New forum: Guilds?

[Alora Sionn]

The first time I joined tarvalon.net was I believe in 2010, and I remember back then there being guilds (Gleeman's guild, healing guild etc). When I became a citizen this time around I went looking for the guilds as they were a favorite part of my experience here, but saw they had been replaced by the Discussion groups. Which is ok, because that makes sense

However I had been thinking for awhile about how much I missed the guilds. For citizen's besides the tavern it was one of the first groups you could belong to, and it was a great intro into getting to know all the different amazing people we have here at tv.net It was a way you could be part of a group based on your interests, and for new citizens or resident citizens it was the only specific group they could be a part of right off the bat (being apart of an ajah or a company is something to dream of in the future for a citizen since it is a long road to both, and guilds gave them a group to belong to before that )

In a way that has become the purpose of the Brand of the Red Hand, a place for new citizens or resident citizens to have a place to belong, an identity on tv.net besides general newbie before they ascend to novicehood/recruithood and seek their Tower home (that is not to say it is limited to just citizens as many people stick around long afterwards!) While this is a cool thing I think it would be cool if others could make their own guilds, different groups that citizens and beyond could browse and become a part of, in addition to their ajah and company. I think this would add to the immense amount of fun and rich community that we already have here on tv.net.

So here is my petition to add Guilds as a forum here on tv.net. Each "guild" could have its own thread and wouldn't need its own subforum, (unless such time as it would evolve into this being wanted and needed, which I don't see happening for a while). It could be accessable by members citizen and up, and would be open for people to make their own guilds, subject to the rules of the site of course. I can't forsee any immediate problems this would cause but if anyone sees something I don't I'll be glad to try and answer and see if I can adjust my proposal to be suitable

I eagerly await opinions and responses!

 

[Brandegoris Al'Mor]

* Rides in exhausted* :horsey
This Is a Splendid Idea!! It sounds like so much awesome!!!!

 

[Ubahsur Kindellaer]

http://library.tarvalon.net/index.php?title=Guilds

The Guilds were designed to be a means of providing a sense of community that transcended rank. [...] They were not meant to take the place of Ajahs and Companies, nor were they equal to them. Guilds were simply meant to provide a place for people with similar interests to come together and discuss various aspects of those interests.

What you describe as a sense of belonging could be the "community building" aspect. This is still present in the Discussion forums.

Having member created subgroups for that sense of belonging when not part of an Ajah or Company is a common phenomena of citizens and junior members through the entire history of the organization. There has been Duck Friends, Lolipop Girls, The Naked Brothers and Sisters, Cabana Kay, etc. as a few examples. The guilds as you describe them will most likely not come back, since we tried it and it has evolved into something else.

We do regularly review programs and procedures at the Admin Meetings, the next one will be this Fall. I recommend that when the agenda is posted, that you reach out to the appropriate admin (Keeper?) to see if this can be added. I suggest waiting only so that it isn't forgotten between now and then.

 

[Alora Sionn]

Ok, I'll definitely have a detailed proposal written up by then My main reason for posting this was to find out if a forum (or subforum in General as would also be good ) could be created specifically for these mini groups already created (and those that have yet to be created) so that they wouldn't be scattered around in various other places (General, The Tavern, Fun Stuff, or just not having a specific home at all). As it stands, the Band is on its third incarnation of threads and is 10 pages away from having to make a fourth, so it and others like it having their own place at tv.net was my best idea for keeping them from cluttering up another forum

Thank you for your reply and I will definitely see how we can make this happen! Even if it were called Community Groups instead of guilds I think it would be a great addition to tv.net!

 

[Maibella ni Rhoiden t'al'Varrak]

Thanks for such a quick response Ubah Sedai!

Alora - if you need help crafting a more formal proposal for the Admin Meeting to discuss, just let me know!

 

[Alora Sionn]

Will do Mai, that would be awesome

 

[Ealandrelle Melyma]

Thank you Ubah Sedai :curtsey

I agree wholeheartedly with what Alora is saying So I'm not going to repeat or paraphrase why I think it's a great idea, Alora has done that already

 

[Laralelle Susandrea]

I go back and forth myself on this issue to be honest. I know the reason behind dissolving the guilds, and it makes sense. But having them makes sense too. My White brain can't cope with the conflicting logic :white

 

[Dars al'Kaskade]

For whatever it's worth, I am with you, Alora. I understand that this issue has already been dealt with, but I have to say that the idea of Guilds (honestly even if just in the terminology) seems possessed of some sense of community that is lacking in the presentation of Discussion Halls. Not to say anything pointless, but these are thoughts that I had when I first got here and was reading up on things.

So if I could ever be of any help with anything related to this, I would gladly do so.

 

[Niere al'Aman]

Yeah....I miss the old guilds, too. :\

 

[Lenore Carvoe]

Me, too.

 

[Sorcha Al'Verdan]

I don't personally miss the guilds that much. I also wouldn't miss it if the discussion forums went bye bye.

 

[Raeviendha al'Toma]

Sorcha Sedai that's very interesting.. may I ask why you don't like the Discussion Forums? I'm just interested in every view point.

 

[Arecias Dezell]

For whatever it's worth, I am with you, Alora. I understand that this issue has already been dealt with, but I have to say that the idea of Guilds (honestly even if just in the terminology) seems possessed of some sense of community that is lacking in the presentation of Discussion Halls. Not to say anything pointless, but these are thoughts that I had when I first got here and was reading up on things.

So if I could ever be of any help with anything related to this, I would gladly do so.

Thanks Dars We have a FB page I can Pm you we're going to discuss the plan. I'll let you know if your interested

 

[Kaldam Luciere]

I don't personally miss the guilds that much. I also wouldn't miss it if the discussion forums went bye bye.

I ain't throwing away CE without a fight.

*puts up his dukes*

 

[Arecias Dezell]

I don't think CE should go away, I think it is important to have that forum here. We really get to know each other views, and by that get know each other better

 

[Alora Sionn]

What I was proposing wouldn't take away anything, it would just add one more forum, or even subforum. Thank you for the support If you all want to help with ideas or anything let me know

 

[Ubahsur Kindellaer]

One could say that the Apartments is a place where these groups could have a home.

Also, the 2010 Membership Survey showed the following:

13 people used the Guilds on a daily basis
46 on a weekly basis
31 on a monthly basis
44 on a rarely basis

Out of an active membership of 500, having 10% ish use it on a weekly basis for all the work that went into the Guilds (moderation, trying to generate discussions/activity, etc) it seemed like it was not a good use of our resources and was not as community building as we hoped it would be. Also only 24 members (out of 500) felt that the guilds were Very Important to their membership. The breakdown was also interesting in that it was predominantly Americans (62%) and Accepted/Soldiers and Senior Members (72%) that utilized the Guilds, showing that the community building across multiple countries and for Citizens was not happening as much as we had wanted (i.e. the primary reason Guilds were created. ) When asked specifically if Guilds accomplished the goal of community building, only 66 members stated that it did so (Very or Somewhat Important.)

:nerd

 

[Alora Sionn]

I shouldn't have used the word Guilds because of the previous guilds, I'm thinking of something slightly different

 

[Brandegoris Al'Mor]

Cliques? LOLOOL
Club?
Coterie?

All the names!!!!! :P