Policies in regard to inactivity

[Aitana]

Our policies in regards to people that quit playing their toons in Nyx are very generous, possibly too generous. Currently if a toon has not logged in for more than 6 months, it gets kicked if it is an Ephemeral. If it is a higher rank, it gets demoted by one rank each month. Then the month after it has been demoted to Ephemeral, it gets kicked if the person has not played it yet in that time. As a result, there are many inactive toons in Nyx.

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.

On the other hand, keeping toons in the guild that are never going to be played again artificially bloats our roster. It puts a damper on morale for some people to see a roster of over 350 members, but only 20 to 30 people on-line during peak hours. It also can create unrealistic expectations when it looks like we have that many members. And if by chance somebody that used to play comes back after 6 months, they will find a much different guild than they remember. Things change a lot in that length of time in any guild.

I would like to get a feel for what you all think about tightening up our policies on inactivity.

[Thomasbecket]

I'm somewhat guilty of this, as I've not logged onto my alt since 3.2, and I've actually thought of proactively removing him from the guild myself because I'm not sure if or when I'll level him. That said, the thought of leveling him without seeing the chatter of /gchat is depressing. There's something lonely about being unguilded! That said, I know what you mean because when I look to see who's on-line, it's very often the same people, and I don't recognize 80% of the offline names.

You could shorten the inactivity deadline from 6 months to 3. If you've not logged onto the alt in over 3 months, it's really not doing the guild any good, assuming we're allowed to bring an alt back if it's made progression. We could require that a booted alt achieve 5 levels or so before returning to Nyx(?)

A second option would be no alts, and then having an alt-only guild. We could create a global channel for Nyx and that guild to avoid the aforementioned lonliness.

[Aitana]

One thing I would like to everybody to remember is that even if a person removes an alt, or it gets removed for inactivity, it can always be reinvited back into Nyx at any time as the rules are now. That makes it rather painless if a person wants to bring in an alt, gets bored with it, removes it, and then wants to bring it back in later.

[Revah]

I've been contemplating removing my 2 other alts, because where I do log into them from time to time, its usually shifting monies around, running a low level instance or making lower level stuff for some of my buddys who have just recently started playing. Its good to know too at this time that it won't be frowned upon for them leaving.

[Aitana]

I've been contemplating removing my 2 other alts, because where I do log into them from time to time, its usually shifting monies around, running a low level instance or making lower level stuff for some of my buddys who have just recently started playing. Its good to know too at this time that it won't be frowned upon for them leaving.

If you're running low level instances with buddies or using it to make items for them, personally I'd rather you keep the toon in Nyx even though you might not be actively leveling it.

While we don't have any policies about moving alts in and out of Nyx aside from the requirement of having the rank of Shade or higher, it could get disruptive if somebody decided to take advantage of that by making Nyx a revolving door for all their alts every few weeks.

[Lokistrazsza]

I have an 80 DK and a 30ish priest that I never play, but I try to log on both of them at least once a month just to check my in-game mail and what not. I think the policy is fine as it stands, we just need to kick the toons who haven't logged in in forever and a day. If they happen to be alts and someone wants them back in, all they need to do is tell an officer.

[Eyesore]

Aitana, if I understood you correctly, your question was not about an active player's alts, but about all the characters of an inactive player. Unless someone has expressly asked for, and been granted a leave, like for military deployment, I think three months is long enough to wait to begin a removal process. Additionally, for all ranks, above entry level, I think one month total of being demoted, then kicked, is enough time. If more is expected of officers, then being active should be one of those expectations, and extra monts of being inactive conveys a counter-productive message. So, this would mean three months at Ephemeral with no active toons, you're out. Three months for higher levels, one month demoted, then out if still inactive.

Again, the exception would be pre-approved leaves for valid RL situations. For those removed for inaction, they could reapply without prejudice, but officers would consider their prior reason for being inactive.

Above is just my opinion. However, with guild ranking and guild achievement approaching, it may be wise to have a tighter policy already in place anyway.

Eyesore

[Eyesore]

Whatever Lady Nyx desires, so shall it be.

Nyght

[Asarelah]

My Vote is to tighten it up considerably.

Inactivity creates needless maintenance headaches, not to mention the present dilema we face with possible Alliance infilitration (not knowing Who is Who).

[Ashsaber]

Though the looser rules are what have allowed me to remain in the guild when lacking in time or, in the most recent case, a computer, I have to say that I agree that it's probably a wise idea to tighten up the policies fairly considerably.