Hello Nekos! This month’s newsletter has some heavy news, because we have some heavy stuff to prepare for. Awakening is confirmed to be leaving in under two weeks, and that leaves us poised as the top East guild. We are at a perfect position to become the next big powerhouse guild, but if we aren’t careful, we will be eclipsed and lose our advantage. In order to prevent this, I’m making some important changes to the way Neko operates.
Critical Goals:
The following goals must be met quickly if we are to maintain our advantage.
- Everyone in minimum T4 Celestial gear. The free gear does not replace this.
Soft deadline: July 15-30.
- Galleon sails up to Legendary so we can do DGS (Venumos’ and Seviel’s). Improved cannons and rudder a secondary goal.
Hard deadline: July 10. - Minimum [redacted] gold in our guild coffers so we can bid on castle scrolls. (Many times what we have now.)
Hard deadline: July 15.
- No one AFKing outside Mirage Isle. I will no longer tolerate dominion kills going to our enemies because of guild members ignoring this rule. Peace treaties are irrelevant, as we can declare our own dominions at any time.
Hard deadline: July 1. If you are kicked for disobeying this rule, you are welcome to re-join, provided you will adhere to the rule going forward.
Gold Generation
We need a minimum of 25 people consistently present (preferably more) for the following gold- and gear-generating raids:
- Anthalon raids. Daily, 18:00 game time, around 8:00 EST depending on server time.
- Abyssal Attack raids. Tues/Thurs/Sat at 5:30pm EST.
- Jola raids. Daily, 6:00 game time.
- Delphinad Ghost Ships (30 people). Every 2 days on a timer based on last kill.
- Event trade runs for July. Daily, right after Luscas/Abyssal Attack. All gold from these runs will go to the guild towards our castle fund.
Guild Re-Organization
We are splitting our guild between hard-/semi-hard-core and casual. This change is something I’ve been agonizing over, but I believe it is necessary in order to continue to progress the guild. I need to know who I can rely on, or our guild stands no chance for growth in the changing landscape of Aranzeb.
Before I explain the specifics, it is critical to me that members realize that this new organization structure is not a punishment system. I fully understand that many of our members have real life obligations or differing time zones that just don’t allow for hard-core play at our guild’s peak hours. That is why I have no plan to kick members to the curb, but intend to structure the guild using guild ranks and, if necessary, build up Neko Kick as our casual wing upon reaching our guild member limit of 100.
- Casual players: Those who joined with the understanding that our guild is relaxed and have no wish (or ability) to push into hard-/semi-hard-core territory under the new rules will remain as Tier One members. They will be able to continue to participate in the guild community and receive its protection. They will have the option to join in top-tier events, but only as space allows. They will not receive gear drops unless their participation level rises.
- Effective immediately, no further casual members will be accepted into Punch. If our roster fills, Tier One members may eventually be asked to move into Neko Kick, which will change from simply being our alt guild to being our casual wing, a guild with no need to care where they AFK, how often they play, or what their gear score is. This change is dependent on whether our roster fills to capacity. On the one hand, if implemented, we can continue to welcome casuals into our community via Kick, without sacrificing guild strength. This would be great! On the other, it forces a fracturing of guild chat and therefore our community, a change I loathe making. With these pros and cons, we’ll simply have to wait and see how the roster fills out and how many Tier One and Tier Two members we end up with over the next month or so.
- Committed Players: Members at Tier Two will be expected to follow a few additional rules, laid out here. In short, members of Punch will now be expected to participate in and help the guild in certain concrete ways; in return, they will enjoy the privileges of consistent top-tier content and the associated drops and guild-wide advantages. I believe these rules are still reasonable and not only for no-lifers.
- The membership tiers are fluid. I will track guild member contribution and move members up and down between the ranks accordingly. If our roster fills and forces the split between Punch and Kick to complete, Tier One will then become a temporarily assigned section for new members, those temporarily inactive, or members on probation.
This reorganization will begin immediately. If I’ve seen you participating regularly, you will be moved automatically into Tier Two and will be expected to follow the new rules (because you probably already have been, at least for the most part). If you find yourself left in Tier One and wish to be a contributing member, please start participating in guild activities.
Caveat: Life Happens
I do not expect people to put their real-lives secondary to the guild. Family obligations, work, and school should always come first, and certain allowances will always be made for this. Keep the lines of communication open between yourself and guild leadership, and you’ll find us an understanding bunch.
Simply understand that within the context of this game are people relying on their guild-members. Just as a sports coach expects the most from their players, I expect the most from you guys. When you join a sports team, you commit to spending time training and attending games to help the team win. Likewise, Neko Punch has shared goals which require our members to make time to participate in guild raids, and priority needs to be given to players who can help us achieve our shared goals.
Please don’t jump ship because you’re afraid something might happen and you might miss a raid or something. I believe the requirements for Tier Two are still reasonable, even for people with lives.
Final Thoughts
It should be noted that of our 80-ish members, we currently have only about 25 people who regularly make themselves available for guild-oriented actions, and they do not always play at the same hours. That’s why I’m spelling out exactly what is needed for our progression. We’ve been in a cushy position allied with Awakening, but with them leaving, we will be overshadowed quickly by Pirates and West if we don’t step up our game, and fast. I do not want to let the server be run by reds yet again, as it was under Disaster.
The guild has grown immensely over the past few months. Gear scores have grown, as has both membership and participation, and I’m extremely proud of us as a community for what we have achieved so far. It is my hope that with continued commitment, we can continue to push the envelope of our guild’s potential.
<3,
–Azelle
Shortlink: j.mp/npjuly2016
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