Quote:Army: 41
Navy: 21
VEHC: 5
Total: 67

Sixty-seven members.  Sixty-seven members.  Am I the only one who feels regret or uneasiness when I see those numbers?  Am I the only one who can't stand having only one platoon, can't stand having only two flights, can't stand fighting every day to keep every recruit that comes our way just so that we can keep our squads and squadrons open?  If so then I'll hand in my resignation now and leave. 

The idea that The Vast Empire can survive on such a piddly amount of members is ludacris, selfish, and unfair.  It's unfair to yourselves, it's unfair to your leaders, it's unfair to your squad mates, and most of all it's unfair to Kadann! 

Quote:ColdFusion MX Server License: $750
VE Web Server: $259/mo
Domain Names (16): $192/yr
---
Total Yearly Cost: $3,300
Grand Total Est. Cost:  $39,401

That's how much he pays for you all.  That's how much he pays of his own money!  Kadann works his ass to the ground just so that people like you and me can have fun, socialize, roleplay, and write on a top of the line forum and website that isn't bombarded with ads.  And now- we the many who literally pay nothing for this place, have abandoned one of the most important practices required for any active club member: RECRUITING!  Yes I said it, and I'll say it again.  Who among you can claim that they have recruited an active contributing member in the past few months?  Past year?  Past two years?  It's only been about a year and a half for me but I can remember in the winter of '08 that activity was buzzing high.  What happened to that activity?  Have we all gotten tired of it?  Have we all gotten lazy and said to ourselves "Someone else will recruit" or "Google search does all the recruiting we need"?  Well if that's the case then you have done a great injustice to everyone who works to keep this place alive.  Yeah, it's true: we get most of our recruits from Google.  I came from Google.  But I'm not relying on Google to get more recruits.  I am actively working to get new people- I'm sending newsletters to old members, I made a Cybernations Alliance, I've emailed every member in two Star Wars clubs offering them a chance to come here.  I'm trying guys.  But it's not enough.  It simply isn't enough to have one, or two, or three, or even four guys recruiting.  If we resort to that, the Vast Empire will have one more year, maybe two if we're lucky.  That's bullshit guys.  I'm sorry for the language, but honestly we can do much, much better than that!

I'm not trying to point fingers.  I'm not trying to say that no one is recruiting besides me, I'm not trying to make myself look good or make anyone else look bad.  But I am appealing to everyone with internet access and some free time to please help recruit.  It is imperitive that we recruit, it is not an option, it is a nescessity.

If I am alone in this; if no one will help to recruit friends or strangers alike, then I suggest we notify Kadann before he spends any more of his hard earned money.  39,401 US Dollars is a lot of money people.  In my opinion, it's enough to make me want to keep this place alive.  I hope that all of you are of the same opinion too.

Recruit for Kadann.  Recruit for Talon.  Recruit for Fury.  Recruit for Denethor.  Recruit for Rizzit.  Recruit for Cosmic.  Recruit for Angel, Doc, Jeg, Sam, Arnaut, Aeos, and Tanus.  Recruit for Storm Platoon.  Recruit for Blackjack.  Recruit for Raiders.  Recruit for Iron Horse.  Recruit for Wraith.  Recruit for everyone who left, and for everyone who may return.  I don't give a rat's ass what you recruit for, as long as you recruit for something.  Find whatever it is that makes you stay here on the Vast Empire and use it to recruit.  If you don't recruit; if every member does not make some concious action to get more members, then no one will.

That's all I have to say on the matter.  It's up to you.

Do realize there are guidelines to follow when recruiting, you can't just barge into another club and make a post about how awesome the VE is... Look at it from their view, do we want people barging in on the VE and taking our awesome writers?

Plus, I don't believe the server is used entirely for the VE, Kad has his own stuff he works with I think, we just have part of the server.  But hey, yes Kad does keep this going with his own pocket most of the time, and we do appreciate it.

And if you want to know where most of our recruits come from, I can show you some statistics on the army's side:

Forty three right there...what's the time frame for that, Doc?

I've got a college classmate who should, hopefully, be joining this week. With any luck I might be able to grab a few more as well. All of us in college or high school have a huge pool of potential recruits to work with directly- take advantage of it! We're all SW geeks here, and I'm sure we know who the other geeks around us are. If you know that person X likes SW (or even ST), strike up a conversation about it. Invite them to join. The worst they can do is say no.

-Drac

On that note I'd like to remind/notify those of you that have GamerDNA accounts (formerly known as GuildCafe),that there is a Guild/group on there for the VE, it was added as a "game" as well for the Web.

If anyone's interested and has or will request to join the group, please ComNet PM me as I haven't gotten  any new member requests since I've become and admin in '07 so don't know if I'll get emailed a notification or not.

Rogueboy, just because they're idiots doesn't give you any right to pick on them :P

The 'ignore' thing works both ways. New recruit getting on your tits? Ignore them! Tell Doc, or someone sensible to look after them and all ye troubles shall dissapear.

I myself had to step in and look after an army recruit recently because he was being picked on. You know its bad when the Navy has to step in and help :P

Of course one thing that doesnt help are inactive members who hang around and just cause problems for the hell of it. I could name a couple right now but that would break your precious "public/private" rule and gods forbid anyone doing that :P

Oh and Ron: Thanks for mentioning all of one navy person in that rant of yours nice to see you care.

If they're acting inappropriately it is the job of either one of the Academy Staff or a moderator to warn them, not a renegade who thinks insults is the best way to go.

My concern is with the unprovoked incidents, a recruit simply asking for help with something that might seem silly to you does not open the floodgates to allow you to attack him. This is witnessed far too regularly.