The Help Force

Hello my children. This will be my last post of A De-Lice-ious story. Thank you all for reading, for your feedback and as I said in the first post: it is not my intention to offend or point out anyone. It is up to everyone to read, realize stuff and maybe improve their lives in some cases. But if you took the time to actually read all of the posts, I am thankful. It was my idea to do these posts to share my thoughts and relieve some burdens expressing them through this. I have also included some questions I have been asked so stick around to see them all.

Trusting others or trusting myself?

As I have said in the previous post, sometimes one falls in the middle of a conflict and has to intermediate in order to reach a solution. But what if one of the affected parts is your close friend? You wouldn’t want to lose their friendship. These and many other cases makes one be in the edge of the sword, because as a leader or a staff member one is supposed to take the correct decision not being biased, and in order that reaches a solution for both sides.

Many times, in many situations this was not possible. Not all conflicts had a solution that benefits both sides. Sometimes, one side had to be stripped from their staff roles and perms or even banned in worst case scenarios. Of course, they would come at you and say “I thought we were friends” or they would even talk behind your back. Even though we are leaders, we have to act serious and professional, we are still people. We still have emotions, we still get tired, we still feel sadness or happiness too. It’s true we have to lead an army and a community but that is not the only thing we do. Sometimes we feel stressed or even our real life activities are affected because of an issue or conflict that happens within the army.

“The Loneliest Job” taken by George Tames. Even if we were a team of admins taking the decisions, one still felt lonely after being affected by the consequences of it.

The weight of the world

I remember there were days that I had to wake up to more than 50+ discord notifications, sometimes I wondered if there was going to be a day where I would wake up and it would be all peaceful, no bad news, no conflicts, no issues at all. And actually, there were days like that but they didn’t last long. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

As I said in the previous post too, the feeling of losing someone close because of my ideals and thoughts became so common to me that I had become numb to it. But that didn’t mean it didn’t affect me anymore. There were plenty of moments that a decision that had to be made by the administration would affect the community itself, its ways or how things are done and many people would be discontent with it. But then again, all situations that will have an effect in the community that require a decision aren’t done lightly nor are done out of a whim of someone either. It is put into thought, all possible outcomes are foreseen and then the best decision with the best possible outcome is taken.

One of the events that I remember the most was when we were getting ready for the HF Exodus. Many people were content in staying in CPO, and in fact there were some friends of mine that decided to leave Help Force to stay in CPO because of the lies they had believed from CPO: that “any army that leaves CPO will meet its doom and their safety will be compromised if they join CPR”. This was a plan that had gathered us together again and was seen through and then the decisions were taken. It does feel sometimes as the whole world is against you, just because of the role or title you are holding.

A very serious Triads reunion regarding the HF Exodus. 2019. Colorized.
(Sorry but I can’t actually show you chats regarding it).

New faces, new challenges

As of now, I am no longer a leader. I am the Help Force Guardian, owning the server and lately titled “Grey Eminence”. Not having a direct decision in the army affairs but still having influence on the decisions taken towards it, all in best of the army. Or as how I’d say “The army comes first”. I have seen over 5 leaders while being the Guardian, been to and seen many events that made me say that Help Force is still the Best Force. Handled and tried to solve many dramas and secret situations that were not shown out to the public. There is a lot that happens behind the scenes that you may not even be aware of, but even so it is all done to the best interests of the community.

Having peace

You may disagree, you may think things are handled wrongly by the staff or leaders. And you may even be right. But sitting all day and just complain makes you look like those grandparents that just complain everything from their sofa chairs and no one wants to listen to you whining.

DO SOMETHING!!!

There were certain occasions that people were truly bothered by something that had happened, and even thought I knew the situation I didn’t have an issue in explaining what had happened to them. You can approach to me if you think your opinions will be swept under the rug by the staff or leadership. Even though I have to keep a close relation with the leadership, my interests have to be the best for the army. People usually come to me blaming me for what is going on in the army and I will keep saying the same thing: I am no longer the leader. I don’t take the decisions, I am here to give my advice and to foresee that the army itself doesn’t crumble down to pieces (something that I am currently not very worried about). Therefore, that brings me peace and confidence in what I am doing.

People know me for goofying around, but staff know when I’m being serious.

And after saying this part I want to conclude with this:

There’s no need to be a hero. You don’t have to force yourself just to make people acknowledge you. It will backfire negatively to you. Even if people don’t acknowledge, you just have to be someone that you can be proud of. After all, you are your biggest supporter.

And now, I have decided to include and reply to some questions I have been asked. Since some asked for anonymity, I gave everyone a random name too.

• ­Why do people call you The Lice? – StampEarner320

Well StampEarner320, because that is my nickname haha! My complete nickname is Elpiojo123, which is in Spanish and translated to English is “The Louse 123” but Lice had a better ring to it so I stick with “The Lice”. But people just call me Elp for short and I used to go full nickname back when I was leader too so, consider it as getting a haircut 😉

• What do you do outside of Help Force? – Curious Helper

I am known for hosting “Elp Adventures”, which is basically when I hop in VC and go shopping or to the bank, and finish with having ice cream and people tag along. Due to the pandemic and lockdown, I haven’t been able to go outside that much. I now focus more on College since the classes are all virtual and mostly on my church stuff too. I don’t practice any sports nor have any other hobbies than annoy the staff in discord. I do sing or karaoke for fun because I like doing that in VC also. I also love playing Teamfight Tactics, very addicted cause I love it. Maybe you’d meet my mom, people love her more than me sometimes.

• What other army would you be in if you weren’t in Help Force? – Arm Yhop Err

The other army I would have liked to be part of if I wasn’t in Help Force would have been Royals of CP, but back when Tiska was the leader. We were good friends and I actually spectated some of their events. They were cool people until the army closed. Besides that, I don’t really see myself in any other army.

• How do I improve my chances to become staff? – NotCpMaster

That is a very interesting question. First, you have to be part of the community. The leader(s) is the person that decided who stays and who joins their staff team. Staffs do have a say and an opinion too so the active you are in the army activities, the more chances you have of being recommended too.  If you see staff applications open, take a chance too! You never know. Make yourself known. If people don’t even know who you are then it is less likely to be picked for trial.  Also, sometimes staffs are picked because of the lack of staff in the time zone, so if you are in a time zone that there are staffs lacking then your chances can be greater. Also, don’t try to mini-mod all the time. Sometimes that seems rather annoying than helpful, because staff members are trained and taught how to do their job.

• How do you come up with Chaos? – ChaosLover112

Chaos isn’t planned. It just happens. If Chaos was planned, then I don’t think it would be chaos.

And for our last question of the post, let’s see… “when will elpyan wed-“

Elp tears apart the paper with the question and throws it in the fireplace.

Time to say goodbye

Well, this is the end my children. Thank you all for your support, your feedback, your crazy times and the moments we’ve lived. But sadly, not everything lasts forever. That is why we have to live every day to the fullest, because it will never repeat again. Enjoy your day! Don’t neglect your real life responsibilities either. But stay true to who you are.

And with this, I am officially announcing my retirement of certain duties I have in the army officializing it the last day of January. The transition period has already begun, but don’t worry because the chaos will still be around, because sometimes, we have to grow up already.Thank you everyone.

That’s all our time folks. Remember to take care, wash your hands, and thank you all for being part of this amazing community. It is thanks to you that Help Force is still the Best Force.

~ Elp, The Lice. Help Force Legend & Guardian

Filed under: Help Force CP