Maintaining Strong LS Leadership

[richardd]

no leaders with egirls

every post this guy does is A+, i swear to god. or at least 90% of his posts. its a Caribbean thing manng

but in all honesty, lemme stick up some ppl with vaginas that dont suck as leaders. like 50% of them are pushy/manipulative/and very childish if things dont go their way. but the other 50% are great leaders. dont get me wrong, i dont like following directions from a woman even in RL when im working at the office, gym or whatever. but for the females who arent in that category, they got their heads on straight and can really take the initiative to get shit done, and are very none-biased. mostly because they're so used to ppl hitting on them all the time, that its like "take a number, follow directions"

idk, i can name a few woman that ive been in a LS with that had some great leadership skills, but unfortunately, i can name more who haven't ;x

[D44kpunk]

Leaders always get burnt out, it's nice to have a group of people that can lead, I liked having a sack for every 6-7 members usually capping at 5 sacks. self-led linkshells are rare but they are the best if you can find one like that. Members that constantly need their hand held aren't worth the time.

DKP is the best type of loot-distribution system, I'm sorry but leader discretion always has some favor and is never fair.

Open banks are a must(meaning current transactions/status of bank is always posted and updated.), never been in a LS with a closed bank where the leaders didn't pocket some.

[drwaffles]

Leaders always get burnt out, it's nice to have a group of people that can lead, I liked having a sack for every 6-7 members usually capping at 5 sacks. self-led linkshells are rare but they are the best if you can find one like that. Members that constantly need their hand held aren't worth the time.

DKP is the best type of loot-distribution system, I'm sorry but leader discretion always has some favor and is never fair.

Open banks are a must(meaning current transactions/status of bank is always posted and updated.), never been in a LS with a closed bank where the leaders didn't pocket some.

At what point did you start making me agree with everything you say? Cut that shit out, it's no fun.

[Julian]

^ best part of having a gay ls leader imo

g(u/a)ys can be bitches too

[drwaffles]

Gay players usually annoy the hell out of me, and most of them suck in my experience.

[Julian]

Gay players usually annoy the hell out of me, and most of them suck in my experience.

Yes, they do suck.

[drwaffles]

Like walking into the path of an oncoming cruise ship.

[Starr]

DKP is best although most ls still fall under dictatorial style

[aduidarnenye]

I think a benevolent tyrant, in the style of Vetinari, is the best way to run a linkshell. DKP systems always end up with a bajillion complex rules and a linkshell oligarchy always end up with corruption and in-fighting.

I used to run a linkshell in the DKP style but I got so tired of the constant complainers about how the rules were unfair, the endless rule additions to attempt to appease them, and the total lack of initative to help themselves that I quit and refused to do anything further with the lot of them. Since then I do whatever the fuck I want when I want to do it and I don't have to answer to anyone. Much better. I really don't recommend linkshell leadership at all.

[Byrthnoth]

but in all honesty, lemme stick up some ppl with vaginas that dont suck as leaders. like 50% of them are pushy/manipulative/and very childish if things dont go their way. but the other 50% are great leaders. dont get me wrong, i dont like following directions from a woman even in RL when im working at the office, gym or whatever. but for the females who arent in that category, they got their heads on straight and can really take the initiative to get shit done, and are very none-biased. mostly because they're so used to ppl hitting on them all the time, that its like "take a number, follow directions"

idk, i can name a few woman that ive been in a LS with that had some great leadership skills, but unfortunately, i can name more who haven't ;x

I'm having flashbacks of Team Jew formation for some reason!

Rich, I have something important to ask you! I want a lesbian friend. Not for anything pervy, I'm just playing Pokeminority and I've gotta catch'em all. I'm having a hard time attracting one though, as they seem to be immune to my wily masculine charms. Got any ideas?

[Amastacia]

1) Fuck LS banks. Sell/split everything. When practicable, set prices on rare/ex, and sell/split those (internally possibly with a discount) as well. Only downside to the selling of rare/ex is it gives a slight unfair bias towards richer players, but if every active member is regularly earning gil, they should acquire what they need to buy what they want.

2) Not a big fan of single tyrants. If you have multiple areas of interest (sky, sea, ZNM, HNM, etc.) have a small cadre of leaders who are comfortable leading one or more of them, with a primary leader for each focus. That way the guy who is really dedicated to and good at running Dynamis can get a break on ZNM nights. Ensure that anyone given a leadership position is active and people listen to them.

As a matter of preference I don't like point systems, but for any other system to work, the LS size needs to be moderately small and the majority of members need to at least respect each other even if they don't terribly like each other. Or at the very least understand that open disrespect carries serious consequences up to and including removal from the linkshell with no prior warning.

[Kkel]

My linkshell has operated on the following system for most of its existence;

1) Can we kill it? Okay, let's go kill it.
2) Did it drop something? Okay, can anyone use it? Give it to them. No? Sell it.

And besides that we do more or less what we feel like doing (i.e; no LS-specific Limbus/ZNM/Salvage/etc, only Dynamis, the rest is what you can put together of your own initiative and run the way you feel like running it).

One of the reasons this has worked for us is because of how we pearl. We've pretty much always had a LS full of (mostly) highly competent players. You can pluck any number of random LS members, dump them into a situation, and they'll do what needs to get done because they know what they're doing and trust that their LSmates know the same. LS leaders provide direction and guidance, but the shell can operate as a unit/units in their absence.

Even the best leaders and point systems can only do so much if you have an LS full of retards and jackoffs.

[Kaylia]

Personally, a strong linkshell is one that doesn't need sacks. There is only 20-30 members , you can take decision as a group and not as person/clique. That said, you need at least 7-8 person who like playing the game, and are always willing to help, but the "sack/linkshell" shouldnt have any additional powers (people will listen to you anyway when they know they can trust you).

Of course, you need some sort of mediator that you can trust on top, because there will be issue eventually, but people need to remember it's just a game, and they should play it like one.



For the loot (which is the source of 98% of drama), whoever is leading (organizing events) need to take the reward last, or at least, show some detachment in order to make everyone feel bad for being greedy lootwhore. We all want loot, but when the leader do it for himself, you know it's going to turn sour sooner or later. Best way for this is to split everything between member who took part of the events (everyone making 300k after dyna > one person making 6m).



tlrdr:
- no strong leadership/ranking system
- cool headed mediator
- no lootwhoring



[edit]

Or you could just hold everyone by the balls in a money making environment. People will do anything to get their share of the cake. But it's kinda sad when people play the game this way.

[richardd]

I'm having flashbacks of Team Jew formation for some reason!

Rich, I have something important to ask you! I want a lesbian friend. Not for anything pervy, I'm just playing Pokeminority and I've gotta catch'em all. I'm having a hard time attracting one though, as they seem to be immune to my wily masculine charms. Got any ideas?

god yeah, i remember the convo we had on vent when we made our 2nd salvage group "team panties". "NO FEMALES!" hahaha, but we let taush get a peice of our pie. who can resist our pie tho? she was the greatest. def in the minority of "girl players who dont suck/manipulate/whore out for items/attention whore, etc" she can thank her RL pants she got in with us. :D

[Chopchop]

If you don't Bot GTFO!!

that is all that matters !

[Duber]

In my opinion the most important is to build a solid group and work on friendship. Do stuff you actually want/need because you like and enjoy playing with your group.

Drops will eventually come, and as someone said before, if they don't like it, they should leave.

As long as you are united you won't fall, it doesn't matter if you can only do lowman farms as long as you enjoy it.

Of course I'm talking about medium-small shells, not big ones that pretend to monopolize everything 24/7.

[Dazusu]

This is an interesting topic.

Leading my own Linkshell for the past year as tought me a lot about the way people think and express themselves. To keep a Linkshell moving forward at a good pace and keep the majority of your members happy is incredibly difficult; and aside from the personal satisfaction you get from the success of your team - there are no rewards for doing it.

I was unfortunate enough to be a member of many Linkshells with corrupt leadership. Generally those that dictated which loot went where and 90% of the time the loot was being directed at those completely undeserving. The bank from these Linkshells was never open, never transparent, never discussed and seemed to keep disappearing into a black hole. Actually, that's unfair. The epic amount of gil made was apparently spent on Dynamis and Einherjar. (Not sure where the other 95% of the bank went though.)

So to the point, and to answer the OP. Successful I feel requires the following:

Leaders need to distance themselves from all opportunities of favouritism and bias.
As impartial as a leader claims to be, they will always have friends who are closer than others. They will always have favourites and they will always take dislikes to people. It's human nature to bond with people in different ways based on their persona and attitude. A strong point system or attendance system is absolutely essential in keeping a fair Linkshell.

I personally have no direct control over distribution in my Linkshell - It's all based on a weighted point system. This ensures the highest earners of points (usually those with the highest attendance) can't monopolise everything that drops or hold off on using points until the first item that takes their fancy appears in the loot pool.

Linkshell banks need to be transparent and distributed.
Giving an entire Linkshells earnings to a single person to upgrade a relic(or Mythic) is somewhere close to retarded (IMO). Splitting the bank evenly and fairly (more for people with higher attendance, less for those with lower attendance) makes everyone happy. Those working on a relic can buy their currency. People might want to upgrade their gear or work on a craft. They were there to help earn the gil - why funnel it into one person?

A leader needs to be able to say No.
A leader who can't say no is a leader who is going to fail. It's worth while keeping in mind that you can't please 100% of people 100% of the time. There's going to be instances when you have to say 'No' to someone for whatever reason. It's going to upset them. But if you're a good and respected leader then generally people will accept your answer.

Two-way respect and patience is essential.
Your members need to respect one another, and they need to respect you too. For them to do that, you need to show the same respect to them, and have a great deal of patience. From time to time people will disagree with a decision a leader makes. A strong leader needs to stick with their decision and concisely explain their reason so as not to exasperate any situations.

A lot of the time people disagreeing/complaining with a decision/ruling comes from them not completely understanding the entire situation. Assuming the leader knows what the hell (s)he's doing - they will have a reason that will satisfy the complainee.

Don't try it if you don't know the content
A quick way to lose respect and credibility, and potentially cause your Linkshell to fall apart, is by not knowing the content for which you're trying to lead events. The majority of end-game is repetetive and most leaders know it inside out. For those that don't, it can create an air of discomfort for members. (The only exception to this is for newly added content, obviously)

Leading is a thankless job, everyone takes their leader for granted. Strong leaders need to be able to swallow this and grind on with the job.

To sum it up, a strong leader is patient, decisive, knowledgable, social and makes attempts to distance themselves from bias, favouritism and opportunistic behavior. This creates a happy and successful Linkshell.

[Enygma55]

My opinion to create a successful LS is to split all drops among the campers/helpers or bank it and split it all between all members using some simple type of attendance tracking.

If someone wants an item bad enough, Eventually they'll make enough money to buy said item. Selling at a discount to LS members helps move product and continues to spread the gil among the LS.

Banking all loot for 1 person to get a relic is probably the biggest mistake any LS can make.

And also to dont force people to come to camps that are already full or fully able to handle said HNM. If you have Tiamat claimed and 18 people already there, no need to call all 30 people to come watch.

Only thing I find funny about a point system is giving points to people for a mandatory camp. Points should be rewarded if you want to come. If you don't come you don't get points and end result > less payout or loot.

Isnt that how it works? IRL you work you get paid, if you dont work you dont get paid. No one is forcing you to go to work, you do it to get paid as a personal necessity towards yourself.

Higher end items that require more LS farming time would be dictated by the LS leaders/officers ( sea/sky/ZNM/etc.. ). These decisions usually give the other members genereal idea how bias upper management is.

[Shamaya]

good comments in here ヽ(´ー｀)ノ

I haven't done anything more then skim atm, but I'll be sure to take a thorough read while I'm bored at work tomorrow.

Until then though, I wanted to make a distinction between most of the advice I'm seeing so far, and my more specific inquiry,
LS Policy - things like "no ls bank, do sell/splits", "no leaders w/ e-girls", "to bot or not to bot", "dkp or... ", "big or small ls?", etc
Foundation / Leadership Structure - Who are the officers, when can they log in, how much can they play, what are their incentives, which duties must be taken care of every day/week/month without fail.

Leading is a thankless job, everyone takes their leader for granted. Strong leaders need to be able to swallow this and grind on with the job.

I'd say LS leaders need to have the four following things, in order of importance:
1) High playtime.
- It's necessary for an LS leader to always be around if you want to be a successful shell.

My linkshell has great players, tools, and policies. But even if we can low-man well, even if we monopolize sw/ix and great sell/splits, even if we're camping things 24/7, even if we have a fully automated dkp/attendance/drop-management system integrated into the website, viewable by all.. we are a shell of what we used to be and could be.

I think many of you know what I'm talking about. The feeling that your linkshell has latent potential that feels all-too dormant. Shit just isn't going as smoothly as it used to or could. Why?

What I underlined in the quote from Dazusu is what I feel is the root of the problem. Leadership shouldn't be a thankless job. Sure, many of us have been in shells where the leader was online like all day, was phenomenal at strategy and coordination, and took care of all the daily managerial tasks with little or no whining. But what happens when that person crashes? Or what happens when you don't have one of those leaders?

I don't want to leave my linkshell's success up to chance. My current linkshell had one of those selfless, intelligent, constantly-online leaders. Where is he now? Playing Aion. I haven't seen him in weeks. We have some great officers now, but they have real lives and I can't blame them for having limits. But there's shit that must get done on a consistent basis. How can we establish a linkshell foundation that guarantees stability for the long term?

My idea, as I mentioned, was to set strict requirements for linkshell officers. Then, award them substantial enough gil/dkp bonuses as incentive. I don't think there's anything unethical about that--it's simply rewarding them for what they're in a sense doing, a job. For me, I don't have the time to do any of that crap. But when I log in, it would be nice to see that shit's being taken care of--and if it's not, be able to say "look negro, I'm paying you, so do your job correctly or someone else can do it." It would be great to have someone to hold accountable, rather than look retarded asking your shellholder "where are our sea torques?" "where's my DKP from wednesday's event?" "why weren't we camping Khimmy?" only to have the "I'm not superman, would you like to do my job?" card thrown in your face. And if it means shit actually gets taken care of, the investment will pay off for everyone. However, I have the feeling that my idea is too naiive and simplistic.

I'm looking for real measures that LS members with a full-time job and RL, such as myself, can take towards actually improving their LS, even if they don't have the time to put in to managing the day-to-day tasks. What kind of measures can be made now--not next week or next month, without having to depend on a selfless benevolent individual to come out of thin air to guide the way.

[Dooom]

The most simple thing members can do is to be on time to events, or if they normally attend in a "key role" (like that guy who you count on to show up as whm all the time or whatever), to let leaders know they won't be there. Nothing like standing around 15 mins after your event was due to start, wondering where person X is gonna be or if person Y should have to change job which'll take them 10 mins or whatever.

Obviously this doesn't apply to all events or shells, but it's the one most relevant to my situation as a leader.