I think being isolated is almost something that naturally happens with an FC Leader. You're so busy making sure your FC runs smoothly, it can be really hard to venture out. We have our ooc ls, which we have a few members who are from different FCs in it, but I generally am in the corner a lot.
Uh... for your questions...
Unpopular Policies
Our most unpopular policy, BY FAR, is our strict adherence to lore. Members have gotten tells asking if our lore policy was real, and people have heard it was very strict. Which it is - currently we don't allow anyone in who plays a WHM ICly, and we have a very strict BLM policy as well. When someone apps with us and says they are a WHM (We've had many oddly enough) we do tell them "We can only accept you in you play a Conjurer ICLY at this time" and only 1 or 2 people have actually made the switch to get in. When we see something in someones background that isn't lore compliant, we work with them to make sure it is before letting them in, or - if they were let in first - we work with the before rping with other members again. A LOT of people take this as a slam against their character, they start thinking they are terrible roleplayers or that we are being bullies. But it's not. Most of the time, I'll try to work to make your story the SAME but more lore complaint (I.E. Explaining that being a White Mage isn't necessary to be a really powerful healer and just saying your a talented Conjurer won't change your personal story).
Our second most unpopular is, sadly, the idea you need to practice Coil gates before the guild will clear for you. A lot of people get into the guild and expect carries - since we do T5 runs regularly and we have a group that can farm T9 - and don't actually want to get into the instance to practice before hand. It doesn't matter how many times you say "Practice the fight and when your ready we'll take you through", a lot of people just here that as "I am being unhelpful." Yeah we have T9 on farm, but we aren't Rare Ex, we can't carry someone new to the fight in there.... it would just be a waste of everyone's time because there would be no clear.
What we Offer:
Big Guild Storyline: We have an ongoing, large storyline in the Night Blades that is run by two people - with helpers of about 10. It has it's own villains (Played by FC mates) and is run very much like a story would by the Devs of FFXIV. Since we can't really say we're a part of the main FFXIV story in any way, we wrote or own off to the side somewhere that our FC can affect. The villians become so engrained, people get excited about the idea of taking them down, and they feel just as accomplished as is they were in the FFXIV main story. It's something we pride ourselves on, but it's a lot of work. Because of the workload, we have two officers who's ONLY job it is is to facilitate the main NB storyline. They write it, plan it behind the scenes with helpers and get people involved. They do nothing else. The story has been going on since launch, ever changing but still in the same timeline. It's currently in it's climax and will be coming to a close before Heavensward - where we'll start all over again.
Small Guild Events: The first year of running the guild we learned a lot, and one of those things we learned is that the guild CAN'T rely on the "Main Storyline" in order to succeed. For one, it takes a lot of time to plan so the main story is slower, and two, some people in our FC don't really want to be involved in the main story, but want to rp with everyone else anyway. Because of this, in the second year of operation we introduced more events off to the side and away from the main story. These can be one off storylines such as looking for treasure, or even just Chocobo Racing at the Golden Saucer. All Officers are told to come up with an event once a month and other members are free to put whatever event they want onto the Calendar.
Roll20 events!: You like tabletop RP and miss that feel in FFXIV? We do a lot of Roll20 events and even have our own system (Called UNI-FFXIV) for dice rolls which is accessable by just going to our website (Or looking here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1...=694329376)
End Game: On top of RP, we also raid and consider ourselves 75% RP/25% Raid. We currently have one group in Final Coil and are working on getting another group together for T9. We host a lot of practice runs for T5/T9/Shiva Ex/Odin/Ramuh Ex as well as clear parties for all of them (Including getting people to Shiva Ex). We try to help as much as possible in order to help people reach their goals in endgame, though currently we aren't worried too much about it because Heavensward is coming. We still do T5/T9 practice (Have those this weekend actually) and a raid group, but right now our focus is gearing people, preparing for new job changes and making note of who wants to raid come 3.0.
Active off game shizz: We have an active mumble server, an active website, and many many of us talk together on skype.
Active IN GAME Shizz: We have an extremely active OOC ls, and an somewhat Active IC LS that people do use a lot, but I'm actually trying to get them to use it more haha.
What we don't really offer:
Hand holding: To be frank, if your looking for a guild to lead you through everything or feel like you can't jump in on your own unless someone invites you - this probably isn't the place for you. Everything we do - RP, Events, and Endgame Runs - are posted on our website and ANYONE is free to sign up for any of those. If I'm setting up a T9 practice on the forums, this means anyone in the NB is eligible to come along. If someone else sets up a roll20 event - it means the same. We assume most anything is a catch-all invitation and a lot of us get confused by "But you didn't ask me specifically". If people are rping in the Mansion, you are free to join them, no questions asked. People are free to jump into anything they feel like most of the time - the only exception to the rules are private rp or the Raid team (Which is a static). This doesn't mean we aren't helpful - we're very helpful - but when a guild is large we can't just give you one on one attention all the time.
Super Heavy RP: While we have very deep storylines, epic plots, bombs, and deaths, we actually consider ourselves a Medium RP guild because people are not expected to RP everyday. While RP happens a lot thanks to some of our heavy RP members, a lot of our members don't consider themselves "All RP All the Time" people. This doesn't mean our stories aren't deep and engaging, it just means we aren't on the game to rp 12 hours a day.
Total Hardcore Raiding: We are not hardcore raiders. While we keep up with current content, we aren't in a competition with the big raiding guilds on the server - they will eat us alive. Usually we're a few months behind, but hit the content way before it goes into the Duty Finder and we're perfectly fine with it being that way. We play current content, before Echo Bonus and Nerfs, but we're just not as fast as those who only focus on raiding. We like it this way. You may not.
A Hugbox: While I don't allow racist or homophobic slurs, we are extremely brash, vulgar, and playfully mean to each other. There are rules in place protecting this kind of behaivor called the "Thick Skin Clause" that is not only in our charter, but in our application process so people know what they are getting in to.
We criticize each others characters decisions, discussing them at length. We pick apart characters' personalities and motivations. To us, this is a show and we are the fans. And we talk as if we are the fans - deep conversations about RP sessions, the characters, and the decisions made. Many RPers can't handle criticism of their characters, wanting everyone to like them all the time, and if that's you - this is not the place for you.
~~~~
We have smaller things, too. Help with getting an FC Room, IC introductions with the IC officers so your character can get "in", a "Friends and Family" plan so if you like us you can bring your friends, guild meetings when needed, Always available Officers in game or on Skype to answer any questions you may have, help with smoothing background, help with storylines you want to start, etc etc.
The Perfect NB Member:
That's us in a nutshell.
Uh... for your questions...
Unpopular Policies
Our most unpopular policy, BY FAR, is our strict adherence to lore. Members have gotten tells asking if our lore policy was real, and people have heard it was very strict. Which it is - currently we don't allow anyone in who plays a WHM ICly, and we have a very strict BLM policy as well. When someone apps with us and says they are a WHM (We've had many oddly enough) we do tell them "We can only accept you in you play a Conjurer ICLY at this time" and only 1 or 2 people have actually made the switch to get in. When we see something in someones background that isn't lore compliant, we work with them to make sure it is before letting them in, or - if they were let in first - we work with the before rping with other members again. A LOT of people take this as a slam against their character, they start thinking they are terrible roleplayers or that we are being bullies. But it's not. Most of the time, I'll try to work to make your story the SAME but more lore complaint (I.E. Explaining that being a White Mage isn't necessary to be a really powerful healer and just saying your a talented Conjurer won't change your personal story).
Our second most unpopular is, sadly, the idea you need to practice Coil gates before the guild will clear for you. A lot of people get into the guild and expect carries - since we do T5 runs regularly and we have a group that can farm T9 - and don't actually want to get into the instance to practice before hand. It doesn't matter how many times you say "Practice the fight and when your ready we'll take you through", a lot of people just here that as "I am being unhelpful." Yeah we have T9 on farm, but we aren't Rare Ex, we can't carry someone new to the fight in there.... it would just be a waste of everyone's time because there would be no clear.
What we Offer:
Big Guild Storyline: We have an ongoing, large storyline in the Night Blades that is run by two people - with helpers of about 10. It has it's own villains (Played by FC mates) and is run very much like a story would by the Devs of FFXIV. Since we can't really say we're a part of the main FFXIV story in any way, we wrote or own off to the side somewhere that our FC can affect. The villians become so engrained, people get excited about the idea of taking them down, and they feel just as accomplished as is they were in the FFXIV main story. It's something we pride ourselves on, but it's a lot of work. Because of the workload, we have two officers who's ONLY job it is is to facilitate the main NB storyline. They write it, plan it behind the scenes with helpers and get people involved. They do nothing else. The story has been going on since launch, ever changing but still in the same timeline. It's currently in it's climax and will be coming to a close before Heavensward - where we'll start all over again.
Small Guild Events: The first year of running the guild we learned a lot, and one of those things we learned is that the guild CAN'T rely on the "Main Storyline" in order to succeed. For one, it takes a lot of time to plan so the main story is slower, and two, some people in our FC don't really want to be involved in the main story, but want to rp with everyone else anyway. Because of this, in the second year of operation we introduced more events off to the side and away from the main story. These can be one off storylines such as looking for treasure, or even just Chocobo Racing at the Golden Saucer. All Officers are told to come up with an event once a month and other members are free to put whatever event they want onto the Calendar.
Roll20 events!: You like tabletop RP and miss that feel in FFXIV? We do a lot of Roll20 events and even have our own system (Called UNI-FFXIV) for dice rolls which is accessable by just going to our website (Or looking here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1...=694329376)
End Game: On top of RP, we also raid and consider ourselves 75% RP/25% Raid. We currently have one group in Final Coil and are working on getting another group together for T9. We host a lot of practice runs for T5/T9/Shiva Ex/Odin/Ramuh Ex as well as clear parties for all of them (Including getting people to Shiva Ex). We try to help as much as possible in order to help people reach their goals in endgame, though currently we aren't worried too much about it because Heavensward is coming. We still do T5/T9 practice (Have those this weekend actually) and a raid group, but right now our focus is gearing people, preparing for new job changes and making note of who wants to raid come 3.0.
Active off game shizz: We have an active mumble server, an active website, and many many of us talk together on skype.
Active IN GAME Shizz: We have an extremely active OOC ls, and an somewhat Active IC LS that people do use a lot, but I'm actually trying to get them to use it more haha.
What we don't really offer:
Hand holding: To be frank, if your looking for a guild to lead you through everything or feel like you can't jump in on your own unless someone invites you - this probably isn't the place for you. Everything we do - RP, Events, and Endgame Runs - are posted on our website and ANYONE is free to sign up for any of those. If I'm setting up a T9 practice on the forums, this means anyone in the NB is eligible to come along. If someone else sets up a roll20 event - it means the same. We assume most anything is a catch-all invitation and a lot of us get confused by "But you didn't ask me specifically". If people are rping in the Mansion, you are free to join them, no questions asked. People are free to jump into anything they feel like most of the time - the only exception to the rules are private rp or the Raid team (Which is a static). This doesn't mean we aren't helpful - we're very helpful - but when a guild is large we can't just give you one on one attention all the time.
Super Heavy RP: While we have very deep storylines, epic plots, bombs, and deaths, we actually consider ourselves a Medium RP guild because people are not expected to RP everyday. While RP happens a lot thanks to some of our heavy RP members, a lot of our members don't consider themselves "All RP All the Time" people. This doesn't mean our stories aren't deep and engaging, it just means we aren't on the game to rp 12 hours a day.
Total Hardcore Raiding: We are not hardcore raiders. While we keep up with current content, we aren't in a competition with the big raiding guilds on the server - they will eat us alive. Usually we're a few months behind, but hit the content way before it goes into the Duty Finder and we're perfectly fine with it being that way. We play current content, before Echo Bonus and Nerfs, but we're just not as fast as those who only focus on raiding. We like it this way. You may not.
A Hugbox: While I don't allow racist or homophobic slurs, we are extremely brash, vulgar, and playfully mean to each other. There are rules in place protecting this kind of behaivor called the "Thick Skin Clause" that is not only in our charter, but in our application process so people know what they are getting in to.
Quote:The Thick Skin Clause: We are a very talkative guild. Newbie or veteran, everyone is treated like equals and is made fun of equally. We tend to make fun of each others characters, play styles, if you wipe the party during a dungeon, if you didn't stay in the back and tried to tank even though your a mage... in our guild, you will never live any of it down. However, we mean no harm, and it's usually out of love. We wouldn't poke fun at you if we didn't care.
We criticize each others characters decisions, discussing them at length. We pick apart characters' personalities and motivations. To us, this is a show and we are the fans. And we talk as if we are the fans - deep conversations about RP sessions, the characters, and the decisions made. Many RPers can't handle criticism of their characters, wanting everyone to like them all the time, and if that's you - this is not the place for you.
~~~~
We have smaller things, too. Help with getting an FC Room, IC introductions with the IC officers so your character can get "in", a "Friends and Family" plan so if you like us you can bring your friends, guild meetings when needed, Always available Officers in game or on Skype to answer any questions you may have, help with smoothing background, help with storylines you want to start, etc etc.
The Perfect NB Member:
- Somewhat independent - isn't afraid to set up practice runs on Ex Primals and Coil and put them on the calendar for everyone. Isn't afraid to just jump into FC RP.
- Thick Skin - Isn't sensitive. Can take criticism of themselves and their characters. Can take a joke.
- Isn't there to hit on all the ladies, oocly or icly - strangely, we have a lot of girls in our guild, this has caused some issues in the past.
- Drive - when they say they want to raid, they gear up and put in the time - event able to forgo RPing for a bit to do so.
- Enjoys darker storylines - We've had two IC deaths in the last month if that tells you anything.
- Doesn't take Lore Compliance as an insult. Because it's not one. Really.
- Talkative, or even shy but eager - this is a talkative, fast scrolling guild. A talkative person who can jump in or a shy person who isn't insecure are pretty much ideal.
That's us in a nutshell.
![[Image: tumblr_n92fndN0EH1rujdn8o1_500.gif]](https://33.media.tumblr.com/449e130ac31106ec8aeda3d0f121d76b/tumblr_n92fndN0EH1rujdn8o1_500.gif)
