A little introduction:
I've been playing Spiral Knights for quite some time now, and the social aspect has grown on me more than I thought it would. This, in turn, gave birth to an idea: if guilds are the pinnacle of social interaction within the game, why not review them, as opposed to advertising? I try not to be biased toward guilds, not to overpraise or smear the image of a guild, nor do I claim my opinion to be absolute truth. It's up to you to decide, I'm here to give a bit of insight into what each reviewed guild is! I welcome any feedback, as long as it helps me improve, be it negative or positive. I hope this will become a series, and I'm open for requests if you're interested in seeing a particular guild reviewed. I'm open for suggestions!
Also please correct me if this is not the right forum; I figured it is.
I have selected a random guild for my first interview, the first to answer to my call: Precious Light.
Namely, one of the guildmasters, Carolob, whom I lured in by asking him if he would like to participate in a "social experiment".
Here comes the text wall!
Guild Name: Precious Light
Wiki page: http://wiki.spiralknights.com/Precious_Light_(Guild)
Review:
Today we have our first review with our first volunteer - Carolob, the guildmaster and one of the founders of the Precious Light guild. We had a nice little interview, and Carolob handled the talk very well, giving off an air of a competent person who cares. He has kindly opened up the doors of
the guild hall where we had this little chat.
Precious Light is a ~2 years old, PvE oriented guild, and Carolob, personally, is satisfied about the way the guild is. Good going! Now, what IS Precious Light about?
Well, if you're looking for a community where you can feel at home and not a gear in the machine, seek no longer - the philosophy of the guild, as explained by my host, is to create a close community, the key word for which would be "companionship". As you might've read on the wiki page, the guild is "fun and conversational"; judging by the behaviour of my interviewee, this stands true. Those in charge are expected to practice what they preach, after all!
Speaking of people in charge, the guild has shared responsibilites, such as finances, GH design, member relations, etc. for each of the leaders - a Guild Council, which you can see on the wiki page. This is, as you might deduce, a sign of a well-organized group, where things aren't likely to go wrong. Carolob himself is a busy bee - he has only recently cleaned out the inactive users and gone for some recruiting when we've had this interview.
About recruiting - you know those guilds where you have to fill out a form to even be considered a potential guild member (oh boy, do I ever)? Well, forget those tiresome procedures, as in this guild all you have to do is to go on a mission with someone in charge, tops. That's it! Even if you're not very good at the game yet, there's always a mentor available to show you the ropes, tips and tricks, with you welcomed into the guild. Carolob has personally expressed his excitement about meeting new guildmates and his ardent desire to help them work their way up to their dreams!
Speaking of guildmates, here's where one of the problems lies: the guild isn't as active as the founders would like it to be. At the moment of the interview, there were 37 members in the guild, about half of them actively participating in the guild life, as reported by my host. The active community is said to be close-knit and friendly, which I saw no reasons to doubt. This member shortage problem, however, is up to YOU to solve, my dear reader! The future goal of the guild is to become a large community for beginners and experienced players alike to work their way up easier and in a good company; you may well be the part of this future!
Now then, let's go over to the guild hall! Mind, though, it's not open to the public at the moment of this interview being written, you'll have to join the guild to see it. No upkeep required to be paid by the members, though donations are welcome!
Precious Light HQ is done in cool colours: blue and grey, with an occasional speck of green shrubbery here and there, and a large black and red Snarbolax statue at the entrance. If you like a calm, cool atmosphere to chill in, you're going to dig it.
The entrance hall is adorned rather tastefully, without heaps of furniture you would afraid to fall over and bury you. This is, thankfully, not the
case here; the furniture and accessories are placed just right, both in quantity and location.
This guild hall is not the largest of what you've seen on Cradle, but it is well-furnished, compact and homely, no areas feel blatantly empty or cramped; besides, there are plans of expansion as the guild grows. Plenty of furniture to sit on in "decorative" rooms, such as "Spiralbucks", a local cafe, or Sanctuary, a room with shrubbery for your viewing pleasure, a room for officers, veterans and members each, and an alchemy room for the practical. One negative thing about this place is how empty it was at the moment of my visit; well, all the better for you, future applicant, you've a favourite spot to claim!
Well, this is it for Precious Light! Hope you'll like this guild, as I sure did.
This is an interesting idea. Good luck. :)