Q&A with Sugar about THC2

I had a reverse interview today. When I told Ender about it later he said, "Reverse interview?"

"Yes. They asked all of the questions and I answered."

It was not an interview in the formal sense of, "This is your talk to get into corp." I'm the chatter so I was placed on the front lines to greet people and answer their questions. If this was a store, I'd be handing out the coupons and sale items while I was at it.

"What are the requirements to join out of curiosity? And does Capital Punishment look down on people who are not intending on staying there permanently?"

It was an unexpected starter question and I took a moment to debate my answer. My first thought was, "What?" but I stepped back from it and accepted that someone might want to join to learn and do our thing and then drift off. Or, they might be pulled in and stay. It is not necessarily a 'bad' thing. Not everyone is looking for an end game 'home'.

I told him that the requirements are person by person. It is vague but it is true. Not everyone is going to mix into the group. Personality is one of the most important traits followed by being able to listen and learn. So, the only requirement is that the group that decides on the new members accept the person applying.

As for the first part, I told him that most come looking for a place to stay for an extended period of time but people come and go. I couldn't answer much beyond that. We have one member who has just returned to us after an extended absence away with a group in null sec. He tired of that and wanted to come back home.

"There's a post about a willingness to take people with lower xp/less experience. Is this accurate?"

I was the one who wrote the post that he was referencing. It says that we are accepting a limited number of low skill point/new pilots. Snarkiness is never my answer for these situations. I leave everyone else to do that. I said that yes, we are taking in some on a case by case basis. I'm no longer the youngest member of the corporation having been usurped by our newest member.

"Do you guys fly with Logi? Specifically if I train into a Scimitar will I get brought?"

I told him that we do fly with logies but it is a fleet by fleet case. I explained that we do not always fly with logistic ships. Sometimes no one wants to fly them. Quiet often, it is easier to get into a fight without a logistic ship on the field. When a gang is only 3 or 4 people a logi is easily a scale tipping addition that can end a fight before it starts.

I also said that almost everyone can fly logistics. It is a valuable and important skill to have. We do not scorn it but it is not a situation where one only flies that type of ship.

"Are their opportunities for new pilots to FC roams?"

To quote my response, "Not really, no. Or not in so far as 'lets learn this'. Everyone eventually learns to FC but it's a gradual progression. Our fleets are cohesive but the pilots are expected to have individual intelligence and use that and eventually people start stepping up to FC, but our groups are very small and you have independent tasks to do regardless."

I was surprised by this question. For me, being the Fleet Commander (FC) is something far off in the future of I can't see it ever happening. I am worried enough about being responsible for myself. Having a large enough clue to lead a bunch of other people into success is at such a distant point I can't even see it.

When I stepped back a bit I realized that for some, becoming a Fleet Commander may be their goal and their dream to chase.

"Who calls primaries?"

"The FC normally unless he's forced off field for some reason. Our change over is kinda understood. We normally have several people in each fleet who are normal FCs and someone just tends to step up."

"What is the average fleet size and how often do you guys go out?"

"Probably 5-10 most of the time and whenever there are people around who want to go. We have some guys who tend to do smaller stuff 2-4 people cuz that's all that's on. People fleet with those that mesh well. Some are soloists."

"How does PvP training happen in practice?"

"Most of the practice is simply real life. If you want to go and spar or do random things we suggest the test server. Going out on roams is very much about learning as you do it. Asking questions and having them answered. And we live in low sec. Every day is real."

On reading back I am amused by my use of reality and life in my descriptions. But, it makes sense in comparison to a question about 'practice'.

"How much fighting do you guys do in Null?"

I was actually starting to feel a bit stupid because I didn't have neat clean answers for some of this stuff. My answer was "Some? When it is near? We don't avoid it but we don't always select it either." I don't think about it. We go where we go. Sometimes we keep going.

"How active are you guys on comms? Specifically are you active on comms when NOT forming for PvP?"

That was at least easy. TEXN hangs out on comms more then THC2 does. Getting Ender on coms is quite the task but that wasn't the topic and I didn't bring it up.

"Whats your guys policy on trash talk?"

"We don't have one. It is not normally our thing but to each his own. It is a pretty situational thing." I'm not into trash talk but I know some people adore it.

And he said thank you and logged out of TEXN and THC2s chatrooms.