Thread Closed
I appreciate all of the feedback so far, and thank you for sharing. Â There are a lot of points here I'd like to address, so I apologize if I don't manage to touch upon everything said, but I'll be glad to clarify anything further if it's needed.
I would imagine most of the comments that are being made are being made OOCly or refer to that aspect of the guild and/or its members. Â As there's not yet much of a guild to speak of so much as 'the idea of a guild' it's tough to legitimately point the finger at something like that and say 'good', 'bad', or otherwise. Â So I understand a lot of the feedback may stem from OOC reactions to forum posts, or some of our members' participation along the various avenues of chat.
I can also understand wanting to preserve anonymity with regard to who may be spreading certain things about us. Â This would certainly not be the first time that someone has taken something said by one/some of our members and either split it from context or outright distorted it with the perceived intent of making us look bad. Â Most who know me well enough will attest that I'm not one who is prone to flying off the handle about things, and I wouldn't have asked for honest feedback if I wasn't prepared to hear what had to be said. Â I'm not looking to point fingers or make accusations. Â Being that I'm feeling somewhat villainized myself of late, I have no desire to pass that buck along to anyone else. Â I would however like to clarify what is truth and what may have been fabricated somewhere along the lines. Â I'm not perfect, and neither are our members. Â We have our own internal issues that we deal with on a more regular basis than I'd like - and I feel a lot of this stems from the fact that we are a high-immersion guild that has been stuck in a state of OOC for a rather extended period of time. Â For those of us who are devoted to this game and to preserving character, that is a rather daunting thing and the past several months have been pretty tough on some of our members, and there has been friction - and I'm sure some of that has at times spilled out into more public channels.
I do find it a little surprising that there is some perception that Crystalline "owns" the RPC. Â I admit this was a concern of ours awhile back and a large part of the reason I stepped down as one of the forum moderators. Â I also wanted to focus more on developing the guild and had some personal matters going on at that time as well, and I'm still happy with that decision. Â As has been mentioned, Kylin and Ellie are both members of Crystalline and moderators here. Â Kylin can attest to the fact that I disagree with him regularly and would manage things with the RPC differently if I had the patience and tenacity that he possesses in his own management methods. Â I tend to look at Kylin the LS member as being separate from Kylin the RPC mod. Â We have an odd relationship like that, and we can disagree regularly and still respect each other in spite of those disagreements. Â But really I think the moderators chosen were selected not for being a part of one community or another, but rather for exhibiting calm and cool reactions in the face of some rather unpleasant situations. Â But you are correct - there is that perception of favoritism when a number of people from one group are in moderator positions. Â All I can really say is that there is no "power" being wielded, unless locking threads which are inflammatory is considered such - and most of the time I think almost all of us can agree with their decisions, when that happens.
Regarding the temporary block on recruitment, I do maintain that this is what's best to ensure the health of our community given what we are trying to do with it in-character. Â Towards the end of 1.0 we had a slight rise in membership and it is important to us that each pearl issued to a new member have a fitting reason attached to it. Â We're not a guild that hands them out willy-nilly - not that there is anything wrong with that. Â We are different, according to our stated purpose in 1.0 and transitioning that to our new purpose in ARR is proving to be a challenge. Â We have found some creative ways to introduce a few people in "under the radar" as it were, however after a certain point it goes against the goals of the community to allow a handful of people in when there isn't some sort of in-character mechanism in place for that. Â I don't expect this to be understood by all RPers, but it is an immersion thing and we do want all our members to be relatively comfortable with each other. Â Where we're at right now, we have a handful of members who joined up from various places who haven't had much time to interact in-character with the group from 1.0. Â This has always been intended to be a very gradual process of integrating new members. Â I've been doing this for a very long time and problems seem to crop up in some groups where too many new members are taken on too quickly without being given a suitable amount of time to integrate and feel the guild's style.
With regards to how long the recruitment status will be kept "temporarily closed", I bumped the LS thread just earlier today to indicate we're on goal with having doors open for potential new members sometime around mid-to-late August. Â I can't give an exact date because the events in RP govern this but I will bump the thread again when that happens. Â Even then, I think we'll be looking to keep our influx to a steady trickle. Â A poll of our members was conducted some time back and this has been generally agreed upon as the best policy for us.
I realize this may give certain perceptions which I really can't help. Â All I can say is that it's the nature of the beast. Â "Insular" and "Reclusive" are words I've heard spoken. Â Many of our members are pretty active on the forums and Skype channels - many will be joining multiple RPLS's to broaden their characters' horizons. Â This is not being discouraged. Â Most of us are looking forward to creating and hosting events. Â While I've admired the beta events posted that I've seen so far, it has been difficult for me as I've been wanting to create, schedule, and host similar such events but not being able to due to these temporary restrictions, however I still think it's for the best in order to preserve the essence of what Crystalline is and what it will become. Â I look at us as a horse that is going to be a bit late coming out of the gate, but one that runs strong. Â Of course now I'm sure someone will look at that metaphor and think we're competitive rather than collaborative. Â So instead, I look at us as a horse that is going to be a little late coming out of the gate, but one that runs strong so that he can join the other horses for tea and crumpets at the big horse table!
I guess I also don't really see us as a top dog LS for that reason. Â I think there's bigger groups now, and certainly those who are more clearly defined. Â I suppose we've been around for awhile and we've had a lot of good memories, but we were open to new members back in 1.0 and will be looking forward to welcoming more new faces again in ARR to join us in our adventures. Â We have some event ideas in store that we'd like to include the bigger community in. Â We're really excited about a lot of this stuff. Â So I guess I'm just a little taken back when I hear some of the more negative comments that have been stamped upon us.
All I can say is where I'm coming from with it. Â If you're not comfortable posting though, please feel free to take Alothia's advice and send her a PM to her to have a question or comment posted anonymously. Â I have no qualms about that. Â Or I invite you to send me a PM if you'd prefer not to post. Â I'm always glad to talk about the LS or RP in general.
Thank you for all the comments and constructive criticisms so far. Â I really do appreciate it. Â
Footnote: Â Please feel welcome to visit our forums! Â We have separate designations for prospective members and a category designed just for visitors from other guilds who have no intentions of joining but just want to hang out on our forums and gab. Â Most of the relevent forums are open to discussion. Â I just need a PM to tag you into the appropriate group. Â More information about that may be found HERE.
I would imagine most of the comments that are being made are being made OOCly or refer to that aspect of the guild and/or its members. Â As there's not yet much of a guild to speak of so much as 'the idea of a guild' it's tough to legitimately point the finger at something like that and say 'good', 'bad', or otherwise. Â So I understand a lot of the feedback may stem from OOC reactions to forum posts, or some of our members' participation along the various avenues of chat.
I can also understand wanting to preserve anonymity with regard to who may be spreading certain things about us. Â This would certainly not be the first time that someone has taken something said by one/some of our members and either split it from context or outright distorted it with the perceived intent of making us look bad. Â Most who know me well enough will attest that I'm not one who is prone to flying off the handle about things, and I wouldn't have asked for honest feedback if I wasn't prepared to hear what had to be said. Â I'm not looking to point fingers or make accusations. Â Being that I'm feeling somewhat villainized myself of late, I have no desire to pass that buck along to anyone else. Â I would however like to clarify what is truth and what may have been fabricated somewhere along the lines. Â I'm not perfect, and neither are our members. Â We have our own internal issues that we deal with on a more regular basis than I'd like - and I feel a lot of this stems from the fact that we are a high-immersion guild that has been stuck in a state of OOC for a rather extended period of time. Â For those of us who are devoted to this game and to preserving character, that is a rather daunting thing and the past several months have been pretty tough on some of our members, and there has been friction - and I'm sure some of that has at times spilled out into more public channels.
I do find it a little surprising that there is some perception that Crystalline "owns" the RPC. Â I admit this was a concern of ours awhile back and a large part of the reason I stepped down as one of the forum moderators. Â I also wanted to focus more on developing the guild and had some personal matters going on at that time as well, and I'm still happy with that decision. Â As has been mentioned, Kylin and Ellie are both members of Crystalline and moderators here. Â Kylin can attest to the fact that I disagree with him regularly and would manage things with the RPC differently if I had the patience and tenacity that he possesses in his own management methods. Â I tend to look at Kylin the LS member as being separate from Kylin the RPC mod. Â We have an odd relationship like that, and we can disagree regularly and still respect each other in spite of those disagreements. Â But really I think the moderators chosen were selected not for being a part of one community or another, but rather for exhibiting calm and cool reactions in the face of some rather unpleasant situations. Â But you are correct - there is that perception of favoritism when a number of people from one group are in moderator positions. Â All I can really say is that there is no "power" being wielded, unless locking threads which are inflammatory is considered such - and most of the time I think almost all of us can agree with their decisions, when that happens.
Regarding the temporary block on recruitment, I do maintain that this is what's best to ensure the health of our community given what we are trying to do with it in-character. Â Towards the end of 1.0 we had a slight rise in membership and it is important to us that each pearl issued to a new member have a fitting reason attached to it. Â We're not a guild that hands them out willy-nilly - not that there is anything wrong with that. Â We are different, according to our stated purpose in 1.0 and transitioning that to our new purpose in ARR is proving to be a challenge. Â We have found some creative ways to introduce a few people in "under the radar" as it were, however after a certain point it goes against the goals of the community to allow a handful of people in when there isn't some sort of in-character mechanism in place for that. Â I don't expect this to be understood by all RPers, but it is an immersion thing and we do want all our members to be relatively comfortable with each other. Â Where we're at right now, we have a handful of members who joined up from various places who haven't had much time to interact in-character with the group from 1.0. Â This has always been intended to be a very gradual process of integrating new members. Â I've been doing this for a very long time and problems seem to crop up in some groups where too many new members are taken on too quickly without being given a suitable amount of time to integrate and feel the guild's style.
With regards to how long the recruitment status will be kept "temporarily closed", I bumped the LS thread just earlier today to indicate we're on goal with having doors open for potential new members sometime around mid-to-late August. Â I can't give an exact date because the events in RP govern this but I will bump the thread again when that happens. Â Even then, I think we'll be looking to keep our influx to a steady trickle. Â A poll of our members was conducted some time back and this has been generally agreed upon as the best policy for us.
I realize this may give certain perceptions which I really can't help. Â All I can say is that it's the nature of the beast. Â "Insular" and "Reclusive" are words I've heard spoken. Â Many of our members are pretty active on the forums and Skype channels - many will be joining multiple RPLS's to broaden their characters' horizons. Â This is not being discouraged. Â Most of us are looking forward to creating and hosting events. Â While I've admired the beta events posted that I've seen so far, it has been difficult for me as I've been wanting to create, schedule, and host similar such events but not being able to due to these temporary restrictions, however I still think it's for the best in order to preserve the essence of what Crystalline is and what it will become. Â I look at us as a horse that is going to be a bit late coming out of the gate, but one that runs strong. Â Of course now I'm sure someone will look at that metaphor and think we're competitive rather than collaborative. Â So instead, I look at us as a horse that is going to be a little late coming out of the gate, but one that runs strong so that he can join the other horses for tea and crumpets at the big horse table!
I guess I also don't really see us as a top dog LS for that reason. Â I think there's bigger groups now, and certainly those who are more clearly defined. Â I suppose we've been around for awhile and we've had a lot of good memories, but we were open to new members back in 1.0 and will be looking forward to welcoming more new faces again in ARR to join us in our adventures. Â We have some event ideas in store that we'd like to include the bigger community in. Â We're really excited about a lot of this stuff. Â So I guess I'm just a little taken back when I hear some of the more negative comments that have been stamped upon us.
All I can say is where I'm coming from with it. Â If you're not comfortable posting though, please feel free to take Alothia's advice and send her a PM to her to have a question or comment posted anonymously. Â I have no qualms about that. Â Or I invite you to send me a PM if you'd prefer not to post. Â I'm always glad to talk about the LS or RP in general.
Thank you for all the comments and constructive criticisms so far. Â I really do appreciate it. Â
Footnote: Â Please feel welcome to visit our forums! Â We have separate designations for prospective members and a category designed just for visitors from other guilds who have no intentions of joining but just want to hang out on our forums and gab. Â Most of the relevent forums are open to discussion. Â I just need a PM to tag you into the appropriate group. Â More information about that may be found HERE.
"One of the deep secrets of life is that all that is really worth doing is what we do for others." Â ~ Lewis Carol
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Eva's Journals  |  Eva's Wiki Page (coming soon)  |  RP Handbook