Small Sponsorship Improvements

[Azi]

hi im azi and i still dislike the seeking system

i had to wait until the merch gl was inactive once to get merch guilded... i guess to be fair i was new and didnt know we had a guildlist command

but anyway, i would like sponsor ooc. it hurts to deny a good rival

my "sponsorship rp" is generally me looking for the easiest way to go "haha! you want to be merchant? good!" because i know my GLs are going to give them the proper 'interview' and i dont want to bore them to death with the same scene 3 times in a row

[Tremere]

I feel like adding sponsorship to ooc as well will provide ooc influence to guild someone more than there already is when icly it may not make sense for you to sponsor someone.

[Dice]

But that's all RP though. Until you build up a small ring of relationships with other characters, most RP is going to be substandard and uninteresting.

I don't feel that way - I get a lot of good RP out of taverns and stranger interactions and etc. It's really just sponsorship scenes that tend to be so annoying, even with very good RPers I otherwise adore. Sponsor OOC wouldn't personally solve my problems with the system, or even help them - but I'm not against it, if other people really feel it'd help. Anything that makes sponsoring less crappy works for me! But I really do think we ought to consider scrapping the idea.

[Gerolf]

Is it possible to agree with all 13 posts? If so then I am going to say yes.

But as someone who cannot not be a GL for some reason allow me to add a few of things. First a good GL has to interview them anyway to run the GL commands, but often we are busy doing other GLy and RPy things so putting the responsibility on just the GLs isn’t fair because then we will spend all of our time doing paperwork while the rest of you get to go have fun and exciting RP.

Second, I don’t believe in bad RP. There is RP that is less than optimal but when I was cardinal I could say to the brand new acolyte, “Go forth and interview this new seeker. It gives you both RP. RP good. It is how you get better.” I have never felt pressure to sponsor someone for a positive reason.

Lastly, Autoguilding doesn’t sit well with me either because a few guilds, Knights and Reeves particularly, have to work as a team. I have booted members for being jerks before. Fired a 2GL before too. I don’t want to spend all my RP time with autoguilded members trying to find out if I have to kick them to the curb or not.

[Pixie]

Not super comfortable with the autoguilding idea. Being in a guild isn't a right or necessity. You have to fit the mold, and you should be vetted in some fashion before admission.

I would be fully behind leaving the "seeking" process down to the GL and 2nd GL, rather than 3 identical scenes with guildmembers who have probably had that identical scene a dozen times that month already. It truly does get exhausting, and dreading a scene you'll have to do over and over again isn't good.

[BlackSoul566]

Sadly, I have to say that I agree that the sponsorship process is more of a pain than anything. It was a 'good in-theory' thing... But in practice it sucks. It takes -way too long- to get into a guild, when you're just repeating that same scene over and over again.

[Kinaed]

I've read this thread and agree it seems that something needs to change.

I'm not prepared for seeking to become OOC, but I'll think about what we can or should do.

[The_Last_Good_Dragon]

I'm not prepared for seeking to become OOC, but I'll think about what we can or should do.

To be clear: I don't think SEEKING should be OOC, but I do think SPONSORSHIP should have the OPTION of being OOC. To me, it doesn't make much sense that a prospective merchant would need more than a single merchant vouching their ability or potential, nor more than a single ally or two in court, or a Knight to be like "Yah he's cool yo." I do like the part of seeking where you need to meet a few guild-members first, but I really don't like the pressure I feel to approve someone so long as their concept isn't totally, wildly, outside the realm of what the Guild can do.

[The_Last_Good_Dragon]

I would be fully behind leaving the "seeking" process down to the GL and 2nd GL, rather than 3 identical scenes with guildmembers who have probably had that identical scene a dozen times that month already. It truly does get exhausting, and dreading a scene you'll have to do over and over again isn't good.

I think this should be a thing, too. Getting scenes with 4 characters (3 sponsors, plus the GL/2GL) is -tough- and a hassle. I don't like the auto-guilding idea at all, personally.

[Jester]

Do guilds have any VNPCs in them? I'd imagine they'd have to, considering the size of Lithmore. If so, why not have the OOC sponsorship appear to come from one of them in-game, with the PC who gave the actual sponsor listed in parenthesis? That way it wouldn't just be a ghost sponsor if the GL asks who has sponsored the player (as I have been). The applicant could give the OOC reason listed as the reason the NPC sponsored them.

Just a thought to make the OOC idea fit with IC.

In the case of only the GL (or other approved) being needed to join the guild, they could have a page set for their requirements to be met before the applicant could contact them to actually join which would show up when using the seek command instead of how it works now. Craft an item to show, meet at least 3 current members (without needing to actually be sponsored), etc. I think crafting an item to bring to the interview would provide a bit more to RP about as well, since cutting out sponsors would just have the GL asking a few questions, which is somewhat unrealistic when it comes to joining a guild (in my opinion).

If only the interview from the GL (or other approved member) was needed to join a guild, I think that could be somewhat confusing for new players without having the seek command available. It could list the people who are able to conduct the application interview so they don't have to figure it out on their own. Also, having some requirements before joining a guild adds to the feeling of accomplishment (I'm still new enough to remember getting into my first guild, if I had only needed to stop by the Guild Leader's office and answer a few questions it wouldn't have felt like I earned anything).