As Andromeda has aged (say since December 2009), it became clear that there was no room for "middle" alliances. There were the top ones like Dynamic, Chaos, etc... There were the small ones whose names I don't know. And then there were the middle ones. The alliances my son likes to refer to as "targets" for the top alliances.

So in December, HoI had an identity crisis. We either had to start limiting ourselves to higher ranked players (HoI has always had an open-door policy), or be targets.

While our new identity sort-of sprung up on its own rather than being planned, HoI seems to have developed a new working strategy.

While I can't explain why or how, HoI has become quite talented at raising our less experienced members very quickly. We still have a share of noobs that join and then go inactive. We also have some highly ranked players who keep to themselves most of the time.

But we seem to have developed a wonderful organization for sharing resources, mentoring new players, raising our average player's points, etc... The noobs who join and are active, seem to have a dramatic drop in their fleet crashes, get raided less often, have their ranks steadily climb, and, I think, generally have more fun.

So, while I can't say I understand how it all works, HoI wants new players who want to learn, to teach, to play, and to enjoy.