Today's Discussion: The Knights of Ni Allow Alts in Other Guilds

A short response to today's discussion about loyalty to the Guild and the exodus of several Members: The Knights of Ni have ALWAYS and will ALWAYS allow Members to have Alts in other Guilds. At NO point in time has there been a doubt of our Members Loyalty towards Our Guild and People will NOT be kicked because They keep Alts with other Guilds.

As to the generally spread thought that not wearing the Guild Tabbard will lead to the Member being kicked from the ranks, I can only say that Someone may have understood something wrong. The Knights of Ni wish for Members to wear the Guild Tabbard at all times, except for those times when wearing a faction's Tabbard is needed to get their respective Reputation up with the respective faction.

For All and Other Questions, please ask an Officer or myself.

Ary

Alliance Time

Most of our Older Members know this drill: two Guilds, striving for the same Gaming aspects in World of Warcraft meet and by using the AddOn "GuildAlliance" speak in the same Guild Chat Bar and are able to see which of the Allied Guild's Members are online.

Today a Guild Mistress came to me and asked me, if we would be interested to using the the Alliance part of Wow. I answered her, that our Guild takes a high interest in keeping certain forms of language as low as possible and she answered me, she keeps the same tight "drill" for her Guild Members.

I want to know if You would like to try this Alliance aspect (again). When you feel you need to explain your motivation, post here, in the other case just move on to our Poll.

Thanks in Advance!

Ary

Run of Jenkins

Today, several Members of The Knights of Ni undertook a long and seemingly endless journey for the Title of Jenkins.

Two Groups, consisting of variously leveled Members traveled to the Upper Black Spire at the Molten Core to kill 50 dragon whelps in less than 15 seconds. Both Groups came back alive, taking little damage and bringing back their Newly Won Title "Jenkins".

We All say "Hail to the Conquerers" and wish Them many more Glorious Titles on Their Ways to the Top!

Ary

200 Members... Consolidation Time

At the Verge of Reaching 200 Members, I wish for Our Guild to take some Consolidation Time. Making new Friends in such a short While also Needs Time to get to Know each Other and to see how We All fit together.

As I said in Guild Chat today, I wish for new Members to read the Blog Post called "Guild Rules of Conduct" as Living, Leveling, Working and Fighting Together takes some sort of Structure. In this Light I also wish to refer You to Webmistress Chique's Post "You Are Sacked".

Do remember that You as a New Member are entitled to our Guild Leveling Gifts, for levels 20, Mount training and mound refunded, levels 30, 50 and 70 an item from the Blue Tab in the Guild Bank or something from my Blacksmithing list. Do Contact Ahlaina (Lostagain) and myself for details and claiming Your Gift.

Last but not Least, I wish all New Members and all Old Members Happy Playing Hours and loads of Fun!

Yours,

Ary

Apologies

Greetings all knights, First up, My apologies for missing the meeting on Sunday. I had planed to make it but due to other issues I was unable to attend. I hope at this time I have other issues under control so as not to enter fear with my future plans.
I am however very happy to be with the knights and look forward to a very long relationship.

On the issue of Vent, I must agree with Ary. I have used Vent several times and for me it was always a real pain to hear anybody clearly and I only have 2 hands so when you are in a battle it is very hard to try and push another key just to talk, at least the chat program built into WOW can be made hands free.

I won't go on and bore you all so I will make this short. If anybody ever needs help with killing someone, just give me a yell, I will be very happy to help you out.
I look forward to seeing you all in the game.

Oscarsfury

In Blizz.com We Trust

This early Morning Blizzard sent me the items that were stolen from our Guild Bank a week and a half ago.

In order to put them all where they belong, I donated 3.500 gold to the existing 1.500 gold and bought another Bank Tab. This tab is called "Armor Weaponry" and is accessible with the same restrictions as the other tabs.

All members from this day on, can take weapons from the Guild Bank again without HAVING to put their old weapons in. The Blue Tab for Rare High Level items will still be used for people who are entitled to a leveling present. The Guild will continuously support only the Main Character and 1 Alt with Leveling Presents.

Please dont forget to donate gold, silverlings and/or bronze when You repair from the Guild Bank. Thanks in advance!

Ary

Members Leaving?

Over the course of last weekend I have noticed some People leaving Our Guild for various Reasons. Some of those were good reasons, many did not make sense to me at all.

From different sources I have heard that Members are concerned and unhappy. From different sources... in only one case from someone directly. Something is wrong. Why cant people tell me directly that they worry or that they dont agree with things? I dont know why, but what I do know is that nothing will change in their favor, if they themselves dont stick their heads out and say something to me.

Our Guild Council decided upon keeping our youngsters within the guild yesterday. We appointed another Mentor: Zalashji, together with Everla, Oscarsfury and Amazonghost. We also decided that some things need changed, guidelines for better communication and in the end closer friendship need made and last but not least some form of "punishment" for Members who repeatedly have broken our rules of conduct. Ofcourse, we can kick them out of the Guild, but by just "punishing" we hope they'll better themselves in future.

Better communicado also means talking to one another. I am very well aware of the Fact that our Guild is NOT a democracy and that we dont allow people to do as they like all the time. We want to play with people we find nice and pleasurable to be with, but we set them rules. When People dont want to play by those rules, fine, so be it. It is where our Paths separate.

Ary

Level 80 Raid on Saturday

On Saturday night the fearless Knights of Ni entered Sartharian’s Lair in Obsidian Sanctum, worked their way through cleaning up the trash slaughtered the 3 drakes.

We then engaged the big dragon herself, executed the strategy beautifully and proceeded to one shot Santharian earning the achievement ‘Besting the Black Dragonflight (10)’.

Our fearless Knights were:

Tanked by Fearim and Wumper (Gnomeball)

Healed by Electricealz and Ahlaina

DPS by Lantherian, Iseult, Jaylyn, Woteva, Minipip and our beloved Chique.

We then had a bit of fun in the vehicles of Ulduar and beat our heads against the boss for a while. A learning experience for all.

We will be having another go next week starting with OS again and following up with Naxxramas. So please sign up if you’re interested.

See you all soon!

Ahlaina

You are sacked!

Often the first ranges of thoughts when you see the above words involve a lot of expletives followed  by, "that's unfair"' and "how in blazes did it get to this?"

Guild or party chat has gone omiously quiet... then is followed by an explosion of volcanic proportions containing opinions and inuendo not necessarily involved with the topic at hand...

It then occurs to some onlookers, that normally social, happy, chatty players are now at each others throats and threatening one another... it all took approximately 30 seconds to completely ruin a players' experience and perception of the people they thought were nice folks.

How did it happen?

It is all in how we communicate. How do we get questions answered, opinions sought, appreciate comedy, feelings and achievements we experience in many walks of life, but expressly in WoW? We type... and type... and type.

Words on their own, have no emotion or inflection in tone or colour. We have to express emotions and generate  language by forming pictures with words or structuring phrases to achieve an outcome. A picture says a thousand words... but for the most part we can only type. So lets have a look at an overveiw of why we play, why we react the way we do and what can we do to prevent the 30 second volcanic erruption?

• as a global network we come from all walks of life, a wide range of cultures, ages, and personal experiences. What is a normal everyday expression in one culture, may be inflammatory, degrading and emotionally debilitating in another. What is a joke or word play in one culture is defamatory and discrimanatory to another cultural group.
• some people are naturally quick witted and have excellent communication skills however, that same intent expressed by another less adept person may cause anything from slight embarassment to significant emotional trauma and anger
• teen speak is different from kidspeak and both differ markedly to adult communication. How often has a parent been heard lamenting, "I wish I knew what language my kids are speaking"? Kids old enough to play WoW through to the older teens love and appreciate being treated and included on an adult level, but need the stimulation of other people their own age. This can create inconsistancies. Kids can be led in the right direction if managed appropriately.
• when someone isnt feeling the best, either physically or mentally, WoW is a often where a player comes to escape and sometimes socially debrief or unwind with fellow players that they place a certain amount of trust in. We interpret what we read and write, and consequently, react more negatively than when we are well rested and in a positive frame of mind
• often we get lazy while communicating... "why type an extra word or line when I know what I mean"
•  never type in anger... often a diplomatic /dnd (do not disturb), /afk (asleep ... sorry that would be away from keyboard) or exit strategy is the best way to handle an upsetting situation in the short term
• chastising a player, however far out of line should never occur in a public forum
• if you have conflicting opinions, take it to a group / party chat... often whispers escape at the worst possible moment
• good communicators are able to either difuse a situation by showing understanding, guiding and not taking sides. These people become, almost by default, the reluctant negotiators and as a result fade away from the game as it becomes emotionally hard work
• good leaders often sit back and see where a situation is going first, gather facts, then deal with a situation. Most negative situations resolve themselves with a little commonsense and time. Occasionally this is interpreted as sitting on the fence and poor leadership, when in fact it is the total opposite
• time and reasoning expectations are different for different people. An all too frequent event occurs when some people expect events to happen quickly, they want everything "yesterday" and believe everyone should drop what they are doing to help them achieve their own targets... If requests are ignored, the player then feels ignored and upset... usually with negative effects for a number of the following weeks. Yet if the person is given an appology and a reason why they are unable to assist at that particular time, the event is defused, the person may well be assisted in one way or another, and the "feeling of being part of a team" is stronger
• "They just dont get it... they must be stupid"... is the bullies escape clause, and never appropriate. To type it in an open forum is horrific
• on rare occasions Officers must be able to type STOP... all chat is to cease, as if an officer has to use this tool, it is definitely time for everyone to sit back and take stock of what has been going on at that time.
• once dealt with, never bring it up again. The only time this is not applicable is where a warning for behaviour has been issued by an officer and approved by the GM
• swearing as with many other words has context when verbalised... that same context cannot always be implied in writing. It is by far better to avoid it altogether in a written environment, especially where a platform such as WoW is well known for having kids around, and just because one individual might be swearing after 10pm, that does not mean everyone that is attendant to the conversation is also in the same time zone.
• emotion can be implied in limited cases by utilising some keyboard tools...  :D or lol are two very common examples...
• "in-jokes" or "you had to be there" type humour should be kept in the group of origin
• any one of us should be able to sign on and feel safe from ridicule, inuendo, language barriers and be able to learn, socialise and have fun.
• respect and commonsense...

Thats my 2 cents worth for this week... and for the post 1975, a dollars worth of what I hope is an informative post that will lead to better communication and social security in our guild.

Lady Chique

Ventrilo or Skype For Guild Raiding ?

Slightly ahead of the Guild's Council Meeting on Sunday, I would like to (re-)open the discussion about two possible programs we could use for Guild Raiding.

Some of You may think that a discussion this on this topic goes too far. When You have listened to Members discussing this topic in the recent past, you will have found out that some People wish to use Ventrilo because they have good experiences with it. I on the other hand want to rid the Guild of it because I only have good experiences with Skype and some Members have just heard about these two chatprograms without knowing what they're there for.

My Experience with Ventrilo are numerous and negative. One of the most negative aspects of the program i find the excrusiating mix up in voices over my headset: its very hard to distinguish difference in (tones of) voices, as the program doesnt allow it. And then there is the disturbance when more than one or two people speak at the same time! I also have a problem with Ventrilo using up a lot of my resources that I would otherwise spend on WoW itself. And last but not least, I cant see to get used to holding a key down to speak without it conflicting with my rotation or the quickness of my mind. Apart from all these aspects, getting to use a server, someone has to come up with the cost. Ventrilo servers are NOT for free.

Needless to say, all of the above described problems do not exist in Skype. This is always hands-free, has no disturbances whatsoever or doesnt flatten voices when they "look alike". Skype also uses only little of my slaptop's resources, so i will always be able to have my run well. Skype doesnt cost a thing. Not the program and not the conference call.

Before I "ban" the Ventrilo program, I would like to start some fair trials with both programs in different situations of WoW. Excluding Ventrilo from our gaming will not just be a matter I would force a decision upon, it would be a Guild Decision for the best program. I would like to ask all Ventrilo users to help install the correct versions with the other Members during the coming days, whereas I will be on stand-by to guide People through the Skype setup.

And Last but Not Least: Tell me what You think! Post, Post, Post!

Ary

New Weapons At Guild Bank Again!

Today, Saturday, I bought some new weapons for the Guild Bank again, mainly to overcome our recent robbery and to offer our Members the chance to exchange their present weapon for a better one. New rule, however: when you take out your new weapon, you put in your old weapon. Please do NOT donate any much lower level weapons.

To all our Members who have recently used the Guild Bank to repair, please donate some silverlings in return. Above described weapons have been bought with Guild gold and some of myself. Thanks in Advance! As to our Rare/High Level tab, we will suspend the use of that by Members untill we get our belongings back from Blizzard.
As to leveling alts, please understand, that we cant give you rare items indefinitely. Right now, Your main and one alt are getting leveling rewards. Lets keep it that way!

Ary

Raid Marathon Planned! See Guild Calendar for Details!

Another small message, this time from our Raiding Department, Everla and Aarjon: All Members (level 60+) are kindly requested to check out the Guild Calendar and answer to their Invitation to join in the Raid Marathon.

Apparently they have room for 40 People and tell us: "First Come, First Get!" So Guys and Gals, be there when it starts!

Ary

Bankshrubbery... or Bankrobbery? That Is The Question

Our Beloved Deputy Guild Master Moirin was hacked today and gave our Guild Bank a thorough "shrubbery". Immediate Action has been taken, reports been filed and a ticket was sent. We expect to hear from Blizzard in due time. In the past, they sent us our belongings and stolen gold back, so we are joyously expecting mail from the Game Master.

Untill then, keep adding your excess items to the Guild Bank. The Perp (in the form of Moirin) was removed and we will continue to do business as usual.

Ary

NOTICE: Guild Council Meeting On January 17, 2010

The Knights of Ni have grown stronger and larger over the last two months and our goals then are not nessecarily our goals for the future anymore. It is for this reason that I am calling for a Guild Council Meeting on January 17, 2010 at 19.30 realm time.

All Officers (Knights of the Treasury included) are kindly asked to respond to their In-Game invitations and consider Points of Interest and Topics they want to bring forth at the Meeting. All in all, this weekend's Meeting is about Ideas, Views and Expectations of where our Guild will be going in the months to come.

All other Members are invited to respond to this Notice by posting comments to it! Give Us Your Ideas and Views and let Us know how You feel about the Guild now!

Ary

Greed, Need or Disenchant? (Oops, sorry, I pressed the wrong button)

Looting protocol is, sadly, the most neglected rule of the game of WoW.
Nothing will spoil an otherwise excellent run through an instance more than a player displaying their ignorance by rolling need on an item unsuitable for their class.

Looting rules seem to vary between guilds and, as shown recently by the new dungeon finder system, across realms.

It is NOT rocket science. Lets firstly examine the NEED roll

Step 1: NEVER roll need on an item unless it is bind on pickup.
Step 2: Only roll need on an item you can currently equip as an upgrade.
Step 3: Do NOT roll need on an item that would be an upgrade for your other spec. If you wish to upgrade your healing set, enter the instance as a healer, not as a tank.

In the event that another party member has won a roll on an item you desire, negotiate with them the purchase of that item. More often than not they will just give it to you.

If an item drops that would be an upgrade for you but the item is bind on equip simply ask before rolling if you may roll need and wait for an answer before rolling. It may help to link your currently equipped item to party chat to indicate your need. BUT, the fairest way to approach this situation is to just roll greed and if you don’t win the roll, approach the player who did and negotiate a trade.

Remember that you are displaying "Knights of Ni" under your name and that your behaviour in “pick up groups” not only defines you as a player but also reflects on the guild.

Rare Weapons Now at Guild Bank

On Sunday I bought some nice and interesting Rare weapons for leveling gift purposes. Among them some daggers, polearms, wands and maces. Take a look at the Guild Bank, Blue tab to see if anything is there that You like. If You find something, do tell Ahlaina or myself, so we can make "reservations" for the particular item.

The weapons and most of the armor I aquired over the last couple of days were paid by the Guild, some by myself. If You come upon a Rare or Epic item that is not too expensive at the auction house, do let us know and we may be able to buy it ahead.

Ary

Those handy places to "find stuff out"

If you are anything like me, you have often wondered what is the better piece of gear, why cant I get my DPS up, where do I go with talents and specs and what is DPS anyway!?! The following information is based on personal experience and at this point in time, both websites recommended are free from spam, adulterations, and malware.

The who, what, where, when, how and why...

Well, have no fear... your questions can be answered by employing a few resources...

http://www.wowwikki.com/ is one of my personal favourites... no matter how innane the question, the answer or part thereof is generally found here. It is quite up to date with the latest upgrades.


What about addons...

http://www.curse.com/ is anything but a curse! It is in fact a brillliant site for choosing an addon to help you to do pretty much anything within the game structure and is compliant with the rules of engagement stipulated by Blizzard.

It is a very user friendly site where you can even package a group of addons that you can easily update on signing into the curse website when the developers make the updates available.

What addons are best for your game? Well, that entirely depends on personal preference and where you are in the game itself. Have a chat to the guildies with regard to their favourites and why.

Just remember, no website except for your signon with Blizzard should be asking for your signon details... do not trust any other site that asks for these details.

Trick or Treat - Leveling Gifts

Since we value your efforts and hope to assist you in your endeavours the Knights of Ni provide some fabulous levelling gifts.

Ever gotten to level 20 but can’t afford the mount? I know I have. Well now that’s no longer a problem, on reaching level 20 you will receive 10 gold to pay for your extra set of legs and training.

On reaching level 30 you will receive 25g, on 50, you guessed it, 50g or your choice of rare items in your range from the guild bank. To help you on the final stretch on reaching level 70 you will receive 100g or your choice of rare items in that range from the guild bank. Aryeeth and I are always happy to make something from our blacksmithing range for you also, so browse our items and see if there’s something you crave.

If your gift doesn’t turn up do send me a line so I can make sure it gets through.
Happy levelling all and see you in WoW land soon.

Ahlaina

The Guild Bank

The Guild Bank is one of the Guild's most important institutions. She contains the Guild's most precious possessions and the Gold from which most members do their daily repairs.

It is for this reason that the amount of Gold in the Guild Bank needs to be on a high level every day as it is used every day. We ask our Members to donate to it on a regular basis, especially if they use the Guild's Gold for repairs. We allow Members to donate the amount of Gold, Silver and Bronze they think is just.

The Guild Bank also contains lots of items, being classified as "Consumables", "Consumables Tech", "Armor", "Weaponry" and "Rare/High Level". We ask our Members NOT to donate items that go below the level of 35 - 40, as the Guild Banks tabs would fill up too quick and be stuffed and unusuable. We believe that items of that level are free to buy on the Auction House and at Vendors at a reasonable price. Every item above level 40 can, however, be donated because they become rarer and more expensive.

The Guild Bank is being managed by two "Knights of the Treassury", Angel and Crispian. They will invariably move items from one tab to another, sell items and deposit their worth in Gold to the Guild Bank. Dont go ape when you discover that your recently donated items are not there anymore. It is likely that they have been sold to create space for other items.

When we find that you have used up a lot of Gold, Silver or Bronze for repairs, but havent donated, you will receive a notice to that topic from the Guild Master or the Knights of the Treassury.

Untill recently the "Rare/High Level" tab was open to all Knights of No. We decided to close it down again after recent events, when a Knight thought it a good idea to pillage that particular tab to enrich himself. In future, when Members want something from it, they will kindly have to ask an Officer.

Guild Rules of Conduct

Knights of Ni is a supportive Guild for newbies and experienced players. We offer mentorships and events. Because of dealing with real people in our Guild interaction we have made the following Rules of Conduct:

* Be polite and kind to everyone in the game. If we catch you screaming and shouting in a general chat channel, you will be removed from the Guild.

* When being helped, dont get greedy. We're here for awhile. You can always get help. When a non-member asks you for help, you are to support this person to the best of your situation, knowledge and/or possibilities.

* Bank access will granted after a few days of becoming a Member.

* Promotions consist of time you are with the guild and the accomplishments you achieve. Included here are also your efforts to help your fellow Members reach a higher level.

* As we interact with both adults and teenagers, we have inplemented special ranks for these groups. Make sure you know who is online before you entertain your fellow Members with flowery text or sexual descriptions of your favourite games.

* Our Junior Members will be Guided by a Mentor/ix, an Officer who will exclusively guide and support Junior Members. Be careful about how you behave, because the Mentor/ix will also decide whether you can stay with the Guild or when you get your promotion.

* Members who use the Guild Bank as a means of enlarging their personal income will be removed from our gaming community.

* As a Member of the Guild you are to wear a Guild Tabard. You can find them in the Guild Bank. If you cant access the Guild Bank yet, please ask an Officer to send you one. Be reminded that while wearing the tabard, you are in fact representing the Guild.

* The Knights of Ni declare themselves against any form of racism, sexism or discrimination based on religion or sexual appetite. If you can not live along this Guideline, you have no place in the Guild.

* Conflicts between Members will basically be solved by the Members involved. If, however, the problems seem to be too overwhelming, an Officer can be asked to mediate between the two parties. Be reminded that the Officer at all times is able to remove anyone from the Guild.

* As Officers of the Guild are only human, they too can make mistakes. If you find you have been treated injustly, you have the right to petition to the Guild Master. His decisions however are binding and immediate.

Need for Member Info on Professions

Knights of Ni's Members are once again asked to fill out the information box in their Member Info Box with exact information about their professions on WoW. By doing this (regularly) Members will enable other Members of the Guild to ask for help in creating items, materials and/or reagents.

For some of our Members filling out the information box ist not an option, as they are not with the Guild for a longer period of time. Please ask any Officer if you encounter any problems in that department! They will gladly assist you in filling our your Information Box for you.

To reach the Information Box you must click the "!" on the bottom Action Bar on your screen; look for your name and click it. The Information Box will open and either give you the option to fill it out, or not.

Knights of Ni - Sauerfang Has It Owns Blog... Again.

After 3 months and 16 days, the World of Warcraft Guild Knights of Ni goes web... again! In a new form, with new colours but with no less energy and imput, beloved Knight of Noof, Chique will again let our Guild rise and shine in the annals of automated publication.

Having reached the 150 member mark we thought it nessecary to restart our efforts to be present on the net, wishing to be a platform for all Member's thoughts on topics that concern them. This Guild Blog should make communication between People on different continents easier and more effective!

Being a forum, a market place or a message board, Knights of Ni's Blog presentation foremost is there for You, our worthy Members. Everyone and Anyone is allowed to add to it, or to spread the proof of its exsistance.

We wish You the best of luck playing World of Warcraft, in your leveling efforts and trivia pursuits - untill then, your Aryeeth.