How can we make the 405th great?

Status
Not open for further replies.

Art Andrews

Community Owner
Community Staff
As mentioned elsewhere, we are very excited to be managing this community! We think it has a tremendous amount of potential and want to see it grow and flourish, but we need YOUR help to do that! This thread is for posting your thoughts and ideas about 1) existing changes as they are made and 2) changes you would like to see made.

Please bear in mind that there is only a handful of us and 10s of thousands of you, so we may not respond to every post or comment on every idea but we WILL read and consider every idea, comment and even criticism. Some things we should be able to implement quickly and easily while others may take time or not be feasible at all. Be patient with us as we already have a tremendous backlog of things that need to be done, but one-by-one, we will get to them.
 
Agreed. While we will more than likely need some sort of system eventually in order to help groups easily coordinate for events, we want to ensure anything we put in place does not detract or leave those who have not finished their suit, can only make it to a few local events if any, or are focused on non-armor wearing aspects of costuming.

We want it to be something simple that serves it's purpose of helping event organizers meet their needs as easily as possible without taking away from the egalitarian roots of the 405th.

A proper thread discussing this will likely be opened up at a later point in time.
 
Upvote 0
@ArtAndrews can the lone wolves such as myself who are out in the sticks or far far from everyone else and cons get a squad or Division for us. Of course we could call it Lone Wolves.
 
Upvote 0
@ArtAndrews can the lone wolves such as myself who are out in the sticks or far far from everyone else and cons get a squad or Division for us. Of course we could call it Lone Wolves.

Sounds fine in theory, but do remember that you'll likely be placed into a Regiment based upon your location, regardless of how remote that location is within your Regiment.

For example - if you live way out in the sticks of Alaska, you'll likely still be included within the Pacific Regiment given that's where your location is. Do remember - we're trying to get members to enjoy a sense of community and togetherness, rather than splintering factions off here and there.

There will be plenty of chances for you to provide for your Regiment regardless of how remote your location is. Attending conventions will only be a small part of the 405th.
 
Upvote 0
Haven't been on in a while, but the site looks great with the new design. Also wanted to say that I went past the 405th booth at RTX this year (how I was able to go is another story entirely) and it looked like you guys did a great job with setup and explaining how the armor process worked.
 
Upvote 0
I like the idea of regiments but I feel that they cover too large of an area to form a sense of community. If there are smaller groups in each regiment to cover a smaller area that would make more sense. Also I'm wondering when we will have all the states covered.
 
Upvote 0
I like cayoke's idea, but the only problem I see with that is the number of smaller groups being formed, and trying to contact all the smaller groups to organize events for the whole regiment.
 
Upvote 0
I was thinking more like sub groups in the larger regiments. With in the fourm for the regiment you would have sub-regiments that would consist of a two or three states that would post in a sub section of the larger regiments fourm. So if you wanted to have a whole regiment go to one event you could post that announcement in the regiments main forum and to go to the sub regiment forms you would see that event post. I'm sorry if this doesn't make sense. I'm having trouble forming words today.
 
Upvote 0
The forum ranks I suggested HERE do not have to be indicative of the actual rank of the character. That was just a suggestion I threw out which I probably shouldn’t have, now that I think of it. It is simply a tag or badge on the forum that the person can strive to update. Even then, with regards to prop builders, I am looking at this from the light of a costume trooping organization. However, I’ll get to that in a moment.

One of the points that were brought up would be the coding necessary to update a character’s rank. This wouldn’t really be an issue if it is kept at the Company level. One of the Appointed positions at the Company level could be an Admin Officer. The Admin Officer would manage event sign-ups and update the necessary Member Rank score based on attendance at the event (i.e. signing up and not attending won’t get you anything). In addition to this, they can write up Mission Reports for the various “troops” that the group does to post on the main site. This would give manual updating with little to no effort, to include a spot on the member’s profile to show Tour of Duty which can also be updated.

Another point was some people who only wish to build props. In the case that a person wishes to be a member without trooping, then we can give them the designation of Civilian Consultant when they produce their first prop. They would be members of the organization, but would not be required to actually troop. If they make a costume, then they can be given the Rank title like other members who troop.
 
Upvote 0
The forum ranks I suggested HERE do not have to be indicative of the actual rank of the character. That was just a suggestion I threw out which I probably shouldn’t have, now that I think of it. It is simply a tag or badge on the forum that the person can strive to update. Even then, with regards to prop builders, I am looking at this from the light of a costume trooping organization. However, I’ll get to that in a moment.

One of the points that were brought up would be the coding necessary to update a character’s rank. This wouldn’t really be an issue if it is kept at the Company level. One of the Appointed positions at the Company level could be an Admin Officer. The Admin Officer would manage event sign-ups and update the necessary Member Rank score based on attendance at the event (i.e. signing up and not attending won’t get you anything). In addition to this, they can write up Mission Reports for the various “troops” that the group does to post on the main site. This would give manual updating with little to no effort, to include a spot on the member’s profile to show Tour of Duty which can also be updated.

Another point was some people who only wish to build props. In the case that a person wishes to be a member without trooping, then we can give them the designation of Civilian Consultant when they produce their first prop. They would be members of the organization, but would not be required to actually troop. If they make a costume, then they can be given the Rank title like other members who troop.

Thank you Jason I was thinking the same except that would rather be called something other than consultant. I love modeling, building halo armor and then give it away. Mostly to friends or neighborhood kids. That is one of the reasons I asked for the lone wolves squad or Division as this would include many members. It would not have the same requirements as the pacific and other regiments. But at the time if they implement awards and medal and such, I would strive to earn them. If it doesnt happen it is no big deal.
 
Upvote 0
Some quick regiment notes:

We agree the current regions cover too large an area. A big goal is to create local bonds and we will be setting up ways to form smaller units (tentatively called Battalions) the cover smaller regions.

You will never be "placed" in a regiment. They are completely voluntary and we want them to be formed organically by members, not dictated by administrators. A ground up org, not a top down one.

The regiment will be there to help coordinate for larger events that draw people for across state lines (eg San Diego Comic Con, Dragon con) while Battalions could handle smaller local ones (game launches, etc)

We love all the ideas you guys have to give modelers and the like the attention and credit they deserve. Keep them coming!

The ultimate purpose of the regiment system is to help improve organization and make it easier to people make requests, set up events, etc. So any sort of "lone wolf" regiment would need to reflect that. Personally, I feel it would be more efficient to have a regiment keep tabs on them, because you never know when they might be able to come out for an event (eg we have some Bakersfield, etc. Folks, and I keep a close eye for any opportunities they can take advantage of). But it's definitely another thing we want to plan for =)
 
Upvote 0
Would anyone else like to see a section for Gaming Sessions?
Seeing as we are pretty tightly related to a videogame, it would kind of make sense to include some sort of feature for gaming sessions.

It is just a thought....


Until then, Trueachievements.com still works for setting up gaming sessions with my fellow achievement whores.
 
Upvote 0
No. Because that wouldn't work anyways. How many of you actually read through the EULA on any of your products when installing them? If so, you are the exception.

IMO The best way is to make an intro video worth watching, which if we direct people to it, they will actually feel it's worth taking a look. The same goes for having tutorials to help people get started.

Re: gaming section

I think the Halo discussion section would cover that area fine. It's not a hugely busy forum, so threads about gaming don't get buried. If there is more of a demand or need for it, we can look into expanding it.
 
Upvote 0
No. Because that wouldn't work anyways. How many of you actually read through the EULA on any of your products when installing them? If so, you are the exception.

IMO The best way is to make an intro video worth watching, which if we direct people to it, they will actually feel it's worth taking a look. The same goes for having tutorials to help people get started.

Fair point. And I agree on making a revamped intro video. Not saying Adam's was bad, but with all the changes in the works, it makes a lot of sense on it's own to make a new one.
 
Upvote 0
No. Because that wouldn't work anyways. How many of you actually read through the EULA on any of your products when installing them? If so, you are the exception.

IMO The best way is to make an intro video worth watching, which if we direct people to it, they will actually feel it's worth taking a look. The same goes for having tutorials to help people get started.

Re: gaming section

I think the Halo discussion section would cover that area fine. It's not a hugely busy forum, so threads about gaming don't get buried. If there is more of a demand or need for it, we can look into expanding it.

You know what we could do.... we could make a new intro video and have it as an undismissable notice for members who have been here less than 10 days... so for the first ten days the video shows up at the top of every page. Still can't MAKE people watch it... but it might get a bit more compliance!
 
Upvote 0
You could also include a secret codeword somewhere in the video that they need for completing the registration form.
 
Upvote 0
You could also include a secret codeword somewhere in the video that they need for completing the registration form.

That's an excellent idea, but I'd make it a code phrase rather than a code word, and have the words of the phrase spread throughout the video so it must be watched to get the entire phrase. Otherwise you could just skip to the appropriate time index and get the word. Ha, and if you really wanted it watched, then you put the remarks about watching for pass-phrase words at the END of the video instead of the beginning, so people would be like, "ohhh, dang now I need to watch it again..."
 
Upvote 0
MyrHerder said:
You could also include a secret codeword somewhere in the video that they need for completing the registration form.

Sounds like a good idea to me.

Crimmson said:
Thank you Jason I was thinking the same except that would rather be called something other than consultant. I love modeling, building halo armor and then give it away. Mostly to friends or neighborhood kids. That is one of the reasons I asked for the lone wolves squad or Division as this would include many members. It would not have the same requirements as the pacific and other regiments. But at the time if they implement awards and medal and such, I would strive to earn them. If it doesn't happen it is no big deal.

What about Contractor instead of Consultant, in keeping with the "fiction" so to speak? Sort of like the Vestol Corporation that originally handled the Rogue, who were contracted by the UNSC to show what a privatized company can do with the Mjolnir platform. We want to make sure that if/when ranks and titles come into play, those who make all of this possible (the modelers) and those who offer to take off some of the burden (prop and kit makers) are given titles that reflect the proper respect for what these individuals have contributed to the community. Don't get me wrong, building a suit of armor is a lot of work, and the completion of a suit should be commended, but I've seen so many ranking suggestions that focus on this when building a suit is a far more singular endeavor that benefits the individual cosplayer but does not actively contribute to the community as a whole, while modelers and kit builders put in just as much time and effort (sometimes more) and everyone benefits from the fruits of their labor. For me, personally, I feel that deserves a "higher" rank or more prestigious "title,"so to speak, because without their efforts the 405th would not be what it is today. There are free-hand builders out there, certainly, but the vast majority got their start with a community-made 3D model made right here by the talented men and women who tirelessly set themselves in front of a screen to provide the foundation for all that we build. I think that deserves a little more than a "hat's off" and a nominal conglomerate group title.
 
Upvote 0
Honestly, at this point, you are unlikely to see any true "ranking" system at all. It is simply too divisive. What you ARE now likely to see, in part, due to this ongoing discussion, are TYPES of membership, which is pretty much what we have now. The difference will be that full members will be split between costuming members and non-costuming members.

You will have some type of newb membership, some type of full membership (non-costuming) and some type of full membership (costuming). In this way, the non-costuming and the costuming are essentially on equal footing. Within the costuming type there will definitely be Tiers (probably 3) to recognize and promote the continuation of improving your costume, but even then the tiers aren't ranks.

Outside of this, we will eventually look at some type of awards system for various types of achievement, but these won't be ranks either.

The only true "ranks" will be purely administrative in dealing with the staff of the Battalions, Regiments and Division as a whole. Those ranks will represent the administrative organization of the club.
 
Upvote 0
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top