14JUL12 - Weekly Meeting

[Aryte]

[18:01:33] Aryte Vesperia: A very good evening to you all! Welcome and thank you for attending. Please be sure to hold your comments and questions until provided the opportunity to speak. Interruptions affect us all.

[18:01:59] Aryte Vesperia: Statistics

Sworn members: 311

Cadets: 12

Applications

New: 10

Accepted: 2

Denied: 0

Review: 8

Operations

Defensive: 102

Offensive: 18

Allied Assistance: 2

[18:02:24] Aryte Vesperia: Diplomatic notes: operationally, we have really seen nothing but a sense of status quo. Military groups have remained steady—if not quietly so. The only real issue we ran into this week was XAF’s leader throwing a gigantic fit because we tried to explain to her the concept of following the rules. We are supposedly blockaded by the XAF now. Despite such, we attacked them earlier without incident. Perhaps she forgot?

[18:03:03] Aryte Vesperia: Unit reports this evening?

[18:03:10] Hollowmengitus Yifu raises hand for Terra

[18:03:35] Aryte Vesperia: Mr. Yifu.

[18:03:50] Hollowmengitus Yifu: Terra had a fairly good week this week. Raids were led, people were shot and some trainings we also performed.

[18:04:07] Hollowmengitus Yifu: were

[18:04:09] Hollowmengitus Yifu: woops

[18:04:25] Hollowmengitus Yifu: The tiered Terra Staff meetings are nearing completion -- due to some overlaps in meetings, they were not all completed earlier on in the day.

[18:05:01] Hollowmengitus Yifu: As a general reminder to all personnel, please take promotion exams if you're looking for more responsibility opportunities. (For those of you who have lost the link, here it is: http://firefoxinc.net/ordo/index.html )

[18:05:04] Hollowmengitus Yifu: And one last thing

[18:05:09] Hollowmengitus Yifu: Nazz, approach me

[18:05:35] AVA Rider(vehicle): You aren't the owner

[18:05:42] 2P Seat: 2P: PageDown ... Shoot BOMB

[18:05:42] 2P Seat: 2P: (when you fly) Arrow ... turn front/back/right/left

[18:05:43] 2P Seat: 2P: PageUp ... turn vertical

[18:05:46] Hollowmengitus Yifu: ADIEU

[18:05:54] Aryte Vesperia: . .

[18:06:06] Aryte Vesperia: I'd of thought it to be the other way around.

[18:06:08] Aryte Vesperia: Mr. Schuman?

[18:06:26] Ethan Schuman: Yay! Didn't have to raise my hand. Astra has the following information to report this week. Firstly, Letalis is recruiting. I think Twitchy is looking for two more members. Requirements include participating in at least two raids per week, as well as domestic training exercises and the like. Palaestra has been EXTREMELY busy with the launch of Icarus, as well as our normal recruitment numbers. For Reapers, Mikeo has filled the vacant XO slot, and has been settling in with his activity schedule. Achtai remains heavily occupied IRL, so this is good news for that flight. Things for Aquila were relatively quiet. Heavy and Havoc have both maintained a high level of participation across the board, so that keeps us up in that regard. The Thanatos replacement project is underway, with the build being near completion and texturing to begin immediately after.

[18:06:44] Ethan Schuman: Finally, Rei has begun the process of clearing out our inactives. Those who have not been active in Astra before a set date (can't remember off the top of my head) have a limited amount of time to report in, or else they will be removed.

[18:06:59] Ethan Schuman: That's all from Astra for this week.

[18:07:36] Aryte Vesperia: Thank you. Any additional reports for the evening?

[18:08:19] Aryte Vesperia: Moving on, then!

[18:08:28] Aryte Vesperia: ✠ Updates

[18:08:55] Aryte Vesperia: We will be spending the majority of this evening on the keynote. Prior to that, however, I would like to quickly run down some updates and announce an appointment or two.

[18:09:44] Aryte Vesperia: First up, we are expecting the alpha build layout of the new region to begin shortly. Disembodied Hand slated initial transition of the test to mesh forms as of the 15th. Thus far, I have seen a couple models and am expecting some great things as the build is fleshed out. As is, I have not heard any updates on that front and will be keeping in contact with Disembodied as that deadline rapidly approaches.

[18:10:54] Aryte Vesperia: Weaponry wise: new TI release in the vendors—yes, you may use it despite it being a pole arm. Further, looking to focus primary development efforts now in to the AK-12 to get it scripted and in deployment to replace the SCAR. Even greater, we are starting to discuss pixels and particles for the various archetype items awaiting scripting love.

[18:12:31] Aryte Vesperia: You can expect the sniper rifle replacement to roll out here shortly. There are no additional tweaks to be made and it is ready to go. It’s a neat little toy that will give some bite back to the concept of carrying a slow fire marksman rifle.

[18:14:12] Aryte Vesperia: In other news, the Hyperion (bomber) is coming along /amazingly/. When Nikki so desires awesome, she produces it. I am extraordinarily excited to see this new bird come on line. We need something with such a severe bite to counteract a lot of our issues that we run in to day-to-day—items we typically can’t rationalize bringing up an Enforcer for.

[18:15:09] Aryte Vesperia: And finally. Tsume Xiao is taking over Munitorum. Dooooom.

[18:16:46] Aryte Vesperia: ✠ Keynote

[18:17:04] Aryte Vesperia: I would consider this less of a speech, and more of a ramble of my thoughts. Nevertheless, I wanted to share with you all some things that I have been chewing on as of late on a more succinct and realistic level.

[18:18:19] Aryte Vesperia: For anyone who has known me for more than a month, you’ve likely realized I have a particular sense of worry . . . at all times, about this group. It has been an incredible adventure for me and a time investment that, in all rights, rivals my professional and educational careers. Tomorrow I “turn” 7 on SL. Six of those years have been spent here or preparing for what “here” is.

[18:19:26] Aryte Vesperia: I wouldn’t trade that time for anything. I have learned so much and met so many people who have enriched my life and taught me valuable life lessons—lessons I have applied elsewhere and used to great success. I am losing track of how many of you exceed one year. That’s impressive. Even two, three, and four years. There are a handful of you who have had the opportunity to be here from the start. We have, in every right, really “grown up” together.

[18:20:32] Aryte Vesperia: The reason I bring this up? To put the bigger picture back on the table. To remind everyone, including myself, the greater things we have the chance to experience because of the Ordo.

[18:21:20] Aryte Vesperia: Sure. We have and will always have our speed bumps, our differences, and our bad days. You will never be able to put more than one person in a room and avoid all potential for conflict. It is not the conflict that is important: it is how you handle that, how you overcome it, and how you improve after it.

[18:23:23] Aryte Vesperia: Not many of us here came in to this group knowing what the results would be. I didn’t join up with the intent to be where I am standing today—far from it. I expected to be a pointless diplomat to a back-water group named the ANII. I thought it was a joke (and many times, it was). I made some amazing friends in that process, and when opportunity presented itself, I stuck my neck out and took a risk.

[18:24:47] Aryte Vesperia: That risk has given me so much. A lot of hard work, some grey hairs, and a total desire to murder most people on SL—buuuut on the positive side, hundreds of amazing people I look forward to interacting with every day.

[18:27:28] Aryte Vesperia: Think about it. Think about the people you “hang out” with inside the Ordo. There are groups of you who have become incredibly close knit friends—to the point where you’ve got a real sense of dedication to one another (beyond even group levels) that would have never come to be without this group.

[18:29:02] Aryte Vesperia: That fascinates me. It always has. I love simply sitting back and counting the blessings (and the curses) to really line up the chain of events that has put us here today.

[18:30:14] Aryte Vesperia: Let me tell you, no bullshit aside: the path is paved with a lot of errors. It’s paved with a lot of disenchanted folks and people who could not care to ever see this group again. But most of those folks made that decision for themselves. Hell. Some of them, who may be our most bitter enemies now, would not have anything should we decide to close up shop one day and hit the trail.

[18:31:10] Aelus Janus coughs "Dagger" coughs.

[18:31:34] Aryte Vesperia: I hope everyone really takes the time to just look around. This is such a phenomenal thing we’ve done. Now, I do not say that to pat myself on the back or gloat on behalf of the group. I say it with the most humble of commendations: we have done amazing things.

[18:32:47] Aryte Vesperia: I do not suspect that we have reached the peak of our golden years. Not by a long shot. To be blunt, I really do not feel as if there’s a “golden year.” That’s up to you as a group to define and as an organization to persist and build. If our fire continues, we can have a “golden decade” or two.

[18:34:30] Aryte Vesperia: In brutal honesty, let’s really just get it out there: the military community blows. Most people are so hostile and just downright ridiculous. Our interactions are largely negative (and always have been). It is such a small niche in SL. One that, realistically, is probably dying. I would’ve ditched this corner of the grid many years ago, if not for you all.

[18:35:55] Aryte Vesperia: That’s really why I feel so keen on pushing that aspect of the group: we are our own community. We’ll participate in the SLMC, but the Ordo is and must be more than a “SLMC group.” Not specifically through action, but through mindset.

[18:37:06] Aryte Vesperia: Ever heard the saying: “Me against my brother. Me and my brother against my cousin; me, my brother, and my cousin against the other?” It rings so true here. We have feuds. We bicker sometimes. But at the end of the day, all we’ve really got is one another.

[18:38:24] Aryte Vesperia: Be keen on ensuring those bonds are stronger than anything else. Protect your group. Protect your friends and the continuity of what we’ve got here. With such a foundation, we will remain an immoveable force.

[18:40:01] Aryte Vesperia: Before we break for the evening, I do want to simply express my gratitude for being here as part of this adventure. Seven years on SL. I wouldn’t have made it past two without you all. So, thank you for being here. (On an amusing note, it’s also your entire fault that I didn’t quit a long time ago, thus plaguing the SLMC for the last six years. Good job!)

[18:40:55] Aryte Vesperia: The commitment and dedication demonstrated by this group never ceases to amaze me. There will always be a special place in my heart for the Ordo, no matter where life takes us down the road. Here’s to a many more good times!

[18:41:34] Aryte Vesperia: Dismissed!

[18:41:35] Aryte Vesperia snaps his fist to his chest, presenting a brief salute.

[18:41:36] Digman Randt salutes.

[18:41:37] conger Mint salutes!

[18:41:37] Wynand Doomdale thumps his paw to his chest and salutes.

[18:41:39] Kasumi Quartz salutes, " Ruhm zu dem Imperator"

[18:41:40] SalemAdams Wobbit salutes!

[18:41:40] Aelus Janus salutes.

[18:41:40] Riff Petrov salutes!

[18:41:42] Mikeo Amiot salutes.

[18:41:42] Christoph Batra salutes

[18:41:42] Nikki4 Aquitaine salutes.

[18:41:43] Radryl Allen salutes.

[18:41:43] Ice Karsin fists.

[18:41:43] Siaetto Resident salutes!

[18:41:45] Shizzerk Kostolany salutes!

[18:41:48] Michan Moonlight salutes! Carpe Diem!

[18:41:49] Markius Faulkner salutes "Pro Imperatore ac Imperio!"

[18:41:55] Huttser Ishelwood salutes, "Victory needs no explanation, defeat allows none."

[18:41:58] Hollowmengitus Yifu salutes, "The sacrifice of the many is the pleasure of the few..."

[18:42:03] Michan Moonlight: Fight in his name!

[18:42:12] Kurama Bingyi pounds his fist in salute and says something in Koreanese.

[18:42:30] Intus Infinity presents a salute.

[18:42:33] Oblivion Loxely salutes!

[18:42:41] Aryte Vesperia: I hate everything.

[18:42:41] Aryte Vesperia: lol