Both policies are indeed still in effect.
The reason behind the NA restriction is because we desire to keep our FC small. Regardless of how many NA and EU applications we get (we only take a set amount of applications with each round of recruitment, again to limit size), we always close recruitment once a month in order to give our new members time to acclimatize to the guild and get to know one another. Nobody likes feeling lost, or like an extra in a movie; taking this approach to recruitment allows us to prevent cliques and give our new members the extra attention they might need. We are very, very adamant about providing a fun and quality experience to all our members, and that takes time.
The rarity of EU players is why EU recruitment tends to remain open even after our recruitment periods close. It can get lonely being an EU player in a mostly NA guild, and we want to ensure our EU community always has someone to play with. For every 10 NA apps we receive, we may only get 1 EU applicant, and that's why we're more willing to make exceptions for European players. If we didn't, NA applications would take up all of our open slots when we opened recruitment again, and then EU players would never get in.
I hope this makes some sense to you. As previously stated, these policies are not in effect in order to discriminate against players, and we're certainly sorry if they've prevented anyone who really wanted to from applying. We simply wish to retain a small, inclusive, diverse guild, and sometimes that unfortunately means keeping the door closed for a while.
The reason behind the NA restriction is because we desire to keep our FC small. Regardless of how many NA and EU applications we get (we only take a set amount of applications with each round of recruitment, again to limit size), we always close recruitment once a month in order to give our new members time to acclimatize to the guild and get to know one another. Nobody likes feeling lost, or like an extra in a movie; taking this approach to recruitment allows us to prevent cliques and give our new members the extra attention they might need. We are very, very adamant about providing a fun and quality experience to all our members, and that takes time.
The rarity of EU players is why EU recruitment tends to remain open even after our recruitment periods close. It can get lonely being an EU player in a mostly NA guild, and we want to ensure our EU community always has someone to play with. For every 10 NA apps we receive, we may only get 1 EU applicant, and that's why we're more willing to make exceptions for European players. If we didn't, NA applications would take up all of our open slots when we opened recruitment again, and then EU players would never get in.
I hope this makes some sense to you. As previously stated, these policies are not in effect in order to discriminate against players, and we're certainly sorry if they've prevented anyone who really wanted to from applying. We simply wish to retain a small, inclusive, diverse guild, and sometimes that unfortunately means keeping the door closed for a while.
