About S.W.A.T.

The acronym S.W.A.T. stands for Spark Worldwide Ambassador Team. It is an organization dedicated to working behind-the-scenes to better the Spark game and Spark community, by way of our multi-purpose goal:

• To create and encourage the creation of additional content for the game of Spark (i.e. maps, patches, sites, etc.)

• To train players in Spark game tactics, to help increase the overall skill level of the Spark community as a whole.

• To train players in the traditions of Spark game etiquette, for the purpose of promoting courtesy and unity among the members of the Spark community.

• To assist in the creation and moderation of Spark leagues and tournaments, to foster a more competitive spirit among the Spark community.

• To advertise the game of Spark on other forums, websites, and other media, both virtual, and in real life.

History of S.W.A.T.

The history of the S.W.A.T. organization, up until the point of our recent launch as an official part of the Spark Network, has been pretty rocky. S.W.A.T. started out as an admittedly ill-conceived attempt to form a group called the Spark e-Police, who would be the resident 'Defenders of Truth and Justice!' and who would 'Defend Truth and Justice with an IRON FIST.' While it was mostly a joke at the very beginning, it caught on pretty strong in two ways.

The first was a group of Sparkers who excitedly accepted the idea, and wanted to help put it into practice right away. These players may very well be the reason that S.W.A.T. still exists today, as it wasn't originally meant to be a sustained effort, only somewhat of a practical joke. The second group, albeit somewhat smaller, was a disproportionately outspoken group of naysayers who tore into the idea of creating the 'Spark e-Police' as a juvenile attempt to become a 'Spark Hall Monitor' or something of the like. While most of the argument was not very serious, it sparked a discussion that led me to believe that this would indeed be an ideal worth pursuing, and on a decidedly larger scale than originally imagined.

So, without heed to the contrary shouts of the nemeses of the e-Police, we decided to push forward and develop the idea further. Due to the rather misleading name of 'e-Police', which infers moderation and administration, and also due to the suggestions of some Spark players, we decided to change the name to Spark Worldwide Ambassador Team, or when abbreviated, S.W.A.T. This new name, while maintaining the illusion of authority and coolness, and even bringing that up a notch (because S.W.A.T. are cooler than normal police), left less up to personal interpretation, because the acronym was predefined. We are ambassadors, trainers, content creators, and as always, the defenders of Truth and Justice, NOT a bunch of guys dressed in black, wearing helmets and holding automatic weapons, who execute highly-coordinated sting operations to steal your precious cocaine.

After a particularly nebulous time of stasis, which lasted for a few months, construction of the S.W.A.T. website commenced, thanks to a few notable development volunteers, and some freely offered webspace. Due to the disappearance of one of the chief developers for an extended period of time, the development was stalled for an indefinite period of time.

The creation of the Spark Network began in December 2008, starting with the re-imagining of Spark-Stuff and Spark-Realm. Spark-Clans and Spark-Faces followed in January 2009, and in February, the S.W.A.T. website finally began to be developed, developed to meet the requirements of the multi-purpose goal around which the Spark Worldwide Ambassador Team was formed. New content is still being developed and added to the S.W.A.T. website, and as time wears on, the ideals of the Spark Worldwide Ambassador Team are being realized in ways unprecedented at the time of its rocky conception. Long Live S.W.A.T.!

-posted by Reaper Charlie