“Why do some members get elevated to an officer role so quickly?”

Some newer members have stepped up and assumed leadership roles. We offer a process for filling leadership roles, which typically goes like this: 1) Leadership posts an open officer or class leader position on Discord; 2) Member steps up and let us know they are interested; 3) Leadership has conversations with those who have stepped up; 4) Leadership decides who is the best fit for the job. It is the responsibility of the member to step up and voice that they are interested in a leadership role.

“Officers and class leaders with lower raid attendance should not be in leadership roles.”

We have no plans to implement a raid attendance policy for members or leadership. We’re not that kind of guild. Officers and class leads are evaluated on a case by case basis to better serve the needs of the guild, and should one go inactive for an extended period of time, there is a process for outreach and evaluation of that role. Several of our officers, while not in-game as often as others, are very active on Discord and continue to work behind the scenes.

“The leadership of the guild is cliquey. It seems like the majority of the leaders know each other IRL. It seems like this is influencing decisions like promotions, guild groups, and other communication.”

A few of the officers do know each other in real life, but the majority of them don’t. Some of them knew each other before they joined the guild. Some have formed friendships from their time spent in the guild and have met each other IRL as a result and become great lifelong friends. While these connections exist, they do not influence promotions within the guild. Please read the above response on how officer and class leader roles are selected.

“Officers need to help new recruits more with levels, gear, etc.”

While officers are already doing this on a regular basis, it is not the sole responsibility of the officers to help everyone. Recruits need to take some personal responsibility for leveling and gearing up their character, and existing members are also encouraged to assist people who ask for help. It’s really a collective effort. We recently expanded our recruitment team and brought on an Onboarding Officer to strengthen this process. See our Onboarding Officer for questions regarding recruitment, guild resources, and the onboarding process.

“I want everyone to be able to invite recruits again.”

Our guild has grown to the point where we need to be more strategic about our recruitment process. We have formed a robust recruitment team that will assist with onboarding of new guild members. If you want someone invited to the guild, any officer or class leader can invite, as long as that player is in the same zone.

“It can be hard to get an officer to invite your Alt/Box/Recruit to the guild.”

Anyone marked Class Leader or Officer can invite new players to the guild. Please remember it is not just officers. Bringing your alt/box/recruit to a hub like PoK or Nexus, or offering to meet the officer in a zone that is convenient to them, can help expedite the invitation process. Also, use #welcome on Discord to tag @officers for an invite if someone is available to do so, but no guarantees – it is ultimately up to the recruit to make the effort to get an invite to the guild.

“The guild bank is not transparent.”

The guild bank has always been accessible via the Forums, for those who have inquired in regards to the guild bank. The guild bank info is also posted on Discord under the #guild-bank-info channel. All items are accessible via Magelo links and have been completely accessible to guild members since September 2019. Guidelines on how to withdraw items from the guild bank have been posted since September 2019 as well. Sometimes there is a delay in when items are sent to the guild bank and when the inventory is updated.

1. The guild bank serves two primary purposes.
   To help gear members of the guild with items or spells needed by their main characters.
2. To fund the purchase of spells or equipment needed by the guild for progression. This is accomplished by either
   • Selling guild bank items to guildies for alts or boxes at 50% of market value
   • Selling guild bank items on the market for as much as we can get!

Example: Several items and spells are collected after a raid. One of the items of non-dkp value and one spell is needed as upgrades by a cleric main. Those are handed out for free. One item is desired by a main enchanter for her monk alt. She pays the guild 50% of the market value for the item for her alt. Some of the remaining items and spells are sold by the banker(s) on the market for exorbitant prices and the proceeds are used to supply tempers for members’ bane weapons for a raid encounter.

“This guild isn’t casual enough anymore.”

We are continuously evolving and balancing our membership to be inclusive for all types of players. A few changes have been made to maintain our casual-friendly status. We have raided 3 days a week since Summer 2019 and have no plans to increase the number of raid nights. We have introduced Friday Fun Night which focuses more on guild camaraderie and enjoying time together doing non-raid related things. We continue to have fun, lower-level events on Sundays for the casual player. There is no required attendance percentage to raid with us, nor is there a minimum attendance level required to bid on loot. Instructions are given to members about new encounters by the raid leaders rather than requiring every member to read and be familiar with the strategies on their own before-hand. These are just some of the ways we strive to maintain a casual environment while pursuing our objectives of completing the full range of content that the game offers.

“I want more focus on epics, Shawl Quests, Ring Wars, and guild groups.”

Cleric epics will always be helpful, but beyond that, epics – while a nice item – have been surpassed by drops from groupable content. It will be the responsibility of the member to submit raid requests on the Forums if they need help with an epic, or mobilize a raid for themselves.

Prayer Shawl is still useful, but you don’t need support from leadership or a raid to obtain it anymore. As for guild groups, they are always happening, 24/7. Our growth as a guild has made it easier than ever to find a group. Some days you may find a group quickly, other times you may have a wait. Try starting a new group! You may find there were several people all waiting for a group. Take the initiative!

“How can I submit suggestions for improvement on raid strategy?”

There are three methods:

1. Submit questions/comments to officers BEFORE or AFTER (not during) raids in a tell or Discord PM. It is NEVER appropriate to interject during raids and try to change the way an encounter is done.
2. Submit questions/comments on the Forums in the appropriate section.
3. Submit questions/comments in the #raid-strategy-questions channel on Discord.

“People are too spread out during raids. It makes it hard to buff.”

If people don’t get buffed with MGBs or group buffs, that’s on them for being AFK or not following directions and being away from the group during buffs. It’s also on them if they do not send tells to the appropriate class if they missed a buff. We provide ample opportunity for folks to get in range for buffs.

“Raid leaders should be responsible for buff and MGB cadences. It’s difficult to know when to buff and then I am rebuffing mid-fight.”

This may have been a challenge in the past with shorter duration buffs but it should no longer be an issue. It is the responsibility of class leads to coordinate appropriate buffs to the raid. Listen to raid leaders when they call out appropriate times to buff. We used to hand hold with buffs but we won’t do this anymore.

“Raid leaders need to stop focusing so much on shrink and healing potions during raids.”

Shrink and healing potions are important for raids. Our raid demographic is beginner to expert skill level, so we will continue to make these imperatives clear for new and veteran members. It is the member’s responsibility to get their own shrink or healing potions, but we also bring ample supply for those who did not bring their own. Either way, we make it work.

“Raids used to be more fun. Now our raid leaders are too serious and I feel like I can’t make a joke during a raid.”

It’s a tricky balance. We do promote a loose atmosphere on raids but with a higher raid attendance (now almost always pushing max 72 raiders) it is important to focus on the task at hand during an encounter or during mobilization. These are growing pains as we acclimate newer members to the guild. Downtime and buffing is a great opportunity for chatting and asking questions, but with more people comes more voices and so we have been trying to balance that.

“There’s too much chatter in /raidsay and Discord during raids.”

Players are encouraged to utilize the appropriate chat channels during raids and raid leaders have implemented Priority Speaker in Discord to ensure that important commands are heard. Of course, there’s always room for improvement, but recent growth in the guild comes with its own set of growing pains, and we are always trying to make it easier! Unfortunately though, we can’t please everyone. If you are asked to cut the chatter during the raid please know it’s not that we are not interested in what you have to say, but we need to retain focus of the situation at hand.

“I want to see a list of locked down items for loot distribution per expansion.”

We won’t have locked down items in PoP. Read the latest iteration of our Charter as a reference on how loot will be distributed based on focus effects and other variables.

“Why can’t I be invited to pre-clear and be counted for DKP unless I am at the AoC and with the raid?”

This change was made based on fairness. Obviously it is not fair to award folks with DKP for pre-clear if they are not present at pre-clear, or were AFK the whole time. The change also encourages folks to plan accordingly and if they plan to show up late, then they need to find their own transportation to the raid instead of disrupting raid leaders to find ports for them. It’s all about being self-sufficient and enforcing accountability.

“We need to focus more on back-gearing people from previous expansion content (NToV, Vex Thal, etc.) who haven’t had an opportunity to get as much gear on raids, instead of upgrading raid gear of the most elite raiders.”

Given our casual style of raiding, we typically finish content one expansion behind. For example, we finished Velious (defeated Vulak) near the end of Luclin. We plan to finish Luclin (defeat Aten Ha Ra) by the end of PoP. Similarly to NToV, which was indeed a loot pinata, Vex Thal will be a great opportunity to gear up all players. Also note that crafting just got a whole lot better with PoP, and a lot of the crafted or quest gear in PoP is better than NToV, for example, so we are really beyond NToV at this point, but we may consider a victory tour in the future.

“We talk and prepare too much on raids.”

We are guilty of over-preparing and also underestimating ourselves. The first time we attempt an encounter will always be slower than the second. A lot of folks in the guild have never experienced current content before, and we need to accommodate players of all skill levels. We have no plans to rush through content because we want to be inclusive to everyone and ensure that everyone understands. We are working on ways to maximize efficiency. That said, there are encounters that are complex and we cannot simply zerg through and expect success. Uncontrolled rampage can wipe the raid. Loose pets can wipe the raid. Uncontrolled adds or unresisted AoE can wipe the raid. These are things where a few extra moments of preparation can avoid losing an hour to a CR.

“We have too much overtime on raids.”

This used to be a recurring theme, but we have since adjusted and now raids rarely end after the official end time. And, if the raid does end late, no one is obligated to stay.

“We don’t progress fast enough. I’m going to leave the guild if we don’t progress at my preferred pace!”

Please know that by joining this guild, we assume you are familiar with its Mission and Vision. If you are not, it is posted on every page of the website.

• Mission Statement: “Our goal is to be a highly reputable guild in the EverQuest community with a laid-back, but very active, core group of members, focused on progressing through new content at our own pace.”
• Vision Statement: “To maintain a family-style guild structure, composed of mature, like-minded individuals who strive to help each other in any way possible while creating lasting friendships and a positive, inclusive environment for all.”