Effective immediately we're adopting a priority focus on PvE content, specifically end-game content. The reason for this is that, of all the activities available in-game, PvE requires the most planning and attention to make work. PvP does not require a set number of people to queue for and can be done on the fly at the moment. Crafting is an add-on to the game, not a true focus - more on that later. Role playing has not had any serious interest since the game launched four months ago and, again, is not dependent on a rigid number of people nor does it require the proper mix of roles.

To that end, and because of the above observations about the other play styles, we are abolishing the PSO rank altogether. The idea of a senior officer in charge of a particular play style looked good on paper but the reality of the game is such that it has not panned out in any shape or form as intended. We're also removing all currently serving officers in an effort to reduce the officer to member ratio - which was damn near 1:1.

We are also removing the Veteran rank. Previously the Veteran rank was something obtained by reaching level cap with a character. However, almost all of our level 50s are were also officers, rendering the rank moot. Additionally, with the inclusion of the new class cap badges the rank is superfluous.

Moving forward we will only have the Council, Officers, Members, and Initiates (with the addition of Prospect in-game for people recruited on the fly). Most of the responsibilities of the PSOs will now be moved to the Council.

With the move to PvE we'll be adopting a ops leader / ops officer set up. An ops leader (raid leader, if you prefer) is an Officer who schedules and leads operations on a regular basis. Ops leaders need to be knowledgeable about the operations they are running and experienced in running them - this includes teaching new raiders the ropes and making the call to remove a geared player from a normal mode to let a lesser geared player have a chance at getting geared, if needed. Ops officers (raid officers) are assistants to the ops leaders. They have no formal rank, authority, or privilege outside of an active operation and are assigned by the ops leader at the time of the operation. In other words, ops officers are not part of the normal chain of command of the guild but they are part of the chain in an operation.

At the moment we have two Ops leaders - Spitfyre and Ender. They will be scheduling and running operations on a regular basis from here on out. When joining an operation, the ops leader is in charge; their authority during an op supersedes even the Council. The same goes for their appointed ops officers. If you have questions about operations or what you need to join one, ask the ops leaders.

Crafting, as mentioned, is being dropped as a focus. There's just no need for that much organization around it. However, we will be designating individuals as guild crafters. You can identify them in-game by the rank "Guild Crafter" or on the site sporting the title and an as-yet unmade badge similar to the level cap badges. Guild Crafters have priority on schematics and materials with the understanding that they are to use that priority to craft for the guild - either to outfit our members or to sell for money to put into the guild bank. Once 1.2 goes live Guild Crafters will have relaxed restrictions on crafting shelves but otherwise have no additional power - the rank is purely to manage guild bank access and to identify who to go to if you need something crafted.

Yes, that's right - a lottery. We'll be instituting a lottery to be drawn on a regular basis. Details are being hashed out but the initial schedule will likely either be every other week or once a month, depending on interest. Members can buy one or more "ticket" for an amount of credits yet to be determined but likely not that steep. Each ticket allows the member to pick a set of numbers which will be recorded on the site. Every drawing will feature a /roll for each number available on a ticket with each matching number giving a different payout - all the numbers for the jackpot, obviously. A percentage of the ticket sales goes to guild funds to help pay for bank tabs, etc. The rest goes into the pot. Each drawing that does not have a jack pot winner(s) will roll over into the next drawing's jack pot. To avoid any issues of trust the drawings will be recorded - either live streamed, frapsed, or both. The point of the lottery, though, is just to provide a fun diversion and help raise money for the guild.

We had an issue with this meeting of almost no-one RSVPing. I think part of that was the directions given to "RSVP if you can make it" which was likely misleading. For the future, whenever we have an event and especially if we ask for an RSVP, check the upcoming event and let us know if you are going to make it or not. We won't think less of you for RSVPing "Not Attending", we just want a semi-accurate headcount of people who will be there and those who might be there. All future meetings will have an RSVP section and you'll always be invited (you'll get a mail through the website). Please take the time to tells, one way or another, if you'll be making it to those events. Thank you.

Rank Colors / Icons

Since we're restructuring the ranks and adding images to all primary ranks I felt a visual primary would be in order. So, here we are:

HoK will be restructuring a bit and we have a lot of announcements about the future of the guild. After our announcements there'll be time for a Q&A session and an opportunity to bring up any issues or comments you'd like.

This is a major milestone and we'd like everyone who can attend to be there, so please make the effort.

Mumble's older versions apparently suffer from an expired certificate. A new version is available but you have to uninstall the old version. Just follow the directions in the link.

In case you missed it, this site includes built in event management (you should see upcoming events above this post), raid/DKP management, operation progression tracking, a true roster of characters, and much finer control over what's displayed where. Not to mention that registering with the site and applying to the guild happens all at the same time instead of piecemeal!

Unfortunately I don't have a way for current members to skip the application (one downside of Enjin over Guild Launch) so you'll have to fill it out. Just put whatever and leave a comment with your user name on the other site if it differs. Durron and I are standing by to mass move folks into their appropriate roles to try and make this as painless as possible.

Be sure to add your main character, at the very least, as many event/raid options require character info.

Once again, welcome, and let us know if you have any issues.