Dragon’s Mark has recently been playing host to discussions about the return of guilds to Rhydin. (See Guild Wars Committee, The Guild Wars, Guild Shout Outs.) There’s a lot of frank opposition based on hypothetical and speculative arguments about the idea of guilds, the conflict they bring with them, and the use of dice to resolve those conflicts. The anxious What Ifs could go on forever.
1. What if guild characters blend IC and OOC?
Guilds usually have both an IC code of conduct as well as an OOC one, and guild commanders tend to discipline or kick members who violate either. (People who have non-guilded characters face no such repercussions. What stops them from blending?)
2. What if guild members take over a chat room?
As long as they’re In Character and following the site guidelines, it should not matter if the characters are in a guild. If their roleplay is bothering you, you have the same options as everyone else, i.e., ignore.
3. What if guild members are bothering me with their recruitment efforts?
See #2.
4. What if guild members are publicly fighting with each other and it ruins the mood of my RP scene?
See #2. Very few casual intra- or inter-guild fights happen in public. Most public brawls are between non-guilded characters.
5. What if a guild member is picking on my character?
See #2. However, if you feel the attention is unreasonable, you also have the option of taking it up with their commander – who may or may not have a sympathetic ear.
6. What if I don’t want to use dice?
Deal with it like any roleplay situation: you make the calls for your own character, and no one else’s. If you can’t agree behind the scenes on the means to resolve the conflict, then don’t get into it. Hopefully you’ll respect your opponent’s choices and they’ll respect yours.
7. What if someone wants to use their l33t guild dice on me, even though I only engage in pure free form combat?
See #6. Guild dice are normally reserved for intra- and inter-guild conflicts, the terms for which are usually agreed to in advance by all parties.
8. What if I use dice to duel with someone and they say my character is permanently dead when I lose?
See #6. You should always state the terms of a match before you get started, i.e., if you’re not willing to permadeath your character, don’t agree to fight a duel under those terms.
9. What if someone uses dice and tries to assassinate my character?
See #6. Assassination attempts are usually limited to a declared war between guilds.
10. What if you were a bus?
You’d have wheels.
Implicit in this opposition is the troubling and recurring idea that various Rhydin environments should be exclusive to certain members, that if you play differently than I do, my right of enjoyment trumps your right.
The Red Dragon Inn Keep was created on AOL for those who could not tolerate conflict in their roleplay. I see the same mentality rearing its ugly head now but there’s a dog-in-the-manger aspect to it: We’re not using this room, but we might want to in the future! How dare *you* even think about using it for your degenerate guild-dinkdom and your filthy wars?! I don’t want to see that here!
At their core, roleplaying guilds are structured associations of like-minded people with common storylines. Members of roleplaying guilds are almost always held accountable for any faux pas they might commit, IC or OOC. And I’ve seen more vicious blending, god-moding, meta-gaming and general discourtesy from people who vociferously protest that they would never, ever consider being in a guild.
I have spent more than a decade roleplaying in various Rhydin guilds on AOL as well as several MMORPG guilds. I emphatically disagree that roleplaying guilds are “known” for blending or, for that matter, any other examples of “bad form” naysayers may wish to regurgitate. I challenge anyone reading this to prove me wrong with the multitude of concrete, specific examples that must exist somewhere to have spawned these general, overbroad doom-and-gloom statements.
If it doesn’t affect you, what’s the problem? It’s not that hard to just ignore those you don’t understand or can’t get along with.
Or is it?
Guilds aren’t really my thing or forte so I’d likely not get involved in the guild business. Wouldn’t stop me from RPing with someone in a guild though, so long as they’re not .
While I can understand people asking questions and resolving things before they even occur it seems to me some are just shooting this in the foot before it has a chance to begin. What I thought was sort of eh was the poll taken.
The majority seems to fall in. “I want nothing to do with guilds.” Not even “I wouldn’t join one, but I would support them as a member of the community.” So what does that mean? Ignoring anyone and everyone who is a guild member? If they’re not bothersome about it and just want to FFRP or whatever when not doing the guild thing… I dunno. :\
I’d like to see how things start and where they go before making judgment calls.
Dear people worked up over Guilds:
Plz to be explaining the explicit, 100% difference between a role playing group and a role playing guild.
1.) Both have people within it you either know and like and want to role play with.
2.) Both probably (should) have a majority of people YOU personally trust and like.
3.) Both are a great means to surround yourself with like minded people.
4.) Both generally have guidelines and rules members should follow to ensure decent behavior and some sort of peace of mind.
I have a hard time seeing the issue here as you do. Technically, The Red Dragon Inn and all those who play there can be called a guild. A group. A band of people come together to role play. So in fact, all of the things being nay sayed against a guild can and should be turned against those saying it.
The FIRST thing I do when I join any game is start the look for a decent guild to join. While I came to Rhydin during the time of the great guilds collapse, If I were presented with the chance of joining a decent guild this time around, given my experiences with MMORPG’s and Role play –I’d join.
What a great way to find a similar minded group of people who (hopefully) aren’t too nuts to deal with.
[...] The Return of Rhydin Guilds What stops them from blending?) … 7. What if someone wants to use their l33t guild dice … 8. What if I use dice to duel with someone and they [...]
THE SKY IS FALLING! OMG HYSTERIA!
There are already guilds at Dragonsmark — they just don’t call themselves that.
After looking over that thread, the behaviour the naysayers ascribe to guild dinks is behaviour one gets in ANY roleplay venue from ANY newer or unsophisticated roleplayer. It’s not limited to guilds. In fact, one can already find that at Dragonsmark.
I didn’t like guilds when I played in AOL’s Red Dragon Inn (I still bash Eve for her guild dink days there), and I don’t particularly like them in online gaming, either, but they DO create roleplay within and without. And I do hope that the vocal minority won’t keep guilds out of Rhydin roleplay.