CAP 18 CAP 18 - TL and TLT Applications

[Birkal]

A new generation here and the CAP Process is ready to go. Let's begin.

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 18). 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:

• NEW: 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

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 5 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! Let's start this generation with a bang.

 

[PttP]

I am applying for the TLT and for only the position of Abilities leader.

My participation in the past few CAPs has been strictly competitively related. I cannot say that I participate in any of the flavor aspects of CAP, but my competitive knowledge makes up for it. I've won the past 2 CAP playtests (by a fairly boring margin...) while also writing the analysis for Malaconda. While I by no means intend to insult any of the CAP players, I feel that I am the most knowledgeable in the OU metagame, and have experience in a highly competitive scene to apply that knowledge in. What I mean by this is that I'm not so much a person who bases his decisions off theorymon, but more on actually playing.

My competitive achievements are here: http://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/cap-6-prc-applications.3483511/#post-4696159 with the addition of my team making the WCoP finals last year before losing. I am currently playing XY OU in SPL, which I would presume to be important since we're building a CAP in the XY OU metagame.

I am on IRC very often and am always excited to participate in a competitive discussion. I would like to think of myself as a fairly kind person (as long as you don't piss me off!) and wouldn't blow a fuse if a group of people disagreed with me (as long as their reasoning is sound -_-)

I was looking through some of the last cycle's TLT applications and saw that they are much longer than mine. I hope that the length of my application isn't a negative when it comes to picking TLT spots. I just don't enjoy writing that much fluff because getting to the point is much more efficient, in my opinion.

First post *-*

 

[Bughouse]

Long post ahead, sorry!

Hello everyone, I'm here to apply for the Topic Leadership Team. My preferred sections are either Abilities or Typing. I've been a dedicated CAP participant since Voodoom, though I lurked for a few projects before that. CAP was basically why I joined Smogon. And for a while it was basically my sole place of participation on Smogon, though recently I've branched out some. Still, CAP constitutes over half of all my posts on Smogon, and is definitely my home base. I was awarded one of the inaugural CAP Pre-contributor badges, though that ladybug has since been replaced by my current badge (more on that below).

While I'm certainly not as good of a battler as PttP above me, I do pretty well for myself competitively. I've previously topped the CAP, BW RU, and Doubles ladders on Showdown, as well as reaching top 5 in BW UU. That badge over there is for Tiering Contributor, meaning I've attained reqs and voted in 4 suspect tests, soon to be 5 (Doubles Sleep Clause is ongoing.) As further evidence, I've had good tournament results as of late. I'm currently in the semi-finals of Corsola Cup II (ADV NU), which is my best result to date. With some luck I may be able to update this and say I won (hopefully...)

I have two major recent contributions to CAP. First, due to my success in Cawmdore's playtest, where I placed both 4th and 5th on the ladder, I was selected to write its analysis, which is now undergoing C&C. Second, I am a participant in the still ongoing PRC cycle leading up to CAP 18. As part of this, I led our update of the Abilities Banlist.

Choosing to take on that update of the Abilities Banlist was not a coincidence. It's the stage for which I have the most affinity. And if I am elected, it would definitely be my first choice, though I'd be more than happy to accommodate PttP or anyone else who wants it even more than I do. Abilities is a section that has quite a large impact on the success of a lot of our projects. It's also an area where we've arguably gone wrong a few times recently. That's basically why I wanted to head up our PRC update and why I also want to lead this step for CAP 18.

As to my second choice, I'll repost what I wrote in a previous application:

I have always been an active participant in typing discussions and I think I bring the right energy and openness to handle and filter down a section with so many possibilities. Examples of my clear-headedness in typing suggestions include my early advocacy of Dark as the main typing for Malaconda (though I was more a fan of Dark/Electric) and my advocacy for Fire as the main type for Mollux (though I was more a fan of Mono-fire than Fire/Poison). In any case, the leader of Typing need not have always been or even ever been 100% right. It's more important to be active, open, and engaged, qualities that I have demonstrated in recent typing discussions. As a secondary request, I think I am well-qualified to lead Typing, and I would be very excited to do so, given the chance.

For additional reference, here is a post I made in Cawmodore's Typing discussion supporting Water/Dragon, an early favorite, though I eventually supported Steel/Flying, our winning choice. I hope that post shows I would be an open minded Typing leader, willing to consider offbeat choices as long as they fulfill concept goals.

That's all. I hope you will give me the chance to be a member of the TLT for CAP 18. I'm sure I will be up against a field of equally, if not more, qualified users and no matter how this poll goes, we will have a great TL and TLT! I look forward to contributing commentary and submissions for CAP 18 in whatever capacity I can.

Good luck and may the odds be ever in your favor, everyone!

 

[jas61292]

Hey everyone! I'm here to apply for a position on this project's Topic Leadership Team. I'm especially interested in leading the Typing stage this time around, though I would be happy to fill any part of this team that is available.

I'd like to start off by giving a summary of my time here. I'm sure that a lot of you already know of my history here in CAP, so I'll try keep it fairly brief. I first started participating in CAP back near the start of the first gen 5 CAP project. Since then I have been involved in almost every single aspect of this project in some form or another, including practically every single CAP process and policy review discussion. Following the Mollux project, I became one the first people to receive the Community Contributor badge for their work on the CAP project. A little over a year ago I was given the position of head SOp of the #cap IRC channel and more recently I was made a moderator of the CAP project. I was also one of the initial recipients of the new CAP Contributor badge.

However, of all my experiences here in CAP, I think by far the most important, especially with regard to being a candidate for the TLT, was the time I spent as the Topic Leader of gen 5 CAP 5, Malaconda. Being a TL was by far the most challenging thing I have ever done here on Smogon, but it was also by far the most rewarding. It forced me to be a strong discussion leader, to ask tough questions, to challenge arguments of all kinds, and to make sure that, at every single stage of the project, we were getting as much out of the discussions as was possible. While I'd prefer each individual who participated on the Malaconda project to judge for themselves, I personally believe that the project was a great success, and I hope that during my time as TL, I was able to show the community that I have all the abilities necessary to be a true leader for this project.

Moving into the 6th generation of Pokemon, there are a lot of new and fun options that we will be able to work with as a community. However, with all the excitement that come along with a new generation, it will be more crucial than ever to make sure that we, as a community, stay focused on the goals of the CAP project. While trying new things is always cool, it is important to remember that the end Pokemon that we create is just a small part of the project, and that the real focus needs to be on what we can learn along the way. In times like these it is especially important to have a very strong leadership team keeping us focused on whatever concept we choose to approach, and I believe that my experience as a Topic Leader and the learning first approach I take to all CAP discussions would be incredibly useful to have as part of the Topic Leadership Team.

I'd like to close this out with a quote from my OP in the CAP 5 final product thread:

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 system is certainly not perfect, but I would like to think that throughout this project we have demonstrated how much potential it has.

While I think that we have indeed seen a glimpse of how successful the TLT system could be, the system is still young, and I believe that this upcoming project will be a bigger test than anything it has yet faced. I would be honored to once again have an opportunity to try and demonstrate the true potential of the TLT system.

As always, best of luck to every candidate, and I look forward to a wonderful project.

 

[Birkal]

You all now have 48 hours to apply for any of these positions. I know there are some more potential candidates out there who are on the edge of applying. If that's you reading this message, there's no harm in posting a stake. The TL + TLT system was created to give ease leadership and give us further flexibility. If you have an urge to apply, please do so now.

 

[alexwolf]

I would like to apply for Ability, Stats, and Typing leader, mentioned in order of preference.

I have actively participated in the last two CAPs, Malaconda and Cawmodore, in all the competitive steps. I have also submitted stat spreads both times, of which one made it to the initial slate, in Cawmodore (not that this is saying a lot, just explaining my level of involvement). I also frequent the cap irc channel when cap activity exists, and like to talk about my opinions and the opinion of others, often engaging meaningful discussions (i have created some shitstorms too, but it's been a long time since then). The reason i believe i would be suited for any of this positions is my extensive OU knowledge, as well as my knowledge of the CAP process and CAP community. Regarding my OU knowledge, which i think is one of the most important factors when looking for TLT members and what the CAP community is lacking (skillful and knowledgeable OU players), here are some things that can attest to this. I have been an active OU QC member for more than a year, from October-November of 2012 actually, while i also have written many analyses myself. Furthermore, i have been a Community Contributor from June of 2013, and an OU moderator for the last 4 months, while having hosted and leaded some community projects, such as the Defense of the Titans Project (ladder challenge about stall) and the OU Theorymon Project, which has been blooming with activity over the last month. For those reasons, i think i can keep a level headed discussion, guide the community to the right direction, and be able to do those stuff with OU closely in mind, not just theorymon or wrong impressions. As for my CAP knowledge, i think i know enough to be able to fulfill TLT duties, and anyone that has been around for the last two CAPs can judge me based on their own criteria, so no need to say much about this one.

tl;dr

I am very committed to playing and understanding the OU metagame, and i am also very interested in the CAP process, while knowing all the necessary things about this process that a member of the TLT should, such as the goals of the CAP process, the ways we should go about achieving those goals, and all the necessary technical knowledge.

Good luck to everyone!

 

[Stratos]

Hi I'm applying for all of TL, Stats, Ability, Typing, Movepool leader, in order of preference.

I was a TLT member for CAP6 (or is it CAP17?) Cawmodore, where I led the abilities. I believe most were satisfied with my job in doing so. I actively contributed in every BW CAP past Tomohawk and have been a PRC member since post-CAP4. As such I think it's fairly safe to say that I understand CAP principles and processes.

I'll fully admit that I'm not as good at OU as PttP but I know what I'm talking about. I watch all the SPL OU matches to see the tier at its highest level. This combined with my very recent jaunt in the tutoring program and ladder experience has given me a solid understanding of how the metagame works.

There's not too much I can say here that can't be said better by my posting track record, whether you wish to vote for me or not. I try to keep an open mind while also focusing discussion and trying to ensure that the two loudest options in the shouting match do not get all the attention. For example, Intimidate was Cawmodore's primary ability, but it was only brought up by one or two users and quickly ignored in favor of the magic bounce vs motor drive dicsussion until I encouraged users to give it further thought. I also tried to get people to address the base differences behind our disagreements, such as can be seen in my secondary abilities OP. Perhaps most importantly, I hate mincing words, and try to get to the point ASAP in all my posts. I will try my best, if elected, not to burden you all with walls of text, while still remaining active and leaderly in the discussions.

 

[nyttyn]

Hi yes i'm applying for TL, Movepool leader, Ability leader, Typing leader, and Stats leader, in order of preference.

I have been a part of CAP since Mollux and my most notable achievement thusfar has been winning Mollux's movepool. I have actively contributed since then, with the exception of a hiatus for about half of Cawmodore due to stress.

While I am competent at OU, I will concede I am probably not as good at it as PttP, Jas61292, srk1214, or Pwnemon. However, I do believe that my frequent nights spent reading through literally every scrap of info that I can find on competitive pokemon play (regardless of source, though obviously I favor sources such as SPL) as well as a reaonable amount of ladder play more then makes me very knowledgeable about the metagame.

If elected Leader for any part of the project, I will do my best to remain constantly on IRC, forums, and Showdown!'s CAP room, making sure to pay the utmost attention to the project as it develops, and provide a solid leadership. Though I have no intentions of dictating the course of the project, neither do I have any desire to simply sit by and occasionally throw in an opinion or two. I plan to be fully involved in every step of the project, especially the step in which I have leadership over. If elected TL, I will also do my best to work with the TLT, and keep constant, open lines of communication to ensure that the project runs smoothly, and that everything remains on track.

In closing, I also promise that I will help keep the V-Create Doom Mode Sand Rush Illusion Fairy/Steel MegaConcepts at bay, and could you really ask for anything more?

 

[Bull of Heaven]

I'm applying for the TLT, and specifically for the typing, movepool, and ability stages.

I've been involved in CAP since Syclant, and have never quite managed to leave. I've watched CAP grow and develop for literally years now, and have had plenty of time to refine my understanding of CAP's principles as those principles themselves have evolved. A few projects ago, I made a deliberate decision to increase my involvement, and have remained an active participant ever since. It was through this increased involvement that I earned my badge. I did this both because it's more satisfying to help guide the creation process than to be a casual participant, and because I wanted to give something back to the project that has captured my attention for so long. I'm applying for the TLT for the same reasons.

Things I've done:
-I submitted movepools in the last two projects, as well as three earlier ones. The most recent submission, for Cawmodore, finished second in the polls.
-I joined the PRC after the creation of Aurumoth, when it was clear that several important discussions were about to happen. I have participated in PRC discussions ever since.
-I have been active in CAP playtests, and did well enough in the two most recent ones that I was permitted to give QC checks to the analyses. While I am not a top-tier player by any measure, I have the necessary metagame knowledge for a leadership role, and have been shoring up my knowledge on the OU ladder in anticipation of this CAP.
-I also contribute to the flavour side of CAP, for what that's worth. I think a ~1200-word post of Dex entry feedback reflects at least a level of commitment that's relevant here.

Finally, I've seen more than enough CAP leadership in action to know what I like and dislike. I'm a firm believer in the TL[T] as agents of quality control and discussion guidance, who should ensure that the community's will is reflected in the created Pokemon as much as the concept will allow. In other words, a TLT member must ensure to the best of his/her ability that all discussion is consistent with the competitive principles of both the CAP Project and the specific concept, but must also take every reasonable measure not to undermine, overpower, or neglect anyone's voice. This is not a measure of relative importance; both jobs are essential. In terms of dealing with the generational shift, and the urge to try new and exciting things, this means that I would always be willing to allow for that if it were clearly demonstrated to be good for the concept. I don't like to restrict our options without excellent reason, and would give a fair chance to controversial things like the Fairy type, as long as they were adequately supported. I do like transparent leadership, and would encourage anyone to approach me if they had any questions or concerns about how my section was being led.

 

[DetroitLolcat]

Hello everyone, DetroitLolcat here applying for TL only.

I've been a CAP participant since Colossoil, and have served on the PRC for five straight PR cycles now. I was the Stats Leader for Malaconda and Cawmodore as well. I've learned a lot about how to lead parts of a CAP during those two terms, and that experience in addition to the topics we've covered in the last PR cycle lead me to believe that I am ready to lead a CAP as TL. Speaking of the recent PR cycle, the Checks and Counters Discussion that concluded the cycle was very eye-opening. I was very busy during the tail end of that discussion and wasn't able to post, but if you'd like to hear my position on the issue here's a draft of the post I was going to make.

As Stats Leader the past two rounds, I've learned a lot about how to build slates and manage discussion. Although I vastly prefer large slates to small, Cawmodore's Stat Spread Submissions taught me that more is not always merrier. I love the new focus we have on respecting the conclusions of the Threats Discussion, and intend to be a little stricter on submissions that play fast and loose with the Threats Discussion. As a two-time TLT-er, I've enjoyed interacting with the TL to compare our visions of the project. As a TL, I bet I'll enjoy interacting with the TLT to direct this project. I consider many of the above applicants for the TLT good friends of mine, and I would be honored to work with them. Given my sleep schedule (hint: I don't have one), I don't think I'll be responsible for any delays in the project. Anyone who saw me open and close polls at 4:30 AM while leading Brattler can vouch for me. Fair warning, though, I will be out of town starting Sunday until mid-Tuesday (EST). I'll keep up with everything from my phone, but I might not be able to kick off Concept Submissions until Tuesday evening.

I'm not a prolific OU battler, but I enjoy playing and watching the OU metagame and I'm happy that the current OU metagame is much more enjoyable than those of the recent past. I've won a CAP playtest (Mollux) and fared well in Necturna's and Malaconda's. I've also written Aurumoth's analysis. Although I've yet to vote in a Gen 6 OU Suspect Test, I've voted in quite a few tests during the previous generation. Am I as good as PttP? No, but not many of us are. What I can promise is to keep up with the OU metagame and study it during my time as TL.

I have a CAP Contributor badge as well; I believe I'm the only person with an active (non-alumnus) CAP Contributor badge that isn't moderating this forum. I'm a regular on #cap on SynIRC, where I have ops. I consider myself very approachable; I'm always looking for conversations to have with people on that channel. I also love giving feedback and providing commentary. When I provide commentary, it isn't because I'm trying to "fix" others' submissions but rather to get people to think from different angles. All of us think differently, and I certainly expect to slate concepts and ideas that I disagree with if they're popular and well-reasoned.

In short, during my time in CAP I've done just about everything but serve as TL. I've written an analysis, won a playtest, led a prevo, and served on the TLT. I've enjoyed all of those, and I would love to keep working for you as Topic Leader for this CAP. I want to be the person to aid you all in building the best Pokemon we can build :)

#detroiTLolcat I've got TL right in the username!

 

[ginganinja]

hi, im ginganinja, posting a nom because id like to help out more with a CAP project and this is a good way to do so!

Hoping to apply for typing, stats, movepool, and abilities (in order of preference).

I lurked within cap for a while, casually watching the Voodoom CAP ---> onwards but only really began contributing towards the end of mollux/aurumoth when I began to playtest, these CAPs, and gradually got more involves in more recent CAP projects. I will be utterly honest and say that the flavour aspects of the CAP do not really appeal to me, I prefer to take part in discussion that look at the CAP in a competitive battling sense, rather than its pokedex entry or what its called. I'm fairly knowledgeable about the OU meta, (I think Pttp has loads more experience than me tho!) and a decent battler.

Anyway, I don't like making 1,000 word posts hyping myself up, so ill keep this short. Most people know who I am, like alexwolf im fairly involved with OU QC, I battle occasionally, I mod the OU forum (maybe thats not really endorsement with the way its looking at the moment...), im on irc pretty much all the time, and I don't mind chatting with people casually there. I think I would be glad to accept the role of TL if there isn't another user who would take the opportunity, or if people think I am the better candidate.

 

[Birkal]

All done! Expect our thread up momentarily.