Aryte

This year has been one hell of a ride. We have been through so very much-- so much, that it is really difficult to properly lay it all out. It has been an adventure, but one that has really been enriched by the presence of good folks like you all. Next year, there is so much for us to accomplish. Further, there is a lot for me to accomplish. But I have no doubt that we have got this under control. I have no doubt we will be successful. "Never let the future disturb you. You will meet it, if you have to, with the same weapons of reason which today arm you against the present." - Marcus Aurelius You all have an absolutely wonderful New Years Eve! Stay safe, don't drink too much, but have a great time!

LOL

Welcome! I am confused, however. Are you leaving, or going . . inactive (re-inactive, since I haven't seen you in ages on SL anyways)? Or?

:} Hey there stranger. We did indeed leave the SLMC. We're on Waterson, though! But you'd be more than welcome to come play with us on whatever!

Fixed!

Are you wes196 in world?

All!

Welcome aboard, yo!

As we begin the journey of expanding to a new standard as a community level organization, I wanted to take the opportunity to step some general goals for us to look toward and strive to achieve. These will certainly evolve over time, but I feel it is important that we have some overarching guidance as we begin to feel out the new structure and policy that will dictate how the future will carry out. The dates provided here are hardly scientific. They are mostly just envisioned thresholds that I would like to see the Ordo reach. That said, some of these may be a bit ambitious-- but I am confident we can achieve them! 15JAN13: Solid paradigm set for weekly events on PS2. Strong participation present, elite squad membership generally on the rise, and overall proficiency as Ordo as a fighting machine on PS2 at a notable increase. 31JAN13: Capability to operate no less than two platoons worth of active personnel during major events on PS2. Recruitment sustained and continual. Development of basic practice and protocol sessions akin to Schola in place. 15FEB13: Sustained manpower and overall functionality of core unit structure present. Including the presence of secondary units, such as AiR, Curia, and IEA. 28FEB13: PS2 element self sustainable in recruitment, weekly sessions, training, and leadership. 15MAR13: Overall community model in full swing and prepared to be adapted to any other platforms. General consistency reached among platforms.

I am a big fan of my G15.

The weekly meeting for this Saturday (29DEC12) is canceled. I will be out of town. Officer meeting still on for 30DEC12. Thanks!

"You blocked me on Facebook, and now you are going to die."

Howdy!

Thank you. ♥

♥

Whoever got you that does not love you.

◢ ◣ The Ordo Imperialis ◥ ◤ ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ To all ye’ hopefuls pining for our demise, let me prefix this statement with the firm assurance: The Ordo Imperialis is not disbanding. Quite the contrary, actually. The Ordo Imperialis is expanding and pursuing new avenues to extend our group’s influence and opportunity. In the process, however, the group’s command element has overwhelmingly decided that the Second Life Military Community is no longer in the cards. Why the change? You should really ask “why not?’ The community has been in a long state of decay and has not witnessed any sort of real innovation for years. Think about it. Recruitment is highly recycled-- the same folks bounce back and forth between groups and perpetuate the same mentality that is dragging everyone into the pit. There is no great sense of interest by outside parties. No grand appeal, no specific offering that would garner any sense of attraction for those outside of our little corner. The platform is archaic and leaves a great deal of room for want. Combat is stale and constantly follows a short selection of themes revolving around rule mongering, accusation of transgressions, and delusions of some sort of new fresh idea will somehow make everyone forget they largely hate one another long enough to resume enjoying the terrible SL physics and instantaneous deaths by floating damage prims. Respect is in short supply and detractors are terribly difficult to be rid of. Although a select number of us have largely weathered the storm to arrive at a mutual acceptance of one another, the most common theme among the SLMC is foetid disdain. Everyone has a moniker or a purported dark underbelly that their enemies seek to expose for the “greater good,” in hopes of “one upping” or affirming some deep rooted desire to be a pain in the ass. Further, once you have had enough of said pains, you are either thrust into dealing with them by the grace of SL’s terrible security methods, or by reason of the continual braying of someone’s political jargon and threat of permanent banishment. It is with certainty that someone has and others most definitely will take this as some masterful achievement to have supposedly bested the Ordo by simply being on SL. Well, all the more power to you. However, there is nothing commendable or particularly impressive about wallowing in the community’s mediocrity. Please, feel free to continue beating your heads against the wall while we spend our time fruitfully on actually entertaining avenues. What now? The Ordo Imperialis has already began expanding into other platforms and we will continue to do so as new opportunities arise. Titan, our hub in Second Life, will remain up indefinitely. After we finish a rebuild, it will likely be open to visitors and see use as a general hangout for Ordo members and their acquaintances. Down the road, we may pursue using Titan for alternatives outside of the SLMC. Members still bearing the Ordo Imperialis tag in Second Life are free to do what they please now. Otherwise, you can find us actively present on games like Planetside, Battlefield, and Blacklight (et cetera). If you’re a member of one of the remaining SLMC groups and have interest in playing in an organized, competitive manner: you are more than welcome to join us. We do not care if you are part of a military community group, even if you were once our “enemy.” Respect where respect is due. This is hardly an all inclusive statement, as I am bound to forget someone. But we wish the absolute best to those of you we’ve had the pleasure of sharing interests with. People like Lurdan Huszar, Anthony Lehane, and LordBob Boa will always be individuals who transcend the bullshit invested in the SLMC to reach a level of kinship that’s woefully lacking in the community. For those of you who are our friends, you already know we’re not going anywhere outside of ending our chapter of interest here in the SLMC. But I want to affirm: we appreciate everything you’ve done for us and we’ll always have your back. We won’t be strangers and we hope that you will return the sentiment-- our door is always open, and our TS3 always available. Even if you’re a dirty Vanu pilot (Bob). Although I cannot honestly say I care whether or not the SLMC survives much longer, I can say without exception that I care very much for the aforementioned folks and the groups they lead. I hope that you all find a path that suits you, whether in or out of the military community.

I got a pony.

Best name ever. Welcome aboard!

Welcome aboard!

I like you already. Welcome aboard!

With a great respect for the future, I prefix tonight’s remarks with the warning that what will be discussed is something of an exciting, but potentially alarming subject for some. I request that those present provide me the opportunity to complete my statement before chiming in. There will be ample opportunity at the end to discuss and share thoughts. I will do my best to expound upon the topic to a fulfilling degree, however I quite welcome any questions or statements upon the completion of this presentation. We have reached a crossroad here in the Ordo. We stand at an unusual precipice, with particularly unusual choices set before us. For some months, it has been all too apparent that a state of decay has been heavy set upon the SLMC. Such inactivity left us with the necessity to examine our methods and pursue modification to standard practices. These efforts bore fruit, but continual degradation presented itself. The last month has seen a clear absconding of Ordo personnel away from the SLMC. Not from the Ordo-- but the SLMC. Our projection in the military community has slid to a flatline, with some 30+ Ordo members on TS3, and yet hardly another soul outside of the Mercury bot on sim. At first, this fracture was most prevalent among the officer corps. Despite multiple attempts from my end to encourage a renewed interest, it became rather clear the vast majority had very clearly all but abandoned SL participation. This trend has percolated down to the enlistees. At any given time of day, I can tab through my friends list or glance on TS3 and find at least a dozen Ordo members shirking the SLMC, but participating with one another elsewhere. It was an immediate concern to me. I feared that our organization had entered a stage of failure. However, I began to realize something quite critical here-- you need only look around to see it for yourself. The organization, the interest to stick together, the spirit . . . it is still very present. Ordo members are still participating with Ordo members. Simply, not here. Not in the SLMC. We diversified our presence. We have reached into other communities and other games. Interesting, to say in the least. Although, troubling from the perspective of being an SLMC. It is a rather strange circumstance to have dozens of personnel present, but have an empty region. How does one solve that problem? That answer remains elusive to me. I, personally, have found it extraordinarily challenging to garner any sense of interest. I have remained, as pledged, present to assist and guide this organization only out of desire to be present for those still intrigued by the SLMC. But as that intrigue clearly erodes, I am left with several distinct options. I offered each to the officer corps last week: Resignation. I felt it inappropriate to maintain the role of Imperator when my commitment to solving the SLMC concern was entirely eroded. I offered to step from the Imperator role and take a new appointment as a sort of observer. My existence would only be to ensure the wheels kept turning, the sim remained, and that no irreversible damage was done. Greater involvement by the officer staff. I provided the option for the command team to greatly enhance their own time commitment by taking over many of my functions, whilst maintaining my presence as Imperator. I called upon a great deal of effort from the corps at a whole and outlined the pitfalls that I saw from past pledges. Exodus from the SLMC. As the third choice, I offered the suggestion that the Ordo consider moving away from the decaying SLMC and pursue a wider presence as a full gaming community. The officers debated the matter throughout the week and well into the command meeting on Sunday. Ultimately, no individual was willing to permit me to take a prolonged vacation and cast off my offer for resignation. I will attempt to be humble, but I definitely appreciated the continued faith in my vision. However, the vote was rather decisive between the remaining selections. On the question of increasing officer involvement, the vote scored 20.83% (5 votes). On the question of pursuing a new direction as a gaming community, the vote scored 79.17% (19 votes). The primary arguments were heavily centralized upon three main themes. One: there is a prevailing sense of wasted effort on the SLMC-- there is no reward, no desire, no sense of pleasure in SL combat. Two: in the past, pledges for heavier involvement have left a small number of ‘doers’ left with the burden that should be shared among all. And three: we have run into a brick wall on the SLMC; the community is shrinking and there is a sense of inevitability. It goes without saying, this would be a dramatic shift for us. However, it appears to be a shift that will now need to be explored. I realize that this would not be a path that absolutely everyone would embrace. As such, I certainly will not fault anyone who feels a different choice is theirs to partake in. Nevertheless, I have taken the opportunity to envision how matters would persist. I have chewed on some key elements and would like to now present them. Please keep in mind, this is hardly all inclusive. Titan would remain up. The new region build would persist forward and the donors compensated as planned. The intent would be to utilize Titan for Ordo purposes, regardless if we participate in the SLMC. Titan would be a semi-exclusive domain for Ordo members, offer store space for Ordo merchants, and be available in the future for any potential prospects into new avenues (whether that’s a new community, an RP venture . . etc). Exclusivity for enlistees would be erased. Individuals still interested in the SLMC, whom are not commissioned officers, would be permitted to join another SLMC (and maintain membership in any other community group outside of SL). This will permit the few who still enjoy the SLMC to still participate with the Ordo elsewhere. It shall also set a new realistic precedence: enlistment in other gaming communities will only be forbidden when said community is in direct opposition to our interests on any given platform. Further, for those who have some slight inkling but aren’t interested in another SLMC, lone wolfing would be entirely acceptable. You shall also have the opportunity to access the complete Ordo SLMC arsenal. Most of our structure will be adapted. There is a place for everyone-- if not a greater place. Curia, IEA, AiR, Tactica . . . all have a place in a community level Ordo, despite a new environment. As a community group, the sky's the limit. We wouldn’t be expecting everyone to play PS2, or to play X, Y, or Z. The goal would be to rapidly expand our presence on as many platforms as we can manage. BF3, PS2, GW2 -- wherever there’s a considerable interest, the Ordo will build a chapter. Further, this grants a huge opportunity for those in those areas to essentially lead their own “legion” and feed into the overall community from whatever game they feel connected to. Community rank will be universal. If you’ve earned a rank here, it will translate directly to the new establishment and translate over to any platform you wish to participate with us on. Ultimately, the Ordo would not be disbanding. We’d be changing venues and pursuing a far greater level of influence on platforms far more enjoyable than the SLMC. That said, before we persist further, I would like to give you all the opportunity to speak your minds and get out your sentiments.

Welcome! How's Luna?

Welcome!