FleetCom Update
It’s 2023. Does anyone else think 2022 went way too fast?
As of February 22, 2023, VVarMachine is 10 YEARS OLD! Can you believe it? Our little gaming community is in double digits? Just a few more years and it’s a teenager… getting off this analogy. More stuff will come. Down to other business.
We would like to thank all those that continue to donate through Patreon or Discord Server Boosting. Our Patreon supporters: Aarius, aramova, Bushman, FallenHylian, TwoGreen, greg_nog, Johnrexet, Karrth, RabbiMaxx, Razzun, ReapsD, Sivien21, Straker, Zahraphim. Your continued support is greatly appreciated and is solely used to offset the costs of the Microsoft Azure servers that host all our communication tools and SCNet website.
Discord Server Boosting gives our Discord server a little extra flair from server banners to a custom join link. Our Discord Server Boosters: aramova, Ech0Whiskey, FallenHylian, NavyRigger, NeddieSeagoon, nomad_thehunter, Razzun, Sivien, Sportsworth, Straker, ThePeachPanther, and Zahraphim. Sorry, we do not have the ability to determine the number of times each person boosts, but we greatly appreciate all of your support!
Division Updates
ARMA
VVarSecServices are winding up to start getting the best out of 2023. At the end of 2022 we implemented a ‘Modular Modpack’ that has and will allow us to quickly transition between modded scenarios and better isolate issues. Unfortunately, following the transition to this system, we experienced some server technical issues that took the wind out of January and while some are solved the team is still bug-quashing as fast as possible. This hasn’t deterred our mission makers from pushing the envelope of what’s possible with our tools to continue to turn out high-quality adaptive missions. Despite our rough start, the year is looking up and we can’t wait to see where it takes us all.
– ‘Fix-it’ Ferris, Arma Division Chairman
PlanetSide 2
Welcome to 2023, folks! I wanted to keep this update concise by focusing on where the division is at currently and what our plans are currently for the year ahead.
The division is currently running strong, with average attendance on the rise and at least a few new and returning faces making their way back to our Ops. Outside of the Holiday’s reduced schedule, Ops have remained consistent. We, as a group, have been running up against tougher competition lately, and I think this is a result of the group shifting as people disappear and return combined with my implicit push for larger fights and goals during Ops. Coming up soon, there will be a Feedback Survey (after a long break since the last one) which plans on addressing the current Ops schedule, how our members feel about current operation standards, and a lot of finer details that will be identified as the survey comes together. It will be a larger survey than usual in order to acquire some more specific feedback that will hopefully help shape the goals we are about to talk about.
Our plans for the division in 2023 are going to revolve around 3 core areas: Building up fireteam autonomy, greater attention to the needs of individuals, and (later in the year) driving our attendance up. We recently began a process of training and promoting individuals to fill NCO positions within the division. The goal of this is to create a roster of supporting leadership to direct fireteams in moment-to-moment tactics in order to take the weight off of the squad leader position for directing individuals consistently. This process will take some time, but the early results are promising and the number of people who are willing to step into this role is encouraging. There will be plenty more to say about this by the time the next Quarterly Update rolls around.
It has been my thought for a little while that some individuals need more assistance than others in order to stay properly integrated into the squad consistently. It is very easy in the heat of combat for some to be left behind while the rest of the squad is engaged in a separate combat scenario (ex. Armor with nothing to do/no direction while infantry fight for an objective). This is compounded by some individuals potentially needing more one-on-one training or assistance in order to find the roles within our unit that best fit their strengths or interests. This is ultimately my responsibility to address this, and everything we are doing right now is ultimately related to this goal in some way. I plan on creating more time to help individuals improve their personal experience running Ops with us (training or otherwise) in order to lift the whole of the group. There will be more said about this soon alongside the upcoming Feedback Survey.
Our attendance has been pretty great on average this past quarter, but we are looking to put considerably more effort into increasing those numbers once we get the NCO positions filled. Part of this goal will involve a long-overdue purging of members of the outfit in-game who are not in discord (a small group of folks who do exist) as well as a check-in with everyone, active and reserve members, just to see where they are at. Once we’ve rallied our existing members, recruitment efforts will be increasing substantially to help bring enough new faces to move the average attendance up. We are already running Public Op every week when available, regardless of quality, in order to make sure they don’t stop appearing on our schedules. This will be a primary goal once we reach the latter half of the year.
That’s all from me this time around. Thank you to everyone who took the time to read this. Cheers to 2023 and some new horizons. Let’s move on to Star citizen.
– Cannon, PS2 Division Flag Officer
Star Citizen
For this first update of 2023, I’ll start by wishing you all a happy new year!
Just a few days ago in January, our Star Citizen division celebrated its 9th anniversary. This also means that the VVarMachine Gaming Community as a whole is turning 10 years old this month! This is an impressive achievement, and it’s something I wouldn’t have expected when we initially formed back in 2013 as a Planetside2 outfit. So much has changed in my life since then, and I know the world is a much different place for all of us. I’m proud that VVAR has stood the test of time for so long – being a steady and consistent outlet for our members to gather together, converse, share common interests, and engage in organized gameplay. I’m grateful for the efforts that each and every one of you has put in towards making this community better over the years, whether you’ve been here since our founding, or joined much more recently. I’m especially grateful for those of you who have volunteered your time to serve as officers in VVAR, regardless if you’re still holding such a position. You’ve all played an important part in making this community what it is today, and you should all be as proud as I am for it.
So keep doing what you do. If you’re one of our valued members, thank you for sticking with us! All of the effort put forth by our leadership since day one has been so that you can experience something truly unique in the gaming world. With continued dedication and commitment to our goals, I sincerely believe that we’ll continue to thrive as a community for years to come.
– Ech0Whiskey, SC Division Commanding Officer
Final Thoughts
We have had a fun and great year, with a number of challenges and opportunities. As we move into the last part of the year, let’s continue to have fun! We will have some more updates coming out over the next several days.
See you online and see you around!
