Hammer Down Racing: Hammer Down Racing -> Evolution Of A Team/Clan

Out of 50 members, in the end it usually comes down to five. The five.

At the bottom of the pack, members really don't give a damn. They join this team or that team. They live for the moment. As long as they are getting their rush, they stick with it. These people are the quickest to go, but they are SOMETIMES a big loss. Why? Because they are all about having fun and laughs. About adrenaline rush. Which makes them a lot of fun to play with, but more importantly, fun to hang out with (sometimes. I said sometimes). These team members are not the favorites of the five of fifty mentioned above. The five above often think these members are immature, and are not thinking about longevity for the team. To the five above, these members are a dime a dozen. Yes, they are fun to play with. But the five know the value of these members is more for entertainment purposes only.

Higher up on the list are the regulars. These guys are usually a fairly good mix of maturity and fun. For the most part they work together. They play to win. They know how to work together, but when comes down to it will go for the win for themselves. That's how it is in games and sports. They know that. These members have a lot of fun playing with the lowest members, and respect the eldest ones. These members will stick around longer than the lowest ones. But you will often hear them talk about how it was a lot more fun when this member or that member (usually lowest members of the team) was playing. They eventually begin to miss this event or that event. Then disappear altogether.

The next step up is elder members. These are the near top of the barrel when it comes to not only team members, but people in general. They are usually very mature, or at least mature for their age. They play religiously, but as they are mature people, they often have more responsibility than the rest of the lower members. They miss an event here or there. The rest of the elder members being mature themselves are understanding of the responsibilities of life. But as time goes on, and team members and events fall off, they start to think that maybe they should just concentrate more on their lives. Because the game is not just a hobby for these people. It's something they put on a pedestal. It reminds them of something they did with their dads or that they did with their friends as kids. It's about everything that's good and right and that should be in their lives. No they didn't get to be astronauts. No they didn't get to turn laps with the greats. Not jet pilots, or honorable soldiers or sporting legends. But they have this. And they are part of a team with people who think about it the same way they do. And that makes it great. At the end of the day, after work, and after they help around the house, and play with the kids, and show their wives attention, when they get that little moment to themselves....they can't think of anything else they'd rather be doing. So when members and events fall off, they take the blow heavy. They still get a moment where they smile, or feel good while they are playing. But inside, that thing, that feeling that made it everything it was, has lost it's grip. Often eldest members will make a "guess I'm all grown up now" choice, and give up gaming pretty much entirely.

Then there is the top five. They are elder members that CAN'T NOR WON'T let go. EVER. They won't stop being friends if it all goes tit's up. They still hop online and chat, and email. They have each others phone numbers. These five are the greatest gamers IMHO. They don't just look at the game. They look at the whole picture. They will keep these times in their hearts the rest of their lives. When they talk about some of the best times they had in their lives, they will talk about how they hung out with these guys and gamed and just had the best of times. They are fun like the bottom players, have teamwork like the regulars, they are the mature elders, they are everything a team should be.

And then there is the Admin....

It's the hardest for him. He knows that in the end it will all stop. He knows in the end all the hard work, nights of lost sleep, moments they've missed, will not keep it from coming apart. An Admin always sees the end an excruciatingly long time before it comes. When every other member sees everything as being okay, an Admin sees all the steps in the path laid out. Except the Admin will still pour his heart and soul and time into making it the best possible team he can. He knows what the end result will be. But damn the end result. And damn the people who will make it harder. He gets the payoff when everything goes right. He gets the shaft when it goes wrong. But the Admin does it for the game. For the people who love the game. For the adrenaline junkies. For the average gamers. For the eldest members. And for himself. No one but the Admin understands what it's like for the Admin. They say they do, but they really don't. It isn't the problems, or the choices, or the long hours. It's that FUCKING END looming in the distance. The Admin will eventually have to make a hard decision, after having ten thousand conversations about it with the top five. Does he shut it all down, does he throw their name out and try and snag some more bottom members, does he just let it dwindle and die? In the end he will make the call. He'll send out an email to the top five. He'll begin of his speech with, "You guys know we've done all we can..." or You know that I more than anyone have...".

And then it's done. And that's that. That's the evolution of a team. So the question is...how do you change it? How do you stop it from happening? What choices do you have to make as a lowest members, a regular, an elder, as a top 5, and an Admin to keep it going and alive? That's what you have to figure out...