Organization of Organizations; an essay

[America]

Organization of Organizations

By: America

I have been prompted for the second or third time, by the current Yugure, to rejoin Katakiuchi. In this essay I will be laying out my thoughts behind the Yugure in specific parts. For the most part, I will be attempting to explain the cause of Katakiuchi’s original popularity, the reasons for its abandonment, the lasting effect of the first generation of Yugure, my decision and my plans to reorganize the group.

When I joined in July of 2014, there was no organization or clan board. My first organization, if I can remember correctly, was called the Yugure. I created it with m4r1us, a prominent member of the forums at the time. Because there was no organization board, we elected to create our own forum for this fledgling group. The forum lasted only a few days and had less than ten members before it was abandoned. We stuck to a Skype group chat for the time being. Throughout the month, many members of the forum agreed that a board to create and join organizations would be useful. Somewhere along this time, Brayden (Xendrus…) joined our humble crew.

Vreg was eventually persuaded, and the two boards were created. Immediately, Indigo’s Katakiuchi was created, as seen here: [https://www.shinobilifeonline.com/index.php?topic=738.0] m4r1us, Xendrus… and myself took more time to plan out our organization which had coinciding goals with Katakiuchi. We realized this and decided to talk with Indigo about merging instead of creating our own organization. This is something that does not happen on the forum today. To be crass, I think it should. So many organizations exist today with similar goals, but none will merge because of the fear of losing power or purpose.

Returning to our story; the talks were successful and Katakiuchi was born: [https://www.shinobilifeonline.com/index.php/topic,711.0.html] The dates and topic numbers on the post are wrong due to Vreg deleting the organization during a heated argument; and eventually putting it back in a different place. It also was my post originally, but Vreg gave it to Indigo because he was less irritable. We compromised on power, creating a just system of seven Yugure who would lead. This early creating of our organization became the center of its power. There were no organizations before this, and suddenly, Katakiuchi was there. Along with a few others, of course.

Katakiuchi had the luxury of recruiting any member it could, there were no rogue organizations to compete. Today, any organization has to compete with others of its kind for the limited pool of new players that come around. Among the recruits were AugustRed and LuveniA, followed soon by my own real life friend InfinityQuake. And thus, the first Yugure was complete. We at first followed the rules of the Yugure closely, voting on every decision that was made. The skype chat was used only for discussion of Katakiuchi and SLO. This quickly changed as we got used to each other. AugustRed became inactive, and we voted Shadow1759 into the mix. Soon, any member would just do as they pleased, knowing well that nobody else would give a damn. m4r1us and Indigo became a mod, and I was picked up by Vreg to write as a developer.

So, around about December, our egos began to inflate. We were the original rogue group, and it almost looked like it was sponsored by SLO itself. EternalEyes joined as a regular member and Xendrus… was made a mod. People wanted to be near us; we commanded authority. The promise of a kekkei genkai to the mods and devs for their help on the project was a guarantee of power in game. We would routinely gang up on other players from rival organizations, and would almost always win. In the end, mods have the last say, right? The rest of the Yugure’s story is largely irrelevant to this portion of the essay and I'm sure many of you know it already, so it will be skipped.

The main lesson to take from this story is this:

• When Katakiuchi was first created, it had access to old and new members due to no prior organizations
• Organizations do not have this privilege today, there are competing organizations and there are few open members
• Similar organizations were willing to merge back then
• Moderator and Developer power made the Yugure more special than usual

The abandonment of the Yugure happened after a long standing divide between the members of the forum, specifically Katakiuchi’s enemies and the Yugure themselves. Ideas on organizations had sparked into much more aggressive conversations, mostly just ad hominem insults. Vreg eventually withdrew his offer of a kekkei genkai to mods and devs due to complaints of unfairness by the community. Indigo and Xendrus were able to stay above the arguments for the most part, but the rest fervently shitposted alongside myself. Katakiuchi began to decline due to our bad reputation and the lack of new members in general.

We had little support and the enemy was growing larger and larger every day. M4r1us and I specifically felt surrounded, as we lead the war on our side. M4r1us eventually decided to give up his mod position, quit the forum altogether and moved on. I soon followed him, and then the rest of the Yugure. Xendrus is still a mod to this day, but most of you know he's pretty inactive. As I left, I gave the organization to Shivraj, who I trusted most to lead it. Shivraj was, and is still a trusted member of the community.

The real fervor and passion of Katakiuchi died when the original Yugure left. The new leaders didn't fight against our old enemies. They lead the organization peacefully, which was a relief to others. If you want to know shivraj’s story on how he lead the Yugure, you are going to have to ask him, I was not around after I left Katakiuchi.

During the spring of 2014, I found a Roman-themed group on Roblox. (I know, sue me) ironically, it was on this kids game that I found a high concentration of neo-nazis. They were all throughout the senate and the higher offices. The details of this Roman group are irrelevant, but I eventually found myself a leading commander of the Urban Cohorts, a group of about 50 people. It was here that I learned to how to lead and deal with inactivity. I served for about six months, and every day during the summer I would get up and check the skype group chat. If there was nothing going on, I would slap on the caps lock and start yelling.

It came to me quickly that there were usually two kinds of soldiers; the ones who want to participate and those who no longer want to be there. You need structure in your groups, like was established in the Roman groups. Also a very important thing that SLO organizations are lacking is junior officers. Someone below administrative duty, but authorized to lead in game. A centurion is what we had. You need these junior officers to be the most active, the most dedicated, the most passionate, etc. This is something I failed to establish in the original Katakiuchi due to lack of experience. The Officer rank was a stepping stone, but not quite there yet.

Most people will immediately promote their friends and anyone active enough to a very high rank. This causes the Chief and Indian problem as I call it. I had an old leader in the Urban Cohorts named Atticus. Atticus would host a lot of trainings and patrols, but the officers were always more dedicated than the soldiers, and showed up more often. At any given training, you would have more officers than soldiers, and it was almost pointless to have the training. Atticus would then always say:
“Looks like we have more Chiefs than Indians.” (I mean Indians in the Native American way, as he referred to it like so.) This problem is rampant in SLO. It was apparent in Katakiuchi, too. The Yugure were more active than any of the low ranks.

It is very important to set up a hierarchy; it leaves something to be desired. In the Urban Cohorts, there were many ranks to climb through, which gave the impression to low ranks that they could one day be a leader too. THIS IS IMPORTANT. The low ranks need to feel like there is something to advance to if they stay. Otherwise, they leave and become a Super Commander in Jimmy Smith’s organization, which fails due to the Chief and Indian problem causing inactivity. I'll leave the entire ranking system of the Urban Cohorts in this spoiler. In organizations on SLO currently, there should be maybe one Senior Commander; the leader of the org. There simply aren't enough people to have five+ senior commanders when only two low ranks would show up when called.

Spoiler: show

Low Ranks Begin; Tiro, Miles, Immunes, Sesquiplicarius, Duplicarius, Triplicarius. Junior Officers Begin; Optio, Centurion, Primus Pilus, Praefectus. Senior Officers Begin; Tribunus Angusticlavius, Tribunus Laticlavius, Praefectus Urbanae

Another point I'll stress is the trainings. You need to get your Officers to host trainings. During my time in the Urban Cohorts, our mock Roman group was dying due to lack of content. We had one outpost made and scripted which we patrolled and trained at. It didn't matter, though. I held trainings every day to cover the basic skills even if we did the same thing yesterday, and the day before. War games were also a big thing; every once in awhile the legions and the Urban Cohorts would have large battles and the winning unit would get prizes.

Most of the recruits to the Urban Cohorts were kids, and their parents weren't comfortable with them using voice chats, but we required them to have skype for typing only. It is preferable to use voice communication in game, but you MUST atleast have discord or skype chat for organization. Require them to join your discord or skype as a part of the application process, and if they leave, they must be kicked from the group. COMMUNICATION IS KEY. You as the leading officer should be willing to issue commands over voice chat. The others should just listen with their mic muted.

Organize trainings often. Get anyone who is online to join you in game to practice movements, hand seal speed, dueling, ANYTHING. If they show up frequently, promote them to a higher rank. Not an officer yet, by any means. A shinobi should have at least 50 trainings under their belt before being considered for JUNIOR officer rank. When I say considered, that doesn't mean promoted after a minute of thought. Test them harshly, and really think if they are worthy of the rank. A list of possible exercises will be left in the spoiler below.

Spoiler: show

Run around the map in a line, keep good spacing. Hand seal speed testing. 1v1 duels. 2v2 duels with colored jackets for the teams. Larger battles even. Dodging practice. You can always come up with more.

Don't be afraid to demote people. I was demoted several times in the Urban Cohorts, yet I never left. I was dedicated to the group, and my dedication paid off when I became the Tribunus Laticlavius. (second highest rank) If they are truly devoted, they will stay and fix the mistakes that caused them to be demoted. If they aren't devoted and leave, why would you want them in your organization in first place? Don't lose sleep over it.

Trello. Organization beyond the original post is necessary. In the Urban Cohorts, we used a website called Trello. All of the rules were listed there, the uniform was listed, an in depth member list, etc. We also were required to post a picture proving we held a training. On the card was the date, the list of members attending and the picture including all of the attendees. Or most of them, if some had to leave early. You don't need to use Trello, as you could post stuff like this onto the org thread, but that could be overwhelming and poorly organized. Not to mention it looks like you are post whoring and bumping excessively.

The next part is about discipline. I know by now I have thrown out the order and structure in this essay, but I had more ideas than I originally thought. In the Urban Cohorts, low ranks were allowed to say three words while on duty. “YES” “NO” and the rank of the present officer. To say their rank was to ask for permission to speak freely for a moment; to ask a question or give a suggestion, etc. I don't suggest you enforce that exact system, as it was very strict, but you need some sort of discipline.

To sum up the past few paragraphs about leading;
You need discord or skype, and everyone that joins your organization needs to join it. There should only be one senior officer and up to five junior officers per fifty low ranks. You should have at least ten ranks in your organization, to leave something to be desired for the newcomers. If they can't rank up, why participate? Use voice chat with those who can, but don't require it. Organize using Trello. (preferably) Enforce discipline. Promote based on skill and dedication, not relationship to the person. Don't be afraid to demote.

Now, finally, I present my decision to not rejoin Katakiuchi. Personally, I don't have the time or passion to rejoin with Katakiuchi. Outside of personal reasons; I don't know if I can return Kata to old glory. The circumstances are not the same as what propelled it upwards originally. There is too much competition between organizations for the few undecided members. Also, Katakiuchi, but mostly the Yugure, opened a split in the forum that I don't want to see return. It was very hostile for months, and the aftermath almost collapsed the project. I'd like to stay on friendly terms with the forum goers and stick with the Scribe’s Guild.
 
I provide this information in lieu of my return.

If you skipped to the end just to see my decision, you're a faggot.

[Mars]

Interesting history and useful information.

Would reccommend people gave this a read.

[America]

One thing I'd like to add after re reading is this:

In the Urban Cohorts was the Tiro rank that really didn't even count as a member of the Urban Cohort. All of the new members were Tiros; they weren't allowed to wear the metal armor yet until they had attended at least one training and patrol. They just wore a red tunic. You can see a few on my picture all the way to the right.

In SLO this would translate to initiates. They wouldn't be allowed to use your orgs picture on their profile or wear your orgs colors in game, etc. until they attend a training.

[Fraudulent]

Finally got myself to read this. At first the sheer size of the paragraphs warded me away, but now I realize it was all worth reading. I agree with the fact that organisations need a better hierarchy with ascending rewards as the ranks go on. I think that every new recruit should start from the bottom and work their way up the pyramid. You've said it yourself, only the ones who are devoted to the organisation would still stick around even if they were demoted.

Good post.

[Toratsume Nyshn]

Would reccommend people gave this a read.

Especially org leaders
This experience can be taken as a lesson and can be implied on the success of orgs...
Furthermore.. I like the idea of merging orgs.
Truly worth a read.

[America]

Thanks for the read guys. I updated the main post with a video of the 'war games' I spoke of earlier.

[Manuster]

Was forced to bump this kmt.

you all know how much I hate adding to my postcount




Nah but for real, everyone needs to see this.

The part about merging organsations is particularly true.

[Zama]

Very interesting read and information. It would certainly add a lot more depth to orgs in the current game if they were to implement the ranks, training etc. Instead of just joining just to have the blue text above your name in game. The responsibility of the ranks would also be a very rewarding experience if they were actively doing something for the org.

++rep