Guild Reforms - March 31st, 2012

[Captain Del]

Ahoy there, partners!

Thanks to the umbrella plan of changes put forth originally by the New Years Reforms enacted at the beginning of this year, our guild has seen some major transformations in the past month that have already occurred, and are being prepared, that will allow for our guild to continue to provide the best family gaming experience for our members. I'm proud to say that many of the plans we have enacted have gone as well as planned, and now all we need to do is prepare ourselves for the results that will come out of these changes.

Entering the fourth month of 2012, I believe it's time that we continue these reforms in to their final leg, so that we can fully transform our guild in to a vision I've had in the back of my head for a while. I call these reforms the "Great Rebirth," as through them I hope to see our guild discard our old image and instead step forward in to the spotlight as the new, premier example of what a guild truly should be!

These changes have come after continuous deliberation between myself and myself alone, as I feel that in the end it comes down to the thought process of the Guildmaster. I only hope that you trust me in these changes, and with them we all can move forward as the pioneers in a new era of guilds in the Caribbean!

These changes will be made effectively to our guild in the beginning of April, 2012:

• Partners N Crime has officially become a member of the roleplaying community of POTCO! Through talks with other major roleplaying guilds, it has been agreed that we will be allowed entry in to the roleplaying community as a "pirate guild."
• Guild ranks have been renamed to properly fit the image of us as a pirate guild - Members will now be referred to as "Crew Mates," Veterans will be "Cutthroats," Officers will be "Scoundrels," Senior Officers will be "First Mates," Co-Guildmasters will be "Captains," and I, the Guildmaster, will be referred to as "Pirate Lord."
• Our policy on guild alliances has now changed. Before this time I had always been against guild alliances as I feared they opened us up to drama, but now that we have become players in the roleplaying world, I feel that we should open ourselves up to more treaties and powergroups that will allow us to show our dominance in the Caribbean! Because of this, any guild willing to form a treaty with us will now be allowed to enter an alliance with Partners N Crime for a fee of 25,000 gold to be paid directly to the Pirate Lord.
• Saturdays will now be known as "Ranking Days" in Partners N Crime. I feel that our main point of power came when we were at the top of the leaderboards, so with summer coming around and all of us having more time, we should start putting ourselves back to use. ALL PIRATES are expected to dedicate at least two hours every weekend to ranking enemies defeated in the Governor's Garden. Specific pirates may also be asked to dedicate more time.
• Captain's Crew Nights will now be held as a reward for hard work throughout the week, and will NOT occur on a weekly basis. Guild events are a privilege for our members, so they should not be handed out "willy-nilly" for nothing. If our guild does not appear in the Top 10 of Enemies Defeated at least 4 days out of the week, Captain's Crew Nights will not be held.
• Major multi-guild events, such as the Battle of the Scoundrels or Operation: United We Stand! will occur in limited amounts, if at all. Planning these events has put a strain on me and my schedule, and with all of these upcoming guild changes I cannot afford to continue doing all of this. We will be taking steps away from leading these kind of events until further notice.
• Membership in Partners N Crime will from now on only be limited to Unlimited Members, and Basic Members of level 12 and up. This was a policy enacted in the old guild to make sure our member strength is upheld. In order to make sure our guild stays held, active, and noob free, I will be putting these restrictions back in to place effective immediately. All pirates who do not meet these criteria will be asked to leave.
• Major areas of recruiting will now be focused on random unguilded pirates, primarily on populated servers such as Abassa and Antik. We need to start being more aggressive in terms of our guilding techinques; instead of sitting on the sidelines waiting for pirates to come to us, or looking for the "right ones," we should just run around and scoop up as many pirates as possible. This worked in the older guilds that I ran, such as "The Sea of Time," so I believe we should implement that here as well.
• All guild ships that participate in guild events must be Victory Sharks! Unity is a key factor in our guild, and that comes with a singular guild image. I cannot afford having pirates sailing around the Caribbean in "individual" vessels, so from now on I expect all guild members to replace their ships with the guild "Victory Shark" as a way to promote our name in the Caribbean.
• Guild meetings will now be held monthly as a way to connect the guild on issues more often. Instead of only holding guild meetings when they are necessary and actually "worth attending," we should instead meet together at least once a month to conjoin on issues that most likely have been covered at recent gatherings, but not to a depth of one or two sentences more. Meetings will begin with a salute and bow to the Pirate Lord, followed by a reciting of a poem chosen by a selected monthly First Mate, and then will lead on to organized, absolutely silent drudgery. Meetings are approximated to run for about four hours at a time, and any pirate who is unable to stay for the entire duration of the meeting, or chooses not to attend for any reason at all twice, will be booted or demoted.
• Promotions will now be decided upon Pirate versus Pirate and Ship versus Ship battles. We need to have an Officership that will be willing to defend the guild until the end, and weakness is certainly something I am not willing to promote. If a pirate wishes to seek promotion within the guild, he may challenge any Guild Office Holder (excluding myself,) to a duel, in which case the winner takes the rank up for grabs.
• Pirates are expected to pay a minor gold tax every month to the Guild Officership, directly through the Pirate Lord. In order to keep this guild up and running we need to have an Officership who has enough gold to fund our pleasures and needs; because of this, all members must pay a fee of 2,500 gold every first Friday of the month in what we will refer to as "Payment Day."
• Events hosted by guild members are officially banned from occurring. All events under the name of Partners N Crime must be approved of and made by myself, as to not embarrass the great reputation I wish to uphold. Pirates who attempt to host events for other pirates to enjoy without my approval will be stricken from the guild.
• The Circle of Trust has been disbanded, with all substantial guild powers being reserved for the Pirate Lord. I have the final say in what goes on in this guild, and as such, I cannot afford for anybody to challenge my supreme authority.
• Pirates who are caught complaining or making suggestions to the guild will be thoroughly punished and publicly humiliated. As a member of this guild, you have sworn to uphold it's dignity and the honor that is carried with such a historic guild tag. Any pirate who is caught talking without a positive attitude towards the guild will be immediately hunted down by fellow guild members and griefed until they learn their lesson.
• The Pirate Lord's birthday, April Fourth, will become a guild-wide holiday in which all pirates must submit at least a 5,000 gold "gift" to him. Any pirate who doubles that amount will receive a promotion.
• The Guild's Anniversary will no longer be celebrated on June 15th, nor December 2nd - instead, it will be celebrated on April Fool's Day.

April Fools, mates!

Hopefully I didn't scare you too much, but I really wanted to up-the-anty in terms of scaring the heck out of all of you this year!

No, mates, none of the above "Reforms" are true - rather, just a huge joke that I clearly spent too much of my free time on. Hopefully I won't wake up tomorrow morning with an rotten eggs on the deck of my ship because of this!

Remember to spend this April Fool's Day with a light heart and a playful mind. Go out there and have a little fun with the people you appreciate the most - just, not too much, aye?

~ Pirate Lord Delmaria Darkskull