Coming Soon : Guilds!

[n00b]

Guilds

To be released between late February and mid March

The Basics

• No more than 12 guilds, one for each element (however, it may get folded into 6 or 4 depending on participants)
• Each guild will compete against each other throughout the year in Forum-based and PvP-based competitions
• Each guild will have a Leader/Secretary (whichever name we choose), who could either be elected by the guild itself or be the master of the element/appointed by the master (if there is 12 guilds)
  
• • The leader of the guild would be responsible for tallying any points gotten and to oversee the guild
  • A new Leader is elected by the guildmembers every 2-3 months
  • • Points would be awarded from organized PvP wins (including tournaments), possibly forum game wins, and a reduced amount will be given to teams as their members' cards advance through the CIA
• Guildmasters (overseeing this whole thing) provide creative Forum-based/PvP-based challenges and tasks each week/10 days that guildmembers may compete in to earn team points. Two Guildmasters will be hired via application process
• Brawl may be folded into a larger grouping of PvP/Forum Events, worked on by Brawlmaster(s) and Guildmasters
• Guilds will each get their own secret sections with the Guild leader being a moderator of it
• There will be a fancy, secret-for-now way of showing who is in what guild
• Guildmasters will devise a way to keep guild-joining fair

Schedule

• The schedule of events, if Brawl gets folded into a series of Guild activities, could go Trials-War-Brawl-Trials.

Rewards

• The only reward being revealed right now is that team points can be used to buy guild-related things, the major being secret guild sub-forums (to go in the secret section that each guild has by default)
• More rewards have been figured out and discussed, but we're still open to suggestions

More details will come out as time progresses.

Please note: this is not finalized, and most of the things are subject to change. Use this thread to give any suggestions and feedback, as well as asking questions.

[Hyroen]

Very interesting. Excited to see this unfold and transform the forums.

[justaburd]

Bet you if you put mark codes up for purchase people would flock to guilds like lambs to the slaughter. I mean... fireflies to the electric zapper? Er...

[Onizuka]

And I have the top post. Yeeeee

[n00b]

FAQs (also transferred from the Guildmaster hiring thread):

Q: Will Guilds be forum-only, or will there be an in-game part to them too?
A: They will end up consisting of a combination of both forum-based events as well as PvP Events.

Q: Will this interfere with War?
A: Hopefully not (unless you're a Guildmaster, ofc), as this isn't scheduled to start until March. With this also being a milder event (which it can be due to being much longer than the others), we hope that War burnout won't affect the attendance too much.

Q: More info?
A: As this isn't coming out for a while, we didn't want to release it so early in advance, though the "full" release of Guilds and all they entail will happen mid-February. What more we could say is that this will include teams earning points based on winning (or scoring highly in, to be discussed) PvP Events and Forum-Based Competitions, as well as the Guildmasters having small tasks the each Guild can do in a period of time, most likely a week or 10 days (said tasks would be for points and not required).

Q: Does 12 guilds mean one for each element?
A: Yes, that is the plan, unless we get next to no participation, then we will lower it as needed.

Q: Do you have to join a Guild, and, if not, how will not being in a Guild effect you?
A: No, you do not have to be in a Guild. Also, not being in a Guild won't do too much to you, it could be considered as not participating in Brawl or War. Also, if you choose to not join a Guild, you can always change your mind and rejoin once Guilds take members again, which will happen roughly each month.

Q: How does joining a Guild help us?
A: Like all events (keep in mind, this is much more mild and will last much longer), this will give you experience in not only PvP-related things, but Competition-related things as well. Being in a Guild encourages you to be more active in the community, and it also will give you a chance to help out newer players, if they would choose to join a Guild.

Q: How are guilds going to function and stay stable over the long term given (presumably) similar membership sizes and activity levels [to War]?
A: There are a few ways that we have considered. The first of these would be to have some required events, where if you miss X of them, you will be replaced. Another could be that at the end of a certain period, people could be "evaluated" by fellow guild-members, and then voted off if considered too inactive (Guildmasters would watch this to make sure it isn't abused). Lastly, the Leader of the Guild could PM the Guildmasters explaining the situation, and then Guildmasters could watch their activity (both in Guilds and on the forums in general) to decide whether or not they should be replaced/removed.
Also, as I derpingly read your question, the size of Guilds completely depends on those who decide to participate. If we have less people, we could combine Guilds to make 6 or 4 total (two or three elements to a guild). I'd say the least we would want on each Guild if we had 12 would be 4 or 5 people plus the Leader, though, if it's on that borderline, we could fold Guilds in half so each would have more members. Hopefully, more people will participate, as, and I've said this quite a few times, Guilds are supposed to be much more mild than War/Brawl, and easier to join.

Q: How easy/difficult will it be to change Guilds?  Is it left up to the Guildmaster, or has there been a defined process to do so if it allowed?
A: There will be a process that needs to happen (still in the works), but we know for sure that to join another Guild, you need to give your current Guild a three-day notice as well as remaining guildless for one week before being able to join another.

Q: Do I have to be a PVP'er to be in a guild?
A: Nonono, PvPing is one aspect of what happens in a Guild, but Forum-Based things, including but not limited to Card Creation, Competitions, and possibly Forum-Based Games also play a part. The goal of Guilds is to have something for everyone.

Q: Can Guildmasters join Guilds?
A: Yet to be determined, but for sure they cannot join for the first "round" of Guilds (as in, until the next Leader gets elected)

[EmeraldTiger]

As I PM'ed n00b in chat, I think some form of Application will be needed.

[vrt]

Alternative title: "War drama now year-round!"

[Absol]

I decided to not apply as Guildmaster just so i can enter Guild myself.

[Naesala]

Hrm? What exactly do you mean by "folded in?"

[BluePriest]

I think part of the problem this will run into is, like war it requires a commitment, only this one is year round. This is a good and bad thing.

Good:It gets people active
Bad:It forces people to stay active, which means people wont participate in it due to this.

I could be wrong, but I think guilds would overall be more active, if so much participation wasnt required, but was recomended (this could be left up to the guild leader as well).
What do I mean?
For example: say I decided to join  (ps,  is better, but this is just an example). I dont see any events for a whole month that really interest me. I chat with my fellow guildlings, but aside from that I dont really do much. Im booted due to inactivity or not participating in x amount of events. This sounds like it would be a good thing. Optimistically a guild like this would have around 10 active members? Idk how much guilds will take off, but this is just an example.

Example 2 though would be I decided to join  (ps,  is better, but this is just an example). I dont see any events for a whole month that really interest me. I chat with my fellow guildlings, but aside from that I dont really do much. Im not booted or anything like that due to inactivity, even though I go a couple months without doing anything aside from chatting. Then an event comes around, and I am interested in it. Optimistically, this same guild could have 20 (or even more) members, about half of them active at any 1 given time.

Why do I think 2 would be better than 1?
To put it bluntly, this is a game, not a job. There is a reason war burns people out. It turns the game into a job if you arent careful. Its good for guilds to have activities and all that, but if it turns too much into work, like war does, then you either wont have high participation, or you will have people burnt out.

Note Im sleepy, its late. Nothing I said may even be relevant due to me misreading something.

"guildmembers may compete in to earn team points." makes me think that my whole post may be irrelevant, but I figure I will just throw it out there anyways. Perhaps even if participation in these events is more a bonus than a requirement, it will give people something to think about.

[Absol]

As with BP, i prefer the second way, where guild may be large but only contains few active members. However, selection should still apply.
As of now, i'm attracted to Guild just because it sounds fun, not because it's gateway for events. And i'm sure many would also prefer 2.

[russianspy1234]

I'm thinking folding in guilds is a good idea regardless of how many participants we get, it will distinguish them even more from War.  Plus, the word guild to me connotes more than one elements working together.