Auto-Guilding

[Voxumo]

So I wanted to bring this up as this has occurred twice to me now as the Tenebrae. I'll have someone seeking, I either need to take a break for a couple of days or am too busy irl to hop on the game, such as is the present case, but due to how quickly the code reacts, it will auto-guild seekers that are active while I am technically "Inactive". This creates an awkward situation for everyone.

While I have no issue with the code itself, as I think it is beneficial for people to not be delayed in their seeking by an inactive GL, though one could argue them being guilded without an active gl does little to actually help them, I do take issue with how quick the code is to act. Right now, from what I can see, code will auto-guild an active seeker if the GL has been inactive, ie not logged in an hour of play, in exactly one week. I don't know about most folks, but one week is mighty quick. Heck I would argue it's even insulting somewhat, as it sends out a note to your entire guild that basically reads "Your Guildleader was freakin lazy so we did their job for them!"

What I would propose as a solution is to have the auto-guilding happen based on TI's weekly rollover. If a Guildleader is not active by the time saturday ends, I think it is reasonable to assume they might not become active in a timely manner, thus auto-guilding occurs, whereas the current system the auto-guilding could take place in the middle of the week. Plus it gives leeway to guildleaders who might find themselves swamped irl, but able to return later in a week.

Like seriously, please don't punish GLs further for having a life outside of TI. Yes an hour a week is not a hard request, but shtuff does come up irl that can take away alot of time. A GL who has been active for sometime should not be punished and humiliated infront of their guild for one instance of temporary inactivity.

[Kinaed]

Niamh, please add this to Staff Talking Points.

[Rothgar]

If you're not able to play an hour a week, you might not want to hold a guildleader position. You might want to delegate that duty to someone else.

[Niamh]

Done.

[Voxumo]

Just wanting to update this with some information I learned from a member of my guild.
Turns out apparently the seeker in question was auto-guilded not long after they sponsored them. So it seems like auto-guilding only occurs after the required number of sponsors are met, and if the GL has gone into an "Inactive" state? Not quite sure the exact conditions, but figured it was relevant to the topic.

Also Rothgar, while I get your message, I normally can play an hour a week, often far more, and have been since I took over as Tenebrae in february. This week, and part of last week, were an anomaly in my schedule as I hold Real Life commitments a bit higher on importance than TI commitments.

[The_Last_Good_Dragon]

I like the policy as it stands, personally; I've always been on the record as wanting to make things easier for Seekers in general. I worry about the situations where, if this changes, a Seeker gets the sponsorship they require on Day 1 of a 7+ day inactivity of the guild's GLs. Seeking can (and is) already a frustrating experience for many new players.

I'm not sure if it's necessary to send a message to the guild as a whole about the auto-guilding; it might be better for all involved to just have the auto-Guilding message go to the GLs, the Player, and Staff; this would remove the frustration of the note to the guild that Voxumo highlighted. Though I'd also caution against interpreting messages like this as "punishing" to GLs, or embarrassing; one of a GL's primary responsibilities is to ensure that seekers are guilded in a timely manner, and I think all of us understand that. In the rare situation where this impacts on the short end of things, like what this might have been, a GL can approach the auto-guilded player OOCly and try to arrange an understanding on how the initial guild RP should be handled.

[Voxumo]

I apologize if it came across as trying to advocate for an increase in the amount of time a seeker has to wait on an inactive guildleader, as that was not my intention. Moreso I am just advocating for the auto-guilding to be on a more set schedule versus the random schedule it is now.

If it occurs at weekly turnover, it allows seekers to prepare for it, whereas now it could occur whenever.

[Kinaed]

It's necessary to alert the guild as a whole that they have a new guild member.

[The_Last_Good_Dragon]

It's necessary to alert the guild as a whole that they have a new guild member.

I personally agree! However, it bears notice that guilding through "normal" means doesn't alert the rest of the guild, and I wonder if it might not be a good idea for the Brotherhood, where identification can be a very important thing. Obviously we'd all hope players not use that info OOCly, but...

[Voxumo]

Arguably with the brotherhood, if you are seeking you should accept the fact everyone already in the guild will know your identity. A risk you take seeking the brotherhood.