A Public Apology...

I eventually got a call out for help after you left, as I was commanding in EB. I came over, got garri and bay back, lost Hills, then got Hills, and lost Bay. In the meantime, our entire EB corner got taken, losing a WP. 75 PPT from EB lost unfortunately. And when you left, I guess all GSCH left because there was almost no GSCH on home when I got there. DUI was farming us. Plain and simple. 

No hard feelings. Just wish callouts for assistance came earlier before we started losing Waypoints. We were on CCOMS, and not one callout for help came. Personal issues are important, but SOMEONE could have given a callout to other forces on the other maps from GSCH. Eventually, someone contacted me. 

Don't worry yourself about it. We all have our moments. I constantly have life interferences. This is a game. 

Combat Medic Barbie | Mist Walker Barbie | Rigor Mortis Barbie

Guild Leader of Chariot of Fire [FIRE]

This is, sadly, one of the major issues we'll experience by having an entire guild running communication separately in another voice program. 

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Karaoke (Loki | Oaky | Pokey | Smokey | Croaky | Cloaky | Soaky | Gnocchi)
Guild Leader - Super Mega Happy Fun Time [MEGA] - supermegahappyfuntime.com

Most GSCH commanders still use TS. Their followers do not. Still frustrating that the largest guild in promoting this server community is still excluding themselves from community voice coordination. 

Combat Medic Barbie | Mist Walker Barbie | Rigor Mortis Barbie

Guild Leader of Chariot of Fire [FIRE]

I am not a leader, I am GSCH, and I have both RC and TS Running. I talk on RC mainly cause that is where most of my Guildies are.

Maybe I should clarify and say most of GSCH.  Whenever a GSCH commander runs and they have 15 GSCH on tag, but one on TS...or when Fog runs and he has 60 GSCH on tag, and 2 on TS, the perception is that GSCH MEMBERS are not supportive of the SoR COMMUNITY outside their guild. It could very well be a bad perception, but it is a widespread perception, nonetheless.

But, this thread is not about targetting GSCH for not coming on TS.  I apologize for steering it that way.  Seems to come up often, however.  That being said, Smitty, though I was the commander that responded in your absence, I hold no hard feelings whatsoever.  I just ask that maybe you and other fellow commanders utilize CCOMS just a little bit more to let us know when trouble is hitting our BL (or EB corner, if you are there).  We do not want to leave you out there hanging. But we do need to know when trouble is there! 

Combat Medic Barbie | Mist Walker Barbie | Rigor Mortis Barbie

Guild Leader of Chariot of Fire [FIRE]

We very much appreciate the GSCH members who join us in Teamspeak. I get frustrated sometimes because I take my hits trying to tell EG and the other guys to keep it clean or use a mature language channel so that we can get everybody in TS... but then nobody shows up anyway. Made fun of by EG and ignored by GSCH. Awesome.

UNIFICATION is important. That means leaning on KOGS to use this website, leaning on GSCH to use the Teamspeak, etc. Moving forward requires more of us working together. 

Also, I feel a little bad for using this situation as an example. Smitty, your family ALWAYS should come before a game. Period. But the X people following you, if they were familiar with our TS, could have easily found another commander and let them know what was going on. "We were following Smitty, but he disconnected. Where are you? Can we join?"

I always encourage my guild members to run with other commanders to learn new tactics, meet new people, and participate in the wider community. I encourage my non-guild members to do the same!

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Karaoke (Loki | Oaky | Pokey | Smokey | Croaky | Cloaky | Soaky | Gnocchi)
Guild Leader - Super Mega Happy Fun Time [MEGA] - supermegahappyfuntime.com

I might go so far as to recommend that commanders who tag up (especially those running guild groups) identify their "second" on voice comms, through say/map chat, etc. If anything happens to the tagged commander (disconnect, AFK, lag, character death, or other unresponsiveness), the "second" can immediately take command and ensure the group remains unified.  If the "second" is publicly identified, then anyone in that player's group can inform the commander if they have dropped and a new "second" can be appointed.  The "second" isn't obligated to continue commanding past the designated time (ie. if you're running a 2 hour guild event, it can still end at that 2 hour mark) - only to take over in the place of a the commander in case of problems.

FIRE has used a similar "second" strategy in the past quite effectively.  On the odd chance that Xivor gets killed in battle (odds 1:1,000,000) or a family issue arises (odds 1:10), he has time to call out to someone to tag up for a few minutes with a simple "AFK, <player> tag up", and the entire group transitions to the new tag rapidly.  Identifying the "second" in advance ensures continuity when disruptions occur without sufficient time for the "AFK" callout.

Hindsight is 20/20; however, it is better to learn from the past and make adjustments than to allow it to constantly nip at our heels.

No apologies necessary, but thanks and kudos for taking the extra step to ensure that the situation didn't escalate into anything more severe. As Karaoke said: Family first!

I think the greater thing here is that I hope you and your family are okay and any life problems have been resolved or are in the process.  This is just a game, family is more important! 

Dude...  I felt I had to apologize to all for leaving abruptly due to a family emergency and the first reply I get is a chastising and a lesson in CComs to prevent losing our corner of EBG?

Thanks for making me feel even more like $h#@.

Your friendly neighborhood Smitty here!
Sif Ellisdottir - Gaiscioch [GSCH]
Maelgwyn Gryffud - Gaiscioch [GSCH]

I apologize for steering the conversation in a negative tone. It was a hard night on the battlefield that night, and I brought my frustrations into this thread the next day,  which I shouldn't have done. Please forgive me. You did nothing wrong Smitty, and I hope you do not hold it against me much. 

I sincerely hope your family emergency is not indeed a serious emergency still, but in fact has fixed itself. If you would like to talk further, please let me know and I can talk on TS or in game. I was out of line, and I apologize. 

Combat Medic Barbie | Mist Walker Barbie | Rigor Mortis Barbie

Guild Leader of Chariot of Fire [FIRE]

I think there's a difference between assigning blame (which we should not be doing here) and using this as an opportunity to learn and improve. If Smitty - or any other commander - needs to leave or gets disconnected, we should have some sort of process for ensuring the group continues to run. I've seen this with other commanders as well; commander tags down, the 10-15 people following the commander scatter.

It's not a Smitty-problem, it's an SoR-problem. I hope my comments didn't hurt your feelings, Smitty. I really have enjoyed running with you when given the opportunity, appreciate your humor, and very much appreciate the effort you put in to run in both RC and TS simultaneously.

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Karaoke (Loki | Oaky | Pokey | Smokey | Croaky | Cloaky | Soaky | Gnocchi)
Guild Leader - Super Mega Happy Fun Time [MEGA] - supermegahappyfuntime.com

No need to apologize smitty.

this is a GAME,it is played for fun and should be treated so.

I understand competetive nature,but real life  comes first.

on that note,Smitty hope all is well and things are better.

I agree with Timmy. Being a good leader is about prioritizing and of course family is first as others have said! No apologies! I sincerely hope you and your family are well and that you don't feel like S#$%.

When one of us steps down there should always be someone else to step up. It's up to the rest of us.