When Margie and I founded the Consortium, it was largely as an extension of our local CoH circle.
Mission: A convenient place for the non-aligned/SGed folks in the Hill-Kleerup (“Consortium”) orbit to SG together (and thus see each other while online) — a fancy, slightly less functional, but currently operating local version of Global Chat. (I’d ID it specifically for our Colorado group, but we’ll likely open the doors to Avocet, too, at least. It is largely (for RL purposes) a social grouping; for RP purposes, it’s a way to easily team up on stuff. RP for characters not required (but always fun).
As we moved into the orbit of the Alliance, that description had to change some, and it became more of a place for folks to do experimental character work — alts, mostly. That was mostly for the benefit of Margie and myself, again, since we’re both altaholics, and didn’t want to have to justify that to any of the existing SGs (or delay in getting them tied into the Coalition Chat once we’d created them). It remained, with a couple of stray exceptions, mostly a place for our circle of friends, and often mostly for alts.
That’s been changing in the last month or so. We’ve been getting a steadily increasing number of applications. They’re generally alts still, including a growing pod of Kheldians, but the Consortium is becoming a lot more than just our vanity group. There are numbers there — when I look at who’s logged in on the SG page it’s now often more than 2-3, more like 6-7. It’s becoming a place where, to some degree, some of the cool kids hang out.
Wow.
I don’t know how that will continue to change the Consortium. Two areas that come to mind:
- We probably need to schedule more regular SG events and communications. The Consortium has always been RP-light, and as a largely alt-driven group we haven’t had much identity and bonding after the initial admission. Perhaps we should look at evolving that a bit.
- We (Amorpha and Psi-clone) probably need to consult with our folks a bit more often than we have over Alliance issues. Maybe. In general, I’ve felt comfortable speaking in the Royal We for the Consortium in Alliance Leadership discussions. Can I still say that’s true, with the number of active members who are, frankly, *not* me? Granted, our group is mostly alts still, and many (though by no means all) of them have leadership roles in other SGs. Still, something for me to bear in mind.
- Right now, the officers in the group are all me and Margie, in one body or another. Should I change that? Is there someone interested in more responsibility, and how comfortable do I feel with that?
In short, I feel a bit like we’re moving from a family business to something a bit more corporate (appropriate enough). I’m not thinking of any significant changes, especially since I think it’s the non-demanding, non-melodrama aspects of the Consortium that a lot of people are attracted to. But as we get bigger and more diverse, some changes will (and should) occur. I’m beginning to think about that.
And I’m noodling about it here rather than on the Consortium forum because, well, it’s still in the noodling phase. 🙂
Ummm…considering that you have alt’s off officers from other SG’s in the consortium, you have a large group of folks to choose from if you wanted to expand the officer corp.
But, yeah…the consortium rocks! 🙂
Certainly there’s a plethora of “off duty” officers available to draw from. Question #2 is whether any would be actually interested (to what degree is being on the CoJ a way to “get away from it all”?). Question #1 is how I’d feel about other folks sharing/influencing the “vision” and inviting people in without my say-so. (Heck, I get vaguely and irrationally worried when Margie does it, and I trust her implicitly.)
Control Freaks ‘R’ Us.
*snort*
Well…if you can’t trust margies judgement…there is no way you are going to trust any of the rest of us. ;P
Well, there’s the rub.
It’s certainly not a matter of intellectual trust. It’s more of an emotional “this is out of my control, thus my expectations may not be met, thus it is WORRISOME” kind of crap that I struggle with far too often. 😛
Actually, Margie queried casually the other night why she’s been the doing so much of the invites and communiques with applicants of late. That’s actually a *good* thing.
Heck, if yo’d posted this a week ago, Avocet might still be in the CoJ! 🙂
Actually, as Avo told PC, the CoJ was a good fit for me back when it consisted of just six players. I was only begin to team up, and it was nice to know the fellow team members as well as I did. Made it more comfortable.
For some time now, though, it seemed as if there were never more than two other CoJers on at a time, and little inclination to team with me. (As I don’t run any alts, I was outlevelling most of them.)
More SG events might well have impelled me to stay. That, or being offered a spot as an officer. As it was, I was beginning to feel as if I weren’t really in a group at all. Hence, my application to the FP.
If only they paid as well as the CoJ…
🙂
Well, one of the things that happens as a group evolves is that folks join and folks leave (and, of course, that also affects how a group evolves …)
Your departure from the CoJ did sort of happen about the same time, ironically, as other folks joining up.
And, yes, as an alt-centered group, the overall level is likely to be lower than someone who’s forging forward with just a single main. There are some distinct advantages to a larger SG to belong to.
I’ve been trying to do more teaming of late (more for the benefit of the Alliance than of the CoJ) — that might be part of what’s brought in a few folks, though that wasn’t the intent. It’s a mixed bag — I almost always enjoy teaming, but I find the planning for it (and the social reaching out) to be draining, being an introverted sort.
Juggling SG events is a tough one (and that I call it “juggling” is probably telling). I think they’re necessary and valuable, but they require more planning for more vagueness of result (what we’ll actually be doing) than I’m that good at or inclined toward. Need to work on that, too.
As far as officer spots — if we bring in other people for that, it won’t be as a reward or incentive. 🙂 My main reason would be to cover for times/periods when the current officer players aren’t available.
And speaking of people leaving, Phed-X may be placed on inactive status. His player quit CoH and has returned to SWG.
In the world of alts, nobody is ever inactive, just not presently on …