State of The Funk
Posted: Wed Jan 28, 2009 1:32 pm
Good Evening.
I feel compelled today to provide some information to you all regarding the current state of the guild. WotLK is now several weeks old and here we are settled into a routine and pulling everything together. We have our raid dialed in on Naxx and OS, beginning work on drake achievements and Malygos. 10m content and heroics are being run daily as well as old world achievement runs. Most are level 80, and working on alts and farming...all in all, business as usual.
There are a couple things that concern me. The first being guild size. Over the years we have grown to what I would now call a large guild. Up until recently, we have been able to grow our ranks and keep everyone happy and still hang onto what makes us House Sole. Of late, there has been some change in the feeling I get when I login as I see more and more new faces. There has been more complaining than usual - we have had people leave due to lack of raid time and differences of phiilosphies. Granted people come and go - but to a point, there needs to be an end. We have considerable depth in all areas and have people waiting to raid. Aside from another holy priest, ret paladin, and maybe a warlock we are all but set. I would shy away from recruiting anyone at this point as we are to all extents full on raid positions.
Therefore, I have updated the public welcome and application posts to reflect where we are at with current content and to include the following:
As veteran members of the guild, it is important that if there is someone you want in the guild - that you go to work to get them in. Your endorsement, the quality of their application, and the tone they take will be instrumental of their being invited or not. This guild has never turned away a casual RL friend and I don't see that practice stopping. However we are done accepting random applicants from the server public.
Second, is guild-chat and attitude toward your guildies. Guild chat has been full lately of what I would consider obscene and vulgar conversation and in some cases personal attacks. Now I am all for fun and banter. However there is a line that can't be crossed. Unfortunately, in most cases, this is in the eye of the beholder. If another guild member asks you to tone it down or take it to tells...do so. It shouldn't need to be said, but be respectful of your fellow guild members. We are all adults here (mostly) and if you aren't we treat you as one - its how we roll, we aren't babysitters. If an issue can't be worked out head to head and an officer needs to get involved, especially if there is public guild chat attacks, be prepared for consequences. My suggestion, log and take the rest of the night off - send me or an officer a PM or tell and let things work their course. If an officer asks you to tone it down and you fail to adhere to their looking out for the guild - be prepared for a demotion to the lowest rank and a potential guild kick if the officers feel it warranted. This would hold true for all parties involved. Play nice ! and don't act in haste. It is unrealistic with a guild of this size that everyone will get along 100% of the time. Agree to have differences and as long as you treat each other with respect, then we should all be fine. The last thing I want is for relationships to sour over petty crap and to have people either leave with hard feelings or be kicked because something can't be worked out.
Lastly, is ranking. Since I took over, I have tried to implement a ranking system that somehow defines someone's place in the guild - from the newest member to myself. I plan to redo them all and will annoucne soon what each rank will mean. It will be a defined and simplified system, eliminating some ranks that right now seem redundant. Stay tuned - but don't be surprised if things change. Unfortunately it is a manual process and it requires me to adjust each rank from the bottom up and each toon in turn. Regardless it is an area of concern that will be implemented soon.
In closing - Sorry for the patented Wall of Text. However, I felt it necessary to circle the wagons and hope you all understand the method to the madness and that we are preparing for the next round of raiding. More to come - stay funky!
"O"
I feel compelled today to provide some information to you all regarding the current state of the guild. WotLK is now several weeks old and here we are settled into a routine and pulling everything together. We have our raid dialed in on Naxx and OS, beginning work on drake achievements and Malygos. 10m content and heroics are being run daily as well as old world achievement runs. Most are level 80, and working on alts and farming...all in all, business as usual.
There are a couple things that concern me. The first being guild size. Over the years we have grown to what I would now call a large guild. Up until recently, we have been able to grow our ranks and keep everyone happy and still hang onto what makes us House Sole. Of late, there has been some change in the feeling I get when I login as I see more and more new faces. There has been more complaining than usual - we have had people leave due to lack of raid time and differences of phiilosphies. Granted people come and go - but to a point, there needs to be an end. We have considerable depth in all areas and have people waiting to raid. Aside from another holy priest, ret paladin, and maybe a warlock we are all but set. I would shy away from recruiting anyone at this point as we are to all extents full on raid positions.
Therefore, I have updated the public welcome and application posts to reflect where we are at with current content and to include the following:
At this time, invitations outside of an "open" position will not be considered unless there is an active Veteran guild member that is willing to endorse you. There must be a reason for that endorsment - i.e. a RL relationship or known through another game/guild. Just running a pug with someone once will not get you an endorsement. Your application must reflect your already existing guild relationship.
As veteran members of the guild, it is important that if there is someone you want in the guild - that you go to work to get them in. Your endorsement, the quality of their application, and the tone they take will be instrumental of their being invited or not. This guild has never turned away a casual RL friend and I don't see that practice stopping. However we are done accepting random applicants from the server public.
Second, is guild-chat and attitude toward your guildies. Guild chat has been full lately of what I would consider obscene and vulgar conversation and in some cases personal attacks. Now I am all for fun and banter. However there is a line that can't be crossed. Unfortunately, in most cases, this is in the eye of the beholder. If another guild member asks you to tone it down or take it to tells...do so. It shouldn't need to be said, but be respectful of your fellow guild members. We are all adults here (mostly) and if you aren't we treat you as one - its how we roll, we aren't babysitters. If an issue can't be worked out head to head and an officer needs to get involved, especially if there is public guild chat attacks, be prepared for consequences. My suggestion, log and take the rest of the night off - send me or an officer a PM or tell and let things work their course. If an officer asks you to tone it down and you fail to adhere to their looking out for the guild - be prepared for a demotion to the lowest rank and a potential guild kick if the officers feel it warranted. This would hold true for all parties involved. Play nice ! and don't act in haste. It is unrealistic with a guild of this size that everyone will get along 100% of the time. Agree to have differences and as long as you treat each other with respect, then we should all be fine. The last thing I want is for relationships to sour over petty crap and to have people either leave with hard feelings or be kicked because something can't be worked out.
Lastly, is ranking. Since I took over, I have tried to implement a ranking system that somehow defines someone's place in the guild - from the newest member to myself. I plan to redo them all and will annoucne soon what each rank will mean. It will be a defined and simplified system, eliminating some ranks that right now seem redundant. Stay tuned - but don't be surprised if things change. Unfortunately it is a manual process and it requires me to adjust each rank from the bottom up and each toon in turn. Regardless it is an area of concern that will be implemented soon.
In closing - Sorry for the patented Wall of Text. However, I felt it necessary to circle the wagons and hope you all understand the method to the madness and that we are preparing for the next round of raiding. More to come - stay funky!
"O"
