OmniNept
Actionaut
This post is about leadership. It is also long. If you are not interested in a long post on leadership, then refrain from reading this long post on leadership. Even if you are interested, I suggest reading this post in spurts, as it is possibly the longest post in the history of Legions. You have been warned.
I started this post months ago when Legions was experiencing a revival of sorts. I figured it might carry relevance for the myriad of new teams, and I wanted to put onto paper the leadership process I've been following for the past few years.
Unfortunately, as I began studying for my graduate entrance exams, this essay was neglected. Now that they're done, though, I figure it's time to write again – regardless of the post's current community relevance. If you find it useful, wonderful; if not, perhaps it'll provide entertainment or some non-Legions related insight.
So who am I to talk? I'm Nept, the co-founder and captain of Omniscient for near-on seven years. I lead, and I do it well. (lololol). In all seriousness, this section will be the most ego-intensive part of the post; if you're a proponent of shame and modesty, skip it.
Ego-sensitive peoples should now stop reading
Omniscient began as a competitive team in Unreal 2 XMP, garnering sponsorship and top spots in both NA and Euro comp. After XMP, Omni spent a summer in Lineage 2, where we expanded to 400+ members, became the dominant alliance in a very “hardcore”, politically-charged MMO, and captured the server's first castle. WoW followed, where we were the top PvP team on Mannoroth – one of the original five servers, and the most PvP-intensive at the time. At this point, I had become sick of the MMO timesink, and so pared our membership and dragged the team to Legions.
While we're currently quiescent, I imagine most remember our activities: as an inexperienced Legions team, we took second in the first BFCL CTF season (and top North American spot), first in BFCL TDM, and first on the North American CTF ladder; our members are recognized as top players in their respective positions, and our team possesses a preponderance of the game's best duelists.
After Legions lost its competitive scene, we tried Mech Warrior: Living Legends (which lacked competition at the time, though has become an option as of late), Transformers: War for Cybertron (where we sort of slaughtered scrim partners into leaving the game), and Front Mission: Evolved (where much the same happened, unfortunately). We gravitate toward fast-paced, skill-based games, and are currently watching Hawken, Miner Wars, Planetside 2, Tribes Ascend, Firefall, and Tribes: Universe.
Ego-sensitive peoples may now resume reading
Accolades aside, Omnicient's strength lies in our composition: our members, while extremely skilled, are also companions and friends, not mere teammates. It's this quality that differentiates Omniscient from other online teams (also our awesomeness), and it's this quality that makes our endeavours matter. In the long run you'll not care about onlineego-tripping (nor will anyone else) - only about the people and shared experiences that have made the time worthwhile.
As you're reading this post, please remember that I lead from a particular perspective: I want a tight-knit group of friends, but I also want to win. Everything. All of the time. If you're less interested in winning, some sections – mainly recruitment and management – won't be entirely applicable.
This post contains (or will contain) the following sections:
1) [Leader] Personality tips, tricks, and necessities
2) Recruitment
a) Personality
b) Potential
3) Management (General)
4) Management (In-Game)
5) Goals
Personality tips, tricks, and necessities.
Team leaders vary in their styles, so a laundry list of personality traits isn't appropriate for this post. I can, however, provide a listing of “what not to do”. So here's that.
You're unfit to lead if:
- You can't control your emotions.
- You're interested only in winning.
- Sounds trite, I know. But consider the following:
- Your ego is insurmountable.
- You refuse full responsibility.
If one member performed his role poorly, you either assigned them the wrong role, didn't test them under pressure, or didn't adequately prepare them.
If a particular play resulted directly in a loss, it's your fault for allowing such a close contest. When you're winning 9-0, one lost cap means nothing. Lack of preparation, lack of skill development, a poor strategy, or poor team chemistry: they can always be traced to you.
If people didn't meet your expectations, an assessment is needed – not ego-boosting blame games.
- You cannot, for whatever reason, command respect.
If you cannot command such qualities, you will eventually lose your team.
- You aren't good with people.
- And, finally, R.
Last edited: