Growing Pains of a Ranked Guild

Yes, we are ranked. Yes we have a guildhouse. That means two things (at the very least); it means that we have struggled and managed to beat countless other guilds during GRB, and it means that now the real work can begin.

I wanted to make this post because I am seeing a trend that bothers me. I don't want to come across as sounding like a jerk, but at the same time, I don't want to see what I have been seeing. Its not fair that we as a guild are relying on aeth to spend AP in order to fund our GuildHouse. What it boils down to is that we as a guild cannot fall into the trap of relying on one, or a few, people to fund the 2,000 etin maintenance fee. I understand we are farming, and it is VERY appreciated, but it isn't enough.

To deal with this, I want to present a multi-step plan to overcome this maintenance fee, and allow us all to contribute, while still gaining levels and not selling everything we own. If anyone disagrees with this post, either respond here, or pm me and we can talk about it.

First off, the farming. It helps, but it is simply too slow of a process to get us the etin we need. We shouldn't quit farming, but I think we should focus less on it. If you have a toon around the appropriate levels for farming broken cores or whatever, and are still able to gain xp from doing so, then by all means, please farm. For those of us that are higher level though, this presents the problem of no 'personal' reward for time spent farming. Obviously it goes to the guildhouse, but as a high level myself, I know there are times when I am farming that I would much rather be out grinding or farming dual lapis or some such. Therefore, I recommend that anyone above the level where they get xp from farming the cores, etc. for etin quests should focus on dungeons. This is for a few reasons - first off, it allows you to get the needed xp to level your character as fast as is possible. Secondly, dungeons are where the drops are. If you spend 3 hours in FL, for example, you will doubtless walk away with several heroic drops. These can be sold, and that gold can be used to purchase etin. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying every gold coin you make should be turned in for etin, but there should be some level of donation that is acceptable to everyone, whether its 10% of what you make, or 50% or whatever.

Further, those of us who are able, should spend as much time as possible farming dual lapis or level 5s. That is where the real money is made. An average dual lapis is roughly 2 mil. If you can farm and sell 12 of them, that's 24 mil. Even better, level 5 lapis can bring in up to 20 mil each.

The other phase of this recommended plan is the GRB itself. I have mentioned this earlier, in another thread, but I will say it again here. We desperately need strong GRB characters. I will help in any way I can. There is one caveat however. I will plvl you some, as I am sure other officers and high lvl characters will, since it is for the guild, but you need to know how to play your GRB character. I'm not trying to be mean by saying this, it is just that critical. If you want a pagan, learn to play a pagan, likewise with guardian or oracle, assassin or warrior. There are many resources available to you if you are interested in playing a particular class for GRB, including the aeria game self-help forums, the veteran players, even Trade Chat can sometimes offer answers. Between the leadership of the guild, we have some pretty diverse experience and can answer most questions you should have about a class. I myself can field any concerns about pagan, guardian or warrior pretty well, aeth has all the oracle information down cold, between Jze and I, we can answer a lot of assassin questions, Tezza, aka RubyRose, is a great source of information on guardians and is quickly learning pagans. If you have a question, feel free to ask.

By having these strong GRB characters, it will allow us to earn etin MUCH more quickly. If I can get a party of 2 lvl 30 HM int pagans, 1 or 2 lvl 30 HM oracles, and 1 or 2 lvl 30 HM warriors or assassins, we can take the 2 bosses in the 16-30 GRB map, each of which drops a 1,000 etin coin. If we can do that, there is our 2,000 etin maintenance fee right there, the rest is just icing on the cake.

Now that you have read my thoughts, please feel free to comment. I hope I haven't offended anyone, but I am getting a bit saddened to see us as a guild relying on our Guild Leader to provide for us what we should be providing for ourselves. That isn't to say we aren't trying, but in my mind we are working harder, not smarter. To do what we have done so far, coming from pretty much nowhere and suddenly being ranked with a guildhouse, that is amazing. And we did that with teamwork and a clear focus on our goal. Now we need to adjust our goals to suit the new challenges. If we can do this, nothing can stop our guild.

Thanks for listening to my rant/rave/criticism/ideas.

-Dann

I deapply agree with you dread we need to work as a team and not rely on 1 person im not pointing fingers or even saying im helping alot cuz to tell you the truth i farmed eap for like 4 hours then quit i sold tons of junk and stuff and i know other players have to but we need to work more as a team not as indaviduals

in other news, Dreadd is a nub

Listen to the nubbin, he speaks the truth. Good luck in GRB everyone! kick ass, and help out with etin when u can!