R.I.D BASE OF OPERATIONS

These are the guild's objectives. Suggestions on how to meet these objectives are welcome.

Focus: Inter-guild grouping for individual and common goals.
Focus: Increasing R.I.D's appeal
Focus: Merchants
Focus: Boosting guild cities.
Focus: Regain PvP status
Focus: Guild Events

There will be a schedule for the week ahead coming soon with Sunday set aside for guild meetings in Fort Oasis. If Sun is bad for you we can adjust this.

As far as the Inter-guild grouping is concerned for those who need it Tenvik can help grind Space EXP I have a decked out Mining ship with Gunners so I can help multi peeps at the same time, so for those who need a hand Let me know and if I am not currently busy on something I will be more then happy to lend a hand. and if I am busy at the time of your need get with me and we can set up some time to grind it out. As far as ground based stuff I can also help with getting players Keyed for heroics I have at my Disposal Tenvik CL 90 Commando or Ulso CL 90 Medic (Currently but will be switching back to Jedi soon) Ulso is currently working on the HK-4 Prequests and for those who need to get them done please let me know so we can get as many guildies keyed for this stuff as we can.

That is all, time to work on my Podcast...... Joking =)

Corvallon wrote:Focus: Regain PvP status

Oh really? :O

Cause i cant do that on my own :p

Jonem wrote:

Corvallon wrote:Focus: Regain PvP status

Oh really? :O

Cause i cant do that on my own :p

Really? Plan on fighting the way you did when we were in restuss?

I keed I keed! <3

Focus: Inter-guild grouping for individual and common goals.- We're working on this one already and have a fairly consistent group unless I muck it up by being pulled away. Focus: Increasing R.I.D's appeal-Advertising in as many mediums as possible such as SOE forums, Starsider Galaxy. Good time to utilize new recruitment vids. Focus: Merchants - RID traders are encouraged to work in Bovive's company so we'll have a group of traders working together to meet the guilds needs. Focus: Boosting guild cities.- If newish members still need a home they can place and declare in cities that need residents like Nar Shadda. Advertising the cities as looking for residents.
Focus: Regain PvP status- We know what this requires. And no one person can do it alone.Focus: Guild Events- A weekly schedule of events.

The guild meetings are important because they give us the chance to figure out who's who and keep the lines of communication open. We can be kept up to speed on where players are and where they want to be and use this time to make announcements or address issues.

Corvallon wrote:Focus: Increasing R.I.D's appeal

Lexx in hawt pants, 'nuff said.

How do these objectives coincide with the objectives that were established/completed this summer with Division Commanders?

Arev wrote:

Corvallon wrote:Focus: Increasing R.I.D's appeal

Lexx in hawt pants, 'nuff said.

How do these objectives coincide with the objectives that were established/completed this summer with Division Commanders?

They are very similar in goal.

I guess Lexx felt that he needed a new set of people and a new guild format to achieve them.

Personally, the Navy didn't do much as far as what Lexx asked for before the 5th anniversary. But that whole Division was probably a mistake from the start. You can't have a serious PvP space division with zero interest within thew guild. 99% of the pilots we helped took advantage of the supplies and help and either left the guild after getting ace, or just rested on their laurels and contributed nothing further. I fought to make that Division strong for over 3 years, and the cycle never changed (except for about 6 months in the middle where RID ruled). TBH I'm relieved it's over. I would've never abandoned my post, but it got so frustrating I stopped putting forth my best effort, which was wrong on my part.

Hopefully this new set up will work better.

Sorry for the rambling lol, I hope I answered your question Arev

Corvallon wrote:Focus: Inter-guild grouping for individual and common goals.- We're working on this one already and have a fairly consistent group unless I muck it up by being pulled away. Focus: Increasing R.I.D's appeal-Advertising in as many mediums as possible such as SOE forums, Starsider Galaxy. Good time to utilize new recruitment vids. Focus: Merchants - RID traders are encouraged to work in Bovive's company so we'll have a group of traders working together to meet the guilds needs. Focus: Boosting guild cities.- If newish members still need a home they can place and declare in cities that need residents like Nar Shadda. Advertising the cities as looking for residents.
Focus: Regain PvP status- We know what this requires. And no one person can do it alone.Focus: Guild Events- A weekly schedule of events.

The guild meetings are important because they give us the chance to figure out who's who and keep the lines of communication open. We can be kept up to speed on where players are and where they want to be and use this time to make announcements or address issues.

The above is my suggestions for these objectives. We presented this agenda in the hope that others in the guild will generate ideas and contribute to make it a success.

Corvallon wrote:These are the guild's objectives. Suggestions on how to meet these objectives are welcome.

1- Focus: Inter-guild grouping for individual and common goals.
2- Focus: Increasing R.I.D's appeal
3- Focus: Merchants
4- Focus: Boosting guild cities.
5- Focus: Regain PvP status
6- Focus: Guild Events

Here's my suggestions/ comments;

1- Keep up the good work, Corv! To make it truly inter-guild though, we should focus on contacting other guild leaders and instead of pugs, we should be actively working to fill slots they need, and vice-versa.

2- Lexx has always taken point on posting recruitment threads and what not and does a good job. We can help by keeping these threads on the first page. As far as IG, RID who act like asshats should be treated as such. They make us all look bad.

3- I totally disagree with the way this is being handled atm, but since I'm no crafter and not an officer, I'll keep it to myself.

4- Yeh, it's simple. Offer a plot of land in an RID city to every person who joins. As a mayor, I keep a large supply of houses to give for free if people need them. IMHO every RID should be required to declare residence in an RID Fort, even if it's just a small storage house.

5- I don't PvP on land so I really have nothing useful here. The only thing I suggest is someone needs to take the reins and keep our PvP people happy so that they don't bail for a more active PvP guild. Say what you want about loyalty, but it will happen over and over (and has). If we had all of our PvP people who left for the greener side of the fence and are still active, we would be the ONLY pvp guild on SS.

6- The weekly scheduale that is posted is a great step in the right direction.

In response to Erougn on merchants, I wouldn't say that it is being handled wrong; it isn't being handled at all. My traders arn't in RID but I still offer my help to anyone that needs it.

Erougn wrote:

Corvallon wrote:These are the guild's objectives. Suggestions on how to meet these objectives are welcome.

1- Focus: Inter-guild grouping for individual and common goals.
2- Focus: Increasing R.I.D's appeal
3- Focus: Merchants
4- Focus: Boosting guild cities.
5- Focus: Regain PvP status
6- Focus: Guild Events

Here's my suggestions/ comments;

1- Keep up the good work, Corv! To make it truly inter-guild though, we should focus on contacting other guild leaders and instead of pugs, we should be actively working to fill slots they need, and vice-versa.

2- Lexx has always taken point on posting recruitment threads and what not and does a good job. We can help by keeping these threads on the first page. As far as IG, RID who act like asshats should be treated as such. They make us all look bad.

3- I totally disagree with the way this is being handled atm, but since I'm no crafter and not an officer, I'll keep it to myself.

4- Yeh, it's simple. Offer a plot of land in an RID city to every person who joins. As a mayor, I keep a large supply of houses to give for free if people need them. IMHO every RID should be required to declare residence in an RID Fort, even if it's just a small storage house.

5- I don't PvP on land so I really have nothing useful here. The only thing I suggest is someone needs to take the reins and keep our PvP people happy so that they don't bail for a more active PvP guild. Say what you want about loyalty, but it will happen over and over (and has). If we had all of our PvP people who left for the greener side of the fence and are still active, we would be the ONLY pvp guild on SS.

6- The weekly scheduale that is posted is a great step in the right direction.

Thanks, and thanks for the input.

I'll get to work on some kinda Trader plan. I def want input on that though since we really have nothing going. To be honest, I don't even know who has traders in RID.

Sorry I have not yet responded to this thread. Corvallon, thanks very much for posting this, as I hope it'll bring us a step closer to improving the strength of RID. In response to each of the proposed objectives, I say we do the following:

1.) Inter-guild grouping for individual and common goals: Often, while there is usually 8 RID members online at a time, not all of them are able to, or want to partake in things such as instance groups. So usually we must rely on the grouping of other people outside of RID. Generally, this is what I do when I need to recruit non-RID's into instance groups:

-I first start by grouping *unguilded Imperials* who fit the needs of the group (IE: If we need a medic, I try to recruit an unguilded Imperial medic first). The reasons for this are quite simple. For one, unguilded Imperials make potential recruits, and for two, the group will still feel like a "RID group," since there'd be no other guild to push us around (since they would be unguilded).

-If that fails, I then try to group up Imperials from guilds, preferably ones we are most friendly with.

-When we're really desperate, we recruit Rebels.

What I think we need to do is strengthen our ties with more Imperial guilds. With the great "free character transfer service" of '09, we will likely see a great influx of guilds coming from other servers. I propose we take advantage of this, by becoming friends with those Imperial guilds early on. This could create a long-term bond. I've made many mistakes in the past where I failed to establish relationships early on. IMPHL was a meek little guild 3 years ago, and I didn't bother to ally with them, despite the fact they proposed it.

2.) Increasing R.I.D's appeal: Well, there's several ways to go about this. First and foremost, it's simply a matter of letting our voice be heard on the forums. Register on SOE's forum, bear the banner of RID in your signature, and post frequently. People will see the "RID stamp" in everyones banner repeatedly, and the image will be engrained in their mind... basically just like advertising without blatantly saying "join RID." Of course, we also have a big recruitment thread which should be bumped periodically, and stickied guild recruitment threads which should be replied to as well.

In terms of appealing R.I.D's appeal in-game, the most important thing is to act mature! If members act mature, people will recognize that, and it will speak greater than any actual advertisement campaign. However, things such as wearing the RID uniform, saying to others how happy you are to be in RID (even if you aren't, lol), and partaking in guild events, will improve our image drastically.

3.) Merchants: We got kind of a dicussion going now in our Executive forum about how to deal with traders. I think we need to first identify the traders we do have. We need to know why they are a trader, if they like being a trader, and if they are alts, or mains. We then need to help them get up to CL 90, or if they are CL 90 already, give them a boost start in crafting things. I also think we should require that all traders place at least one vendor in our RID mall, if nothing more than to boost Fort Oasis' appeal.

4.) Boosting guild cities: With the housing purge coming up, this is especially important. Fort Oasis is our capital city, so while it may sound selfish to other RID mayors, our capital has top priority when it comes to cities. Fortunately, Fort Oasis has plenty of citizens, so it should be just fine during the purge. However, it has a lot of gaps which homes could fill in, so I may do a recruitment campaign for Fort Oasis soon.

As for the other cities, it's the mayors responsibility to ensure that it will be able to survive the housing purge. This means recruiting more citizens than is needed to maintain your current rank. Fort Victory on Rori (formerly Fort D'aroo) needs to be secured, as the land it is built on is very valuable. It's technically in a no-build zone, enveloping the Imperial Restuss Base.

I think all the RID mayors should meet up to discuss how to best recruit for their cities, and what each city should specialize in.

5.) Regain PvP status: This is something that needs to be regained both in space and on the ground. With Erougn's new space squad, I foresee RID becoming stronger in space than ever before. Ground PvP may be trickier to deal with, but we can start small. Just having three or four people who love to PvP would do wonders for our PvP appeal. Just having them go to Restuss several times each night would be great, but we'll also need to help them get the equipment they need.

6.) Guild Events: Well, we got our Life Day part on the 18th. Aside from that, I think we need to work on some weekly get-togethers in one of our RID cities. Basically social events, where people can race for prizez, duel, or just get to know eachother. I also want to get another guild meeting formed soon. I'm speaking with Corvallon on when would be a good time to form one. I'm thinking guild meetings should be held at least once a month.

I'll be happy to toss out suggestions on what to do with traders in RID if anyone is interested. Between Apium and I, we've tried quite a few things to get traders off their collective ass's. That said, many of those attempts resulted in failure. So, feel free to learn from our missteps.

Basically, everything comes down to profit and the system. Given the system, no trader can make money strictly off of RID. You cannot easily apply direct discounts to guild members, setup guild-only stores, or get RID members to shop strictly at RID merchants. Trust me, we've tried.

For some reason, many people in the guild think RID traders are supposed to hand out stuff for free to fellow guild members. WTF? I don't mind doing this with a small house deed to get someone into a city or some free resources to get a new trader through the grind, but for nothing in return? Not even a fair trade? Pardon me, but fuck you!

Discounts can only be applie by having secret stores that only members know about or applying discounts directly during a trade. Given the confines of the system, it is a rather painful process to setup guild-only vendors (typically setting up a vendor in a guild-owned city that is not your actual store, hence you are required to stock twice the supplies). Plus, why bother discounting or even selling to the guild when you can make more money setting up a shop outside of Mos Eisley?

And let's be honest, there is no way you can force guild members to shop at guild merchants. You can entice them with cheaper prices and convenient locations, but if you are a trader you are in it for the profit. Discounts by this point are a waste and running multiple stores is a pain in the ass. Unless you have a shuttleport in your city, you cannot run a sustainable business unless you are along a point of travel (near a NPC city or next to a popular grind spot).

And to be quite frank, in regards to pricing items, I was price cutting people on the bazaar by well over 60% or 70% and my fellow guild members thought I was overpriced. Go mine it yourself then you cheap-ass...

Also, again due to the confines of the system, the guild can only have so many traders at once before toes start to get stepped on.

What have we tried to entice traders to be more "guild oriented"???

- We've offered free resources to any guild trader so they could grind and then collectively make higher quality products. This worked well if enough people did the behind-the-scenes labor to distribute free resources. Ultiimately it is unsustainable because people grind up for free and leave.

- We've setup several malls so guild traders can have several different places to sell their goods. This only works if your city has a shuttleport and you can keep traders active. Nothing is more annoying than owning a mall that has five vendors of players that no longer play... If you can talk a GM into boxing up a vendor, God bless you...

- We've offered free use of factories, harvestors, crafting stations, and recyclers with no takers... This one kind of baffles me. I mean, you can still share factories and they take up lots, so if some nice guild member is offering you use of his/her factory for free, why the hell would you decline the offer (assuming you needed a factory)?

- We've tried using several player cities as bases of operations for traders. Again, ultimately unsustainable as any serious trader wants profit and wants to be close to the profit. This means they want near the highest density of players. Back in the day, this was Coronet. Today, it is Mos Eisley. Yeah, you can advertise on the bazaar, but people have loads of cash and they think their time is valuable, so why travel to the ends of a planet when you can run just outside a NPC city?

- I have personally discounted guild members at flat rates that would be cut-throat undercutting on the bazaar. Selling something to a guild member for 3CPU that would sell for 15CPU on the bazzar and still getting laughed at by a guild member is quite insulting...

- I personally setup a resource vendor for only guild members. Items were priced to cover the cost of harvesting said resource and that's all you had to pay. Resources were sold in a variety of sizes so you only had to buy what you needed (not a million units of steel when you only needed 100k units...) A set pricing structure that made grinding cheap and convenient. I had one... yes, one buyer on a vendor with many countless resources. Why? I don't know. I advertised the vendor via game-mail, but not many people read it. Hell, the damn thing was in the RID guild hall, but to no effect (put it there so people wandering through Fort Oasis wouldn't steal crap). Probably had more to do with the fact that since everybody has two characters on a server, you have 20 lots. So if you run a trader, you can be pretty damn self-sufficient if you want. Hell, I sold more power than I did anything else and this is the reason why.

So, not to be MR. Negative, but getting traders to work in RID is a bit of a challenge. Unless you can prove profit to a dedicated trader (not someone with a trader toon they use to make parts for their ship), a trader is not inclined to be a part of the greater good, especially if you want them to discount fellow guild members. They can make better money from the general public. Plus, many people already have a trader toon they use on their second account and that means structure traders and shipwrights have it rough from the get-go.

Maybe I'm being narrow-minded, but I've been down this road several times. It's a bitch to convince existing traders to sell strictly to the guild or even setup a guild vendor. You can recruit n00b traders, but they will just use you for your free resources and then just leavefor better profits elsewhere. (been burnt time and again by that one)

That said, I have never been a part of a trader-only guild. Things are likely done differently to encourage traders in such situations. Of course, I love RID and would only ever be in RID. And since RID is not trader-only, there will always be issues with getting traders organized.

These are just my thoughts, opinions, and stories. Take them or leave them. Part of the frustration of trying to organize traders is one of the things that led me to leave SWG this past time (that and planning a RL wedding...). To even attempt to organize traders in the guild is a lot of work and a half-hearted effort just won't cut it. There is a lot of organization, planning, and elbow-grease involved. What I've described in this post is just the realities myself and others have faced. I want to see traders in RID organized under the RID banner one day, but its a lot of work.