Do you want to be a part of something REALLY special?
Tyrs Paladium is a legendary drama free, 30+ yr old (most guildies are mid 35-65 yrs +) guild that is celebrating our 12th year by pitching a tent in Baldur's Gate III! We were founded in 2008. We are an American guild with an international/Euro flavor. And we need YOUR HELP, to give us a running start. I believe that we are the very first guild to launch in BG3. We are a household name in two D&D online games, Dungeons & Dragons Online (DDO) and Neverwinter. We also have Tyrs Chapters in Elder Scrolls Online, Guild Wars 2 and Path of Exile. You are completely WELCOME to join us in these games until Baldur's Gate 3 officially launches!!
Demographics: We are looking for Americans and Eurozone players who are:
* seeking great adventure and camaraderie with like-minded players. * looking for an old school NO DRAMA GUILD. * who enjoys TEAMWORK.
We have one of the most active guild websites there is, created by and for guildies only. On this site, you could find plenty of game tips in the Tyrs Library, sign up for scheduled events in the Tyrs War Room, shoot the sh!t in the Tyrs Tavern, or listen to our esoteric MP3 player in the Tyrs Mosh Pit! And that’s only a mere taste of Kargon’s Tasty ham! You will ALWAYS find good times and a helping hand in Tyrs Paladium.
We are a decent sized guild, yet we run it tight knit. We believe in helping each other, and most of all having as much fun as possible while we play.
"We play hard, laugh hard, and play it old school, with much respect to the camaraderie found in tabletop D&D of years past."
If you’d like to join, post here and head over to our site, read our guild rules and fill out an application.
HELP BUILD UP OUR BALDURS GATE III CHAPTER FROM THE GROUND UP... and REST ASSURED you've got the support of one of the most sought after guilds for OLD SCHOOL GAMERS.
Peace,
Commodore Co-Founder Tyrs Paladium
We enforce our drama free policy.
*** Upon joining us, you are a valued member ON DAY ONE. You can speak with officers, leaders, the guild founders - and we recommend it! Likewise we ask you to PARTICIPATE in our vibrant camaraderie on the Tyrs forums and in-game! Be SURE to fill out an INTRO THREAD in our Roster & Recruitment section of our guild website. PS: We also have a contingent of current military and veterans. We are a patriotic guild, and are proud of it! We always appreciate and remember our heroes who fight for freedom all over the World, regardless of country of origin. We sincerely thank you. /salute
(Naturally, you do not need to have served to join our guild. We just like to appreciate those who risk their lives to protect our freedoms that we enjoy, and to remember those who gave it all.)
1. No drama. If you are found intentionally creating or maintaining conflict or discomfort between players, you will be removed. However, reporting a problem is not drama.
2. Only guild leadership can remove players from the guild. If there is an issue, bring it to your leaders.
3. Please use your IGN (In Game Name) or one of your character names as your Tyrs forum name. Current members, please do not change your name.
4. Please post an intro in the Roster and Recruitment section of this website, and add your characters to the Roster.
5. Please post your birthdays on this site, just so we can embarrass you with big birthday announcements.
6. Be courteous and respectful. This costs you nothing and goes a long way.
7. Religion/Politics: Please avoid these topics in general chat and guild chat, as they can cause unnecessary conflict.
8. YOU DO NOT LEAVE PEOPLE BEHIND! That means 'no zerging', whether we're exploring areas or doing a structured mission. We run at the pace of the slowest person in the party. We support and encourage beginners.
9. Guild comes first. If you’re assembling a party, ask your guildies if they want to join in before soliciting other party members.
10. We do not exploit the game! If you are caught intentionally cheating, you will be removed from the guild.
11. NO DISCRIMINATION! As a non-biased guild, Tyrs Paladium is committed to being a safe, welcoming space for all players. If you act or speak in a way that demeans or diminishes other people, you will be removed. This includes, but is not limited to, disrespect based on race, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, age, or disability.
12. If you have to log off or leave your keyboard while in a party, please clearly communicate this to other party members. This is a matter of respect and courtesy. Remember that your actions reflect on the guild as a whole, especially in PUGs (pick-up groups).
13. Do your best to be active in the guild community. You do not have to participate in everything, but please look for ways to contribute, in guild chat, on the website, and by participating in events when possible.
14. Real life comes first.
15. We at Tyrs Paladium take pride in our dedication to be inclusive of all types of gamers, regardless of ability. We have many members who are able to play and enjoy the game in spite of physical, cognitive and communication impairment. Please keep this in mind when playing. You never know who is behind the character you are talking to or playing with in game. We are proud supporters of the Able Gamers Foundation.
16. This website and any third party voice chat channels are extensions of the guild. All rules apply here, in all chat forums, and in game.
17. Insubordination will NOT be tolerated. Joking/goofing around is OK, but once it goes past a certain point, it will not be tolerated. Malicious or disrespectful treatment of other players (including criticism based on their game knowledge or skill level) is unacceptable.
18. Please use appropriate names. Some very vulgar and offensive things will get through the name filter. They will not be tolerated in Tyrs.
19. Dual/Multi-boxing (playing two accounts simultaneously and potentially hindering a group effort) is not permitted, unless the group knows you are doing this and approves. You may be logged on to multiple accounts if a group effort is not affected and game rules are not being broken.
20. Last but not least, HAVE FUN!!!!
To the great adventures ahead,
Commodore & Paks Tyrs Paladium Guild Founders
OUR PROMISE:
*** Upon joining us, you are a valued member ON DAY ONE. You can speak with officers, leaders, the guild founders - and we recommend it! Likewise we ask you to PARTICIPATE in our vibrant camaraderie on the Tyrs forums, Discord and in-game! Be SURE to fill out an INTRO THREAD in our Roster & Recruitment section of our guild website.
PS: We also have a contingent of current military and veterans. We are a patriotic guild, and are proud of it! We always appreciate and remember our heroes who fight for freedom all over the World, regardless of country of origin. We sincerely thank you. /salute
(Naturally, you do not need to have served to join our guild. We just like to appreciate those who risk their lives to protect our freedoms that we enjoy, and to remember those who gave it all.)
We are proud sponsors of FOLDS of HONOR, Homes for Our Troops and the AbleGamers Foundation.
We'll run with you, giveth the chance. And you are right, we are still THAT guild. Old School in the Gary Gygax & Dave Arneson mindset. We are the real deal Holyfield.
We have hired 8 guildies thusfar! We have a long way to go to reach our goal but we have the time.
The journey is our favorite part!
Our playstyle? Simple, we play a relaxed game, together. We are looking for those who appreciate old school D&D values of the founding fathers mentioned below, such as camaraderie, good adventure, challenge, and most especially FUN! We pride ourselves on being well prepared, and working together to achieve a common goal. We will teach anyone willing to learn.
As of this date, YOU will be coming in and experiencing Baldur's Gate 3 with a NEW CHAPTER of a guild that knows what they are doing. The lights are on, and the gate is open...
What's your policy on game information and spoilers?
Since this is neither an actual free-flowing D&D game, nor an MMO, but rather a video game with set story and world information that it can present to you and unfold - that information, while it can be experienced in a few different ways, can ultimately only be revealed once, after which it is simply knowledge that cannot be experienced fresh again.
If a new player joins your group, will they find people talking about game world, character or story information that the game presents but which they have not had the chance to experience first hand for themselves yet?
Conversely, are your members - even new players who have played part way through the game with a group - expected to conduct themselves and their conversations in a spoiler free way at all times in order to prevent this?
==
What do you consider to be an exploit, in BG3's extremely mechanical-exploit-prone game engine? Is a group that reloads a quick save in order to get a conversation roll to go the way they want exploiting? What about a group that uses dialogue locking NPCs in order to manipulate/negate their sight cones and to steal from them without risk or repercussions. Is dialogue locking an important encounter in order to move the rest of your party around, load the field with explosive barrels that you have been keeping in a stacked tier of containers to make their weigh not count, and position themselves in the perfect locations to immediately nix the encounter entirely when it starts, by shoving most targets down bottomless pits or into lava from stealth so they cannot resist and will always fail and fall. Are any of them exploiting, despite using only mechanics that exist within the game itself? What about if you have players that are not comfortable with such flagrant mechanic circumvention and abuse and object to other players breaking the game by doing that?
==
Your rules imply that if someone joins, they are rule-bound to fill their party for any given game of BG3 they play with other guild members before asking any of their other non-guild friends; that they'd risk discipline with your guild if they invited a few of their RL friends to play the game with them, without waiting until a time when there were no available guild members to fill the slots (which may never happen). I'm sure that's not the case, because that would be ridiculous, but it Is what your guild rules charter currently says; Please clarify.
Niara - THANK YOU SO MUCH for reading our guild rules AND pontificating. I created the Tyrs Paladium rules with our brave and fearless female co-founder Paks back in 2008. I also discussed guild rules in the Old Timers Guild which pre-dates Tyrs Paladium. As for role players, I played D&D tabletop since 1977. (I was 7 years old, in day camp.)
Im exited to discuss what our plans are thusfar in Baldur's Gate 3.
Quote
Since this is neither an actual free-flowing D&D game, nor an MMO, but rather a video game with set story and world information that it can present to you and unfold - that information, while it can be experienced in a few different ways, can ultimately only be revealed once, after which it is simply knowledge that cannot be experienced fresh again. If a new player joins your group, will they find people talking about game world, character or story information that the game presents but which they have not had the chance to experience first hand for themselves yet?
We are VERY aware of this reality in BG3. Many of us have played Baldurs Gate 1 and 2, and go back even further. I played ALL the Zorks. All the SSI Gold Box games. Many of our guildies have. So we GET OLD SCHOOL gaming. Traditionally, EVEN IN MMOs are aware of new players getting to FULLY ENJOY their player experience. So in a game like this, it will be quite easy to enforce this need and desire for new recruits to be ABLE to enjoy the game TO THE FULLEST for the FIRST TIME. We will not have WALK THROUGHS in our Tyrs Library like we have in MMOs where that can help. In this game it would be a SPOILER. We might discuss character builds for those that would like to discuss that, but not in a way that would ruin their experience, but enhance it. We feel that having a tight knit group of no drama gamers just enhances EVERYONES enjoyment of the game. I also feel that players will want to re-run the game on different characters. CAMERADERIE is D&D. Friendships make people stay and roll new characters. And OLD SCHOOL is always COOL! :)~~~
Quote
Conversely, are your members - even new players who have played part way through the game with a group - expected to conduct themselves and their conversations in a spoiler free way at all times in order to prevent this?
YES. Absolutely.
Quote
What do you consider to be an exploit, in BG3's extremely mechanical-exploit-prone game engine? Is a group that reloads a quick save in order to get a conversation roll to go the way they want exploiting? What about a group that uses dialogue locking NPCs in order to manipulate/negate their sight cones and to steal from them without risk or repercussions? Is dialogue locking an important encounter in order to move the rest of your party around, load the field with explosive barrels that you have been keeping in a stacked tier of containers to make their weigh not count, and position themselves in the perfect locations to immediately nix the encounter entirely when it starts, by shoving most targets down bottomless pits or into lava from stealth so they cannot resist and will always fail and fall. Are any of them exploiting, despite using only mechanics that exist within the game itself? What about if you have players that are not comfortable with such flagrant mechanic circumvention and abuse and object to other players breaking the game by doing that?
GREAT questions Niara! -- Love them all and I think I'd like to answer them all together. I am not sure what we will consider an exploit JUST YET because I haven't played the game through yet. But many MANY years of experience here, so here's how I look at it. PLAYING THE GAME THE WAY IT WAS INTENDED is always my baseline. Reloads a quick save in order to get a conversation roll to go the way they want ? I'd call that cheating personally. ESPECIALLY if others in the group have their experiences ruined when that happens. And that's the same answer for the rest of the examples. The way we've survived for SO LONG in such a positive light is because we have a group of lovely would that ensure that EVERYONE is enjoying their game and characters. No drama. No Zerg (running off doing your own thing and ruining it for everyone else). NO BS.
So officers will lay out a good set of recommendations to follow which will set the bar. For individual groups, party leaders can discuss beforehand if the group is ok doing something outside of the Tyrs Way. Most people in our guild will just not want top do anything that will ruin another's player experience. We don't play around with the elitist mindset or one that would do that. Their time in Tyrs would be very, very short lived!
Quote
Your rules imply that if someone joins, they are rule-bound to fill their party for any given game of BG3 they play with other guild members before asking any of their other non-guild friends; that they'd risk discipline with your guild if they invited a few of their RL friends to play the game with them, without waiting until a time when there were no available guild members to fill the slots (which may never happen). I'm sure that's not the case, because that would be ridiculous, but it Is what your guild rules charter currently says; Please clarify.
Ahh GREAT questions/insinuations, I'll jump on these. Ok we LOVE guildie's friends and family members. Its part of our makeup. My two sons play. And two of my best real life friends. What I found is that almost every time guildies ALREADY UNDERSTAND the Tyrs Way, so in the rare case if they know that one of their friends would be the WRONG TYPE to fit in, they won't even ask us to run with that person because they know it wouldn't work. However MOST TIMES, they simply ask us if they can JOIN TYRS. EVERYONE has to fill out a guild app. So we can also tell before everyone gets out there if they will fit in. Works great that way. WE very much WELCOME FRIENDS AND FAMILY!!! We LOVE IT in fact. Many more times than not it works out very well.
I hope that answers every angle of your questions... if not please rephrase and I'll break it down in a more beneficial way!
Interesting. Another Bg3 Multiplayer Guild besides mine.
First of all -- another multi game guild is in the House. CONGRATULATIONS for taking the splurge. A NEW D&D game is in town -- are you kidding me!? :)~~~~
Quote
In addition to what Niara said - I read through your rules and they seem quite onerous and vague.
Our guild rules are NOT FOR EVERYONE. They tend to attract old-school gamers, veterans and NO DRAMA types. Thats a GOOD THING for us. But we get introverts, extroverts, from all walks of life, and because we stay AWAY from discussing politics and religion, it allows people that NORMALLY might not get along, but because we have thing CRAZY THING CALLED D&D gaming in common... so many times it works out. As long as everyone wants a DRAMA FREE GAMING EXPERIENCE, that is. So each guild rule is designed for a reason.
Quote
You guys may want to consider setting up different kinds of runs that allow for different types of behavior and levels of seriousness and or even "cheating", "cheap tricks", metagaming or even "exploits". It almost sounds like you are saying there is only one correct way to play the game and you guys are the owners and arbiters of that methodology.
Yeah the guild rules are enforced. We did not invent our style of gaming, but we certainly have earned A GOOD NAME in gaming circles in which we are involved in, thanks to our members. In some games like DDO and Neverwinter, we are a household name. In order to create a drama-free experience, we have created each of our rules to combat a challenge that we've needed to address in previous years. Yes in today's world we need to spell out certain rules that maybe 30 years ago wasn't necessary. We ARE PROUD of our guild rules and if there is any rule that you would have trouble following, you oftentimes may not make a good fit. Quality over Quantity. Which rule do you think is "onerous?" Haven't heard that one before! PS: That being said, we've tweaked our rules slightly over many years to ensure they are right where we want them, aka in the best interest of all of our guildies.
Quote
Here are some of the suggested run types we use, although we encourage people to agree on rules beforehand.
-CHAOS RUN – Nothing matters, and everyone just does whatever. There may be little cooperation or stability. Go in with no expectations. -MURDERHOBO RUN – Just try to kill everyone, regardless of consequences. Teamwork required. -SOCIOPATHIC RUN – Kill who you can get away with without destabilizing society. -ROLEPLAYING RUN – Stick to a strict interpretation of RP’ing. This means no meta or advance knowledge of anything. Behave in game as your character would behave based on who they are. No meta, or powergaming or commenting on another person’s stats. Listen to conversations. -SERIOUS RUN (Good/Nuetral/Evil) – Play seriously with a specific alignment outlook. This is not a roleplaying run as it allows for metagaming but you are sticking to a moral code. -IRON-MAN RUN (Honor Mode)– If the party dies then game over. Additional conditions can be arranged such as if any player dies, then they are gone/no res. Exceptions for software bugs that occur. -TOUR GUIDE/NEW PLAYER RUN –
Ahhh yes, GREAT stuff here. Ok see Tyrs PARTY LEADERS can get CREATIVE! Thats D&D in essence. Gary Gygax once said “The secret we should never let the gamemasters know is that they don't need any rules.”
AS LONG AS ITS DISCUSSED BEFOREHAND, and EVERYONE ON BOARD IS OK WITH IT, then it should be ok. Hell we've done NAKED MIDNIGHT RUNS in some of our games... walk around with no clothes in game & drinkin' beer or whatever in real life. I have NO PROBLEM with any run you've listed above.
I think almost everyone is going to want to run THE GAME AS IT IS INTENDED TO BE PLAYED the first few run-throughs. But after that... I want guildies TO STICK AROUND with their new friends!! So ya find creative ways to have fun.
With all due respect, I find the excessively overbright false enthusiasm to be tiresome and not constructive to having a proper conversation – it's fake and it's shallow and feels dishonest – From your wording choices, it's seems that you felt that my questions were negatively geared and attacking or seeking to undermine you in some way; not my intention; and yet you chose to respond with a level of enthusiasm that doesn't match the way that you, the person posting, felt about my comments (using terms like 'insinuate' and 'pontificate' could be considered insulting and hurtful). Don't do that, please. I'd appreciate it if you'd drop the PR pitch and sales-speak when answering me, if that's all right please... I'd just like to have a discussion that asks legitimate questions and seeks serious answers, for everyone's benefit.
It would also save you some time and energy... Be positive by all means, that's great to see! But it's easier to have a sensible conversation when we don't have to wade through a mass of capitalised buzz-words that only bear a tangential or even non-present relation to the question being asked.
To confirm the points being asked about: You're guild hopes to enforce a strong no-spoilers policy on all of their social presences and platforms (your rules say that these guild rules apply and are enforced in all such spaces).
My concern with this is that this means that new players who join up to play will not actually allowed to discuss the game, events that take place in it, actions that were taken in relation to their outcomes, character development or anything really at all about the game itself above the mechanical level (builds, general tactics, controls etc.). No matter how excited and enthusiastic about it they may be, they may expect to face discipline or cautions for discussing these things in any open forum space on any of your socials, in order to preserve others from being spoiled.
If I'm misreading you on that, could you clarify how you handle people's desire to speak about the game, alongside people's right not to be spoiled about it; what lines are you drawing and where, so that others can understand in advance?
==
To be clear in your response regarding exploits: You (you appear to use 'We', speaking for the guild, and 'I', speaking for yourself, fairly interchangeably, so I apologise if I'm confused here) will decide based your your own judgement what counts as 'how the game is meant to be played' and the guild will consider anything outside that to be exploitation.
My main concern is that it sounds as though you are of the opinion that something as simple as using the game's own internal systems as presented as a literal part of the game – i.e. saving and loading – should be called exploitative. The question I would ask here is: Are your rules rules, or are they 'guidelines' subject to enforcement or disregard based on how your individual officers feel about a situation personally?
Here's an example, supposing you do decide that save-scumming is an exploit... If a group of four players has a conversation go poorly, and ends up in a fight that they, upon discussion generally feel they do not want to have and may not be able to win, and vote to reload – and three want to do this, and have the conversation go as they'd prefer and more enjoy, and one is not comfortable with doing this, but doesn't speak out because they know that they are supposed to be embodying the 'no drama' principle of their new guild... If that individual later decides that they're uncomfortable with what happened enough to speak to an officer about it, if sounds as though, from your rules, the officer in question would be obliged to invoke discipline (even if that just be having a talk to them and reminding them that that behaviour wasn't appropriate by guild code) on the other three members. Is that correct?
==
For the last bit, I'm very concerned that it sounds like you're doubling down on that rule being as ridiculous as it seems.
It sounds, from your answer, as though your guild members are not allowed to play with other non-guild members without first sourcing from the guild; that if they wish, say, for their daughter to play the game with them, they must first have their daughter fill out a guild sign up, because if she doesn't, and you play with her, without filling your party from the guild first (and thus not being able to play with her because the party filled), then you'll get in trouble (if anyone finds out you did).
No thank you. That's invasive and harmful, and it's controlling and crippling on your guild members. That kind of enforcement is not something that anyone should ever want to be a part of, so I do sincerely hope that I've misunderstood your response.
Have I misunderstood? No sensible guild would ever actually require their members to sign their friends or family up to their guild before allowing them to play a game with them – but that does appear to be what you're saying here, and that's a major 'run for the hills' red flag for me.
To be clear on what this looks like right now: What your rules say, and what you seem to be confirming strongly, is that if I am a member of your guild, and I have three friends that I'd like to play a game of BG3 with... I am required by your guild rules to First ask them to sign up to the guild, in order to play with them, because if they are not guild members then I am obliged to fill the game I want to play with guild members first, and not play with my friends... and if my friends are not the kind of people who would be a good fit for your guild, or if they don't wish to sign up, then I am not allowed to play with them and still remain in your guild, because guild has to come first – I must choose between the guild and my other friends, in that scenario... Or else I dishonestly just play with my friends, disobey the guild rules and don't tell anyone that I played a game with non-guildies, without asking guildies first, and hope that no-one finds out I did, because I'm not supposed to do that.
This does not sound healthy, so I'd appreciate a clarification on what you actually mean with that rule.
First of all -- another multi game guild is in the House. CONGRATULATIONS for taking the splurge. A NEW D&D game is in town -- are you kidding me!? :)~~~~
Taking the leap you mean? We are about 2 years old with about 60+ members. (edit: Just recounted, growing fast)
We really only do BG3 but have dabbled in FromSoftware to pass the time. Sometimes we have movie nights, or Youtube Nights where everyone shows their favorite youtube clips, hilarious reviews of bad Steven Seagal Movies, and clips of comedians.
We don't do any other RPG's currently.
Originally Posted by Commodore_Tyrs
Quality over Quantity. Which rule do you think is "onerous?" Haven't heard that one before! PS: That being said, we've tweaked our rules slightly over many years to ensure they are right where we want them, aka in the best interest of all of our guildies.
Also I should point out we have our own criteria for new members and guidelines for Multiplayer runs- see below for the Guidelines:
To be clear I found some of your Guidelines useful and even incorporated one into mine (the AFK thing).
Multiplayer Guidelines:
Criteria for New members: 1. Be inclusive of others. We have a zero tolerance policy for racism, homophobia, transphobia or ageist or abelist behavior. 2. No Self Narration. 3. No abusive behavior towards other players. 4. Be generous and kind to others. 5. Have a good sense of humor about yourself.
These are suggested guidelines to make runs workable for long term play.
1. Keep runs to under 5 hours per session. After 4-5 hours you are likely to encounter interruptions which will frustrate everyone, and people will start to get burned out and snippy. 2. Agree in advance that everyone is able and willing to continue the run for multiple sessions. 3. Create a team chat in discord – (everyone will need to friend each other, to facilitate communication on future scheduling) (In future this will be automatically handled by SESH bot) 4. Agree on a Playstyle/type of Run (Murderhobo, Serious, Iron-Man, Roleplay...)
Guidelines for Group Play – Character Creation 1. Figure out in advance what everyone wants to be. If your character build idea has specific requirements (Volo’s Eye, Loviatars Blessing) and you are meta gaming make sure you discuss that in advance and agree on who gets what. 2. If you are Roleplaying, discuss that in advance and agree on how that is supposed to work. Best practice is to recruit the run as an RP run. 3. Try to aim for a balanced team.
Guidelines for Actual Play 1. Don’t take anything out of another person’s inventory without asking. 2. Either agree on a leader or a method by which you determine what you are doing. 3. Communicate but don’t self-narrate. Engage with your teammates, don’t just talk to yourself – you are not a streamer with an audience, you are a player on a team. 4. Do not level another person's character without discussing with them first (In case of a DC). 5. Don't assume anyone else is meant to act as a support class for your build. 6. Let people know if you are going AFK and for how long as a courtesy. 7. Be excellent to each other - being kind to each other costs nothing!
As you can see we have some overlap. Although one that I don't have is anything about Insubordination or Humor. I like to think we are more democratic than that. That kind of terminology is a bit of a red flag for me, and I suspect younger folks may have a reaction formation to it. For us if the group has a problem with a player we will try to find a better 'type' of run for them and invite them to put together one of those.
It's why we have the Chaos run - for people who just like to get drunk and play like idiots.
One of ours that I would like to point out to you is the rule about Self-Narration. We have been running into this a lot lately, and our entire server is in agreement about how annoying and disruptive people that do that are and there is no reasoning with them. It's one of our few ABSOLUTE rules - no self-narration! We have a theory that it is tied to 'Streamer Culture' - the idea that you are there to game in front of a captive audience that can't really communicate with you. It's not something that can be captured on an application (which is why I don't do them). All of my Admins are aware to screen for this sort of thing before invites go out. Anyway, just a heads up, one GM to another.
Since Bg3 doesn't have a DM mode yet we don't have any hard rules for who is directing the Party and that is also a democratic process - not in the sense of what we do, but in who wants to take the lead on activities. (Because you generally do want someone providing direction)
Anyway, those two rules where the only ones that I thought were cause for concern. I guess I would be interested in what counts as Insubordination? Do you dictate classes and roles to people? If someone in the group is following their RP but is working somewhat counter to the group is that Insubordination? If a player is awkward (low charisma) and has a cheesy sense of humor is that a problem? When has this been an issue for you guys? Stories.
Also, in regards to exploits, we allow them because we report them to Larian when we find them. I don't make rules about them because once someone tells me about one I report it. If I made rules about them they wouldn't tell me. See, I'm helping.
I don't have much to say, but... some noteable dubious mechanics and why people use them.
1. Robbing merchants. Steal their gold, buy items, steal their gold yet again.
In truth, this is an alternative to making money through picking up every single item. The more runs you do, the more tiring looting gets. This is a shortcut.
2. Reloading as way to experience a specific story line.
Sometimes, your team may get together and discuss a story path in advance. If freakishly bad luck gets in the way, reloading may be acceptable.
3. Dishonorable combat
Against combatants who would do the same to you (like the gith patrol). Grease ruins (saves) the day.
4. Ambush tactics and barrelmancy
Preserving spells slots. Especially at lower levels (3-4), it's tempting to wipe out gnoll pack #1 through make shift fireball.
This keeps you in top form to fight the miniboss. Resting between these encounters is tedious. Additionally, point 3 applies. Gnolls will not go easy on you with their multiple attacks a turn!
Hard exploits are situations like cheesing a boss fight, because there's a spot the boss can't reach. Most of the favoured cheese in Bg3 exists to preserve time rather than make up for a lack of skill.
Amount of cheese is maybe best left to the DM/leaders discretion? For example, if you have a lot of newbies, you may decide to allow the occasional barrelmancy incident for fun. It sounds extremely difficult to make up hard rules for everyone.
A party of people with not much time could use case #1, hardcore roleplayers decide to ban it. Just a suggestion. How about a master list of cheese the DM discusses at start of the game?
I don't really understand what your rule covers as /written/ . There's not much better clarification one can do than a master list of cheese
With all due respect, I find the excessively overbright false enthusiasm to be tiresome and not constructive to having a proper conversation – it's fake and it's shallow and feels dishonest – From your wording choices, it's seems that you felt that my questions were negatively geared and attacking or seeking to undermine you in some way; not my intention; and yet you chose to respond with a level of enthusiasm that doesn't match the way that you, the person posting, felt about my comments (using terms like 'insinuate' and 'pontificate' could be considered insulting and hurtful). Don't do that, please. I'd appreciate it if you'd drop the PR pitch and sales-speak when answering me, if that's all right please... I'd just like to have a discussion that asks legitimate questions and seeks serious answers, for everyone's benefit.
I totally agree with you but in defense of my profession as a Sales Director, and 20+ years in Sales I would NEVER communicate this way with someone. It comes off as inauthentic and condescending. If any of my AE's did this I would coach the shit out of them and if they kept it up they would get a PIP and then if they persisted I would terminate them.
I've seen bad used-car salesmen do this but no professional Salesperson would.
With all due respect, I find the excessively overbright false enthusiasm to be tiresome and not constructive to having a proper conversation – it's fake and it's shallow and feels dishonest – From your wording choices, it's seems that you felt that my questions were negatively geared and attacking or seeking to undermine you in some way; not my intention; and yet you chose to respond with a level of enthusiasm that doesn't match the way that you, the person posting, felt about my comments (using terms like 'insinuate' and 'pontificate' could be considered insulting and hurtful). Don't do that, please. I'd appreciate it if you'd drop the PR pitch and sales-speak when answering me, if that's all right please... I'd just like to have a discussion that asks legitimate questions and seeks serious answers, for everyone's benefit.[Quote]
It would also save you some time and energy... Be positive by all means, that's great to see! But it's easier to have a sensible conversation when we don't have to wade through a mass of capitalised buzz-words that only bear a tangential or even non-present relation to the question being asked.
In the games that we have been in thusfar, our guild rules do not confuse many players. They are pretty straightforward. In this game, we will need to have some specifics spelled out specific to BG3 play, and that will be fun to implement. We will do that with our guild officers. We are a VERY tight knit guild. We do not accept EVERY application. We choose ones that we feel will enjoy playing in a NO DRAMA environment and enjoy our camaraderie. Thats been one of my favorite parts of being a guild founder and leader in Tyrs Paladium. We exist solely for the enjoyment of our guildies, and part of that responsibility is enforcing the guild rules that we've learned really enhance and protect that type of gameplay. We strongly support the ABLEGAMERS Foundation, and allow members that may have challenges to playing the game, wether it be auditory or sensory or whatever. We do our VERY BEST to ensure they get to play just the way they would life to with no pressure or harassment of any type.
Its the Tyrs way.
As far as your accusations of "false enthusiasm", or "dishonest" I don't know what to tell you, we are well versed in our play style and the folks that find our style attractive tend to find us, after all these years (15 going on 16 years). I am engaging in sensible conversation with you. Its tough sometimes in a forum to understand somebody's tone, but yeah Im not insulted in any way, and hope you understand that Im trying my best to answer your questions and commentary in the truest and most transparent way that I can.
Quote
To confirm the points being asked about: You're guild hopes to enforce a strong no-spoilers policy on all of their social presences and platforms (your rules say that these guild rules apply and are enforced in all such spaces).
My concern with this is that this means that new players who join up to play will not actually allowed to discuss the game, events that take place in it, actions that were taken in relation to their outcomes, character development or anything really at all about the game itself above the mechanical level (builds, general tactics, controls etc.). No matter how excited and enthusiastic about it they may be, they may expect to face discipline or cautions for discussing these things in any open forum space on any of your socials, in order to preserve others from being spoiled.
If I'm misreading you on that, could you clarify how you handle people's desire to speak about the game, alongside people's right not to be spoiled about it; what lines are you drawing and where, so that others can understand in advance?
Please understand that this game hasn't even launched yet, so very, VERY few folks like ourselves has even given these legitimate questions any thought. I have definitely been plotting out how I think we can best fit into this community as a guild and friendly neighbor to the BG3 gaming community. At the end of the day we are here to support D&D, Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson's creation. We are genuinely excited that this game is finally going to be released and we want to help and benefit this community as good as we can. We also support any other guild that wants to make our community better. I feel guild play offers some real benefits, even to someone that might be an introvert. Just to be playing amongst other old school gamers offers a social vibe and a safe space away from the typical online craziness of other spots online like cable news channels or youtube and other social media comment boards. We are a group of mostly 30+ years of age people who play games, TOGETHER. We focus on D&D online products, such as Dungeons & Dragons Online and Neverwinter and even some games with D&D like fantasy lore (Elder Scrolls Online, Guild Wars 2, Path of Exile etc)
As far as spoilers go, we have to feel this part out. We will definitely want to talk about the game in general, offering build advice and game mechanics and UI questions, we've ALWAYS found to be extremely useful.Its a case by case basis. If someone wants help, they'll know which guru to ask in Tyrs. We love lending a helping hand! Each Tyrs game chapter in our guild has a TYRS LIBRARY catered to the game they represent. We will need to be VERY careful in the Tyrs Baldurs Gate Library because we wont want to spoil the fun for anyone. We'll figure it out.
NEW PLAYERS are ALWAYS WELCOME!! Up to about 120ish... then we tend to lock up our gates. We like to get to know each other ... in Tyrs you are not just a number. We include EVERYONE into the mix. Casual is KING in Tyrs. We want to make each and everyone feel like they belong. Once a new player joins, we welcome them with open arms. We will even check on them, usually within two days we'll ask guildies if they're happy and to see if they are having trouble finding a group or ensure that they are not feeling lost.
==
Quote
To be clear in your response regarding exploits: You (you appear to use 'We', speaking for the guild, and 'I', speaking for yourself, fairly interchangeably, so I apologise if I'm confused here) will decide based your your own judgement what counts as 'how the game is meant to be played' and the guild will consider anything outside that to be exploitation.
My main concern is that it sounds as though you are of the opinion that something as simple as using the game's own internal systems as presented as a literal part of the game – i.e. saving and loading – should be called exploitative. The question I would ask here is: Are your rules rules, or are they 'guidelines' subject to enforcement or disregard based on how your individual officers feel about a situation personally?
Here's an example, supposing you do decide that save-scumming is an exploit... If a group of four players has a conversation go poorly, and ends up in a fight that they, upon discussion generally feel they do not want to have and may not be able to win, and vote to reload – and three want to do this, and have the conversation go as they'd prefer and more enjoy, and one is not comfortable with doing this, but doesn't speak out because they know that they are supposed to be embodying the 'no drama' principle of their new guild... If that individual later decides that they're uncomfortable with what happened enough to speak to an officer about it, if sounds as though, from your rules, the officer in question would be obliged to invoke discipline (even if that just be having a talk to them and reminding them that that behaviour wasn't appropriate by guild code) on the other three members. Is that correct?
Most guild leaders would have NO IDEA how to answer this one! This may be a legitimate issue in Baldurs Gate 3. Let me try and tackle this scenario in a pre-launch state of mind:
"We & I. " Let me explain this point first. We have a lot of traditions in our guild. We've earned our respect in each game we are involved in, that decisions will be made in order to support our no drama, no zerg, no BS mindset. In 2008 we had TWO GUILD RULES. No Drama & No zerg. Basically, "stick with the party and don't be a dick!" It soon became evident that we would need to specify and clarify our vision and that meant creating a set of guild rules that we can defend and support. And it's all about our MEMBERS. To make an official guild decision or "call" that will affect our guildies, it must be approved by our guild founders, myself and Paks. We've been around all 15+ years and know what works and what doesn't. We rely heavily ON OUR GUILDIES input. Sometimes we've gotten great ideas from long-time guildies, other times from new players. EVERYONE MATTERS in Tyrs. Even in the first 30 seconds that a new recruit joins Tyrs. I'll use "we" or "I" interchangeably on occasion, in case I want to emphasise if its a group decision or not, or vise versa. We are almost always in agreement. Now, it takes TIME to come to a consensus, and we are almost all adults with families. So we appreciate everyone that makes our guild better. Our officers know that we wont ask them to play a MINUTE MORE than their normally scheduled play times. How can we pull that off? COMMUNICATION & ORGANIZATION. We will of course need to create some guidelines specific to BG3. Which ones we decide to add to our core rules, I have no idea yet. But I am learning and contemplating ideas even now conversing with you. So thank you for taking the time to have a conversation with me about this stuff. It's helpful I think to the entire community.
Your example: Yeah that would be MOST unfortunate if this scenario happens. It's EASILY AVOIDABLE, by discussing a known workaround beforehand. But guild leaders and party leaders will need to understand that disagreement WILL HAPPEN, even in the best of situations sometimes. So in this event it's a case-by-case situation. It's a coaching opportunity for the party leader for sure. But how about the one who felt left out. Our guild CANNOT and WILL NOT IGNORE THAT PERSON's uncomfortable situation. We must learn from it, to avoid it happening again, and to set a precedent if it does. We have to make a call based on the facts of the matter. When they say communication is key, THEY MEAN IT!
How would I handle it? Id need to know more specifics. Why did the conversation go sour? Did someone harras someone or make someone feel like their opinion doesn't matter? That would be a major issue. If I get a screenshot of someone harassing another guildie, they are gone. Fired. No more questions asked. If its simply an opportunity to coach and make the guild better, I'm all for that!! Id much rather prefer THAT ending.
==
Quote
For the last bit, I'm very concerned that it sounds like you're doubling down on that rule being as ridiculous as it seems.
It sounds, from your answer, as though your guild members are not allowed to play with other non-guild members without first sourcing from the guild; that if they wish, say, for their daughter to play the game with them, they must first have their daughter fill out a guild sign up, because if she doesn't, and you play with her, without filling your party from the guild first (and thus not being able to play with her because the party filled), then you'll get in trouble (if anyone finds out you did).
No thank you. That's invasive and harmful, and it's controlling and crippling on your guild members. That kind of enforcement is not something that anyone should ever want to be a part of, so I do sincerely hope that I've misunderstood your response.
Have I misunderstood? No sensible guild would ever actually require their members to sign their friends or family up to their guild before allowing them to play a game with them – but that does appear to be what you're saying here, and that's a major 'run for the hills' red flag for me.
To be clear on what this looks like right now: What your rules say, and what you seem to be confirming strongly, is that if I am a member of your guild, and I have three friends that I'd like to play a game of BG3 with... I am required by your guild rules to First ask them to sign up to the guild, in order to play with them, because if they are not guild members then I am obliged to fill the game I want to play with guild members first, and not play with my friends... and if my friends are not the kind of people who would be a good fit for your guild, or if they don't wish to sign up, then I am not allowed to play with them and still remain in your guild, because guild has to come first – I must choose between the guild and my other friends, in that scenario... Or else I dishonestly just play with my friends, disobey the guild rules and don't tell anyone that I played a game with non-guildies, without asking guildies first, and hope that no-one finds out I did, because I'm not supposed to do that.
Official guild runs are typically accepted guild members. They have already commited to our guild rules and hence our healthy drama free and fun player environment. If a member's friends and family want to play, OF COURSE we welcome that!!!! No problem at all. Of course members that are ok with that will join in if there's room in the party!
We will likely ask them during or afterwards if they enjoy running with us and if they'd like to join up. Totally up to them! Most who have fun with us WANT TO JOIN UP! So we NEVER, EVER had a problem with this in all our years.
WE whole heartedly WELCOME MEMBERS' FRIENDS AND FAMILY MEMBERS. Yes, even their kids. (we let Mom or Dad or whoever explain the idea of Tyrs. As long as they are having fun and we are having fun, its a done deal!)
Taking the leap you mean? We are about 2 years old with about 60+ members. (edit: Just recounted, growing fast)
We really only do BG3 but have dabbled in FromSoftware to pass the time. Sometimes we have movie nights, or Youtube Nights where everyone shows their favorite youtube clips, hilarious reviews of bad Steven Seagal Movies, and clips of comedians.
We don't do any other RPG's currently.
This is great. Camaraderie keeps people coming back. Those are freikin GREAT ideas!
I wish your guild the BEST. Your success is BG3's success.
Its good to keep it simple. Its more challenging the more games that you add to your guild, and there is a LOT more back-end time investment and planning to ensure there is flow. For example, we are fairly uniform in our game chapters. If someone is playing Neverwinter, and they want to start playing DDO, they don't have to fill out a new app, they just say hello in the DDO Roster & Recruitment section and BAMM they're in! The new chapter is ALREADY breaking the ice welcoming him/her before anyone meets up in game.
Quote
Multiplayer Guidelines:
SOLID. Yeah, from guild leader to guild leader - much respect is deserved. You set your play environment and warned incoming members that you WILL be monitoring them. Perfect. After that, it's on them. If they obviously break a rule that affects other members negatively and you can't or don't wish to coach them based on the severity of what happened, they fired themselves
Quote
No self narration
I like it but this is D&D. A Dungeon Master narrates! (Just having some good-natured fun with this rule) But yes, I get it. FUN is the purpose of D&D, so everyone that reads your rules should GET IT. If you need to tweak something in the future, you will Im sure. This is a newish kind of rule and you must have already had to deal with the scenario. Not everyone likes the Howard Stern Show, or the Tonight Show, or the Bill Burr stand up routine! People are here for a D&D experience. BG3 will require GOOD party leaders that encompass the greatest parts of D&D and coop MMOs and even RPGs without going overboard while sticking to the Motus Operandi of your guild rules. This is what I feel a guild can add MOST to the greater BG3 player community. A family of close-knit gamers who's playstyles and same goals are similar or at least on the same wavelength. We have also discovered that enjoyment adds to REPLAYABILITY and keeps guildies coming back for MORE. Thats a good thing for everyone.
Quote
Insubordination and humor.
Yes, in today's society, we felt the need to insert these elements right into our guild rules. When you are playing with folks around the world with different cultures, customs and language/vocabulary differences, we found it beneficial to lay out some guidelines on what is expected and where one can get themselves into trouble. It is IMPOSSIBLE to get into every possible scenario, its a case-by-case basis. Now, this very seldom comes up, but if we have a guildie that broke one of these, then they likely have broken a HANDFUL of other rules and its time to either coach them on what is ok and not ok, or maybe we have to even to part ways. WE have a TON OF FUN in Tyrs. And for the most part its because we set the parameters of what is going too far. If you make fun of someone because they take anxiety meds and find it difficult to speak up, that would absolutely violate our humor rule. What might seem funny to one person, might hurt the other person very, very badly. Tyrs Paladium WILL NOT tolerate that type of behavior.
I don't have much to say, but... some noteable dubious mechanics and why people use them.
1. Robbing merchants. Steal their gold, buy items, steal their gold yet again.
In truth, this is an alternative to making money through picking up every single item. The more runs you do, the more tiring looting gets. This is a shortcut.
2. Reloading as way to experience a specific story line.
Sometimes, your team may get together and discuss a story path in advance. If freakishly bad luck gets in the way, reloading may be acceptable.
3. Dishonorable combat
Against combatants who would do the same to you (like the gith patrol). Grease ruins (saves) the day.
4. Ambush tactics and barrelmancy
Preserving spells slots. Especially at lower levels (3-4), it's tempting to wipe out gnoll pack #1 through make shift fireball.
This keeps you in top form to fight the miniboss. Resting between these encounters is tedious. Additionally, point 3 applies. Gnolls will not go easy on you with their multiple attacks a turn!
Hard exploits are situations like cheesing a boss fight, because there's a spot the boss can't reach. Most of the favoured cheese in Bg3 exists to preserve time rather than make up for a lack of skill.
Amount of cheese is maybe best left to the DM/leaders discretion? For example, if you have a lot of newbies, you may decide to allow the occasional barrelmancy incident for fun. It sounds extremely difficult to make up hard rules for everyone.
A party of people with not much time could use case #1, hardcore roleplayers decide to ban it. Just a suggestion. How about a master list of cheese the DM discusses at start of the game?
I don't really understand what your rule covers as /written/ . There's not much better clarification one can do than a master list of cheese
Cheese? I LOVE mozzarella! But I know you arent speaking of my favorite type of cheese. :)~~~
1. Robbing merchants. Well if you are a rogue --- I'd expect nothing less! Hey wait a minute, where's my wallet!? Umm, did I leave it at home? Hmmmm
2. Reloading to get a specific storyline? Yeah I don't know about that one. Certainly NOT if the party is experiencing the game for the FIRST TIME. But if everyone in the party agrees sure why not.
3. and 4. Dishonorable combat? And ambush? Depends. Are you chaotic evil? Lawful evil? Would it affect game mechanics or be unfair to other guildies and/or ruin their player experience? I just don't know yet what the game will allow in that fashion. We are protecting our guildies' enjoyment and camaraderie is KEY to that. ALWAYS. We'll just have to see what can be done within the mechanics and how guildies feel about this.
With all due respect, I find the excessively overbright false enthusiasm to be tiresome and not constructive to having a proper conversation – it's fake and it's shallow and feels dishonest – From your wording choices, it's seems that you felt that my questions were negatively geared and attacking or seeking to undermine you in some way; not my intention; and yet you chose to respond with a level of enthusiasm that doesn't match the way that you, the person posting, felt about my comments (using terms like 'insinuate' and 'pontificate' could be considered insulting and hurtful). Don't do that, please. I'd appreciate it if you'd drop the PR pitch and sales-speak when answering me, if that's all right please... I'd just like to have a discussion that asks legitimate questions and seeks serious answers, for everyone's benefit.
I totally agree with you but in defense of my profession as a Sales Director, and 20+ years in Sales I would NEVER communicate this way with someone. It comes off as inauthentic and condescending. If any of my AE's did this I would coach the shit out of them and if they kept it up they would get a PIP and then if they persisted I would terminate them.
I've seen bad used-car salesmen do this but no professional Salesperson would.
I love forums, but the one thing that is a reality is you cant beat in person communication. The tone and body language is very informative. Most guildies love our guild rules and realize that it was VERY EASY for them to get in, and appreciate us enforcing them so that we can back up what we are about. We are proud sponsors of FOLDS of HONOR, Homes for Our Troops and the AbleGamers Foundation. We support a LOT of REAL LIFE events, such as supporting Eagle projects and food pantries and other community work. In game, we play hard, laugh hard and yes, try to win TOGETHER! We stand by that.
Upon joining us, new recruits are a valued member ON DAY ONE. They can speak with officers, leaders, the guild founders - and we recommend it! Likewise, we ask them to PARTICIPATE in our vibrant camaraderie on the Tyrs forums, in Discord and in-game! We remind them to be SURE to fill out an INTRO THREAD in our Roster & Recruitment section of our guild website.
We are not phony or overbright or excessive. But we do know how to promote our guild and find the type of player that would fit in. We tend to be laid back, very supportive of one another and GRITTY ADVENTURERS that love to play together!
Maybe when things get closer to launch us guild leaders can do a podcast in support of our guilds and guilds in general. We gotta support each other at the end of the day. There arent enough PC games like this anymore.... we live in a world of point-and-click and barely-think mobile gaming... and that makes us a valuable community for the old school gamer (and younger Gen X and Z gamers that enjoy playing older games).