I have started a guild auction to sell off a [item]Hurricane Deck[/item] which makes [item]Darkmoon Card: Hurricane[/item] or the +Strength equivalent, with all proceeds going to the guild bank. Please visit the Trade Turf for more information and to place bids.

Hey folks,

I've been giving some real consideration to returning Guildchat to a primarily in-character channel.

In all honesty, it's been fun and laid-back having guildchat be an open forum, but I'm not sure that it's serving the tribe the way it should. I feel like our perspective is shifting from character-based to player-based, or at least more so than it already was.

I think that roleplay needs to be cultivated, and putting it back in the primary communication vector that we all share is the best way to do that.

If it seems like I'm backpedaling here, it's because I am. I was hoping that things might turn out differently with our experiment, but it didn't, and we all gained some perspective. It seems to me that the Ironsong roleplay channel doesn't see the kind of enthusiastic use that guildchat RP did.

What say you?

Well folks, it's been a couple weeks. Time to sound off. How did the trial run go? Where do we go from here? Thoughts and comments are invited. Ready, GO!

Hi folks,

After some deliberation, we have decided to go ahead with a TRIAL RUN of the new chat channel protocols. Here's how it will look:

Guildchat will be out-of-character. Players are invited to use guildchat specifically for game-related topics, such as help with quests, discussing storylines, etc.

The global channel Ironsong will be our RP channel. This channel will be strictly in-character. For now it is not password protected. Let's keep its use limited to in-guild individuals for now (including avoiding unguilded alts, just so we can keep better track of things for now). I encourage everyone to actively use and enjoy this channel.

IronsongOOC will continue to be our catch-all OOC channel for everything else. In this channel, you can tell us about your new puppy, grandma's youtube video, or that itchy rash that just won't clear up.

These changes are effective immediately. Spread the word. They last for three weeks, after which time we will re-evaluate and see what everybody thinks.

-Sreng

Hi folks,

We're giving some consideration to changing around some of the basic ways that Ironsong operates, and we'd like to hear your feedback.

We've been talking about removing the In-Character stricture from Guildchat, making Guildchat OOC if people choose to use it that way. We would follow up by creating a global channel for roleplay (IronsongRP, if you like) to be specifically used for in-character commentary.

While this is a fairly radical step to be considering, I feel that there are a few benefits to consider.

-It would enable us to RP with out-of-guild individuals. This includes our raid allies and our prospective members.
-We could potentially use it as a recruitment vehicle. IronsongLFG ended up taking off hugely back before the Dungeon Finder feature was implemented, and this channel could help unify the population of Horde RPers on Silver Hand.
-The content of the channel would be pure RP, as opposed to announcements of Achievements, which are OOC.
-This may serve to solidify peoples' intent to roleplay, while allowing the guildchat feature to function as both a chat feature for guildmates and a logistical/organizational tool for events.

I am not without concerns, however. We are, and will always be, a roleplay guild. Thus, I am concerned that taking this action may send a message that Roleplay is marginalized and segregated. I want to emphasize that this is exactly the opposite of what I want for the guild, however. We should consider whether or not this would actually strengthen RP by giving it a pure, dedicated, uncluttered vehicle.

There is also the concern of RP griefers, and there are a few ways to address this as well. Namely, being circumspect with who we share the channel name, and judicious use of /ignore.

Regardless, I'd really like to hear what you all think of all of this. Merits? Flaws?