Thank you for your time in reading about our humble [NC] outfit: We are a casual, no-obligation, friendly, democratic outfit. SYNA runs by the common vote: We choose our target by the vote, we choose our strategy by the vote; we have no leaders. We do not retaliate against members who fail to fit in; we do not force members to follow an objective or a strategy. Those that wish to have organized gameplay, we have tactical squads specifically for you! Those that wish to just have fun and be around team-mates with like minds, that is what we do. We are active every day, we run at least one platoon. We have a very healthy member base, many of them more than happy to help you with your questions and tactics. We range from BR 1-100, and we accept all applications. There will be no angry shouting on your headset, no barking of orders in your ears, no hassle; more fun. We have one rule in SYNA: The Golden Rule: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. There is no bullying in SYNA or in our platoons. Anyone that is seen intentionally and maliciously harassing someone will be immediately kicked from platoon and put on probation. We expect you to be civil; that is all. SYNA stands for the Syndicated Anarchist Alliance. We are syndicated, in that we are many people who have chosen to come together to form a group: We are Anarchistic, in the sense that we are a democracy; we do not tolerate unjustified authority: We are an Alliance, in that we stand together with our fellow NC and aim to fight a coordinated and efficient war. That said: SYNA Platoons vote on their objective, and there is no retaliation. If someone chooses to run a harasser race, or to play around in warpgate, or to dogfight with their buddies far from the front; we don't care. In fact, we encourage you! We are not a member of the Coalition of Badassness, nor do we have any intention of ever being a member. Any outfit that wishes to coordinate with SYNA, please send a respectful request to the SYNA PL; we will initiate a vote and we will decide for ourselves if we think your plan is worthwhile. Any and all members are welcome; any and all suggestions are welcome; you could be anywhere, but you chose us! SYNA is the outfit of the people; of the common man. Any and all are welcome in our platoons; lone wolves and new players alike! There is no pressure to join; but you will receive an invite if you don't have a tag. We hope you all have fun! And we look forward to seeing you on the field of battle! And remember... Live free in the NC! P.S. Any aggression against SYNA for failing to adhere to CoBA orders will not be tolerated. We will simply move to another continent and let you fight a battalion short. Capiche? Va bene.
Hi there, I have some questions: Aren't these mutually exclusive? Do you guys make a straw poll for every decision and ask everyone to alt+tab every time there's a vote? Do you discuss ideas and decisions too or just vote on them? Thanks!
Vote on every decision huh? Most people like getting things done eventually, that's why we haven't armed congress
Normally, I wouldn't validate a comment like this with a response; however, many people may share your sentiments, so I'll oblige you and explain: This is what is called a 'video game'; and, contrary to some opinions, it's not the equivalent to enlisting for a tour of duty. It's just a video game. We get plenty done; it takes 30 seconds to a minute for a platoon to vote on it's objective. In case you weren't able to read it above (or in the title), this is a casual outfit. Meaning that we aren't regimented into specific job groups. We're just civvies, if you want to put it that way. Not everyone plays the game the way you do; that's a thing. Now that we can put that behind us, let's move on to serious questions. "Aren't these mutually exclusive? Do you guys make a straw poll for every decision and ask everyone to alt+tab every time there's a vote? Do you discuss ideas and decisions too or just vote on them? Thanks!" - oberchingus Contrary to the popular rhetoric and the propaganda, the word Anarchism in no way translates to 'chaos'. Anarchism is a relatively new political philosophy, existing for the last one hundred and fifty years or so. It cites direct democracy as the highest form of self-organization in a society. Democracy and anarchism are so nearly synonymous as to be inherently indistinguishable. Let me break it down: An + arch + ism. (An) Means away from; (arch) means ruler, or king; (ism) of a thing. The closest direct translation for anarchism I can tender is to be without a leader. In the case of the first self-identified anarchists; and, indeed, most modern day anarchists; this simply means democratic bottom-up control, without any form of unjustified centralized authority interfering with the vote of the people. We have yet to set rules regarding a quorum; this is a video game. For a platoon to vote on an objective takes a whole minute; they do so in the in-game platoon chat window via text. The votes are counted by whomever wishes to, generally the PL, and the waypoints are adjusted accordingly. People may abstain from the vote; or vote for 'bacon', as is often the case. All valid votes (that aren't 'bacon') are counted, and if no one dissents within the time limit in adequate numbers, the vote is considered to pass. This is about all we have needed to vote on thus far; as stated earlier, this is a casual outfit. People are free to do as they wish; we do not vote and force them to have role-specific jobs. Gamers game as they will, and may part ways with the directives of the vote, as they wish. It's really much simpler than it sounds; people tend to stick together and aid one another, as they wish to have fun and succeed in gaining certifications and taking objectives. The few that do not stick together do so for their own reasons, and I wouldn't have it any other way. SYNA's primary objective is not to capture territory, it's not to farm certs, and it's not to get kills; it's to maintain a safe environment conducive to having fun for all of its members and visitors to our platoons. Again: casual, just a game. Those gamers that prefer more tactical, more regimented, more disciplined, more militaristic experiences will likely not find SYNA very enjoyable. We welcome these gamers to join any of the more serious outfits on Emerald. That said, SYNA is not adverse to it's members volunteering for tactical squads that are exactly as regimented as any of the other outfits. These squads are to be formed of volunteer corps, and if a member fails to fulfill his expected role, or doesn't like the experience; he can simply move back to the casual squads or platoons. This way, I do hope, we can have the best of both worlds. Thank one of you for your serious questions: I hope I have adequately answered them to your satisfaction, and I look forward to seeing you in-game! Be well.
Right, and in there lay the confusion for me because of how Anarchy is used in every day language today relates to it's definition of "disorder in the absence of authority" and thus whether or not you have a democracy, it doesn't speak to the order or disorder decisions, ideas, intentions, etc...of your society. Furthermore, many societies have so much democratic process that they fail to get anything done in the short term. You've answered my question regarding day to day platoon decisions, but what about inter-outfit decisions, or decisions that relate to how your outfit moves forward as a community? Or do you not have outfit ranks, and therefore no leaders or points of contact that lead segments like training, PR, and so on? Is that what is meant by casual - i.e.: high level ride alongs and such? Safe from what? I appreciate you taking the time to answer my questions. I've always been fascinated with the way in which people organize themselves and their groups within the universe of anonymity. There is a balance between how people choose to identify themselves and how much of themselves they're willing to put into and contribute to a community. I've been part of 2 types of communities: Those run by the Dictatorship model and those run by a democratic Counsel model. Each has its pros and cons, benefits and drawbacks. It's easy for nothing to actually get done in both systems. What I have learned so far, is that regardless of the leadership model used, what matters most is how much community members wish to be shareholders. Serious players who want it bad enough, to see their community flourish are what drives a community forward. Not so much the management style. The hardest part for me has been to find people who badly want to be shareholders. The most common statement is that this is just a video game, so why would people be serious about something that doesn't pay them $$$ and people aren't real anyway? Which are absolutely valid points, however Video game or not, PS2 squads, platoons and communities breed relationships. Human relationships. Just because players do not see each other face to face does not invalidate the gaming experience as a medium for human bonding. Thus wherever communities exist, there will always be a need for some kind of objective, focus, and decision practice which moves the community forward in some direction. Granted, the internet and promotion of anonymity enables people to more readily become people they may not be in tactile incarnate life. However, should people want to be associated with their community, they will eventually put their true selves into it and not a fictional front which they might use for public squads or reddit. People spend hundreds of hours a month, sometimes 8-14hrs a day involved in gaming communities, yet they'll say it's just a game. Life is just a game! Video games are a facet of life, as are the communities we become a part of and relationships we form. Be well to you!
I'll answer this question (I'm a member of SYNA myself). Basically, our outfit's ranking system is set more of an equal playing field. No one is above another, but we do have a "technical" rank of Coordinator. This rank demarcates those who tend to lead platoons more often than others, but they are not the only ones limited to leading a SYNA platoon. Wulfcanna and Synvas are the primary people you would contact, but all members are more or less "available" contacts unless they themselves declare that they should not be contacted. Inter-outfit work would be done by bringing the vote forward to whoever is online at the time of the vote, rather than having EVERY player vote (as then absolutely nothing would get done, since some people might play one day a month, or at random intervals over time, etc). Those who don't vote are considered to "abstain", so long as they have been properly notified, either by outfit chat, outfit voice chat, or individualized messaging of each outfit member. It is definitely closer to high level ride alongs, but to fully understand how we're "casual", the best example would be from Sunday. Late on Sunday NIght (for my time zone), a SYNA platoon on Indar had just come off from a combat op and went back to warpgate to mess around at warpgate. I was Platoon Leader at that time and we ended up having a Galaxy Race over a live stream. Several galaxies got destroyed and I managed to eject. One of the platoon members tried to pick me up out of TR territory using a Valkyrie. We both died and were laughing the entire time, and proceeded to try a Flash race. Only three of us did this while others went into combat zones. We again ended up in TR territory and died. We were pretty much messing around until we noticed that the TR or VS had cut a nice chunk of NC territory out the continent and we voted to go and do a Reaver crash on them and reinforce everyone at Mao. We proceeded to break apart the TR air apart before proceeding to initiate ground assaults and retake captured territory. One of the platoon members remarked how easily we transitioned from tomfoolery to being serious, enacting semi-complex military operations. That's what I more or less see by the idea of casual from SYNA. We can mess around, but we can also assault Vanu and Terran forces with extreme efficiency. General bullying by other players. An example of which would be best told to you by Wulfcanna.
