Career System
From Victory In Europe
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This article deals with the Career System that was established after ViE#3 to replace the individual systems on both sides that became obsolete due to randomization. The Career System fell into disuse after ViE#5, remnants of it can still be seen in the sign-up threads and some rank lists in the forums.
The article below is the ViE#5-Edition of the system, and was written by Ewok.
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In A Nutshell: What is the Career System?
The Career System regulates the way players progress through the ranks on both sides (Axis and Allies). After the introduction of randomization in ViE#4, meaning that players could no longer select sides, the Career System was established to replace the older rank systems of both armies, as these had become obsolete with randomization. The ideal behind the rank system is to train all leaders (NCOs, COs) in ViE properly before they ascend to a leading position and to allow every player the chance to become such a leader, to avoid that high-ranking players are mainly picking their "buddies" for such positions.
The Basics
Before we can start figuring out how the system works, we need to know a few basics first. In this text, we will often talk about Levels, Soldiers, NCOs and COs.
- Levels are used to classify different ranks and make them comparable. Please see our ViE Wiki articles on Level and Default ranks for details.
- Soldiers, in this context, are all ordinary ViE players with no special responsibilities and powers. Most players in ViE are soldiers.
- NCOs are leaders with limited responsibilities and powers. They can be appointed throughout the campaign (unlike COs) and their main purpose is to help their superior COs and represent them in their absence.
- COs are the main leaders in ViE, they take care of many aspects such a field command on the server as well as planning of strategies and practices, among other tasks.
- General and CinC are default terms for the leaders of a division and of a whole side (Axis or Allies) respectively. Various rank names exist for such positions, but General and CinC are widely understood to refer to any such ranks (see General ranks).
For graphical representation, we will often use Default rank insignia in this text. If you do not want to bother with reading the respective Wiki article, remember these simple rules:
- The higher the number of stars/stripes on the insignia, the higher the rank
- Blue background marks CO ranks
- Yellow background marks NCO ranks
- Green background marks Soldier ranks
- Thus, Blue ranks are always higher than Yellow ranks, which are itself higher than Green ranks.
- The highest ranks have golden stars
Career Paths - How do they work?
Upon signup for a squad in your division, you will be asked to select one of the three Career Paths. These Career Paths are the central part of the Career System. So what do they do?
The Career Paths give you an outlook into what you will be doing in the next (few) ViE campaigns. Selecting the right career path is an essential decision for you, because it has a heavy influence of what you get out of this tournament. Let's have a quick overview about the three paths before we go into details:
- The Enlisted Path (alternatively named Soldier or Regular Path) always takes only a single campaign. If you select it, your main role will be to fight in ViE battles and follow the orders of NCOs and COs. You will have no responsibility apart from following your orders and doing your job as a soldier for your army. Fight well, and you will raise through the ranks and gain respect, but no additional power.
- The NCO Path takes at least two campaigns, but you can stay on it for a few more if desired by you and wanted by your superiors. You will spend your first campaign on this path as a NCO Cadet, gathering experience for your task as a leader. If you pass your first campaign, you will be a fully qualified NCO, with the power to command all soldiers and the responsibility to help your COs wherever possible. This path requires additional dedication and some interest in taking care of work outside the battlefields, such as strategies, practices or motivation of other players.
- The CO Path is the most difficult and longest path of all. You will spend your first two campaigns on this path in training for your future mission. In your second campaign on the path, you will already have powers equal to that of an NCO. After your second campaign, you have a good chance (but no guarantee!) to be picked as CO by a General. As a CO, you will always be responsible for your subordinate NCOs and Soldiers and you will be expected to spend a couple of hours on ViE each week (excluding battles!), to prepare strategies, give out promotions and medals, motivate your soldiers and, of course, lead them into battle. You will get much power and respect as a CO, but don't think it is an easy job. Because you will only become a CO in the third (and possibly subsequent) campaign on this path, you have to plan ahead for months to make sure you will have enough time to spare by then.
So how do I get promoted?
COs decide on who gets promoted to which rank and at which time. They usually follow guidelines provided by the Career System (for the sake of simplification, these guidelines are not explicitly listed here), but still have the final say on all promotions.
On all Career Paths, dedication will be a major factor for your promotion. If you show up for many battles and contribute to discussions in your divisional forums, you will most certainly be promoted. On the Enlisted Path, dedication, teamplay and skill are decisive. Play well, and you may reach the highest of the Enlisted ranks. On the NCO and CO path, these factors are not enough. You will also have to show that you are capable of leading on these paths. That may not always be easy but your COs will most probably give you a chance to take command now or then. If not, it never hurts to ask for that. No matter what your rank, if you show you can help to find a suitable tactic for a battle, be it before the battle or in the middle of it, that will be highly regarded by your COs.
On a final notice on this topic: If you feel overlooked when it comes to promotions, it never hurts to contact your CO. Due to time zone differences and other problems, a CO might simply not get aware of your performance. Any CO worth his rank will always have an open ear for you when you have trouble with your ViE career.
The Enlisted Path
If you simply came to ViE to play DoD in a team, the Enlisted Path is the place to be for you. Nothing to worry about except your battle performance. The Enlisted Path has up to six different ranks on Soldier Level. The Career System provides room for up to six more ranks on NCO Level, but these are rarely used by the Generals that decide on the ranks.
The first six ranks all come with no power or responsibilities. Reaching the higher ones (Level 4 and above) is highly respected by fellow players and superiors, however.
The following table presents an overview over the Enlisted Path Levels.
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The NCO Path
If you want more out of ViE than just playing DoD, the NCO Path might be a good place for you. Being an NCO adds new challenges to your ViE experience. You will have to deal with the creation of "strats", help your COs to motivate your fellow teammates and may be tasked with leading a specific flank or route into battle. You should be able and willing to check the forums daily, to keep up to date with what is going on in ViE and your division. In the absence of your CO, it is up to you to take charge and keep everything running.
Because we want to make sure that all NCOs recieve proper training before ascending to NCO status, you will spend the first campaign as a trainee, formally called "NCO Cadet". Only if you manage to reach the required rank, usually Level 3c, you may progress to NCO Level in the following campaign. But see the details yourself in the following overview chart:
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The CO Path
If you are truly addicted to ViE and seek for a greater challenge, select the CO Path. Out of all three paths, this one will require the most out of you. You will be expected to dedicate several hours each week to ViE, on the servers, in the forums and in every place related to ViE.
Your main task will be to lead your team into battle, but many other related jobs have to be done. Depending on your function within your division, you may have to be chiefly responsible for creating strats, leading practices, compiling and handing out the medals, taking care of promotions, managing a squad or even, as a General or CinC, supervise a whole division or army and create grand strategies of how to conquer Europe and outbid your opponents. Especially in battle, you will have to do several things at the same time: Fighting yourself while giving out orders, managing reeinforcements and coming up with new tactics to counter those of your enemies.
All this work is mainly rewarded through the great respect all other players have for CO positions and through the power you will have as a CO, it can be really motivating to lead your team to a successful campaign.
The CO Career takes two campaigns of training as a CO Cadet, after which you will not even have a guaranteed CO spot, instead, Generals are urged to have a look at available Cadets first, but they can still select anyone they want to fill the available spots. Should you not get a CO spot instantly after your second campaign, you may stay CO Cadet for another campaign. If you are still not wanted as a CO after that one, you will have to start from the scratch.
The following chart shows in a brief overview how this Career Path works:
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I don't care for all this!
Well no problem. The Career System is not part of the tournament rules but exists thanks to an agreement by the COs of both sides that dates back to ViE#3. So while it may seem complicated, lots of thinking went into it and both COs and players benefit from the system. But if you do not care for a "career", just select the Enlisted path. On that, you will not be bothered with any more complexity. You can just fight battles and enjoy the results (or not). If you are a more casual gamer and not interested in more depth, that will be the best option for you. But should you want to stay with ViE for a longer period of time (we hope so), you shouldn't miss at least giving an NCO career a try. It really takes playing ViE to the next level, take that from someone who knows.
I want to know more!
As I mentioned at the beginning, what you read above is the simple version of the system, meant to be understood by anyone. If you want to know even more, you will find plenty of information on the ViE Wiki, all of which is in the process of being updated (see the links in the section "basics"). Your divisional forums might also provide a more specific information on your division's ranks rather than just explaining everything with the default ranks as it is the case here.
Questions about the system can be directed at either your COs or Ewok, the one chiefly responsible for creating and maintaining the system.
©Ewok, 09.02.2007 (ViE#5). The information above may be copied without the author's permission for use in the ViE tournament only. Please contact Ewok if you want to modify the text in any way for such use.
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