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Mech games have had a well-established history on the PC but have tended to require a lot of effort to get into. Third Wave has decided that all the traditional fiddling with heat-sinks and jump jet settings is unnecessary and has stripped the old Mechwarrior concept down to the deep and dirty basics with War World.
9 feet high and rising
In the simplest terms, there really isn't a lot to War World at all. You're initially treated to some intricate back-story involving a planet (War World itself) splintered into various city-states, governed by the Gathering of Leaders whose inhabitants work out their frustrations by staging regular battles in the Arena Combat Network. Rather than send in actual people, the battles are fought using 3-metre tall robots controlled by the player's consciousness.
Of course very little of this actually matters, as upon starting the game you very quickly find that the background matters not one iota as there isn't even a story mode to play through. Within 30 seconds of opening up the first arena you realise this is a good old simple arena deathmatch game, along the lines of Unreal Tournament and Quake 3 Arena. The aim? Get through 100 levels of against-the-odds battling. So far, so generic.
The science bit
My first couple of hours with War World were a tad forced. The graphics are nice enough and the levels are well crafted but the game's just too darned fast for you to be able to appreciate any of this. Even though you're only facing two or three enemies at a time, it's easy to feel overwhelmed, even if the game does resort to using standard FPS controls.
What doesn't help matters is the lack of a tutorial. There's nothing too complex going on in the levels themselves, but before each round starts there's an equipment selection area. Without having had any training or build-up at this point, it's left up to you to decide whether miniguns will be a better choice than lasers, or whether you need to invest some cash into shields or mines. Luckily you soon find that you're able to restart and select different weapons should things go pear shaped, but it takes a fair old while before you find your ideal combination.
As I said earlier, fights are a simple "deathmatch" affair, with you being very much on your own. Unlike Unreal Tournament and Quake 3 though, here there's no in-fighting whatsoever. Everyone's out to get you and you alone. A typical round may last only a couple of minutes, with you having to clear the arena of up to 4 or 5 enemies at a time. Dropships will bring in new waves periodically on the longer missions, whereas other levels will simply have one seriously tooled-up mech to defeat.
The weapons choices you made earlier will pay off here, as some guns will hold more ammunition/power than others. If you do run out of ammo mid-match, there are caches dotted around so a quick blast of your shield (which only works for a limited amount of time and prevents you from using weapons) will usually see you right whilst you locate your nearest supply point. Health is catered for by killing other mechs, where you'll have to be sure that you pick up the energy supply they drop as they explode. A victory on the battlefield will take you out to the equipment selection area with a reward of 3,000 credits. As you can swap existing weapons and recoup their original asking price, it doesn't take long before you can truly find your killer combo of lasers, miniguns, mines, rockets and shield.
Ooooh, shiney!
I touched upon the graphics previously but I think it's worthwhile pressing that they are very lovely indeed. The levels move from future industrial through desert via jungle ruins (looking very reminiscent of Thai temples) and because the arenas have been kept very small, the game moves at a cracking pace even with a relatively modest system. My system's only a reasonably middling one in gaming terms and I still had the ability to throw on a good couple of levels of anti-aliasing whilst keeping the framerate well over 60FPS.
Unlike the graphics, the sound could only honestly be described as functional. Everything sounds fine and the positioning on a 5.1 system is good, but there's nothing that lifts it above the crowd. Maybe it's because I've been spoilt by the likes of FEAR recently, but I couldn't help thinking it was an area that could still take a little work.
Old-timers apply here
Now you'd be forgiven for thinking that nothing mentioned above seems to ensure War World stands out, but it's at this point that I'd ask anyone over 35 to pay attention: War World may appear to be a Q3A or UT clone, but in actuality it's nothing more than Robotron or Smash TV in 3d. Some would think this isn't an important statement, but as someone who's piled hundreds of hours into the likes of Geometry Wars (the retro blast-em-up featured as an Easter egg in Project Gotham Racing 2). Mutant Storm and Llamatron (Jeff Minter's seminal take on the Williams game Robotron) I feel it's a deeply significant point, especially as it's actually just as satisfying to pile a bit of spare time into.
If you're looking for a new conquest after finishing FEAR or Call of Duty 2 then you'll probably not find much in War World. If, however, you're an old-school arcade fan and can manage a first-person shooter without much trouble, then I'd say War World is pretty much a must-have.
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4 Ways to Overcome Leadership Challenges and Build a Strong Direct Sales Team
Online Ways
As a direct sales company owner, team leader or direct sales
manager, there are many leadership challenges you will need to overcome
to build a successful direct sales business. While these include topics
such as recruiting, training, marketing, recognizing your team,
prospecting, and a variety of others; this article will provide
strategies to assist you with successful direct sales team building.
# 1 - Leadership Challenge: Analyze Team Behavior Traits.
The results you gain through adequately supporting your team (advice, training, and goal setting) highly depends upon the individual's behavioral style. Does your team member prefer sales strategies to be broken down systematically? Alternatively, would your team member prefer to create steps herself to accomplish a team goal? Does she thrive by jumping in and figuring it out as she goes? Is she bogged down by details? Does your team as a whole lean into the strengths of each member? These are the questions to ask to ensure that your support strategy compliments your support recipients.
# 2 - Leadership Challenge: Prevent Your Team from Running Hot and Cold.
Some team members expend all their energy in bursts, followed by none of their energy in bursts. This is a common and vicious cycle, as the energy crash can negatively affect sales bookings, home parties scheduled, and recruiting results, and ultimately lead to personal discouragement. As a team leader, you can better support your team by creating a higher level of consistency in your team's daily, weekly and monthly direct sales routines. Coach your team to be self paced and to recognize and create consistency.
# 3 - Leadership Challenge: Keep the Ball Moving Forward.
After holiday home parties and New Year's resolutions begin to fade, your recruits may do the same. Team motivation is one of the most important leadership challenges that each direct sales leader will address. As a strong leader, we must be proactive to keep our team engaged and to encourage them to not only meet, but to also exceed their sales goals. Remember to frequently remind your team to check in with their "WHY." Why are they doing this? Why are they in this business? Why are they connected to their team? Lastly, keep the business fresh and fun. Humor reduces stress.
# 4 - Leadership Challenge: Bingo! Running Effective Team Meetings and Retreats.
Do your team members often leave your team meetings or team conference calls motivated only to become quickly deflated later? Does your direct sales team go home sounding charged up, but post-meeting produce little to no change? What went wrong?
Ultimately, this is a case of goals being too distant and not concrete. The actions were not defined and specific. The problem with a lack of concrete ideas is that it leads to disengaged team members.
Alternatively, is it also possible that you are saying the same message over and over and having a numbing effect?
The team might begin to play what I call, "meeting bingo" based upon what the leader says repeatedly at every meeting. This is not very different from the drinking games played at political speeches, where audience members take a shot or sip when a buzzword is repeated. Similarly, what we get with the repetition of empty buzzwords untethered to a measurable action step is a short-term shot of feeling good and nothing but a hangover the next day!
There is a big difference between saying "increase home party bookings", "increase sales to meet your monthly goals or to advance in the compensation plan", and a statement with measurable action and meaning such as, "meet a quarterly goal of 10 new home party bookings and become a Team Leader by April 30th." As you recite motivating objectives for each meeting, be sure to include a monthly or weekly plan to break down that goal into manageable bites.
By proactively preparing for and overcoming these direct sales leadership challenges. You are on your way to building a successful sales team and to growing your home party business!
The results you gain through adequately supporting your team (advice, training, and goal setting) highly depends upon the individual's behavioral style. Does your team member prefer sales strategies to be broken down systematically? Alternatively, would your team member prefer to create steps herself to accomplish a team goal? Does she thrive by jumping in and figuring it out as she goes? Is she bogged down by details? Does your team as a whole lean into the strengths of each member? These are the questions to ask to ensure that your support strategy compliments your support recipients.
# 2 - Leadership Challenge: Prevent Your Team from Running Hot and Cold.
Some team members expend all their energy in bursts, followed by none of their energy in bursts. This is a common and vicious cycle, as the energy crash can negatively affect sales bookings, home parties scheduled, and recruiting results, and ultimately lead to personal discouragement. As a team leader, you can better support your team by creating a higher level of consistency in your team's daily, weekly and monthly direct sales routines. Coach your team to be self paced and to recognize and create consistency.
# 3 - Leadership Challenge: Keep the Ball Moving Forward.
After holiday home parties and New Year's resolutions begin to fade, your recruits may do the same. Team motivation is one of the most important leadership challenges that each direct sales leader will address. As a strong leader, we must be proactive to keep our team engaged and to encourage them to not only meet, but to also exceed their sales goals. Remember to frequently remind your team to check in with their "WHY." Why are they doing this? Why are they in this business? Why are they connected to their team? Lastly, keep the business fresh and fun. Humor reduces stress.
# 4 - Leadership Challenge: Bingo! Running Effective Team Meetings and Retreats.
Do your team members often leave your team meetings or team conference calls motivated only to become quickly deflated later? Does your direct sales team go home sounding charged up, but post-meeting produce little to no change? What went wrong?
Ultimately, this is a case of goals being too distant and not concrete. The actions were not defined and specific. The problem with a lack of concrete ideas is that it leads to disengaged team members.
Alternatively, is it also possible that you are saying the same message over and over and having a numbing effect?
The team might begin to play what I call, "meeting bingo" based upon what the leader says repeatedly at every meeting. This is not very different from the drinking games played at political speeches, where audience members take a shot or sip when a buzzword is repeated. Similarly, what we get with the repetition of empty buzzwords untethered to a measurable action step is a short-term shot of feeling good and nothing but a hangover the next day!
There is a big difference between saying "increase home party bookings", "increase sales to meet your monthly goals or to advance in the compensation plan", and a statement with measurable action and meaning such as, "meet a quarterly goal of 10 new home party bookings and become a Team Leader by April 30th." As you recite motivating objectives for each meeting, be sure to include a monthly or weekly plan to break down that goal into manageable bites.
By proactively preparing for and overcoming these direct sales leadership challenges. You are on your way to building a successful sales team and to growing your home party business!
© 2014 All Rights Reserved. Barb Girson Original Work
Barb Girson, International Direct Selling Industry expert, trainer and coach, is a highly interactive, creative speaker and author offering professional skill development programs for workshops, leader retreats, annual conventions and teleclass sales training programs. To contact Barb, sign up for her FREE sales training teleclass and get her Sales Strategies Ezine go to http://www.MySalesTactics.com.
Article Source:
http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Barb_Girson Barb Girson, International Direct Selling Industry expert, trainer and coach, is a highly interactive, creative speaker and author offering professional skill development programs for workshops, leader retreats, annual conventions and teleclass sales training programs. To contact Barb, sign up for her FREE sales training teleclass and get her Sales Strategies Ezine go to http://www.MySalesTactics.com.
By Barb Girson