2012 rAge Debrief

[Hubris]

rAge is over and we have a new clan leader – le Duck! Congrats dude! It’s that time of the year again when discussions need to take place around the direction of the clan and the future of casual and competitive gaming. In the spirit of zero fucks given, I’m going to say a lot of things that will be controversial, but I believe these debates need to be held at some point and this is the perfect platform and time to do that in. Now Ducky has yet to reveal his master plan for the clan, so I hope I’m not premature here, but hopefully he can feed some of this discussion into his decision making before he does.

Firstly, I want to thank everyone in the team for their time and commitment to getting us to rAge. We achieved our goal and whilst we could have done better, I think we came a long way as a group of people and as a clan. It wasn’t an easy year, but I received good support from the guys which I believe was a huge factor in terms of keeping us competitive – thank you all for putting up with me. A special thank you to Paul, Tyger and Snakestyles who’s wise counsel was invaluable and without whom we would no doubt have disintegrated.

Of course, an extra special thank you to Mark and Onny for their contributions this year. I <3 all of you guys, thank you.

Now a quick summary of our season. We started in the Third Division and managed to fight our way up the ladders and qualify for rAge. Almost each leg we managed to move up a Division and we won some clutch games. However, on the other hand our season was marred by less than ideal attendance and some very average performances. All considered, I think we did well with what we had, but I can’t say that we strike fear into team’s hearts. We did manage to earn some street cred with the top teams but we also managed to find a nemesis – BzK!

rAge itself was an experience and a half. I think it was great exposure for guys who have not played in the Championship before and good fun all around. I can see why it is a great time and place to get to know the other clans and catch up with a few friends in other clans. Our group wasn’t too bad, but it was clear that we were the most unprepared. Not too long ago, we were head-to-head with SSG PL but it was obvious to me their practice investment paid off and they did very well at rAge. If we could have beaten anyone it was them and BFC, it was a real pity we went home without a win.

Generally speaking, I think we maintained our “old school darkhorse” reputation. Some of our players are respected for their skill, others are hated for their game styles; all in all though the clan is seen as a bunch of good guys who perform inconsistently. Our play style leaves much to be desired due to the inconsistency in terms of practices and performances. We showed good courage and determination, but we also showed that our worst enemy is ourselves and each other. Whoever leads the team next year, these issues must be addressed as priority whatever the cost.

So now that rAge is over, what does this mean for the Battlefield team and the clan?

I’m sure that DGL will host at least one more leg of Battlefield 3 and we may even see it at the next rAge as well. The game is not dead, although BF4 is lurking in the not-so-distant future it is likely it will not displace BF3 entirely until early 2014. I am very keen to play competitively again and qualify for rAge again – if possible, get through into knockout and the money. It’s not going to be an easy task, since we have almost half the team expressing their desire to play casually or not at all. Again we return to the competitive or not competitive debate.

If we want to see [grrr] consistently qualifying for rAge and getting through top 10 or even knockouts we desperately need to improve. The only way we can do that is through more practices and by drafting players. Don’t fool yourself, other clans are actively recruiting and are constantly practicing. In order to stay competitive, we need to do operations better than everybody else just to retain the status quo, let alone improve upon it. If we don’t really care where we end up competitively, then we all need to have a completely different discussion – so make your position known!

I believe [grrr] has the potential to be as good as if not better than [SSG]Umshiniwam and I want to see that realised. I love the [grrr] brand and I love the group of guys we have, but I am tired of waiting. My position is such: I will not be available to play or captain for [grrr]BF3/4 if it does not a) pro-actively recruit or b) run both a competitive team and a casual team. If the clan shows it has no commitment to solve these two issues, I will sadly approach another clan to take my love for Battlefield further. It’s a stark statement that I’m sad to make, but I feel like the time investment is too costly to stuff about.

Please don’t get me wrong guys. I am as committed as ever to [grrr] and would put my name forward to be our competitive Battlefield captain again without a moment’s pause, provided the right action is taken. So far I’m monitoring and seducing three very good players, but we will need about 4 to bolster our competitive side. If we consider the casual team as well, we will probably need another 4 which means recruiting 8 or so people. Hold the wails of denial, it’s true: if we want to take ourselves seriously we have to expand the player base now, not later, with players who have time to play consistently.

Thanks for the season guys, the next one is around the corner! What do you want from it?

Tyger, DryMan, Paul, Cronos and myself are still rearing to go up a gear. My understanding is that Phatso, SlipperyDuck and J0nny are all tentative about whether to play next season due to RL constraints. I would like to see the trio make themselves available to peel oranges and supa-sub for the competitive team and to consider taking up a role in the shared leadership model for the casual team. I leave these issues down to the players themselves, but this is just me planting seeds and shooting very much in the dark. We don't even know if either team will be viable at this stage.

As far as the captaincy of the BF3 team going forward, I am happy to continue with the role but I’m not going to pull a Zuma. If you guys think we should mix up the brains trust, I will step down and play as regular provided making a two team clan becomes reality. In such a case I would suggest that Tyger take up the reigns, he is a committed player with a wealth of experience to draw on and one hell of a stubborn bastard – he would serve the team well. Whatever happens I still very much support the shared leadership model we had this year with Captain/Tyger/Paul and Manager Snakestyles.

I suggest we appoint a recruitment manager to handle that issue “full time”, but for now I’m just going to carry on until without a mandate until we see the plans for the year ahead. I have no guarantees that I will attract players, our value proposition to tier one players is not very strong unfortunately – we only have our reputation, social circle and attitudes to sell. If people don’t buy into that, it’s unlikely we will attract talent we can use tomorrow until we win more. I would welcome a few changes to professionalise the [grrr] image and attract sponsors, but marketing is quite beyond my influence as captain.

I would like to open the invitation to all grrrs to nominate potential candidates to join [grrr] and play competitively or casually in DGL. We all need to contribute to this effort or it will not succeed, so check your Battlelog friends, your Gaming Platoons, the guys you see on the pubs and guys you know playing other games. Note down their names and post them here so that they can be approached, gently. We should never force people into joining or doing something, all we can do is show them what a great clan we have and make it clear that they would be welcome to fulfil their love for Battlefield here.

[TygerBS]

Look I am as keen as very to play hard prac hard and become better and compete at the highest level we can.
I would love to recruit some great young players to bolster our ranks.

At the same time, grrr is a social clan, and family. It has been around along time precisely because the people who join, join for the social side not the competitive side.
The competitive side is just the added bonus.
I am all for recruiting guys...really i am ...but i don't want us to pull in a bunch of young wankers just cause they good at BF3, and i am sure the founding fathers would feel the same.

Compared to other team in the DGL, we did exceptionally well for what we are.
No other teams achieved as much as we did, when you factor in how many hours we played, and how many other things we all have going on in our lives like work and family.
Our performance at rage... well our preparation was poor going in. If we had , had 3 or four more pracs we would of been in a good place. Combine that with the fact we were all tired and hung ova on game day. It would of made a huge difference had we all been fresh and ready to go.

Hubris you are a great player, you could bolster any side you joined i am sure.
I am behind you and will play with you, and support you as captain as you have done all year.
As I will support you if you decide to leave to be with a more dedicated competitive clan.

I agree with hubris on this... SSG is also a social clan, that have brought in some good players to bolster their side.
We could do the same.

[Paul]

I honestly think we can have the best of both world and that is why I am with Hubris on having 2 teams, 1 a casually team that will be happy to play in 32nd and 3rd division and not taking themselves too seriously as well as another more serious team that has 100% committed players of good skill that know they will be required to practice for 10 months of the year with the goal of getting to rAge and competing well.

I also don’t think recruiting good players who also fit into the Grrr mould, look at Dryman and Hubris, very good players and fit in like a glove. I can’t believe there are no more people like that out there? It looks like the next leg of DGL will only start next year so we have about 3 months to get commitment from people and then recruit where we fall short.

I have to applaud Hubris’s honestly and I think the only way to move forward is if everyone is honest like that, don’t say what you think people want to hear, say what you really feel. I am really keen to get professional, I have like 3 or 4 years before my age really will impact my ability play at a very high standard. So I am committed to prac for the whole of next year during and inbetween the legs

[Hubris]

Yup I agree we can't just recruit anyone, but waiting for good okes to come to us is just not working. We need to actively go out there and find guys, clear out the wankers and keep what's worth it. It goes beyond BF because we need numbers to grow the clan and to make multiple games work. Anyway my feeling is that unless we are always out there farming the talent, we will stagnate.

You're right grrr is a family and I have found a home here. I don't want to go but these issues existed at the beginning of last season and very little was done about it and we ended up asking too much of our senior players. Basically all our "new" members came to grrr, not the other way around and that needs to change if we're going to do the competitive thing. I don't mind doing the dirty work to find players and say sorry we're just not into you.

But I suggested a recruitment agent because at the end of the day the founders and the clan need assurance that no baboons will find their way into the fold. I reckon that person should be appointed to be custodian of the process so someone like me doesn't get too carried away and excited to bring in 8000spm players at the expense of the clan's vibe. Worst comes to worst, we just say thanks but the culture fit isnt there no tags.

So ya, we can do this it's not impossible to recruit successfully. Its a bit of a mission, but if we do each player one after the other and get a bit stricter in terms of the recruitment process - like forcing them to get into mumble for at least 1 month and for us all to discuss players a bit more thoroughly. The more people we identify the less risk we can on free agents, so starting early and not rushing it is key.

Edit: exactly Paul, I remember the day s3xy, Lee and Drag recruited me in a BC2 pub game. I never felt more proud and excited to be part of something awesome. I was playing for torment at the time and just the vibe of the grrrs made me want to leave and join. My impression was that grrr was filled with good players who respected each other and the game, im sure that image remains today. That recruitment lead to nomnom joining and ultimately Dry too.

Come to think of it, it was probably a bad idea I'm sure we can do that again, it's just fallen off the agenda and all I'm tryin to do by threatening to merc is to put it back on. In the end I believe it is for the good of the clan, it doesn't just serve my personal ambitions. More players means more love and a stronger grrr tomorrow. Think about it, if we win or come close to it, more of the legends will want to retire to the grrr community.

[Megageth]

One of the long term goals I have had for this clan, and had for quite a while is to have 2 BF teams that can prac on a weekly basis.
I think that we are more likely to learn what works and doesn't for us from that scenario. Unfortunately, whilst we have had new members join on a regular basis, we also seem to lose members at the same rate due to RL/personal issues.

We have in the past identified and recruited members who we felt would fit in, lets look around and start discussions.
"i don't want us to pull in a bunch of young wankers just cause they good at BF3" - this is what has dragged many clans down and this clan has achieved longevity without it.
Phats/Ruskie are there any other ex-BOC members that are playing BF3?

[Hubris]

Well said Mega glad to have you on board dude. As far as I know the BOC guys lost interest because Eggy felt they couldn't get a team together without compromising the BOC feeling. But you hit the nail on the head. The best way to deal with this is to poach players, not to go to free agents.

[SlipperyDuck]

Great topic Hub.....

I'm taking my week break - Family were staying here when i got back - I'll make my big Annoucies on Sunday/Monday - no OMG what's this clown doing stuff until then....promise.

Very much a big thanks and a serious KUDOS for achieving the goal that was set @ last years Rage. Most definitely a major achievement, even if it didn't feel like it due to our lackluster performance at rage itself this year.

For the next few days, I plan to get serious with some game time - since it's something I have NOT had for soooooooooo long and an addict must get his fix.

[Paul]

Well from the guys that have posted so far there is a general feeling that recruiting is a good idea as long as fit in with the grrr ethos and aren't just hired guns that will ultimately eat the clan alive.

I actually saw two potentials on there servers, very skilled and aware of team work but then 1 of the guys started going off at another guy like a douche and the other one after I checked his stats, I think he is a hacker. He had a 3.5 KDR with 23% but 20% head shot. I don't know if that means 20% of all hits or 20% of all shots, because if that is the case then defo's a hacker. His/her nick was n1t3

So yes, lets say I thought we should have recruited one of these guys we need to create a process e.g.
1. Friend on Battlelog
2. Jam with them using battlelog
3. If you think they have potential then invite them to mumble
4. After a month or a certain period you ask them to offically apply

these are the details we need to work out to make this a success and not blow up in our face

[Stu]

Recruitment is a good idea! We can already roast most applicants but if we looking at actively targeting players we should have a selection board or member that assists in this process. I think a longer term trial would be the best suited! I know its not the best formula but it gives both the applicant and grrr the opportunity to feel each other out!

Hubris, I complimented you on your management and approach one of the evenings and I still stand by that statement "your management and enthusiasm is inspiring"

You have the what it takes and with the help of the founding fathers and other members such as Tyger the primary team that played showed massive improvements!

I think with the correct discussion and input we'll find the right balance!

[Hubris]

Cool thanks guys it's a tough topic and I'm really pleased with the way it was recieved!