At 8/20/08 10:34 AM, NEVR wrote: Oh, OK. So the 'no exceptions' part just applied to everyone but you then?

Yes.

I'm only fucking with ya, but the attitude you felt when writing that post is probably a good mirror of what I was thinking when you jumped on my ass for posting a single one-liner, despite the vast majority of my posts being fairly long indeed.

I have no attitude, I randomly tell people to go eat shit.

LOL, it's only a bit of fun. I don't often write one-liners and you know it, but on the odd occasion where the situation lends itself to one, you have to say that it's not the end of the world to indulge just the once. It's only the internets after all.

For some reason or another, that last sentence just has a way of pissing me off. Seriously this time.

Obviously we don't want things to snowball and have people left right and center thinking it's OK to post one-liners, but I very seriously doubt that would happen, especially considering we're not exactly fraught with the opportunity to write only one line in a post. It's not always necessary to write a novel, though, and can in fact be more annoying when people write more than they actually have to just to give the impression that they're making a more worthwhile post.

Don't care. It's my job to make sure you all remember, everything else is strictly not my problem. Anyone with a serious condition, may contact me over AIM, if they dare.

At 8/19/08 05:26 AM, Joshiwa wrote: Top 5 Gainers:

Joshiwa - 1630
NEVR - 1505
Mendou - 1279
Phantom - 1210
Corky52 - 1157

Wow, out hustled by less than 100 points on Clock week. I think that's almost impressive for me :)

>>> 05 || [ 46422 ] || [ 0452 ] || [ 064.6 ] || [ 062.9+ ] || Sentio, EGSC
>>> 06 || [ 45026 ] || [ 0559 ] || [ 079.9 ] || [ 053.8+ ] || pwroftheseagoat, EGSC
>>> 07 || [ 44422 ] || [ 1066 ] || [ 153.3 ] || [ 107.4+ ] || Coop83, EGSC

Thanks for the update, Josh, I've got my sights set on Sentio in the immediate future, with Sea Goat still being a long term target. Let's see how the averages fall into place next week :)

At 8/19/08 05:26 AM, Joshiwa wrote: Top 5 Gainers:

Maybe if you make this top 10, I'll get listed, lol.

Anyway, hello there guys, sorry again I've not posted in a while, I lack posting motivation for the BBS sometimes, I'm going to get posting again tommorow I hope or as soon as I have reached a goal on a game I'm playing.

Clockday was pretty intresting, still left a lot of blue scores later in the day and I missed many points I could have had, nevermind, don't really need them, lol.

Well been writing some reviews for RRC ,one got blamed again annoying. The new TOTW looks crap but better, then before. As the last couple of weeks it was by Soybeanr ,or what ever alt he used. The portal looks good some good entries. My b/p slow though.

Hey guys, sorry I was AWOL for the last day or two, but I just attended the single most incredible concert of my life. 7 friends and I went to see Tenacious D and Metallica in Marlay Park in Dublin. It was amazing, a 30,000 person singalong for hours.

The D were hilarious as per usual, and Metallica drove the crowd insane, they were ungodly superb. They even played a new song from the new album (released Sept. 12th, for any Metallica fans who don't already know). It was called Cyanide, and trust me, Death Magnetic should be a major improvement on St. Anger.

Anyway, back to more relevant matters. It would seem for the most part that Clock Day was fairly successful. While there were a great deal of spammy submissions, it was still not too bad. Sadly a lot of new members do not comprehend the significance of the occasion, so perhaps the CD tradition is in decline.

Nevertheless, here's to Clock Day 2008, and to a (hopefully) improved Clock Day 2009!

At 8/21/08 08:07 AM, RohantheBarbarian wrote: Hey guys, sorry I was AWOL for the last day or two, but I just attended the single most incredible concert of my life. 7 friends and I went to see Tenacious D and Metallica in Marlay Park in Dublin. It was amazing, a 30,000 person singalong for hours.

EH no need to apologize, as EagleRock has said before we do not chastise people for having a life outside of Newgrounds. But that is pretty awesome man although I hate Metallica but Tenacious D is pretty good.

Anyway, back to more relevant matters. It would seem for the most part that Clock Day was fairly successful. While there were a great deal of spammy submissions, it was still not too bad. Sadly a lot of new members do not comprehend the significance of the occasion, so perhaps the CD tradition is in decline.

Nevertheless, here's to Clock Day 2008, and to a (hopefully) improved Clock Day 2009!

Clock Day was the same as usual, mostly spam submissions and a few gems. Its nothing new just a tradition on Newgrounds with new members not knowing how to handle it for the first time. It will be the same next year, its a day to let your hair down and pass almost every submission.

You saw Tenacious D? they are cool some of thier music is funny. Clockday was crazy but like last year lots of high scores. Been posting alot of link on Rage thread. So many reviews abusive its amazing how many you find. I write a couple of audios. One author got annoyed i dont know why, they thought i was being assy. I admit i got the mixed up, but still no need to be so rude. Comments from authors csn be abusive but that thier right. Still they should not be abusive.

At 8/21/08 08:07 AM, RohantheBarbarian wrote: Hey guys, sorry I was AWOL for the last day or two, but I just attended the single most incredible concert of my life. 7 friends and I went to see Tenacious D and Metallica in Marlay Park in Dublin. It was amazing, a 30,000 person singalong for hours.

Omg, you are really lucky, man. Metallica did a gig (the 14th of August, two days after my B-day) in France but I wasn't able to see them because I was in Spain. Though I'm not a big fan of Tenacious D ... ; ).

The D were hilarious as per usual, and Metallica drove the crowd insane, they were ungodly superb. They even played a new song from the new album (released Sept. 12th, for any Metallica fans who don't already know).

I can't wait to hear this new ablum ! I'm so looking forward !

It was called Cyanide, and trust me, Death Magnetic should be a major improvement on St. Anger.

I listened an experpt of Death Magnetic, and their sound is very close to the sound they used to have in the Master of Puppets album ... it sounds awesome ! Metallica : <3

Anyway, back to more relevant matters. It would seem for the most part that Clock Day was fairly successful. While there were a great deal of spammy submissions, it was still not too bad. Sadly a lot of new members do not comprehend the significance of the occasion, so perhaps the CD tradition is in decline.

Yeah, the last year, I wasn't informed of the CD. Maybe because I was a very new NG user (I signed up on the 14 of April of the past year) . But this year, I earned something like 550 B/P points.

ok im back, so am i in the EGB or do I have to be judged or something.

At 8/21/08 05:52 PM, Marsupial wrote: ok im back, so am i in the EGB or do I have to be judged or something.

Did you apply before or something?

If you did then I guess you don't need all the information about us since you read it all right? You could due to know more formality since you are in the NGPD right? But whatever.

Slash said we would hold discussions when you came back so when he comes around we will start them up. Don't automatically assume you are going to be able to join just because you qualify bucko.

At 8/21/08 05:52 PM, Marsupial wrote: ok im back, so am i in the EGB or do I have to be judged or something.

Welcome to the Barracks! I'm the Barracks Recruitment Officer, Supreme Commander Slash Firestorm. It's my job to examine new prospective recruits and see if they've got what it takes to join the EGB.

Let me explain how the recruitment process works.

Currently you are in "Standby Status" while your case is considered. During this process, me and the other Barracks members will take a look at your record---posting quality, review history/quality, flash record, etc---and see if there are any problems.

Don't worry, we're not too strict about these things; we just want to make sure that you have a decent posting record (not too many one-liners and no flaming/spamming), don't make abusive reviews or rulebreaking flash, etc..

After a period of discussion amongst the Barracks members, I (or my superiors) will make the final call. Assuming that no objections are raised, this Standby Status should only last approximately 24 hours. I will PM you with the final verdict.

Barracks members can go to the appropriate thread to discuss and vote. Remember that you must be logged in to view and post, and speak now or forever hold your peace.

So I've been thinking of leaving the EGB for a couple of weeks now. As things are right now, these are - as I say - only thoughts, but I just felt that it might be a good idea to express my reasoning behind these thoughts before actually taking any action, on the odd chance that people might take on board what I'm saying and things improved.

First off, anybody trying to persuade me either to stay or to leave will be ignored. Whilst I usually appreciate your respective opinions, this isn't a situation where they're going to be necessary for my final decision in this matter. This is a choice I'm going to make one way or the other, despite any potential external pressure for either outcome.

Let's get to it then.

Out of all the clubs and threads on NG, this one has to be amongst my favourites. When I joined I saw it as a prestigious environment (a rare occurrence on the internet), and something that I could contribute to and hopefully even make a little better. I ended up helping Sterockicy on the roster and eventually succeeded him as the EGB's Records officer. I felt like I was actually contributing and making this place better off for it, especially after I launched the extended roster, which seemed to go down reasonably well.

At the time when the extended roster was launched, EagleRock had once again become active and was leading us brilliantly: assigning new officers and mapping out the EGB manifesto, which can be found on our private forums, amongst several of his other works from those times. I spoke to him regularly on AIM and we sometimes discussed EGB-related stuff, which he would listen to my opinion on and genuinely take it on board. That was the time when I probably felt like I was really a part of this place.

After Eagle took another leave of absence, though, things started to slowly decline, at least in my opinion. Without a strong central leadership, we started to lose our aims a little and become apathetic towards the advancement of the club. That wasn't so much of a problem, really, because things had been like that before and we'd come through them.

Rather than just staying at a consistent level of aimlessness, though, things seem to have been declining further still, which brings me up to the present. The environment in here seems stale, and sometimes almost hostile. Some members don't get on but keep it below the surface, others just openly don't get on, and the ones who do get on pretty much just keep to themselves. The main leadership (Slash, at this point) doesn't post here a lot... not that I'm holding that against him -- we all have lives which take priority, and frankly good for him if he has better things to do. I'm just stating facts, not accusing anybody of anything, so please don't take that the wrong way, Slash. My point is, with Slash not around as much, and Phantom having resigned from his role as 2IC officer, there's really nobody regularly around who's driving us in the right direction (or any direction, for that matter).

I don't like it when things are this static, and I think that's one of my main concerns right now. I prefer to have a goal to work towards, but it just seems like right now, most of our goals outlined in the manifest are pretty futile. I've mentioned them once or twice before in the hope of people rallying around and working together on this, but all that usually happens is a few tepid responses, and then a new line of conversation.

To be completely honest, I'm not enjoying myself here in the EGB as much these days, and my main philosophy with regards to internet stuff is that "if you're not enjoying it, either you're taking it too seriously or it's not for you". I've considered the former, but I don't think that's really the case. I do like to have a joke and a laugh as a lot of you know... but I'm just not feeling the fun anymore, so I'm starting to consider that maybe it's the latter that's the problem here. I really don't know.

I normally wouldn't care about something like this: an online forum club going down the drain. As I said earlier though, this is one of the few places on the entire internet that I actually want to sustain, because it's a good place with good people, and it also furthers my enjoyment of the NG flash portal and other such aspects of the site. I hope that other people feel the same way, because if they don't then there really isn't a whole lot of point in sticking around anyway.

I'd hate to be letting anybody down in a big way, so I'm going to hold off making my final decision with regards to me staying or leaving until I reach the final B/P rank, which should be several months. I think that's more than enough time for me to judge whether or not this place will improve (or has improved), and should be enough time for me to tie up any loose ends with regards to the roster, and any other responsibilities I've been given here.

Hopefully you guys take this post the right way, but even if you don't, I'm doubtful as to whether it'll actually accomplish anything. I just thought I should put it out there, and people can either just take it or leave it. If you read all this, good for you.

NEVR, man I was busy this summer it wasn't even funny, but I tried to be around and I see what you were saying. I like this place a lot too and is one of the places I go on the internet for, but I hope you stay.

I was rarely on during Eagle's stay, then departure, then brief come back tour before fading into the darkness, so I don't remember a time when we were unified under one common goal. The only goals that I can think of is "get rid of spam!!!", which is futile and pointless, since it will never stop. That's really the only goal that I can see any club strive for in order to better NG, except for Rage's Gift.

That being said, I agree with you NEVR; the EGB has lost a little something that I could never decipher. And now that you made that annoyingly long (but good) post, I realize that you're right. The only problem is, is that I don't know how we can fix the problem.

I agree with you, that we need to point the EGB in a new direction, but I'm not sure how to do that, or even what a landmark to help point the direction looks like. I'll help the best i can, but I'm not sure how much that will be.

Thats such a shame NEVR you were one ,of the best members of this club. I do really miss EagleRock too he was a fantasic leader ,and his absence i really miss. Its a shame but its one of those things. I dont think hes posted since june. I noticed that when i posted a link to to a user ,who submissons passed judgement i did not get a single reply. If EagleRock had been on i sure if would have ,done something right away. I did not notice the downhill spiral on the contrary, i felt this club was getting better more posts, more members .This is such a loss through ,but if you want to leave if up to you. I hope you change your mind though. NGDD is dieing i dont want this club to go the same way salutes.

At 8/21/08 06:55 PM, SlashFirestorm wrote:

Welcome to the Barracks! I'm the Barracks Recruitment Officer, Supreme Commander Slash Firestorm. It's my job to examine new prospective recruits and see if they've got what it takes to join the EGB.

If you see this, it is possible that you don't really remember me. But I have already been a member in the EGB. I was heading quickly to be in the Top 300 List... but... well... I stopped to B/P months ago.

Mostly, I lost my connection to Internet many months ago. But there's something else.
I lost my taste for it since NG Redesign. It was probably too many new things for me. It was quite weird... I don't know how I can explain this properly...
If I continued to B/P, I would probably be in the list today. But fate has decided otherwise, and now I guess it's too late to try to come back in it.

However...

I think I could be ready to come back into the EGB to do some of my duty. Sure, I won't be available THAT often like before, but at least, you can't say that I was gone forever.

And I'm sure many of you, leaders, might remember about me.

I am Azentiger, ancient member of the EGB, Sergent Major, so... still not a real officer yet...
And I am asking to join back the EGB. Any oppositions?

At 8/22/08 03:34 PM, Azentiger wrote:

At 8/21/08 06:55 PM, SlashFirestorm wrote:

Hello there i hope you come back im fairly, new to this fine club. I only joined in feburary so six months, not long compared to other veterans. Ive only gone from Private First Class to ,Corporal in that time. So when did you leave then.?

At 8/22/08 07:40 PM, phantomlassuk wrote:

Hello there i hope you come back im fairly, new to this fine club. I only joined in feburary so six months, not long compared to other veterans. Ive only gone from Private First Class to ,Corporal in that time. So when did you leave then.?

It was a few days or weeks following NG Redesign. A bit long ago, in fact.

When I was in the EGB and constantly in NG, I was able to get 50 to 100 B/P per day, depending on the days. It's a shame that I missed Clock Day and a good moment to increase my Save Points... who are already quite high. But I will still continue on that day, as much as possible. That... if I'm taken back in the EGB. I got to wait for the leaders' decision.

At 8/22/08 03:34 PM, Azentiger wrote: I am Azentiger, ancient member of the EGB, Sergent Major, so... still not a real officer yet...
And I am asking to join back the EGB. Any oppositions?

I actually do remember you, and considering that you were previously in the Barracks and don't have any glaring problems, so I'll let you back in without the recruitment stuff.

Still taking discussion on Marsupial---all Barracks members should go to the forums and make their voices heard.

*****

On the topic of NEVR's post, yes, the Barracks needs a sort of...cleansing. Revitalization. There are lots of things that can be done, but let's start with the basics.

First up, we need to start purging inactive members from the ranks. With the agreement of the record officers, I think we should PM anyone who hasn't posted here in a month or more and ask if they want to stay within the Barracks. If they say no, or don't reply for, say, a month, they should be removed from the ranks. Now, if they ever come back, they can be 're-activated' or whatnot, but I think the member list really needs to be streamlined so that we know who's available and who's not.

Any other suggestions will be appreciated.

At 8/22/08 10:11 PM, SlashFirestorm wrote:

On the topic of NEVR's post, yes, the Barracks needs a sort of...cleansing. Revitalization. There are lots of things that can be done, but let's start with the basics.

First up, we need to start purging inactive members from the ranks. With the agreement of the record officers, I think we should PM anyone who hasn't posted here in a month or more and ask if they want to stay within the Barracks. If they say no, or don't reply for, say, a month, they should be removed from the ranks. Now, if they ever come back, they can be 're-activated' or whatnot, but I think the member list really needs to be streamlined so that we know who's available and who's not.

Any other suggestions will be appreciated.

I do think that since EagelRock has been inactive in the past several months And There is no one really incharge of us i think that maby there should be someone to take over when EagelRock become inactive.

Sorry about not posting in the past days life got in the way and had some parties that lasted almost all day and when i got home i was so tried i just fell asleep the second i got home. I feal i will beactive here all the time in the comming months.

At 8/22/08 10:11 PM, SlashFirestorm wrote: First up, we need to start purging inactive members from the ranks. With the agreement of the record officers, I think we should PM anyone who hasn't posted here in a month or more and ask if they want to stay within the Barracks...

Joshiwa and I have actually already been discussing this, and I was originally a bit adverse to just removing multiple members from the roster without any approval from you or Eagle (despite the fact that it's in my power). Now that you've said that though, I see no reason not to go ahead with it -- it seems like the time is probably right to remove those who have lost interest. Hopefully it'll make us a tighter-knit group.

I'll make a list of inactive members, and Joshiwa and I will split it between us and start PMing them all.

At 8/22/08 10:11 PM, SlashFirestorm wrote:

I actually do remember you, and considering that you were previously in the Barracks and don't have any glaring problems, so I'll let you back in without the recruitment stuff.

Still taking discussion on Marsupial---all Barracks members should go to the forums and make their voices heard.

I wonder how you remembered about me...?
Hmmm... probably the username... or else... errr... something else...

At 8/22/08 10:43 PM, NEVR wrote:

Now that you've said that though, I see no reason not to go ahead with it -- it seems like the time is probably right to remove those who have lost interest. Hopefully it'll make us a tighter-knit group.

Heh... looks like a nice thing, in some way. And more... it will keep the list less longer to make. It happens every 2 weeks, if I remember correctly, right?

At 8/22/08 10:11 PM, SlashFirestorm wrote:

First up, we need to start purging inactive members from the ranks.

I agree, but shorten the reply period to 2 weeks. That's plenty of time for anyone somewhat active on NG to respond. It also allows us to move quicker in the revitalization process on the club as a whole.

Second, we need a clear and present leader, elected of course through the private forums by the EGB. The leader needs have been around the EGB and NG for a while, some one that is respected (or feared, or could strike fear in the hearts of men when necessary), and some one we can look to for guidance. They also have to be here a good part of the time.

Also, I'm not sure if you read the news post, but you could be a voice of a Morphemon Duelist. I'm trying out, since it doesn't hurt to submit something. Who knows; I might get the gig. Probably not, but who cares?

At 8/22/08 11:06 PM, TheThing wrote:

Second, we need a clear and present leader, elected of course through the private forums by the EGB. The leader needs have been around the EGB and NG for a while, some one that is respected (or feared, or could strike fear in the hearts of men when necessary), and some one we can look to for guidance. They also have to be here a good part of the time.

I agree 100% on this we need to elect a leader who is respected on the fourms and needs to be given the power to do everything in his control to make this club even better than it ever was. We need someone whil will guide us and give us tips to better ourself's and to help newer users ''learn the ropes'' here.

At 8/22/08 11:06 PM, TheThing wrote:

Second, we need a clear and present leader, elected of course through the private forums by the EGB. The leader needs have been around the EGB and NG for a while, some one that is respected (or feared, or could strike fear in the hearts of men when necessary), and some one we can look to for guidance. They also have to be here a good part of the time.

Actually I am adverse to this, Eagle is an amazing leader when he is around and really knows what he is doing. This is his club and should remain his club until he says otherwise. Slash is second in command and is our leader when Eagle is not around. Tho I must admit it would not hurt to have our 3rd in command position filled with a more active member.

At 8/23/08 12:48 AM, Joshiwa wrote: Actually I am adverse to this, Eagle is an amazing leader when he is around and really knows what he is doing. This is his club and should remain his club until he says otherwise. Slash is second in command and is our leader when Eagle is not around.

I agree, I really don't think the current leadership needs changing. Eagle is the best possible leader for this club, and the fact that he isn't around doesn't mean that we should unceremoniously replace him with someone less competent. Slash is also the best possible 2IC that we could have IMO -- there's nobody in this club right now that could effectively replace them.

Tho I must admit it would not hurt to have our 3rd in command position filled with a more active member.

Maybe vote someone in as 3IC, yes, that wouldn't be a bad thing, so long as we can actually find someone worthy of filling such a position, of course.

At 8/23/08 12:56 AM, NEVR wrote:

At 8/23/08 12:48 AM, Joshiwa wrote: Actually I am adverse to this, Eagle is an amazing leader when he is around

I agree, I really don't think the current leadership needs changing. Eagle is the best possible leader for this club, and the fact that he isn't around doesn't mean that we should unceremoniously replace him

Eagle is a great leader, no doubt there. But he hasn't been around in a while, which means that he can't lead, or say that he wants to hand the torch over to someone who is around more often.

I think we need to elect or appoint a temporary leader, who will lead the club until Eagle comes back, at which time Eagle assumes command, and the temp will be placed in 2nd IC.

This position is essentially 2nd in command, but it also gives us an official person we can look to, and lets that person know that they are in charge. In order to move this club forward, we need to have a solid leader that knows his duties, not a bunch of disjointed "in command"s. This would help us make decisions and start heading in a new direction, and allow Eagle to use it as a platform.

Currently I'm second in command, and Phantom is third. The problem is that neither me nor him can really be active enough to serve as the omnipresent leader of the club, like in the old pre-marriage days with EagleRock (who likewise had IRL shit to deal with a lot). Right now I mostly lurk and deal with recruitment, but I can become a bit more active if I devote a little more time to the internets.

I've sort of been hesitant on assuming a commander role, despite being second-in-command; EagleRock is absent often, and for long stretches at a time, but he doesn't deserve being replaced without his consent. I don't want him to show up and find that there's been a coup or something. Still, we should try to operate on the assumption---only an assumption---that he's not coming back anytime soon, so we can function more efficiently. When he comes back---and I'm sure he will---I'll relinquish my "command-ness" unless he decides otherwise. Until then, yeah, I'm the leader.

Phantom expressed a desire to be "third in command" again, and I agree, but since both me and him aren't always active, there needs to be a policy for when the "big three" of the Barracks aren't around. There are several long-time, trusted members of the Barracks that can be looked to for guidance in the absence of the command structure. NEVR would make a good "emergency operations officer" in such an event, if he wants it; if neither me, Phantom, nor Eagle have posted in a while (say a week), he could handle new recruitment (by summary decision or member discussion) and other operations.

We really need to crack down on posting in here, too...there's been a tendency, for quite some time, to allow shitty one-line or insufferably short posting litter the thread, going way off topic while others are trying to talk about important Newgrounds stuff, and general asshaberdashery. I don't want anything extreme---no kicking someone out for making a one-line post, for example---but if there are people who consistently continue to post poorly, warnings may be required to spur them towards improving.

Of course this kind of thing would be relaxed for those who have English as a second language, and anyone in that situation should mention it for the record, so I don't unfairly unload on someone who wasn't raised on the language...

Hopefully, with the trimming of inactive members and post improvement, the basic flow of the Barracks will be smoother and other, more creative ideas can be easily implemented. A more fluid and functional method of getting stolen flash whistled, for example---perhaps an officer that can investigate flashes believed to be stolen and pass, for instance (maybe even a Potentially Stolen list which can be checked off as flashes are cleared/deleted by Wade, that'd be swell...).

The recruitment discussions should also involve more people. We usually end up with the same 7-10 people voting, but I'd like to see at least 75% of the Barracks being involved in deliberations. The more people voicing their opinions, the less likely some spammer or BBS dick gets in.

Joshiwa PM'ed me about the idea for an EGB 'Boot Camp', to get new members who need some guidance ready for the Barracks. Indeed, this thread should not be seen merely as a +1 post thread, or as a mere mark of coolness on Newgrounds---it should be used as a hub for improving Newgrounds through vigilant B/P'ing, whistling, and intelligent BBS discussion. Ideas on implementing this would be appreciated; I want a system that works, but doesn't make recruits who need it feeling like they're in remedial B/P'ing or something.

There's also been a bit of stirring about re-igniting the Whistle Improvement Project; I would like for all active EGB members to eventually have a Deity Whistle, particularly those who have been here a while. There wouldn't be any time limits or anything, but high whistles are vitally important to flagging (which has become an adopted role of the EGB over the years) and make the group more influential. It would also help to streamline the stolen-flash-link process, to get it to our allies.

More thorough relations with the NGPD may be useful, as well. Without being too, uh, blunt, they have their own problems...perhaps closer ties with them, coupled with our own internal cleaning/re-structuring, might help them improve as well.

Something else I've wanted for a while, and have done on-and-off for some months---browsing of the blog page for people needing help with Newgrounds stuff and helping them out, whether simply linking them to the FAQ or explaining things in detail. It would also be a good way to advertise the EGB and our objectives, as well as scout for potential recruits for ourselves and the NGPD.

In terms of posting, Barracks members have plenty to post about, particularly those active in the Portal. At the end of the day, one can post about the general flow of the Portal...spam levels, submitters being dicks or being artistic geniuses...good flashes, their stat gain for the day, stuff like that. Of course, remember that stat-only posts are strictly forbidden; if you have nothing better to post than "I got 40 B/P points today", don't post it at all. With a little effort, you can add more to a post and make it look good and informative.

Lastly (for now), if someone is continuing to act a little dumb in the Barracks, don't call them out on it unless it's something severe (of course, as always, sheer spam should be ignored)---PM me about it, and I'll consider talking to them about it and either help them to improve or, shall I say, ask them to reconsider their membership in the Barracks. I want a friendly atmosphere, but friendly should not be synonymous with fucking stupid.

That's all for now.

Yeah, Slash's post is over due. As far as the record stands, during most reasonable hours, I'm here and present. We, the officers are working on certain new EGB projects. My contribution was the earliest FAQ and now I just keep you all in some degree of order, as always.

Few of you may remember Eagle's EGB/Counter Strike story, well, without pending too much hope on it, there is a chance it will continue.

With that said, there should be no problem by any member of the EGB to address me with a problem, for as the saying goes, "I'm harsh, but fair".

That's about it for now, signing off as your 3IC, and #1 B/P (by list {Yes, I'll keep talking about it for a while now}).

At 8/23/08 03:31 AM, SlashFirestorm wrote: NEVR would make a good "emergency operations officer" in such an event, if he wants it; if neither me, Phantom, nor Eagle have posted in a while (say a week), he could handle new recruitment (by summary decision or member discussion) and other operations.

Like a kind of auxiliary third / fourth / whatever in command? Sounds like a good idea, seeing as I'm normally around. I can't foresee a situation where all three of you don't post in over a week, but I'll accept the position and do what needs to be done in such an event.

Joshiwa PM'ed me about the idea for an EGB 'Boot Camp', to get new members who need some guidance ready for the Barracks. Indeed, this thread should not be seen merely as a +1 post thread, or as a mere mark of coolness on Newgrounds---it should be used as a hub for improving Newgrounds through vigilant B/P'ing, whistling, and intelligent BBS discussion. Ideas on implementing this would be appreciated; I want a system that works, but doesn't make recruits who need it feeling like they're in remedial B/P'ing or something.

I think the best way of approaching something like this would be to have a one-on-one scenario, in which each new member of the EGB (with exceptions by discretion of the higher-ups) is assigned to a kind of mentor -- someone who's been here for a while and knows the ropes. Say for a standard period of a week, the new member is basically helped along by the mentor in any aspects that requires improvement, and at the end of the week-long period, the mentor can report back to a superior officer on the recruit's progress, either saying the recruit is fine, or possibly that they need a bit more time to improve some other things.

This is just an idea, but I think that in addition to the obvious benefits to the new members, it would also help get some more experienced members involved, and give them a chance to feel more a part of the barracks, which is what they deserve.

Something else I've wanted for a while, and have done on-and-off for some months---browsing of the blog page for people needing help with Newgrounds stuff and helping them out, whether simply linking them to the FAQ or explaining things in detail. It would also be a good way to advertise the EGB and our objectives, as well as scout for potential recruits for ourselves and the NGPD.

Sounds like a plan, but we don't want to become like those many random users who send out random PM's to users saying 'hey join my club!' I got one of those just this morning as it happens. I'm sure that's not your plan anyway, but I just want us to be wary of being too over-active with the advertising.

As it is, I spend a lot of time in the Wi/Ht forums, helping out newer members whenever I can. The EGB link in my sig hopefully helps us in that way as well in the way of stirring the interest of newer users. Granted, they have to acquire the B/P first, but if an interest is sparked, then those who are really worth their metal will hopefully come through and end up joining. I remember before I reached the rank of Elite Guard Private before the redesign, I still knew about this place and wanted to join... I just ended up spending a bit more time elsewhere on the BBS and getting to really understand the rest of the site first, which was probably a good thing to do.