Yesterday I talked with Furiel, Bulwark, Skiggity, Timmy, Premmat, Starel, and Maizan about the future of the Church of Alvis in SWTOR. I want to stress that regardless of what happens to Alvis in SWTOR, as a community of friends we will still exist via these forums and in whatever collective games we play (Marvel Heroes, Star Citizen, XBox, etc etc). This thread is to talk about what to do about SWTOR in particular.
The Situation
The reality is that SWTOR has failed to hold the interest of the majority of our community. Our attempts to recruit or ally with other parties for activities has been really tough. Skiggity mentioned last night that in his PUGs he has seen various guilds on the server evaporate over time. Players have gradually drifted towards larger and larger guilds. Looking at who has been on in the last 10 days it is pretty much the same 4-5 people.
In addition to that I know that Furiel and myself have not been in a position to be on as much due to real life commitments. I've always thought that Guild Leaders need to be playing enough that they can be around to help with issues. And while I'm still playing, the hours have decreased and there haven't been that many people on when I am on.
Due to those factors Furiel, Bulwark, and I saw three possible options as outlined below:
Option 1: Leadership Change
Decisions are made by those who show up. And if the remaining SWTOR players want to give someone else the keys of leadership in an attempt to rebuild the guild, I would be happy to hand them over. This option could be interesting, but it would probably be a hard job to recruit and build a program up in the current state of the game. If this option were to happen I'd still be there playing (in my reduced time allowance), but the real engine of the guild would be the new person(s).President Josiah Bartlet on the West Wing wrote:"We hold these truths to be self-evident," they said, "that all men are created equal." Strange as it may seem, that was the first time in history that anyone had ever bothered to write that down. Decisions are made by those who show up.
Option 2: Status Quo
People are content to do what they want to do currently. They find the activities they like in game and do them, and what's been going on for the past month or two is the new normal. I'd maintain guild leader status.
Option 3: Mothballs
We would effectively shutter the guild. Joun/Backson would remain guild leaders, but we'd liquidate as best we can the contents of the guild bank to cash, and if any of the existing active players needed the money we'd hand out "payouts". Players could leave on good terms with no one faulting them. I'd still log in those characters to keep the guild leadership active as long as I still played, but the guild for all intents and purposes would be folded unless some expansion had people wanting to come back.
Discussion
We don't have to decide now. If we choose option 2, I guess we don't have to decided ever. I just want to discuss what we should do with input from all parties.