:P I am not the boss. Simple as that. This has been my family for a long long time, I just dont want to see it go away now. Not over something as stupid as a lack of communication. Expecialy when there are so many great people here. Not just the council but everyone. However, since this was posted here, it was ment for you all. The council, the heart of the family. :P
Family and Gaming:
The work I put in is because I want to. But John is right on one aspect. We have never had just a plain jane website. In fact, and some of the older memebers here, like those that have been around for 15 + years :P, can state that we were one of the first to have a website of any kind, other then a blog or forum. A lot has changed over the years, the website has actualy gotten smaller, as the forum has gotten larger. Yet, I would still love to have more on here, if people will visit and use what is avalible. I do this for everyone.
Communication is the most important thing there is in any organization. Does not matter if it is a gaming community or self help group. Andronnai, and now Prosapia has been about more then any of that. Andronnai is about family and working to gether and helping each other out. Prosapia was formed with 8 guilds (three of them "cousin" guilds and family) based on friendships, families and then having fun in game. I do not want to see either of these aspects lost. I do not want to see the history of Andronnai and the start of Prosapia to end because of that lack of communication. With out it, be it in game, or even here (expecialy here now that we all have raly weird scheduals) then only an end can come. Andronnai has lasted too long, and only being a few original memebers left, it would be a very very sad end at that.
Prosapia has only just begun a year ago, and though not that long, it is still a family of friends and has strenth in support and that friendship. I do not want to see that die out either. I want to see the legacy, the reasion why Andronnai and Prosapia continue.
Games:
Anyways, as far as comminication between Sigil and other people whom have signed up, I can only guess as to why. It appears (some of you know what i mean) that they are focusing most of their attention to the actual game and getting it ready. They have their PR's that are involved with the Affiliate sites (which is another aspect we lost out on) yet, most of their time is focused on creating, repairing and designing a good solid game. Also with the beta testers, from what I can gather as well. I am not too worried over all that they are not sending out regular news letters, in fact I see that as a good sign in this case.
Games like Dark Light has lost a lot. It did not do half as well as they had thought, then again, the game play changed. It did a 180 from beta to releace. Sadly, they are realy trying to get people to play it. Therefor sending out news letters on a regular basis. Darkfall had lost close to half their beta testers as well for almost the same thing. It went from a Role play focused pvp game (with consequences- like writs, bounties and faction/allignment) to a Free For All game, with role play only in pockets. I know that sounds drastic, but sadly that is what they did when they removed all the consequences to the game. There was talk of bring some back, though I have not checked on the forums at all in the last month and half.
EverQuest and Guild Wars is already out and has been for some time. Therefor news letters are quite common. You can get the same for Eve (which is fun btw and can play the free trial as many times as you like fyi), City of heros/Villians, WoW, and so on. Most games, unless they seem/appear to be in trouble do not send out regular news letters if it is still in early/mid beta. At least that has been my experience.
Vanguard Affiliate Program:
To see what stage Vanguard is on in reguards to the Beta, all you have to do is visit the forum and look under BETA STAGE or their website under the same and the FAQ on their main site. Since it is still middle stage, I do not think they realy need to advertise out loud on what step they are on. I mean, mass mailings and the likes. I think in the end that would only create more spam for them, on top of what they already get from people wanting to be in the beta.
In reguards to the Affiliate program, that is something that I was asked if I was interested, then reviewed. It was not something I could say "hey, every start posting, we need to be an affiliate." This is for a few reasions. One, it would seem fake when they reviewd. After all, a (possible) sudden rush of activity, and then it ends again once its over? Would not look good even at the review stage. I am sure they could see that activity did not pick up iuntill they started the app. Secondly, I will not ask anyone to post just for some personal gain. I want people to post becuse they want to, because I see ALL of us as a family of sorts, because everyone here means somethign to me, even those I have not met in real life.
Also Sigil is not going ot advertise that they are reviewing a site. App is put in, they review when they are ready and then the desission is made.
Beta, forums, and Contests:
There are still plenty of contests out there for people to try to get into the beta. One thing though for those that have signed up on the Official Sigil forums, you do not need to post a lot, or even hardly at all.. but you do need to sign in at least once every two weeks to keep your account active on there. It goes into a idle status after two weeks, and then inactive after 30 days. So please!!!! If you will, sign in there at least once every two weeks. This will help to get an invite.
Right now the beta invites from the official forum are on hold for two weeks. They stated it would be for six weeks while they were weworking one of the lands. (On the official forum) That is up in little over a week and a half. However, the idle and iactive accounts does still apply. On another note though, they are still doing the contests and invites for the affiliate sites. That includes VN Vanguard and the other links i have in our Vanguard section (The sticky for links) Each of those sites does have a vanguard beta contest each month. Everyone is different, so keep an eye out on those. the more you enter the better chance you will have to get into it.
Testing vs Playing a Beta:
Being in a beta is not the same as trying out a game. Of course it can give you an idea if it is a game you will like or not. Darkfall is one that comes to mind that I have not been to since the big changes. It was not because of the playability, or the bugs in it, but because it was, even in beta, a free for all. Too many people there for that next PvP kill, and not realy "TESTING" the game and helping the Devs find bugs and fixes. But most games are not like that. (It seems they had attracted quite the gank fest crowd for some reasion).
Vanguard, like other betas is about testing the game, finding bugs, reporting them, and watching the game actualy develope.
Conclusion:
There realy is not a conclusion to this. At least I hope there will not be. I do not know why people are not posting, replying, and generaly being active here or in game. Everyone has their own reasions and thoughts, their own share of excuses and answers. None of them are invalid or wrong, but perhaps if we stepped out for a second and looked at it from antohers point of view, like Chuck's (Xtainus, i think that is how he spells it), perhaps we can find something to say, or something to share. Usualy, it only takes five to ten minutes to make a post. Longer if you write a book like me. That five or ten minutes a day (or every other day even) to see what people have said, to post something up.. is not realy that long at all when you look at the time we all spend in games, on other forums.. or even over a life time.
Posting more, as GM's and Alliance Council, will only have a positive effect. The more we post and are active, the more active others will be. Its just a simple fact. Once we have lost intrest and no longer are an active part of this family/community, then others will see that and not partisipate either. That is not mean, that is, for some reasion, how people are. Human nature some would say.
So ask yourself, what would you like to see? what would you like to happen? where would you like this alliance to go? once you ask that, ask yourself , what would you like to do?
Peace,
Sarrene'
My kids are older and they understand to an extent, still don't make it feel any better. Some how we always make it through and we will again. Things always work out how they are meant.
