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[HAVOK] HavoK |
Throughout this week we'll have a special edition of the Clan Spotlight, taking you back into the early history of Clan Wars. This was a time when a few Clans could hold down large portions of the Clan Wars map, when an alliance could take in over 85% of the entire map's income, and then right near the end, they painted the map blue. This is the time of NASA, and we'll be bringing to you insight from some of the leadership of these Clans every day this week.
Next up on the list of NASA Clans is HavoK. Like a few other Clans that were in NASA, HavoK is an offshoot of one of the other NASA Clans, BG in this case. As a result of a lot of hard work by some very dedicated players, they've stayed around and grown stronger over the years since the split.
The following players gave their insight about HavoK in the old days, from the very start of the Clan:
CallmeMark - Former HavoK member
Nikon3 - Former HavoK member
BlackCompany [HAVOK] - Current Deputy Commander of HavoK, member during NASA
What brought your clan into NASA in the first place?
CallmeMark - Brothers Grim (BG) split and Havok was born with rumNcolt as its leader. He was chairing NASA at the time, so the newly born Havok was admitted as a full top tier member.
Nikon3 - In BG we had an internal conflict, which spawned Havok. We got into NASA due to rNc and his relationship with them.
BlackCompany - NASA was more or less formed and run by rumNcolt. He created Havok to be the militant, mobile arm of NASA - a group that would be able to land anywhere and put out fires where needed, so we would see a lot of fights. I joined Havok right at the start, but I came over with the top 15 players from 3E, which was probably one of the strongest Clans resisting NASA. Havok in reality was really new, basically the newbie member of NASA, however our Clan leaders were the originators and main organizers of NASA so we ended up being very involved with it. It dominated a majority of our leadership's time and motives. I literally had a very difficult time coming to Havok because of NASA.
What was your favorite part about being in NASA?
CallmeMark - It gave me a good insight into how fragile many grown men's egos are, easy to manipulate and manage...
Nikon3 - I enjoyed how well it all worked when it was all working well.
BlackCompany - That's an interesting thing, for me at least. I didn't like NASA. I felt that it more or less formed a monopoly and maintained its superiority through sheer numbers, not really by its strength or its ability to fight. I felt that a large majority of the Clans in NASA were strong because they could call on other Clans to fight for them. That in essence made them soft. They didn't have to fight for their survival, which makes you a lot stronger.
In your opinion, what was the main thing that led to the collapse of NASA?
CallmeMark - E-peen.
Nikon3 - At the surface, greed. The main deep reason was silly, misplaced ego nonsense.
Nikon3 - Honestly, greed and pride. When AoD and MLP decided that they needed 3x the gold income that a lot of us were bringing in, I could see the writing on the wall. In the end, neither MLP nor AOD were strong enough to survive like they were doing without NASA, they just couldn't see it. Havok was excluded from any alliance talks with fall of NASA, but honestly, that was fine. Havok was built to fight, and that's exactly what we did.
Do you think it's possible for a NASA-like alliance to exist today, even in a scaled-down form?
CallmeMark - Yes.
Nikon3 - Even without knowing the current game mechanics or such, absolutely it would work. It just has to have the correct foundation.
BlackCompany - In a scaled down form, perhaps. Maybe on one part of a continent, but I don't see it very possible to control the whole NA map like they did with Europe and Russia.
If you had to guess which Clans could make up the current-day NASA, who would be a part of it?
CallmeMark - I've been out of Tanks for too long to give names, but I'm sure a few of the old war dogs would give it another go if presented and phrased in the right manner.
Nikon3 - No idea, I have been away too long.
BlackCompany - I guess that depends on the overall goals and how far NASA reaches to become dominant.
What was your proudest achievement for your individual Clan during the NASA era?
CallmeMark - Being acknowledged as a top tier Clan performance-wise, even though we were only weeks old.
Nikon3 - Being able to go head-to-head with anyone right away.
What was the thing you hated the most about being in NASA?
CallmeMark - The rules surrounding CW at the time.
Nikon3 - Dealing with certain people, the structure that had been finally settled into, and all the extra non sense that was not really needed. NASA got too big for itself. Nothing that big with that much nonsense over the internet works or stays alive that long.
BlackCompany - I was concerned about going soft, not running into any tough opponents since we never really fought each other (for real) in NASA. I think the reason why Havok has done so well was because we were built with fighting in mind.
What kind of reputation did your Clan build for itself during that time?
CallmeMark - Being able to get the job done.
Nikon3 - Good for the most part, being able to get what we needed to get done on the battlefield even while dealing with crazy in-house issues. Some even ended up disliking up a good bit with the end result of all that crazy drama.
The "Tiered Income Proposal" near the end of NASA was a very controversial topic -- what was your Clan's stance on it?
CallmeMark - It was controversial because some Clans were being carried and some Clans were paper tigers. Personally, I think the application of the proposal was flawed as the power structure within NASA was flawed. The tiered approach works fine, but not when overlaid on a broken structure.
Nikon3 - The TIP was the only way it might have had a chance to work with the number of Clans in NASA and what was on the board at the time, but it would have never really worked. The empty-handed Clans would always really feel short changed, and if they leave the big boys sooner or later would fail.
BlackCompany - We were definitely opposed to it, being that our leaders formed the NASA idea in the first place.
What decisions do you think would have needed to be made to save the alliance?
CallmeMark - None - too many A-Type personalities with E-peens to keep secure.
Nikon3 - I would say many key early choices in NASA led to it failing in the end. I would even say the damage was already done even before Havok was formed.
BlackCompany - Swallowing of pride. MLP and AOD needed to realize that they needed these other Clans to secure their flanks in order for them to carry that much weight on the map. Havok proved that controlling the LZ (Dagestan, in particular) was going to be impossible without other Clans' help. Havok took that on the first time we tried it (after things went hostile) and Forge took Dagestan again a week later and started to death blossom MLP - the writing was on the wall.
What Clan would you say was your closest allies/friends during NASA?
CallmeMark - Ourselves / Forge.
Nikon3 - Forge.
BlackCompany - Forge.
How much have you worked with other former members of NASA since the split?
CallmeMark - A little to begin with, but the formation of a closer community was required.
Nikon3 - Personally, very little.
What part about HavoK allowed you to grow into one of the most dominant Clans on the map after the NASA split?
CallmeMark - Initially it was structure, level heads, lack of E-peen, and understanding of the metagame.
Nikon3 - That core group of people who keep it going. Even when one or more dropped off it was a "next man up, let's keep this going" idea. It's how Havok was formed, it was craziness from day one. Also Sarge and Mark - without those 2 Havok would have failed very hard a very long ago, plain and simple.
BlackCompany - I think because Havok was built and bred with the idea of fighting in Clan Wars, not sitting on a territory was what allowed our success. We fought, and sought out fights when we didn't get them. A lot of Clans don't do that, for some reason the NA server doesn't seek out the battles that the RU and EU servers seem to do.
How much influence did NASA have on the growth of the Burning Legion?
CallmeMark - None - Initially, The Burning Legion was formed by people with a common background and ideals.
Nikon3 - I would like to think it has helped us learn a few lessons. The only way we can avoid repeating bad history is to learn from the past.
BlackCompany - The concept of The Burning Legion was to have a group of Clans that could fight, and be ready to fight anywhere if needed. For a time, that concept definitely was working very well. I'd say Havok and the Legion definitely became more of the Anti-NASA ideal after a time. We didn't want to sit still and not be challenged. It's more fun to play the game at the seat of your pants in some fights than yawn and wish you had them.
For a short time Forge joined in with Havok as Havok-X -- why did this happen and why was it so short-lived?
CallmeMark - It was badly thought out and very poorly implemented. Communication and expectations are two things that cannot be overlooked when 200-odd personalities are concerned.
Nikon3 - "The best laid plans of mice and men often go astray." There is a chance had rNc not had to leave, and boots would have not left that it might have really worked. It would have been a powerhouse, but key people left and it fell down very quickly. It ended quickly, and them reforming was the quickest way to fix things and move on.
This was part 4 of a mini-series of Spotlights on NASA Clans. For the forum discussion about this mini-series, click the button below.
