GUILDS - Hey there! It's time for me, stal0s, to make another rare appearance
in The Neopian Times. You may remember me as the author behind the 3-part Guide
to Neopia series (Weeks 54-56). I now return to you at the turn of the Maraquan
tide, bringing yet another enlightening article. This time, my subject is on
Guilds.
The Beginning
What are guilds?
What are guilds, you may ask yourself. Well, guilds are, to quote the Neopian
help files (Learn 'em, live 'em, love 'em.), "...special interest clubs that
you can create/join to meet other players with similar likes and dislikes. You
can organise give-aways, find new friends and chat about your favourite things
:) " That should give you a good idea of what they are.
Cool. Now how do I find one?
Ahhh... the hunt for a guild that's just right for you. Fun fun fun! Being
facetious there, heh. Let me compose myself real quick. Ahem. There we go. There
are many ways to find a guild. Finding one that's just right for you, however,
requires work. I won't go there... yet.
The first way is the most obvious one. Click the "Shops" link on the yellow
sidebar. That'll take you to Neopia Central. To get to the Guild HQ from here,
look on the upper-bar of the Neopia Central page. Click on the Brick house/apartment
building looking image. It's in-between the "Your Shop" (looks like a shop),
and "Auction House" (looks like a gavel) links. From there you can click on
the Guild Neighborhoods and decide what guild you want to hit from there. Each
neighborhood will list guilds in descending order on the amount of members they
have.
The second way is harder to come up with any results. When you're at the Guild
HQ, you can do a "search" for guilds. Type in a phrase, and it will look for
a guild with that name. You can also use the selections "Exactly as is", "And",
or "Or" as search filters. Doesn't change a thing, if you ask me. See, it's
not like using the "Shop Wizard" to search. It looks for the words you put in.
Example: Let's say I wanted to search for a guild that was astronomy-oriented.
Let me type in Astronomers Guild under "Exactly as is." I get one guild, aptly
named "Astronomers Guild." Let's use the "AND" filter now. I get... the same
guild! What about using "Or"? I now get a guild called "Guild". See the problem
there? Searching only helps if you know the name of the guild you want to join...
then why would you be searching for a guild in the first place? *shakes head*
Now if they made it more Shop Wizard-ish, or Auction Genie-like, we'd have progress.
Moving right along...
The next method (third one, for those who are counting) is by looking at the
chat boards and the Notice Board. I wouldn't recommend either of those. The
Notice Board is a very expensive (2 million or so NP... at the least) way to
advertise a guild. I don't know of anyone that uses it, so I don't know how
reliable that is. The chat boards... I wouldn't suggest that place. It doesn't
matter which board you go to, you'll get guild advertisements. Most of the time,
they're from start-up guilds that promise the moon and can't deliver. There
are genuinely good guilds found there, but it's like looking for a diamond in
a mountain of dung. Besides... the chat boards are a scary place. Ack.
Another way would be to visit the user lookups of other Neopet's users. You
can see what guild they're in, and visit the front page from there. Very simple.
It's how I found the guild I'm in now (of course, I knew the person outside
of Neopets, and she was pushing for me to join...).
A similar method is by looking for advertisements in user shops as well, or
even looking for the official guilds of certain NeoPets websites. That's a good
way to do it, as well. It's how I found one. I worked my way up from lowest
member, to over-all Assistant (council slot II). Of course, I later quit and
the version of the guild I was in fell apart due to sabotage... but that's not
the point here. I met some very cool people, and really enjoyed the time I spent
there. Just beware of council-inactivity, a busy message board, and having to
change to another "Official guild" every now and then, if you use this method.
Occasionally, you may receive Neomails from people advertising their guild
also. After the shock of someone Neomailing you passes (as it always does for
me), give the guild a look and see if it's any good. If it's not, then just
let it slide by, or Neomail the person and politely turn them down.
Make sure, though, that you take into consideration many, many things when
you join a guild. Member friendliness is a priority. When it comes down to it,
theme isn't all that great. It just helps you find people with similar interests.
I may not be into government, but the theme for the guild I'm in is. I stick
around because of the members. The only reason I joined was because my real-life
friend made it sound like a fun place. Moving right along...
Okay, I found a guild. Now what?
That's simple to answer. Explore it! What... you need some more help? All right.
I'll continue this pseudo-pointless article. Read on.
The Guild Home Page
The Guild Home page is much like the display window of the guild. Much like
stores may advertise their wares in the window, so does a guild. Here is a quick
overview of what the Home Page will contain.
Main Text
The main thing you'll find on the Guild Home Page, would be the main text of
the page. This is where you'll usually find guild descriptions, banners, information,
links, etc. The news and Noticeboard area for guilds, so-to-speak.
Guild Council
On the sidebar, you'll find a list of five usernames, with a heading of "Guild
Council". These members are the people in charge of the guild. For example,
here's the council for the guild I'm a member of (The
White House Staff).
Guild Council
I. mrpresident31
II. jerichoschick13
III. sunammie
IV. bsbgrl_11
V. killahkau
Prez (slot I) is the one in charge of the guild, overall. He decides what the
guild's going to do, guild rules, so forth.
Jericho is his Vice President. She takes care of the guild while Prez is away
on something, and usually has other responsibilities when he is there.
I'm not entirely sure what the next three do. Well, supposedly DOOM (killahkau)
is in charge of recruiting new members and advertising. We haven't seen much
of that.
The guild jobs can vary from guild to guild, but most will retain the same
pattern. Hegemon, Assistant, Rank Officer (one who moves members up and down
in rank, accordingly), Advertiser/Recruiter, and one variable position. Honestly,
I've forgotten what the fifth position was for the other guilds I've been in.
Whups.
How may these council members get chosen? Well, the one in charge is always
the one who created the guild. He has absolute authority over all of it. Out
of the members that join, he'll choose people to fill in the rest of the council.
Those decisions can be based on applications alone, personal preference, or
even (in some cases) election. In the case of our guild, all the members were
chosen by Prez, sans killahkau. He was 'elected' to do the job of getting new
members. Every two months, another 'election' comes about. In our case, though,
no one really cares he's done a horrible job at getting new members, so he stays
in office. Maybe it's also because no one else wants the job.
Guild Stats
This is a fairly simple area to explain. These stats just tell you what the
statistics for the guild are. Once more, I'll use my guild as an example: (Author's
note: These stats are from about 4:00 PM, NST on July 13, 2003. They are out
of date, but what I had.)
Guild Stats
Page Views: 86796
Members: 102
Messages: 42
Photos: 3
Founded: 01/16/2002
'Page views' is another way of saying 'hits'. That's the number of times our
guild pages have been viewed, all rolled into one. In other words, the total
amount of times our home page, message board, photo album, and anything else
in the guild, has been 'hit' with a 'view'. Or so my understanding goes, I do
admit, it may be wrong. I've never been able to pinpoint it exactly.
'Members' is quite simple. It's the number of people currently in our guild
(now if only they were all active). 'Messages' is the current total of messages
on our guild board (don't laugh. We've hit a slump). Same goes with 'Photos'.
'Founded' simply means the date Prez created the guild.
Options
These are just links that takes you to other areas of the guild area. This
would be the options you have:
Options:
Home
Messages
Photos
Calendar
Members
Invite
Link
Join/Leave Guild
This section gets even simpler. Clicking on Home takes you to our front page,
messages to message board, photos to photo album, etc. Clicking on invite will
give you the opportunity (if your rank is high enough) to send an invitation
to join the guild (via Neomail) to someone you know. Link gives you the URL
address to the guild's front page. Join/Leave Guild changes depending on your
status (member, non-member). I imagine you know what that link does.
And if the guild hegemon (as I like to call the leader) ever gives you administrative
privileges (which you don't have to be any particular rank for) there will be
an area for that as well. I won't bother explaining those. If you have them,
there's no need for you to know. If you don't have them, there's no need for
you to worry about it.
Guild Message Board
In my opinion, this is the entire reason guild's exist. Unfortunately, not
everyone sees it this way. This is a fun way to get to know other people in
your guild. You can post many types of different messages (don't spam, though.
You'll be despised greatly). Here's a discussion I saved that shows one of the
many uses for the board. I've edited some things so it makes more sense to you
all.
mrpresident31
02:25PM
06/22/2003 " You have a huge obsession... "
...with Mac n Cheese...lol...
Everytime Sunny tells us what she's eating...it's Mac n Cheese...Mac n Cheese...
LoL...and since I can't think of a better poll question...I might as well make it...
How many days a week do you eat Mac n Cheese?
LoL...
killahkau
06:35PM
06/22/2003 " Re: You have a huge obsession... "
"How many days a week do you eat Mac n Cheese? "
Mister president im APPALLED that you would even think DOOM was a cannibal.
Even if you weren't referring to cannibalism just the mere INNUENDO of it all.
DOOM shalt not answer such a question.
Marcus Von Doom
mrpresident31
03:59PM
06/23/2003 " Appall nothing... "
Cannibolism? Are you suggesting that you are made of Macaroni or Cheese DOOM?...lol...
killahkau
09:41PM
06/23/2003 " Re: Appall nothing... "
"Cannibolism? Are you suggesting that you are made of Macaroni or Cheese DOOM?...lol..."
it is spelled C-a-n-n-a-b-a-l-i-s-m mister president.
and the fact that you mention people made of macaroni and cheese proves that you know too much already.
Marcus Von Doom
jerichoschick13
06:29AM
06/24/2003 " Re: Appall nothing... "
LOL Marcus. Hey.. I know people are made of mac and cheese too.. lol
killahkau
09:57PM
06/24/2003 " Re: Appall nothing... "
miss vice president knows as well.
this calls for a change in plans.
curses.
Marcus Von Doom
See what I mean? Fun stuff. It can also be used to announce major events coming
up. Just make sure when you join a guild, you stay active on the message board.
Out of the 102 members my guild has, only about five of us post regularly, with
two or three others that post on occasion. See the problem.
Calendar
The guild calendar is just a way to keep track of different important dates.
You can put your birthday in it, for all the guild to see, or any other date
that you think is important enough to be known. Just keep this area clean. Don't
post on the day "July 29: The day after July 28". It makes it cluttered.
Member and Ranks page
Argh! Vile, vile ranks! This has to be the most evil thing created for guilds.
So many people are worried about their ranks in the guild, thinking they can
enjoy more if they have a higher rank. It's wrong, for the most part. In some
guilds, higher ranks open you up to more privileges and/or more responsibility.
For the most part (as in: not everyone), it is the people who crave that power
(example: being a board monitor) that want the higher ranks. Do everyone a favor:
when you join a guild, just stick around for the fun. Don't worry about ranks.
You'll get it in time.
Now, I would like to point out some guilds base their rank system on a certain
level of donating to the guild. The one I'm in does it that way. I may not agree
with this particular form (I'm more for merit-based rank promotions) but I just
follow whatever form of 'government' has been set up. Once more, if you're donating
just for the rank, stop. It really doesn't bring you much prestige at all. Moving
right along...
(At this point the author would like to point out he is speaking from experience
here. To start an argument on this topic would be pointless and a waste of time.)
Anyhow, this is the information you'll find on the member page (once more,
using my guild as an example):
Name Rank Status Posts Joined
mrpresident31 President active 2955 01/16/2002
jerichoschick13 Vice President active 219 04/01/2003
sunammie First Lady active 1552 03/26/2002
bsbgrl_11 Press Secretary active 6 01/20/2002
killahkau Ambassador active 132 10/14/2002
westwing131 Cabinet Member active 15 01/17/2002
stal0s Senator active 345 01/16/2003
As you can see, it goes down based on rank. The council members will list first,
then the highest rank (Cabinet Member), second-highest (Senator), third-highest,
second-lowest, and lowest (though not shown on this list, that would be, for
us, Representative, Governor, and Intern.). And in those files of ranks, the
person with most posts would be listed as highest in that rank, on down. Understand?
Anyhow, you can click on a member's name from that page, and go to their user
lookup so you can learn more about them. Rank just shows what rank they are,
status will always be listed as active so ignore that. Posts keeps track
of the post count of that person. I, for example, have made 345 posts at time
of this copy and paste. Prez has made 2,955 in contrast. Joined just shows what
date you joined. I joined the guild on 1/16/2003, as listed above. Got all that?
Pretty simple, eh?
Conclusion
And with that, we come to the close of my little pseudo-pointless article of
guilds. I hope you enjoyed the ride. If you still haven't found a guild, get
out there and look! They are the heart-and-soul of NeoPets (well, after the
'Pets'), in my opinion. Make sure you find the guild right for you, though.
In conclusion, here's what we learned today:
- Guilds are fun!
- Make sure you find a guild that appeals to you.
- The Guild Search function is totally useless.
- Guild ranks are evil.
- When you join a guild, stay active on the message board.
- DOOM is made out of Mac 'N Cheese, and plans on world domination.
And that's it. Have fun, folks! The author of this article, stal0s, would like
to thank the members (and my friends) of The
White House Staff Guild and my friends Randy, Jeremy, and Rae for their support
and helpfulness in this article. If you'd care to Neomail
me with any questions, comments, compliments, or other stuff, feel free to
do so.
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