Congratulations to the recently appointed, including the new LO (FA Abk) and IWCOM (NiksaVel). The position of Grand Moff has been vacated and I'll be posting requirements for it soon on the TIE Corps site. The deadline for the current Newsletter has changed. For this one only, it will be extended til 1st of April. This is because the issue will be featured around Jedi Knight 2, which is supposed to be out on 29th (contrary to the rubbish that EB in Australia is telling customers). The extension is to give us an opportunity to slip in a couple reviews of the game and some pretty pictures. In addition, if you have an article you want to write about JK2 (or JK1 or related things), let me know.
Next month I'll be starting a nice little review of all COs and nice stuff like that. It will be quite comprehensive, ranging from website (usability, how well updated it is) through to actual achievements. Based on this, a report will be drafted with recommendations on what to do with each person, highlighting areas of improvement. I'll be hoping to make it a regular review of sorts.
Lastly, there is a poll on the TIE Corps site about my performance as XO. Some people have opted to put some comments there, so I've decided to answer some of them in a public area. :P
"I'd
rate him higher, but I dont know all that he does. But being a former CMDR myself
I'll give him the benefit of the doubt of a really good job for things done
"behind the scenes" :P I think the TC has really slowed down lately.
I'd like to see something flare us up again, though that may require a new game
platform.... but never know, the next competition might peek interests."
The slowing down in the TIE Corps is an issue that's been raised by a few people.
And yeah, the game platform issue is central to the theories behind this slowing
down. The FO and I will be discussing this soon. In addition, I'm hoping that
incorporating the Enemies of the EH into future competitions will increase interest.
"I
never see a XO report that is sent out to the whole fleet. The FO never does
that either. I liked it when you big wigs did that."
Well, I used to do it as TO, sending out a "TO Communique". I haven't
really done that as XO because most of the stuff doesn't directly apply to the
average Flight Member and most of the contents of the reports are just repeating
information that's available on the domain. However, I might look into mailing
the TC in the future on a monthly basis.
"He
is more active than some XOs, maybe not very popular, but that isn't a requirement..
I would have like to seen past XOs do something like this."
I think this is something people are always going to throw around, the issue
of popularity. However, I think that someone actually being capable of doing
a job and doing it well is more important than being everyone's best mate. :P
That being said, I'm trying to keep some of my more infamous personality problems
under control :P
"The
work the current XO has been doing is pretty much behind the scenes. As a FL,
I am no longer privvy to the inner workings of the executive office or command
staff. However, this is what I have noticed. It still seems the XO is doing
TO work for some reason? This has put some shadow of doubt on Admiral Havoc's
performance and/or ability as a CO. The XO has not responded to my inquiry regarding
the SCO. The XO also still seems to carry a negative bias towards some members
of the fleet as is backed-up by the lack of support for the XO I have heard
in my dealings with personnel - both line, flag, AND admiralty. These personnel
have formed their opinions from the XO's position as TO in the past and as XO
currently as well as the general attitude, behavior, and personality of the
XO. As the XO, I believe it is his duty to act in an impartial manner in ways
that totally represent the fleet. The XO should NOT act on biases or prejudices
against other members. I firmly believe the current XO will not surpass the
accomplishments of Kawolski. The largest advantage of the current XO, however,
is his extensive experience in multiple subgroups. However, his training in
the fleet seems to be one sided and does not have the charisma of a leader which
is primary as a XO. This quality would have been learned in the TIE Corps had
he stayed there long enough to actually be a successful squadron commander.
I am not a supporter of people who jump from short time CMDR to Dean and then
CO. High positions in multiple subgroups does NOT define experience in command,
necessarily. I should voice that the current XO is by far the most unpopular
XO in the EH's history as I have heard widespread discontent with the selection.
However, both Paladin and Faethor were worse choices. Paladin does not have
the time or skills to be XO anymore. Faethor, well...he's another story. I will
however note, that as a loyal EH officer, it is my duty to remain fully loyal
and obedient to the high command (whom I consider to be the FC and XO). So,
although I do not support the XO-ship of SA Astatine, I will abide by his regulations
and decisions and support him as the only choice at the time."
This one is fun. :P I'm doing "TO work" because at the moment, the
TO site coding is a mess and I can't give Havoc a login and password on it.
So, as a result, I'm approving TC competitions still (which uses the same interface
as approving DB comps, a duty for me as DGM. Might as well kill two birds with
one stone). I didn't respond to the inquiry about SCO because it was included
in an email that was primarily about an error on the TC site and I totally missed
the line asking about the SCO. Yes, shock, horror, I'm human. As for bias, well,
everyone has that and anyone who says they don't have bias are lying to themselves.
My biases, unlike some people, are not based on personality issues or thinking
that "Bob is a jerk". They more lay in the performance of people and
how I feel people execute their positions. If they execute it poorly, then they
get a little black mark against their name, regardless of how nice or nasty
a person they are. Passing the achievements of Kawolski will be hard. However,
it's important to note that most of Kawolski's achievements are contained within
the TC database, which he made as FO, not as XO. I'm confused about the author's
next point about how high positions (ie. command positions) in multiple subgroups
don't equal command experience. The jump from CMDR to Dean is a rare thing and
in my case, it seems it was a good decision of the XO at the time. The progression
from Dean to TO was a totally logical and natural one and to argue it's "unnatural"
or "bad" is a bit silly. Popularity, as pointed out in a previous
comment, is something that doesn't bother me. I don't lay in bed everynight
hoping that every EH member loves me. I've love to know where this widespread
discontent is coming from since I never heard a bad thing about my appointment
either directly or indirectly. The simple fact of the matter was that I was
*the* senior CO on the Command Staff, I had and still have good working relationships
with the SGCOMs, knowledge of the subgroups and all that nice stuff. It would
seem then that any "discontent" about my appointment would, once again,
be based upon the "Ast is a jerk" syndrome and not any real evidence
of my inability to do the job.
And that's about it. :P
--
XO/SA Astatine/CS-2/SSSD Sovereign MoH/ICx2/OoR/GOE/GSx2/SS/BSx3/PC/ISM/MoI-DC/IS-2BR-1GR/LoC/CoS/CoE/CoLx2/LoA/OV-4E
e-mail: jpboyce@indigo.net.au