Since it seems to be the mood around here.

[Gnomency]

I feel I should inform you all that I myself have been spending a great deal of time thinking about leaving LDK. A great deal means its an idea I've been kicking around my head since september, and unfortunatly for me it has also become a better looking one every day since then. *Random Note: I'm a slow thinker, takes me like 40 mins to decide what I want for lunch.*

Now my reasoning behind this is not like Frost, I have very little actual want to progress myself, I've been doing better recently than I have in a long time. On another note I'm also not thinking like Con here, in that Sony has given me the short end of the stick. Actually Necros have been the worst off class for a very very long time, our power back in Kunark times equals what it does today, which is to say we are just now getting back up to where we got smashed down. Don't believe me? Well you wouldn't know the history of necros like a necro would.

My thinking for this whole leaving idea is however partially related to our leadership. I don't mean Gael mind you, he isn't even around enough to count as a leader much more. He's that figurehead you throw up to draw attention away from the real problems and he has less influence in anything around here than a child 4000 miles away who can't even say Everquest. Which I don't hold against him, life sucks for him but still your life is alot more important than a stupid game. No my arguement is unfortunatly with our officer core. Its not at any one in particular and I value you all as friends but I've unfortunatly found that there has been alot less leaderlike thinking coming from you all recently. Especially when it comes to who is joining our guild.

Now time for the stupid example to explain what I just tried horribly to say...

LDK is a family, as far as I know it always has been and always wants to be. I've been told it was formed by a bunch of friends outside of Blackburrow a long time ago. I wouldn't know I wasn't around then, hell I knew as much about the game then as that child I mentioned earlier. However I did end up joining in time to catch a good deal of the mess that split the core of the guild in about half. I can't say I felt much at that time because I didn't know any of you. But back on track here, LDK is a family. We try to be a family and help those of like minded members of our family. We try to get along with them. We go out and have "family reunions" with them along so they don't feel left out. However as I was trying to say earlier about our officers in terms of this who messy analogy is that we have recently seemed to start inviting people from just about anywhere. For example, and this is a personal one, when I go to a family reunion I don't make it a point to go and invite everyone else in the same park as the reunion. They aren't my family, I might bring along a friend or someone I knew decently (Because I'm antisocial I have about 1 true friend irl but a couple others that I hang out with) but thats it. I certainly would not grab random people off the street and invite them in, not wihtout even getting to know them in the least.

Now I've gone and confused myself rather decently, or used and example inside a supposed example, or something....told you I was confused.

Anyways back on track once more. LDK is reaching a rather amazing level of players, no longer are our numbers entirely due to a few people, their alts, and 200 inactive people that have moved on with their life or forgotten they had that char. We do new and exciting things now, well you guys do, work keeps me away from most of the guild activity and when it doesn't I've been having a hard time working up the urge to log on and hang out. Possibly a few others of you feel the same, but I won't point to anyone, this is my post. However with this influx of new characters there have come a number of disreputable types, the ones that bring down our name and shame me to see our guild tag on. Again I'm not naming names, because I like attention directed at me, even if it is all of you thinking what a freaking jerk I am...or other colourful words to replace jerk. The levels of begging, guild theft (for lack of a better term), and blatant disregard of some of the more polite mature rules I try to follow has reached an all time high. And our officers are not there, or if they are they either are turning a blind eye or too afraid of damaging the person's feelings that they let it pass thinking vainly that they will learn by themselves in time. In fact the only rule I still see being followed is that of not going annonymous, yet when I note someone who is breaking the rule I usually have to send a tell to an officer to have them correct it because they don't seem to be.

Now granted our officers have alot more of a life than I do. Some of them I'm reasonably sure are getting tired of filling in as leader of the guild and having to be in nine different places at once, and doing fourteen different tasks in each of those places. Which is unfortunatly causing them to stop acting as the filter against those things that damage our name. Its gotten to the point that it rivals taking a catalytic converter off your car. Think that exhaust is bad for you before hand, try it after. I bet you you're dead, or going to be very soon, well maybe not dead but not feeling great at all. Either way what is coming in, without proper checking, is becominging seriously damaging. Our guild as I said is being robbed blind, not just of items, but of others time. Those of us that understand what it is to be a family are helping others who don't feel the same and are just using us as a stepping stone to their higher ambitions. Guild moral is reaching an all time low, usually because when you pour your heart and soul in to something and it stabs you in the back it hurts alot more than if you ignored that thing and let it pass you by. Its gotten so bad I feel it is now a driving force in pushing our members away. Granted I don't think anyone really wants to point it out but I'm sure alot of our older members that have left or are considering it have many reasons but they probably just are not achiving that sense of joy that used to come with logging on and being welcomed with open arms by your family.

Or at least thats how I feel. But who cares how I feel, I'm just that dumb Canadian that everyone thinks is strange.

[arawn]

As painful as the truth might be, what Gnomer said its true, officers are inviting anyone that want in without asking any questions or anything, when i joined i was told the basic rules and that i needed lvl 30 at least, yet we get lots of people that only go out and give us bad reputation talking trash in /ooc , shout, etc. or just training other people and KS (i have received more than one tell from random people complaining about some members behavior)
And some of this happens on guild chat also, yet some Officers, like gnomer posted above, just ignore it. And if i talk about it i get told as a way to "solve" the problem some crap like "just ignore those kind of people" wtf does that solve? nothing, eh? The only officer i know that actually do something about it its Muy. The others rarely i see doing something about it besides ignoring, i am not saying the officers are not "good" or w/e i just saying you guys should not ignore it, you are the ones that need to keep the guild up and the rules respected and followed, Yeah Gnomer is a mean Strange Canadian guy, and i am a mean insane Puertorican fool, yet we want to keep our family up so we don't decide to leave or see anyone else leaving because of this problems, flame us all you want its your decition, don't want to talk to us about this? its fine your decition. anyway that is all i have to say, safe hunting Ldk.

Edit: Spelling, yes i do know i ignored a lot of grammar errors but to heck

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ April 07, 2006 05:43 PM: Message edited by: Kerrirfuryaxe ]</font>

[Frostmourn]

wow gnomer! yaa.. was kinda having that feeling... alot of LDK's finest have moved on =/

[Frostmourn]

forgot to add this to message about ker's message GIVE MIST THE POWER TO GUILD KICK!!! oh... and gnomer! thats all..

[Mymy42]

You have provoked the mighty Muyah-Beast to come out from hiding..RAAAWR *stomp stomp...has been slain by a Faerie Duchess*

Ok, but on a more serious note, I've noticed some of the things that you've mentioned..example being the random people that god only knows where they came from. Like, I remember several times logging in and looking at the guild tool and not having a clue who half the people on it are..then getting asked by Kerrir who they are, and basicly responding every time "I don't know"..and not knowing who invited them (and being guilty of not questioning the other officers about it) I ended up deciding it wasn't any major issue, seeing as I assumed these people would probably end up leaving soon anyway..but I never considered the fact that they COULD be slandering LDK's name and now I realize that it's a bigger issue than I thought it was..

So another issue I can think of was brought up by Porthios..I forget who was on when he started lecturing LDK about our guild, but he did bring up some valid points..as well as beat us to death with them. One of them ties in with the basic point that officers need to moderate who gets invited..he mentioned that we're a high end guild and lower level members essentially have to be 50+ or 60+ to be able to become active with the guild..it's very true. Although some people do have alts in the 20's or 30's and could group with lower level members, they still don't get attention other than maybe buffs from members so they can level up faster and join us..and personally I feel bad for people who really might want to join LDK on doing things, but have to get 20-40 levels before they can do much with us..so..we should stop inviting lower end people. We should implement a level limit for newer members..(maybe 40, 45 or 50?)
We used to have one, that was around 20-30, but we've out grown it and we weren't completely specific on what exact level was..but I'm thinking it'd be good to try it again lol.

As for theft of items..maybe we could set some rules on what goes to who..at least..maybe newer members shouldn't be able to get things from the guildbank right away..I know we have armor in there that's been rotting in there for a while that as far as I know people don't need for their mains (maybe even their alts)..but I'm just kinda kicking this idea around because I don't want to see LDK getting thiefed of things (did I just make up a word?) ..like people getting money/armor and then leaving..blah. Anyway..seeing as this is coming from the person who suggested a point system for LDK..which bursted into flames.. maybe it'd also just burst into flames..but hopefully it won't? lol. Confuuse!

Anyway in case other officers don't read the forums so much I think I'll send them an e-mail and summarize the issues (haha, me summarizing..I'm so long winded..) and hopefully we'll get a chance to discuss it some..since this is all brought out into the open I think you're right that our officership has jumped a track but I think we can get rolling again. And instead of the world hating you for posting about this I want to thank you because now that I know that we've got issues that are annoying members I can go whine at people and try to make things better again! Mebbe I'll learn to not be dumb and try harder to spot these things before they mutilate people too!

I hate you with love and doomfire! =P *hugs*

P.S: I apologize for writing an essay response..*cough cough* [img]tongue.gif[/img]

[arawn]

GL with email [img]tongue.gif[/img] the service is down yet again, the pidgeons died and the hamsters dont run that fast and most of them get eaten on the way so yeah its down.

[Gludain]

wow i must have been really lucky cause i got in the LDK at i think about lvl 8

[Conred]

Couple things here:
1) Thanks for posting, Gnomer. It is better to speak your mind than to stay quiet and let it bother you.
2) I would hate to see you leave, as I do for any of my friends in LDK. But as I have always said, a person has to do what they think is best for their character, even if it might be an unpleasant thing at the time.
3) My reasons for thinking of leaving EQ go deeper than just feeling my main char is not good enough. I feel the whole EQ setup favors the uber guilds and serious gamers so much that us casual gamers have no (or slim) chance of getting to the high end of the game. Plain and simple, I felt burned out.
4) As for inviting unknown players into the guild, I plead guilty. Sometimes an existing guildie in good standing will vouch a player that wishes to join our guild. I feel that all I need to do is clarify the "rules of behavior". Other times, it is difficult to group with an interested player when I cannot find a group myself. But I promise that I will be MUCH more selective about guildinvites in the future.
5) I personally do not know of foul language or improper conduct by a guildie. Please send me an ingame email (or Out of game [email protected]) if you have problems with this. Also, please note that even if an officer shows up as in the game, they might be AFK (without showing afk). In that case, they would miss any LDK rules violations in guildchat.
6) Level limit for invites does not seem to exist. If someone in the guild has a RL friend that would like to join and is below the "level limit", does it seem right to NOT invite them? To be honest, LDK is vague on what the minimum level is. Gael should really handle that one.
7) Now for the ugly part. I agree Gael is not on near enough for a guild leader. I can understand his RL situation and sympathize with him. But the plain truth (as I see it) is that LDK will continue to be a small, disorganized, family guild until a leader gives us organization and discipline. I do not see that happening anytime soon so IMHO we will continue to lose high end players who wish to go to a higher level in the game.
8) I do not intend to be one of those. My EQ home is LDK and I will stay here as long as I play the game (although I will not be playing as much during the Spring and Summer).

/end rant.
Cya in the game.

[arawn]

Gael might not be on much, but that the guild stay unorganize is not entirely his fault, the officers need to look for that and keep order when the leader cant be present. So the unorganize part have to do with the officers also not just Gael.

[Delebe]

i love everyone, i have alot of things on my mind.. well have been on my mind all
weekend. i hope i can get it all out and thank you gnome for bringing this up, i
know i myself would have kept my mouth shut. this has been some of the main
reason for being awake till 6am or whatever time it is.
.. dangit its so late but i have to post..
if i dont make sence blame it on no sleep. i dont think ive been in a very good
mood all week or maybe i was good at first but it deteriorated to this and
now i cant sleep. so if im too straight forward im sorry, im tired and i dont feel
like beating around the bush to explain things.
hmm it must have been about a month or more since
i went on this raid and there was this dude named Takeinda, usually i tend
to not say anything about peoples comments eventhough i read them. and
anyway i was trying to have fun but
this guy was like asking tons of questions.. and you know its cool at first
but he starts asking some stupid questions and then he does noob things
and pisses people off and runs off with the loot from a boss.. that was really
annoying...
soo i had recently heard that finny wanted to invite him to the guild,
because hes her friend and yeah thats cool, friends. i know what your
talking about con, kkaz asked me to invite his friend some time long ago and
then kerr and muy were telling me he was a bad person and i was like crap
wth do i do this is kkaz's friend! and then he just left like after 30 minutes or
something...
im not mad at anyone, this is just a from now on things soo.. from now
on please dont expect us officers to invite who ever you
want because theyre gonna have to get interviewed.. theyre not gonna get
special passes to get in the guild. everyone deserves a fair recruit.

when i finally started getting to play more recently i noticed ALOT of new people and
thats fine, i like it when the guild gets bigger but it really pissed me off to see
these guys begging in the guild chat and all that. what am i supposed to do
though, maybe some of you are like its ok.. but im not gonna come back and
expect everyone to listen to what i have to say. i felt kind of hopeless so i let it
go. i asked edi and gin what they do when theyre recruiting.. what do they
say to them? when i get a tell from someone who wants to join this is what happens

1) i ask them how theyre doing
2) have they been in any guilds and what guilds and why did they leave?
3) why do you want to join LDK?
4) do you know that we are a family oriented guild?
5) how will they deal with theyre level compared to higher levels, if they are lowbies (muyahs right on that, lots of lowbies that are not happy about this)

etc i cant think of the other ones, i ask alot of bs but thats good enough, when
they answer my questions and if i like the answers i will go on about our raids
and possibly invite them to a group at that time or another day. if theyre too
low and you have nothing to do you can go hang out with them and PL them
a little. its all part of making friends and inviting them into our family, i dont
just invite people, except for when i invited kkaz's friend and i learned my
lesson. if you dont like them then tell them that you dont think they will be a good
asset to the guild or ask another officer, make reasonable choices if no one is
there to consult. this guild has been around for 5 years because the members
have not just been thrown in. theres other reasons why but i wont go into detail.
btw just because gael isnt here doesnt mean officers cant stand up and take
charge of whatever is going on, gael has said this many times, you are given the
officer rank because you have shown that you have the ability to take care of
LDK and all of the problems that it faces. and another btw gael not being here is not
something new, it happens every year, hes busy with rl and this issue about him
not being here will always come up, im expecting it soon as the 5th time. so lets
not let that make us lose members again, officers we are here to take charge as
leaders. stop acting like its the end of the world. ive known all of you for a long
damn time, wth, you guys know you can take charge.
ANYWAY soo after i asked them
those questions and i like them and i feel i know them well.. i give them rules, and these
are rules that i make because i can, because im an officer. theyre not stupid rules,
dont make unfair rules.
theres NO BEGGING of any sort and you tell them that
especially if its some noob, that actually was a rule, i dont know where
the list is now.. main char has to be in the guild, cant have one alt here and another in some other guild, NO ANON and tell them, wear your tag proudly, NO CURSING in guild
chat and tell them there are kids, this is a family guild!
after you feel youve let them know enough about the way they need to act and you tell them
what you think about it you give them the names of our officers and our leader and give
them a nice welcome. i dont know how you guys do it, maybe you just invite them after
asking them some questions but usually thats how i do it and if you wanna take care of
LDK you will do that for us. members who are in the guild and feel like noobs, you saw
the rules and you know some of us are getting fed up with the way you are acting.
this guild is certainly not noobish, we have been here longer than almost all the guilds
in prexus. look at the rules on the friggin left side of the welcome page of our site.
you act respectively in guild and to everyone outside of the guild. we are not some noobs
who are gonna PWN you with our level 70 2.0 epiced warrior or whatever. we are a nice
family oriented guild who raid when we need to and we arent gonna train anyone or call
them things in ooc or whatever the hell you do when your pissed. i have seen alot of
reasons for people leaving LDK, i guess this is a new reason but its a horrible reason....
for members of our guild to cause others to leave is ridiculous. we are a FAMILY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
i was veeeery mad on friday because these steps to inviting a member were not taken when
inviting take. ( and i really hate getting mad so im sorry, im sorry if i was mean when i was on )
i had to remove Takeinda, and i know that it was your friend finny and i know who invited him and im
not mad about the invite, that is just an example of not interviewing and blah blah.
i dont like the guy and i dont want him in the guild shaming our name everywhere. so
all of you officers who get tells from him about an invite, he is blacklisted in the guild.
doesnt really matter though because i had a talk with him and he told me he was planning to leave
LDK when he got higher...
( and i forgot the name of the guild he was leaving to and god speed to that guild )
..... and if there is a friend of a guildie that wants in you interview him and make sure hes a good guy. i dont
care who the hell it is and no one better get mad at the officers because these officers take care of you
and they make right choices. yeah gnome is very right on all of his points and thanks for putting up this
post so i can let out my thoughts on this and im sorry if i didnt make sence. please dont leave gnome
and kerr, you guys have been here for so long!
just please officers lets not let this be the cause of good members leaving. STOP IT!
i love everyone and i hope you guys are having a good night for me, i think im going to find something
to watch on tv and wait till the sun comes all the way up. ill be on today sometime.


wow im noticing alot of errors on my post..