R.I.D BASE OF OPERATIONS

Hello members of RID,

Due to the large ammount of Divisions, it has been proven difficult to maintain order and leadership in each of the Guild Divisions. Me, Cell, Aleksandrov, Kurke, and Chalic, have stated their opinion that their are simply too many divisions to keep track of. At first I disagreed, however RID has been adding some divisions that have almost no people, or relate of no importance to RID.

In light of recent situations, I looked over the Entertainment and Crafting Divisions. Both of them have almost no people. 5 more or less in both, but very little are the members active. I have decided to form these two divisions to for a Recreational Services Division, RSD for short.

Also, we want to keep divisions short. There will be the following Division Catagories.

-Royal Guard Division (RGD)
-Heavy Weapons Division (HWD)
-Standard Weapons Division (SWD)
-Intellegence Division (ID)
-Combat Support Division (CSD)
-Recreation Services Division (RSD)

See? Six main divisions. Plain and simple. Each one a neccesity. Now stick with me for a minute before you freak out at the numerous division losses.
Those are the main catagories. Easy for organization and leadership purposes. And now, some of my members decided what we like to call companies. These could also be considered sub-divisions. Below is a rough idea on how it would work.

-Royal Guard Division

-Heavy Weapons Division- Commander
1.) Special Operations- Heavy Ranged Support
2.) Blacksword- Heavy Close-ranged Support

-Standard Weapons Division- General
1.) Infantry- Standard Ranged Support
2.) Berserker- Standard Close Ranged Wookie Support

-Intellegence Division- Captain
1.) ISB- Standard Spy/Combat Support.

-Combat Support Division- Cheif
1.) Creature Support- Standard Creature Handling/Simple Combat Support.
2.) Medical- Standard Medical/Simple Combat Support

-Recreation Services Division- Head
1.) Crafting- Standard Crafting Abilities
2.) Entertainment- Standard Entertainment Abilities

You get the idea? I am still trying to sort out how we will get all the current division leaders to be somwhere in there. And one member argued this new system would be more complex? Do you agree? I would like to hear more suggestions on how to create a simple and efficient way to sort out RID members and put them where they belong.

Personally, I feel that this re-org is a step in the right direction. Alek and I are in the Army IRL, and this is exactly how they do it. If RID intends to grow any further (and I know that we all want it to) we need to move from the current single-tier command structure to a multi-tier system. This allows for degrees of leadership. Also, I personally feel that only active members should be division heads. This also illustrates one of the advantages of a multi-tier system: if a division head becomes inactive, he can be placed in a company commander slot (under division head). That way divisions are always under active command, and have executive officers present at any RID meetings. Ideas? Comments?

Just for the record, that last post was made by me. Didn't realize that I wasn't logged in.

Alright, makes sense. So there should always be one division head? And should the division head be head of the entire division or should there be heads for the sub-divisions as well. But heres a chart on what I think you mean...

Infantry Division
-------------------
General of Infantry: Bob
Day 1- Bob leads the two sub-divisions
Day 2- Bob gets a fatal disease and is sick for a year. First Officer Sid takes over.
Day 3- Sid is going on vacation. Second Officer Rob takes over for the duration.
Day 4- Sid is back from his very short vacation, and he takes over Infantry.
Day 5- Sid is moved to General and Rob to First Officer.

You get the idea right? The First and Second Officers, also known as Second or Third in Command, dont do anything if the actual General is still around. And when poor Bob left, the First Officer assumed control of the two sub-divisions. Is this what you mean more or less? I dont know much about military stuff, so its pretty good to have you and Aleksandrov.

Also, what if the First Officer who takes over just gets lazy and doesn't do anything? Kick him out? Transfer him to Second Officer? Looking forward to more suggestions.

In answer to your question, if the leader of that division is lazy or does not due anything. He shall be replaced by someone who can do the job, plain and simple. Also if you are in charge of the division you need to mantain that prof. and keep the Master Title in it. You can not lead combat troops into battle as a cook, it just does not happen. In futher of this point you need to be an active player that way if an issue comes up in can get resolved, I am not saying you need to play everyday for 6-8 hours. Some of us have RL jobs and cannot make that. Yet I think you should log in and check up on things.

This is just some of my thoughts since I am still at work typing this. I will support the choices that are made, as long as they are sound ones. Oh, yeah the whole alien thing in the certain divisions I feel that if that player has proven themselves to the guild that they should be acepted. Case in Point Grand Admiral Thrawn. Well I think he is a Captain in this time-frame.

Aleksandrov Danislavko
Faithful Servant of the Empire

Bah, sorry about that Chalic never logged out of the forums.






Aleksandrov Danislavko
Faithful Servant of the Empire

Okay, I can get this new system to work smoothly. However how will we transfer the current division heads to be "compatible" with the new system? For example Kurke is head of the Crafting Division and Zrinity is head of Entertainment. Those two sub-divisions are under the Recreational Services Division.

The same goes with Medical and Creature Support forming together into the Combat Support Division. Kuiloo is Head of Medical and Totzo head of Creature Support.

And on the second note, species. Now we have good aliens in the guild. Many of them heads of divisions, including you because of when we saw you defending our base that one time. I am thinking of forming a Species Ranking System. Where all species can get into divisions if they prove themselves in certain ways. Excluding the Royal Guard. And yep, good ol' Captain Thrawn proved himself in the Empire, other aliens should be able to too. I mean if you think about it an Imperial Wookie could be a highest ranking Surface Marshall, but with more difficulty. We can have a Species Ranking System like the below...
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Humans- Must be at least a Private in the Military.
Zabraks- Must be at least a the Second Rank in the Military.
Trandoshans- Third Rank.
Ad aaall the way down the species chart with one rank proceeding...
So should we do it by rank? Although there are probels to it already. We cant see peoples ranks and what not.

So what should we do? We should have a sort of guideline to describe the point where a Bothan, Wookie, or Mon Cal and what-not crossed the line between lazy-average-loyal-and extremely loyal. Maybe the time they served in the guild? For example a Human should be able to join whatever division as long as he has the proffesions, and a Zabrack a week? And Wookie a month? I have no idea, but if we get RID all organized Division wise it will flow much better than it is now.

I am glad to hear that there is a general consensus in the guild that it should be restructured to aid in its growth. To futher the discussion, I wish to add a few tidbits:

1. Any member inactive in the guild for more than three months without giving any notice, should be removed from the guild. Currently, the guild roster states that there are more than 70 members in the guild (correct me if I am wrong), yet I have never seen more than 20 or so active ones (and that is stretching it). To say that we have 70+ members in our guild is impressive, but is embarassing when we get less than a dozen to show up for a selected event. I understand that people play at different times, but I still get the impression that there are still a lot of inactive members.

2. As you know, the plan is to combine current divisions into one of the new divisions, i.e. Crafting and Entertainment Divisions become Recreational Services Division. Currently, there are heads for each division who could end up losing their leadership position after the restructure. To solve this, I propose that whichever current division leader spends more time on SWG, they get the new leadership position. Example: I am the head of the Crafting Division and Zrinity is the head of Entertainment. Of the two of us, whoever spends more time online (not counting vacations) gets to be the head of the new Recreational Services Division. I think this is a fair method and provides a pretty easy solution. Should two people spend the same amount of time on SWG, we'll... uhhh.... flip a credit.... hehehe

3. Concerning species. I have noticed that the guild is a pretty even mix of humans and other species. So, I believe it is only fair that we are all created equal inside the guild. A ranking system based on a player's species is unfair to the player. The game itself already has species limitations implemented because we are an imperial guild. To add more to the limitations seems counter-productive.

Of course, to fit into roleplaying lines, perhaps we should have two subdivisions in the infantry divisions. One subdivision for humans and zabracks and another subdivision for alien species. Perhaps this should be a decision left up to subdivision commanders.

4. This is how I feel the new command structure should be broken down:

1 Guild Leader
6 Division Leaders
Unlimited Subdivision Leaders

As has been discussed, current restructure plans call for subdivisions underneath their proper division. I believe that each subdivision should contain one leader with no more than five people under his command. this gives us a total of six (6) people per sub division, no more and no less. The only circumstances when this rule should be broken is when there is not enough people to form a complete subdivision. Example: Subdivision 1 has 6 people, but there are 3 people without a subdivision to fall into. Therefore, those 3 people will be under the command of Subdivision 1 until there are enough people to form another Subdivision. By managing subdivisions like this, we create a way for divisions leaders to better manage their troops/people. It also creates an effective command structure.

5. I also think we need a way to show rank visibly within the guild. This can be accomplished using uniforms. All uniforms would be the same type, but we can use different colors to distinguish different divisions. I think this is a rather fun idea that can really add to the roeplaying.

Thoughts??? Suggestions??? Let me know what you think.

Your friendly architect,
Kurke Aumea

I'm not so sure about "unlimited" subdivision leaders. That sounds like it could lead to "too many cooks" and what-not. And as for guild-rank I feel that your rank should be equally respected amongst your peers. Under our current structure, we have a system where this division head is more important that that division head. If you're a division head, you should command the same respect and matter just as much as another division head. The same should go for Captians (that's how I view sub-division commanders). I'm divided on the issue of increased difficulty for alien species. It fits with storyline and the famed Imperial xenophobia. However, Kurke does raise an interesting point that it already is difficult to be an alien in the Empire let alone having restrictions within a guild. I will support the guild no matter what stance they take, I just hope that people realize that this isn't really black and white. My last issue is a very limited but personal one. When considering uniforms, please be aware that some species (cough cough, wookiees) have limited wardrobes to choose from.

Great ideas Kurke. I will respond to each comments/questions.

1.) I love to proudly say that we have 73 members in RID, yet that proudness is always followed by, like you said, embarresment when everyone finds we only have 5-25 members online at a time. 25 members online was the most I saw. I completly agree with Kurke on this one. Those who are obviously in-active will b kicked immediatley. Members who come online at times but never affiliate themselves with the guild at all will also be kicked.

2.) I think this is the only way we can do things. I am almost certain Zrinity wouldn't mind making you head of RSD. I am sure Zrin would be happy being in the sub-division. As for Totzo and Kuiloo, well they both play the same ammount of time. I would have to consult with them.

3.) Hmm, give species same rights... but segregate them you say? Great idea. We may have some time to sort out some non-human divisions.
Like for example in the Standard Weaponry Division....
SWD: Infantry: Humans and Zabrcaks
Second Infantry (Need a name): All species excluding Wookies.
Berzerker: Wookies.

4.) I am unclear on this one. Okay, so one leader for each main division. Got it (Except Royal Guard is special and wont have a leader)
I think this is how you want it to work...


Standard Weaponry Division- Lead by General
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Standard Infantry: Bill, Bob, Billy, Bo, Betty, and Betsy- 6 people
NH Infantry- Same here
Berzerker- 5 Here <---- Now look here. Say we want 2 people to go in this division. The thing I would do is take the most qualified one. But say the other guy cant join any division? Now look more below...

Leader- Me: 1 (Question: Should we have First
Royal Guards: 6 Officers and Second Officers? I think we
should still have them.)
Commander:1
Standard SpecOps: 6
Blacksword: 6
NH Heavy Combat: 6

General: 1
Standard Infantry: 6 (Note: NH= Non-Humans excluding Zab's)
NH Standard Combat: 6
Berzerker: 6

Captain: 1
ISB Spy: 6
NH Standard Intel: 6
(From this point on species segregation ends)

Chief: 1
Creature Support: 6
Medical: 6

Head: 1
Crafting: 6
Entertainment: 6

Now, if we stick to the 6 per sub-division code (Which I agree with) we would have a maximum of 78 members tops, including me and division heads, and 88 if we have First and Second Officers. I feel we should keep First and Second Officers in case the commander cant always take command.

I think it should work like that. It would take some work but once done it would work very smoothly.

I think having First and Second Officers is a good idea, this way if a division head takes a vacation there will be someone to take over temporarily.

OK, here is what I am trying to explain with the divisions and division leaders. We will call the guild leader the General, division heads are Commanders, and sub-division heads are Captains. At the top level, we will have the General (followed by a first and second officer). At the next level we will have 6 Commanders (for each division). This is where it can kind of get confusing.

In each division, we can theoretically have an unlimited number of sub-divisions (let's call each sub-division a patrol). Each patrol has a captain who reports to their respective commander. Each partol can only contain 6 people (1 captain and 5 soldiers).

Now, when we recruit a new guild member we will give them the choice of joining a division. Lets say Tooper Bob wants to be in the General Infantry Division. General Infantry Division already has 2 patrols (Red Patrol and Blue Patrol) that are full and 4 more soldiers waiting to be assigned a patrol in GID. So, what we do is we take those other 4 soldiers and Trooper Bob and put them in a new patrol called Green Patrol. Whoever has the most experience in Green Patrol gets to be the Captain. Basically this allows the guild to constantly expand until we hit the member limit. Everytime we recruit enough new members into a division, a new patrol is created.

I know some of you are thinking that there would be too many captains by doing this. What you must remember is that the guild can only grow so fast and the patrols will be spread across the various divisions. Of course, if too many patrols start to accumulate, we can increase the number of people in the patrols to a higher number. Thus, keeping the number of patrols down. But be warned, if you raise the number of people in a partol to a higher number, you risk losing the order that a smaller patrol has. Personally, I believe the number of people in a patrol should be no higher than 12. Having 11 people under a captain's command seems just right. Anything more and order begins to cease to exist. Anything less than 6 seems pointless.

Also, by creating a command structure as I have illustratted, an effective chain of command is created. Captains report to Commanders and Commanders report to the General (or another special liason commanded by the General). The General should only be forced to deal with issues that affect the guild as a whole. Commanders should only deal division oriented issues and Captains deal with all patrol issues. This way we don't have the General dealing with an argument between two soldiers in a patrol unless the General absolutely has to.



Alright everyone, let me know what you think!!!

Your frienly architect,
Kurke Aumea

Hey, I finnaly get it! We can do things exactly like the below.
This will be our finalized chart.

General- Me

Royal Guards- This is a special division with only 6 allowed in it. They report to me. (I act as a Captain for this Division too.)

Heavy Weaponry Division- Commander
Human/Zab Standard SpecOps Patrol 1- Captain
Human/Zab Standard BSD Patrol 1- Capta
Alien Standard SpecOps Patrol 1- Captain
Alien Standard BSD Patrol 1- Captain

The same goes for all the other divisions. For example, with Combat Support Division, there is a Medical and Creature Patrol. There will be 2 each, a human/zabrak one and an alien one. So there will be a H/Z Medical and a NH Medical. This alslo allows for more people to join that certain division or patrol.

Thank you very much for everyones input. This change will be made a soon as possible.

I agree 100% on the revamp of divisions. As of right now, I think everyone is very confused on who is what rank, and which is more comandable. I believe this new revamp will not only make us a better guild by knowing all the divisions, but it'll also make us stronger because everyone will be on the same page again.

As for the Crafting and Entertainment divisions merging, Lexx is right. I do not mind at all if Kurke heads the whole division. I will take one for the team (hehe), whatever will make this guild work better in a whole will make me happy to take a step back, I do not mind.

-Zrin

Yea either him or mnyak should be leaderbecause they almost master arch and wep unless zrin ur supposed to be the leader, but yea zrin why aint you singed in?

Well Mnyak is General of Infantry.
I wouldnt mind making you Second in the Recreational Services Zrin though

Really, peoples ranks wont be affected too much. I am going to try and make it as fair as possible