Quote by Halish

We have discussed this on the officer forums and during officer meetings and have taken the decision to split the guild up as we are very close to the member limit.

I believe we'll be posting details of the in-game structure changes when everything is created and ready.

I don't believe there is any public discussion at this time.

I see several potential problems with this.

1) The guild is already struggling to manage two guilds in-game. Work out the hiccups and bumps first, get your Officers and Captains lined up, work the bugs out of the invite process... before adding more work. Simple economy of energy: keep it simple.

2) Separating by classes: Often times quests and missions require multiple classes for assistance. The simple fact that enough of one class type (even Jedi tanks/healers/dps) may not be available at the same time means you'll be needing other classes to help. The separation of classes will result in more chatter in the Stonewall custom chat channel.*

3) Future guild achievement systems will most likely require an assortment of classes in one guild.

4) *The Stonewall chat channel ideally should only be used for inviting new members. New members enter that channel and if it's full of cross-guild chatter, group invite requests, Flashpoint assistance chatter, the new members are going to get missed... or flustered, or overwhelmed. As it is now I have gChat and Stonewall channel in one tab and it's hard to keep up with what's being said in both channels. You'll scare off potential new members if they sit in that channel and can't get assistance through all the chatter. If you want a cross-guild chat channel, make a new one and keep all chatter in there... but don't jeopardize your invite channel.

5) In the GChat discussion an officer stated (paraphrasing) 'this change is needed to allow room for new members to join.' My suggestion: Don't sacrifice providing quality of service to your existing members just to lure in more new members. Take care of what you've got, build on it and make it better, then worry about getting new members in.

Not just trying to bag on the decision... so here's some constructive suggestions for how else to handle this and alternatives to splitting the guilds by class:

A) Thin the ranks of the current guild. Many of us made multiple start up toons, but are only now leveling one or two. Ask those who created (and guilded) lower level toons - that they may never play again - to voluntarily remove those toons to help keep the rosters clean.

B) Institute a minimum level requirement for new members and new invites... say lvl 10?. It's easy to get a toon to lvl 10 and getting that far generally implies it's a character you care enough about to keep playing. This is VERY common in other MMO guilds and this one step alone will help minimize the sheer volume of low level toons that no one ever plays after first creating... and could have avoided the current crowding problem you're experiencing.

C) If you absolutely need to make a second guild, don't make it class-specific. Simply lock Knights of Stonewall to new invites. Put new members and alts into Soldiers of Stonewall and let that build up/balance out.

Every 2 months prune the rosters of toons that haven't logged in in the past two months (they can always ask for invites again later). To keep the two guilds balanced, simply lock one to invites until the membership grows ahead of the other... then lock that guild and reopen the one previously locked.

D) Finally, and perhaps most disturbing to me... Someone specifically asked about this decision to split when it was announced in gchat and he was told by the Guild Leader that there was a discussion topic on the forums... and that 'since no one had complained about it on the forums that the decision had been made to split the guilds.' The member specifically stated that he felt this was a decision that members should be allowed to weigh in on. He was told by the Guild Leader that members HAD been given an opportunity to weigh in on it.

However such an opportunity was not provided to the membership. That's very different from an officer discussion where the decision was made.

I haven't been in the guild long, and I'm sorry that I've apparently become a bit of a lightning rod by expressing my opinions, however I feel that I've walked into a bit of a bait-and-switch over here. The lack of communication, and the open misdirection at times, sadly has me feeling like this guild isn't really about the members at all.

I hope I'm wrong, but I'm not yet seen much to suggest otherwise.

Haters gonna hate. :P

Never been one in real life, so I'm going to take full advantage of being able to play a pretty boy in this fantasy life.

Zepari is expected to make an announcement about the guild restructuring within the next day or two. Given the incredible pace of growth in just the first 3 weeks of launch, we had to discuss, and implement a restructuring concept quickly or risked alienating new and existing players with the need to constantly juggle the membership rolls. I am aware of several members who have been awaiting the restructuring in order to get an alt invited into the guild.

Our goal is to get the Captains and Officers set up in both guilds by the end of this weekend so we can begin the not-insignificant task of realigning a guild as large as ours.

While I know some may disagree with how we are handling the restructuring, no single plan would have made everyone happy. We considered level banding, alt vs. main, and class banding.

Please understand that our intentions were to avoid any type of restriction on who could and could not join (such as a minimum level cap), and avoid any sort of division (real or perceived) that may have come by splitting the guild based on level or whether a character was a main or an alt.

By going with the class banding (Soldiers of Stonewall being the non-Force users and Knights of Stonewall being Force users), we provide as even a split as possible to make sure that we never lose the perception of having a large and active player base that might come with forcing alts into a back-up group, or forcing players of specific levels to move into an perceptively "elite" group. Be aware that eventually we will be following a similar path with Lords of Stonewall, but the need isn't nearly as pressing.

Plus, if you're anything like me, and you like to get into the heads of your character, you no longer need to explain away how your Trooper or Smuggler is somehow serving those religious nuts. ;-)

Given the strong story-driven nature of The Old Republic, there is a high likelihood that the motivation to actively level multiple characters beyond simple play style experimentation is going to be greater than most of the previous MMO's we have experience with. As an avowed altoholic who usually has lots of low-level characters and few, if any, high level characters, I have no doubt that I will be playing at LEAST 3 of the classes to experience the complete story. At level 32 with my Trooper, levelling has been a background thought I need to address between story arcs. The story, much to my surprise, has been the focus and motivating factor for me.

If game mechanics are introduced in the future that may cause issues with this class banding (such as guild achievements) we will revisit the issue in the future. That said I don't think we can plan the guild's future around "maybes" and "what ifs".

I personally believe that this method of splitting the guild will allow us to maximize the accessibility of Stonewall to as many players as we can, regardless of how far and how fast they can level a character. Stonewall is meant to be a haven from discrimination and I personally prefer to maintain as open a recruiting policy as we can, while maintaining a fun, safe, and welcoming community.

If we all make the effort to try and remember to use the Stonewall channels on both factions (/cjoin Stonewall if you haven't already), the impact on community interaction should be minimal in the short term.

If it's necessary, it's necessary. We still have the Stonewall chat. And being in different official in-game guilds won't prevent us from grouping together.

Slightly less convenient? Yes. But overall the ramifications aren't that bad. Easily outweighed by the advantages of having more guild members to do things with. :)

Quote by Halish

We have discussed this on the officer forums and during officer meetings and have taken the decision to split the guild up as we are very close to the member limit.

I believe we'll be posting details of the in-game structure changes when everything is created and ready.

I don't believe there is any public discussion at this time.

Soldiers of Stonewall .... S.0.S. was that planned? lol

We have discussed this on the officer forums and during officer meetings and have taken the decision to split the guild up as we are very close to the member limit.

I believe we'll be posting details of the in-game structure changes when everything is created and ready.

I don't believe there is any public discussion at this time.

I don't know but it is possible that the discussion took place in the officer forums. Zep did mention that there wasn't time for a long discussion and a guild-wide vote, so it all might have gone down in the Officer Forums.

It "might" be a reference to the What's in a name? thread.

Quote by Izzarra

I have had almost no problems running old software on windows 7, I still use a program designed for Windows 3.1.

I would recommend the HP, I have had lots of computers and the HPs have always been the most reliable pre assembled computer imo.

Actually I completely agree. I've got some old DOS software (mainly Star Trek: A Final Unity, Civilization 1, and Oregon Trail) that I occasionally run. Windows 7 runs this MUCH more easily than any previous Windows did. I also have not had any problem with running any XP software on 7.

I have had almost no problems running old software on windows 7, I still use a program designed for Windows 3.1.

I would recommend the HP, I have had lots of computers and the HPs have always been the most reliable pre assembled computer imo.

Saw some discussion today in Guild Chat by the new GL and Officers talking about splitting the Guild into 2 sub guilds: "Knights of Stonewall" for all Jedi Knights and Jedi Consulars and "Soldiers of Stonewall" for all Smugglers and Troopers.

Mention was made that there was a discussion topic on the forums, but I've been unable to find it.

Could someone point me to that topic if it does indeed exist?

Thanks!

Episode 492 - Voyager - "Meld" - 02/05/1996

http://www.allstepisodes.com/megvid.php?n=4216

In order to quell the temper of a Voyager crew member, Tuvok performs a mind-meld.

Enjoy!

I see. Thanks a ton already.

A friend told me 90% of his software from XP did NOT work on Windows 7 anymore, even with "compatibility mode". I know this mode never worked under XP for most of my old Windows 95, back when I changed to XP, so I am kinda distrustful to this mode anyway.


EDIT: Also, which card is better: the NVidia GeForce GT520 I see in one of the new models, or my "old" NVidia GeForce GTX460?

and get a haircut, you hippy, wouldnt matter if your eyes were open, you still would not see anything! :P

One thing you DEFINITELY should keep from your old computer is the graphic card, both options on your new computers are horrible.
Having more RAM in your Graphic Card really doesn't help you if you're not playing on something higher than 1920x1080/1200 so 1GB graphic card would more than suffice.
It is also true that there's aren't really games that can make use of a Quad Core, but remember that your OS can balance the load of all the applications you're running between 4 cores. (for example Browser on Core 1, Winamp on Core 2, etc...)

And a little side note before buying a computer and if you are keeping your 460, check if the Power Supply that comes with your new computer can handle it.
Usually brand computers like HP are shipped with a really low Watt PSU which might not have enough juice to run your system.

EDIT: A quick look at Tomshardware benchmarks, show that those Graphic Cards perform way below mine which is a 4 yr old 260GTX, I can only imagine the 460GTX.

EDIT 2: Let me correct myself, apparently the 545 has the same performace as the 6670 which comes close to the 460GTX. Personally if you really want to save money, you can go with the cheaper option and plug your 460GTX. (keep in mind what PSU the system comes with)

EDIT 3: And if you're the same Elikal from MMORPG.com, you should definitely post and see if Quizzical has any suggestions.

Here's my Jedi Consular Varel (Currently lvl 31)



I've noticed a major issue with his hair selection which I thought was super cute. I can't display most of the headpieces I get because for some reason his hair insists on displaying through the headpiece.



He's made a bit of progress though when he was only lvl 2 and living on Tython he looked like this.

Umm...remind me to stand behind you at all times! Great picture.

Ok, recently my age old computer has started to make weird noises, and I am somewhat reluctant to really spent money in a repair in this oldie anymore. Thing is, my money is limited, so I can't buy a top computer.

I currently use a Duo2 Intel 2x 2.3 Mhz, 4 GB Ram, NVidia GTX460 with 1 GB and Windows XP. It works for SWTOR and isn't so bad, but really getting old now. And as I said, I am a bit afraid the computer might stop working sooner or later. Now I would buy another Intel, and I want an NVidia graphic card, that much is certain. Also, I think the days of Windows XP are slowly ending now.

So far I looked for this two computers:

Hyrican PCK03647 PC, Intel Core i3, 500 GB SATA-3, 8 GB RAM, but it only has a Radeon HD 6570, but with 2 GB video Ram. PRO: costs "only" 600 Euro, so more affordable.

Alternative:
HP Pavilion p6-2044de PC, Intel Core i5, 2TB SATA, 8 GB RAM, and has NVidia GeForce GT545 with 3 GB video ram. Now this costs 800 Euro, a bit over what I wanted to invest, but it has a Quad Core. Now I am unsure, since many people told me, there is no game with Quad Core at all, anyway.


The worst of all is, I abhorr the idea to install all my software again, because I have many small software I just bought over the internet sometimes. Some may no even work, and yes, Windows XP is old, but so far it worked. Gah, I am so torn as what to do. Or should I still invest into my old computer??

Any ideas are welcome.

So I was trying to capture a good photo to create a sig for the forums. In so doing, I fired off an ability known as Hail of Bolts (think of it as a Fully Automatic Cone AoE Sweep of the Assault Cannon).

The result was this picture that had me laughing hysterically:



If you haven't figured it out yet, take a close look at Kor's eyes.

All I could picture was the scene in "I, Robot" where Will Smith gives the female character a gun to protect him when he takes off on his motorcycle to save Shia LaBeouf's character. She unloads a clip into a robot, saving their lives, and Shia's character says something to the effect "she shot at you with her eyes closed!"


"Well, it worked, didn't it?!"

I think they should rename the skill "Hail Mary of Bolts."

Quote by Justjon

I believe that is the ultimate goal. There is currently a post about new Officer Positions. I can only assume but from what I've gathered they seem to be trying to set a unified structure now that the Guild Master role has been set to a player for KoS because up until a week ago they did not have one.

Right on the nose Jon. There are other extenuating circumstances on top of this that really isn't my place to discuss, but we are working through these unexpected complications as well.

I believe we are going to start the guild restructuring today or tomorrow, but I will leave it to Zep to announce the details. Given the size of the guild, don't be surprised if it takes us a week or two to get everything settled and in place, but once complete, we can refocus on community building rather than management.

If you look at the Officer recruitment thread, you can be assured that we intend to at least 2 Officers with a Main in each of the two factions: one with a focus on PvE and one with a focus on PvP, but that relates mostly to events planning and coordination. This is an effort to make sure we have full coverage over both sides. This is in addition to a Crafting Officer and Zep's position as Operations Officer that are not specifically aligned.

Bear in mind that any Officer will have the same privileges regardless of faction (or focus), so if one isn't immediately logged in, on the Lords, for example, you can log into a Knights character, or send a PM through the website and if we're available, we can jump to the other faction to try and help.