Player Associations Archive

Jascentia,

I built our PA about 2 weeks after launch, and at the time, being in a guild really didn't mean to much. One could say that this is to be expected in a new game, and that things would change eventually to make it more preferable and enjoyable to be in a guild. Yet in the past 5 months there has been little or no improvements to the PA system.

I read the Top 5 Issues and agree that those items must be dealt with and improved upon, but there are a few other suggestions I can give thatmay make things better and more fun for Guildmasters and the PA members.

1. I read this suggestion on these forums a while back and its a good one, so here it is again: Allow Image Designers the ability to place Guild specific items (like guild or allegiance flags) in PA halls. The PA Halls in cities have flags draped from them and we should be able to choose our own standards as well. This will give ID's another (much needed) ability, and it will make PA Halls more personallized and unique.

2. We should have the ability to place Mission Terminals at the PA Hall. I have 4 crafting stations in my PA Hall, and if it weren't for that, no one would have any reason to come back to the Hall after they are signed in. Another reason they might hang out at the Hall is forguild events,but I do notrequire anyone to participate in those. Other than these few things, PA Halls are useless. A Mission Terminal would bring more of my members to the Hall and foster more guild unity.

3. Allow Guildmasters to charge Guild Fees in the same manner that Mayors charge taxes. I have a subscription fee in my guild, and each month I spend hours tracking members down to ask them for their fees. I rarely have a problem getting it, but its very time-consuming. We should be able touse the Guild Terminal to set a Guild Fee (default would be 0) that members have an automatic option to pay. The credits should transfer straight to the Guild Hall Treasury. This would save guildmasters a lot of valuable time.

4. My PA hasa Guildrank system. As a guildmaster, I should have the ability to assign ranks to my members in game. The system I have in place is an intricate one, and my members are pretty proud of the ranks they earn. Having a system to assign viewable guild ranks would give them something to work towards, and be proud of. It would also be helpful in showing others who our guild leadership is.

5. As guildmasters, we should be allowed to present medals or badges to our members who have shown exemplary behavior. I have many members who have gone the extra mile to help out newbies, been outstanding leaders and have accomplished great deeds. The only way for me to reward them right now to say thanks. We need a reward system to give others incentive to achive. A viewable medal section would accomplish this.

Well, theseare all I have in mind right now. If other guild leaders have good suggestions, please place them here. Lets try to make it so that being in a PA has some real benefits. As it stands now, I basically have the ability to brand people like cattle using my guild tag. This doesn't really inspire people to come knocking down my door to join us. I have created a ton of content of my own to keep people interested in PA membership, but its wearing thin. Lets give them a real reason to be in our groups.

These are some EXCELLENT ideas, Woodywan. I completely agree with all of them, except for the mission terminals idea. Those are rightfully set up as municipal additions for cities right now, and I think they should stay that way. They would just give PA's too much power, I think.

However, he is right about needing to come up with something to help increase traffic into the PA Halls. Unfortunately, I don't have too many idea's to help alleviate that problem. But perhaps someone else does?

I've had NUMEROUS problems trying to keep track of Guild Dues. Everyone is more than willing to pay, and when asked, gladly pay their dues. But when their are time zone differances and work schedules that clash with guild members, it makes getting those funds extremely hard. I agree that a Guild Tax that would work like the cities would eliminate this problem completely.

Ranking systems need to be implimented as well, I think. I set up my own ranking system for our guild, based off of the US Army ranking system. Similar to Faction Rank, but only carries weight within our guild. This proves to be a very valuable tool for keeping my troops riveted in game play, and wanting to work harder for the guild. They take great pride when I inform them that they've recieved a promotion, and are even happier when they see the change that has been made for all to see on our website.

I've also worked my own system of ribbons and medals for my guild as well. Again, based off of the US Military ribbons. But there is no way to properly display these ribbons in the game. All I can do is inform them that they have earned a ribbon for something they've done, and then add a little .jpg to the webpage indicating what they've earned. Preferably, I'd like to be able to hand out Guild Badges, which would be presented just like any other Badge that players have earned, only it would have the Guild Tag in front, followed by the name of the ribbon.

i.e.: RASPO: Meritorious Accomplishment

Ribbons and Medals work a lot like rank. You'd be surprised at how hard people will work to try and earn one of those ribbons, and that extra effort will help out the guild overall greatly! At least, it has for my guild.

I think you've got all the right ideas, I'm just re-inforcing them with my own two creds. These ideas, if implimented, I think would really add to the PA system and encourage more participation of guild members.

Thank you very much Jailyn I knew I couldn't have been the only one thinking about these things.

Jascentia, any thoughts?

Since you asked, here are some thoughts...

Guild Specific Items:

I am all for features that make PAs more unique and help each PA present its image/theme so that others can see it. As for using IDs to implement it, it is a good idea. Yet, how they code it in will be up to the Devs. I would rather them say yes to this idea than say no because it would take too much coding work to make it a Interior Designer-Specific ability.

Mission Terminals at the PA Hall

I agree with the previous respondant that this is under the category of Player Cities. Any PA Hall can have a mission terminal near it these days, they just have to have an arrangement with the local mayor.

Guild Fees

Automated dues collection is a often-requested feature. It is definitely on the list, but our list is rather long! When the Devs are getting ready for more PA feedback I'll compose a long post and everyone can vote for their highest priority features.

Guild Rank

In my "State of Player Associations" post I suggested a detailed rank system, complete with permissions. So, if you promote someone to the rank of "Officer" (or whatever label you give it) they automatically get all of the permissions you have for that rank (like sponsor/accept/mail etc). In addition, I do want guild ranks to be made more visible. Right now titles ARE visible if you target someone and type /guildstatus, however, I don't think this is enough.

Medals / Badges

I wonder if they would consider incorporating this into the present badge system. Perhaps there could be a different tab for "Guild Badges" or something. Then, PA Leaders would have the ability to grant a badge to their members. However, it might be tough to put in any functionality for this badge to be taken away.

At any rate, I am reading every post in this forum. I will compile all of the great feature requests and let you all help decide what priority these and other enhancements should be givenwhen I get ready to present them to theDevs.

Just a note about collecting dues. We have a vendor in our PA that sells dues markers (dice), so during the month members stop by and buy a marker, thus paying their dues. Each sale generates a mail for tracking purposes, and the vender owner deposits the money in the PA hall terminal. It works good for us.

Guild badges, if implemented, should show up in a seperate location or in a different way from regular badges.

And I agree mission terminals should stay the way they are.

That's a great idea steph3k! PA Leaders might want to put it to use in the mean time, though I'll still work onsuggesting an automated system.

Thanks for the great idea Steph! I hadn't thought of that, but I think I'm going to impliment that as soon as I can!

And something similar to those lines, I was thinking of a way to increase traffic in the Guild Hall instead of the Mission Terminals. Guild Specific Vendors. Goods are dirt cheap prices only for Guild Members.

Or maybe (In the future... Far in the future probably) Guild Mission Terminals. Missions that Guild members post. Like Player Posted Bounties that are supposed to be added in eventually. Offer Bounty Missions to Guild Members only, set up a mission for an Artisan to go out and find that rare resource you've been looking for, maybe you ahve an event planned, and want one or two of your musicians to attend, so you put up a mission for it. This could really add a lot to the game I think.

In fact, as I was writing this, I was only thinking of the Guild Vendors, but I think the Guild Specific Mission Terminals would be a lot better idea!

The Guild Mission Terminal is a great idea! I send my members out on missions as it stands now, but I can only do this when we are on together (I could email it to them, but this takes the fun out it. I like being there).

Using the Vendor to pay guild fees is another great idea. Ty

Here is another idea for the (not so) near future:

Since Mayors have their own skill trees that increase their powers and authority, why not have a GuildMaster profession? As usual, this is just an off-the-cuff blob of ramblings, but let me try and piece some ideas together here...

Novice GuildLeader- Place PA Hall, Induct Members

GuildLeader I- Charge Guild Dues (works like taxes in player cities), Declare Guild War

GuildLeader II- Promote Guild Staff (this could give the GL ability to grant PA tags), Leadership I (gives bonuses to guild members in battle- same type of code as SqdLdr)

GuildLeader III- Place Guild Terminal

GuildLeader IV- Leadership II (better guildmember bonuses), Award Merit Badges (allows GL to award viewable guild badges)

GuildMaster- Leadership III, Delegation (allows up to 3 designated Staff members to award tags and badges)

This would really give the leaders and members of PA's a reason to participate. As it stands now, I see people all the time who are not guilded. When I ask them why, they say, "I was in a guild and left because there was no reason to stay". Obviously, poor guild leadership leads to these types of attitudes, but it shouldn't come to that. The dev's should provide enough reason for people to stay and enjoy Player Associations.

Tell me what you all think...

Well, as a PA leader I think it's better not having the devs get too involved. So far, PAs are the only thing that players can control, structure, and manage any way they want. Sure there are things that would be nice have, or be able to do, but successful PAs find ways to work within the system to benefit their members. I'm afraid that if the devs got too involved in managing PAs through skill advancement or entice people to join through game rewards it would eventually lead to nerfs and game balancing issues, just like everything else the devs mess with.

Kaleu
Warlord of The Crimson Star
Crimson City, Talus, Radiant

/sign

Great ideas.