The State of The Funk - Rebirth
Posted: Mon Oct 11, 2010 5:06 pm
I am writing this tonight with deep thoughts as events transpired today that left me wondering what has happened to House Sole. I consider the hours invested in this guild by countless people for their own entertainment and took a step back and questioned to myself for the first time if this is worth it.
The reality, this is a game. To each their own how they approach it, what they do with it, how they act, and what they expect to gain from the hours they invest… As a guild, we came together on a handful of principles – brotherhood, honor, honesty, integrity, and purpose. For those that don’t know or don’t get it, there was a swagger and arrogance that came with those virtues. We set standards and expected our members to live up to the principles and goals that we had as a guild. These standards were set to make others wish they were on our team. Like any organization, these things become watered down in time, and personally, taking responsibility for it, it is a leadership issue as I failed to instill this attitude in our recruiting process as we grew and expanded. I continued to abbreviate and shortcut our uniqueness as I lessened my expectations of our members on entry. I further failed to empower and support the officers as they are extensions of this code. In the coming months, there will be changes as we refocus and reinvent ourselves with this foundation of brotherhood.
So, here we are on the eve of an expansion. From my perspective, a near-founding member of this guild left based on the reaction of several guildies in reaction to sticking to the principles that this guild was founded on. Granted, emotions were heightened at the time across the board and things blew up.
For those not involved, the jist is these things happened.
1.) A guild member made a fresh application with a second toon pretending to be more than one person. This façade continued through our forums and in-game until discovered by some officers who felt these events were inappropriate and one officer removed this individual to sort out the “mess.”
2.) Guildies were “in on it” and felt this was a joke and sarcastic as the player in question is a known RPer. However, those coming late to the party were offended and felt this was a mockery of our principles and ultimately actions unbecoming of a member of this guild.
3.) Further sentiments arose regarding a separation of the guild *again* over officers and 10m groups. A great deal of built-up animosity continues to fester towards players on both sides of this fence.
So where does that leave us…What’s done is done.
1.) Tardicus, this isn’t personal, but it isn’t going to work. I have been known in the past to make decisions swiftly to protect the integrity of the guild, and we didn’t get to this point by turning our backs on the principles of our founding. In life, you need to stand for something, and I have planted my flag. Intentional or not, this lie was perpetuated and at this point in time, a stance is necessary for the sake of the guild. This may not be popular, but I need to roll the dice and err on the side of conservatism based on the feedback of many of my officers regarding these events.
2.) Recruiting is closed until Cataclysm. There is enough to sort out that we need to circle our wagons at this time and re-evaluate what we are about and our focus moving into a new era of this game. This includes RL relationships. If people really want to be a part of the guild, they will hang out until the expansion and prove that they want to be a part of the guild. I will potentially create a forum group with limited access for non-guildies to participate in guild forums and contribute, proving their worth. This is not in stone and will be determined in the coming weeks. For now – doors are closed.
3.) Some of you that don’t agree, it’s your prerogative. However, the inmates are not going to run the asylum. I trust my officers to act responsibly. They have been selected as officers because of their understanding of the game and dedication to the guild, but more so because of their like-mindedness and beliefs in what makes this guild great. If you don’t agree, I hold no grudges if you decide to leave. In no way am I going to dictate how you entertain yourself, it is your game and your money. I won’t beg for you to come back and re-entry will be based on reapplication once recruiting re-opens at which point you will be evaluated by your peers. The exception to this is Zenara, whom I intend to reinvite as I feel his departure was in haste and a stance that opened my eyes to a bigger picture. Ultimately, those of us that built this guild refuse to have our entertainment impacted by people that do not share our values. If you leave, it is simply because we have different philosophies and that you want more freedom in your game and guild than what we provide. If this is elitist, so be it. It’s about time someone say it.
4.) We intend to champion the values of House Sole. We will be a mature guild, with honor and integrity. We will have fun and be tolerant of each other’s place in life. We will support and cheerlead the success of others, competitively rise to the occasion, and hold no personal grudges as individual and group accomplishments occur moving forward. Everything you do publicly and privately on Azgalor is representative of House Sole. To the membership, know your environment and your audience at all times. Harassment, spamming, abusive chat in public, guild, tells, and vent will not be tolerated. If there are issues, I will not hesitate to discipline and remove people.
Tldr – it’s a rebirth of House Sole. Brotherhood 1st, all else 2nd served as law.
The reality, this is a game. To each their own how they approach it, what they do with it, how they act, and what they expect to gain from the hours they invest… As a guild, we came together on a handful of principles – brotherhood, honor, honesty, integrity, and purpose. For those that don’t know or don’t get it, there was a swagger and arrogance that came with those virtues. We set standards and expected our members to live up to the principles and goals that we had as a guild. These standards were set to make others wish they were on our team. Like any organization, these things become watered down in time, and personally, taking responsibility for it, it is a leadership issue as I failed to instill this attitude in our recruiting process as we grew and expanded. I continued to abbreviate and shortcut our uniqueness as I lessened my expectations of our members on entry. I further failed to empower and support the officers as they are extensions of this code. In the coming months, there will be changes as we refocus and reinvent ourselves with this foundation of brotherhood.
So, here we are on the eve of an expansion. From my perspective, a near-founding member of this guild left based on the reaction of several guildies in reaction to sticking to the principles that this guild was founded on. Granted, emotions were heightened at the time across the board and things blew up.
For those not involved, the jist is these things happened.
1.) A guild member made a fresh application with a second toon pretending to be more than one person. This façade continued through our forums and in-game until discovered by some officers who felt these events were inappropriate and one officer removed this individual to sort out the “mess.”
2.) Guildies were “in on it” and felt this was a joke and sarcastic as the player in question is a known RPer. However, those coming late to the party were offended and felt this was a mockery of our principles and ultimately actions unbecoming of a member of this guild.
3.) Further sentiments arose regarding a separation of the guild *again* over officers and 10m groups. A great deal of built-up animosity continues to fester towards players on both sides of this fence.
So where does that leave us…What’s done is done.
1.) Tardicus, this isn’t personal, but it isn’t going to work. I have been known in the past to make decisions swiftly to protect the integrity of the guild, and we didn’t get to this point by turning our backs on the principles of our founding. In life, you need to stand for something, and I have planted my flag. Intentional or not, this lie was perpetuated and at this point in time, a stance is necessary for the sake of the guild. This may not be popular, but I need to roll the dice and err on the side of conservatism based on the feedback of many of my officers regarding these events.
2.) Recruiting is closed until Cataclysm. There is enough to sort out that we need to circle our wagons at this time and re-evaluate what we are about and our focus moving into a new era of this game. This includes RL relationships. If people really want to be a part of the guild, they will hang out until the expansion and prove that they want to be a part of the guild. I will potentially create a forum group with limited access for non-guildies to participate in guild forums and contribute, proving their worth. This is not in stone and will be determined in the coming weeks. For now – doors are closed.
3.) Some of you that don’t agree, it’s your prerogative. However, the inmates are not going to run the asylum. I trust my officers to act responsibly. They have been selected as officers because of their understanding of the game and dedication to the guild, but more so because of their like-mindedness and beliefs in what makes this guild great. If you don’t agree, I hold no grudges if you decide to leave. In no way am I going to dictate how you entertain yourself, it is your game and your money. I won’t beg for you to come back and re-entry will be based on reapplication once recruiting re-opens at which point you will be evaluated by your peers. The exception to this is Zenara, whom I intend to reinvite as I feel his departure was in haste and a stance that opened my eyes to a bigger picture. Ultimately, those of us that built this guild refuse to have our entertainment impacted by people that do not share our values. If you leave, it is simply because we have different philosophies and that you want more freedom in your game and guild than what we provide. If this is elitist, so be it. It’s about time someone say it.
4.) We intend to champion the values of House Sole. We will be a mature guild, with honor and integrity. We will have fun and be tolerant of each other’s place in life. We will support and cheerlead the success of others, competitively rise to the occasion, and hold no personal grudges as individual and group accomplishments occur moving forward. Everything you do publicly and privately on Azgalor is representative of House Sole. To the membership, know your environment and your audience at all times. Harassment, spamming, abusive chat in public, guild, tells, and vent will not be tolerated. If there are issues, I will not hesitate to discipline and remove people.
Tldr – it’s a rebirth of House Sole. Brotherhood 1st, all else 2nd served as law.