Open Discussion on the Alliance

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I'm not the GFC GW rep..however you can get with Eskimo pie and he'll get you pointed int he right direction.
 
I can do Saturdays

I live in Indy so I'm on est time with Joey also. He's right, 6pm pacific might be a little too late for everyone Thurs. We can agree on Saturdays though, we're getting somewhere! ;-)
 
I'm also on eastern time (I'm in New York state). In response to Abba's flexibility--for me, weekends definitely work better. However, I will do my best to attend at whichever time you set.
 
Most likely I can do Saturdays. It'll very depending on the time. But my "static" days are mainly Monday Tuesday and saturdy.
 
Guys, might I suggest splitting off this thread with your scheduling for a meeting? This is not the proper thread to be discussing that. This is in regards to Guilds leaving the Alliance, not in response to y'all needing to set up a meeting.

As far as the leadership goes and the guilds leaving and such, it doesn't surprise me. It used to be, (back when the leadership still planned events and such within the Alliance) that there was a strong presence on the alliance chat, people talking, discussing things, just having a great time. There were events planned nightly if I recall aright. Monday's were such and such thing, Tuesdays were something else. There was a specific night for PvP... Then it all went poofies as the leadership got busy with other things.

To be honest there are some policies some guilds run that I do not agree with, it made watching the Alliance chat more of a chore than an enjoyment. I have a few dozen screen shots of conversations simply because of this.

HCS is right, the GFC brought up a lot of these issues over a year ago and we were blown off by alliance leadership. Needless to say that put a damper on the whole gaming experiance. Several members of the GFC simply uninstalled the game because they were not having fun or couldn't meet up with people to help them further into the game. (Thankfully we all still play CS:S :D )

Bonita,
Cool it girl. Your outburst did not help the conversation. It was very inflammatory and accusatory. If a Guild or Individual decides to leave, that is their choice. And if God told a Guild or person to leave, then if they stayed it would be going against God's will, and that would be wrong. Bad things happen if you don't heed what God calls you to do. (I know from experience)
 
I am trying to stay out of this as much as possible as I don't really log in enough playtime that my opinion should carry much weight here, but there are a few things I'd like to mention that I think are important and are in danger of getting lost here.

First off I'd like to say that even though I'm a member of GFC I am not speaking in any way representative of GFC or any other of its members. My reasons for belonging to the GW Alliance and to GFC are distinct and separate, and while I've been conveniently able to do both in tandem up to this point I want to be clear that here I am speaking specifically as a GW Alliance member, not as a GFC member.

As stated, I don't get that many hours of time in GW myself that I can say anything positive or negative as to how other people's game experience and in-game ministries are being affected by the issues being brought up. I'd like to point out, though, that leadership problems or not the GW Alliance has been one of the more spiritually productive areas of the CGA and that's something that I don't want to see threatened if possible. The ability to maintain guildhalls in a game that doesn't require recurring payments make it a great environment for Christian fellowship, and we have people running regular ministry events and some even posting the content of those events to the CGA forum so the entire community can benefit even if they can't participate.

Obviously if God is leading some of the membership to other places it is because there are other things He wants them to do instead and no one can argue with that, but that doesn't make it an occasion to let unresolved frustrations get the better of us and destroy what remains in the process. I'm not trying to be all Pollyanna here and say everything's all great and we should all just get along. I realize there's a lot of long-festering tensions, quite possibly very justified, that pre-date my time here, but I'd like to put the idea out there that it's not -all- bad here either, and I think that we would be remiss to not consider that there are some good things that come from the Alliance as well, and have some concern about acknowledging and preserving those things going forward, and maybe even building further on them if possible.
 
RiverTigress said:
I realize there's a lot of long-festering tensions, quite possibly very justified, that pre-date my time here, but I'd like to put the idea out there that it's not -all- bad here either, and I think that we would be remiss to not consider that there are some good things that come from the Alliance as well, and have some concern about acknowledging and preserving those things going forward, and maybe even building further on them if possible.
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Amen! Those are my sentiments as well. I have been blessed by the guild as well as the alliance.

There is much good, in fact. Let's learn from mistakes and build on the good.
 
Abba San said:
Amen! Those are my sentiments as well. I have been blessed by the guild as well as the alliance.

There is much good, in fact. Let's learn from mistakes and build on the good.
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I agree with Abba who agrees with River :)

Most of this tension predates my arrival in the guild and before a became an officer earlier this year. Let's just move on.

Feeling the need to uninstall and completely stop playing a game because of some disagreements is akin to quitting your favorite sport and tossing your equipment because you're upset at another team in your league. It's silly.

I've been very blessed by being in this guild and alliance. It is such a breath of fresh air compared to my last guild and alliance.
 
As requested, we have indeed started a new thread for an officers' meeting in a different forum.

I heartily agree with the previous couple of posts about putting things behind us. Since I'm also relatively new--as I've only been here about a year--I'm also somewhat uninformed about the "festering" issues that have erupted in the past. I'd think it inappropriate and impractical to subject new members and new guilds to the same kind of drama that has already been dealt with.

What I personally extracted for the preceding colorful discussion was this: perhaps SoE needs a brand new start. A fresh beginning. Not a complete dissolution or restructuring, but instead, a diligent reevaluation of the purposes, goals, and responsibilities of every aspect of the alliance. Some of the problems we are currently discussing might stem from issues that are rooted deep within SoE's organizational setup, so a superficial, expedient makeover may not be sufficient. Perhaps it would be appropriate to back up and take a look at the big picture, from ground up. What I'm suggesting would prevent us from being tunnel-visioned and over-focused on a single aspect of the alliance.

Speaking of communication...
the_great_eskimo_pie said:
HCS is right, the GFC brought up a lot of these issues over a year ago and we were blown off by alliance leadership. Needless to say that put a damper on the whole gaming experiance.
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I'm sorry to hear about that, and I will take it upon myself personally to assure you: it will never happen again. Putting off tasks and ignoring problems has not, is not, and will never be an effective way of getting things done. Clearly, we need a more powerful form of communication and accountability. I would urge all leaders, officers, and members: if something isn't right, speak up! I pledge that from henceforth, I personally will make every effort to make sure that the "crooked places shall be made straight and the rough places smooth" (Is 40:4).

I hope that everyone will take it upon themselves to make that initiative as well.

For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. -Hebrews 4:12 (KJV)
 
So I've been lurking for a bit, and felt it would be a good time to hop in post. I'll also put a disclaimer here by saying that everything below is my opinion/not HsC's, but I think right now we're all mostly on the same page.

I guess I'll start with how we're being led. First I'd like to say thanks to the folks who are supporting us in this. I know that this is solely due to faith in our character, which I take as a great compliment. To the folks who have some questions - I want to say that I totally understand that too...I really do. Why? Because most of the time when people say they are "led" somewhere to do somewhere, they're full of poo. People are easily led by the flesh, and when those people happen to be Christian, they often confuse a want with a divine calling. It's one thing to be full of it, but when you're full of it and calling it "God's calling", well...that's just not going to work out well for you. So, with that said, I can tell you that as we went through our process...we too were very skeptical of ourselves and were very, very careful in this. We also were very careful to avoid any "ugh, I'm sick of dealing with this" type of feelings. To sum things up - what we (5 officers) ended up with was not matter how much we meditated on it - not one of us could detect any sort of pull to stay, despite how much we deeply care about many folks in this alliance...and it wasn't until then that I (personally) became totally confident that this was the right move. So, I just want to put it out there that we don't have any bad will towards anyone in SoE or any other guild in the alliance.

Where are we being led? We're not being led anywhere right now...literally. We feel very strongly and very burdened for those in HsC. We are focusing our efforts on investing in these people's lives. This also means putting more time into the ministry. In addition, we are now on a recruiting drive and asking the Lord to bring us those who He would have us invest in. With the amount of guildwars players, the harvest is plentiful, so we are also hoping for some more workers. When it all comes down to it - we're confident that God will give us exactly enough resources to accomplish what He has for us. As far as alliance/etc is concerned - we have absolutely no idea where that will lead us. We may stay solo forever, we may start an alliance, we may join an alliance, or we may come back. Right now I'm not worried about that at all, because today has enough worries of its own.

How does this change our relationship with the alliance? Well...you won't be seeing us in ally chat, and we don't technically have any vested interested in each other's affairs. Other than that...I'm not really sure this changes much at all. We are going to keep hosting events and bible studies, and the SoE alliance is still more than welcome to attend. If you guys want to run your own events, obviously that's fine too. I've already been told by several people that we're still more than welcome here. HsC leaving doesn't change the fact that we all have the same mission - investing in lives and setting players on fire for Jesus. In addition, we're going through a lot of the same steps that I've seen mentioned here. Lastly, as guildwars gets older and folks come and go, it's become clear to us that we need to do a much better job with communication external to guildwars. We have a lot of planning in the works, and we are going to be adding a lot of capabilities to our web portal to facilitate this.

To sum that all up, it's my hope that while we are no longer under the same roof, we are all brothers and sisters in Christ with the same goals in mind. I agree with other sentiments that there is much good here! I'd like for us to continue to leverage the good from each other, exchange ideas, and be a positive influence for Christ, both inside guildwars and out.
 
Well said. Thanks for the encouragement. God bless. I'm sure we'll be seeing each other about.

Cute baby pics (I just saw them today).
 
Bonita - thank you for your opinion and for not shouting at us. I hope that after reading Ryan's response you can accept how heart lead their decision was.
 
Bonita Clement said:
HsC should NOT have left, no matter what that post says. It is blah! They should have STAYED!!
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And you are basing your statements on what Bonita? Frankly your behavior in this needs to be examined by yourself. They have very adequately explained their decision and you are just spouting...chill out before i start reporting you please.
 
Abba San said:
Well said. Thanks for the encouragement. God bless. I'm sure we'll be seeing each other about.

Cute baby pics (I just saw them today).
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Oops need to update that...she's 16 months old now...almost old enough to play GW! Ok, well she only picks up the PS3 controller and pretends...but it's a start. I'm doing my part to promote girl gaming. :)

Bonita Clement said:
HsC should NOT have left, no matter what that post says. It is blah! They should have STAYED!!
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Well, if Bonnie opposes it, it must be a good thing... (I kid, I kid!) :D Seriously, though...I understand where you're coming from, but it's done. So one way or another this is moot. If God is in this, I expect Him to bless it in a way that glorifies Him. And if not? I suppose that'll be an egg on our face, and we'll go back to the "drawing board". So, I am just asking you to patiently wait and see, Bonnie.

I do apologize as well - I was very hesitant to post here, because I didn't want to derail this thread in any way...I just know there has been some questions, and was hoping to clear most of them up. I think as some have already pointed out - this thread is for alliance planning, so I'll just kindly suggest that folks having further questions come to our site and ask them there. It isn't SoE's duty to answer them, we'd be able to give a more direct answer, and it won't interfere with what they are trying to do here. Serious inquiries only, please.

Thanks again, God bless, and happy planning. :cool:

:: slinks back into lurking ::
 
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RyanB said:
I do apologize as well - I was very hesitant to post here, because I didn't want to derail this thread in any way...I just know there has been some questions, and was hoping to clear most of them up.

Thanks again, God bless, and happy planning. :cool:

:: slinks back into lurking ::
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Don't apologize. This is something SoE and the Alliance needed to talk about and gather our thoughts. I know when I first heard the news I was hurt and angry. After I accepted you guys leaving, yet I just tried to bury it under the rug and pretend it would all go away (I'm still a child at heart :eek:). However now, after this thread and other discussions and meditation, I've come to respect your guys' decision and I have already told you and HOLY that there are no hard feelings and you are very much vital friends to this Alliance and SoE.

I also can't tell you what to do, but I hope that you, Wizard, Kyrel, Orry and the others that formerly frequented our forums will continue to pop in now and again :)

~Stc
 
I don't really know if this thread is the best place for this, but it is titled "Open Discussion on the Alliance" so here goes. We seem to have a shortage of active players throughout the alliance especially with the recent succession. This is just a suggestion but what if we consolidated all active members into a single guild. I don't really know how close knit all the guilds are or if leadership in each would even be willing but we do seem to be in a very large down turn with Guild Wars 2 eventual release and the lack of interest in the game by current members. (I’m speaking from a SoE point of view where there is no one on…well ever. If you experience is different please say so.) It just seems to me when things are this low in the alliance that we could support each other more easily under one flag than we would as just an alliance. Sorry if this isn’t the right place for this, but its just been on my mind as of late. Blessings!

-Proph.
 
Well, it is an open discussion on the alliance, so I would say it's appropriate to discuss this here. We've been discussing the very topic in the officer's forum. The problem we discovered is that we have more "active" players than we thought. It depends on what you consider as active but counting up the people that have logged in within the past two months, we have around 97 between SoE and SOE. The number goes down only a little if you count those that have logged in within a month. We did an initial count before the Halloween festivities and thought the number would change after the festival, but it didn't.

Some guilds have a policy that if a member doesn't log in within a three week period they get kicked unless they let an officer know they'll be gone for an extended time. If we did something like that, we could possibly consolidate at least the SoE/SOE guilds into a much more active guild.

As far as WWJD, LoL, FoG and GFC go, again it would depend on the definition of "active." It's been a while since we've done a census, maybe it's time for another one.
 
I htink SOe needs to address the core issues first and not worrya bout active vs inactive..(points back to eski's previous post)
 
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