TheBigC

Here at Tactical Gamer we are constantly trying to improve everyone’s in game and online experience to be the best possible around. With that comes the necessity to keep everyone here informed with some of the happenings of late. We also need to be looking forward to the future so we grow with some direction and have purpose to the changes we are always making.

Recently we have tackled bringing several new titles to Tactical Gamer in an effort to expand the possible choices available to game with. Two of the larger titles that we are supporting are Americas Army 3 and ArmA2. Both titles are an evolution of previous versions but offer a totally new gaming experience that will carry them for several years. Americas Army is being launched under the guidance of Vulcan as he figures out the best way of moving forward. We are having some technical hiccups with the launch, but unfortunately that is simply based on the fact that we do not physically control the AA3 server, it is not located with one of our other physical servers. Once the server host gets it act together as well as the title developers, it will be a title to be reckon with. As for ArmA 2, it is already established title that the developers have given us a solid platform to really expand on. ArmA was already a finding itself as a cornerstone of a simulation/action game here at TG. Jeepo has really done an over the top job of transitioning the servers to accommodate the newer version and the ever growing following.

On the horizon we constantly look to look for new titles that may fit into the TG “mold” and seamlessly follow the TG Primer. We receive requests and ideas from members here all the time for potential titles that may be a success. Before we arbitrarily launch any game, we are now taking a hard look at its potential pay offs. First off we have to decide if the game does offer the team style that we are all accustomed to here. If the game is not conducive to realism and tactics, it may not be a best fit for the community. The second thing we look at is if we have either the server space to run it properly or the monetary resources to purchase a dedicated server. Servers cost money and are exclusively funded by the supporting members here; all of the funds do go back into the community before anyone asks! There is no profit for Apophis. The next thing we look at is do we have a potential leader that can launch the game that is on par with the expectations we all have. We do not want a half hearted effort put forth; we demand any of our GOs make a commitment to excellence and deliver the gamers what they deserve. Unfortunately some titles cannot fulfill the above three things, so we have to respectfully pass on them. This does not mean we are “anti” any game; rather it may not fall in line at the moment. We have and will continue to follow titles no matter if we host them or not, games evolve and the situations do change. Now anyone here can keep the management abreast of any title that they think might be beneficial to the community, please send one of us a PM and we will look at it. None of us are omniscient and we cannot see everything on the horizon.

The forums have been going through several changes over the last couple months, as most of you have seen. We are trying to accommodate an ever growing member role while at the same time keeping it organized and the costs down. There have been attempts to include advertisements and things of that nature. First it generates money that is necessary for the continued use for the forums, its database, and the software. Unfortunately nothing is free and if this diverts the costs from the members, so it needs to be explored thoroughly. The second thing is we are always trying to increase the hit counts and exposure to TG across the net. Some of the thing like thread tags and improved internal search results will help include us in some of the more popular search engines like Google. This is good for us; it gets our names out to more and more every day. Now both of the things are not perfect, some have worked while some have not, but we are trying. Just have a little patience when some the advertising pops up when not expected, for Supporting Members it should not happen, but there are glitches.

As we grow so do some of the areas here at TG which are fantastic. Of late we have had several In House Squads (IHSs) that are showing up in certain titles. The concepts of IHSs are not some sub clan, rather a more focused grouping of gamers that enjoys playing and competing together. These groups also offer a private area for discussions and tactical debates with members as a focal point for their direction. Some IHSs span across several titles, where others are specific to one game. For those of you who do not know, there is not some crazy criteria set forth to become a member. Most IHSs all have the same basic criteria; being a supporting member prior to having a desire to join them. The only exception to this is the IRRs. Now some of the squads do have some additional specific criteria that they are looking for in either competiveness, geographic location, being active, and an overall attitude towards gaming. Make sure you all check them out and possibly one of them might fit your desires. Now one thing we do want to mention is that these groups are not some click or elitist group. We will not tolerate an IHS trying to dominate the direction of a title, rather they need to be working with the GOs to bring more people into the game. The more squads we have, the more competition there is, the better the games gets.

Now as more and more people join the ranks of Tactical Gamer, certain concepts and standards do have to be reiterated incase some have missed the information. We have several simple documents that guide how we choose to run the community; the most predominant is the TG Primer. It is pretty clear cut as to what we expect out of the community at large. It does not attempt to cover specific incidents or game specific rules, rather the core values. I strongly encourage you all to reread that post and take a look at how we all conduct ourselves here.

Now each and every one of us is responsible for our actions on these forums as well as in game. We need to take responsibility for the way we act and present ourselves to fellow gamers here as well as outside our community. We are a collective of mature players, who should act accordingly and respect our fellow gamers at all times. When you represent yourself here or using the TG tag externally, please abide by our standards, you all set the example.

We also have to remember that even though most here are grow adults, some of our junior members are not. We have a simply rule that states “primetime TV standards”. That means if it is on television then either the topic or content are suitable for all our members here. This is a rule of thumb that is pretty easy to adhere to. The rule is not intended to treat anyone like a child; rather it keeps TG from being blocked on many companies’ servers as a place for unsuitable content tags. Now we all know a funny YouTube video may be relevant to a conversation or topic being discussed, but if it is borderline for either people around us or the audience keep it in the Sandbox use the NSFW disclaimer. The last thing any of us need is to get into trouble while surfing TG while at work!

Following along the line of posting in the Sandbox, you all need to understand that there are things that do cross the line of “forum decorum”. The sandbox is the exclusive location for some of the more passionate debates or conversations on things like religion, politics, or other opinionated topics. There is a lot of flexibility given to members to express your side or opinion, but you all need to respect the other side. There is nothing saying you have to agree with an opposite side, rather simply take a second and respect the person for having a differing position and having the courage to post it up. Having flaming wars over topics is not a very mature method of proving any point. Be an adult and don’t hide behind the internet and sharp shoot someone else’s stance. Trust me, you can’t hide from your IP and if need be, the TG Administration will take action in varying levels to stop this type of behavior. Now let me give some of you a hint, sarcasm does not convey well through typed media. No matter what smiley you use, sarcasm can be misinterpreted and come across very wrong. I know most of you here are very intelligent and witty, but let us know when you are sarcastic so we don’t see you as something else. Now we also notice some of you like to have “quoting wars”. If you want to really alienate a fellow poster or member here, continue to do it. When you make an effort to dissect every single word someone has posted, it is an immature act and it reflects accordingly on you. People can read what they have posted without someone quoting everything then dissecting it and starting an argument about it. There are also incidents where certain members like to try and bully another while posting in a debate. No one here is better than any other. We all have equal voices in conversations here so let everyone be heard and post what they want. If we catch someone constantly trying to bully others or a topic, they will be talked to and things will go from there.

Now one thing with the Sandbox is only place for the heated topics and conversations that are not game related. Do not start a thread in a respective game forum that turns into a sandbox topic. The game forums are for game specific topics and purely related to the title. Plus the GOs will not tolerate any nonsense in their forum that distracts from succeeding with their titles.

As mentioned before, thread tags is neat little feature that came online a little bit ago here at TG. It is an opportunity to give a thread a label so it becomes easier to search a specific topic that may have relevance. This is not a thing for giving stupid and arcane tags that are childish. If we catch you inappropriately tagging a thread, you will get a friendly PM asking you to explain yourself and your immature behavior, so you have been warned..

One of the tools we are afforded here are TG is the ability to give feedback to fellow members on posts they make. This is an opportunity to give +rep for an excellent post or topic they have made. There have been incidents of where people become vindictive and give negative rep to fellow posters; this is not how to settle a dispute. If someone posts something warranting it so be it, but do not give it (-rep) simply because you do not agree with them. The reputation system is in place to reward posters for their efforts in bringing quality discussions to our community. If a post or topic is inappropriate, simply report it so the moderators can swiftly deal with it before it gets out of control. Over time you can see who the quality posters are by their reputation system which reflects their positive postings.

Another tool that the GOs and certain moderators have is the infraction system. It is a method for us to give warning that is historically documented about a violation in the forum. The basic concept of the infraction system is it gives certain points for certain violations. After receiving a set amount of points, you automatically put yourself into a moderated posting status. After that level, the next level is of course is a forum ban. This system basically gives people the points they deserve for various infractions. Now a good piece of advice is if a moderator gives you a warning or a point for a forum violation, do not flame them back in some nasty PM, it does not bode well for your cause. The way the system works is there will be an explanation of why you got the infraction so there is usually no need to say anymore. When you retaliate against a moderator usually it gets ugly and more points will be levied. If you feel that it is unjust or needs more explanation, calmly ask the moderator for more information. If for some reason there is a still confusion or questions after talking to a moderator, please contact the TG administration team and your concerns will be addressed quickly.

Now some of you have started to see the moderators really begin to crack down on signature limitations that some people fail to comply with. It is clearly stated that all images in your signature will be no greater then 460x100 pixels. It also states that you will not have excessive text in there either, if you would like a determination of “excess text”, please ask a moderator. I don’t know how many times we have had to explain why, but the simple reason is it ruins some people’s surfing experiences. For some of our fellow gamers, they are not afforded the opportunity of fiber optic internet. We have to respect that. For others, like myself, I surf TG while on my BlackBerry. There are lots of mobile users that like to check PMs and posts while on the move. With all the mess some of you add to your signature sometimes, it takes forever for anything to load!! This is just an effort to make surfing for everyone smoother is all, so please be a little understanding.

Continuing along the forums topic, I want to restate that that the forums are separate from the active games we run. The forums are a place to discuss the games and various other topics, while in game it is time to play. Post in the forums and play online, do not start debates while in game. If there are questions or concerns about something while on line, simply go ask in the forum. With certain titles we have the ability to have 100+ in game at a given time, which is not really the place to ask things sometimes. If it is a technical or general question post it in the respective forum and the TG community is excellent about helping their fellow gamer on solving a problem. Now if it is a concern about an admin or action they have taken or even another gamer, I highly recommend that it is posted in the game title’s “contact an admin” forum. Normally the admins can easily answer a question very quickly and thoroughly in that forum, that is a private forum just for the poster and admins to see. If the explanation they provide is not complete or in question, by all means contact the game’s GO to help rectify anything.

Over the years here we have had some people that have really stepped forward to make our experience always better. There has been so many of you here that have stepped forward to volunteer your time and passion for gaming. This entire community runs off of volunteers. We all have real lives with other obligations; we do this as a leisure pursuit. We are always looking for more people to step forward and help make us even better. There are always opportunities for people with all kinds of skills to help out. Beside the free time the admins contribute, we always need help with things like content and software development, video editing, MOD development, game classes and countless other areas. The more all of us contribute, the more the rest of the community can enjoy the uniqueness of what we have going on here. Take the opportunity to see where you might be able to help out and we will always welcome it!!

Now nothing we do here is always perfect. We strive to always improve on what we have and how we do it. Along the way we do make mistakes and do not always get it right. Have some patience with how we are trying to grow and don’t be hyper critical of everything. If you have a constructive idea on how to improve on things, by all means get a hold of someone and let us know. Otherwise, hang on for a wild ride and enjoy TG for all the good things we have so far.

Now the most important thing to remember as you go back in to the forums and games is that this place is about having some fun. We all come here to gather to be informed and play games. We cannot lose focus of that. TG is about like minded individuals that share a specific passion for gaming, so we all have something in common!

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The Meek shall inherit the earth..... after we're through with it!

The Wounded Warrior Project; help support my friends

MEFBRAVO

Well Said, and thank you to everyone who keeps this place running.

Jeepo_SAS

Cracking post, +rep!

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|TG-1st|Jeepo
TG-1st 2IC | ArmA GO | TG Pathfinder

The Vanguard

"I like our siggy's too. Partially because they are superbly done, but also because they were done by Xmaster whom I have a deep sexual desire for" - Python1

Ghost02

Well said, and I may become an SM now.

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Vulcan

In addition, signatures can be distracting while trying to read threads.

Good write up big C!

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DrBeat

Second term! Second term!

Very well said BigC.

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LowSpeedHighDrag

Great post!

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"In battle, there are not more than two methods of attack-the direct and the indirect; yet these two in combination give rise to an endless series of maneuvers."
"...just as water retains no constant shape, so in warfare there are no constant conditions."
Sun Tzu

Xmaster

Awesome post.

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HAZMAT

Nicely Done Sir!

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Superfast

Great writeup this BigC! I have a couple suggestions/thoughts i'd like to share.

I don't think we should only focus on realism and tactics games around here. There are many fun teamwork games and more are always coming out. TG'ers will play them. So if they can't play it here in some form, they will play it elsewhere. But they would offcourse like to play it with their TG buddies in a similar TG mature enviroment. So i think we should try to cater a server in some form, if there is interest. Even for just one months time if it brings some fun for people.

It doesn't have to be this way. We don't always need the full dedicated server bit, a GO and admin team, not all games warrant that much.

Now we have some heavy and varied gamer-types here at TG. They eat games for breakfast and constantly try out new games. Now some titles are small and will only need attention for some months before they dwindle off. Others will stick longer.

So another possible format for these types of new games here at TG, which may or may not last, is this: We could allow anyone to rent their own server for a game if TG can't offer own (dedicated or simple slot-rental) or interest seems a bit low. They would be allowed to call the server a TG trial, temp or whatever type of server, just to make it clear it's not an official one. We could come up with a good name for it.

Anyway this would give TG'ers a home in that game to meet up on and play. In a TG similar environment. And new TG'ers would find their way to this fun community.

Admin-work would offcourse be best effort and dependent on who rents the server, who plays on it, who wants to help out and how well it's populated offcourse. Now if the game grows one will offcourse need to expand and move the game into it's own forum or dedicated TG server for example. And then you can consider adding a GO and admin-team. If not, the server and interest will die, but people had fun while it lasted.

Now depending on how loose a format TG would accept, you could just have a forum here where people could request to host their server in TG's name for that game. An admin/Asch/Apo would then approve it depending on the applicant's TG background or interest even. Or you could also go with a sort of "New games" GO or admin team to handle these decisions.

What do you think? It's a bit radical but it would definetly make TG a happier and diverse gaming community and it would make us even more known and give further member growth as well.

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asch

The word realism was a slip on our part. Tactical Gamer does support games that may not be realistic but we still strive for simulating that game's environment. If the game is fantasy-based then we try to act out what we think elves, wizards, etc. would be like. If it is futuristic based then we do our best to portray that environment.

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Little asch



Don't be a Help Vampire!

Superfast

Roger that asch, thanks for clearing it up.

Do you have any thoughts about my game servers suggestion? I want to bring that up because i've seen this frequently. A new game comes out and people discuss it frantically in a forum thread. Shortly after there's "Do we have a TG server for this?". Usually nobody replies and then several of the ihs squads start renting their own server, including me. Wouldn't it be smart if we could find an official way to just call one of them a temporary TG server? And use all our efforts towards that one?

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asch

We've gone down the route previously on having non-TG servers run with the TG name and they didn't work out so well for various reasons. Without the oversight of the GO / admin team the attention to the code of conduct, etc. isn't always established.

We also don't always get a new game on a new box. A lot of it does depend on the game itself. Some games require their own box, others are ranked and require a hosted solution.

It's also beneficial for us to establish an admin team early so they can get a jump on things. What are the admin control options? What possibilities are there for reserved slots, etc.

I think what is more important for us to do better is establish set goals and expectations for a new game and then follow that up with periodic reviews to see if it is gaining traction within the community. We all to often didn't help the admin team with direction nor did we do pulse checks to know if a game has had its last breath.

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Little asch



Don't be a Help Vampire!

TheBigC

As much as we appreciate the community stepping forward, it help us as a whole when we can manage our resources internally. There could be several pitfalls down the road if we allowed people to use the TG tag and create a outside server.

If there is a title that needs attention, by all means contact myself or Asch and we can help you. We have server space and people that can manage certain titles. We have begun to carefully look at each upcoming title to see if we can support it as well as it being able to fit into what we are dong here at TG.

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The Meek shall inherit the earth..... after we're through with it!

The Wounded Warrior Project; help support my friends

Superfast

Great hearing your views on this.

I totally understand and agree, i too want the servers to have the best rules, admin-coverage and overall support offcourse. And on bigger titles this is necessary. It's just that finding a dedicated GO, admin-team and making rules at the launch of a title can be difficult and take time. And because you never know how well the game will stick, using that much valuable resources and time for some titles just isn't worth it. Not all titles are sure hits you can spot when they come out. So that's why i think a more "make it up as we go" approach can be considered on some titles, instead of not supporting them at all.

And if TG management doesn't find a game valuable or fit for support, there should be some way for those TG players that want to play it together, to do so somehow. That way we can unify the players here on one rented server.

But i'll contact you guys next time if i see this happening and we can see what kind of solution we can come up with. And i also urge others to do the same so we can unify our games together on one server for the most fun!

Thanks.

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