Hello Friends, prepare for the long read!
As some of you may be aware, there have been talks recently of the possibility of changing the structure of BlackIntel. Many of you can see for yourself that our current formula isn't really working - we have hardly grown at all for a long time, and people are actually starting to leave. We had our first BI meet in the middle of last year which was a great success and good fun for all, so we know we still have people interested and people who care. It's these people who keep BlackIntel going, and it's for you guys that the staff team have worked tirelessly (about 5 minutes, guys?) to come up with a new way of working, in an effort to revitalise BI, and make things as fun and community-building as possible.
New OrganisationOne of the more significant changes, which will become relevant later, is the Admin Team, as seen in
THIS thread are stepping down, and taking less active role in running the server, working primarily in a "support" role. I will be taking some of their responsibilities, however this will be shared among a few other people. This will be explained in more detail later, as this will impose a significant change. Clan Wise, I am also stepping down as "Leader". With our new proposed structure, there will not be a set "Leader" as before.
From here on out, we plan to have a "Game Leader" for each game we play. This person will be in charge of general server administration and maintenance, and also the main organiser of events for that game. I will continue, for now, as Game Leader of First Strike. This is hopefully more of a "retirement" role, keeping our support going for the game until it dies. It makes more sense for me to stay in this position than to appoint a new Game Leader to a dead game. About three months after a new person takes a Game Leader role, the advisors/other leaders will have a meeting to discuss whether or not they are still fit for the job. If the Game Leader hasn't done much, we'll either drop support of the game, or find someone else willing to step up. This also applies for our current new Game Leaders.
Slyfox will be taking the new Game Leader position of Battlefield 3. Currently we feel that Slyfox is the person best able to handle this new situation right from the start. As you'll see later in this post, other members can apply for new games and positions as well. Personally, I'm very confident in his abilities and he'll probably do a better job than I.
We intended to drop support for C&C Renegade since it has been inactive for a long time, however lavakill wants to try to bring back some life to the section. He will lead the section and, as mentioned above, in three months the staff and advisors will decide whether to continue it or shut it down. Even if we drop clan support, we will continue to keep the servers running.
The former Admins and Game Leaders will form a type of "Advisory Board". It's goal is to, as the name suggests, offer advice on how to run a section, and helping to fix any problems that may arise. The Game Leaders are more than free to ignore their advice, we will only intervene if we feel they are maybe damaging BlackIntel with their actions. For the most part, Game Leaders can lead their games in any way they see fit, however we do want a certain level of quality in leading and we want to maintain a friendly atmosphere and may intervene if we detect problems.
Ranking ChangesThe Clan "ranking" system is also being changed around a bit. Current "Recruits", you go by that title no longer, as it
is shitdoes not adequately describe your role in BlackIntel. You're now classed as "Members". Admittedly, nothing really changes for you beyond the title, but it
is much nicer.
The current "Full Member" title is being replaced by "Senior Member". These members will have limited game administration abilities across
all of the BlackIntel supported games. Senior members
may also get special privileges such as reserved slots - this is undecided as of yet. The powers granted are more aimed towards keeping games fun and balanced. The suggested commands are things such as team change and kick, however it is up to the Game Leader to decide what level of access senior members have. Leaders may, for example, decide that all senior members should have almost full admin access, and maybe they'll even grant regular members kick access. Some leaders may decide they only want a few people to have any access at all, and not allow senior members to be able to use any commands, which leads me onto my next point:
Game Leaders can also appoint moderators for their game. Moderators are
Game Specific, and will have whatever server powers the Game Leader deems necessary for them to have. I suppose these are a form of "Game Lieutenants" or something. It can be hard to run a server on your own, but Game Leaders may not feel comfortable with just "anyone" being able to fiddle with server settings. Moderators will fill this gap.
We hope that the changes in the structure and ranking will be a lot clearer to both current and new members. It may not look like that right now, but we're pretty sure that, when put into practise, this will benefit the community. I don't think anyone (including me
) is really sure as to what differentiates a "Recruit" from a "Full Member". Also, because the new system actually defines Senior members having server access, compared to before where I just picked and chose who had what privileges based on what was needed at the time, we will most likely be changing peoples ranks from what they have now. Please don't take offence at this, we'll be trying to make the fairest decision. If you do have a problem with a rank change, please let me know and we can discuss it.
GrowthWith the new rank system, we want to get more involvement FROM our members. As a community, we want to grow, which firstly involves our members being more interested in taking part. We want the "Senior" rank to indicate that the people holding it have put in some work and/or love of BlackIntel in one fashion or another. We show our appreciation for this effort by giving a member more trust, and a little more responsibility.
Helping to plan events; taking an active part in any planned activities; being a server regular and helping populate; contributing to forums discussions and coming up with good ideas for BI's future; or even just showing you are capable and trustworthy enough to not abuse the commands. These just some of many options for advancement.
We also want to expand in to new games once our new structure is set up. If anyone has a good idea for a game to move to, make a suggestion. If you come up with a nice and detailed plan, then we're more than willing to let you run that game. We are willing to back up any good ideas with any required access to the BI Serverbox. We (or "I", given how we're working at the moment
) may also be willing to make a small financial backing for new games if we see it being very advantageous to BI. Perhaps by buying copies of the game for people who would otherwise struggle. This type of support will only be done in cases that we view as extremely promising for BlackIntels future.
We realise that in the current situation the moderator and admin positions have not changed for quite a while, thus not motivating people to invest time in BlackIntel. We hope that by this new initiative people will feel more inclined to help BlackIntel grow. Particularly because we want to have a nice and relaxed community, where everyone can feel at home.
ConclusionIn Brief: The Admins are stepping down from an active role, and forming an "Advisory" board. Server wise, I'll be stepping up a little, and I'll be moving to the side/down as far as the "clan" is concerned. Slyfox will be taking Leadership of BF3, and I'll continue with FS for now, until it dies. We're revamping the ranking system, most notably granting increased privileges to Senior Members. We want people to take more part in the community, and help us expand more in our current games, and into new games. We will be granting out more Game Admin rights to those who show they are willing to run a game.
All in all, we're signifying this as a new beginning for BlackIntel. Personally, I'm really optimistic to see how this turns out. I hope that by taking a more passive role in the clan, and allowing others to take charge, it will lead to very interesting ideas, and a more welcoming atmosphere than having an Angry Scot screaming obscenities about cartoon ponies. We will have more announcements on updates to other systems in future, but this is enough information for one day.
I want to wish good luck to and Slyfox and lavakill in leading their section, and everyone who changed roles! We look forward to any new initiatives!
