From November of 2012 to March 1st we had almost 1100 applicants for ShackTac. There were a lot of great ones, plenty of good ones, and in a perfect world, we’d be able to take on a whole hell of a lot of new people.

The world is not quite so perfect. We are still under the same limitations as before regarding Arma – the packetloss issues have not been fixed at large-playercount, and we’re still aiming to be a close-knit community based around a single server – and thus, the selection process has become extremely strict as a result.

Out of these 1100 applicants, roughly 100 made selection on the initial pass. From these, we’ll probably accept 40 or so of them into the group. This will be done in a split fashion – roughly twenty were sent e-mails just now, and they’ll participate in the March induction process. The other half will be determined at the end of this month, and they’ll receive information to allow them to participate in the April join batch. So, in short – if you didn’t receive an e-mail just now, it doesn’t mean that you won’t make it for the April batch, but don’t get your hopes too high yet.

After April’s batch of 20 or so, we will take May and June off, with the next cycle happening in July and consisting of applications received during March, April, May, and June.

I cannot say how many that may be – it’s hard to know what the future holds.

For those of you that applied and didn’t make it, best of luck in finding something that fits you going forward, and I’m sorry it couldn’t be with us. I must emphasize that not making it into ShackTac at this point is by no means a reflection on you as a person – we had to pass on many good applicants due to our current restrictions. If our join inquiries are any indication, there are plenty of quality people out there looking for a good Arma experience. Have a look around the Arma scene, see if there are any groups that you agree with. Make sure you keep in mind the guidelines I listed here regarding what to watch out for in groups. Some of you may have thought about starting new groups – while this isn’t a trivial thing to do, the time is ripe for it. There’s nothing stopping some motivated people with the right ideas, vision, and perseverance, from creating something special.

Whatever you choose to do, I hope you find enjoyment with it.

Due to current high-priority projects, there will not be a join cycle for February. I intend to do one for March, then likely every other month after that. If you have an application in with us, no need to re-send it – I’ll be picking from the November-onwards batch for the March joins.

Minimum age

Starting this year, I’ve established the age of 18 as the minimum age at which one can apply to Shack Tactical. I’ve done this in response to the simple reality that, while I do not contest that <18yr old members can be successful, it is more time-efficient for us to recruit players at that age and above. If you’re under 18 and are interested in the group – simply wait until you hit the right age and send in an application then. We’ve been around for over seven years at this point, after all – hopefully another seven are in the books as well. Thanks for your understanding in this matter.

Other news

As to the general join process for 2013 – I anticipate doing a join batch every other month, likely starting in February. I will post again when I do the next cycle or have additional news on this front.