Greetings,
I am not yet fully settled in my new/old office, but I guess I'd better make this report now before forgetting to do so ;) First of all, I'd like to thank GA Ronin and SA Kawolski for giving me once more the opportunity to serve the Hammer at this level of responsability. Thanks to FA StarLion as well for taking care of the office since I left it last december.
A little introduction about myself for the ones who may not have heard of me; I joined the Emperor's Hammer in May 1998, in Teth Squadron, before taking command of Tornado Squadron aboard the ISD Challenge a few months later. I served then aboard this ship as CMDR, WC, even COM (for two days :P) for around a year. I was then asked for the second time to become CA:TAC by former TAC Dev, I finally accepted his proposition, and then served as CA under him, then under HA Kawolski for the next 14 months. During my time as Command Attaché, I run the Phoenix Project which goals were to bring all released so far TIE battles to current standards about briefings etc, as well as to correct major bugs encountered. This huge project took 10 months of hard work and dedication from many people, andI eventually was awarded the Order of the Renegade for managing the thing. Soon after, HA Kawolski left the TAC Office and I became Tactical Officer in September 2000. Some serious RL matters led me to join the reserves in December, giving the commands of the TAC Office to FA StarLion. I came back as a FM in Tornado in last April, to help them through the Squadron League, and now my help is needed again in the Tactical Office. The Frenchie is back as TAC, scary isn't it ?
Now, time for some Tactical Office news....
1. Changes in command
Sooner this week, AD Arso Slyth resigned from CA:TAC, followed by TAC/FA StarLion who stepped down as CA:TAC/TCHC. I have been appointed TAC then.
2. No CA:TAC2 sought
I won't take any application for an additional CA. I don't need one right now, and should I take one, I guess I wouldn't need applications.
3. New missions and battles released
I have released yesterday all the stuff announced by FA StarLion is his last report. Go fly TC-XWA#17, it rocks.
4. Updated XWA Battles
Before being appointed TAC, I was in the process of flying all released XWA Battles and making some correction to them. I am pleased to release updated versions of TC-XWA #1 to #7, #9 and of IW-XWA #23.
5. Ban on new submissions
The Tactical Office will not accept new free mission or battle submission until further notice. *Updated* versions from authors are accepted though. This decision is made for two reasons:
- First, I need to make an audit of the Tactical Office to evaluate its current situation, following the resignations of both previous CAs, and to get a listing of the battles currently in the hands of the Tactical Staff.
- Secondly, new requirements are going to be set for submissions; you will need to pass the appropriate IWATS Course (TM,XTM,XAM) before being able to submit new missions, and you will have to send along with your battle/mission a pilot file to prove you did playtest it; little and painless requirements which should improve the efficiency of the Tactical Staff. The Tactical Manual is going to be updated as soon as possible.
6. New requirements for submissions
Just read above ! Like IWATS Core for pilots, or SM/2 for CMDRs, the IWATS mission creation courses will become compulsory before being able to make custom mission submissions. A pilot file will be needed as well to prove you playtested your creation. Playtesting is the very basic rule of mission creation, but it seems some don't, so...
7. FCHG Competition
At last I found the submissions in the current mess of the office, results are not yet done for all platforms, give us some more time. I may release several battles as FCHG Battles if they are worth enough, and we are considering the possibility of organizing such a competition twice a year, around the FC, EH's birthday, like CoLs. FCHG Battles would be something like the best of the best submitted to the TAC Office.
8. EH Timeline - collaboration with the LO Office
The Tactical will probably give a hand to the LO Staff for the EH Timeline; creating battles following the official EH Timeline is IMHO of high importance, and the Tactical Office will give its support concerning battle playtesting/fixing.
9. Reminder on mission skipping
Mission skipping is only allowed if a bug prevents you to complete a mission. It is strictly forbidden to skip a mission just in order to complete more easily the battle if no fatal bug is present in this mission. Even in XWA where skipping a mission is an ingame option, only use it in case of bugs. If you encounter a fatal bug and skip a mission, tell your CMDR when submitting the pilot file. CMDRs, please state then the mission has been skipped because of a bug; a bug report MUST also be filled by the pilot. Failure to do so may result in the cancellation of the BSF, the played battle being then removed from the pilot profile. The aim of this rule, part of the TC Cheating Policy since it exists, is to prevent people from gaining easy FCHG points in skipping missions without reason (FCHG points are awarded for the whole battle, even if you skipped a mission) whereas some pilots would take time to complete all missions. Fairness...:-)
10. Cheating
Don't even try. Never. You would be caught one day or another. And you would feed Kramer's scorpions. Don't make me angry...;-)
11. "Battle of the month"
I may highlight one battle per month in my NL submissions, not sure yet how it will be selected, maybe by selecting the best review posted on a battle in the past month. So rate the battles you fly, give your comments, suggestions, mission creators can only improve thier work with some feedback ;-)
12. Tactical Office Audit
Once I will have collected all the files currently in our hands, I will issue a list of the battles/missions currently in the TAC Office, and the Tactical Staff will be able to work again. I plan to make some brainstorming meetings with the Tactical Staff and all people involved to improve the current organization of the battle review process. I will open soon a thread on the Mission Creation Message Board where you will be able to make your own comments etc. I may also set up several polls to get your opinion on what you would like to see from the Tactical Office: more and more battles to fly, even if lower quality, or few battles but with higher standards; I would personaly aim the Tactical Office to higher quality stuff even if it means less battles released, but I would like to get your feedback before. I hope to make com-mu-ni-ca-tion one of the main word of the TAC Office. The work load is very high for all the Tactical Staff, but we will try as much as possible to take the time to let you know what's going on.
OK, this "first" report is quite long, but hey, informative I guess. See you next week.
TAC-PROF/FA Striker/CS-3/SSSD Sovereign