First Treatise on Linkshells

[Deuce]

On that note, Dahaan (and anyone else with thoughts on this matter), what are your thoughts on linkshell activity. How do you keep a linkshell busy without burning your members out and ready to quit?

Well if an LS does Dynamis, Sky, Sea, and/or HNM then the schedule is going to be pretty busy. Obviously three to four hours would have to be set aside twice a week if an LS would want to do Dynamis. Dynamis should be scheduled so it can be done at a convenient time for the members. Also, it shouldn't interfere or get interefered with or by other LSs, which is pretty hard not to do anymore.

Sky, Sea, and HNM I feel are in a similar category together and should be sort of scheduled in a similar fashion. Most likely done during the week at night because not every members may want to play on Saturday or Friday night, although some will. This is where I feel it becomes important for leaders to discuss possible times for events that will be planned with members. If there are specific conflicts for some members then the leader will have to make a decision. He/she will have to decide which time will please most of the membership, while figuring out a solution that will please the few that cannot make it.

If events that an LS holds don't work out for someone then you just have to let them know that they may have to find another linkshell. The linkshell should not have to cator to the 1, 2, or even 3 people that cannot make events.

I'll be interested too as to what Dahaan thinks as well as others about this issue.

[Elesirdur]

...If events that an LS holds don't work out for someone then you just have to let them know that they may have to find another linkshell. The linkshell should not have to cator to the 1, 2, or even 3 people that cannot make events...

I can attest to that fact. The last two end-game LS' I've been in have been primairly NA players, usually the majority in the Eastern time zone, with a few European, Australian, or Asian players thrown into the mix. This makes scheduling a nightmare as those people will constantly feel left out and even worse when LS Leaders try and accommodate them by running separate events or events at really strange NA times. If there are enough people from outside the major event timezone areas it can easily lead to factionalism and agitating against the Leader(s).

As much as I enjoy having a diverse Linkshell population trying to coordinate events with a LS population that spans more than 3 or 4 timezones does not seem wise. I know there are some LS' that make this work, and I'm no way trying to be disrespectful to players living outside of North America. However, I'm not about to go join some EU LS when I live on the West Coast of Canada - the logistics just don't make sense.

[DoliantheBard]

Although your ideas on LS leadership work well in a vacuum, it is extremely rare to find a leader that will act as a selfless administrator for a group of 60 virtual individuals. Avoiding the social aspect of FF and your linkshell is not going to happen, but that social interaction shouldn't inhibit the impartial and equitable nature of a leader's decision making process.

I agree with many of your thoughts regarding the "selfish" nature of gameplay and linkshell members in general. Although the source of most member motivation is not wholly altruistic in nature, it serves as an effective means to an end. It can be analogized to act of making a charitable donation in order to recieve a tax deduction.

Alot of what you write concerning shell leadership is very much akin to a dictatorship, but a healthy dictatorship to which all of the servient parties ascribe to isn't a bad thing at all.

Many people believe the leader should get gear behind all other members, I couldn't disagree more. If participation and seniority are taken into account, the leader should be neither prejudiced nor priviliged with respect to loot.

[Miruka]

That's why in one of my sentences I say, "On the contrary Mr. Bond."

This was the sentence that kinda-almost prompted me to read the whole thing rather than skimming. =p

[MG!]

Yeah I finally read the whole thing through, it is well put together with many good thoughts. Where is the goat I have to kill to convert?

[Legolass]

wow... very well done

[Masterofshade]

gonna show this to my LS >.>; lots of them totally noobed out.

[Codernaut]

Although your ideas on LS leadership work well in a vacuum, it is extremely rare to find a leader that will act as a selfless administrator for a group of 60 virtual individuals.

...

Which is probably why he said, in his end-game experience, he's only considers 1 linkshell to have been run effectively. On a side note: I agree, for the most part, with his observations and commentary about leadership in FFXI.

Many people believe the leader should get gear behind all other members, I couldn't disagree more. If participation and seniority are taken into account, the leader should be neither prejudiced nor priviliged with respect to loot.

I also disagree with that philosophy, it's ridiculously dumb and is often said by people who hate bias -- not realizing that the idea is very biased.

After some drama in my ls, of which I'm a SH in a leader/sh system very similar to the one promoted in this "treatise", I decided to remove myself, as much as possible, from any decision that would award items to me. The leader can do the same by doling out such decisions to a particular sackholder or a committee of sackholders.

In a totally corrupt shell this could lead to a problem of the sackholder(s) always awarding the item to the leader... or at least allowing him to lot against someone... but the real problem is having a corrupt shell. In the end, if the leader is worth anything at all, then he should probably be the most deserving member eligible for an item anyway (at least if its for his primary job - lolsash).

[pingpong]

Any views or ideas you might like to share on how large a shell should be, in terms of membership. Such as sheer numbers, like ~30 members or something. Many linkshells get too big and things become complicated. There are some Dynamis and Sky LSes on my server with 40+ members. My old Dynamis LS could easily farm with ~20-25 people and we barely lost a win in glacier with 22.

Just some LSes are really big and I think it can be a little unnecessary.

I have mixed emotions on this matter. Coming from a linkshell that has always been rather small, I denounced the idea of mass recruiting and whatnot. It always felt better to do things with a smaller amount of people than those that use a lot (especially Dynamis).

However, the problem with small linkshells is having to rely on the same people every day. Eventually, the core members get tired and need breaks. When this happens you find that your linkshell is sort of either falling apart or slowing down dramatically. I've often considered whether having a larger linkshell would prevent such incidents. That being said, I still prefer a smaller linkshell.

It's nearly impossible to get the perfect size. Even if you find yourself with deficient numbers, you need to keep yourself active and constantly doing SOMETHING. I can't emphasize how important it is to keep your linkshell busy, but not TOO busy that everyone is ready to quit.

On that note, Dahaan (and anyone else with thoughts on this matter), what are your thoughts on linkshell activity. How do you keep a linkshell busy without burning your members out and ready to quit?

same question - about the small LS vs big LS stuff. I can't stand big LSs, then again, small LSs do indeed rely on a core group to do any kind of events. Once a member of that core group no longer plays, the whole LS would often crumble rather than seek more outside (untrusted) help due to this tight belief against recruiting, especially mass recruiting.

[Eldelphia]

It's nearly impossible to get the perfect size. Even if you find yourself with deficient numbers, you need to keep yourself active and constantly doing SOMETHING. I can't emphasize how important it is to keep your linkshell busy, but not TOO busy that everyone is ready to quit.

Size issue is a problem as is burnout but I think most people reading here are members of considerably larger shells than mine. Over dependance on the same players can cause huge problems but it's almost inevitable. We find our shell activity goes in cycles and every 3 months or so it shifts.
We've given up trying to keep anyone in the shell from the West coast NA because co-ordinating them + our EU players just causes hell.

In many cases it is far better to have too much scheduled than not enough enough. Let things drift too long and people start whining.

[Kattice]

Participation was always a big thing for major shells, and it really shows for things like Sky farming and other no reward things. It doesn't matter if it goes in cycles, but the dedicated members are a lot better then a bunch of non-dedicated members. Don't be partial to EU or PST players because of time alone if they are dedicated.

[mikesjustice]

Lol, wow. I know this topic is old as hell, but I haven't seen it til now.

I was nodding my head to nearly EVERY thing you were describing. Why? Because what you explained is the EXACT method I run my linkshell minus 2 changes.

- We give people 3 week trials with pearls, and as the leader I have final say to everything of course.

- I have what would be considered a general manager of the shell whom I share 51/49% shell with, she is 2nd in line and earned that position through hard work. All other council members have equal say, however there is a chain of command, and the only time those leaders pull rank over one another is while they run their particular "event" sector. Then the rest are there to assist and support. Since I will be leaving game soon, she has inherited the shell in my place.

People need to remember that leaders are not dictators, they coordinate events and have a final say. They lead the shell, but they are regular members working to keep things organized. There should never be an power trips, ego's, things of that nature. Your there to assist others, and when you can no longer do so, it's time to hand over the position to another.

Essentially, the Leader of a linkshell is a person who is impartial. Being impartial means looking beyond favoritisms and looking at participation and seniority. A good Leader is a person who distributes armor, weapons, and items based on the level of participation of the linkshell’s members. This is yet another idea that may seem commonsensical, but the truth is, there are so many instances where linkshell leaders have disregarded participation, and given weapons, items, and armor to people who did not deserve it yet. As a result, the person or people who are cheated by the leader become disenchanted with the linkshell and are less inclined to participate. In extreme cases, people have left linkshells over impartiality. Seniority is also another factor that Leader must take in to account. Linkshell members who have high seniority combined with high levels of participation should always be the priority when it comes to the distribution of items; the reason being that seniority is a sign of loyalty and hard work in the linkshell, and people that are designated as senior members should be rewarded properly. However, participation always holds weight over seniority, because there are often cases where senior members are inactive, but have technically been in the linkshell for a long time. When a Leader has conducted the distribution of items in this fashion, he will have gained the support of the linkshell’s members, and the LS would progress

This is very important. I was able to do this because with all the gear already accumulated, all the gil I could ever want, there was nothing left for me to do in game but to raise an LS to a worthy endgame status.

A Leader, first and foremost, should seek to be respected by his/her members. To gain respect, he/she must be impartial, as mentioned before, among other things.

Again, very true. As a leader if you don't earn the respect by walking the walk and doing as you say, your not leading anyone, your only going for a walk. I had one sackholder, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't earn the respect of the shell. I would encourage him and tell him what he shouldn't be doing, but he didn't accept it. It didn't work out for him and he never earned the shell's respect.

On the Authority of Regular Linkshell Members

The linkshell is only as good as the members involved. Members are what drive the success of shell, keep them involved, listen to comments. What I did was randomly chose a person to lead an event now and again. They became the night's temp leader while we sackholders were there to assist. This is how you develop future leaders.

On Idiocy: The Destroyer of Linkshells

Unfortunately, you will always run into these people. Always keep recruitment open and cycle these people out. That's not to say don't give them a chance, but if they really aren't all there, they need to take it down a notch and go play in the minor leagues.

We went I think nearly 5 months drama free in shell, out of the 6 months we've been around, so we were a new endgame shell. All of a sudden, we had one sackholder go insane, I mean turn prick overnight. We thought this was just random, but it kept happening over and over.

Well, it appeared that quickly he developed a small faction of 3-4 members in shell split from the whole linkshell. These were member totally devoted to themselves, completely in it for themselves and not the shell, so it was really no loss. After one event, I axe'd 2 of them and another shortly after. Karma did it in for themselves.

The sad part is that one of them was next in line for Hiadate, which he was kicked not because of it, but because the way he carried himself in game. Asshat +1 is not welcome in our shell, drama gets cut out nearly instantly and all our members know this. This is why we carry on as a drama free environment.

As a shell you will see this bs now and again, as a leader you have to take swift action and get rid of it. Being a leader is not easy, it's not very fun, there's nothing in it for them. The closest thing to fun we get, and what it's all about is seeing deserving people obtain the items they really want.

What you wrote up here is the method I used to construct my shell, but I haven't seen this write up until today. How I came up with it was from all the past failures of other shells, the corruption, the lol "Drama" bs people say endgame is, which I don't see it.

Let me give everyone a tip on lol endgame *drama*. It takes 2 parties to create drama. If one party is bitching, arguing, whatever, and the other party isn't saying a word, there is no drama. What could piss off another party more than someone who refuses to argue back? We've never had one endgame drama incident with another shell, I tell everyone to hold their tongues, fook it and move on. Think about that.

Your endgame drama is only as good as your shells leadership ability to deal with the situation.

[Medivac]

my eyes hurt from reading, it was politically correct, im glad to see you didnt put things like, leaders-dont be wussy's about things, or refular members-ur the hoes, ull get ur hoe rewards after u turn enough tricks

[Carbon]

I blame this topic for there being lack of drama on BG lately.

You're on watch, Daahan.

[Khalil]

As much as everyone may like to believe, no one is impartial, not even the geat 'Leader". There is favortism in every LS wether you like it or not. The one thing I do like about my LS is that even though we have one linkshell holder (Leader), we also have many other sack holders who also have a huge impact on the LS.

[Jimm]

I agree the leader the original poster describes would be ideal, but your essentially talking about an Hobbesian approach to the politics of FFXI. The only problem is finding such an impartial single leader. Over time it's natural for any leader to become accustomed to certain people. As linkshells cycle personnel, seniority soon becomes a factor. Not only giving out items, but the value the old members have to the ls. Old members become investments that the linkshell has alot of capital(Rare/ex-Money paid-out) in. Vastly increasing their leverage compared to a new member in instances of direct or indirect confrontation. Big gaps between the political power of the Old members compared to new members creates more turnover in the long run. Keeping in mind the declining player base; minimizing turn-over rates will become even more important to long term ls health. ( 1/2 your linkshell roster every 5 months is what stable ls's on my server maintained: (Cerebrus) )

A republic, in my opinion, is best able to govern any major linkshell looking to maintain stability. Looking at following metrics(measurements)

Capital Intake or the Amount of money your ls is able to generate in any given month,

Ls Human Capital Retention or members of your linkshell and the value they build by staying in ls (Rare/ex,merits,75 jobs...etc)

Ls's ability to move quickly into new content in the game (i.e moving from Sky to Sea to HNM...etc)

Keep in mind when I say republic, I do not mean that the general linkshell population should have a vote in any matters concerning the ls or even choose their own leaders. Personally I've never thought it to be a good idea to let the general population of a linkshell decide anything of long term consequence. Keep in mind the turn-over rate of average linkshells, most people will decide based on whats good for them in the short term. It's a players job to sign on for events and think about him/herself, but it's a leaders job to think about what is best for the linkshell. This republic style leadership for a linkshell of about 45-50 active members should include around 3 leaders. The leaders don't need to be voted on, but rather emerge through networking and natural perceived ability to lead and make descions. Once clear leaders emerge they must consolidate power into those 3 and from then on be looking to protect it. Controlling the bank if they use one, Ls recruitment, resolve social problems that negatively affect the linkshell, execute and create linkshell strats, and deal with all external contracts made previously with other linkshells. They need to protect their power as well and that leads to some nice overall benefits for the linkshell.

It motivates the leaders to make rational growth oriented descions. As leaders who can consistently win and not lose their members tons of exp will naturally find alot of supporters. Leaders who are seen as providing stable or increased item flow will grow support. Leaders who are delivering strats for battles will also be seen as crucial and gain backing from additional members. The other leaders work to replicate or they will lose relative power. The outcome of management competition for support as a leader? Rational long term desicions.

Another advantage of a republic run linkshell is dilliution of power of the senior non-leaders. The split in decision making leads to new outcomes of what would have been one-sided disputes. As linkshell members will more or less go to certain leaders over others with their problems they no longer only have to only get one person to agree with them. The new member might have developed another relationship with a different leader. Leaving the final desicion on the matter being made by the non or less affected 3rd leader. It also better if you have leaders who aren't friends and disagree occasionally or often. This gives the general population more options when it comes to voicing concerns. The perception that someone who can make a difference is fighting for them goes along way in the original retention of new members. Because happy ls members are generally better ls members

Finally ls leaders are only able to have continued pull if they stay active. Which means they don't work hard at Sea for 2 months and stop after they have their Novio. This increases management motivation marked by more events and greater incoming capital flows into the coffer or human capital. Leaders are on more often and stay on longer. The increased operational hours influence growth and capital intake. Stable capital or increased intake keeps your members happy and motivated. While you can increasing your recruitment base the more successful you look to outside observers.


Note this is only for Linkshells that seek long term growth and high capital returns, some linkshells may have different goals and are not looking for such a commitment, in which case a different structure would be needed.

Also regardless of if you agree with me or not I think linkshell management within ffxi is a cool topic and hope people keep introducing new ideas and insight.