With my experiences with Star Wars I have seen three different styles of training. The first is the traditional relationship between Knight and Padawan, the Knight trains the Padawan in all things Force-y. The second is the one shown in Jedi Academy, where one Master trains multiple Padawans (Kyle with Jaden and Rosh for example). The third is a variation of the first, which was alluded to in KotOR 2, where Revan trained with various Masters for specific techniques (offensive powers, sabers, healing, probably even diplomacy) but still retained her first Master as her own.

Now this entire discussion came about when I went with two of our guys into Sakura with Kyo, and… it didn’t go well. The guys didn’t have PvP-ready builds and not much in terms of tactics, not their faults, they should have been trained in such arts. With Legion’s structure of a council and then captains for operational (manned) crews, each sort of Jedi instruction could come in really well in teaching our guys how to fight.

The Captain
The Captain (and by extension, the First Mate’s) role in the crew is that of taking care of their crew. From clothes to combat training, that is what a captain should have to worry about. In addition to the more tangible responsibilities, when crew members get to a certain stage or if they request it, PvP and farming education should happen. The principles of builds, tactics, and combat should all be explained, and I’m not seeing it in our guys at the moment. This is the first step.

A captain shouldn’t just worry about skills, clothes and levels, they need to teach their members how to use them. The basics of advanced farming and PvP should be taught (not just shown) to the crew members, because the first time (after this reorg happens) that I see someone farming with MA… I will punt their captain… a lot. The same applies for PvP, if one of their guys is a decent level and knows jack shit about how to fight in PvP, their captain is going to have to answer “Why?”. A level of competency in all things is expected from crew members, and that’s the crew captain’s job.

This instruction can be achieved through crew meetings, and also with more general mentoring. How the captain achieves this is up to them and is of course highly dependent on the crew members themselves.

The Council
The Council members, in all honesty, are acting as substitute Captains at the moment. Outside of the occasional dispute or bit of diplomacy, that’s all they’re doing, and that’s not what they’re there for. Now I can’t say a lot at the moment, because people just haven’t been on lately. Everyone has been running around picking up everyone else’s slack for a while now. A reorg (or completion of our first one) is the first step in this. But the addition of master training to their list of duties is also of the utmost importance.

If Captain to Crew relationship was like that in JA then the Councilmen to Student relationship is that of Revan’s. When someone who has already achieved skill in a field (doesn’t just have to be one), they should be able to train with one of council. If this comes from the observation of a council member or captain, or from a request from the person, they should be able to receive advanced training in anything from Martial Arts or Coding to Leadership or Diplomacy.

For example, I’m one of Legion’s main Patchers (along with Skaald), if I see someone who is already pretty good at being a Patcher, is a great asset in a fight, and has a desire to learn more, I might approach them about some advanced training as a Patcher (or they may approach me about understanding the class more). They would work with me for a while until they know about as much about Patcher and how it operates in PvP as I know. The same sort of example would apply to teaching people how to work as leaders in combat or out.

The role of council member as a master instructor works well within our structure and just plain seems to work well. The captain’s job of teaching their members the ropes is only enhanced by this, as they can refer a particularly promising and eager student to a council member if their own expertise does not lie in that field (i.e. Patcher or Coder).

It looks like a triple-win… now all we need to do is implement it…