GESTALT / GESTALT

Gestalt is a sort of experiment in what works best.

Hierarchical command structures offer the most control to those at the top, but aren’t necessarily the most efficient or resilient. I want to see what happens when everyone is equally qualified and capable and simply does what they think will best serve the commander’s intent.

I’ve found, flying in Vanduul Swarm, that there isn’t a lot of time for command and control and the best thing is for everyone to simply call their targets and prosecute them vigorously. Focusing fire may work in PVP, but in PVE, the vanduul you’ve left with idle hands get to shooting at you pretty quick. The best flying experiences I’ve had are when everyone simply does what needs done as quickly and efficiently as possible, with as little back and forth as possible or only what is necessary.

Announce when you’ve fired a missile at a target because the guy right next to him might be acquired by it, announce your current target and when you switch so everyone isn’t shooting at the same guy (unless that’s what is necessary). Announce your damage and ammo status between waves if it’s significant, announce when you go down so everyone knows you won’t be covering your target. Other than that, maybe some simple strategy like hug the asteroids when heavily outnumbered instead of taking them in the open where you can take fire from more directions. Stuff like that should be the only thing the battle leader needs to concern themselves with, they know the level of competence of the pilots, they know the pilots know what to do without being told the commander lets them do it without any interference. Macro management, not micro management.

You need the right people for this sort of thing to work, heads up people, with good situational awareness and good tactical sense. People that can both give orders and follow them, people who can both plan an op and participate in one. Think you’re one of those people? Drop me an application and we’ll find out together.

RULE 1: DON’T BE AN ASSHOLE

Shooting folks on landing pads, sniping folks doing ICC missions, crashing into ships on landing pads at Port Olisar, flying out of bounds to avoid someone killing you in AC, and other general asshattery qualifies. Oh Piracy, yep, that too. Bullying and harassment, well put it this way, I will shove your keister out an airlock so fast you won’t have time for your sphincter to tighten up. These are just general guidelines. If you’re not able to figure out what not to do on your own without being told then perhaps this Organization is not the place for you.

RULE 2: DON’T DO STUPID SHIT

Trolling or being trolled on the forums, arguing with idiots, talking shit, using exploits or cheats, mucking up operations by being unprepared or uncooperative, you get the picture.

RULE 3: HAVE FUN

We’re all volunteers here folks, everyone should be able to play the way they want, the way they play best, and in a way they enjoy. If you enjoy screwing other people over…see rule 1.

ROLES

FOUNDER: As the founder of this org it is my role to keep it’s philosophy and group identity in line with the original intent.

RECRUITER: will be responsible to vet recruits and see that they fit in with the group. Some aspect of training may be included.

MARKETING: will be responsible for graphic design elements etc of the RSI page.

RANKS

There will be little or no rank structure in GESTALT, no barked orders, no hierarchy to speak of. If you have an aptitude and willingness to take on a role you may be given the responsibility of fulling that role, it’s a DUTY or RESPONSIBILITY, not a perk.

The built in ranks for Organizations will be used as an indicator of someone’s experience and ability level, in no way does it confer on anyone the right to order anyone else around. That said, if someone has more experience than you do, indicated by their “rank”, you may want to try to learn something from them and listen to their suggestions.

Members in GESTALT should be equal. As the founder, when group decisions come up, I will listen to everyone’s input and make a decision about what’s best for the group and best follows the group philosophy and maintains our group identity. If you have a better idea, during the discussion phase of decision making, by all means bring it up, once the decision is made, we implement it as a group. Certain things may come up for a vote, but the core principals of GESTALT are not up for discussion. If you can’t agree with those, apply elsewhere.

Military style operations will require an overall commander and possibly a technical adviser. These roles will be filled according to their leadership ability and their expertise in the type of operation being embarked upon. This may mean different people will be in charge of different types of operations and that who was in charge of the last one may be just a little cog in the machine on the next one. everyone will get a chance to lead engagements etc to assess their aptitude for leadership. Once the command team has been chosen they are in charge of the operation for the duration.

LEADERSHIP

This, to me, means being able to come up with a plan to accomplish an objective, communicate that to the team, delegate what needs to be done to teams appropriate in size, aptitude, and composition to the mission, and giving the green light to implement it. At that point the leader should stand by to deal with unforeseen issues that may impact the mission’s success and ad lib where necessary. Micromanagement is not typically appreciated by those managed, nor effective at accomplishing missions. I don’t expect leadership to have to tell you what weapons to put on your ship, but I do expect them to make suggestions and raise an eyebrow if you repeatedly show up with a weapon load-out that is inappropriate to the mission and or proven ineffective for that task.

A S L

Age is not terribly important, but maturity is required. Expect rated R material in chat and voice coms and everyone will be treated like an adult until they behave otherwise.

Gender (Sex) is totally unimportant, if you’re good at something your plumbing is none of my business.

Location is not terribly important either, but you will need to be available during our proposed hours of operation which will be occurring on Weekends during afternoons and late evenings. Weekday operations will be during the same hours. I am located in EST which is GMT-5 and typically on between 11 am and 5 pm weekdays and work around a previous commitment on Saturdays between 6 pm and 9 pm or thereabouts. Any other time Saturdays and all day Sundays are open for Operations. A more formal timetable will be established once we have more people weighing in on their availability.

As far as the projected size of this organization, I envision a group small enough that everyone knows everyone else, at least in passing, preferably well enough to know who is good at what and who needs help in other areas. I don’t see the group getting over 50 members, possibly less. I want this to be an active group that spends time together and works well together. We should want to play together every day barring Real Life commitments because we enjoy each other’s company and working well together. There will be no dead weight in GESTALT, if you aren’t going to show up more than once a week or two, don’t apply. I understand sometimes Life gets in the way, and expect to hear from you if you need a hiatus to deal with Life Shit.