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Hello; Ardus is better at posting than me.
Topic Started: Jun 8 2008, 11:30:27 AM (301 Views)
bigwoody
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Good morning,

My name is Bigwoody, and I am the standing Emperor of the Order of Righteous Nations. I've been playing CN for 415 days as of this post. I started in the ODN for 2 months, followed by 3 months in GOONS until the conclusion of the Unjust War, which was followed by the founding of TORN, which has lasted nearly 9 months now.

My time in ODN was pretty much spent as a peon, as was my first month or so in GOONS. I later got into foreign affairs, war, and finance for GOONS (mostly FA), which built my foundation of skills for when I decided to take on the challenge of founding an alliance.

I think I was as cocky as anyone about the prospect of founding an alliance. I knew everything about how I would follow a foreign affairs roadmap, I had the perfect financing plans, and the ideal war system (...in my mind). Through experience, we have in the end developed solid abilities in all these areas, but in the process I've personally made almost every mistake you can make. I could go on for a long time about all the mistakes I've made as a leader, and if I have time, I will.

TORN itself could be best described as a roller-coaster ride. We exploded in size our first month, as many many experienced nations were drawn to us. The following couple months brought the reality check, as those who didn't get exactly what they expected drifted off to various other niches in the Cyberverse. Through this extended vetting process, we built a core of players with the same ideals, and after about 6 months we finally created an image and set of ideals we could build on...and the following months have been good to us.

To the outside world, TORN is known in a positive light primarily for two things: our war prowess and our foreign affairs success. I will later write a piece on how to conduct foreign affairs "The Right Way", which I strongly believe has been the cornerstone of TORN's success in the area thus far. If I have time, I'll get into some stories about mistakes I've made, and the lessons I've learned from those mistakes. I'll spend the rest of my time here fielding questions as best as I can.
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Hakim
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Former NATO
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Welcome, I look forward to your lesson and discussion, it is great to see you here.
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Anu Drake
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I am That One

bigwoody is proof positive that there is survival after major alliance wars. His continued success after GOONS fell is a testament to his level headed and smart play.
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Wentworth the Brave
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Quod in nex , ego vadum teneo pacis

I haven't had the pleasure of speaking with bigwoody personally yet, but I have watched and grown to love TORN for what they are: a success.

I also look forward to hearing your stories, it's truly an honor to have you here among us.
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Buffalo Niagara
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Welcome to carnival woody, I look forward to hearing more about your experiences, and hope to learn much from you.
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The Pansy
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Eternal Annoyance

Bigwoody... what do you think is the main reason you have grown to be one of the finest leaders known to CN
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bigwoody
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The Pansy
Jun 9 2008, 09:47:58 AM
Bigwoody... what do you think is the main reason you have grown to be one of the finest leaders known to CN
Loaded question of loaded :P

I'd say I've never considered myself an expert on internal affairs in an alliance, so I'd have a key weakness that holds me back from considering myself tops...but...

I've built friendships in this game, both within my alliance (community building) and outside the alliance, and staying true to those friendships has paid off. Sounds overly simplistic, but thats the best way I can explain it.
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WCR
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Oh Woody you're so fine, you're so fine you blow my mind.

Hey Woody
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Bud


Big Woody while trying to keep my nose clean here as this will definatly come off as a brown nose comment. I would like to say you have been one of the easiest people to deal with when necessary. We have only spoken a couple of times but both times you treated me(who was very unknown at the time) and my alliance with respect. I do understand how people would consider you a very prominent leader in CN.

Now on to the question as you seem to have such good FA ability how do you recover from a faux pos in FA.
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bigwoody
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Bud
Jun 9 2008, 12:23:37 PM
Big Woody while trying to keep my nose clean here as this will definatly come off as a brown nose comment. I would like to say you have been one of the easiest people to deal with when necessary. We have only spoken a couple of times but both times you treated me(who was very unknown at the time) and my alliance with respect. I do understand how people would consider you a very prominent leader in CN.

Now on to the question as you seem to have such good FA ability how do you recover from a faux pos in FA.
Thanks :D

Thats a tough question to answer in a general sense. The best was to recover is to avoid them in the first place, by being conservative about taking hardline stances when not needed.

However, mistakes happen. Then, if you made a mistake that goes against your values, own up to it and get on the long road to regaining respect. However, if you made a faux pos in the eyes of the world at large that you feel was right, calmly explain your reasoning and stand by your decision. If you backpedal anytime you do something unpopular, you'll get walked all over.

I hope thats a decent answer, but its a tough question to answer in a general way.
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Duncan King
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Did you experience any kind of stigma when TORN was starting out due to your history in GOONS? If so, how did you deal with it and convince people you weren't GOONS?
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bigwoody
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Duncan King
Jun 9 2008, 02:09:26 PM
Did you experience any kind of stigma when TORN was starting out due to your history in GOONS? If so, how did you deal with it and convince people you weren't GOONS?
Absolutely. We narrowly avoided destruction early on for simply that stigma.

A *lot* of credit for solving this issue goes to DarkMistress and IRON as a group. They made sure people took the time to at least talk to me before making a lasting judgment call. The vast majority went with this, and meeting people face to face let them get to know me and what I was about.
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Golden Boy
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When and how did you decide to become the short but precious leader that you are? I love the OWF topics you post, due to their originality. Have you always been this way and are you this way in other settings?
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bigwoody
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I am pretty much always that way, and like to twist up my announcements a bit. Glad you enjoy them :)
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bigwoody
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I had a little thought on the faux pos question.

A big key to dealing with inevitable mistakes is how you carry yourself in general.

If you are generally honorable, people will see mistakes for what they are, and will be more patient and giving as you work to correct them. If, however, you are generally irritable and seen as problematic, people will rush to assume the worst.

Laying an honorable image whenever you can is a key to pre-emptively dealing with mistakes that will happen.
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Duncan King
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TORN has an Emperor and some elected officials. Is there a particular reason why there are both permanent and elected officials in the TORN government?
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bigwoody
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The Council in effect serves as a sort of "proving ground" for possible Ministers, plus admittedly the membership is sometimes better at catching upcoming talent. We strive for as pure of a meritocracy as is possible, and felt having some entry level gov positions elected would help bring up the cream of the crop.
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