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In general LOTB appears to be a fairly healthy linkshell with a good base of members and a strong connecting force (the single job). You're doing a lot of events and seem eager to try more, which is good. It will get wearing and you will find yourself piled on with more and more 'policies and rules' as you go. I started out with no rules except no begging for gil or power levelling on the linkshell and now we have so many rules we could publish a book I think.
I think that's wise advice, Meara.
We had problems with the last LS because we pushed hard to get as many BSTs into the shell as possible, only to discover that some of the people on the shell pretty much gave up on the job, and were now just hanging around to beg the high level players for help. And they weren't just asking for help on quests or missions that were difficult -- we had members asking to be taken to a BCNM40 (Tails of Woe) -- six members. They could have easily started their own PT, but instead wanted someone else to babysit them.
Some of them were leechers. We were losing the character of the shell. The way we see it, a good BST is a player whose first reaction is to try to do something on their own, not immediately beg for help! This irked many of the older, more experienced members, and we started to lose them.
So when the last LS owner wigged out (I did not witness it myself) we figured it was time to set ourselves up a little bit better. The rules/guidelines we've developed are pretty vague, actually, especially in terms of enforcement, etc. My idea was that it would be better to make the LS a benevolent oligarchy. About the only hard and fast rule we have is the 'NO MPK' rule. Even fake claims of MPK create grief, so we extended the rule to 'NO THREATENING TO MPK' as well.
We've decided we don't want every BST on the server in our shell, just the best players. So now we're trying to refocus on recruiting character first, and training for skill.
The BST-only Rule has been since modified to say 'Keep it BSTly, Whenever Possible' - we want to remain focused on trying to do as much in-game as possible, as a group of BSTs. What we're really exploring is what PTs and alliances of BSTs are capable of accomplishing. We know who it really pertains to. We would never kick our level 75 BSTs who have since moved on to level other jobs.
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What I am basically trying to say is start simple and work your way up. You'll learn what kinds of things you want to put in place and what certain activities require concerning organisation as you go along. Don't try to write a whole book like old fogey linkshells like my own have now. You'll have your own tome of rules and regulations that will drive you bonkers soon enough.
I think we're still a far cry from being BST-lawyers. We have, so far, five guidelines:
1. NO MPK
2. Keep it BSTly, Whenever Possible
3. Loyalty - posting ToD, etc. is not tolerated.
4. Respect other Gamers
5. Activity - you'll get out of the LS what you put in.
#5 and #2, taken together, root out the 'leechers' - the people who really don't love the BST job as we do, but appreciate being able to participate in only one way: begging for help. The rules are there mainly to tell our members what's expected of them, and what's frowned upon.
Question: Do you have any procedure in place for kicking members from your LS, Meara? Our procedure is that four LS leaders would have to agree to any kicking or punishment, so that no one in the LS would feel that upsetting any single leader is going to get them kicked. How do you handle those rare, highly-disruptive members?