A Little Post About Guilds and Friends

[Bartholomew Foulsteel]

I've been running into some very interesting situations lately. It seems odd that these things come up, but there they are. It occurs to me that for some reason some people believe they have some right to be in a particular guild or some right to be somebody's friend. Here's merely ONE example:

Last night, after a long hard day at work, I finally get home and log onto POTCO for the simple act of wanting to see my guildmates for a few moments before I hit the rack. AFter the initial hellos and how ye doin's, I get informed by one of my guildmates that they they need to talk with me. So, off I TP (since whisper is a hit-or-miss commo option nowadays) to get the following story.

Seems my guildie was at Tuga (Abassa perhaps?) and was observing a fellow bragging in open chat how he had caused the destruction of over 120 guilds. He then spies my guildie and DEMANDS to be let into BBK. The guildie replies to the effect of "No way, Jose," to which said guildie is replied with words to the effect of "Do it or I'll report you!"

Now, my guildie was quite upset, but that is not the point here. I know that my guildmate did nothing wrong--as a matter of fact, the guildie did the right thing and reported said griefer when he started using foul language directed at said guildie.

The point is the DEMANDING nature of this person. What makes ANYBODY think they have any RIGHT to join any guild? This is positively ludicrous to me. Seems to me the obvious answer is that if you had a RIGHT to join a guild, there wouldnt be:

1) an option to invite, and
2) an option to boot.

People, if you have a choice on whether to accept a friendship request, then there's no requirement to be friends (as a matter of fact, I have to constantly delete friends because I'm out of space, plus I constantly deny friendship requests for the very same reason!). If you have a choice to crew somebody, then there's no right for anybody to be in that crew. And if you get to choose who' in your guild, then nobody has a right to be in that guild.

Bottom line: if you behave properly and act like a NICE person, you will most likely be able to friend whoever you want, join crews you would like, and become a member of the guild you wish to be a member of. However, if your social skills are poor, you are a demanding, rude, inconsiderate, bossy, or abusive player, don't be surprised when you spend your time NOT being accepted into social groups.

You may have the right to play POTCO (not really though, even if you are a paying player), but you don't have the right to any friend, crew, or guild.

So, let's do the right and nice things, even when we're online, shall we? I mean, if you act poorly in-game and act the same way in RL, I'm sure your life is not very much to be proud of either.

Happy piratin' mates!

[Aliese]

Sorry to say my guild's dealt with this too. The audacity of some people - making threats about joining (or, in our case, rejoining) a guild just to cause trouble? Ridiculous...

[Dr. Zeppers]

I totally agree Bart.

My fellow pirates... regarding being "reported", this means that someone is claiming you have done something to break the rules in the game. If you have not broken any rules, then there is no reason to fear being reported. Generally speaking if these griefers were to report those they threaten they would end up being the ones in trouble themselves.

If any other pirate threatens to report you for any such reasons which are obviously not warranted, do not wait for them to use profanity, report them, and encourage them to do so as well, "Please do! I did nothing wrong, and i've already reported you!". Nothing like getting a griefer to turn himself in.

If they are griefing, they are the ones that will be disciplined not you. The report system clearly states that the "reporting" person can and will be scrutinized just as much as those being reported.

Individuals doing this are playing off the fear of others. Be smarter than them.

Its unfortunate that some people find such griefing behavior entertaining.

[Sven Osymthe]

I agree Bart. Too many people now a days get reported because of people like this. Also nobody has the right to join any guild as he or she pleases with behavior like that.

My friend's, son's guild added somebody who was doing this. That very person also managed to trick him into making him an officer. That person then deleted every member in the guild and left. Good thing BBK is too smart for people like that

[Basil Dreadflint]

There is a "club" of pirates that do exactly that. Get into a guild,, behave nicely, sort of edge their way into becoming an officer, and then delete or destry the guild.

And Bart is correct. No-one has a RIGHT to belong in any guild, friends list or crew. And, as soon as anyone starts the griefing, bad mouthing, or obusive language, then it is time to report them! An added bonus is, once you report them, their chat is filtered so that you don't have to see it anymore.

[Benjamin Dreadgull]

From PIC to BBK thanks for the heads up !

[Red Nations]

Good Post Bartholomew:
I've encountered this sort of thing a few times too. Mostly on Abassa in Tortuga and Port Royal.

This was one area I touched on a bit in my thread Questions and Suggestions regarding guilds. I kind of wanted to get into some of the issues we face as Guildmasters and Officers and get some feedback on these areas with that thread.

At one time my pirate Ben Swordmonger wore sort of a green uniform, I've been in Tortuga on Abassa and looking through the public chat actually seen the griefers at work one of em telling another one " See that guy wearing green go get him to guild you" At which point someone usually a low level and often a basic access player would approach and start begging me to guild them, When the begging failed then they would get pretty obnoxious about it. Keep in mind this was in a crowded Tortuga with probably well over 100 pirates on the beach with plenty of different guilds represented there, and out of all those pirates and guilds they single out someone who just arrived there. I've had the same sort of scenario play out in Port Royal and Padres as well. One night I was with a group of high level friends on Padres one of us had just hit level 40 and we were waiting by the shipyard while inviting more of our friends to join us as we were getting ready to sail to a wild island to have a level 40 party for our friend. While waiting there we were approached by a couple low level unlimited players who began by interupting our conversation with public chat, Our group was all talking on crew chat. We politely informed them that we were having a private conversation within our group, hoping that they would take the hint and leave us. First they began hitting us with friend invites which we politely refused, then they began begging us to crew them which we also politely refused. Our group represented several guilds and these two individuals then began asking different members of our group to guild them, again they were refused. The situation escalated as these two began having their friends teleporting to them and soon we were surrounded by a group of low level mostly basic access players and being harrassed by them. They were also getting pretty nasty in their whispers to the lady pirates in our group. This was back before the boarding permissions were fixed and it was possible for people to simply click on you and teleport onto your ship uninvited. We tried teleporting to another location only to have them follow us there by clicking on members of our group before we teleported. We launched a ship and had three of them teleport onto the ship, we docked and got rid of em. We sailed to outcast for our friends level 40 party. Apparently one of them had been following our ship as soon after our arrival one of them also landed on outcast and had a bunch of his friends teleport to him. At this point we reported them. The whole situation had began innitially with our refusal to friend and crew a couple of obnoxious and pushy players and escalated from that point.
After that incident I don't hesitate to report people for harrassing behavior.

I never guild strangers who act too eager to join or who approach me begging me to guild them. Always considered that a warning sign of trouble.
You're right No other player has a right to be included, membership in our guilds, our friend lists and our crews are a matter of our choice alone.

One thing that I've found that helps within the guild after you have guilded a new member is a rule in which they cannot be promoted to officer until they have been a member for 30 days. Most griefers and guild jumpers don't have the patience to wait 30 days. Also works as a probationary period.

[Chris]

Yea ive seen that happen as well people like that have no life. If you have the time to sit around join a guild act nice and all become an officer then kick everyone out for fun you honestly have no life.

[Maximvs]

Originally Posted by Ben

This was back before the boarding permissions were fixed and it was possible for people to simply click on you and teleport onto your ship uninvited.

For all the gumps others and myself do sometimes about the game - this was one good fix (and improved with the latest Ship List Invite)... thank goodness that doesn't happen anymore (and they better not break it either LOL )

Well said Bart - and as a few other threads have pointed out those who want power are usually the ones to abuse it - good points all around.

[AdmiralSavvy]

Thank you for posting this, Bart, and I know WHO you are talking about, but I will not name names.....
PIC ejected someone a few months ago for disrespect but he was just SOOO nice and friendly before that instead of IMPRESSING the Co-GMs and I, it made us careful. It seems that the overly-nice people who join are the ones who would do anything for a promo, and like I said on the forums multiple times before, the only 2 reasons someone would want a promo so badly is either to eject the members or power.
I just don't get what the H are these peoples' problems. They just go around destroying guilds for fun but what do they have to gain from doing that?
The only ones who really DESERVE to join and/or a promotion are the ones who do not act too excited to join and the ones who help members and have acceptable behavior. A well established guild like BBK knows better than to let some bilge rat like THAT in their guild, and these "Guild deleters" will most likely be banned for good sooner or later, because I can only imagine how many times they have been reported.

[dangerousden]

We have had a few people asking to join English Pirates recently. We have been rather wary, as you say, people asking to join seem a little suspicious.

We have a private room on our forum where the officers are free to discuss things like this.

[Eric Daggerskull]

You make a great point and I'm sorry this had to happen. I'm glad a fellow BBK member recently pointed this post out to me. For me, I can't see how anyone can find joy in just ruining the game for others by deleting countless guilds (I assume that an officer has the power to do that? i never really knew). I would be filled with endless guilt. Of course that's just me, but I guess some people are ok living with it. Thank you Bart for posting this.

[League]

You're gonna report me eh? Not if... I REPORT YOU FIRST!!!

You know, I suppose the circuit system could be used to keep members as well, though it's not what I've made it for (though I didn't make anything, just came up with an idea of how to use them codes).

That said thing being said-said, I like your use of the word said Bart.

[Red Nations]

There is a "club" of pirates that do exactly that. Get into a guild,, behave nicely, sort of edge their way into becoming an officer, and then delete or destry the guild.

Actually I think there have been several groups of them playing at this over the months, among other things they do to cause trouble with other players. Also Some guilds will promote a new member to officer rank based only on their notoriety level making them instant officers.This can be part of the problem with guilding a player without first spending some time getting to know them. This leaves the guild wide open to being victimized by these sort of griefers. Another type are those who will join your guild and then attempt to recruit your members into another guild. I've seen this one a few times, and I've booted new members out of my guilds for trying this. What they don't realize is that loyal members usually let the GM or other officers know whats going on right away.

For me, I can't see how anyone can find joy in just ruining the game for others by deleting countless guilds (I assume that an officer has the power to do that?

For the most part they aren't really involved in the game, their sole purpose is to cause trouble with other players and guilds. Thats why they are known as griefers. Some very immature players out there fancy their guild as some sort of street gang and behave in the game much like a street gang. The problem was much worse a few months ago. I think Disney cleaned house on a bunch of them recently.

dangerousden
I get approached from time to time by people asking about my guilds. Often they are players who for one reason or another are unhappy with their current guild or they are advanced players with baby pirates looking for a home for their baby pirates. Most of them I'm not worried about. Its the ones who come up to you asking you to guild them or even begging without even asking any questions about your guild that you should worry about. Think about that, they don't know you or anything about you or your guild but they want to join If they are a new player looking for a guild for all they know they could be asking to join a guild full of eight year olds. Sorta like the people who hit you with friend invites without first having the courtesy to speak to you. They haven't spent any time talking to you getting to know you and you know nothing about them. In the game that is sort of like giving a complete stranger the keys to your house and your car. I don't friend anyone in the game or guild anyone without first spending some time getting to know them. If they are polite and behave decently toward other players I have no problem with friending them. If they are looking for a guild I'll ask them what type of guild they are looking for, And spend some time getting to know them before guilding them.

[Cannonfury]

Originally Posted by Ben Swordmonger

In the game that is sort of like giving a complete stranger the keys to your house and your car. I don't friend anyone in the game or guild anyone without first spending some time getting to know them. If they are polite and behave decently toward other players I have no problem with friending them. If they are looking for a guild I'll ask them what type of guild they are looking for, And spend some time getting to know them before guilding them.

I agree with this, too many troublemakers out there.
But arent people who believe the lies of troublemakers just as guilty?(the friendship part/drama in guilds) im not referring to the people who delete guilds.