You stole my name, so you're outta the running!!

We've got a nice hold on Charune's order, last I checked, and Nejii is regent. If I had the time, money, and felt like putting in the effort, I might be able to wrangle a spot in Hartstone. We're only really lacking in Serenguard, but that just means Hiriako has to start working harder.

Mine

And that's why we're better

Its really amazing how far off topic our threads get.

*thwap* I like my guild's independence from the Order and the families, thank you very much

This has actually always been a problem of the Serenguard. And I don't mean exactly this, but the idea that you should be completely independant.

Its been happening for as long as I remember, to the point that Alyssandra actually banned Serenguard from helping defend Ethereal at one point, if I recall correctly.

Just watch that you don't fall back into stupidity like that.

Talnaras > L'Eternaes (Siv) > Mes'ards.

Oh, and I remember that business with Alyssandra. Wow. I need to read back in the TMC news to see if there's anything in there.

Psh, Mes'ards ftw! Siv was born a Mes'ard, which really means we've absorbed the L'Eternaes. All we need is for a Mes'ard to marry a Talnara.

Nepotism can certainly sometimes be a bad thing. But y'can also think that families might be choosing members based on knowing them, noticing they were doing good things, and liking that/them. Which is the same reason why you'd choose someone for a position. Mes'ards had more of that with first generation than we're having with second generation, though.

Families shouldn't "choose" their members because of what they do. Families are about love.

And don't worry, the Serenguard won't be doing anything stupid like not defending Ethereal. Our mandate clearly says to defend the Serenwilde, her people, and those who swear their allegiance to them (I think the Fae are in there somewhere too).

I'm talking about having the guild run by something else: having an Order for example dictate what the Serenguard does, family, or another guild. Working together, Absolutely! But not being puppets. I've always enjoyed the fact that the Serenguard keep to themselves for the most part, just doing what they do.

other families may control the Serenwilde, but you know that in the end of the day, the Kalas beats yer silly behinds


plus, Ixion and Athana are really overpowered, you wanna mess with mom and dad?

I meant choosing more in an OOC sense, not in-game RP of the characters.

Some families or branches of families might just add anyone who is interested in being part of a family. Other families or branches of families might want to determine, in a manner ranging from relaxed to strict, if the prospective family member is truly a member of the family (remember, going through the Portal of Fate washes everyone's memories away). What I've heard of noble families in Magnagora seems to fit that the closest as a concrete example ... if all members of a certain family are presumably raised in devotion to the city and certain ideals, they're not just going to start the consideration process for anyone who pops out of the Portal, they're going to wait and determine that an individual is demonstrating the family values first, to prove that they really are a family member.

Kalas and Talnaras are related by marriage now.

I really should get Laneth a family one of these days.

Aaaaaaaaaah. My bad .

It pains me to see the Ur'Guard anything less than awesome...

Asarnil, I think you are dead wrong about the position of GM. In the Ur'Guard, moreso than any other guild, the GM has always held the final say in things pertaining to the guild and held an immense power. In older days, the underlying respect and confidence in the guild leaders allowed this to be the case without usurping power from the GA/GC. Three chains of command worked in harmony, each reinforcing the other and centering the guild. Regarding your warlord statement, the Warlord and the Ur'Guard GMs have usually met eye to eye on the major issues. I could literally go on for hours about the Ur'guard and leadership, past and present, but I think I'll stop.

Note: Vika is a Kalas. Hands off, or recieve a numchuck to the head.

Asarnil:

I think you are dead wrong, period. People don't get high positions because they're De'Unnero: it's just that the family members tend to be hard-working. By no means are they seriously excluding anyone from any major position, especially as two of the Three aren't even related to the family.

Vika's a really hard-working artisan who makes literally anything we need, Haiden has been busting his hump for the Guild for what seems like forever in anything they need, Draston's earned his status as a Knight Candidate, Marlucia puts his combat skills to use all the damned time, Meshora is ALWAYS helping out with training in some form or another, and Faerdon's earned his rank just like anyone else in the Guild. About the only one who doesn't deserve to be on that list in the same breath as them is me, and that's only because I went dormant recently. And the least you could do is not talk down Marcalo and Kayde for leaving, especially when they both threw their support behind you in the election, and Marcalo requested on the newsboards for the Guild to vote for you. It's absolutely uncalled for to suggest that you had take the power from Marcalo because he had no intention of doing anything.

I don't even want to make this post, because I hate forum complaints. But it annoys me that you are publically talking down Ur'Guard and misrepresenting the Guild at a time when Marcalo and Kayde can't respond to your inaccuracies. If you cannot lead the Guild without having to worry about the all-powerful Family, then perhaps it was Marcalo's error in thinking you would be a strong leader, and not the fault of everyone else.

Try reading what I said. The only reason I have ever given for contesting Marcalo as guildmaster was because he wasn't going to be able to be here (hell he even posted that he was stepping down - and that was weeks before I contested) and I was the only one qualified to do the job, even if Daevos had to force me into it. Marcalo's support had absolutely nothing to do with me winning the election - I was the only one who was even willing to run and the only people able to vote who didn't know he was stepping down were those who were dormant at the time.

Yes, some of your family works (well Draston and Meshora do - Haiden and Marlucia mainly just kill things - though that is Haiden's job to some degree) - and I have never claimed otherwise, but as I have happily told all of you to your faces (well not yours as you haven't been here) any two De'Unneros not including Draston cause me more grief than the rest of the guild combined, wether its just in-family sniping at each other that bleeds over everywhere else all the way up to outright disrespect over CT or GTS that I was way too lenient about. Most of your family (even those only related by marriage) has major issues with temper tantrums and not getting their own way when they want it.

As for misrepresenting the guild - I am not. The Ur'Guard has steadily degenerated into a place where nepotism and stagnancy is quickly becoming the norm. Our novice program absolutely sucks, though the few UnderSecs that actually do work with novices (And no I don't count pre-scripted aliases that spam the novices with information before leaving them to read help files for half an hour without even seeing them face to face working with them) are working on that and our rate of retention for both novices and older players is fairly horrible.

As to Marcalo and Kayde not being able to respond, of course they can - Kayde at least hops on every couple of days even though they only have dialup at the moment and its tying up their phone line.

Even though I am friends with both of them in an OOC context, don't mistake that for what happens in-game. Yes, I am being lenient at the moment, but if you would prefer I can go completely hardass and save myself some grief. I can pretty much guarantee you that unless half your family improves its behavior by a significant degree, they will either be back down to GR1 or out of the guild and/or city within a week. Sure rebuilding after kicking out 90% of your family would be a pain in the ass, but it could be done.

I'm not going to extend this argument further than it's already gone, because I generally don't have a problem with you. But our problems have a lot less to do with nepotism, and a lot more to do with the fact that most of our talent has gone dormant, and there's no easy solution to that. You can't really wage wars, help newbies, or anything if most of your senior players have other priorities in life. Of course, many of those who are still there are trying their best to work at the game, and that deserves some thanks.

If you feel like being a hardass, you should start. Definitely. I am nearly certain that you only have serious problems with a few people in the family, and Ildaudid's a smart mofo. If that means a short-term loss while you rebuild, fine. People will respect strong leadership, and a lot will be thankful if drama problems are gone.

I've said my piece. I like my family and I like my Guild, so you can't be surprised about my perspective. Decide about what I've said is true, and then take your path. It's not like I can change a great deal from dormancy, after all.