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.
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.
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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.
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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!)
