PlaneShift
Gameplay => Guilds Forum => Topic started by: Atharis on January 20, 2005, 03:12:04 pm
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Hi, I\'m Atharis, the Commander of the High Guard.
We are a neutral guild that seeks to preserve balance and order in the world. We try to help each other at all times, giving advice and assistance to any of us who at some point need it. Also, we are probably the first *democratic* guild in PS.
You can find out everything you need to know about us from our site at http://free.hostdepartment.com/H/High_Guard and from the post I\'ve made in the \"Searching for a guild?[...]\" thread.
If however, the information provided there is not enough for you, then feel free to ask either via mail, or HERE, on this thread. I will try to answer any of your questions.
Also, I would like to let people know that we\'re recruiting at this time, so if you want to join us, then you can PM me, mail me (ps_high_guard@yahoo.com) or post on this thread.
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The High Guards seek to preserve the balance and proper order of things. To further understand the importance of this goal, read the guild article on the importance of balance.
Following the link, you give just a bad and RL declaration of this goal. Do you have anything IC to back it up?
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Well, for one you are not the only democratic guild in PS. The Sentinels are too and Ashes and I am sure there are others. I would like to know how serious you are about this guild. Because if you are trully democratic then maybe you would be interested in the United Realm of Planeshift. Not saying you would be let right in (very good chance), I just want to know your stance though.
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lynx_lupo:
Well, I don\'t know how good or bad my argument was - I\'ll let everybody who reads it decide for himself. Anyway, you should bare in mind that the site is still mostly a draft.
As to the importance of \"balance\"... (and I know you\'re going to throw it in my face that these arguments are too real-life, but I don\'t think there\'s anything wrong with that)
Every good fantasy book, movie, or MMORPG has at its core a conflict. A conflict between good and evil, between light and darkness. A world in which this conflict would not exist - an imbalanced world - would not be a fun world to be in. It would be a world where you would have no ultimate goal, where battles would have no higher purpouse (and really, in real life, one does usually need very good motivation in order to kill people, and MMORPGs try to create something similar to real life - only in a different variety).
Also, in not-so-real-life terms, and quite plainly put, I enjoy a good battle. After all... \"what is a life devoid of strife?\" (Charnel | Sacrifice). Conflict also generates opportunity. Therefore it is useful to us when we can be there to profit from that opportunity (for purpouses that don\'t necessarily need to be selfish). Also, as we all know, good and evil are relative concepts - good cannot exist without evil; nor can evil exist without good. Hence, is it not wise to try and maintain the balance between the two? Is that not what we must do in order to maintain the proper order of things, the order that existed in the world since its creation?
Well, maybe that clears it up a bit... and I\'m quite sure that if it didn\'t you\'ll let me know right away >:|
Valbrandr:
I will start with an apology, for the fact that I was unaware of the other democratic guilds in PS.
As for the way our guild is organized...
1) Our guild is indeed a serious one :).
2) I am the Commander of the High Guard. This position is of a rather permanent sort, and I will keep it until the guild is no more or I decide to retire.
3) Our base rules are a sort of constitution, and they will rarely (if ever) be changed, and only if support for the changes is massive (as in the case of the Constitution of most states).
4) Players with a certain minimum rank in our guild have the right to vote (this rank, would be guard normally - the most common rank among us - but lowering it has been considered; anyway, it will surely be lower for the first elections - novice I think). Players at or above this rank have a vote equal to that of any other voting member. They will be allowed to vote for the Council. The Councilors are elected from within the ranks of the captains. There will be about 1 Councilor for every 3 captains in our guild. Councilors have pretty much the same powers as me (except they cannot permanently expell anybody from the guild, but only sanction members by assigning them the rank of \"fallen\" and they cannot set the privileges of other ranks).
5) In most important decisions concerning our guild, the voice of our members will be heard (and not only the voices of those with voting rights). This includes alliances, wars, changes in the rules and statute of our guild, important events, and so forth.
6) I will try to add features in the future that will allow us to better understand the needs and expectations of our members, so that we can better suit their interests. For example, I want to add a guild relations meter, that will express the position of our guild with regards to the other guilds in PS, based on data submitted by our members about how each of them feels about these guilds.
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Originally posted by Atharis
2) I am the Commander of the High Guard. This position is of a rather permanent sort, and I will keep it until the guild is no more or I decide to retire.
So its not a true democracy. :rolleyes:
Er, your link didn\'t work.
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Ohh... sorry, I was not offended. Just informing you. And if you are interested in the URPS contact me through a PM or whatever.
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So, :P how do you plan to preserve it? What actions are you willing to take and/or will to uphold that cause?
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Originally posted by Icefalcon
Originally posted by Atharis
2) I am the Commander of the High Guard. This position is of a rather permanent sort, and I will keep it until the guild is no more or I decide to retire.
So its not a true democracy. :rolleyes:
By claiming to be the commander it doesn\'t necessarily indicate his governing over the guild.
Guilds need a leader to be created, a democratic guild can be \'lead\' as such but that is more of an advisory role that can be played. The leader has the first and last comments about guild activities.
I class Ovates as democratic by allowing its members their say in guild matters, I lead by allowing them to make their minds up and discuss things.
A guild is only as good as its members and so all members of that guild are accountable.
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But the members can\'t elect their leader, or advisor as you say. In a true democracy, all members are equal and vote on every issue equally. The US isn\'t a true democracy, it is a Democratic Republic, but the people can still elect their leaders.
This sounds even less democratic. It sounds like a democracy... as long as the tyrant agrees.
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Well, the issue of weather or not our guild is democratic will be disputed by some I guess. But I do think of it as being democratic, since we act based on the opinions of our members, who *are* actually called upon to vote.
As for the permanent nature of my title, well, it\'s a necessity.
It is needed in order to make sure that the base ( \"constitutional\" ) rules are not broken by a leader that would not want to follow them. In real life, we have a constitution for that - a constitution that the President is forced to respect, and one that he alone cannot change. In PS there\'s no actual way to make sure that the base rules of a guild are respected by its leader, and so I would prefer to maintain this title, as I am pretty sure not to break my own rules ;).
But if you really want to get a real-life system that more accurately describes the way this guild is organized, I guess that would be a parlamentary monarchy.
The people (or in this case members) hold the true power. I will hold the title of Commander, which does give me certain powers. Yet, none the less, these are powers that do not exceed those of the Council.
As for the issue of maintaining the balance...
The point in *maintaining* the balance is to try and prevent events that might shift it too much either way. So if any such event is to occur, we might decide to involve ourselves and make sure it doesn\'t. One more concrete way in which we will try to maintain balance is disscouraging extremists from either side (i.e. good or evil).
...Oh, btw, the link works just fine for me. I hope you didn\'t try to write www.free.hostdepartment.com
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It sounds like a representitive democracy. Nothing wrong with that. Just like America.
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Very good Atharis, very good! :) I hope you do not stray from this path.
Another question; what\'s with the highly imaginative name? Don\'t you think something more reckognizable is in order? A history should be made too, so you can place yourself in the world.
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what\'s with the highly imaginative name? Don\'t you think something more reckognizable is in order?
Well, guilds by definition have unimaginative names :) (i.e. fighters guild, mages guild, explorers guild - some of which are found in PS too at this time). And this is since guilds are named for the profession of their members.
We are called \"The High Guard\" (not the Guards Guild), since we are not actually Guards in the common meaning of the word. We are guardians of the Order as it has been since the creation of the world, guardians of the balance between good and evil. We don\'t guard the gates :).
Also, note that common names don\'t necessarily make a guild hard to recognize - on the contrary.
A history should be made too, so you can place yourself in the world.
We do not claim to be a guild that has existed since the beginning of time, and to have had thousands of members throughout its existance. We write our history through our deeds, and so for now, there is not much to write in a \"History of the High Guard\". In the future, events concerning our guild should be properly chronicled, and given that mythical aspect which characterizes historical documents. However, I want the members of our guild to be able to relate to our history, and the only way this can happen if this history is their own, if it is written with their every deed.