WELCOME TO THE KINGDOM!
If you would like to know more about who we are and what we stand for this thread will serve as an introduction. First if you haven't already please read the "about" section on our homepage which highlights our basic principles and goals as a community. This informational thread is meant to be a more in depth introduction to our guild.
Before starting I want to introduce you to a concept that can summarize our three pillars in one word. Feedback! We are a culture of feedback! We focus on giving feedback in a respectful manner (professionalism), in a way that facilitates growth (progression), and in a way that strengthens the community optimizing how we work with others (collaboration). Our forums are a key feedback tool we use to accomplish our goals as a community. Everything posted on our forums by guildies, guest, or officers should keep in mind our community expectations otherwise they will be subject to revision.
INDEX:
Recruitment
Atmosphere
Organization
Raiding Expectations
Odds and Ends
Guild Info
Re: guild info (public)
RECRUITMENT
As a result of being a large guild with multiple teams raiding at multiple difficulties EKs recruitment/application process is multifaceted. We recruit externally like normal but we also have internal recruitment along with mobility between teams. Multifaceted does not mean complicated! We do our best to keep things simple and straightforward while also working with people on a case by case basis to help them find their best fit. Our goal is to find the right spot for every person in the guild so that they and those around them are enjoying the game as much as possible.
EXTERNAL: Each team is responsible for their own recruitment. This means each team may approach external recruitment differently and may also have slight variations in their trial process. If you want in depth details about how a specific team recruits you would need to talk to the leadership of that team. Broadly stated our external recruitment will follow a 3 step process.
INTERNAL: Much the same as external recruitment each team may handle internal recruitment differently. Some teams may bring you along when they are short or have room and keep asking you to come back until you magically have a raid spot. Other teams may have you follow a process identical to that of external recruitment. Just know we have a LOT of raiding options and there are usually a few teams looking to fill spots. So if you are not currently raiding but want to get involved start by talking to leadership and ask them specifically what you need to do in order to take the next step in becoming a raider on their team.
NOTE: If things don't work out how you want keep in mind if you are in good standing (see raiding expectations below) there may be other options for you within the guild. It is possible to go from step three back to step one or step two with another team however we don't have a specific policy for this and take things on a case by case basis. Be assured if you are willing to work hard and improve we want you on a team somewhere.
GUILD/TEAM/PLAYER MOBILITY: Yes we allow players to move between teams/guilds! We are a community that tries to meet your gaming needs, and those gaming needs may change. With that said keep in mind we utilize mobility in a way that best serves the entire community (not just an individual). We will do our best to accommodate you if you need to raid an hour later, need to swap to weekend raiding, need to cut down your raiding hours or desire to pick up the intensity and/or frequency of your raiding. Mobility is a great thing but also one that can be contentious as a result we take things on a case by case basis to ensure the mobility we offer is not abused.
Index
As a result of being a large guild with multiple teams raiding at multiple difficulties EKs recruitment/application process is multifaceted. We recruit externally like normal but we also have internal recruitment along with mobility between teams. Multifaceted does not mean complicated! We do our best to keep things simple and straightforward while also working with people on a case by case basis to help them find their best fit. Our goal is to find the right spot for every person in the guild so that they and those around them are enjoying the game as much as possible.
EXTERNAL: Each team is responsible for their own recruitment. This means each team may approach external recruitment differently and may also have slight variations in their trial process. If you want in depth details about how a specific team recruits you would need to talk to the leadership of that team. Broadly stated our external recruitment will follow a 3 step process.
- Step One: "Open Application" - After completing an application on our forums in a specific team or multi-team forum area the application will be reviewed by leadership and will either move on to step two or be declined.
Step Two: "Application Approved for Trial" - The application is moved to a team specific area and will begin raiding with that team. During this time you will receive feedback on your application status but should also demonstrate your understanding of our culture by asking for feedback!
Step Three: "Application Approved/Denied" - From this point you will become a full raiding member or be notified that you will need to look for raiding opportunities elsewhere.
INTERNAL: Much the same as external recruitment each team may handle internal recruitment differently. Some teams may bring you along when they are short or have room and keep asking you to come back until you magically have a raid spot. Other teams may have you follow a process identical to that of external recruitment. Just know we have a LOT of raiding options and there are usually a few teams looking to fill spots. So if you are not currently raiding but want to get involved start by talking to leadership and ask them specifically what you need to do in order to take the next step in becoming a raider on their team.
NOTE: If things don't work out how you want keep in mind if you are in good standing (see raiding expectations below) there may be other options for you within the guild. It is possible to go from step three back to step one or step two with another team however we don't have a specific policy for this and take things on a case by case basis. Be assured if you are willing to work hard and improve we want you on a team somewhere.
GUILD/TEAM/PLAYER MOBILITY: Yes we allow players to move between teams/guilds! We are a community that tries to meet your gaming needs, and those gaming needs may change. With that said keep in mind we utilize mobility in a way that best serves the entire community (not just an individual). We will do our best to accommodate you if you need to raid an hour later, need to swap to weekend raiding, need to cut down your raiding hours or desire to pick up the intensity and/or frequency of your raiding. Mobility is a great thing but also one that can be contentious as a result we take things on a case by case basis to ensure the mobility we offer is not abused.
Index
Last edited by Belisyma on April 6th, 2016, 2:47 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Re: guild info (public)
ATMOSPHERE
We strive to maintain a safe, positive, inclusive, and fun atmosphere in our community. If you have played video games for very long you have probably come across gamers who are loud, vocal, and toxic. While usually these toxic gamers are a minority they can often have a large impact and create a negative atmosphere. You will not find these type of individuals in this community. We have conflicts that result in heated conversations from time to time but disrespectful dialogue will result in removal from the guild. We aren't boot happy and do work with people but we expect our members to maintain respectful dialogue regardless of circumstances.
GUILD ATMOSPHERE: We love to talk in guild chat and our guild chat is quite lively. We have a large active community with a wide range of personalities who all like to share their thoughts, experiences, questions, humor etc.... But also keep in mind every time you are talking you are making that large range of personalities subject to what you are saying. In order to maintain a positive/professional/inclusive guild atmosphere we haven chosen to exclude profanity in guild chat and on our forums. In other words we have a lot of people who are going to hear what you say so please put a little thought/care into what you are saying! We ask that you be mindful of this particularly during peak raiding hours when we have 4+ raiding teams going. So before you have a prolonged conversation with one other person (or even speak) in guild chat please consider if it would be a better topic taken to tells.
TEAM ATMOSPHERE: Our team atmospheres have a lot of diversity and are not always SFW. If guild chat is a public area (like a classroom) then your team atmosphere is like you hanging out at a friend's house watching a sports game. The team can set the tone as long as things remain respectful and in line with our professionalism pillar. If you are interested in a particular teams atmosphere feel free to watch their stream. And also keep in mind people are watching your streams so please consider how you want you and your friends hanging out to come across to others.
Index
We strive to maintain a safe, positive, inclusive, and fun atmosphere in our community. If you have played video games for very long you have probably come across gamers who are loud, vocal, and toxic. While usually these toxic gamers are a minority they can often have a large impact and create a negative atmosphere. You will not find these type of individuals in this community. We have conflicts that result in heated conversations from time to time but disrespectful dialogue will result in removal from the guild. We aren't boot happy and do work with people but we expect our members to maintain respectful dialogue regardless of circumstances.
GUILD ATMOSPHERE: We love to talk in guild chat and our guild chat is quite lively. We have a large active community with a wide range of personalities who all like to share their thoughts, experiences, questions, humor etc.... But also keep in mind every time you are talking you are making that large range of personalities subject to what you are saying. In order to maintain a positive/professional/inclusive guild atmosphere we haven chosen to exclude profanity in guild chat and on our forums. In other words we have a lot of people who are going to hear what you say so please put a little thought/care into what you are saying! We ask that you be mindful of this particularly during peak raiding hours when we have 4+ raiding teams going. So before you have a prolonged conversation with one other person (or even speak) in guild chat please consider if it would be a better topic taken to tells.
TEAM ATMOSPHERE: Our team atmospheres have a lot of diversity and are not always SFW. If guild chat is a public area (like a classroom) then your team atmosphere is like you hanging out at a friend's house watching a sports game. The team can set the tone as long as things remain respectful and in line with our professionalism pillar. If you are interested in a particular teams atmosphere feel free to watch their stream. And also keep in mind people are watching your streams so please consider how you want you and your friends hanging out to come across to others.
Index
Last edited by Belisyma on April 6th, 2016, 2:50 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Re: guild info (public)
ORGANIZATION
Any guild needs organization even more when you have multiple teams/guilds all working together to accomplish a common purpose. This is NOT meant to be an exhaustive and detailed post that highlights every aspect of guild operations. Rather it is a brief overview to help you understand the BASICS of how things should work under normal circumstances and to give some direction in terms of who to talk to given any particular issue you may have.
Another reason for this post is just to be transparent and clearly communicate everything that is going on. With that said please know we also do what is needed in the moment. So while what you see below is our structure in theory we are not restricted or obligated to follow anything we do not feel is in the best interest of the guild. We reserve the right to update and "tweak" things as needed without notice or explanation.
GUILDS: We currently have 4 guilds to meet the needs of our community. The guild that is the best fit for you will depend on your play style. It is not a big deal to move from one guild to another depending on your current role and we link all our guild chats with Greenwall. That means regardless of which guild you are part of the community expectations and guild chat remain the same.
RANKS: Guild ranks will vary some from guild to guild. However they are typically broken down into several broad categories.
TAGS: As a result of rank limitations imposed by blizzard we are unable to give each of our raid teams a separate rank. We typically use [tags] to add clarity to our guild rosters. A tag will appear in the guild note to signify which team a raider is on for example for a raider on the "S"ellswords team. Tags are fairly intuitive. If you have a question about your guild note please feel free to ask a person in leadership. Beyond team tags we also have [M] "M"ain and [A] "A"lt tags.
Index
Any guild needs organization even more when you have multiple teams/guilds all working together to accomplish a common purpose. This is NOT meant to be an exhaustive and detailed post that highlights every aspect of guild operations. Rather it is a brief overview to help you understand the BASICS of how things should work under normal circumstances and to give some direction in terms of who to talk to given any particular issue you may have.
Another reason for this post is just to be transparent and clearly communicate everything that is going on. With that said please know we also do what is needed in the moment. So while what you see below is our structure in theory we are not restricted or obligated to follow anything we do not feel is in the best interest of the guild. We reserve the right to update and "tweak" things as needed without notice or explanation.
GUILDS: We currently have 4 guilds to meet the needs of our community. The guild that is the best fit for you will depend on your play style. It is not a big deal to move from one guild to another depending on your current role and we link all our guild chats with Greenwall. That means regardless of which guild you are part of the community expectations and guild chat remain the same.
- Eternal Kingdom (EK): Home most of the Heroic/Mythic raids teams.
Endless Kingdom (EnK): Home to a few raid teams but mostly home to non-raiding members of the community
Alternal Kingdom (AK): Our alt guild.
Alternal Kingdom two (AK2): Our second alt guild
RANKS: Guild ranks will vary some from guild to guild. However they are typically broken down into several broad categories.
- Leaderships ranks:
- Kings Court - Guild Leadership
Royal Emissary - Team leader
Ambassador - 2nd in command of a team
Regent (EnK) - Team leader alts
Templar - Guild/Team oversight
Raiding ranks:- Grand Army - Full member raider
Mercenary (EK) - Proven raider ready to raid (has ilvl requirements) but not on a rostered team
Squire - Trial
Non-raiding ranks:- Noble Citizen (EnK) - anyone not on a raid team.
Veteran (EnK) - Retired raider rank still able to sponsor new members
Grand Alt - alts of raider/non-raiding members.
- Kings Court - Guild Leadership
TAGS: As a result of rank limitations imposed by blizzard we are unable to give each of our raid teams a separate rank. We typically use [tags] to add clarity to our guild rosters. A tag will appear in the guild note to signify which team a raider is on for example for a raider on the "S"ellswords team. Tags are fairly intuitive. If you have a question about your guild note please feel free to ask a person in leadership. Beyond team tags we also have [M] "M"ain and [A] "A"lt tags.
Index
Last edited by Belisyma on April 14th, 2016, 7:34 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Re: guild info (public)
RAIDING EXPECTATIONS
Each team may have their own expectations in these various areas but each area below carries with it a communal expectation found through all teams. We have a raiding culture here so that necessitates certain behaviors and communications if you would like to stay in good standing. This is by no means an exhaustive list but rather a list of common sense expectations.
ATTENDANCE: Committing to something you can't follow up on is always going to cause problems in your life, even though this is "only a video game" other people are counting on you and this is no different than real life. We like you, and you may have a good reason your attendance has dropped below your teams required attendance rate. All the same understand your raid spot is only there if you are there, once you stop showing up (regardless of your reason) that spot goes to someone else. It isn't personal it is just the way things go.
SITTING: If you are not willing to sit you have NO BUSINESS being on a raid team. If you find yourself sitting do not take any actions that could slow progression or negatively effect the team (meaning don't spam the group leaders complaining). If a mistake was made fine (and mistakes will be made from time to time), bring it up with leadership at a good time, a good time IS NOT in the middle of the raid. If you ever feel a mistake was made by having you sit the best policy to follow is SHOW leadership they made a mistake by performing well next time you are in, NOT telling leadership they made a mistake. Mythic teams specifically like to keep a bench of ~5 people that means at any given time 20% of your team is not in the instance. Sitting is part of raiding and a raid team without a bench is not a healthy raid team so please don't give your leaders grief when it is your turn to sit.
TWO WEEK NOTICE:If you want to maintain a good standing in this community and you know in advance you will no longer be able to raid give ample warning. Two weeks is generally enough time for adjustments to be made. If you just disappear understand the situation you are putting your team in. This is common courtesy and a good practice to follow in life. Ignoring this will likely result in you being either 1) kicked from the guild or 2) having a more difficult time finding a team to get on when you decide to start raiding again.
RAID ID & RAID TIMES: Your raid IDs and your raiding hours are things you commit to your team by joining that team. Communication is the #1 thing in this regards do not just do what you want and apologize after. If you do not get clear permission form a team lead for doing something out of the normal it may be grounds for guild removal. Team expectations may fluctuate some on this but if you do something that negatively effects an entire team (like getting loot locked, "sitting" to raid elsewhere on an alt and being unavailable when needed, being saved to another ID etc...etc...) understand you jeopardize your place on that team and your raiding future in this guild.
NOTE: We aren't going around waiting for someone to misstep so we can boot them. We will work with you but understand if you do something that conflicts with what is posted above it flies in the face of the raiding culture we are working hard to build. If your poor choice negatively effects a large portion of the community (causing them to lose trust in you) it may limit our options on how we can get things resolved.
Index
Each team may have their own expectations in these various areas but each area below carries with it a communal expectation found through all teams. We have a raiding culture here so that necessitates certain behaviors and communications if you would like to stay in good standing. This is by no means an exhaustive list but rather a list of common sense expectations.
ATTENDANCE: Committing to something you can't follow up on is always going to cause problems in your life, even though this is "only a video game" other people are counting on you and this is no different than real life. We like you, and you may have a good reason your attendance has dropped below your teams required attendance rate. All the same understand your raid spot is only there if you are there, once you stop showing up (regardless of your reason) that spot goes to someone else. It isn't personal it is just the way things go.
SITTING: If you are not willing to sit you have NO BUSINESS being on a raid team. If you find yourself sitting do not take any actions that could slow progression or negatively effect the team (meaning don't spam the group leaders complaining). If a mistake was made fine (and mistakes will be made from time to time), bring it up with leadership at a good time, a good time IS NOT in the middle of the raid. If you ever feel a mistake was made by having you sit the best policy to follow is SHOW leadership they made a mistake by performing well next time you are in, NOT telling leadership they made a mistake. Mythic teams specifically like to keep a bench of ~5 people that means at any given time 20% of your team is not in the instance. Sitting is part of raiding and a raid team without a bench is not a healthy raid team so please don't give your leaders grief when it is your turn to sit.
TWO WEEK NOTICE:If you want to maintain a good standing in this community and you know in advance you will no longer be able to raid give ample warning. Two weeks is generally enough time for adjustments to be made. If you just disappear understand the situation you are putting your team in. This is common courtesy and a good practice to follow in life. Ignoring this will likely result in you being either 1) kicked from the guild or 2) having a more difficult time finding a team to get on when you decide to start raiding again.
RAID ID & RAID TIMES: Your raid IDs and your raiding hours are things you commit to your team by joining that team. Communication is the #1 thing in this regards do not just do what you want and apologize after. If you do not get clear permission form a team lead for doing something out of the normal it may be grounds for guild removal. Team expectations may fluctuate some on this but if you do something that negatively effects an entire team (like getting loot locked, "sitting" to raid elsewhere on an alt and being unavailable when needed, being saved to another ID etc...etc...) understand you jeopardize your place on that team and your raiding future in this guild.
NOTE: We aren't going around waiting for someone to misstep so we can boot them. We will work with you but understand if you do something that conflicts with what is posted above it flies in the face of the raiding culture we are working hard to build. If your poor choice negatively effects a large portion of the community (causing them to lose trust in you) it may limit our options on how we can get things resolved.
Index
Last edited by Belisyma on April 2nd, 2016, 1:08 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Re: guild info (public)
ODDS AND ENDS
A) FINANCES: We have guild repairs based off donations. We turn repairs on (500g/day for raiders) at the start of a tier and leave it on as long as we can. Once the gold is gone we turn off repairs and save up for next time.
B) LOOT POLICY: Teams are required to give a clear overview of how they handle loot on their team policy forum page (FYI: most teams use loot council). Other than that teams get to handle loot however they want including BOE's. If you have any concerns please bring them up with team leadership. We do not enforce any sort of loot policy that applies to all teams other than be fair/reasonable.
C) MEDIA POLICY: Its the age of twitch.com and streaming so anytime you are in a raid PRESUME everything you are saying/doing is being recorded. Anything you say/do while a stream is going you can also presume guild leadership will know of or find out about. We have a lot of watchful eyes who care about this community and are very interested in protecting our guild atmosphere. Please represent yourself, your team, and your guild well while streaming or being part of a stream!
We strongly encourage the use of streaming video and other media to promote this community, this game, and you! The more videos, streams, kill videos, guides, et al. the better! However, please ensure you are aware of your audience and do a good job representing the guild. We do recommend streamers cover up your chat dialogue boxes (and know you and others will be accountable for what you say if you don't). If you are interested in having an official guild stream make sure to talk to Serinity our media manager. If you are an official guild streamer or not and you are not in a raid setting (5 man, sell run etc...) you need to notify someone if you are recording them.
D) CASUAL MEMBERS: We have a "citizen" rank for former raiders or those who raid occasionally. Casual members are welcome in this guild and it is great to have you around and keep in touch. But please understand you will be held to the same standard as everyone else. Also please keep in mind if you have contributed very little to this community and make demands (take me on this raid, give me some loot etc...) they will probably not be well received. We welcome our "citizen" members to stay indefinitely but please be a good citizen or you may be asked to leave. With that said if you are inactive for 6+ months please understand you may be removed from the guild for space reasons.
E) FRIENDS AND FAMILY MEMBERS: Once you have passed your trial status and become a full member you are welcome to invite your friends and family members to join you in this guild. If you would like more information about this process please check out our How to join the guild as a citizen informational post.
F) DISCIPLINARY MEASURES: When taking disciplinary action we acknowledge that every person and every situation is different. We take things on a case by case basis and will do our best to deescalate a situation (polite tells or a forums reminder) first to avoid the need for farther action. One step we may take to help things calm down is move someone doing a poor job of keeping our community guidelines to "The Stockade" or mute rank. Again our method is prevention rather than reaction, if you are heading down a road that is not good we try to steer you the other way. However, if you veer of course expect to lose chat privileges, raid spots, etc.... We are reasonable, we are forgiving, we want to work with you but we are also going to protect our "Kingdom" atmosphere. When poor decisions are made we will try to help things get cleaned up but if you are doing something harmful to the atmosphere please understand you are limiting the options we have to help things get resolved.
G) RESOLVING CONFLICT: Conflict WILL happen. It is unavoidable. It is also a healthy and normal (you usually don't find a good raid boss strat without a bit of bickering first!). In this guild we strive to make conflict work for us rather than against us. Correctly handled conflict SHOULD NOT result in disciplinary actions being needed. If you are in this guild this is the expectation we have. First, Keep calm. Second, listen to the feedback of others. Third, express your thoughts in a respectful/constructive manner.
Index
A) FINANCES: We have guild repairs based off donations. We turn repairs on (500g/day for raiders) at the start of a tier and leave it on as long as we can. Once the gold is gone we turn off repairs and save up for next time.
B) LOOT POLICY: Teams are required to give a clear overview of how they handle loot on their team policy forum page (FYI: most teams use loot council). Other than that teams get to handle loot however they want including BOE's. If you have any concerns please bring them up with team leadership. We do not enforce any sort of loot policy that applies to all teams other than be fair/reasonable.
C) MEDIA POLICY: Its the age of twitch.com and streaming so anytime you are in a raid PRESUME everything you are saying/doing is being recorded. Anything you say/do while a stream is going you can also presume guild leadership will know of or find out about. We have a lot of watchful eyes who care about this community and are very interested in protecting our guild atmosphere. Please represent yourself, your team, and your guild well while streaming or being part of a stream!
We strongly encourage the use of streaming video and other media to promote this community, this game, and you! The more videos, streams, kill videos, guides, et al. the better! However, please ensure you are aware of your audience and do a good job representing the guild. We do recommend streamers cover up your chat dialogue boxes (and know you and others will be accountable for what you say if you don't). If you are interested in having an official guild stream make sure to talk to Serinity our media manager. If you are an official guild streamer or not and you are not in a raid setting (5 man, sell run etc...) you need to notify someone if you are recording them.
D) CASUAL MEMBERS: We have a "citizen" rank for former raiders or those who raid occasionally. Casual members are welcome in this guild and it is great to have you around and keep in touch. But please understand you will be held to the same standard as everyone else. Also please keep in mind if you have contributed very little to this community and make demands (take me on this raid, give me some loot etc...) they will probably not be well received. We welcome our "citizen" members to stay indefinitely but please be a good citizen or you may be asked to leave. With that said if you are inactive for 6+ months please understand you may be removed from the guild for space reasons.
E) FRIENDS AND FAMILY MEMBERS: Once you have passed your trial status and become a full member you are welcome to invite your friends and family members to join you in this guild. If you would like more information about this process please check out our How to join the guild as a citizen informational post.
F) DISCIPLINARY MEASURES: When taking disciplinary action we acknowledge that every person and every situation is different. We take things on a case by case basis and will do our best to deescalate a situation (polite tells or a forums reminder) first to avoid the need for farther action. One step we may take to help things calm down is move someone doing a poor job of keeping our community guidelines to "The Stockade" or mute rank. Again our method is prevention rather than reaction, if you are heading down a road that is not good we try to steer you the other way. However, if you veer of course expect to lose chat privileges, raid spots, etc.... We are reasonable, we are forgiving, we want to work with you but we are also going to protect our "Kingdom" atmosphere. When poor decisions are made we will try to help things get cleaned up but if you are doing something harmful to the atmosphere please understand you are limiting the options we have to help things get resolved.
G) RESOLVING CONFLICT: Conflict WILL happen. It is unavoidable. It is also a healthy and normal (you usually don't find a good raid boss strat without a bit of bickering first!). In this guild we strive to make conflict work for us rather than against us. Correctly handled conflict SHOULD NOT result in disciplinary actions being needed. If you are in this guild this is the expectation we have. First, Keep calm. Second, listen to the feedback of others. Third, express your thoughts in a respectful/constructive manner.
Index
Last edited by Belisyma on April 6th, 2016, 2:55 pm, edited 1 time in total.