Running an Alliance: Comparative

[Corvidae]

A relatively meta topic on my mind lately is how to compare an alliance to a real life organization, and leap-frogging from there perhaps giving people a better understanding of how an alliance functions and how one succeeds or fails.

 

Is an alliance comparable to a business? In certain ways, I think a corporate bureaucracy is the simplest way for the modern player to setup and effectively run an alliance. A simple chain of command leading up to some number of executive heads in charge of various pieces of the whole. Typically business models will at least claim to be meritocratic in promotion, and typically try to seek out talent as opposed to seniority: "Who's going to do the best job?" 

When applied to members however, I think an easy trap to fall into with the business-driven meritocratic mindset is neglecting your community and the soft skills needed to nurture members into successful players. Much like in real life, numbers aren't the only thing that matter and there needs to be a balance. If you only focus on how well you're doing numerically, you lose your identity to a... pretty lame game, if we're being honest.

 

Is an alliance comparable to a government agency/entity? Typically, seniority supersedes all in many government agencies. Talent is recognized but not to the same extent as it might be in the private sector. Meritocracy comes second to experience. I think a lot of alliances operate on iterations of this concept, whether it is due to balancing community needs of an egotistical member who has been waiting awhile for their time in the sun or simply a belief that experience can make up for lack of raw talent. I think this system is easier to grasp for the totality of membership unless you've built a meritocratic culture and often trying to change it up can lead to drastic effects like splinters or coups. However I think the drawback here is that the command structure suffers when you fail to let active and talented members rise quickly enough to have maximum impact. It's more conservative and perhaps safer, but also doesn't pay dividends over time like talent does. This system can often lead to stagnation in my opinion.

 

Is an alliance comparable to a volunteer/non-profit entity? If you've been around the community long enough you've probably heard someone joke or seriously state they've used alliance government positions on their resume, and often under this classification or something similar. "Direct organizer for over 100 subordinates in a volunteer organization." I think there's some merit to this, as with actual volunteer and non-profit orgs -- no one in this game gets paid for the work they do. We rely solely on people's passion and motivation to play the game in order to fuel groups of, sometimes, hundreds of players. These are often structured similarly to a business, but operate on a very similar "activity is the most important factor" concept that many alliances are forced into: We've probably all encountered people who would've been amazing in a gov position, but due to their time constraints simply couldn't handle it or had to resign. Many volunteer organizations face the same. Promotion through attrition, basically.

The drawbacks here being a little more obvious: What if you run out of competent people? Though I will say sometimes dedication can account for a lot even when talent or experience aren't there.

 

 

I'm interested to hear thoughts, I tried to keep this very non-inflammatory as opposed to my usual posts. How do you think alliances operate comparatively to real life organizations? What's the ideal, what's the reality, who's the exception, who's the example?

 

 

#reviveForums2025

[Lord Skeleton]

For more info on how to run an alliance, please contact hamer from Wall Street.

[boppy]

It's more like a frat.  A hierarchy lead by a bunch of dudes acting under the guise of self aggrandizing professionalism while actually just trying to give each other hand jobs in the back room.

 

 

[Nokia Rokia]

I think the skills necessary to be an effective alliance leader even if I'm not considered a decent has had significant impact on my life.

I learned sheets from pnw (I work in business now)

I learned coding from messing with the API and bots for the game (I'm about to complete my bachelor in computer science and game design)

I learned how to deal with difficult people better and broaden my social skills to include I learned important debate skills that have proved useful in dealing with people of various beliefs.

 

I also learned how quickly some people spiral into their online identities and egos over a game.

Overall I think running an alliance Is a great way to learn stuff and grow as a person if that is what people want to do.

[Tartarus]

On 7/26/2024 at 1:30 AM, boppy said:

It's more like a frat.  A hierarchy lead by a bunch of dudes acting under the guise of self aggrandizing professionalism while actually just trying to give each other hand jobs in the back room.

 

 

Happiest TSC member

[Sketchy]

Roberts this thread would be way more interesting if you just started insulting other alliances like I suggested.

[Firwof Kromwell]

11 hours ago, Sketchy said:

Roberts this thread would be way more interesting if you just started insulting other alliances like I suggested.

I don't think he wants to take part of your hoe-flation tactics.

But that does remind me that I have some diss track ideas, so thx for reminding me!

[boppy]

23 hours ago, Tartarus said:

Happiest TSC member

rerolling after 9 years of freedom from this god forsaken game will suck the joy from even the most chipper soul 🙃

[Sweeeeet Ronny D]

It all depends on what kind of alliance you want to run.  As leader of grumpy for like 6 years or so, running it was basically similar to being the leader of your friend group.  You set up the trips and decide where we are going to go, and you basically let the rest of them do what they want to do.  But since you are all friends, you all generally have the same goals and there should be no need to babysit each other with the exception of that one friend (we all know that guy...) 

The other thing i would compare it to, is like coaching a team.  If i have done my job right, everyone knows their roll within the team, our goal is to win, and my job is to let them go out and play, help if i am needed, but ideally not get in the way and let the boys play.

Edited July 30, 2024 by Sweeeeet Ronny D

[Jordan]

#25thTimeTryingToReviveForums2025

TLDR?