Make (canon) Guilds great again!!

[CleverUsername123]

(deleted)

[Sharrans]

Aw, there's already a guild with the name 'black circle'? Back to the drawing boards. sigh

Yes.

[Deathgrowl]

Isn't that a "Black Dot"?

[kleomenes]

What is the current situation with active/factions right now?

Zhents active atm?
Did the aurilites get going again?
The church umberlee ever get started?
Red wizards working okay under new management?
Black circle, coven of darkness, cult of the Dragon up and running?
What happened to the orc warband?
Phoenix company still active?
Did Radiant heart make that come back?
I see the odd silver rose player but not much other response from them. They still strong?
I see the Phoenix company administrator in game but I don't hear about PC lately...

I ask because I'm seeing zero guild activity in game.

Did I miss any active factions?
Are factions not really important on this server?
What's the situation here?

Entertainingly, every single one of the four I'm involved in! (including the one I'm in with you, lol)

I have to say a good majority of my RP currently across my characters is guild RP, so inactivity isn't my experience. I think some of the bigger public guilds have gone quieter recently though.

[LISA100595]

The Order of the Silver Rose is absolutely still going strong, since 2011 !!

Weekly meetings every Sunday at 7pm EST is when you'll see the highest concentration of us at the same place and same time.

No I'm not a DM, on this server, but I run the guild like one. In my opinion, It's up to the guild leader(s) to fulfill that role and any DM attention is just a bonus. Thanks to my great group of guys and girls for pitching in on the cooperative effort!

[Tekill]

Huh. Well that's a pretty positive reply from LISA100595.

Some of the guilds are thriving
But it seems that most guilds go bust. (worlds smallest)
Some linger on sometimes hot sometimes not-but usually on a wing and a -

We want to focus on the ones that thrive.

There is a lot of talk about needing DM's. And yes DM's make a difference for sure. They can make or break a guild. No word of a

But the true successful guilds seem to owe much of their success to their leader(s).
So lets stop right here a moment

For any guild leaders who are happy with how their guild is running, please comment on what you are doing right and why you are doing it that way. Tell us your secrets please.

I also want to point out for no particular reason that the successful guilds seem to be all good or nuetral....coincidence?

Coincidence? I think not!

[NegInfinity]

Seriously.

I could go on, but I think you all know what I mean. How about it? What could be done to work this out for BGTSCC?

To "make the guilds great again", the guilds need to get out of their guild halls and have thier actions visible by the rest of the server.

The main problematic thing a lot of guilds seem to be doing is that people go to their guild hall, close the doors, lock them, board the windows, and then RP in there, where nobody from the rest of the server could bump into them, no matter what.

While this kind of thing is fun for the participants, it also effectively makes the guild non-existent for the rest of the server. Something that cannot be observed, effectively has no impact, and for practical purposes doesn't happen. Basically "If the tree falls in the forest, but there's no one to hear it, the tree doesn't exist".

For example, paladinly organizations like Radiant Heart/Silver Rose become "real" when their members march en masse by some sort of hub, where a lot of people notice them. In this case people can ask "who are those guys", interact with them and maybe join. However, when a guild hangs out exclusively behind a door with an unpickable lock (or worse, in unreachable location), it has significantly less impact. Or no impact at all.

That's how I see it, anyway.

[Wolfrayne]

For good/neutral guilds sure. But there are so many evil/cloak and dagger guilds out there that CANNOT openly stroll down the street. It would be great if people could create interactions between such guilds and the good ones without things blowing in to a "PVP argument" or "Metagaming" but in my experience those a rare.

Im not talking paladins and necromancers all swarming each other in mass PVP im talking thought out plot lines with proper interactive conflict. not "I spam this and win cause my build is best"

I know some guilds try to shake things up time to time but i find many people dont like to be on the losing side.

[Steve]

So...how are the Guilds getting on these days? Happy with the possibilities? Campaigns running smoothly/not-so-smoothly? Are there "known" inter-Guild relationships and plots that are open to the Server in general? What is the population of your guild atm?

As an unofficial leader of Kraak Helzak, I can say it's been tough to keep Player interest and investment (even though we're lucky to have invested Players on the roster...we just simply not always get together because of time zone issues). But KH does feel like it sits in isolation, but that could also be because I personally don't like forcing myself—and a Guild either—into RP that I know is happening OOC (yet would join into it if the connection was built through organic IC events).

So, again, your Guild?!?

[Touri]

The Elder Circle is still active and regulary meets every 14 days. Usually 4 to 8 people are around. We had some public meetings as well to get in contact with players of other guilds as well as old an new players in general.
We had some short events lately. Most of them were player driven.
Some of our players work with other guilds and factions or are members of them. So there is a way to get involved into several stories around the Sword Coast.

[Xanfyrst]

There should also be a certain activity requirement set by the DM team for guild leaders btw. Within reason of course.

[Steve]

There should also be a certain activity requirement set by the DM team for guild leaders btw. Within reason of course.

Well, this goes back to the issue of whether any 1 or 2 Players should be the absolute leaders of a Guild, especially a Canon Guild, where perhaps the limit is Generals or Captains, with the "admiral" or real Head of Guild is always a NPC.

That way, if a Player fails to show up or live up to what an IC Guild leader should be/perform, there is actual possibility for other Players to have just as much space & time to make a Guild continue forward.

As example, in the case of Kraak Helzak, there is the King Battlehammer, who has 2 seconds-in-command. Beneath them is the Kings Council (something I established within the Guild) that has 6 sections related to aspects of the Fortress: Military, trade, mining, Ale Craft, etc. Each section of the Kings Council is led by a Player Character. The Kings Council can direct the Kraak Helzak guild without King Battlehammer's direct permission in most cases, however, if the Kings Council got "out of hand," the King or his Admins could straighten out the situation right quick (as in, the DMs step in and have final say). Of course, this only works because each Dwarf must swear and oath of allegiance to the King and Kraak Helzak, which is a binding, in-character choice.

Anyway...

[niapet]

As a fairly new player that has been here long enough to get the lay of the land, what I have noticed is:

Guild played are never around, it seems like they mostly RP via forums and only appear in game via request.

This means the player's actually in the game are all either non guild members or low ranking guild members.

I am NOT saying no high ranking guild members are in game.

Maybe there should be a rule against holding a position of power in more than one guild per player.

[KOPOJIbPAKOB]

I agree with niapet. I played many different characters, but I was never able to join any guild in all my playtime. Not that I tried all the possible and impossible guilds, but all my attempts failed. Reasons are different, but what I see in-game is that most of the guilds consist of closed cliques that live in parallel world and you have nearly no chances to know about them (unless you browse forums). The ironic fact is that the most active guilds are non-focal, while many focal guilds are actually dead (like 7th circle).

[Eclipse9]

I would say the lore based/ focal guilds are far from closed cliques. However, many of them require a great deal of research and/or patience from applicants. The thieves guild, for example actively recruits though many probably don't realize it. We spy players from the shadows and watch how they interact with the game world and other players. We adventure in alternate personas to get a feel for rp. In all this we are very selective in who we actively pursue. In some cases time zones get in the way and we have lost very good prospects because of this. Other times a player is considered to have some qualities that may jeopardize the guild and are declined. It's a lot of work and of course activity fluctuates, but joining a guild is more about the rp then it is cliques.