Folk Workshops

[thekev506]

I'd argue that if I was FTL in a mission and my fireteam hadn't been to a workshop before I could still designate them as red and blue team and convey the 'we move, you cover, then you move and we cover' basics of bounding. Probably wouldn't be pretty, but it'd do the job. If the bounding exercise means you've got a handful of people scattered through the session who've drilled this and have better tactical awareness because of it then it's worth it. Suggestion - varying the terrain in the different bounding lanes could really add some extra value to the exercise.

I'm a big fan of the introduction of practice missions and mission planning to the workshops. I'd like to try being CO some time in the future when I'm a bit more confident about it (my first mission as FTL was traumatic), and having the option to take on the strategic planning in the workshop and have it critiqued and debriefed is valuable.

[mike]

It seems we spend about a 3rd of the time practicing bounding in the lanes but I still haven't seen anyone actually using it in a session. I think a lot of the things practiced rely on everyone in your team/squad knowing them ...

That's a very fair observation. Something I have not managed to do in recent sessions is this: during the 'main' coop mission, I'll ask recent attendees of the workshops to slot in a particular squad. That way, there should be a shared understanding of the red/blue teams etc. Also, that squad will be expected to perform exceptionally well, or any survivors will be executed by Makarov-wielding Party officials. Let's try and make that the norm moving forwards.

I'm not sure I really like that though, having exclusive squads. I'd prefer if things stay more casual.

[Macaco]

I'm not sure I really like that though, having exclusive squads. I'd prefer if things stay more casual.

I think that would allow more people who want to be more casual to do so and those who would enjoy a more serious experience to have fun too, instead of mixing them and having clashing personalities, or either upset by the other being too casual/serious

[Ferrard Carson]

Comrade, do not panic, and do not struggle, the handcuffs will be removed once we are done. Come here, sit down a while, and let me share with you what I want to do with these workshops. The TL;DR version?

The FA Workshop is intended to help comrades in the fine art of Fail Avoidance

Ultimately, these workshops are not intended to teach a strict doctrine. As Macaco gets at the bottom of, we won't ever have anything remotely like "SOP" for the simple reason that these workshops are voluntary, and they will always be voluntary. I'm not out to train every single FA player in the art of the infantryman. I just want to help their FTL's, because a good FTL can easily make their individual soldiers into a team of bullet-spitting demi-gods. (As a side note to Comrade Fer to ensure the continued funding of this program, a plethora of good FTL's tends to significantly hasten the slotting process!) If some individual soldiers happen to know how to lead a fireteam well, then excellent! They'll take more initiative and lessen their FTL's burden, and they'll be ready to step up when if their glorious leader bites the dust!

We do the constant firing lane drills not for the specific activities and procedures that they involve, but because it fosters intra-element cooperation, whether that be on a fire-team or squad level. We present new drills and "best practices" in as simple a manner as we can (something I sometimes have difficulty with) that way they can be relayed or arranged relatively easily by resourceful FTLs during the session. Where things are not simple, such as mounting and dismounting vehicles, we show a "best practice," iterate the reasons for said best practice, and hopefully stimulate some critical thinking that anyone taking part can apply to emergent situations within the session. After all, for rear security, it only takes one person checking their STHud, realizing that no one is watching in one direction, and turning to cover that arc as they move.

In the simplicity aspect, our Alleyway Movement exercise still needs quite a bit of ironing out, but our street-crossing exercise has proven extremely useful to myself countless times in sessions. Similarly, in our latest run of Ashore, Alpha did the move Tiger demonstrated for us by breaching the factory wall with an AT4. My personal goal is to give FTLs these sorts of tools with which to avoid failing The Party, and to give squad leaders similar tools to use towards that same purpose.

We do intend to expand more upon what we have. For a while now, I have had a notion of a lesson centered around the crewing and coordinating of armored vehicles in the context of the standard FA platoon (one or two armored vehicles supporting the infantry). Tiger's been working on some simulated missions to expand the scope of our workshops upwards to squad level. Someday, I'm going to sit down in front of the mission editor and make an "Explosives Range" training map that anyone can load up on the server at any time in the week to just practice RPG / AT4 / GP / etc. shots at their leisure.

Whether or not workshop participants slot as a squad in the first mission, I have no doubt that the session as a whole improves, even for those who haven't attended the workshops. At the very least, they're less likely to friendly fire someone, because if there's one thing the firing lane exercises teach us, it's to never run in front of another dude as they shoot.

I hope this little peek into my mind reassures and clarifies for everyone the intent of the FA Workshops, I hope to get many ideas for future workshops, I hope to see y'all at future workshops, and I hope to get shot by you in an adversarial when you do as I say (be awesome!) instead of as I do (be fail!)

~ Ferrard

[fer]

I'm not sure I really like that though, having exclusive squads. I'd prefer if things stay more casual.

This is not something that will happen in more than one mission per session, or necessarily in every session. So there is no intent to create exclusive squads. As others have stated here, the hope is that the topics covered in the workshops will seep into our play organically. I certainly would not support a 'group within a group' approach some communities adopt, and I suspect the other hosts would agree. Hope that puts your mind at rest.

[mike]

This is not something that will happen in more than one mission per session, or necessarily in every session. So there is no intent to create exclusive squads. As others have stated here, the hope is that the topics covered in the workshops will seep into our play organically. I certainly would not support a 'group within a group' approach some communities adopt, and I suspect the other hosts would agree. Hope that puts your mind at rest.

I do as well hope that certain things that people learn in the workshop will rub off on others, but I'm still not very happy about the reserved slots though. I'm sure we'll get used to it though.

[Bodge]

It isn't at though slots are not available to non workshop types, we still seem to struggle to fill the command/lead slots even when having one squad from the workshop.

[Lord Penney]

Is it too late to express an interest in attending? Because I'd like to

[fer]

Is it too late to express an interest in attending? Because I'd like to

So long as a workshop is being run, all you need to do is show up at the start, comrade!

[Black Mamba]

By the way, Workshop, or not workshop today?