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Pilots!
This week we are taking a look at LIGS, a gaming community that has been an active home for its members for over a decade. With a focus on cultivating relationships based on respect and a love for all games, LIGS provides a family-style environment for new and veteran players.
Woofman34 – Commander of Warplanes Division, oversees anything related to the LIGS Warplanes Division.
JayIrish – Floating Commander, started up the WoWP branch after getting into Closed Beta. Floats around and helps all game branches out.
_Oz – Commander of Tanks Division, oversees anything related to the LIGS Tank Division.
When was LIGS formed and what was it formed around?
_Oz: I’ve been around with LIGS for…almost 10 years now? We have a unified community that takes on new games. Lately there has been a lot of activity, especially with Wargaming, which has been good and our community has been growing. It’s been nice to see guys coming together and sticking around! We usually weed out any “bad seeds” and take care of any business related to in-fighting, etc. That’s regular with personality conflicts, right?
It’s been pretty pleasurable working with Jay and Woofman here. Woof has come a long way since he’s joined us, which is awesome. Jay has been around since as long as I can remember. Being in LIGS has been a great experience and I’m happy to be the Commander of our Tanks Division. We’ve been doing a lot of Strongholds battles and we used to do Clan Wars back in the day. That having been said, we’ve been pretty relaxed when it comes to in-game activity and we have guys who have been popping in and out. The best part of it all is to get the lower-tiered members to participate. There in-game stats do not really matter. In the end, getting together, playing together, and having a good time is what it’s all about!
JayIrish: Oz is totally right. One of our favorite things to do is to grab a new pilot who only has Tiers 1, 2, or 3 and help them grind through the different tiers opening up a new branch that they haven’t started. Maybe we run some premiums if they have that tier. It’s always been our strong-suit to have fun helping others get better. Even if they do move on to other teams/Clans, it makes for good competition!
Is that what you focus on primarily in LIGS? Helping new players?
JayIrish: Pretty much, yeah. LIGS has a Clan in the Wargaming games (and different games) and essentially it’s a community that is open to everybody. Newcomer, veteran, it doesn’t matter as long as you’re here to hangout and have fun. If you need tips, we’ll give ‘em to you. It’ll be our pleasure. It’s just the way that LIGS has always been.
When I created the WoWP branch, one of the first regulars I got was AlexVandross who became a recruiter for me and he did an excellent job. Woof became a recruiter for me. Pappa was always my right-hand man. At one point, we needed to select a new Commander. _Oz was selected and I handed off the WoWP branch to Pappa who then handed it off to Woofman.
Woofman34: For a while our Planes Division had fallen off the face of the earth with the introduction of 1.5. Since 1.6 came out, everyone has been really excited to come back and we have enough to field a team for the December tournament! I believe we will be a contending team when it comes to going up against [ACES_], [DRACS], [SF], or any of those other top Clans right now.
I’m excited about how far I’ve come in LIGS. Just a year ago, I was introduced to Wargaming games. I was playing Tanks in October of last year and I saw the advertisement for Warplanes beta testing. I jumped into Open Beta and that’s where I was noticed by Pappabear and Alex, who is now Rocketspammer in [DRACS]. Pappa and Alex taught me how to fly and I owe all of my training to them and LIGS. I don’t know how far I would have gone in this game if someone had not noticed me and pulled me in and said “Hey, we’ll help you”.
It’s my understanding, since I’ve been here, that there are at least a dozen pilots in [DRACS], [-WS-] and [ACES_] that were all trained here at LIGS. That’s a great thing for LIGS to be able to have the reputation and respect from other Clans as being a training ground. That having been said, I’m trying to move us up above that and get us to be a competitive team. I’d like to see these members stop leaving to go to the other teams and stay with us. I know right now [DRACS] is the King of the Hill in Warplanes and I think had those members that are over there stayed with LIGS that we’d be up there in that position. I’m also proud to be a part of a Clan that has the reputation of putting out such good pilots and I’m definitely looking forward to the future!
For a pilot who is not a part of a Clan, how do you actually find that first Clan that is going to bring you up to a level where you can work effectively in a unit?
Woofman34: To find a Clan, all I did was post in the WoWP forums one day. Looking for a Clan, there was a section in the Clans area where members can post something like that and I still believe they can do that today. Pappa and Alex both sent me personal messages and I was in the Clan within a week after I posted that. I know a lot of Clan websites where you go through and you read their rules. Most of the people can’t advance into other positions unless they have stellar achievements in the game. I have none of that. All I have is the desire to play the game, a love for the game, and the desire to play with other people with voice comms. I think the people in LIGS recognized that and allowed me to move up!
A lot of times when you post something like that in the forums, there are something like 20 Clans that say, “Hey! We’re the one for you!” How do you decide which one IS right for you?
Woofman34: When I posted I had responses from LIGS, Team Special Forces, and a few other ones. I chose LIGS because they were willing to train me. They put me right into the action and put me into flights with Pappa and Alex over and over and over. They “taught me the ropes” where some of the other Clans put you in their Mumble and they want you to get to know them, but they weren’t really good about having their best players show their worst players the ropes. Pappabear and Alex were willing to take me on, and lose with me, game after game until I got things right. That’s how I chose LIGS.
JayIrish: …and that’s how LIGS rolls! (laughter)
_Oz: Coming from myself, it’s been more of a loyalty thing when I’ve stuck around for so long with the community. I just kind of get to know certain people and become very familiar online friends with them. Initially I was probably MIA for six to eight months. I didn’t have a computer, and wasn’t gaming for that matter, although I was still part of LIGS. At the advent of World of Tanks, LIGS was already playing Clan Wars and I just started the game. So I had to go through the ropes of grinding out my first Tier X before I could even participate.
Certainly I wasn’t the first person in the position that I am in now and I’ve learned quite a bit from the other guys even before about learning the game in general. Just like any new game that you pick up and your skills progress, I like to consider myself in a position now where I can help other people with their questions or tips on how to play better. I enjoy playing against harder players because you learn from the best, right? It’s definitely improved my game when it comes to statistics although my first 6-8,000 battles I was just trying to grind through tanks and I didn’t have a good strategy. I also stuck around because of the group of guys. If I wanted to leave for a more competitive group, I probably could but I don’t because I just want to stick around and play with the guys who have been…
JayIrish: Awwww….
_Oz: (Laughs)…awesome. Anyways! (coughs) From my perspective, that’s why I’ve been sticking around. I’ve really been interested in Wargaming’s Tanks. Planes, I have played it a few times. I am not the best at it. I haven’t been terrible, but I still have to work on my flight tactics and abilities. It’s just been a good experience with these guys over the years. It’s one of the reasons why I still stick around. I’d like to keep things going and have more competition. I think the advent of Strongholds was a big draw for a lot of people and I’m assuming you will have something similar in Planes.
JayIrish: I actually found LIGS and chose LIGS the same way that I recruit people. The simple message: “Just come hang out!”
Come hang out. See what we’re all about. If you like it, you stay. If you don’t, you leave. No hard feelings. It’s a community. There is nobody cracking the whip for you to get better stats. Just come. Chill out. Roll some tanks, fly some planes. Doesn’t matter if it’s another game. A lot of our members play multiple different games. If we recruit you through World of Warplanes and you want to spend a week playing Diablo 3, nobody is going to give you **** for it. On the contrary, someone is probably going to join you in that game for a week and then switch back to World of Warplanes or whatever. That’s probably why I’ve been here for thirteen years because it’s laid back. It is competitive to a certain point. We have some very skilled players who teach other players how to develop those skills. That’s pretty much what I enjoy. I’m all about helping people.
Woofman34: I actually looked up the statistics on it and talked to one of the admins of LIGS. He told me that LIGS started in 2001 with Counter-strike.
As a gaming community, is LIGS based around a certain type of game or just anything goes?
JayIrish: Definitely anything goes! At first it was first person shooters like Counter-Strike, Day of Defeat, Battlefield, etc. At the same time, as we played those games, a lot of us played other games on the side. We’re always switching it up. Every night, I’ll hear somebody say, “Let’s go out for four or five more flights, then I’ll switch over to World of Tanks, do a few battles in that, and then I’m going to play Heroes and Generals.”
_Oz: Yeah, I’d say primarily most people right now are focused on Planes and Tanks.
JayIrish: …and Warships!
_Oz: Warships, I’m excited to test that out!
JayIrish: So far we have Woofman and Freak.
_Oz: Yeah, I didn’t get into Alpha Testing.
Woofman34: We’re very excited about all three games being tied together and I’m hoping that Strongholds will be implemented in all three games.
_Oz: I’d say that one of the things about the LIGS community is that there are a lot of older guys, a lot of family-men. We don’t give people a hard time. You know, people put life first. They could be gone for a couple months at a time even and they can come on back as if they weren’t gone at all. A lot of people have kids or are married for that matter. I’d say, in terms of competition, we’ve beaten some of the top Clans in Strongholds before. It’s not something that we normally do (chuckles), but we were pretty excited when it happened! It just shows that if there is enough…if we work together we can usually achieve some pretty cool things. It’s exciting when we beat some of the top unicum teams, right?
We try to learn some of these team’s tactics too. If we had better coordination, I think we could compete, but if we just all communicate (we usually communicate on Mumble). It’s awesome to see someone who has not even 1,000 battles and just has a Tier 6, and still be able to take on some of the higher players.
Speaking of tournaments, we noticed that there is a team from LIGS in the process of joining the Legends of the Sky tournament. What kind of impact do you think officially-sanctioned competition will have on LIGS in World of Warplanes?
Woofman34: It’s going to have a big impact because we are definitely contenders. Right now, DRACS are the number one team and if I can field a full team, I’ll give them a run for their money for sure. No question about it. We’ve been doing a lot of random battles with some of our top guys and we come across DRACS members all the time. We beat each other down and we kind of both know what to expect from each other. We can give it to them as much as they can give it to us. We’re definitely contenders in the future. I see it happening.
JayIrish: Even in Beta when there were different events. LIGS would come out in the Top 3.
It sounds like you have veteran players and you train new players from the get-go to bring everyone together as a community. What is it like to be a part of LIGS? Could you describe the environment within your community?
Woofman34: It’s a very friendly, easy-going environment. There is nobody pushing you to be better. Well, they DO push you to be better when you’re playing, but it’s not a standard written in stone where if you want to be part of us that you “have to be this good”. The only thing we ask of you is to come into Mumble, be respectful, be enjoyable to play with, and play with people, and that’s about it. Be a community. Be a family. Be friends. That’s the number one thing, the family and friends aspect of it to me.
JayIrish: Yup!
_Oz: I think it’s a bit more of a stress-free environment, right? It’s pretty relaxed. I guess when we get things going and we want to get some competition going. Things can get heated, which is awesome because it brings out the emotions in people, which is fun to see. The most appealing part is that there are guys who have been here for a while. You get to see new faces and meet new people. We’re not here to say, “Oh, you need to meet a certain kind of statistic to stick around”. We’ve never been the type of community that would say that you have to reach a certain statistic before you can join us. You can be like Woofman or any other guys that were starting from Tier I with less than 1,000 battles even. It doesn’t matter. We just kind of bring you on, say “How’s it going? Let’s learn the game together. We’ll teach you the ways. Don’t do the same mistakes that I did when I started.”
Woofman34: I would say as far as the rankings go. It’s generally an open thing. If a person is willing to take on the responsibility of a recruitment officer, a training officer, a flight leader, or battle caller then those people are welcome to step-up and do that. LIGS has been very good about allowing that.
JayIrish: We’ve always allowed newer members to try out different positions as long as they don’t sully the LIGS image. If they take it seriously, they usually end up keeping the position.
It definitely seems like you have a very accepting atmosphere and you really focus on community. Along with community, I would imagine that you perform activities together. Are there activities that you engage in on a regular basis as a Clan?
JayIrish: We used to do special events a lot, but right now we’re without an events team because they left. We’ll definitely be looking into that again. Especially with World of Warplanes, we used to have Rocket and Bomb kill training sessions. Everyone was invited to go into a training room with Alex, Pappa, Me or someone else and we would use nothing but rockets and bombs!
Woofman34: I can think of some events that we had recently in the last couple of months where we had boxing matches in DayZ standalone.
JayIrish: (Chuckles) The good ‘ol boxing matches!
Woofman34: We owned our own server for DayZ. We actually just shut it down recently because hacking had been so rampant there.
JayIrish: Our servers’ rank had gone high enough for us to be targeted by a slew of hackers.
Woofman34: Yeah, we would host events in the game on our server. There is a chapel in one of the towns. We would have boxing matches there and the winner would get guns, clothing, or whatever we had to give away.
_Oz: For quite some time we were participating in Tank skirmishes weekly. When Strongholds came out, it was nice to have people drop in and we could play a couple of rounds and advance our Stronghold some more. The perks of having different buildings is nice way to run up some free experience, extra credits, etc. That’s what we like to do. We have the new guys come on and we basically activate those bonuses when there are enough people on so that they can get extra experience and what not. The fact that this is intertwined with Warplanes is even better!
Woofman34: My hopes for the future of all three games is that they will have some sort of Strongholds mode in place. Fielding teams of 7/10/etc. is a lot easier than fielding teams of 15 with a 100 man roster. I personally like the 100 man roster that they have in Planes/Tanks combined. I think it’s going to reduce the amount of Clan teams dominating the maps. It’s going to make guys thin out their ranks.
With the introduction of Common Clans, _Oz is the Commander of the Tank Division and Woofman is in charge of the Planes Division. You’re all under the same roof. What kind of effects have Common Clans had on LIGS and where do you see things going?
_Oz: I just think it’s a good way for other people to step up to the plate. Warplanes came out and we had Jay, Woof, and Pappa step up to take that on. Wherever somebody’s interest lies, it kind of gives other people a chance. When Warships comes out, somebody may want to take on that responsibility, which would be open. It’s a good way to get people into the position to have some fun, take on some new responsibilities if they have the time. A great part of LIGS is the ability to go up in rank. It’s just a good atmosphere!
How do you see a typical Clan work within this system? How can you structure your Clan to be successful in all three titles under the same banner?
Woofman34: Well, me personally, I think it’s working out well for us. We have enough room for at least another 25 pilots to fit on our Clan roster. Most of the pilots that we have been finding are proficient in tanks also. We’re trying to look for members that are going to want to play all three games, but we’re not specifically set on that as being a requirement.
JayIrish: I think that is something that helps us too is that fact that in World of Tanks, we have won or placed well in tournaments, we have owned land in Clan Wars before, so people who are coming over to World of Warplanes do recognize LIGS to a certain extent. A lot of our members are cross-over members.
_Oz: I just like the implementation of Common Clans because you could take someone like me who might be really good at Tanks and then throw me into Warplanes and it’s like the roles are reversed. You’ve been teaching somebody else how to get better at Tanks. Meanwhile, they’re the ones who are teaching you how to get better at Warplanes, or vice versa. The same would probably apply to Warships. It’s kind of an interesting dynamic to having three games linked together. There is a lot of interest from most of our members for crossing over to different Wargaming games. Most of the guys from Warplanes have come over to Tanks and vice versa. I think the implementation has been a good combination for us.
There are people in LIGS who are not around as much, but we actively recruit newer players to try and get more activity going on. I’ve seen an influx of more Planes players going on and the same thing goes on for Tanks. We’ve been getting a little bit more competitively spirited because there have been enough people around to play on a regular basis. Even with the lifestyles that we have (with families and what not)!
If I were interested in joining LIGS, what is the recruitment process like?
JayIrish: Like I said before, come on in and hang out!
LIGS has a Mumble server and a website. If I were to hang out on the Mumble server, what would happen after that?
JayIrish: We would ask that you sign up in the forums so that you can keep up to date with news and nonsense. Then we just hang out and see if you fit in!
Woofman34: The biggest thing is that it is a family environment. A lot of guys sit at home with their microphone on their desks and their speakers open. They’ll be out and about doing things around the house while listening. So, we would like our conversations to stay at an age level where parents aren’t offended by what their kids hear. It used to be that we had a requirement where you had to be 18 or older and that had a lot to do with maturity, but a 25 year old can be just as mature as a 13 year old.
JayIrish: Even further back before that, it was written in stone that you had to be 18+, but even if it was 18+ cussing was not allowed on our Mumble server. We ended up having to change that rule a bit because we had a lot of new recruits that found that rule a bit outdated. What I like about LIGS is being able to come here, sit down, and shoot the **** with people and talk about anything and everything, all with mutual respect for everybody.
_Oz: I think coming into LIGS, you kind of join a crew of guys who are really respectful of one another. It goes beyond just gaming where real-life problems come into play and getting some online advice, even if you may not have met the person, you’ll have a bunch of guys that you know or may even talk to more than some other people in your life because they are right “at your doorstep” with your computer.
We do put a high onus on being respectful. There have been plenty of guys that I have had to work things through with them, but most of the guys that we hang out with are pretty classy and respectful and know what to expect from us when they’re out of line.
JayIrish: The people who come and hang out in LIGS seem to realize how much it is based on respect and everything.
Woofman34: When I was investigating the history of LIGS, there was someone in LIGS who was really down and out and in hard times in their family life. The way that I understand it, LIGS members got together and pulled some money together and sent the person a check to take care of things. That will give you an idea of the type of family atmosphere that we have.
It sounds like you highly value community and respect. With that in mind, what would you consider to be LIGS’ greatest achievement as a Clan?
Woofman34: My opinion on the greatest achievement of LIGS is the longevity and keeping the same people around. I think _Oz and Jay would be better to answer that question because they have the years behind them.
_Oz: I think that is pretty much what I would say about the fact that there are still people who are together gaming. Over the years, you kind of decide that this is a place where you want to be. These are the guys I want to hang out with. As I said, I haven’t been counting how many years, but at least probably 10 years or so and I’m 29 myself. Through my late teens to my twenties, I have been able to pop in and out, whether I’ve been actively gaming or not I’ve been able to come back to the community and be respected and welcomed with open arms. That is the best part and it’s kind of kept me around.
Woofman34: I’d like to give you a link to our recruitment thread in Planes. There is a promotional video there that was created for LIGS back in 2011.
Any last words or shout-outs before we wrap up?
_Oz: I just wanted to say that we’re not just limited to the United States. We have a global community from all countries across the world. It’s fun to have everyone with different accents and it’s a good time!
Woofman34: I can think of our three admins. One is from the United States in Long Island, New York and that’s why we’re called Long Island Gaming Servers. One is from the UK and one is from Denmark. We have members from Australia…
JayIrish: NEW ZEALAND. Do NOT let him hear you say that he comes from Australia!
(Laughter)
Woofman34: Yeah, our members are world-wide, definitely!
.....will be looking forward to the event, and trying to shoot a few of you down!
