Building Our Future

[Tealstone]

The one issue with impeachment and removal of a CEO position is that, depending on the mechanics, the CEO may hold the sole "ownership" of the corporation and there may not initially be a mechanism to transfer the ownership of group in that method. The other issue is that, currently, I own the domain names, servers, software licenses and the custom software I've written, etc. With respects to that outside of the game... well, that's just something I don't want to think about.

I'm old enough to the point where I'm looking for an enjoyable experience where people can feel like they are able to take ownership of Citadel and contribute in some part to it. I have enough drama at home and having more online is the last thing that I want.

We will have the "executive leadership" representing the voice of the membership. While it won't be a true democracy where we put every single issue to vote, you can expect that we will solicit feedback and opinions and every voice will be heard and factored in to that representation. Service and dedication will certainly be factored into leadership positions and, if someone isn't able to perform his or her functions to the level that supports the group, they can step down or take a leave of absence, during which time, they'll be replaced.

While it is important to have structure and rules, I also want to make sure that folks are able to still feel like they're playing in a laid-back environment.

[Darhoth]

I tend to agree with Tealstone. I think the one counterbalance we have here to any future leadership issues is the ability to leave. If members become unhappy with the direction of the group, they will not participate and/or leave. The group will decline and either change or fade out. I have found that for most guilds that is an effective enough mechanism. I do also want to be mindful of over-organizing at the beginning. For now, I think a commitment to open ideas and discussion will allow us to continue to grow and develop. Next step would be to settle on some high level org structure and then begin to fill those roles. I am excited and impressed by how far we have come in a short amount of time.

[R0d1n]

You are absolutely right - I had not considered that. In any case, impeachment and the like would only really make sense if/when this corporation grew to quite a large size. So long as we remain a relatively small outfit, it would be overkill anyway. Really, I was letting my inner political theorist get the better of me. I have a tendency to pontificate about that sort of thing.

I do think that in a larger group, it's a good idea to have at least some group of elected reps to act as a voice. Large groups of people can be hard to listen to directly. Maybe an elected "advisory group"? In any case, that would be for much later, once the corporation has gotten a lot bigger.

[Darhoth]

For a much larger group I definitely agree. Down the road I could see us having division or squad meetings, with senior leadership meetings as well, and the occasional all-hands meeting, much like a real life company.

[Inquisition]

* Nods head in agreement at everything, everyone says *

[Magnet]

@Inquisition very diplomatic

[Romulus]

As I review the ideas around, one item that I immediately honed in on is the military rank structure. I think we should focus on either corporate ranks (such as Special Operative 1, 2, 3 etc.) or start our ranks at Captain and move to Colonel. It makes no sense that we'd be starting at low military ranks when A. We're already veterans (most of us) of Squadron 42 and B. Citadel is not a real Military organization.

I'd lean to a Operative title...perhaps Special Operative 1, 2, 3, and then Security Officer 1, 2, 3 kind of thing.

Just thinking out-loud.

[Tealstone]

True,

We're not a real military operation, but even in private security forces (think public safety), they still use police ranks. Aside from that, if everyone starts out as Captains, you then run into the problem of very quickly running out of ranks. And, for me, Special Operative is really kind of ubiquitous and non-nondescript -- "Aye, Captain" rolls of the tongue a little bit better than, "Aye, Special Operative 2. "

There may be the situation where people may not play through the Squadron 42 vets and, honestly, a single player experience will not facilitate training and flying as a wingman with another human player which is going to be the core of the combat pilot division. Building upon that experience to create flights and wings will allow us to scale combat operations from very small to very large with this type of training program.

From a personal standpoint, the military ranks also hearken back to the historical significance of our division names. Eric Peterson has said that a lot of what will be going on will be influenced based on the scenarios and battles of World War II... I like that there's that piece of our history there and that we're giving our own nod to the pilots who came before us.

[Inquisition]

Special Operative 1,2,3 etc. would be ok if we were to set up an Intelligence division.

I for one, like the military structure. Its universal and easy identifiable.

[Magnet]

I agree! Even mercenaries use some sort of military ranking! It somehow universal and fits perfectly for a private corporation's military division.