CAP 21 CAP 21 - TL and TLT Applications

[Birkal]

Welcome back! We're coming straight out of the gates from this policy thread, which declared that CAP21 will be a Mega Evolution in addition to a base Pokemon. When applying for leadership positions, consider the extra implications of this policy; we are heading into uncharted territory with unknown outcomes on the horizon. Therefore, it is of utmost importance that this CAP is headed by a strong leadership team, particularly a Topic Leader that is willing to jump in headfirst with a positive demeanor. If you have served successfully as leadership in the past, I would highly recommend that you join up again for CAP21.

This is the thread for people to announce their desire to become either the Topic Leader (TL) or a member of the Topic Leadership Team (TLT) for this creation project (CAP 21). Do not suggest other users. If someone wants to become the TL or a TLT member, they will post on their own, and if they don't have a strong urge to be it then they shouldn't be signing up anyway. The CAP project requires the utmost dedication and a substantial amount of free time, especially to lead, meaning that only those who have carefully considered the magnitude of their application will apply at all. If you are not prepared to fulfill all of the responsibilities to the very end, then do not throw your hat into the ring.

We are looking to fill the following five positions to help us lead the creation of this new Pokemon:

• Topic Leader: In the public's eyes, this is the leader of the project. They will create the slate for Concept Submissions and serve as a general timekeeper. Overall, the goal of the TL is "quality control", not "project control". The responsibilities of the TL include running Concept Assessment, Threats Discussion, and finalizing the slates of TLT members.
• Topic Leadership Team: The TLT will be leading the four major competitive aspects of creating a Pokemon. They will make slates for their respective threads and provide meaningful discussion points to their specific area. Note that TLT members are allowed to make submissions during stages of the CAP process that they are not actively leading. We are looking to fill the following four positions:
  • Typing Leader
  • Ability Leader
  • Stats Leader
  • Movepool Leader

When making your application, please indicate which position(s) you are applying for. You must identify whether you're applying for TL or TLT (you are allowed to apply for both). You are allowed to specific which position you'd like to fill on the TLT, but it is not required. Topic leaders and TLT members should have the following qualifications:

• Timeliness; each leader must be able to commit the time to active leadership
• Deep knowledge of the game of Pokemon
• Familiarity with competitive Pokemon concepts, strategy and philosophy, as practiced within Smogon
• Willing to voice opinions and lead others
• Open-minded to new ideas
• Creative, "outside-of-the-box" thinker
• Good writing skills
• Level-headed when resolving disputes
• Liked and respected by the CAP community
• NEW: Be willing to work with their assigned stage and partners

Once this CAP starts, the Topic Leader and the Topic Leadership Team will be the most important, most visible members of the CAP community, and they are expected to be a strong guiding force throughout the creation process. If you are selected for any of these positions, you will have a great deal of power to influence the project. But you also have a responsibility to stay on top of things. You will have forum moderators to help you, but you need to be regularly active on the project until it is complete. All potential candidates should look through both the Topic Leadership Guide onsite and the CAP Process Archive subforum, to get an idea of what will be expected of you, if you are selected to be the CAP 21 Topic Leader or TLT member.

This thread is strictly for candidacy posts and posts supporting those candidates. Please stay on topic. Below are the guidelines for posting in this thread:

• Candidates must have been actively involved through the entire duration of the most recent CAP project. Involvement in multiple CAP projects is strongly preferred.
• Do not suggest other people. If you want you encourage someone else to run, then send them a PM or talk to them on IRC.
• If you are new to the CAP project, do not sign up in this thread. Instead, spend a project or two lurking, learning, and participating first.
• Include a summary of your involvement in the CAP project.
• Make a pitch for why you should be selected. If you can't present and defend yourself, then you can't expect to lead a project whose primary function is discussion and debate. Convince us that you are a good choice.
• Poor spelling, punctuation, and grammar are great ways to look as though you don't know what you're talking about. A thoughtful and intelligent community leader should be capable of typing at a level above typical internet banter.
• Even if you don't think you are better qualified than certain other candidates, you still should consider posting your application. Candidates not selected as TL or TLT for this project will be on the watch list for next time around. Don't post your name if you don't intend to be active in the project, even if you are not selected, since people will be scrutinizing your involvement more closely.
• Do not post disparaging remarks about any candidates.

If these rules are not followed, the offending user will be subject to moderation.

Best of luck to all applicants! Go, your new adventure begins!

 

[Ununhexium]

Hi! I'm applying particularly as Ability Leader, though I wouldn't particularly mind doing Typing again. I just really want abilities.

Also I could take on TL I bet

I first started in CAP with Volkraken, where I enjoyed posting, voting, and checking out the incredible artwork put forward by artists. I also participated in Plasmanta (Ohmagod?), where I fought for the Electric / Poison typing and proposed what would ultimately become the secondary ability, Vital Spirit. Naviathan was my first time ever participating as a member of the TLT. I led the Typing stage which after lots of reading, discussing, voting, and a really messy PiratePad, we ultimately decided on the Water / Steel typing. Though I was kind of busy after that, I tried to keep posting, but I spent most of my contribution on the IRC channel.

As I put it in my last application,

I think I'd be a good TLT member because I fulfill all of the listed criteria in the OP, have been active from the beginning of the Volkraken process to now, and have served on the PRC (I didn't post much because I didn't just want to repeat other people lol). Though I'm not the most amazing battler on Smogon, my understanding of the game is deep enough to effectively lead a section of the CAP process, especially with the new policies in place.

But also I have experience on TLT now.

Bye!

Edit: Also MEGA TLT

 

[QueenOfLuvdiscs]

I would like to apply for Movepool Leader.

I started posting in CAP Project with Volkraken and got really into it with Naviathan, posting in nearly every stage but most of my time and focus was in the movepool stage, following it closely and giving my reasons for why it should/shouldn't have certain moves when the time was right. With a completely new direction CAP is taking and the 'risk' involved, I'd like the opportunity to lead this new direction the way we'd like it to. I have a good understanding of Pokemon, where I really started to pick it up at the end of gen 5 and I'm quick to adapt to metagame shifts and trends.

 

[Empress]

Throwing my hat in the ring for Typing, Stats, and Movepool (in that order). I can TL if need be as well.

Hi there; Snobalt here. I've been an active participant of three CAP Projects now. I've shown my proficiency in stats by finishing 2nd in Volkraken's stat poll, as well as typing by sparking discussion that apparently led to the winning typing of Poison/Electric for Plasmanta. I was Naviathan's movepool leader and enjoyed playing a larger role in the project. While I'll be the first to admit that not everything went as well as I wanted during the movepool stage, I learned quite a bit about how to be a good TLT member, and if I'm selected again, I will apply what I have learned to do better this time and help us create something amazing.

 

[nyttyn]

I'm suicidal so i'm applying for Topic/Team Leader.

I was TL last time, people liked the boat. When discussion faltered at times, I did my best to pull the project forward, and ensure we would not get stuck in a quagmire. When TRC was busy during Ability, I stepped in to guide discussion, and helped keep Movepool on course. Behind the scenes, I did my best to work with the Topic Leader Team, in order to formulate slates as best as we could and minimize use of my -1/+1 power. I've been with CAP for so long that you all know me - being a part of discussion, polls, and votes for awhile now, such as winning Mollux's movepool poll. I've been pushing for Mega Evolution for a long time now, and I want it to succeed, so I'm going to run for a second term in CAP office. I have years of experience under my belt, a successfully lead CAP, and am consistently accessible, either over IRC, or by my forum profile, or by Showdown!.

If elected Topic Leader, I plan to embrace both the new process, and ORAS power creep. I know there has been a notable discrepancy in the power of this generation's batch of CAPs, and the actual power level of XY/ORAS, so I will do my utmost to ensure that, this time, we wind up with a CAP with an appropriate power level to be a top tier threat - doubly so, since it needs to compare with the likes of such titans like Mega Metagross, Mega Altaria, and Mega Flygon Clefable. As a result, do keep in mind that, if you vote for me, you will be voting for a Topic Leader who will be rather strict about moderating and leading discussion, and will likely be pushing for smaller, more competitively optimal slates than usual.

also if elected team leader I will supply with more touhou as a gimmick.

 

[Ignus]

Applying for Typing.

This is the 6th CAP that I'll be participating in, and 8th that I've witnessed, starting back at Tomohawk. Typing is a subject I've been working on in my free time quite extensively over the past month or so, and I'd love to share the things I've learned through trudging through JSON files and spreadsheets (This is only the surface of what I've been working on. I have a similar project that I'm working on for a defensive type analysis, too, as well as a "How scared should I be of this type" analysis! Yay math!). Speaking honestly, I don't have much experience leading the CAP community, outside of two terms on PRC, but I hope to compensate through a combination of leaning on the veterans of CAP and sheer willpower to make the process successful. I've seen the process work and I've seen it in-eloquently fail, and I plan to use that first hand experience to make the suddenly unnerving changes a Mega will bring as easy to handle as possible.

I'm a big believer in using quantitative evidence when backing up an argument, and as part of the TLT I'd love to bring that disposition in to the project - my first goal when it comes to CAP is to provide people with the tools to make a solid and competitively reasonable argument. Being the Typing leader would allow me to push the discussion in such a direction that even the newer participants can make decent and well thought out arguments, even if they lack the experience in OU that some of the veterans of the process might have. Occasionally I run in to the same problems and I'd love to help push some of the tools I've made or discovered towards the CAP community in order to "raise" the level of discussion across the board.

I appreciate y'all taking the time to read. Please vote for me if you think it's appropriate!

 

[Arcade]

I feel like I would be good for Stats leader, Ability leader or Typing.

It is true that I only joined the CAP metagame recently but I still closely followed the making of Plasmanta and Nivathian and I reckon the best way to go from here is to learn by helping out with then next CAP pokemon.

I am a very opinionated person and one who will gladly put my point across. However I do not force my opinion. I will do my job and do it well whilst in the background, coming forth if called for my opinion. I have a wide knowledge of all kinds of tiers and pokemon, because of this I can have a better understanding of what a pokemon would be like in real life, creating interesting and new Stats which are both realistic and have synergy with the movepool. However, saying this, I am new to this. This means I see things in a different light to others that may follow a more traditional route. This works very well thanks to the fact that we are doing a mega evolution which is a whole new territory.

I am an overall friendly person and am willing to work under any person thanks to the fact that this is my first time. Whilst I am new to the CAP community I am a regular on different chatrooms such as Competitive Tutoring and Survivor so people will know me there. I co-operate well and I write a lot and well. Even if I make a couple of typo's here and there. I have the ability to be level headed quite often thanks to being able to wipe my mind clear and focus on the problem at the moment. I work well in a team as I prefer other people to be in agreement before I make a decision.

I know this is my first try at this so feel free to not include me. Either way I will be following the process closely and thanks for reading through what I've put! Who knows, I may be some help!

 

[Birkal]

I'll be closing this thread in 48 hours. Get those apps completed!

 

[sparktrain]

Hey everyone! I'm here to apply for a position on the TLT. I'm willing to step up and lead any of the four positions on the team, but I'm particularly interested in the position of Stats Leader for a couple reasons. In the most recent CAP project, I submitted the winning stat spread for Naviathan. I also have a fairly mathematically oriented mind, so Stats is naturally the most intriguing step of the process to me. Stats are going to be an incredibly important part of this upcoming project (well, all parts are for that matter!); we'll be creating more than one stat spread this time around, and I believe it's vital that we show flexibility and adapt our overall mindset to the power level of the current ORAS OU metagame to help ensure the success of our first Mega CAP.

As for my overall history with CAP, I've been a participant since the beginning of the sixth generation, and have followed the creation process of the sixth generation CAPmons very closely. Though I mostly lurked, voted in polls, and played in the metagame and playtests to start off, I've become much more active in the CAP process in terms of forum discussion, irc discussion, and presence in the PS! CAP Project Room, where I'm a room moderator. I've also recently joined the PRC. Do I consider myself a top-notch OU player? Nah, but I still play the tier quite often and have a good knowledge of the state of the current metagame. I've also demonstrated the leadership qualifications listed in the OP throughout my history with CAP (or Smogon in general); I believe it's especially critical for our leaders to be open-minded to new ideas, which will be an important theme in this upcoming CAP.

Anyway, thanks for the consideration, let's have a great CAP 21!

 

[jas61292]

Hey everyone. Many people who know me know that I have said more than once that being TL was one of the best experiences I have ever had here and that I am so glad I was able to do it, but that I would never, ever want to do it again. Yet, I have also said that I might be willing to reconsider this for some sort of special project, such as the mega evolution we are doing here. It would seem that, in the end, the allure of something new and exciting has indeed won me over, so here I am doing something I never thought I would do again: applying for Topic Leader. Oh, and while it is not as unexpected to me, I would like to apply for the Topic Leadership Team as well.

While I have done many, many things in my years here at the CAP Project, for the most part I would just like to focus on the time I spent between February and April of 2013 as Topic Leader of the Malaconda project. This was the first ever project done under our current leadership structure, and I had very little idea what to expect going in. It was far more work than I could have every imagined, but I put all the effort I could into leading discussions, and, while I leave it to others to make the real judgments, I'd like to think that I did a pretty good job. From the opinions I have heard, I believe that the Malaconda project is generally considered to be one of the bigger successes in the past few years, and I am very proud that I was such a big part of it. I learned a lot from that experience, and i think a lot of what I learned would be a big help, should I be Topic Leader once more. Furthermore, having been the Typing Leader on the Volkraken project has given me insight into the other half of the leadership structure, which I knew nothing of back when I was TL. I would feel much more confident now in leading together with the Topic Leadership Team (or with the TL, if I am voted onto the TLT), rather than just leading in addition to the TLT, as it sometimes felt like back then.

We have a very interesting project ahead of us, and I am very excited to see us use this mega evolution project as a way to sort of break out of our shell and make something truly threatening, which many will agree we have failed to do with our first few projects this generation. While I willfully admit that I have traditionally been a very conservative person when it comes to CAP, and that Malaconda is arguably an expression thereof, I definitely acknowledge that the current metagame is simply different than what this project has gotten used to, and we need to take that into account in our future projects. While we are, at our core, a project about having interesting debates and discussions about competitive Pokemon, we cannot have those if what we are making, and therefore what we are debating and discussing, does not fit into the metagame we are making it for.

Finally, I would just like to reference a quote from the Malaconda Final Product OP:

Back in my TL nomination post I said that I hoped this would be the greatest CAP project yet. Whether or not that came true is not for me to say, but my intent for this project was never really to try and be the best. Coming in, we had a brand new system of leadership, and my true goal was to really put it to the test and, if possible, set a good example for those leaders who will come after.

Our leadership system may not be brand new anymore, but with this mega project, there is just as much of an unknown in the process itself. While I cannot say right now whether there will be any future mega projects after this one, if there are, I really hope to once more try and set a good example for those who would lead it, whether I do so as the Topic Leader, a member of the Leadership Team, or a simple project contributor.

Best of luck to all applicants, and here's to a great project.

 

[Imanalt]

I'll be TLT. I don't care too much what I'm doing, but stats leader would probably be my slight preference, followed by Typing and then ability. I've been around since necturna but my biggest contribution was what I did on naviathan. I was a primary proponent for the "one bulky boost one offensive boost" build that was eventually chosen, I proposed and argued for water/steel typing, Water Veil and the general stats build (including speed number) that ended up being chosen, primarily on irc but also somewhat in the threads. So yeah thats pretty much the defining characteristics of Naviathan, making this probably the cap I've contributed to most. I also have finished top 2 in necturna and cawmodore playtests, and am always active on irc and have been for ages, plus making some posts in the threads.

 

[HeaLnDeaL]

I am applying for TLT. My preference is definitely moves, though I'd be glad to lead other stages if needed. I've lurked around CAP for many years but have only been active in the main process since Volkraken. Though my time in CAP has been shorter than many others, the three projects I have participated in display my participation and leadership. Across these projects, I feel like I've grown as a smogon user and as a competitive player; I'd definitely say that I've become a better competitive battler in general (OU, or any other tier) than I was before Volkraken. I'm interested in CAP from a multitude of angles and I have a variety of poll wins including Volkraken's sprites, Plasmanta's moves and stats, and Naviathan's flavor movepool (which was collaborated on with user cbrevan). Last CAP I was the Stats Leader, and I want to surge forward and take a ride on the TLT again. I'm not 100% satisfied with how the moveset discussion went during this last CAP, and as a potential Moves Leader, I would aim to start the stage off with focused discussion before people rush in and make submissions without ever talking and discussing the ideas of others. With no real slate, I feel like the discussion during the moveset stage is incredibly important and I want to try my best to help facilitate this discussion and guide it in the best direction possible. Most of you guys know me, so I won't bore you with a super long application.

Good luck to all, and I hope we have a fantastic Mega CAP!

 

[DetroitLolcat]

Last minute TLT applications? Don't mind if I do. I'd prefer to lead Movepool, though I'm also experienced in Stats having led that stage twice. I'm also minoring in Stats at university :P

Most of you know me, I've led Stats twice in Malaconda and Cawmodore, and then was the TL for Volkraken. Since then, I've taken some time off of leadership in CAP to focus on participating in the process and doing work on the PR end of the project. I've also been, well, moderating the forum.

I think Movepool and Stats, particularly the former, have been bottlenecking the process and leading to underpowered products as of late. Plasmanta and Naviathan have both had extremely underwhelming movepools and stat spreads, and that's in large part because so much of our movepool and stat spread discussions have focused on proving how reasonably powered options would be broken or overpowered. For example, the move Substitute has been extremely controversial on the last two CAPs. Even though it was painfully obvious that Substitute would not be broken on Plasmanta and Naviathan, IRC conversation was dominated by how Substitute would break those Pokemon on paper. In terms of Stats, our last project was offensively gimped in part because of how much weight calculations based on Adamant and Life Orb sets had even though it was obvious neither Adamant or Life Orb would be the primary Dragon Dance set. As a result, we never really got around to discussing more liberal stat spreads or coverage types like Fire or Fighting. As Movepool or Stats leader, I'm not going to let the "everything is broken" wing of the community dominate conversation and stifle discussion on more interesting topics.

During my two projects off of the leadership team, I've grown as a user. I'm much less conservative when it comes to Pokemon power, and I've developed more of a no-nonsense attitude from moderating the first project of the "tougher moderation" age. While I certainly believe in open discussion and despise railroading, I also plan to keep discussion focused and not let louder members dominate discussion simply by being louder.

Our last 2-3 projects have been underpowered. Let's not let have our first Mega Evolution suffer the same fate. #DLC4TLT

P.S. In the spirit of transparency, I would like to mention that I have not been extremely active lately because I have not had a personal computer. However, I live five minutes away (by walking) from a 24-hour public library and will be purchasing a new computer within the next two weeks. Availability will not be a problem during Movepool or Stats.

 

[Birkal]

Let's a-go!