New Years Reforms ~ 2012

[Captain Del]

The ability of a guild to grow and prosper is measured relies on how they are able to separate themselves from the rest of the crowd, through individuality and innovation. Our guild has prided itself with constantly being able to change and flex itself to create a more fun and diverse environment to keep our members happy and proud to be apart of such a wonderful atmosphere, while still maintaining the traditions and morals that we pride ourselves with keeping. With the turn of the new year upon us, which brings us in to our fifth year in the Caribbean as a family, I feel it is once again time to make new changes to the guild that, if done correctly, will change not only the landscape of the guild, but the possibilities of new experiences for all of our members for years to come.

These reforms will focus on two things: A. Bringing back lost traditions and the overall "feel" of the early-game atmosphere, akin to 2007 and 2008, and B. Bringing life to expansions on ideas that I've been keeping in the back of my head for a while now. With these kinds of initiatives, we're hoping that we are not only able to bring back the feel of the Caribbean's earliest stages and draw back some old timers looking for a refresher of what it was like to be a pirate back then, but to continue revolutionizing what it means to be a partner in crime - a pirate of overall universality.

You will see in the follow notes that will cover the upcoming reforms that it is a mixture between technical, behind-the-scenes work, such as changes in guild positions, as well as more physical changes, like guild events and such. This will help keep a balance in the guild as we begin to work towards a more open environment in the guild, so that way our members won't feel like the changes are too drastic in any respects. I hope you all find the following announcements and changes to be something you will be looking forward to, in the future:

Introducing "The Three Estates;" a New Role-Playing Guild

Role-playing has always been not only one of my favorite aspects of the game, but a common interest of our guild as a whole. Though, we never really get that full-time sense of role-play outside of POTCO-sanctioned events and events like the Guild Quest; plus, not many of our friends and guildies have the commitment to become a part of the more "hardcore" role-playing community in POTCO. This is why, a few months back while I was hosting that slew of events across the summer, I came up with the plans for a new type of role-playing, sanctioned not only for you, the partners, but for the entire Caribbean.

The Three Estates will be a new side-guild run by the Partners N Crime Officership that will act as a role-playing guild. The guild will be divided in to three factions; Pirates of the Brethren Court, the East India Trading Company, and Jolly Roger's Undead Army. Players in the guild will either get to choose a faction, or be assigned one, depending on the current size of the guild at that present time. These factions will then compete against one another much like any role-playing community would - meetings, ship battles, team battles, capturing enemy islands, and all that are all fair game in this world.

Each faction will be headed by a "Faction Leader," which will be distinguished by the "Officer" tag in the guild. Each faction will only have one leader (though throughout the time frame of the guild these positions may change,) but inside their separate factions the leader will have the power to do whatever he or she pleases - appoint players to new ranks, organize meetings within the faction/with enemy factions, plan raids, etc. The guild as a whole will be watched over by myself, though I will not play a major role in the guild - I will only be there to make sure nothing gets out of hand and that everything runs smoothly. Factions will compete for points through showing dominance over the other factions, (which will be explained at a later date,) and at the end of every "time period," the team with the most points is awarded a big ole' prize!

What makes this role-playing environment different than many others is that it is a mix between the casual and deeper levels of role-play you see throughout the Caribbean; this guild will be neither so minor that you won't bother with it, nor will it be overwhelming on those who take part. It is strictly for pleasure of the pirates involved, and as such we hope that the atmosphere of the guild will stay both friendly, as it will continue to serve the "role-play" aroma we all love.

Recreation and redirection of the Test Guild

With the absence of our dear Senior Officer Angel Heartstealer, who serves as the current Guildmaster of our test branch of the guild, we have undergone a very tough situation in terms of running the Test Guild properly. After being unable to contact Angel, we have decided to restart the Test Guild from scratch beginning in January of 2012, under the leadership of PNC Senior Officer William Goldwalker as Guildmaster, and PNC Co-Guildmaster Buck Bankok as First Officer!

With the recreation of the Test Guild, we're not only looking to create a place where our members can continue their adventures with one another on Test, but also see it's revival in a new, more fulfilling light. For a long time the Test Guild only served as a baby of our guild, to house our members on Test - and nothing more. This time around, however, I want to see the expansion of the guild on the Test server much like ours does on Open, by providing an enjoyable environment for all testers as they go about their... well, testing.

Some of the new aspects of the Test guild will be very much like variations of the Open Guild; for example, we will see the rebirth of Thursday Night "Test Crew Nights," where all the testers in our guild will get together and gallivant around the Test ocean, leveling, exploring, and helping the Caribbean become a better, bug-free place. We will also be creating a new Tester of the Month Award, which will be an award handed out to the pirate who has done the best job as a tester for the guild. More information forthcoming!

Staff Positions to be Filled

Over the past few months we've been going through a lot of rapid changes that have really put a strain on our guild's staff. With the turn of the new year, I think this is a great time to help get our guild on track by making some much-needed promotions that I have been debating on for quite a while now.

Within the next few weeks, I will be announcing a new Veteran, a new Officer, and TWO NEW CO-GUILDMASTERS that will help me in running the day-to-day functions of the guild with a little more ease. The decisions as to who are being promoted have already been made, I'm just waiting for the right opportunity to do it. Each of the pirates who are being promoted, safe to say, deserve it greatly.

Stay tuned, pirates!

Monthly Victory Shark Fleets to Storm the Seas

With the guild beginning to take all of their Victory Sharks to all new levels of awesomeness, I’ve decided this provides the perfect opportunity to bring back the tradition of the monthly sails of the Victory Shark War Fleet!

The fleets will be run just as any other fleet we do – all ships should be named “Victory Shark,” and any size ship is allowed (though we prefer war ships.) Once a month, we’ll gather to sail around the seas as a guild to exercise our power as a guild fleet, sinking all in our path! Just a small way to bring together the guild and all of its excellent sailors, I’d say!

Partner of the Week Reintroduced

Need I say more? (Yes, it’s staying this time.)


I also have a few more plans, which will be spoken about, individually, at a later date (like member-run guild quests, or The Week of 300 Wins: Battle for the Boards) but for now these are just a few of the changes you can expect in the days and weeks to come.

Thanks, mates! Happy pirating!

~ Del

[Captain McVane]

Hmm... Interesting... I might have to be involved with the VSF (Victory Shark Fleet).


It's great what you're doing for the testers. I just can't put it strait in my mind that you're so... so... Tolerant. You can tolerate so many things at once. That is why I have picked PNC for my guild. Usually guilds won't be tolerant of some members, but you can put so many people on your plate, but then spare their lives, and THAT is what makes a great leader.


Thank you,
Captain McVane

[Davy_Mcwrecker]

Anew larp guild? Now, now, I think my secondary and not used much pirates, Grim and Hector B. Already see their locations in the guild...