ALL MEMBER READ THIS

[Rumblebore]

The following is required reading for all members. It will probably be moved to members forus one day, but for now, this forum will do since so many claim to have problems registering, whether that is true or not.

SLoT is experiencing 2 major problems. Be sure you read this, because you will be held accountable to it whether you do or not. Tell others to come and read. The time has come to clarify things and to get all members on the same page.

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Expectations of all Guild Members

When you join a guild, the intent is meant to be a 2-way street. A guild is only as strong as its individual members make it by joining together to help each other. You gain resources of info, friends and people who can help you, a place to belong, and hopefully, camaraderie. The Guild gains what is hoped to be an asset to events and raids, greater strength and ability, new skills and a new partner in the game.

You will hopefully give of your time, effort, help and resources to help the guild and its membership grow in ability, strength and numbers, and to raid successfully. The guild gives you support, security, a place to grow and gain friends, and with support, a chance to gain Uber items unattainable by soloing.

We have 2 problems in this guild that will not go away. 1) A distinct lack of support for others and 2) unreasonable expectations.

1) Lack of Support.

We have several members in guild right now ready to leave because of the distinct lack of support evident in the guild. I can speak of one person in particular. Ever since he joined SLoT, he has consistently dropped what he was doing to help people with a wide variety of things: transfers, quests, epics, raids, groups, CR?s, etc. Yet in recent weeks, he has asked in guild chat for help in several things and received practically no help, even from those whom he has helped already. I have SEEN this happen.

This is intolerable and I cannot fault him for wanting to leave. He is a great asset to this guild and the membership is chasing him away by doing NOTHING to support him. My conversations with him show that only a handful of people respond to him consistently but they are not always online. And when he leaves, I know that several others will follow him, for the same reason. We will lose some great people because of the lack of support.

Let me also add that I know there are times when the number of requests for help seem to flood the guild chat. Depending on the situations involved, it can make you feel like you are being pulled several different directions. I hope to address that soon.

Also, the ability to help someone is always governed by several things: The type of request (CR, rez, quest, info, etc.) versus what any individual is doing at the time of the request, their level, their class and ability level, whether they can get to the zone in question (not all have all expansions available to them). Lets face it, we ALL want to level and to enjoy the game, and we all want better items, and we all want easy rezzes when we need them, etc. As individual players, that is the draw and attraction of EQ. BUT, when you join a guild, you ADD an extra component to your gameplay ? Helping others in exchange for their help. Do you want help with a quest to gain an item? Do you NEED help? The guild is there to help, so long as: 1) there are sufficient members of appropriate level and skill to help out at the time needed; 2) whether it is reasonable for guild members in other groups can leave without disrupting that groups gameplay, 3) the issue needs to be handled immediately or whether it can wait.

A request to help with an epic mob is an event that requires preplanning. A request for a CR and/or rez tends to be of a more immediate concern. A request to help with a quest generally can wait, but a few quests have timed issues and if someone helping does LD all of a sudden? . Some people can only be online for a short time, others for days. Etc. It doesn?t take a brain surgeon to figure out the urgency factor.

There is a consistent stream of requests going on as individuals pursue levels, items, mobs and sometimes each other in the game. [tounge.gif] Sorting through them all, choosing who to help and who not to can get hairy and, for those offering help, can deprive others of THEIR playtime for THEIR advancement of their characters. However, as a GUILD, each individual MUST accept that as being the payoff for being in the Guild.

Balance is needed and these things must be made to be understood.

Ok, here is the Guild stance on this issue: If you have joined this guild, you are now part of a bigger unit. Get ready to change your outlook or start considering if SLoT is the guild for you.

RAIDS: You are expected to help, WITHIN REASON, whenever a Guild event is called, like raids & planar raids take place. These will always be announced by Leadership and officers.

EPIC MOBS: If an epic piece is scheduled to be obtained, you are expected to assist IF YOUR CHARACTER is of sufficient level to participate and you can be online. If the request is made ?on the spur of the moment? then you as the requestor should be ready to have to wait a while for sufficient players to be made available. You should get a leader or officer to help coordinate this, since you are asking to draw on guild ?resources? ? manpower ? to help.

QUESTS: If someone has a quest and asks for help, you are expected to reasonably examine your current situation and determine if you can or cannot assist and TO MAKE IT KNOWN in guild chat. If you need to stay in the group you are in, say so. If you are going offline in 15 minutes due to your parents rules, say so. But, if you want help on your quests and epics, you have to be ready to move the time to a better time to make it happen. This does not require a leader or officer to coordinate. However, as the requestor, be reasonable about your request and the timing, and as one reading the request for help, really try to evaluate how you can help and when it will be possible to help, and announce it. NOW may not be a good time, but maybe 1 hour from now is better? You get the idea I hope.

There is a way to set up your UI to have more than one Chat screen and to dedicate things like Says, Tells, Guild, Group, etc to one screen, and to have the other for combat messages and other texts. This allows you to not miss guild chat and other messages as easily as leaving guild chat together with combat messages. If you need help, ask in game and someone will help you with it.

HARD LINE: Non-contributing members will be summarily dropped for non-contribution, but we will be reasonable about it. So long as reasonable explanations can be given, non-assisting is not a crime. But the leadership knows of several members who do not assist on a regular basis, yet do ask for help often enough to make them stand out. We will send a tell prior to removal. Leadership will be watching.

2) Unreasonable Expectations:

Each character class has its own strengths and weaknesses and special abilities. However, 5 classes tend to have expectations placed on them just for being that class. Those are: Druids and Wizards, Necromancers, and Clerics and Paladins. The first 2 are teleporters, with Druids being the most heavily sought after for transportation needs, Necromancers can Summon Corpses from hard to reach places and the latter 2 are Rezzers, with the Cleric being the most sought after. High level Necros can Rez, but it costs them XP to do so.

The intent of this section is to address what guild members can reasonably expect from these classes, and where the members own responsibility lies when transportation is needed, when a CR is needed in any zone and when a Rez is needed.

Sacred Legion of Tunare takes this stance.

* The creation of a character of any class places no expectations of required service whenever it is called for in the areas of Teleporting, Corpse Retrieval and Resurrections. No guild member has the right to EXPECT or DEMAND someone in guild perform these services on call. It IS reasonable to ask for it and see if anyone can help at the time of the request. Verant has put clocks on corpses to allow plenty of time to pass before you will lose out on the benefits of a Rez, so being patient is a great skill to develop. Teleports, CR?s and Rezzes are given as a courtesy, not as a requirement of membership. If no one is available, use /join taxi and pay for the port. If your character dies deep in Velks and the services of a Necromancer are therefore HIGHLY desired, use /who all NEC to see what Necros are online and send a tell requesting aid, offer to compensate for that players time. If a Rez is needed, be prepared to run to the bank and have funds on hand to pay for the rez if necessary. The main responsibility for your character and its status is your hands.

However, in a perfect guild, there will always be people ready to drop whatever they are doing and run to help.

We aren?t a perfect guild.

But it is encouraged among those specific classes to, whenever it is reasonable, help out with those specialized services. In this way, we can build better relationships and support each other. But to those requesting help, be prepared to find a way to get the service you need through the other channels available in this game if the service cannot be supplied at the time of the request.

That said, the recommended steps for these services are as follows. Rezzing: If you are grouped, see what your group can do. If solo or no rez is easily obtained locally, then ask in guild or by tell to the clerics/paladins online or to players whom you know have a cleric/paladin. BE PREPARED TO WAIT TO GET IT. If that doesn?t produce, be ready to use whatever other means in the game where you can get a rez. Most players have to pay for one every so often, so be ready to do it. Teleports: Ask around, in guild, in OOC, in Shout, In TAXI Channel, wherever. They are available, if you look hard enough. CR?s: Just ask if anyone is available now, or be ready to wait a little longer (hours) or log off and come back later to try and ask again. The rez clocks are based on the time you spend online, and not necessarily as your deceased character.

BOTTOM LINE: Being helpful and supportive is desired of all players. Being understanding and patient is desired of all players. Being demanding and crotchety because things are not happening the way you want when you want is not desired, especially where these services are involved.

Be prepared, be realistic, and deal with it as best you can.

I don?t know if this is in time to prevent the people from leaving who are ready to, but either the membership straightens up in these areas or we will cull the herd.

[Beythorn]

Well Said Rumble

Beythorn

[Bucephalus Philonous]

I am really happy to be a member of Sacred Legion of Tunare. My main is Bucephalus Philonous 47 paladin, and Panvaran 24 ranger as of this posting, I want to be available to anyone I can be of help to under the preceding guidelines. Just let me know.