Posted: Fri Sep 11, 2009 9:49 pmAfter long and careful thought, I have decided to disband MajorGibs' Left 4 Dead squad.
Why did I decide this?
There are many reasons, but what it basically gets down to is that the Left 4 Dead squad was, in my opinion, going nowhere. The primary goal of any clan is to work together on a common goal. This clan, unfortunately, had a bunch of members who were simply doing their own thing.
To a large degree I blame myself. I simply am not used to building a clan this way. In every other game I've played - take for example - Half-Life, the clan was built around a server. We had a reputation for running a fast, friendly server, utilizing the latest anti-cheats (which have yet to be available for L4D). A community would form around our server, where people would thrive on playing a place where they know they were going to be respected, and was always full of quality, straight-up players. As the community grew, we would get to know different people and eventually hand-pick people to join the clan, one they knew what we were all about and we got to know them well. There was a clear understanding to each member was their role would be, and people stepped up to get things together and moving forward.
Left 4 Dead was a mystery to me. I feel like we grew too far, too fast. And basically picked up a lot of people we really didn't know on the basis of a few games with a few people. We never talked to them about what the clan was about, what was expected of them, etc. So we eventually got to the place we are now.
In the end, it has left a few people frustrated (some just disappearing), least of all your clanleader (me). This is just a video game, fun time, for me. I can't and won't let it become a point of frustration. So I'm swallowing my pride, and accepting that the Left 4 Dead squad was a bust.
What happens next?
Well, not all that much really. Officially the MajorGibs Steam Group will be cleaned of all members who ONLY played for the Left 4 Dead squad. This will happen at 12:00 noon EST Sunday, September 13. Also, effective immediately these same members will lose admin privileges on Sanch's server. Legacy members will be unaffected in both cases.
What won't happen?
No current members will be removed from my Friend's list. If I didn't want to play with you, you wouldn't have been in the clan in the first place. I'm hoping I will get to continue to play with most of you in the future. Also, I will not be deleting any Forum accounts. MajorGibs Forums have only ever been restricted to spammers (thus the closed registration). You are all encouraged to hang around if you wish to do so and check in with us from time to time. Basically, like I said, nothing changes other than there will no longer be an "Official" Left 4 Dead squad anymore. We may give it another try after Left 4 Dead 2 comes out - this will remain to be seen.
I hope no one will take this personally, as it isn't personal. It's just time to move on. Whatever each of you decide to do, I wish you all the best now and in the future.
Why did I decide this?
There are many reasons, but what it basically gets down to is that the Left 4 Dead squad was, in my opinion, going nowhere. The primary goal of any clan is to work together on a common goal. This clan, unfortunately, had a bunch of members who were simply doing their own thing.
To a large degree I blame myself. I simply am not used to building a clan this way. In every other game I've played - take for example - Half-Life, the clan was built around a server. We had a reputation for running a fast, friendly server, utilizing the latest anti-cheats (which have yet to be available for L4D). A community would form around our server, where people would thrive on playing a place where they know they were going to be respected, and was always full of quality, straight-up players. As the community grew, we would get to know different people and eventually hand-pick people to join the clan, one they knew what we were all about and we got to know them well. There was a clear understanding to each member was their role would be, and people stepped up to get things together and moving forward.
Left 4 Dead was a mystery to me. I feel like we grew too far, too fast. And basically picked up a lot of people we really didn't know on the basis of a few games with a few people. We never talked to them about what the clan was about, what was expected of them, etc. So we eventually got to the place we are now.
In the end, it has left a few people frustrated (some just disappearing), least of all your clanleader (me). This is just a video game, fun time, for me. I can't and won't let it become a point of frustration. So I'm swallowing my pride, and accepting that the Left 4 Dead squad was a bust.
What happens next?
Well, not all that much really. Officially the MajorGibs Steam Group will be cleaned of all members who ONLY played for the Left 4 Dead squad. This will happen at 12:00 noon EST Sunday, September 13. Also, effective immediately these same members will lose admin privileges on Sanch's server. Legacy members will be unaffected in both cases.
What won't happen?
No current members will be removed from my Friend's list. If I didn't want to play with you, you wouldn't have been in the clan in the first place. I'm hoping I will get to continue to play with most of you in the future. Also, I will not be deleting any Forum accounts. MajorGibs Forums have only ever been restricted to spammers (thus the closed registration). You are all encouraged to hang around if you wish to do so and check in with us from time to time. Basically, like I said, nothing changes other than there will no longer be an "Official" Left 4 Dead squad anymore. We may give it another try after Left 4 Dead 2 comes out - this will remain to be seen.
I hope no one will take this personally, as it isn't personal. It's just time to move on. Whatever each of you decide to do, I wish you all the best now and in the future.