New Guild Policies(All Members Read ASAP)

As of 1/12/2014, the guild will be undergoing changes in the rules and guild recruitment and membership policies, some of these, are effective Immediately, Others will be effective SOON, We will be actively encouraging members to log onto the forums to read this post, However you should all be doing so anyway, Ignorance to this post is not an excuse.

New Recruitment Policies(Effective Immediately)

1) Character MUST be at least 1k


2) Character MUST be available to have his/her journal checked by a guild admin BEFORE they're admitted.


3) Player MUST register to the guild forums WITHIN a week of joining otherwise they will be removed regardless of in-game activity.


4) Player MUST register to the forums WITH their character name for record purposes(Slight variations will be acceptable)


5) Player MUST make a legible and appropriate introduction in their in-game application followed up with the usual K.O.A. at the end of their app.

New Inactivity Policies(Effective on 1/19/2014)
Members MUST be active within a 7 day period or will be removed from the guild for inactivity, this does not just mean log on once in 7 days, we have guild admins and senior members that watch the chat frequently, non-sociable or silent members that do not contribute at all to the guild(Be it in a social manner or not) will be removed as well. Members must at least post/contribute to the forums in some way once every 14 days or will be removed from the guild, there will be NO exceptions to any of the above unless you post in the inactivity area and receive the okay for an extended notice of leave. IF you are kicked for inactivity, and get mail confirming you were kicked for inactivity this does not mean you are not allowed to rejoin, in fact as long as you were a member in good standing when you were kicked, you are free to join again as much as you like, as long as you adhere to the above recruitment policies.

More to Come~

THE QUEEN IS ON A ROLL 8D

So over christmas break, a ton of things happened, including my computer being broken for two or three weeks. In cases like that, I would just rejoin, correct? Except that I'm super n00b and still get daily rebirths. Will I be able to rejoin even if I'm a noob if my computer breaks again?

If you post in the inactivity area then you are exempted from the inactivity rule as long as you provide an estimated time away, also if it ends up being longer than your estimated time you need to make sure to keep us updated.

Also with the level thing, if you were a previous member, were in good standing, and talked in chat(Which you do) we would probably exempt you from the 1k rule because the good factors would outweigh the bad.

Woah these are some changes, ill help out in game as soon as i get back to my daily schedule. Just got back a few days ago but was sick.

Be sure to take care of yourself first, also how was your trip?

/invades out of curiosity

Why the sudden change? : P

Also, as an idea that I've seen being applied elsewhere, if it's mandated that new members register for the guild forums within the week, why not have them apply through the forums instead? It gets that out of the way before they even join, and I would think it's easier to consolidate any information that you'd like the applicant(s) to provide as a solid record that stays around for as long as the forums do. I've seen forums where there's a section specifically for applications followed with a thread for all the rules, requirements, and the information wanted. Granted that it may discourage some, it does have its own way of filtering out members who are not giving serious thought to the guild they wish to join.

Just a tiny suggestion which you probably already considered anyway. .. :'D

POSTING HERE EVERY 2 WEEKS?!?!

That's hard :c

Stry please. That's easy for you. Instead of begging for money in game, come make a post everyday begging for money.

 .....OK.

Great..... and if you are posting at the same time as another member....your post is lost
 
Anyways to reiterate what I said, cluttering the forums full of pointless topics does only that. Anything important get's lost in the randomness defeating the purpose of full disclosure and communication.

I am, however for the temporary change in level requirements as it helps balance the experience level within the guild.

Mai 2 cents

While the initial idea is to get higher level people in the guild so more guild runs and help is readily available, the new rules and policies are to keep those who actually wish to socialize and communicate as a guild in the guild and remove those that just join for specific benefits, this will also hopefully get more members to join that wish to do guild events, as I will not be hosting anymore events with just 4-6 participants, in addition keeping the guild list clean of inactives will discourage new members from falling into the same habits, forum activity is part of guild comunication and that is why it is now required.

New incentives for assisting the guild in various ways will also be added this month, as well as guild position seats. These incentives will hopefully motivate the memberbase to recruit / participate in guild as much as the stone does, and should make up for our stone's remote location.

Well, in regards to my comments

I have directed many here

and they have found it confusing and difficult just to create a profile, hence they will not use it because it is too confusing. Having a forum take precedence over a guild chat is ridiculous imho, especially considering that not all computer users are created equally when it comes to tech savvy.

I think this is an interesting rule change, I can't wait to see how it works out and how long it takes for the number of guildies to dwindle.... But I'm also happy that most of the nubs that are already in the guild are getting grandfathered in, cause it would suck to be back out on my ass because I'm not quite up to par... (I'd probably go hunt for another one *cough*elvencrusade*cough* though... jk maybe)

I don't think her aim was to make the forums more important, but to promote activity on both the chat and forums. I do agree though, that if the forums were seen as more important, I'd begin to wonder why...While guild chat is a little less of an issue, the forums do seem to be lacking a fair bit in terms of activity, although I can see why.

Based on what I saw before and after I applied, (and correct me if I'm wrong), guests don't see anything related to Archanea's (or any) forums because of how the forums came to host the alliance's guilds as well. Since such was the case, it was decided that before a guest/applicant saw anything, their permissions to see anything whatsoever had to be run though an admin. I also found it rather confusing when I first applied here, but I'm not sure what it's like now that it no longer supports the alliance. It took me a while to figure out that clicking the "Home" button was the way to go. ... I'm that slow. e.o

If we do end up implementing forum applications/using the forums to promote the guild, I would think that there would need to be some permission changes. While the entire forum does not need to be public, as a former applicant who actually did look for these things, I'd have like to been able to see things like News/Announcements and maybe something fun about the guild, such as Jay's Event Corner. A public area for applications would also be useful if it was decided that people should also submit an app here. 

A suggestion regarding activities, I wanted to suggest guild events because they're things that people can post and talk about on the forums (sort of like a scrapbook kind of idea), but if those don't work out well, then it is what it is.

I was also thinking that another possibility would be to occasionally hold guild meetings. Back when I was in Imagination, we had weekly guild meetings that brought most of the guild together, and we'd launch the event right when it ended, so that since everyone was already together, it was easier just to carry everyone over to the event. I personally don't see the need to have it weekly, but I would think that having it ~once per month would still be beneficial so that 1. Any administrative changes and updates that wish to be shared can be done so during this time,  2. It's one helluva good excuse to bring people together (and it's a lot easier to mandate than attempting to mandate attendance to a guild event), 3. Both new and older members can get to be acquainted with others in the guild that they might not have met before, 4. The KoA award ceremonies (I've still yet to see one, but since they're supposedly a big deal) could also take place at this time, and 5. Any discussion of ideas towards the guild that people would like to voice to everyone may also take place. Relating to this idea, back in Imagination, we also had a Secretary role that took down all the important points of the meeting and plopped it into the forums, reiterating and opening the events and discussions that took place at the meeting to those that could not make it.

I personally believe that if we really wanted to increase forum activity, we'd have to do so through more variations in guild activities. By having more things to talk about, both guild-related and not, it's easier to contribute more meaningful posts, as well as give reason for people to actually want to come back here. Another thing we had was a section for music/art/etc., where people could comment on others' artistic contributions. Iirc, we have a music one here, but I didn't really see one for anything else. I remember a couple years ago, Pamina used to draw these hilarious pictures and post them on our forums - they pretty much became the central topic for a loooong while ... :'D /nostalgic.

... I don't really know what I'm saying anymore ... but yeah. /stops typing now. : D

The aim is as Shiro said to make the forums more important, this is because nexon provides very little in the way of communication as far as notices and announcements go, and guild admins/senior members shouldn't have to hound people every 5 minutes.

Guests can see the portal and it's sub-pages, those are down right now unfortunately as I'm redoing them at the moment, however the main page of the portal displays everything in the news/announcements section even to guests. That said a Policies/Rules Sub Page, Our MML Lib Sub Page, and Awards/Monthly Achievements Sub Page will be back up soon, Along with the Main portal page. As for the Alliance thing, that whole bit fell through so yea their groups were removed.

If we do implement required applications on the forums before admitting members, all of that will be made public to guests, it is DEFINITELY an option in the near future if our current policies are not enough.

Shirogane wrote:

I was also thinking that another possibility would be to occasionally hold guild meetings. Back when I was in Imagination, we had weekly guild meetings that brought most of the guild together, and we'd launch the event right when it ended, so that since everyone was already together, it was easier just to carry everyone over to the event. I personally don't see the need to have it weekly, but I would think that having it ~once per month would still be beneficial so that 1. Any administrative changes and updates that wish to be shared can be done so during this time,  2. It's one helluva good excuse to bring people together (and it's a lot easier to mandate than attempting to mandate attendance to a guild event), 3. Both new and older members can get to be acquainted with others in the guild that they might not have met before, 4. The KoA award ceremonies (I've still yet to see one, but since they're supposedly a big deal) could also take place at this time, and 5. Any discussion of ideas towards the guild that people would like to voice to everyone may also take place. Relating to this idea, back in Imagination, we also had a Secretary role that took down all the important points of the meeting and plopped it into the forums, reiterating and opening the events and discussions that took place at the meeting to those that could not make it.

^This, would be an amazing thing to do, problem is what events would be done, and getting people to actually attend, possibly when we get more members and if I get more help organizing it we could do this.

The general media section is currently for everything, however I did plan to re-seperate it when I got time into their own individual sections.

Overall alot of this will probably actually be happening, but this is a January project, I plan to be done by the end of the month if not sooner, kinda working it in in-between my work schedule. In addition I plan to repair the portal media player.

Idenn wrote:

If we do implement required applications on the forums before admitting members

If I recall correctly, did we not have this implemented in Jul-Aug and had it removed because the number of applications we received fell off a cliff?

Yea, pretty sure it was a pretty high cliff too. Come to think of it your right lol, I had actually forgotten about that, thanks for the reminder.

Idenn wrote:

guild admins/senior members shouldn't have to hound people every 5 minutes

That's why there's a role for that? 8D I remember seeing its own position for it in that post where all the management positions were listed ... just can't find that post atm. Besides that, there could be incentive in the form of that Archanea Points system you currently have. I know it was reserved for the .. commission board? (Sorry, I forget its name), but it could be extended such that each forum post contributes a small amount (eg. 1~2? a number small enough that can accumulate well over a couple months, but if anyone tried to spam for the points, it'd be easily noticeable). I really don't think that admins should spend half their time reminding people that the forums exist; for the coming future, I could see it because of the new activity rule, but past that, it's the responsibility of people to check it themselves, as the original post pretty much already states.

Idenn wrote:

what events would be done

Oh look, a good discussion question for our next guild meeting! 8D
Depending on the event, it could go one of two ways: if it's a gathering event, meetings could be either used to kick off and/or announce winners of a previous event. Events that I've heard some guildies take interest in include PvP tournaments and raids. There was also that dungeon relay event that was postponed iirc, so that pretty much covers the idea for this/next month if you still intend to do it. One "event" I rather enjoyed back in Imagination was a sort of trek throughout Iria. It simulated a camping trip where as a guild, we'd "sightsee" areas that weren't usually visited and just enjoy everyone's company.

Idenn wrote:

getting people to actually attend

Hence, mandating guild meeting attendance. For those that can't make it to the main meeting, a sub-meeting could be held, mandatory only for those who could not make it to the main one. I would think that one meeting a month isn't a difficult thing to fit into one's schedule, and we could all attempt to agree on a time when most people are on. If members still cannot attend the sub-meeting, they could possibly check in with an admin for a briefing/attendance, and failure to attend some 3 or more main/sub meetings could eventually result in a kick.

Yuukiatsu wrote:

If I recall correctly, did we not have this implemented in Jul-Aug and had it removed because the number of applications we received fell off a cliff?

I think this application process also affects what kind of members we'd get in the process. Many people look for what's convenient just so they can easily get in, but those who are willing to undergo such a process are generally already acquainted with someone in the guild, or would be more likely to actually keep up with rules and activity req's. Forum applications are generally used to discourage the lazy people from applying, so it's natural that the applicant count would lower in turn. If the primary goal at this time is to recruit new members, then yes, I'd see that imposing forum activity on an applicant would make this goal a lot more difficult. However, if expanding the guild member count is not as important, developing a guild that is closer-knit would also benefit from this method. Personally, I feel that a good guild continues to develop themselves and each other collectively, as happier guild members will naturally become more inclined to promote and recruit for the guild if there are better things to say about it. Member count stops mattering after a certain point if everyone in the guild feels comfortable, can find something to do with other members, and are generally happy with what the guild has to offer.

Shiirogane wrote:

I think this application process also affects what kind of members we'd get in the process.

Am pretty sure we had that removed because in the span of two months we got all of about four guildies

Well one of the monthly achievements that one person per month can win will literally be for "Most Recruited Members" that month so it's possible forum applications would work, however I'm about half and half on it, aside from that shiro's last post about the meetings seems entirely do-able when put like that.

Just a brief explanation of what the Monthly Achievements are : They're pretty much Awards that only ONE person per month can win, there are however multiple awards to shoot for. These awards don't have GREAT prizes but they'll be in the Moderate Range(In other words affordable xD) and all awards are related to improving the guild in some way.

Role system is being reworked that is why it's down, few things I disliked about my previous setup. However that is certainly an option.

It is true having a meeting doesn't mandate an event and the first few could be used to start setting things up for future events, Will probably give this a try at the first opportunity.

Overall all good ideas, keep them coming, feedback is precisely what will help this transition go along much smoother, I've already been able to simplify alot of what I've wanted to do with what everyone's said so far.

Can probably do two meetings per month, one on the first week and one on the last week of the month, that way they'd work as an opening month meeting and a month closing meeting respectively. Can even probably add these to the guild calendar on the forums each month.

Idenn wrote:

Well one of the monthly achievements that one person per month can win will literally be for "Most Recruited Members" that month...

If we're actively recruiting, I'm wondering if we should also consider putting up parties & posting on Nexon forums. It's something I haven't seen us really do; Ly did tell me why it wasn't done in the past, but I just wanted to throw the idea out there anyway, depending on how we wanted to go about the whole recruitment thing. I could see the monthly award helping us pilot for more recruits in the coming months, but I don't know if it's something that has to consistently be an award for as long as the guild is up unless the goal was to drastically increase member count.

On a slightly unrelated note towards recruitment, if we're looking for higher leveled players, I think something we should also be working on would be to "provide more guild benefits" by offering guild life skill services, since that's something that 2k+ people tend to look for in a guild. I feel that we're a bit short on that now, but maybe we could associate a gathering event every other month or so dedicated to helping someone in the guild reach one of those 2nd-tiered r1 life skill such as enchant, tailoring, blacksmithing, magic craft, engineering, etc.

The person who is being helped would have to fulfill a couple requirements before being eligible to "host" the event, such as having been in the guild for a minimum of 2 months (as an example, possibly more though I don't think less would do us any good), already have the skill at least r9 (so that we know that they've been actively working on it at some point instead of just being downright lazy), must agree to post updates at least weekly/when the skill is ranked, must actively be working on it themselves, and must keep track of all materials received & from who (eg. screenshots of trades). I would also think that the host should also agree not to charge guild members after they've been helped (or at least, those who've given a fair contribution) since this is supposed to be a guild effort. If inadequate effort or information is provided on the host's part, the event can be cancelled at any point by a leader. Prizes should either be sponsored by the host themselves, or, if Idenn agrees, a small portion of the guild's budget may also be put towards the prize.

Idenn wrote:

These awards don't have GREAT prizes but they'll be in the Moderate Range(In other words affordable xD) and all awards are related to improving the guild in some way.

Really like this idea. On the topic of prizes, I'm wondering if maybe we should place a heavier stress on accepting guild donations, both in gold and items to help fund these awards, and possibly have monthly goals on how much we'd like to raise. Of course, such a thing wouldn't be mandatory, but as a collective effort, visibly higher donations would hopefully yield better prizes instead of having to give out NX every time just to get people interested.

Idenn wrote:

Role system is being reworked that is why it's down, few things I disliked about my previous setup. However that is certainly an option.

Was the issue having too many/few positions? If it was too many, then feel free to ignore what I'm about to say. xD
I forget the exact positions you had listed, so I'm sorry if I sound redundant, but here are a few suggestions if you're interested:

- Recruitment/ Public Relations officer/committee; apart from leader & officer, this could be the person/group that is responsible for inquiries regarding the guild, conducting/supporting interviews, assisting in the decision of whether an applicant should be approved or not, etc. Possibly can be appointed based on performance of recruitment count.

- Member Relations officer/committee; I know some of the higher ups & seniors already do this, but they'd be the people that handle any drama that comes about, keep tabs on & investigate member inactivity (like, talking to them to make sure they're okay, if there are any issues as to why they're reluctant to be active, etc.). A subset of this group could be the chat moderators you had before who generally oversee the chat and make sure that everyone is comfortable with it.

- Secretary; This would be a more forum-oriented role, being the person who records what is covered in meetings & posts it to the forums. The role could be further extended to also posting weekly progress updates on goals and events if the leaders want a break. (So like, Idenn's bi-?-Buttercup. The word. is. Buttercup. D<)

- Forum Chat Moderator; I know we have an admin, but this role would specifically be someone who (very) actively participates on the forums, and would only have the option to edit posts as long as the post does not adhere to guild rules (as in, has nothing to do with site structure, design, etc.)/if providing permissions for such a thing is too much effort, they could be the person who reports to those who are already responsible for edits to .. edit it. This individual could also be responsible for distributing warnings related to the forums.

Idenn wrote:

Can probably do two meetings per month, one on the first week and one on the last week of the month, that way they'd work as an opening month meeting and a month closing meeting respectively.

Sounds good. Maybe the focus of the first meetings could be to highlight any monthly goals, and event kickoffs while the last meetings would be goal statuses and award ceremonies; both would be suitable for administrative updates. The shorter one (which I think would usually be the first one) could have the guild event carried over if we'll be having one that involves the guild to actually be together that month.

Where's the policy about the 1 million gold annuity daily for Strygwyn

Should go for people who have been members at least 6 months if you're going to make life skills that easy for them, R9 is a breeze, as always I offer what services I can to Archanea, R3 Tailoring (R2 when I stop being lazy, literally only need NPC bought items, but don't feel like playing Mabi, no point for me, not really wanted there XD ), R1 Refine, mid-ranked Enchant (R6 I believe.), R1 Weaving, Master of Frag, R1 Synth, R1 Metal Conversion, Campfire is capped, Cooking is R8 I believe, Handicraft is R4, naturally prod mastery is R1, all alch success giving skills (Except for rain casting) are R1 and I do have most of the Frag set and all of the synth set. If you decide to ask for any of that for help, have Yuuki or Jay contact me and I'll come and help when I see (Within a hour most likely.)

What jay wrote is more important than what idenn wrote. Although I didn't write anything I just saw a lot of quores.