Associations
From Sharune Wiki
What is an Association?:
An Association (also known as a "Clan" or a "Guild" or a "Religious Order") is a formal way of keeping contact with other Players whose long-term ambitions match your own. Associations are also an RP structure of defining alliances between different groups of friendly or possibly even rival Players.
Essentially, by joining an association, you will gain protection and support from numerous other Players who are keen to see the status of their association rise above all others, and also it's a good way of meeting people, making friends and finding people who are always willing to go adventuring!
The Benefits of Joining an Association:
By joining an association, you will gain access to a variety of features that cannot be accessed otherwise.
The most obvious benefit of joining an association is that you will gain a title that befits your new position, identifying you to all in the game as a member of your exclusive new collaboration. Each title's theme and color scheme will vary depending on which association you join, and also what level (or "Rank") your character has attained- Potentially, this could make your even more unique among your fellow Players!
The second, more practical benefit of joining an association is the GCC, or Guild Communication Channel. More information on communication channels can be found elsewhere in this guide, but suffice to say, you will gain the ability to talk to all of your new colleagues over a private channel that only members of your association can see, wherever in the world they might be.
A further benefit would be a Global Banking System, where money gathered by all members of the association is pooled into one large resource that can be accessed with permission from the association leader to make those extravagant and vital purchases when they are needed, and also acts as an account where the association can collectively save up for a private Guildhall (See later in the guide).
However, perhaps the most useful asset you will gain from your new association will be support of your fellow members. All association, in general, look after their own before they look after others, so in times of trouble you will always have friends and allies to rely on should you need it, be it to ask advice or gain valuable experience from, or to banding together to repel an attack from an enemy race or even a rival association.
Joining an Existing Association:
Every association already existing on Sharûne has it's own set of rules and regulations that you must abide by or conform to in order to join them: Such things include limitations on race and class (example: "Nature" themed associations may not accept a Human Paladin, on the grounds that that character has no obvious ties with "Nature"), and the attitude of the Player themselves (example: A Player who wishes to constantly wage Race War upon the opposite side may not be accepted into a association who's primary aim is to provide peaceful help to Newbie Players and help them find their bearings).
The best way to find out what is required to join an association is to simply ask an existing member over an OOC channel - "tell" being ideal. They will tell you all the information that you need to know, or at least tell you where you can find it. From there, should all requirements be met, a formal application to the association's leader (Again, via a "tell" or other OOC channel) will decide whether or not you will be accepted into the Association.
Requirements to Found a New Association:
Sometimes, finding an association with the precise same attitudes and ideals as yourself can be tricky, if not impossible. If this is the case, or you simply want to do things your own way, it is perfectly possible to establish your own association, and carve a name for yourself among your peers!
Starting an association is a time-consuming and potentially very expensive venture, yet the rewards that can be gained are great. In order to start an association of your own, you MUST follow the following instructions:
- 1) There must be at least 5 people starting the association:
The five people are split into two, one is to assign as leader, while the other four are known as "Founding Members", or simply just "Founders". Each of these members must be at least level 20, and everyone must be online and logged onto the game at the time the association is created.
- 1.5) It will cost 3 gold per founding member to set up the association.
- 2) The association must have an appropriate name:
A similar naming policy that applies to characters also applies to the associations themselves - names that sound silly (Example: The Cult of Batman) or have been obviously plagiarised (Example The Justice League) will not be allowed.
Other rules must also be conformed to if the name is to stand a chance of being approved:
- I: Association names must fit the background story and should represent the purpose of the association. (See below for more information on "background stories"),
- II: The name must be only 30 characters long AT THE ABSOLUTE MAXIMUM - That includes spaces and punctuation, if any. "The Divine League of the Holy Altherinn Wanderers", for example, is far too long,
- III: The name must follow a set color scheme - randomly placed colors that make it look ugly will not be acceptable. Similarly, the color must be appropriate: "The Black Slayers" should not be coloured in white and bright green! It can only contain four color changes at most.
- IV: Association names may not include names of any of the Immortals or Characters in the game. An Association is bigger than any one person, and Immortals like Hephos and Faur are far to busy to endorse an association that is using their name as it's title.
Please bare in mind that what constitutes as "Ugly", "Appropriate" and "Acceptable" is decided only by the Immortals - their decision is final in any matter.
- 3) The association must have a full RP background story written down:
This story should have information about how the association started, what it stands for and how it intends to achieve its goals. The story must be at least two pages (approximately 600 words) long and written in a role-playing fashion.
- 4) Five titles indicating Rank must have been specified:
The ranks must fit the association's theme (For example, a member of a peaceful association that reveres Nature and encourages Newbie players cannot be known as a "Slaughterer" - However, that title would be perfectly suitable for a Association whose main aims are to Player-Kill and wage Race War as often as possible), and there must be enough ranks created to cover five positions within the association's hierarchy:
Leader: This title is used ONLY by the association's leader, and as such should be grand and awe-inspiring to match the owner's status.
Veteran: This title is used by the highest-level members and by the Founding Members. The title should give the impression that this character is a "Second-in-Command" to the Leader.
Experienced: Experienced members are the solid core of your association - they are the mid-level characters who are tough enough to look after themselves, but not yet experienced enough to lead complicated campaigns. These characters' titles should be proud and solid descriptions of tough, competent members.
Novice: Novices are relatively new members of the association who are working their way up through the ranks. These sorts of characters are above the minimum level requirement needed to join the association, but are not yet as world-weary as experienced characters.
Initiate: Initiates are the newest of the association members. Their title does not have to be very elaborate, because they are usually inexperienced (or at least, low level) Players who are still learning the ropes, and are waiting to be taught how to efficiently perform their roles by the higher ranking members around them.
Each title should preferably be quite short, however ANSI coloring may be used to make them match those of the association's name and to make the individual members stand out from other associations' titles even more so. If you don't know anything about ANSI, don't panic - the Immortals are often happy to work it out for you, so long as you know what sort of color scheme you are aiming for.
- 5) Have some money already collected:
Although there is a small fee required to start a new Association, buying a guildhall will also cost money: as will equipping low-level members, if you wish, well enough to make them an effective addition to the association. See below for more information on "Guildhalls".
- 6) The Association must be approved by an Immortal.:
All of the information dictated above (example: Titles, Background story and so on) must be discussed with either Hephos or Faur or Greater Gods, either online in the game or in an E-Mail sent to them WITH THEIR CONSENT. Their decision on whether or not the association is sufficiently detailed and suitable for the Sharûne environment is final.
Association Guildhalls:
Particularly rich and successful associations may eventually decide to invest in a guildhall - a small meeting place where only association members are allowed access to enter. However, the privilege of a private home for your association is not one that comes for free - There are a number of stimulations that must be followed:
- 1) The Guildhall must be paid for!
A private building does not come cheap - the minimum payment required from your associations global bank is five Mithril pieces. A steep cost; however your money is well spent, for your guildhall can contain a number of commodities (listed below).
- 2) The Guildhall must be built!
Using the Aeonfalls Creator Tool (The A.C.T.) or in an easy-to-read plain text format including a simple map, the Guildhall must be designed and built by a member of your association or, failing that, planned out in meticulous detail and passed onto another willing Player (or, if you can politely arrange such, a willing member of the Development Team) in a document. A Guildhall will NOT be designed, written and built for you!
- 3) The Guildhall must be approved!
As with any big decisions concerning an association, either Hephos or Faur, or Greater Gods must first approve the entire concept, for it is they who will be implementing the zone into the game for you. They will reserve the right to edit, alter or even DENY a guildhall entirely if they see fit to do so, so PLEASE make sure that what you intend to do is within their wishes as well as yours. Once all of these stipulations have been met, you may proceed to build your guildhall as you see fit. There are, however, limitations that you must adhere to, although you will also gain a number of luxuries usually reserved for towns and cities. For your five Mithril pieces, your Guildhall will allowed to contain the following commodities:
Up to 10 rooms, which may include 1 Inn where members of your association may RENT in order to leave and enter the game, 1 Fountain from which your association members may get a drink, 1 shop of BASIC NEEDS that sells such things as food, torches, climbing and fletching tools ONLY (these will contain no stats), and 1 Healing room where your injured members may rest and regain their Health faster than in a normal room. Four guardians will be provided - NPC creatures that will prevent non-members from entering the guildhall and even protect against Hostile Players who attack within their sight.
For the truly wealthy associations, additional rooms can be bought at a cost of 1 Mithril piece per room, and a Portal to a nearby town, such as River's Glory or Dawn's Bridge or Khaztrazen (depending on your racewar), can be acquired at a cost of 25 Mithril pieces - remember though, only 1 portal is allowed per association, so make sure you choose it's destination with care! As well as a portal, your guildhall may contain 1 Notice Board (additional fees required) where you and your members can post messages to each other.
