Welcome to Squad Five
Hugh
CameramanSan Francisco, CA Join Date: 2010-04-18 Member: 71444NS2 Developer, NS2 Playtester, Reinforced - Silver, Reinforced - Onos, WC 2013 - Shadow, Subnautica Developer, Pistachionauts
CameramanSan Francisco, CA Join Date: 2010-04-18 Member: 71444NS2 Developer, NS2 Playtester, Reinforced - Silver, Reinforced - Onos, WC 2013 - Shadow, Subnautica Developer, Pistachionauts
<div class="IPBDescription">What's what where and how</div>Welcome to Squad Five - Natural Selection 2 needs you.
<b><!--coloro:#FF8C00--><span style="color:#FF8C00"><!--/coloro-->Introduction<!--colorc--></span><!--/colorc--></b>
Unknown Worlds is a very small outfit, with limited resources. There will be no big NS2 advertising campaign. There will be no PAX/Gamescon hyper mega-booth. There will be no 'fly all the press to Hawaii' launch party. All we are, and all we have, is you. We're in this together. Without you, we wouldn't be here. And without your help now, NS2 will never be the huge success we all know it can be.
Squad Five is a replacement for the old E-Team. It is intended to provide the infrastructure you, the NS2 community, need to spread the NS2 word any way you want. Squad Five is built on the same theory as the Spark Engine. With Spark, we knew that you could all make amazing content much faster than we could. For example, Psyk0man's Summit, Player's Overmind Mod, or the rapid evolution of Skycam under Huze and Dgelneshi. So we gave you the tools, and let you do what you wanted.
We also know that you can create NS2 promotions, content, and fun much faster than we can. You've got the crazy ideas, the skills, and the people. Compared to what you can do, we may as well be a fly yelling at a Deadmau5 concert. Because you are the concert. So we are going to give you the tools, and let you do what you want.
<b><!--coloro:#FF8C00--><span style="color:#FF8C00"><!--/coloro-->Thinking<!--colorc--></span><!--/colorc--></b>
Anyone can 'do something' to promote NS2. Many of you do it all the time. Hell, two years ago I said to my brother: 'Imma make NS2 videos 'n put 'em on the 'Tube.' He looked at me strangely (understandable). You get the picture.
Squad Five is going to bring a bit more organisation to the table. There are two objectives that more organisation will help us achieve:
1. Recognise and reward outstanding effort by community members
2. Increase the resources available to community members
We are asking that inside Squad 5, you put all your efforts into <!--coloro:#00FFFF--><span style="color:#00FFFF"><!--/coloro--><b>Projects</b><!--colorc--></span><!--/colorc-->.
<b><!--coloro:#FF8C00--><span style="color:#FF8C00"><!--/coloro-->What are those...<!--colorc--></span><!--/colorc--></b>
<!--coloro:#00FFFF--><span style="color:#00FFFF"><!--/coloro--><b>Projects</b><!--colorc--></span><!--/colorc--> are anything that could lead to little pieces of win for NS2. For example:
- Creating new graphics for an NS2 livestream
- Making an thorough informative first post on a forum
- Organising a tournament
- Creating a new, very high quality map
- Filming great frag videos
I'll bet there are alot of you that have all sorts of crazy ideas for how to promote NS2. In Squad Five, we want to give you the meeting place and tools to put those ideas into <!--coloro:#00FFFF--><span style="color:#00FFFF"><!--/coloro--><b>projects</b><!--colorc--></span><!--/colorc-->, and make them happen.
<b><!--coloro:#FF8C00--><span style="color:#FF8C00"><!--/coloro-->How does it work?<!--colorc--></span><!--/colorc--></b>
You've thought about something awesome, and decided you want to make it happen. What now? <b><!--coloro:#00FF00--><span style="color:#00FF00"><!--/coloro-->First, make a post in this forum<!--colorc--></span><!--/colorc--></b>. For the first few threads, one of us here at UWE will come into the thread and invite you to a <b>37 Signals <!--coloro:#00FF00--><span style="color:#00FF00"><!--/coloro-->Basecamp<!--colorc--></span><!--/colorc--> <!--coloro:#00FFFF--><span style="color:#00FFFF"><!--/coloro-->Project<!--colorc--></span><!--/colorc--></b> - This becomes your personal space where you can store everything / collaborate / create awesomeness.
After we've created one for you, you can create your own <b><!--coloro:#00FFFF--><span style="color:#00FFFF"><!--/coloro-->projects<!--colorc--></span><!--/colorc--></b> in Basecamp, and invite other community members to those <!--coloro:#00FFFF--><span style="color:#00FFFF"><!--/coloro-->projects<!--colorc--></span><!--/colorc-->. We here at UWE will no longer need to invite new people, and effectively, you guys have complete 'admin' control over what projects are launched and who can get access to them.
<b><!--coloro:#FF8C00--><span style="color:#FF8C00"><!--/coloro-->What are the rewards?<!--colorc--></span><!--/colorc--></b>
Out eternal gratitude, the ability to shape the NS2 'marketing' campaign, and the lovely icons you saw on the blog post. These will appear on the forums and in game. Each week, we will post a list on the blog congratulating those that have earned Squad 5 status. <b><!--coloro:#00FF00--><span style="color:#00FF00"><!--/coloro-->Icon awards will be subjective<!--colorc--></span><!--/colorc--></b>. We may retroactively award them for outstanding effort on a project before the launch of Squad 5.
If you make a <i><b>sustained, positive, and reasonable effort</b></i> to support the promotion of NS2 and / or the vibrancy of its community, and<i><b> document the effort in the squad five system</b></i>, you will be awarded the blue icon. Silver and Gold are 'big deals' and we will be awarding them extremely sparingly.
<b><i>Remember - if you don't create a forum post we won't award the icons no matter how awesome your contribution is.</i></b>
Retroactive awards (Such as for outstanding mods, maps, music etc) will start next week. We will miss people, thats inevitable, but we will do our best to retroactively award fairly. The reason we are creating this system is so that we can make sure to recognise outstanding work in the <i>future</i>, so bear with us.
<b><!--coloro:#FF8C00--><span style="color:#FF8C00"><!--/coloro-->What are the rules?<!--colorc--></span><!--/colorc--></b>
- Being a jerk on Basecamp will be treated the same way as being a jerk on the forums. Any action we are forced to take, such as deleting you from basecamp, will flow through to the forums.
- When you receive a Basecamp invite, you must use your forum name and forum avatar. Every Basecamp account must tie to a forum name and forum avatar - if they don't we'll delete them.
- Don't spam or abuse Basecamp. If you treat it like a sewage plant, we will have to pull the plug on the whole show.
- <!--coloro:#00FF00--><span style="color:#00FF00"><!--/coloro--><b>Create a forum thread prefixed [Project] for any project you start</b><!--colorc--></span><!--/colorc-->. Any Basecamp project without an accompanying forum thread will be deleted. We will assume threads without [Project] are just discussions, and won't look inside them to see if people need Basecamp invites.
- Have fun!
Questions? :)
<b><!--coloro:#FF8C00--><span style="color:#FF8C00"><!--/coloro-->Introduction<!--colorc--></span><!--/colorc--></b>
Unknown Worlds is a very small outfit, with limited resources. There will be no big NS2 advertising campaign. There will be no PAX/Gamescon hyper mega-booth. There will be no 'fly all the press to Hawaii' launch party. All we are, and all we have, is you. We're in this together. Without you, we wouldn't be here. And without your help now, NS2 will never be the huge success we all know it can be.
Squad Five is a replacement for the old E-Team. It is intended to provide the infrastructure you, the NS2 community, need to spread the NS2 word any way you want. Squad Five is built on the same theory as the Spark Engine. With Spark, we knew that you could all make amazing content much faster than we could. For example, Psyk0man's Summit, Player's Overmind Mod, or the rapid evolution of Skycam under Huze and Dgelneshi. So we gave you the tools, and let you do what you wanted.
We also know that you can create NS2 promotions, content, and fun much faster than we can. You've got the crazy ideas, the skills, and the people. Compared to what you can do, we may as well be a fly yelling at a Deadmau5 concert. Because you are the concert. So we are going to give you the tools, and let you do what you want.
<b><!--coloro:#FF8C00--><span style="color:#FF8C00"><!--/coloro-->Thinking<!--colorc--></span><!--/colorc--></b>
Anyone can 'do something' to promote NS2. Many of you do it all the time. Hell, two years ago I said to my brother: 'Imma make NS2 videos 'n put 'em on the 'Tube.' He looked at me strangely (understandable). You get the picture.
Squad Five is going to bring a bit more organisation to the table. There are two objectives that more organisation will help us achieve:
1. Recognise and reward outstanding effort by community members
2. Increase the resources available to community members
We are asking that inside Squad 5, you put all your efforts into <!--coloro:#00FFFF--><span style="color:#00FFFF"><!--/coloro--><b>Projects</b><!--colorc--></span><!--/colorc-->.
<b><!--coloro:#FF8C00--><span style="color:#FF8C00"><!--/coloro-->What are those...<!--colorc--></span><!--/colorc--></b>
<!--coloro:#00FFFF--><span style="color:#00FFFF"><!--/coloro--><b>Projects</b><!--colorc--></span><!--/colorc--> are anything that could lead to little pieces of win for NS2. For example:
- Creating new graphics for an NS2 livestream
- Making an thorough informative first post on a forum
- Organising a tournament
- Creating a new, very high quality map
- Filming great frag videos
I'll bet there are alot of you that have all sorts of crazy ideas for how to promote NS2. In Squad Five, we want to give you the meeting place and tools to put those ideas into <!--coloro:#00FFFF--><span style="color:#00FFFF"><!--/coloro--><b>projects</b><!--colorc--></span><!--/colorc-->, and make them happen.
<b><!--coloro:#FF8C00--><span style="color:#FF8C00"><!--/coloro-->How does it work?<!--colorc--></span><!--/colorc--></b>
You've thought about something awesome, and decided you want to make it happen. What now? <b><!--coloro:#00FF00--><span style="color:#00FF00"><!--/coloro-->First, make a post in this forum<!--colorc--></span><!--/colorc--></b>. For the first few threads, one of us here at UWE will come into the thread and invite you to a <b>37 Signals <!--coloro:#00FF00--><span style="color:#00FF00"><!--/coloro-->Basecamp<!--colorc--></span><!--/colorc--> <!--coloro:#00FFFF--><span style="color:#00FFFF"><!--/coloro-->Project<!--colorc--></span><!--/colorc--></b> - This becomes your personal space where you can store everything / collaborate / create awesomeness.
After we've created one for you, you can create your own <b><!--coloro:#00FFFF--><span style="color:#00FFFF"><!--/coloro-->projects<!--colorc--></span><!--/colorc--></b> in Basecamp, and invite other community members to those <!--coloro:#00FFFF--><span style="color:#00FFFF"><!--/coloro-->projects<!--colorc--></span><!--/colorc-->. We here at UWE will no longer need to invite new people, and effectively, you guys have complete 'admin' control over what projects are launched and who can get access to them.
<b><!--coloro:#FF8C00--><span style="color:#FF8C00"><!--/coloro-->What are the rewards?<!--colorc--></span><!--/colorc--></b>
Out eternal gratitude, the ability to shape the NS2 'marketing' campaign, and the lovely icons you saw on the blog post. These will appear on the forums and in game. Each week, we will post a list on the blog congratulating those that have earned Squad 5 status. <b><!--coloro:#00FF00--><span style="color:#00FF00"><!--/coloro-->Icon awards will be subjective<!--colorc--></span><!--/colorc--></b>. We may retroactively award them for outstanding effort on a project before the launch of Squad 5.
If you make a <i><b>sustained, positive, and reasonable effort</b></i> to support the promotion of NS2 and / or the vibrancy of its community, and<i><b> document the effort in the squad five system</b></i>, you will be awarded the blue icon. Silver and Gold are 'big deals' and we will be awarding them extremely sparingly.
<b><i>Remember - if you don't create a forum post we won't award the icons no matter how awesome your contribution is.</i></b>
Retroactive awards (Such as for outstanding mods, maps, music etc) will start next week. We will miss people, thats inevitable, but we will do our best to retroactively award fairly. The reason we are creating this system is so that we can make sure to recognise outstanding work in the <i>future</i>, so bear with us.
<b><!--coloro:#FF8C00--><span style="color:#FF8C00"><!--/coloro-->What are the rules?<!--colorc--></span><!--/colorc--></b>
- Being a jerk on Basecamp will be treated the same way as being a jerk on the forums. Any action we are forced to take, such as deleting you from basecamp, will flow through to the forums.
- When you receive a Basecamp invite, you must use your forum name and forum avatar. Every Basecamp account must tie to a forum name and forum avatar - if they don't we'll delete them.
- Don't spam or abuse Basecamp. If you treat it like a sewage plant, we will have to pull the plug on the whole show.
- <!--coloro:#00FF00--><span style="color:#00FF00"><!--/coloro--><b>Create a forum thread prefixed [Project] for any project you start</b><!--colorc--></span><!--/colorc-->. Any Basecamp project without an accompanying forum thread will be deleted. We will assume threads without [Project] are just discussions, and won't look inside them to see if people need Basecamp invites.
- Have fun!
Questions? :)
Comments
-5 Squad 5 points right there!
;)
if that's not a win then i don't know what is
Also Poo Fighter should get an award for his awesome videos :) Looking forward to all that will sprout from this, sounds awesome.
NICE
As long the performance is at this state, any slightly more performance intensive lua mods or any map that might be artistically beautiful is not feasible at all. Why should there be videos that also show a lot of the crashing and issues with the (core) game? You can always point to the beta state of the time, but at some point (and I'm pretty sure this is before the release in summer) this should be fixed. And constantly giving that impression of a game that looks (and plays!) nice, but having those severse issues is not something that you should want.
Okay, having a little icon in game might be some encouragement and providing a platform to get things started is helpful, but on the other hand, I don't think that's what has been holding people back. After all, if you are willing to invest time into NS2, you can probably also invest some time in setting anything suitable up for your project, whether officially on UWEs end or unofficially by creating your own project (eg. with an own website) [as some people already did - GameOvermind, ns2_turtle, etc]
I'm not saying this a bad approach, but getting the game into an more acceptable state in terms of game play and performance would certainly provide a more encouraging environment. Whilst I can only speak for myself, I also know that some friends do have similar opinions.
A lot of the responses to this post have been about modding etc but just remember you dont need programming skills to promote NS people! Whats being asked here is using any skills you have to get the word out there, making fan vids on youtube, hell even getting a nice detailed post about the game into a forum your a part of.
Also in response to Omega, even if the tone of his post is a little negative he does have a point - is this squad5 initiative coming at a time UWE feel happy to show off the product (even with performance issues-Aussie servers im looking at you)? Are we thinking, start planning now in base camp for project releases in a few patches time?
A lot of the responses to this post have been about modding etc but just remember you dont need programming skills to promote NS people! Whats being asked here is using any skills you have to get the word out there, making fan vids on youtube, hell even getting a nice detailed post about the game into a forum your a part of.
Also in response to Omega, even if the tone of his post is a little negative he does have a point - is this squad5 initiative coming at a time UWE feel happy to show off the product (even with performance issues-Aussie servers im looking at you)? Are we thinking, start planning now in base camp for project releases in a few patches time?<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
I still don't see what's all the fuss is about. I find the game quite enjoyable at this time. Considering this is still beta, i don't see anything gravely wrong with promoting it to a wider audience.
As long the performance is at this state, any slightly more performance intensive lua mods or any map that might be artistically beautiful is not feasible at all. Why should there be videos that also show a lot of the crashing and issues with the (core) game? You can always point to the beta state of the time, but at some point (and I'm pretty sure this is before the release in summer) this should be fixed. And constantly giving that impression of a game that looks (and plays!) nice, but having those severse issues is not something that you should want.
Okay, having a little icon in game might be some encouragement and providing a platform to get things started is helpful, but on the other hand, I don't think that's what has been holding people back. After all, if you are willing to invest time into NS2, you can probably also invest some time in setting anything suitable up for your project, whether officially on UWEs end or unofficially by creating your own project (eg. with an own website) [as some people already did - GameOvermind, ns2_turtle, etc]
I'm not saying this a bad approach, but getting the game into an more acceptable state in terms of game play and performance would certainly provide a more encouraging environment. Whilst I can only speak for myself, I also know that some friends do have similar opinions.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
+1
Fully agreed.
My only question is: Is this only supposed to be PR stuff? Stuff that can be shown off? As opposed to say, code fixes?
Well, just curious as it lists maps, but seems to be more PR focused. Not that I care since I've never contributed anything :D
I would just make it more clear to the public what counts so people don't get upset.
even if it's just "This is for PR projects only"
I am sure the team can give icons out for other stuff all they want (code fixes, whatever)
omega_k2 has a point, but ambitious concepts will take a while to come together. so this gives lead time for that. (edit: and time for the devs to do perf buffs)
On the other hand, it's such a small project that I'll probably crunch it out in a couple of days again, along with tutorials for dabbling skulk maneuverists.
Number one, make a kickstarter and get more funding. Promise to release the game by a certain date if a certain goal is made.
Number two, give aliens black armor (for the alpha preorders only of course). Considering black armor helps marines cheat so much with aim boost and camouflage boost, extra comm skills etc, I think aliens should be given something similar, coming with the same extra abilities as black armor.
And finally, real life alien and marine costumes. This way we can take pictures of ourselves in the real world during normal things with these costumes on. Not necessarily helpful, but amusing nonetheless.
I am a video editor so if you need someone to compile footage for a frag video/update/live streaming/new mods/tutorials I am more than happy to help out.
You can catch me jumping around servers as 'Fusion'
There are only 3 maps in progress (functional and complete), created by members of this community: ns2_summit, ns2_turtle, and mine ns2_triad. It is never mentioned or taken into account, it's really sad that so many months of work are not appreciated.
I'll see what I can do about my project.
My idea is having gorges building hydras on top and let marines run trough.
I guess if its did right its a lot fun if classic gets boring after some rounds ;)
Me9a (its just Mega)
I think Omega's point is that first impressions are very important, the fact that you and I have even signed up to these forums puts us in a different category to a lot of potential 'customers' for NS2. I worry that some people will see the hype we create, grab a copy of the game, not get a smooth BF3 experience and uninstall (worse yet tell friends not to bother with it too). It is still beta and patience is needed while things are worked out (I personally love the process of watching NS2 grow patch by patch), however planning our projects now ready for a patch where the beta feels a little more settled is also worth considering.