MicaWrath has long been an officer of TAW playing Combat Arms. Once he was a CO when the game had a full-fledged division, he stepped down and while he was a regular member, the division was sent to Sentinel for a second time. Now the time has come for MicaWrath to step up once again as an officer and lead the battalion out of SN and back into TAW as a division. Here, MicaWrath discusses how Sentinel is helping him save his game.
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First, tell us a little about Combat Arms and what position you held prior to its move to Sentinel…
Combat Arms (CA) the game is celebrating its 4th birthday, and currently features 32 maps, 10 modes of gameplay, and well over 100 weapons to choose from (as well as mods for most of those weapons) which makes for an incredibly varied game-playing experience. We don’t usually have issues with finding unique ways of running around killing each other.
Combat Arms the Battalion has been in existence for longer than I have been a member of TAW (a bit over 2 years) and has been a Division twice. Our current stint in Sentinel is the second time.
Just prior to being dropped back into Sentinel, I had to relinquish the CO position due to work load, so I was just a grunt when it happened.
What was the ultimate cause of Combat Arms membership falling and a move to Sentinel coming about?
This is still tender territory for those of us who stayed, so I'm going to skirt the issue a bit. I was not an officer at the time it happened, so I don't know all the details, but a large number of members left at one time, and the fallout from that exodus caused a slow trickle of people leaving until we reached the point where Sentinel became the only option to remain a Battalion in TAW.
How have the officers in Sentinel helped you as a DO restructure and rebuild Combat Arms?
Well, at one time I was the only officer in Sentinel, heh! Prior to that instance though, the DC was very helpful and supportive in my efforts as the reappointed CO to get CA back on track, helping me get new recruiting posts on various CA-related forums up and going, and answering questions when he was available. He was unfortunately removed from that position (real-life commitments take a precedence, as we all know) which left me to my own devices for a few weeks, until a new DC and DO were assigned to Sentinel and became readily available, providing positive input and a helping hand when I needed it, as well as giving me a promotion to my current status as DO of CA Battalion. The current DO has been very responsive to my questions and issues, and we've had some good discussions about where CA is going; I have yet to work with the new DC, as he has just been assigned.
A couple months ago, the idea of a European CA Battalion was brought up. CA has its own set of servers for European players (separate from North America), and it looked like a good step to take, but there didn't seem to be enough interest to get another Battalion going. I'll take some of the responsibility for that decision, as I believe we would need at least 6 dedicated players to start a new Battalion, with one super dedicated CO to run it and work the recruiting and team building end of things, and I just didn't see that happening. But the possibility still exists!
Far as restructuring, we've never had to having never been huge to begin with, but rebuilding has been a slow process, for various and assorted reasons I could talk your ear off about. But we are growing, a point I get to hammer home every time our growth is brought up.
We bottomed out at six members.
We now have nineteen.
When you first moved to Sentinel, how was the day to day operation of the division approached by the commanding officers there?
The only thing that changed was the urging to recruit, recruit, recruit (inside joke, that) in an effort to regain Division status.
The urging to recruit has been scaled back, in favor of setting up private rooms where we can play against each other without worrying about cheaters; CA is famous for its prolific and varied “hackers”. We also have returned to actively recruiting from pubs and still have two recruiting threads active. Internal play peppered with recruiting efforts seems to be a good combination... Nobody gets burned out on either.
What changes have been made to assist in the rebuilding and strengthening of your unit?
We. Have. Fun.
As previously mentioned, taking the focus off of exclusively recruiting has taken the pressure off the Battalion to simply get people in the door. We've found that when people apply to TAW from pubs, it's because they've played with us in game and find enjoyment in it.
Combined with the streamlined application and onboarding process that now exists, I think we have a slow but reliable way of attracting the right people to us.
How long has Combat Arms been in Sentinel?
Almost a year. That's a guess, but I believe it's been close to a year.
How long did it take for the division to see an increase in membership growth after joining Sentinel?
Oh, I’d say within a month we had one or two new members. Turnover is kind of high in this Battalion though, and I would conservatively say that one out of five recruits we get actually stays loyal to TAW. Being in Sentinel has nothing to do with this, it's more to do with the game itself.
What is the overall attitude of your membership towards being in Sentinel?
For a little over half of our current members, they’ve never experienced TAW outside of Sentinel, so having nothing else to compare it to I don’t think it matters much to them that we’re in Sentinel. I can’t speak for the rest, the ones who have been here through the good and bad… I think it’s sufficient to say that that they’re still here.
If you were to give one piece of advice to a DC whose division was being brought in to Sentinel, what would it be?
Don’t think of coming to Sentinel as a demotion; nothing is further from the truth. It’s not a place of punishment, it’s not a place Divisions come to die. It’s a place to take a breather, regroup, and rebuild.
Is there anything you would like to tell the rest of TAW about Sentinel in parting?
See my advice above.