Guild Meeting Results

These are the resulting suggestions from a meeting held by Anivas on 6/30/11. During this meeting, which was an open forum of what you, the rank and file of the Shades, would like to see from the guild. The points were then conferred to me, and I'd like to address all of them with you now! As always, you are free to post further thoughts and questions as replies to this forum.

1. Recruiting 
• With Patch 4.1 came the new Guild Interface which includes Guild Recruitment tools. Since its implementation, our guild has grown from 20 accounts to over 80! On top of this, all ranks except Peon have the power to invite new members, and are encouraged to do so. But many perhaps don't know about their permission, or how to do it, or even how to promote us as a guild. The question came up, "What kind of guild are we? What to we tell prospective members about us?"  The linked post is from 2009, but it still rings true today. We are more of a social guild than anything, and I think it's important to maintain the fun, friendly environment of cool people hanging out. This is priority over gearscore, raid experience, and PvP 'leetness.' That being said, with our eye toward Raiding, it will be important to look for max level, geared members. But equally important are crafters and gatherers. Every item crafted, every flask created, every meal cooked, counts toward guild achievements and level, and cannot be forsaken. Where do you think flasks and feasts come from? More on this later, but for now, know that Champion Ehrik summed up the type of guild we are pretty accurately in a single sentence:
• "We are a social, Heroic guild with an eye toward Raiding."
• So if you would like to see more members, then do your part, comrades! Create a recruitment macro. Fire it off in the cities, in Trade and in General. Farming, doing some Archeology? Pop it in each new zone you get to. See low levels running around? Talk to them. Find out what they're up to, and see if they'd be a good fit here. Run a dungeon with a skilled, friendly, but guildless high level? Reach out. The power is yours!
2. Increase Repair Allowances
• As we take on tougher and tougher opponents, gear repairs are an important, yet expensive, part of the game. Blizzard recently took action to try to lessen the burden that plate wearers carry, while attempting to equalize gear repairs accross the classes. While warriors, paladins, and dk's may now be paying less, balance dictates that other classes are paying more.
• The Guild has always had an allowance for repairs, and was traditionally meant to augment members' own gold spent on repairs. This allowance increases with rank within the guild. A level 85 Scout will have much less gold to spend on repairs than a level 85 Champion. This was mean to prevent high levels from simply using us as a repair resource while they run content outside the guild. It was never meant to be a crutch for anyone.
• However, due to the increased Heroic and Raid presence sought after by our members, I have made the following changes to guild Repair Allowance for each Rank:
• Scout: 10g has been increased to 20g
• Grunt: Increased from 15g to 30g
• Reaver: Increased from 20g to 40g
• Wolf Guard: Increased from 35g to 70g
• Storm Guard: Increased from 50 to 100g
• Champion: Increased from 100 to 250g
• This increase will stay in effect so long as the guild treasury is replenished and remains healthy!
3. Unlock Caudron and Feast Recipes
• These items are essential for Raids, but guess what, they don't come from raiders. They come from Farmers. That's right. If you check out the Guild Rewards tab and look up the achievements necessary to unlock these super awesome recipes, you will find guild achievements that are well beyond the scope of a handful of hardcore raiders. Our first cauldron calls for 3,000 guild flasks, and our first feast calls for 10,000 meals cooked.
• Remember when, back up in the "Recruiting" heading, I said that crafters and gatherers are just as important as raiders? This is why. In order to hit these achievements, we need cooks cooking, fishermen fishing, gatherers gathering, and alchemists mixing. And while the ones we have are no doubt busy, we can always use more. So when you're out there recruiting, remember, don't forsake the low levels. If you see a level 15 herbology/alchemy fisherman, get on it!
4.  Officer Powers 
• It was mentioned that we seem to lack Officer ranks. This is true. Wolf Guard is the earliest officer rank, like a sergeant, while Storm Guard is more like a captain, and Champion is a lieutenant. All these ranks are attainable through guild rep. Appointed ranks are Warbringer(Leads Raids and PvP teams) and Farseer(Heads the Guild). The fact is, we are looking to fill higher officer roles. Those who are interested should let myself or Farseer Neimue/Imraith know, and we will determine your eligibility. Warbringer and Farseer is not based solely on rep or rank, though a high level of either is preferred. Rather, it is based on performance, enthusiasm for the guild, loyalty, and leadership. If we find some Reaver out there putting teams together and running content, and posting useful intelligence here, and all around helping out, we would sooner consider him or her for a Warbringer position than a Storm Guard who just kind of follows along.
• In the past, we would promote people based simply on an interview and experience. The failure of these Warbringers was near catastrophic. So now, I will instead be watching closely those who have actual initiative and drive within the guild. There is no question that we need Warbringers and more Farseers, the question is, who's actually up to the job? I'm excited to find out!
• Another request was that current rank and file officers (Wolf Guard - Champion) be given more powers. The fact is these ranks currently have all the power they need to prove themselves. They can make officer notes, they can set events, they can (IF they know the rules and penalties) police chat and sanction bad behavior, etc. It's whether or not these ranks actually DO the duties they are empowered to do that will help determine their eligibility for more responsibilies.

So there you have it, comrades. As always, I appreciate the feedback, and I look forward to seeing your suggestions here on our new website forums. You may have noticed a common theme in my responses to a lot of the points above, and that is, "Do it." You think something should be done to improve the guild and the game experience? Communicate it, and take action! The power is yours! Go forth to Victory!!


~High Chieftain Ogami