RS-wide merits
A new RS-wide merit system is the centerpiece of a new proposal that seeks to extend the successes of Beginner's Path (BP) to a much grander scale. It will provide a clear path for RSers to ascend to the rank of Colonel by following prestated objectives and thus provide the impetus for the first major portion of their RS career.
In the past year of use, BP has shown itself to be a valuable addition to the club; many new members have stated that they enjoyed it, and retention, in the beginning stages, has increased. However, overall retention has not demonstrably improved. A large part of the problem is that, after the clarity of BP, promotions become uncertain and the RS may seem more dull, especially when there is no obvious outlet for extra energy. We offer this solution to the problem: the concept of a unified RS merit system and integration of every unit into a linked whole, combined with a far greater array of opportunities for members to contribute outside of their unit's main activity.
The central part of the system is "levels", where a member must earn level 1 in a particular unit or skill, then level 2, and so on up to 10, the maximum. Unit "levels" are determined by each unit and will likely be based on that unit's merit system; e.g. when a member reaches "Jedi Knight" in PBF, they become "level 10" in the PBF and are awarded the appropriate number of merits. Skill "levels" will be determined by the reformed Academy and awarded in a variety of categories, such as "TIE Fighter missionmaking", "Empire at War tactics", "RS History", and so on. These will be attainable by taking courses relating to each of these topics; they will be worth much less than the unit merit "levels", because they will take less time, but the plan is for there to be many skill levels available to pursue.
The supplemental component of the system will be "general" merits, attainable by one-time activities. The available items will range widely across the spectrum of RS activities and are intended to be available at all times. A new focus on internal competitions, overseen by an office such as the Operations Office, will allow for regular variety, while areas such as the simulator database will permit extended personal endeavors. An additional possibility is for each command position to be assigned a certain "pay rate", a number of merits that is awarded to the member each month for successful service in command.
The main purpose of earning these merits will be to work towards future promotions. Each promotion will require a certain number of merits earned, each more than the last. As with the current system, a certain length of time will also be required since the previous promotion, but somewhat shortened from current rates to allow for the truly zealous member. As well, members will be required to spread their activity across multiple areas, and have acquired certain "skills" from the Academy--such as leadership, RS history, and so on--in order to earn their next promotions. These requirements are intended to ensure that the member's experience is broadened and that their promotion is not earned merely by, say, playing 1000 multiplayer matches. As a final requirement--one intended to promote interaction between members, as well as for validation--those seeking to attain the upper ranks (CMDR, LCL, COL) will need one or more recommendations from active members ranked Colonel or higher in order to advance.
We intend to provide a clear but fairly arduous path that any member may take to reach the rank of Colonel. At the conclusion of the path the member should be fully versed in the atmosphere and methods of the RS and be prepared to continue their career into the ranks of General and beyond. By that time they should realize that further ranks can be earned readily through their own commitment, ethic, and effort, and have realized the full enjoyment of being a part of the Rebel Squadrons.
Contents
Activities
A listing of activities for which merits will be given.
General merits
These merits are to be awarded for service to the Rebel Squadrons as a whole, not to a specific unit. For merits earned for activity pertaining to a specific unit, see the next section, "Unit merits".
Regarding active missions and "historical" missions: If flown as part of the active storyline (the fleet mission, or any wing/squadron missions that may be active), then merits will be earned as described by the unit involved; otherwise, missions are considered part of the "simulators" and counted below in "General merits". In other words, missions heretofore considered as "historical" are now part of the Simulators and counted towards general not fleet merits.
| Item | Merits | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Single-player combat (X-Wing, TIE Fighter, XvT, XWA) | Non-RS ITOD (from mission database) | |
| Complete one mission | 1 | |
| Review four missions | 1 | This is a bonus applied for taking the extra time to review them |
| Write a narrative for a mission | 1-5 | Based on Quality |
| Make one mission | 5-10 | More points given according to complexity of engine; more points given according to quality and complexity of mission |
| Bonus for making a complete tour (8-12 missions) | 25-50 | More points given according to length of tour, complexity of engine (+ quality of tour?) |
| Multi-player combat (XvT, XWA, JA, JO, JK, BF, BF2) | MP activity, unless part of an official storyline inter-club event such as ORW3, generally falls under this category unless specified otherwise by the unit. | |
| 1v1 match | 2, 1, 1, 1 | Points as follows: interclub win is most, interclub loss = intraclub win, intraclub loss is least. |
| 2v2+ match | 3, 2, 2, 1 | Points as in 1v1, but (1.5x?) more. |
| Co-op match | ? | From mission database; same points as listed above, +1 for multiplayer. |
| Academy | ||
| Complete a course | 2-5 | Points according to difficulty of course |
| Create a course | 4-10 | Points according to quality and complexity of course |
| Instruct a course | 2-5, 2 per graduate | Flat rate of x points per month according to complexity of course, plus number of graduates * y |
| Other types of activity | ||
| Update the RS wiki | 1-10 | Points assigned by wiki supervisor? |
| Improvements/updates to websites | 5-20 | Points assigned by Internet Office? |
| Competitions (various) | ? | See Competitions -- points to be specified in each competition. |
| Competitions (creating) | A Metric Assload | Points to be awarded by OO? |
| Command | ||
| CO of a unit | 10-50 per month | Like a salary, perhaps? Predetermined rate upon appointment, with possibility for raising or lowering? Based on the person's HIGHEST command position, and that alone. Wing COs should be somewhere near the 20s, squad around 10; with higher values being reserved for GOOD COs. |
| XO of a unit | 7-37 per month | See above. Set by unit CO, but cannot exceed 75% of the CO's "salary". See note(s) with CO. |
| SO of a unit | 5-25 per month | See above. Set by unit CO, but cannot exceed 50% of the CO's "salary". See note(s) with CO. |
| Executive offices | 10-30 | As assigned by FC or head of that office |
Unit merits
These merits may only be awarded by the Command Staff of the unit for activities that are part of the regular operations for that unit.
Please see the listing for each unit for instructions on how to earn merits.
- PBF: On the PBF website
- VSG: On the VSG website
- ABG: TBA
- Other units: TBA
Unit "skill ratings" may also be earned through regular participation in unit events and in special ways. These ratings are 1-10 and may be in a number of fields; increasing ratings will give bonuses to RS-wide merits.
See also the skills system, and one example of how this system might work: Skills/Roleplaying.
Examples
Please see RS-wide merit examples for some practical situations and their subsequent rewards.
Rewards
Promotions
Promotions earned through RS-wide merits use "building" requirements--in order to advance to the next rank via merits, one must have fulfilled the requirements for every rank below that one.
| Merits | Rank | Min. time | Other requirements |
|---|---|---|---|
| ??? | 1LT | None | "core" RS academy test, three different types of activity |
| ??? | CPT | 1 week | leadership test or advanced RS test?, two more different activities, specific reqs (5 forum posts, 3 IRC appearances, things like that) |
| ??? | MAJ | 1 week | 5 academy courses (incl. one "difficult"), more? |
| ??? | LCM | 2 weeks | one recommendation from COL+ |
| ??? | CMDR | 2 weeks | one recommendation from COL+ |
| ??? | LCL | 2 weeks | two rec's from COL+ |
| ??? | COL | 1 month | three rec's from COL+ |
Other rewards
| Merits | Reward |
|---|---|
| ?? | Item in game -- RS Card Game? Other? |
| ?? | Benefits -- more starfighter options? A personal larger ship? |
Top 5 merit-earners in each month are honored in the SotRS and awarded the Spiffy Medal (name TBD). A career ranking will be kept of top earners each month-- a sort of meta-merit in which 1st place in a month earns 6 points, 2nd place earns 4, etc. And then, at the end of the year, a Super-Spiffy Medal for the overall top five, and top five in meta-merit? And a Super-Duper-Spiffy Medal for the overall winner? Oh the possibilities abound!
Requirements
This concept relies heavily on several items that are themselves only concepts at this point--the reformed Academy, the missions system, a competitions system, and even the RS Card Game. It also requires acceptance of contributions to the club without participating in any fleet's primary activity, and a rethinking of ways of rewarding participation.
In essence, the infrastructure for the Academy and the missions system needs to be completely in place and running when and if RS-wide merits are instituted. This merit system relies heavily on allowing members to participate when, where, and how much they choose, which is not something the RS is quite accustomed to.
That is to say: serious and sustained work on this project should not commence until the Academy and single-player levels systems are in place. Else, the system is likely to fail from the inequality in actions available in each fleet--if an ABG member roleplays for ten hours and earns the correspondingly large amount of merits, what can a PBF-only member to do match that? At this time, very little. So it is that we need to provide ample and varied opportunities for each member to earn their points.
Proposal (by Giz)
Currently being worked on is the Beginner's Path, in which a system for tracking a new member's initial activities (or at least those that will encourage future activity and/or are required to progress into RS by graduating from an academy) and awarding points; what do points mean? prizes! or in this case, being promoted to the junior ranks availalble to a new member.
I propose this system be extended; the functionality will already be there, so the initial work in some respects will already be done.
What do I mean by extended? Well, simply put, link all the newly proposed systems (Academy courses, Missions system and Mission building) as well as current activity systems (ITOD participation, M-player participation, Competition (external and internal) participation) to the Beginner's Path system.
For every mission reported on in the Mission system, for every ITOD flown etc. automatically award a member pre-determined rankPointsâ„¢ (working title :P).
Allow command staff to award rankPointsâ„¢ manually (although the amount can still be pre-determined if desired) for other activities such as website design/construction/muchosMaintenanceÂâ„¢, aggressive recruitment, running a bunch of ABG sims, being an active CO at some level (lower than those awarding the points obviously) etc.
Additionally a ranking of those who attained the most rankPointsâ„¢ per week or month could be posted on the site, with those attaining considerabley more than they usually do being noted in NLs and SotRS (that is assuming it goes back to it's usual format :s).
Allow individuals to view thier own and command staff to view those members under them's rankPointsâ„¢ total. While the number would not be a deffinitive statement on when people should be promoted and/or receive medals, it can be used as a fairly accurate gauge; indeed, people's attitudes are certainly something to consider, with those who are anti-social, those who are obesessed with attaining rankPointsâ„¢ over all else (i.e. quality of work, stepping on people's toes etc.) being held back intentionally and told as much/why.
Every time someone is promoted these rankPointsâ„¢ can be either cashed in, or left to continue growing (an analogy between it and experience point systems in RPG games might be geeky, but accurate, you can have either or in both cases) - clarification: that's an either/or decision to be made for the system's design, should it be implemented.
Summary:
It's gone 5am here, so hopefully all of that makes sense :P.. anyways, such a system, I believe, will give members an insentive to participate, clear recognition of what they've done, ensure that members are not passed over for promotion and give a centeral core of 'activity rating' that can be extended upon and is more accurate than what we currently have.
