Post by Tirena on Feb 20, 2011 23:06:25 GMT 1
Winds of Change
As some of you might know, the Conclave has over the course of the last few days undergone some big changes. We have presented some of the features to a few members orally, but this piece of text will both serve as an overview of the changes as well as a reasoning for them. Our beloved guild has been under what we're calling a dry spell, almost since christmas, with much lower attendance and activity than what we're used to. In the officer group we've all agreed that some changes are necessary in order to address this matter. To many of us this guild almost resembles the bond between family at times and we will do all we can to make sure this bond lives on.
The Ironheart Conclave will change its face to the outside world by re-arranging our focus points. Not in the sense that we won't be an RP guild anymore. But instead of being represented as an RP-guild with optional PVE and PVP events, we'll be known as a community-guild offering in-depth RP experiences as well as serious and well-done PVE events in a relaxed environment. We have both people who are very passionate about roleplay as well as skilled and capable PVE'ers, that offer plenty of capability in this aspect of the game. In terms of roleplay our guild offers a great setting, both in regards to lore and story, but also in the quality that our players bring to the field of RP. In the last expansion we raided normal-mode raids with a passion and skill, rarely seen amongst roleplaying guilds and this has awakened a strong appetite for PVE content, resulting in that being a major interest point for many of our players. Yet our strong community is probably one of our best selling points as we're a bunch of open-minded, friendly and interesting people. We willingly welcome new players into our ranks, offering them the same great community as we ourselves discovered when we joined this guild. From personal experience, this guild has granted me both acknowledgement of myself as well as given me friends I'll never see myself part with. I know that there are other members who view our community with the same passion as myself.
Onto The Changes:
First of all, the guild will open up to more than just roleplayers, as we've already scratched at. We will be able to invite players who may be more interested in the PVE or community aspects of the guild. It is crucial to note however that any player we invite to the guild will need to respect the roleplaying rules of our server as well as write a short roleplay story of their character in their application. This ensures that we get the most dedicated players in the game to join our already strong, quality-based community, a way we'd like our community to stay. However, RP will not be a mandatory activity to attend once a player has been accepted into the guild. You could all see this as PVE and other activities being promoted to weight the same as RP already does, making all of these aspects something we pride ourselves on.
In connection with this the frequency and regularity of our RP meetings will also change. We're looking at decreasing the frequency from weekly meetings to perhaps having meetings every second week instead. This has several impacts on the event itself. It may well end up being longer, but also contain much more content from meeting to meeting. We're looking at meetings where members will have plenty of time to both listen to and interact with the officers on an in character basis, as well as being able to socialize with members in-between. Swear-ins and announcements will retain their place in the meetings as they always have, of course. Furthermore, the regularity of the meetings will change. Instead of always putting the meeting on a tuesday, we will shift between several weekdays, giving various members the possibility of attending, should they have real life events getting in the way of the chosen day.
Secondly, the structure of the guild will be changing. The new ranks have already been implemented as we speak. Seeing as roleplay and other aspects will start to weight the same in the guild, RP ranks will stop representing your out-of-character rank in the guild. There are various reasons for this. The way officers and their responsibilities will be represented is undergoing a drastic change. Instead of having the Luminary and Matriarch be the top tier of officership, running the guild with the assistant officers being the Templar, Battle Clerics and Confessors, the top tier will be represented by four leaders, all representing their own part of the guild. This ensures that each officer can better concentrate on his or her given field of expertise and therefore offer better service to our members. The four officer ranks will together be known as the Council:
The Guardian (Social Officer): The Guardian leads the social part of the guild. This person takes care of applications and new members, welcoming them into the guild and making sure they fit in. Apart from this the Guardian is responsible for all of the members feeling comfortable in the guild and this person will be the main ”go-to”-person should a member end up with questions or other socially-related issues. This person is also responsible for the website, making sure it's up and running as it is a social portal for the members to interact and gain information.
The Justicar (PVP/Disciplinary Officer): The Justicar is the person in charge of discipline and making sure everything is in order through inspection and mangement. This ranges from keeping order in the guild bank, inspecting people's gear before they venture into a dungeon/raid or upholding guild rules in problematic situations, for example. If a rule is broken and the situation can't be resolved easily, the Justicar will act as Judge in the given case, with the rest of the Council acting as the Jury. This person will also assist the Guardian in assessing new applications, giving those two the last word in such matters. The Justicar is also the overall class leader, giving advice to players should they have questions towards mechanics and/or talent specs. While one person can't know all about every class in the game this person will still know who to go to or where to go for such information. Finally, as an extra offer to the members, the Justicar is also responsible for potential PVP events, be they simply battlegrounds or arranged PVP events and thus members with such interests should talk to the Justicar.
The Librarian (RP Officer): The Librarian is in charge of roleplay in the guild. This person will be the one to organize RP events as well as assist roleplayers in the guild with arranging their own events and answering their questions. The Librarian is to assist new roleplayers in getting used to the act of roleplay, giving them useful tips and making sure they uphold the RP rules. The Librarian is also well-versed in the lore of the game. Last, but not least, the Librarian will take care of public RP relations, including collaborated events and the likes.
The Custodian (PVE Officer/Public face of the Conclave): The Custodian has two purposes. First of all the Custodian is in charge of organizing PVE events. This includes 5-man dungeon farming runs of various difficulties as well as raids and even old PVE content from prior expansions. Members who have questions in regards to PVE will have to go to the Custodian and also if they want to suggest various PVE content events. The second task of the Custodian is being the public face of the Council. While the new order of the Conclave has no actual leader, but is a group of equally rightful officers, the Council and also the Conclave itself needs a public face or representative. The Custodian is the one to speak on behalf of the Council to the members and also on behalf of the Conclave in public situations. While the Custodian's vote weights the same as that of the other officers, this person has the last say should the issue of a stalemate decisions appear in a Council decision or vote. This works like the King's or Queen's signature in some monarchies throughout Europe.
As stated above, these four people are known as the Council and will all be equal in power, so to speak. Every officer has the last say in regards to their respective field, but when decisions become guild-wide or an officer wants the opinion of the other officers, the Council takes the specific issue into a discussion or vote.
In time, when the guild prospers and grows active again, it's possible that each officer will need help in their respective fields. Therefore we introduce the rank of ’Delegate’. A delegate is a junior officer and will be chosen by a leading officer to help out in a specific field. While a delegate might not have as strong a voice as the members of the Council, they will still be a representative for their respective leading officer in such an officer's absence.
Regular members will all be the same rank from now on, yet the members that have participated in RP meetings and gotten their RP rank, will still retain their rank in the public notes. Of course, new members who participate in the meetings will also get a roleplay rank. This change is a way to keep the information more tidy. Every member will have one main character they play. This is the character that will have the rank of member, while their alt characters will have the alt rank. This goes for the officers as well, whose characters will be labeled as officer alts in the in-game roster.
The initiates stay the same, but ways that they can prove themselves and become full-fledged members are changing. Being an initiate is the same as being on trial in the guild, a period of time where they can prove themselves as well as decide whether we're the right place for them. We're introducing an actual trial period of two weeks. During this time the initiate must attend events (be they of RP, PVE, PVP or Social kind) and take an active part in the guild's community. When the officers then decide the member has proven him- or herself throughout those two weeks, he or she will be promoted to a full-fledged member. If they fail to do so, this guild is probably not for them. There may of course be special cases where an initiate shows dedication in other ways and will through that be promoted.
These are the changes we've decided to bring to the Ironheart Conclave and we hope everyone will welcome them with open arms and that activity will return soon. We're also more prepared than ever to accept new players in an even broader range. As to end the post I will announce the people who will take on the four officer ranks.
The Ironheart Council
The Guardian: Aèla / Liv
The Justicar: Randell / Gavin
The Librarian: Amarania / Dennis
The Custodian: Tirena / Niklas[/center]
May the winds of change bring favor to our great community. Thank you all for supporting us and we hope you will continue to do so. We owe a lot to our members after all.
- Best Regards and much love,
Tirena / Niklas on behalf of the council.