PLAYER ORGANIZED GROUPS

Erie Isle has 6 official factions, which have been carefully structured for balance, consistency with Erie’s history and diversity to allow players to select something that fits them.

That said, we recognize that some players are looking for something else, that isn’t there, and in some cases may want to organize their own group. Erie has developed a structure allowing for that, within certain guidelines.

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN PLAYER ORGANIZED GROUPS AND ERIE FACTIONS
• Leaders and second in commands of Erie factions automatically are invited to the Erie Isle – Elders group, which is designed to allow the leadership of the different groups to brainstorm and structure cross-faction roleplays. Player organized groups do not.
• Factions are provided a home base by the sim, generally located in an appropriate area of the sim and furnished by the sim owners or GM staff. Player organized groups may meet in roleplay areas of the sim, or can rent or purchase space to use as a base, subject to availability of rentals or available land.
• Factions are considered permanent, have notecard givers at the entrance and are promoted through sim events. Generally player organized groups are not.
• Generally, the sim staff and owners provide ongoing support, resources, building, scripting etc in support of the factions in order to facilitate their RP and move forward specific roleplay events. While this may be possible with player organized groups, priority of resources will always go to official factions.

There are two types of player group identified here and two sets of rules.

 

GUIDELINES (Type 1 player group)
Players wishing to organize a group may do so by writing up a proposal and submitting to the GM staff, with the following guidelines and limitations:
• Players requesting the formation of a group must have been players in Erie Isle for at least 90 days
• The group requires final approval from the senior gm team or sim owner.
• The group definition and mission must not replicate or be close to that of any existing official faction or group: it must be unique.
• Player groups may not use the words “Erie Isle” in their group title.
• Player groups will be assigned a GM advisor who can provide a link between the group and the staff. The GM advisor is not ICly a member of the group, but is available to provide advice and guidance on sim rules and guidelines. The GM advisor must be invited to the SL group in order to monitor sim cohesion and roleplay.
• Player groups may not represent themselves as a faction: it must be clear in their recruiting that they are a player organized group and not an official faction of Erie Isle.
•Player groups and factions will be permitted to wear their group tags and recruit.
• General rules of roleplay apply here. Please do not use alts or other methods for metagaming with other groups or factions, and OOC bashing of other groups or factions is not permitted.
• Player groups who cause OOC issues will be banned and owners asked to disolve the group. Continuing to roleplay a group that has been banned will lead to a permaban for those members who continue to do so.

 

EXISTING GROUPS THAT WANT TO ROLEPLAY HERE AS A FAMILY OR ORGANISATION (Type 2 player group)
We recognise that some groups already exist within the broader SL roleplay arena and therefore the 90-day rule above is problematic, as is the concept of a GM being invited to the group OOCLY as an advisor.

We want to be able to assist roleplay and integration of groups already in existence when they arrive in Erie. However we also need to look at the best interest of the sim as a whole, so with existing groups who arrive, we stipulate:

• Provide two referees who can vouch for the reputation of the player group in a roleplay setting. These should be sim owners or sim owner's representatives. Erie Isle Lead Gms will contact them personally for a brief chat.
• Set up a meeting with GM representatives to introduce your group, roleplay mission and history.
• In return the GM team will advise on what might or might not work, give pointers to getting started in roleplay here and answer any questions.
• The player group will AS A WHOLE, either individually or through an appointed representative, assure the GMs that they understand the rules of Erie, the mythos and seek to integrate into satisfactory roleplay within our rules and guidelines.
• Existing player groups who come to Erie and their mission statement and roleplay intentions are similar to existing factions may be permitted if it is considered these similarities will create positive roleplay friction and interesting scenarios. However, we reserve the right to bar certain mission statements and intentions.
• They will be permitted to wear their group tags, operate as a group in roleplay, and recruit. They will not be invited to the elder group but a GM liaison(s) will be appointed to them for any questions and further guidance.
• The group will continue to be welcomed into Erie for as long as they continue to integrate and complement/add to the quality of roleplay inthe sim. If the majority of members fail to adhere to rules, the group will not be permitted to roleplay as a group any more. This means they will not be able to wear their group tags on sim, and not be able to recruit. Individuals who consistently break the rules will be banned according to our rules - 1 hour for minor infractions after warnings, leading up to permabans for consistent bad behaviour. Continuing to roleplay a group that has been banned will lead to a permaban for -all- members.

 
IS IT POSSIBLE FOR A PLAYER ORGANIZED GROUP TO BECOME A FACTION?
Generally no. Under very rare circumstances this may happen, subject to the GM team and sim owner decision. The decision whether or not to do so will be based solely on the team’s view of what is good for the overall sim.

In the event this does happen, the original group will be disbanded, and members invited to a new group which will be solely owned by the Erie Isle sim owner.

Player groups fall under the New Player Integration team, headed by Adred Clawtooth, Blitz Salamander and Graine Windlow.

 

(Updated June 2010 to include Type 2 player groups)

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Page last updated Jun-29-2010 12:00 AM by Graine Windlow