real world. We use words such as maturity, respect, good sportsmanship and friendship.....most other places in the online gaming world use them as a punchline or see them as a sign of weakness.

Im not saying all the clans are like that, their are cool ones out there just like us....I am just slightly partial to this one

 

[Flippy the Squirrel]

Well said, Mr. Sailor. In fact, it's so well-said, that it reminds me of a vignette from my past. Ladies and Gentlemen, now it's time for Flippy's Storybook Corner ...

Years ago, I worked for a combination Army/Navy surplus and Public Service Supply Store that used to have a thriving mail-order business across the world. A co-worker told me that they used to sell surplus goods to Stanley Kubrick when he was making Full Metal Jacket.

I was in my early twenties, and had a pretty bad attitude about work. I had been lucky and been able to be fairly picky about where I wanted to work, but upon moving in with my girlfriend (and now wife for 11 years), I had to find a job, any job, and start bringing in some cash.

Retail jobs suck, and my attitude was pretty awful to match. I was never rude to customers, and I never lost the store any business, but I was surly with co-workers, would regularly show up a few minutes late, and was (all in all) not a model employee.

At one point the owner took me aside, and he talked to me about maturity in the workplace. He stressed that we all want to have fun, but that I have the opportunity to learn how to be a professional no matter what I do. I could either avail myself of the lessons that were there to learn, or I could simply proceed through life without becoming a better person.

That little talk cut me to the quick, and I spent some time thinking about it. Since then, I have been a very different person at any job I have, and the fact that a high-school dropout with no college degree now works at the most prestigious laboratory in the nation (perhaps the world) is not small testament to how far a good attitude and willingness to learn can take you. I have always impressed my employers with my desire to expand my knowledge, to find a better way to do things, and (most importantly) my desire to put my personal ego aside in favor of what's best for the group.

If you can do the same thing here, you'll enrich your life in ways you can't imagine now. In much the same way that (I'm sure) a number of you can attribute your great organizational skills to role-playing games, or your fantastic attention to detail and reflexes to video games, you can someday attribute positive elements in your personality to being a member of eGO.

Never forget that. It will take you far.

 

[Endiment]

I'd like to take this opportunity to say something.

There are some (e)s whose first response to the slightest rule breaker is to call for admins. There's nothing wrong with that. There are some other (e)s who only call admins when the problem is seriously disruptive and beyond their control (I am one of the latter). Handling issues on your own, I think, is a great way for an (e) to distinguish himself or herself from the masses. But many (e)s, and also (eG)s who haven't had training, respond in a very predictable, very improper manner: "no foul language on this server or you'll be BANNED". I cannot think of a worse thing to say to a pub. Imagine you're playing as a pub on someone else's server and an admin spews this line over all chat. Personally, I'd leave right there. It tells me that the admins are ban-happy, pompous, and not at all amiable. Saying you'll ban someone is bad enough when you can actually do it, because it'll give griefers something to harp on. But make that threat with nothing to back it up and you really make a fool of yourself in front of everyone. So (e)s, keep in mind that handling a situation by yourself is something to be handled carefully. You can't get to the point where the only solution is to kick or ban (kind of hard to describe, but you'll reach a point in an argument where the rule breaker will say, "Fine. ban me then." If it reaches this then you've lost). If the person is griefing you by arguing with you and you can't calm them down, stop talking and see if it fades into the background. Maybe if you don't argue they'll cool off and leave.

The most important thing to keep in mind is that everything you do represents the clan. (e)s especially need to be careful since we have no power to back up our statements.

 

[Moose]

We're here to help you guys, return the favor. Nemo, Cpt. Mental, Drunken...all very well said.

 

[ladorne]

Very well said Nemo and Cpt. Mental. I agree, some people need to learn maturity in the servers as well as in the forums.

(BRAVO!)

 

[Moose]

I once had a manager tell me, while I was in Hollywood, "Remember, you're ALWAYS at an audition. Whether your at a movie studio or in the checkout line at the grocery store, someone's watching you and what you do; how you react. You don't know who they are, but you need to remember that you're always auditioning for something." The way he meant it and the way I took it were different, but I've applied that to my life - professional, educational, and personal - and I like to think it's made me a different (and better) person.

 

[Spanktacular]

I like to think that even as an =(e)= I've got a pretty good handle on dealing with disruptions.

To date, I've asked for admin help with inappropriate sprays, and a couple of minor-league griefers. Heh. This last guy was kind of funny in a wannabe Team Roomba kind of way. We were battling over the mid point on Warpath and he was dropping teles going all the way back to the first point's respawn. He tried to get me by plopping an entrance right between my dispenser and my SG. Shadeaux took care of him, but not until after repeated, polite, requests that he simply stop doing that.

Just recently, I told a pubber to please not flame through the gate at stage 1 on Dustbowl. She apologized repeatedly, and I kept replying "not a big deal, just not allowed on here is all." There were some eG's on the box, but I don't think they had her in their line of sight, so I piped up in a polite and respectful manner.

Basically, I treat other players how I'd like to be treated. I think that's the secret to eG's success and reputation. I've played with [TG] and [TMS] and they're both pretty decent clans with decent players, but when I got my invite to join eGO, it was the only one I would have accepted.

 

[Kolak]

We have some really well spoken people here at eGO, many of which have posted in this thread, I agree with everything is being said here. This is a great guide line for much of what is expected in eGO i believe. All e's should read this

 

[RESPAWN]

Very well put, guys. I may as well relate some of my personal experiences here. Back in college I played TFC, CS, and DOD a lot. Probably too much. Anyway, I received several requests to join clans back when I played those games, but I never really considered the offers very seriously. The majority of the clans and their coresponding servers out there always seemed to be filled with hackers/griefers/etc., and that didn't make for a great playing experience, hence my decision not to join any clans in those days. There were a few good ones, for sure, but I had reservations of joining even those due to my experience with clans overall. So, instead of playing with an official clan, the closest experience I had to that was a few friends in real life, all of us gamers. About once a week we'd join up to play on a server and many times dominate the other team. In fact, I can remember one occasion where another clan banned all five of us from their server, not because we were doing anything wrong, but because we were playing under the same tag and simply dominating -- yet more evidence that many clans out there are simply filled with self aggrandizing jerks whose only reason for playing in a clan is to have their ego (not to be confused with eGO) stroked, much like many street gangs.

Then I found eGO, and I was duly impressed. I have finally found my kind of clan. eGO is populated with the same kind of stand-up guys (and girls!) as the friends I used to play with back in college. The servers are well administered and while none of us objects to having our own egos stroked, that's not the reason we are here. I think most of us are here becuase, to use the phrase from the new advertising slogans, we enjoy a punk free gaming experience, and we've found that eGO can provide that, for the most part.

So, to all you new =(e)='s, I hope you came here for those same reasone, and I hope you'll help us keep things that way. I think I've mentioned this in another thread before, but I want to let any of you know that you are always free to contact me if you need assistance. As much as I hate the fact that I even have to flex the admin muscle, I look at it as my duty as a member of eGO. The clan has entrusted all of us with a particular level of responsibility, and it is our duty to live up to that responsibility. Besides that, I'd say that 90% of the time I'm gaming on an eGO server, there's nary a problem at all.

Oh, and Drunken, you don't have to worry about any pubs ever making fun of your Southern drawl. I'll make fun of you for it all you want.

(So long as you don't catch me when I'm really exhausted and/or seriously inebriated -- that's when my own Southern accent creeps out.)

 

[Monkeybits]

Shockingly, I'm almost speechless. Incredible points have been made here.

We are not like other clans. We're not going to boot a pub to make room for clan members on a server. We're not going to ban someone for playing too well. The admin authority we have we are not permitted to use for our own benefit, but rather for the benefit of everyone on the server. It's such a superior way of doing things that we keep attracting good people to the clan.

The most impressive tool you have in preserving the eGO environment isn't your banhammer. It's your attitude. We still have to hold order, but if you don't want your team to cuss, keep them talking in a fun way. Stay positive no matter how your team is doing (by the way, that's also a great way to turn a losing team into a winning one). You don't even have to personally feel it, you just have to radiate it, though if you radiate it you will come to feel it.

I knew I was playing on the right server when after hours of playing 2Fort I'd been through the cycles of my team winning, losing, winning, losing and sometimes getting pwned and I was still having fun. I had no admin powers at the time but I'd never have needed them.

Frustrated with your team? Instead of "Why the heck didn't we..." say, "Next time, we could try..." Instead of "You all suck," try, "They're not even better than we are, we just have to play harder/get more aggressive/try this new strategy." If you make it positive, you make the difference. In fact if you stay positive, you become a leader instead of a whiner, and that's what eGO is all about.

 

[NinjaFluff]

Monkeybits, that's some fine inspiration there, it really is.

Respawn, I share your sentiments too. I've played MANY FPS games in the past, but for the same reasons you cite, I never played many of them online. Too many hackers, too many punks. When I bought the Orange Box, I was ready to completely ignore TF2. Believe it or not, eGO's 2fort server was the very first I played on. I liked it so much, I immediately added it to my favorites. I went back and forth on several other servers, but always came back to our 2fort server. I've even got some of the others marked to play every now and then, just to remember why it is I joined eGO. I also enjoy dominating on the others too, but that's a whole different story

I love the standard of players that eGO attracts. Each and every one of you are fantastic and give me a run for my money. I'm a much better player simply for playing against all of you, and for that, I thank all of you. On the other servers, I can usually manage to have 3 or so of my opponents dominated at any given time, but on ours... well, I'm doing great to keep one consistently, especially if they're a fellow clan member! (and God help me if BioGhost or VulcanRaven is on the other team!!)

I am proud to be part of this group, and will do my best to help mentor the newer members in any way that I can. Our members are our lifeblood, and we must make sure that the face of eGO that they show to the world is the best it can possibly be.