Xohlia

I have never reviewed a fantasy roleplay guild, or a roleplay guild for that matter, so I thought that this would be interesting. I've actually never been in a fantasy roleplay guild either. Fantasy roleplay guilds just never captured my interest. When I think of fantasy I think of Dungeons and Dragons, so maybe that is why I never liked the fantasy roleplay guilds. I love to write, hence being a guild reviewer (but these little articles do not in any way really compare to my fiction writing), but I've never really tried to write in a medieval setting. Well, I tried once which you can ask me about if you ever get the chance to speak with me. It was about a paragraph long for the Neopian Times but I never finished it. No wait, there was another one too which was also only maybe two paragraphs or so. Given what I've just said, I may have tried to write medieval stories, but I've never had the inspiration to finish them. I wouldn't sit down and watch Robin Hood for fun, but I think that I'd read an old castle war story. I'll basically read whatever you give me to tell you the truth. Be that as it may and I will review a fantasy roleplaying guild.

Xohlia is a quaint, small community. The guild doesn't meet my requirements of twenty members and I've come to find that most roleplaying guilds don't either. That makes sense of course. Why would you want twenty or so on members all roleplaying at the same time? (I wouldn't.) I didn't know that a roleplaying guild could hold so many natural, excellent writers. Of course that makes sense too, but the guild's story line and posts are amazing. I was going back in pages in the message board just to delve deeper into the story. Senji urged the thestral on, but he noticed it was slowing. His eyes narrowed and he jumped off and took the reins in his hands. He started running with the demon horse, telling it would be able to stop soon. He panted while he spoke, but he didn't get back on. He glanced up at Vex, wishing death to the dragon.
Avielle shook her head and held onto him tighter. She stared up into his red eyes. "Weren't you listening when I told I wouldn't leave you? I..." She ended her sentence and kissed his cheek. "Please don't push me away." "--Xohlia Member This is amazing roleplay made up by amazing literate members. They write with such feeling and I can just see everything happening right in front of my eyes. Keep up the great work! It is important to note that most of the members were open to start up new roleplay too, so I doubt that if you decided to join that you would ever be left out. They also appear to be very involved in their stories, so you most likely won't be left high and dry in the middle of a story with no one else to carry it on. (:

This guild's writing was so captivating that I started writing about the members and the story styles before I commented on the layout. This is the first time ever for me to do such a thing. Even if the layout was average, I don't think it would keep me from joining this guild. The layout was spectacular, so I wouldn't need to think about it. It immediately portrayed its theme: fantasy. The guild leader said that the guild was "mostly literate"(I believe that's what she said) and I just categorized it as literate because it appeared to be so, but the layout says "News and Other Stuffeths" in one area. It isn't something that can be easily changed because it is part of the layout, but I think that coming from a guild with so many detailed writers, I'm sure that they could come up with a different word than "Stuffeths". Still, the guild isn't really literate. The council chat box was half semi-literate and half literate - maybe that is where the mostly literate comes from.

The website is not as impressing as the guild itself was. The picture made it look as if the member had tried, but I'd give it a one star out of ten. As I have suggested before, look up GIMP (a free graphics software you can download online_ with your favorite search engine. Trust me, it's worth it - especially for a gem like this guild. x)

The guild had quite a few activities. Roleplayer of the Month, Muse of Xohlia, Fonts (I love guild fonts!), Avatar lending, Xohlian Art, and Xohlian Quotes. The character pages were simple and informative. There are enough activities to tide you over after a short session of roleplaying I would say, so you would never be bored.

This guild has opened my eyes up to fantasy roleplay; now I am all for it. I now desperately want to review another one! This is a wonderful guild. The website could use work, but I strongly suggest that if you are considering joining - just join. The graphics don't matter and don't even compare to how fascinating the actual guild really is.

GUILD STAR CARD
Graphics: ***
Activities: ****
Activeness: ****.5
Organization: ****
Literacy: ***.9

I give this guild ****.5 stars. If you love to roleplay, this guild is definitely right for you. (:

Phantasm

I like the layout. I cannot say that I love the layout, because I don't like the brown background color and it doesn't apply to me personally, but the layout as a whole is very well organized. The main blog's text doesn't include very much. It just has the basic welcome message, and then a council blog. I won't comment on the council blog because there isn't much to comment on. I'll give them credit though, because it mainly revolves around guild support/news. Also, they have guild team graphic boxes that include their teams' points. That was very cute. On the right: Guild goals, MOTM, Sub-council, Birthdays, and layout credit. I just... like it. :)

The message board is pretty active. Although, I don't understand how the guild can call themselves "literate" when some members post only one sentence, omg, rofl, lol, u(you), and such. I thought that literate guilds posted atleast three to four sentences and above? Maybe they should make a rule about that, but otherwise, they are not what they say to be. The members are pretty active too. The guild could use an inactive member clean-out, but I am proud to say that they wouldn't need to delete very many.

The guild website is incredible. It has a nice layout design, chatbox, guild news, guild map, and tons of activities. You would most likely never be bored. Haha, the only thing that I find odd is that an avatar guild doesn't have avatar lending. xDD Kind of funny, don't you think?

I'm sorry for the short review. School is about to start and I've been busy. I have other things on my mind like taking the PLAN and PSAT/NMSQT tests in the fall, so I'll be studying my butt off. Then in the spring the SAT subject tests and AP SAT tests. I also signed up for, most likely, too many extra curriculars. I'm sad to say that my guild reviewing days will be slower and take longer.
I guess that I also just don't have very much to say about Phantasm. There wasn't anything very special about it. It didn't bring back memories. It didn't give me anything to talk about. It's just... a nice, literate (though in all honesty should be semi-literate), not-so-unique avatar guild. If you're looking for fun, you could join this guild. If you're a serious avatar collector though, this guild might disappoint.

GUILD STAR CARD
Graphics: ****.5
Activities: ****
Activeness: ****
Organization: ****.5
Literacy: **.5

I give this guild *** stars! A fun, not-so-avatar-focused, avatar guild.

Eccentricity™

Moving along; the guild layout was... acceptable. It hasn't been the worst that I've seen, but it also was not the best. I liked the simplicity of the layout. It reminded me of the good ol' days of Neopets when full paged guild layouts were rare, and "you shouldn't have too much of a good thing" mentality. Guild layouts just weren't as complicated as they are now. They just used to have the simple banner and long table, etc. It gave you your information flat out, and didn't "hide it" with petpages, links, and it told you the truth. Nowadays, everything is so secretive and everything is hard to find. It's easy to get wrapped up in links that you lose yourself all together. Trust me, it has happened to me before with these new guilds. "Over doing it" seems to be the case of these young newbies. I cannot say that Eccentricity couldn't have picked up on some graphics though. The banner was saved as a .JPG (why everyone does that, I'll never know) which I have said before, takes away the quality of the graphic right off the get go. The banner could have easily been perked up by just adding a border to the font rather than shadowing it, and then saved as a .PNG file. Other than that and the poor quality of the other graphics, I wouldn't have anything to complain about. The table header colors were excellent, and everything just fit together perfectly. There wasn't a ton of information, but I would say that there was enough to keep you informed and knowledgeable to the guild's happenings. It gets your attention. When guilds have just /too/ much information, do you really read it all? I don't. I skim. There was just a short amount of information: the welcome message, news, and essential links. It was easy to navigate though, in other words.

All of Eccentricity's pages have the same format, and that always makes a guild look professional. Different CSS codes (and premade nonetheless) make a guild seem tacky. Organization gives the impression of guild class. Of course, there are certain exceptions to that rule. It isn't a solid rule that applies to everyone, but it is part of common sense (and applies to those with common sense), don't you think? It shows organization. Smart, eh? -pokes guild star card-

The activities are great.^^ I couldn't tell you how many activities were on the page, because I was blown away myself. They had weekly events (my favorite), daily events (my second most favorite), and then the few regular games. I especially liked how there were many graphic banners. ;D The activities weren't "kiddie". To name a few: Book Club, Wishing Fish, Festive Friday, Warty's Wanderings. I don't have anything to say contrary though. I can't name any games that /are/ "kiddie", but I just felt as though the activities were grown up. It may be because I have never seen them before, and "kiddie" games usually makes me think of the normal, over-used, games that normal kids just copy and use. I think that adults are more likely to come up with original and unique games, more than to copy. Anywho, I still think that the activities were impressive.
There really are too many to actually name here. They had a cool KeyQuest time thing going on though, and then the normal avatar lending, adoption agency, and cute Eccentricity care packages.

The message board is fairly active - for an adult guild anyways. It's not so normal that an adult can be as active on Neopets as a kid, because they have their families, work, college, etc. going on in their real life when all that kids have to worry about is school (Yes, I am talking about normally...). Most adults do have a real life, but I think that this guild is still at least average about getting on to post.
Though, some members could be let go through an inactive member clean out.

I don't have much else to say to this guild but to just pick up on their graphics, and to have some inactive member clean outs once in a while. Eccentricity seems already pretty fit to me. :)

GUILD STAR CARD
Graphics: *
Activities: ****
Activeness: ***.5
Organization: ****.5
Literacy: *****

I give this guild **** stars! Check out GIMP, a free graphics software from the internet (worth trying out), and Eccentricity will be all set.

[N.F]x_Neopian Faeries//....

I usually write my reviews to the order of which I see. Maybe that is why people feel threatened or weakened by my reviews - if their review was bad, of course - because I don't start off with the positive things and then write the negative things. They tell you to begin writing that way, good to bad, but I do not do that. I think that you should see the guild through my eyes, chronically. I do not want to "sugar coat" things. I do not believe in that. I wish that I did, because that would save myself time and money buying thicker armor, but I write these reviews to tell the truth. Having a guild is like having a business. Your main focus is to keep the people happy, and the guildless boards are your prey (not the same as "eating" them o_O). It's a war out there. Competition is flying! I want to tell you if you have a chance, and teach you how to become elite. I cannot guarentee you anything; "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder".
I need to write as if I was cold and guildless, if you understand what I am saying. The Neopets Guild Boards subjugate the "survival of the fittest". I just thought that I should clear that up, as to why I write as I do. Don't take it personally. :)

Primordial from me looking deep within the guild, I judged the layout. It did not move me. Don't get me wrong though, I didn't hate the whole layout. I thought that the blending and the Shenkuu items fit in with the theme of Shenkuu, but it wasn't high quality (as it was saved as a JPG) and it could have used some brushes. I cannot really judge the graphics so harshly about brushes, because I do not know what photo editting software the creator had used, but I thought that I should just include that.
The background and color scheme fit perfectly with the Shenkuu theme. The coding was also well put together, except for how the layout overlapped a part of the guild sidebar, which made it look tacky. The table fit perfectly with the banner and included much information. I loved the marquee and the team point pixel blocks. It is a nice reminder to members in each team. ;)

Neopian Faeries does have an entertaining sum of activites, but their pages are terrible. The weekly guild event, HIDE AND SEEK's (the event currently taking place while I was there) petpage layout was okay, but it wasn't excellent. Though, it was better then their normal activity pages. The pages don't contain any special CSS, so they are dull and boring. I would move on if I were guildless. The layout and first look of the guild may tempt someone, but it is like seeing the prince, joining, and having it turn into a toad. (Odd choice of words)
If you do not care about how the pages look, you are still in for a treat with the many things to do. x)
There are faerie teams: Earth, Fire, Water, and Dark, and whichever team you join, that is your rank. Everyone gains admin once they join a guild team (of which I do not approve, but it depends on what type of guild admin every member gets).

The guild message board appears to be active, but it all is how you turn upon it. What is your definition of an active board? There are regulars, but they do have their dead board silences where no one posts for a couple of minutes, a couple of hours. They aren't unactive though, so it's all about how you look at it. NF isn't terribly active, but they can't /really/ be at only around 30 members. Well, I guess that they could, but hardly any guild really is, you know? Real life calls, unless you don't have a real life. ;D

I was actually deleted a little while after I joined the guild to rate it. Promtly the guild leader neomailed me saying that it was an accident, because she was deleting unactive members. I wasn't angry as you might think. ;D I found that little happening an insite that she is active with deleting the unactive members when she must. She said that she deletes unactive member sweeps every month, but as I cannot be in the guild for a whole month, I cannot prove that.
There are 17 members with more than ten posts out of 34. I do not really understand (excluding the newcomers) who she could have deleted, because I saw many inactive members. As Nova Sponge Cakes always says, "Quality over quanity". NF should lighten up and just let go of the unactive members. I can understand how hard it is, if you're a desperate new guild trying to get members, but don't be afraid! Many people will still be attracted to your guild because it will be small and homely. The message board appears homely and everyone looks like good friends. You can also tell that the guild is semi-literate. The guild isn't too bad though, so don't get me wrong. There are those who post with one sentence posts and who do not use proper grammar, but the guild is one of the better semi-literate guilds regarding literacy.

The members seem to love their guild and support it strongly though, and the members are the core of a guild.

There is another thing that I don't understand. The main guild page says that "neopian-faeries" dot co dot nr, is their official website, but the guild leader said that it wasn't. She said that the website and the guild were just allies, so that is misleading if people were a fan of that site and thought that this guild was "thee guild" of the website, if you know what I mean. Maybe instead of underlining above "Official Website", they should say, "Neopian Faeries Ally" or something less misleading.

Neopian Faeries, don't try too hard! Just relax, and focus to appeal to your already joined members rather than to look "cool" to guildless-es. x) The only advice to you, as the only advice I can give to most guilds, is pick up on your coding, CSS, and graphics. You can download GIMP (look up with your favorite search engine), a free photo editting software. You can create, with enough practice, graphics comparable to the leading software PhotoShop and Paint Shop Pro, without having to pay a dime!

GUILD STAR CARD
Graphics: **
Activities: ****
Activeness: ***
Organization: **
Literacy: ***

I give this guild **.5 stars! Ease up, ;D

Pocket Otaku

***From the eyes of my old guildless self: When I found Pocket Otaku from my guildless board, I first of all, loved the application page. The banner was cute, there was solid and very important core information that an interested member must know! I was instantly very impressed. The thing that bit me was that you had to fill out an application that had to be 4,000+ characters long. Haha, I tried writing normally myself, filling in with detail of course, and I only barely got up to 1,500 characters. xDD
However, if you are considering Pocket, that ridiculously long application is worth taking the hour long to write.

The layouts are always amazing! They are usually anime/manga related, but the guild also puts up layouts just based on anything Asian related! When I was talking to the most famous Dark (Pocket's wonderful leader) he even mentioned that they had a sushi layout before. If you are interested in anything Asian, this guild is right for you.

I have never went onto the guild message board and found that no one was on. Someone is always on, may they be lurking with "Skitty's Disease; A raging disease that causes members to lurk instead of post" or just simply somewhere else - maybe on a Pocket GC board. The members are extremely friendly to new comers, and they don't drown you with anime/manga if you are afraid because you have never watched/read any. :D If you are an anime/manga fan, you can always start up a conversation easily though. Not /one/ person had zero posts except an old guild account. Everyone participates, and the atmosphere is kind, welcoming, and fun!

The guild website is extravagant and very well put together, as well! Not only does it contain tons of activities, games, wallpapers, userlookups, badges, and banners (the list goes on), but it has anime/manga recommendations which I, as a newbie anime/manga fan, x3, found very helpful!
The website even holds a "Guild Members" page so that if you forget someone's name by chance, as this is a large guild, you won't feel like an idiot for forgetting. =D

As I said, Pocket Otaku is a large guild at 103 members, but the message board is comfortable enough that you can chat with people on, addressing them by name, and still you won't be swept away by millions of posts or maybe even pages. The posts are also always literate, as Pocket is a literate guild.

So now that you have read the main points as to why Pocket is as great as it is, there are tons of little tid bits that would take pages and pages for me to all list, so you will just have to join and find out, eh?! -nudgenudge-
If I had a Spotlight section, Pocket Otaku would definitely be there.

Pocket, I have no doubt, will live until the end of time. They have even shown to us, by example when TNT closed down Pocket in February. They made such a huge comeback, that nothing will stop them-blocked- the fun, won't you? 8D

GUILD STAR CARD
Graphics: *****
Activities: *****
Activeness: *****
Organization: *****
Literacy: *****

I give this guild ************** stars! And that is out of five stars. ;D

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