(03-20-2015, 03:40 AM)ArmachiA Wrote: 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).
(03-20-2015, 08:02 AM)Maia Wrote: Â
I've also turned down a couple of applicants due to lore reasons, and have worked with quite a few others to slightly modify their background to be pretty much the same, except with lore-compliant reasoning. I figure that, as a LS, we promise a reasonable level of lore compliance to our membership. It's why I ask question #3: to see if they would ruffle everyone's feathers with their concept or abilities. I'm not too strict on rarities, as long as there's a thorough explanation as to why it's necessary. Basically, if you have an unusual ability or background point, please be prepared to explain its source within the lore, and cite your sources if need be.
We also get a lot of applicants who are WHM/BLM icly - But I can almost say that the applicants we get that do this are all exclusively new to the game. We're talking maybe they've played for a couple of weeks, and for someone who hasn't played for a couple of weeks there's almost no chance of actually realizing that parts of the community doesn't roll with this. It's not like the WHM quest starts with a disclaimer xD
We've had success with having several people redo their stories (a perk of them mostly being new means that they likely haven't even mentioned it icly) but we have also had our share of people who go "but I wanted to be special!" and choose another way - which is fine, I'd much rather that people do this than try to fit in, only to end up miserable when the guild doesn't do or offer what you were looking for.Â
I always encourage people not to use the jobs icly - even though some are possible via tweaks - as the classes work a whole lot better across the board, and I do not see why someone should be the very best at something when being good at something gives pretty much the same effect and leaves room for improvement in ways where you do not have to boggle your mind to stay within the limits of lore. I'm more on board with Maia there, there has to be a very good explanation behind things that are quite extraordinaire or unique to the world (and I think it's fair to expect, especially in Heavy-RP guilds)
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As for rules vs. guidelines.. I do not believe in not having rules. Whilst most of our things are guidelines - Like, for example our interpretations of the lore - we do have some things penned down that is not going to stand out as a bright thing if anyone breaks. It usually includes common sense rules, like don't bitch at people in the FC, but we also expect people to behave when they're interacting with the community. So if we find one of ours in a big troll-shout match in Mor Dhona, we won't be so impressed, because that is not what we want to be associated with (and one person can do a lot of havoc to the reputation of a guild).
We've also got various rules/expectations in the field of RP penned down, meta-gaming is one of the bigger ones here. We would absolutely kick someone who metagames intentionally, but fortunately we have never had to. And I think that is also a part of the point I'm trying to make here - Our rules topic is ridiculously long, but most of the rules have never been enforced. Simply having them there ensures that people know exactly how not to behave in the FC.Â
Obviously other guilds are more relaxed and, also some guilds are quite small. There's a big difference in what you need to do and have in place when you have to be a leader for 7 people vs 25-35 people. Likewise, if one is for example a light-rp guild, there's chunk of the RP rules from the heavy side that doesn't get used, because it has it's focus on more easy-going fun. Not saying that heavy-fc's do not have fun, but what we find fun takes more regulation to achieve.Â
Also not saying that light guilds are worse in any way what so ever, just in case anyone gets that thought - I treat the terms as what they are, a way to define playstyles (Like PvE and PvP), not as a way to rank people's ability to immerse and RP.
