Policies in regard to inactivity

[Saerok]

On the one hand, we are a very relaxed guild. We have people that have to take long leaves of absence for work and school. Trying to keep track of people that need to take a leave of absence is a pain in the butt and having a liberal absence policy makes it easy for them to stay in Nyx.

An officer's note could be added to individuals with approved reasons for extended leaves, which should simplify keeping track of who is supposed to be away for a while and would still allow room for tightening up policy from what it is now. I have on more than one occassion taken a leave from the game for a variety of reasons, but I would feel comfortable with a standing policy of 3 months before removal, especially knowing that when I came back I would be able to return to the guild (assuming I left on good terms). I'm sure most everyone would think that a fair policy.

Saerok

[Foxx]

I agree with loki on this, the policy seems fine we just need to kids who havent been on a 3+ months lol

[Aitana]

On the one hand, we are a very relaxed guild. We have people that have to take long leaves of absence for work and school. Trying to keep track of people that need to take a leave of absence is a pain in the butt and having a liberal absence policy makes it easy for them to stay in Nyx.

An officer's note could be added to individuals with approved reasons for extended leaves, which should simplify keeping track of who is supposed to be away for a while and would still allow room for tightening up policy from what it is now. I have on more than one occassion taken a leave from the game for a variety of reasons, but I would feel comfortable with a standing policy of 3 months before removal, especially knowing that when I came back I would be able to return to the guild (assuming I left on good terms). I'm sure most everyone would think that a fair policy.

Saerok

We have discussed that from time to time, but there are two problems. The first is the number of characters allowed in officer and user notes. We already use it to track the date a person joined and who invited them. We use the user note to track professions and wards - currently updating these very slowly. There just isn't enough space to add enough information.

I'm not sure what to call the other problem, but discipline or organization might be the right words. We have enough difficulty keeping these notes up to date while doing everything else there is to do as officers and still trying to find time to simply play the game. Often when somebody talks to me I'm in the middle of several other conversations or doing quests or healing for an instance or some combination of these. If an alt needs an invitation to the guild, I might not have time to update their notes right away, but if I don't do it right away, it is easy to forget to do it altogether.

To try to overcome the problem with using in-game notes, we could try maintaining a list on the forums. While there is space, somebody has to maintain that list. If somebody tells me (or another officer) it would be worse than trying to update the notes in-game. We would have to alt-tab out of the game, get to the right place on the forums and make a post. That seems simple enough. It works out to be about 5 to 10 minutes assuming that the web site is cooperative. In practice it's a pain in the butt. It's one more layer of paperwork.

While it is very easy for a person to bring alts into the guild, it's not quite as easy for a person to get back into Nyx if all their toons have been removed for inactivity. We have been making those people go through the application and interview process again. The reason for that is what I mentioned earlier. After 6 months, the flavor of the guild does change, and the person and we as a guild need to see if we are still a good fit for each other. The interview has another function besides simply doing the interview. It is also an orientation meeting to introduce people to handle how Nyx runs and to introduce them to some of our members. After a person has been gone that long, a refresher is a good thing.

[Lokistrazsza]

Not to mention we also use the O-notes to track which alts belong to which main. I really do wish they'd make the guild control interface more customizable.

Also, in reply to Aitana. I'd rather someone have to wait for an alt to be invited properly, than to check to see who someone is, or if they're due for a promotion and find a blank note. Then again, I've got a slight obsessive-compulsive disorder, so the note thing is a major pet peeve for me.

[Aitana]

Also, in reply to Aitana. I'd rather someone have to wait for an alt to be invited properly, than to check to see who someone is, or if they're due for a promotion and find a blank note. Then again, I've got a slight obsessive-compulsive disorder, so the note thing is a major pet peeve for me.

I tend to be that way too since I'm the one that keeps the official roster on this web site up to date and checks to see that alts are listed correctly. If the main is not listed in the proper format on the officer comment, the alt doesn't show up correctly under the main on the roster. Going through and finding ones where people haven't entered mains properly is on my list of things to do this weekend. Right now the roster shows that we have 190 accounts when we really only have 183. I know part of the problem is handling special characters, but that doesn't account for the discrepancy in the number of accounts completely. But even with the best of intentions people make mistakes and now I need to go find and fix them.


With regard to inactivity I am going to start by tightening up our attendance policy based on the feedback I see here. For now I am not going to tighten it up as much as some have suggested. We can always tighten it up more later if we want to. Demotions will start at 3 months. Ephemerals will get kicked at 6 months as we have been doing. Since demotions start earlier, unless the person was an Elder, that person the longest somebody can be inactive in Nyx is 6 months. Elders will have 7 months. Like before, Umbral Champions and officers will retire to Elder if they are unable to participate regularly to perform their duties.

With regards to alts that are kicked, they can come back in at any time as long as a person has a character in Nyx.

With regards to a person that has been inactive and no longer has a character in Nyx, they will need to go through the application process again. We will consider their application even if recruitment is officially closed. As former members they would meet the qualification of "friends and family." Assuming they were members in good standing at the time they went inactive, they should have no problem rejoining.