Guild Expansion Readiness Program

AIE has been growing and changing for some time now. We started out as a WoW guild created by the hosts, fans and friends of the podcasts The Instance, ELR, Buzz Out Loud and Jawbone Radio. Since that initial small guild was formed, AIE has grown into a community that extends beyond a single game.

We have expanded into many games; including EVE Online, Rift, and Star Wars: the Old Republic. As we expand the scope of AIE's community, we realize that the current officers and council members are limited in their ability to investigate and evaluate new games. We also don't want to constrain the games we enter to only the games that officers in current games are interested in and have the time to assume officer responsibilities for.

So we present to you all the basic framework for how AIE will investigate, examine, bootstrap, and staff a new or untried game universe. It involves several phases, each of which may lead to nothing, or may set the stage for expanding into the next level.

Remember, these are guidelines and may differ slightly depending on the situation or what the game allows/requires us to do.

Level 1 - Discovery

There is a new game (maybe in beta) and some folks in the AIE community are interested--maybe playing already. We probably learn of this from some guildies (hint, hint!). This phase may last a long time since some games are a long time in development.

What happens:

• Through forums, polls, discussions--we see if there is enough interest in the community to go for it.
• We put the game on our big list o’ games and see if any guildies and/or officers are excited about being the among the first in the pool (i.e., closed beta or some other early access).

To the next level:

• These people will check out the game, and if there is still interest, they send an e-mail message to council@aie-universal.net with a brief descripton of the game milestones (open beta, early access, planned release, etc.) and stating that they wish to set up an expedition!

Level 2 - Expedition

This happens when there’s “major availability” of the game. This may be open beta or when the game is released... basically when most anyone that is motivated to play it, can. This phase may also last a long or short time, based on the developer’s schedule--but ideally, we would like it to be about a month.

What happens:

• We make a sub-forum for people talk about the game, and to hook up to play together.
• At this point it is just AIE people playing the game, no official AIE guild/clan/etc. in the game.
• The expedition picks a server/shard/faction/whatever, quick and dirty (maybe with a /roll). We don’t want to spend time figuring out which is best possible choice just now--we want people to get in and play.
• Warning: The server/shard/faction chosen in this phase may not be where the official AIE guild ends up. Believe me, we know the issues that can come from not being clear on this.

To the Next Level:

• At this point a few people (6-10) from the expedition provide impressions of the game to the AIE Council. They identify pros/cons for it becoming a full-blown AIE Domain(see below for what an AIE Domain is). They also recommend server/shard/faction choices.
• The AIE Council takes this information and recommendations and makes the decision of whether to go to the next level: an official AIE presence in the game.

Level 3 - Settlement

An official AIE guild in the game, with acting settlement leader. This phase is expected to be a couple months as the game moves beyond the initial honeymoon period, and our guild gets established. The settlement leader and his/her team are responsible for the in-game ramp-up: getting the guild going, inviting people, etc. What happens:

• AIE Council picks a settlement leader and settlement officers from expedition folks.
• Draft guild policies for the game are copied standard AIE policies (that started in WoW). Minor changes are made, if needed.
• We make a whole sub-forum structure for the new game (raiding, crafting, classes, etc.)--like our other games.
• We (Stigg) sets up UMAMI to handle the game and invites.
• Recruiting and building the guild.
• Anyone interested in becoming game director (guild leader) can submit their Letter of Intent, by emailing it to council@aie-universal.net (Suggested format for the letter is below.)
• Every couple weeks, the AIE Council meets with the game team (settlement leader & officers) to see how it is going, and see if any changes need to be made.

To the Next Level

• Once the game and guild has stabilized, and we have some applicants for game director, the AIE Council will go through the selection process, which includes interviewing each applicant. Then the AIE Council caucuses and picks the new game director--which leads to the final level...

Level 4 - Domain

Completely official AIE guild in the game, established guild management procedures and officers. What Happens:

• The AIE Council congratulates/consoles the new game director.
• The new game director selects her initial set of officers from the settlement officers.
• The new game director and team publishes the official version 1.0 of the new games policies from the settlement draft.
• Continue recruiting and building the guild.
• Each 4 months or so, the AIE Council meets with the game team (acting director and officers) to see how it is going, and see if any adjustments need to be made.

The Next Level

• Make new friends while enjoying the camaraderie of old friends and have fun in the new game universe!

Recommended “Letter of Intent” Content:

Here are some items you should include:

• Name, forum.myextralife.com ID and any other names you are known by in the community.
• Your interest in the game.
• Your background in gaming and the AIE community.
• Your thoughts on how the guild structure would be set up under your leadership.
• How you plan on forming of a leadership team and their relationship to the community.
• Your thoughts on how to handle disciplinary issues.
• Ideas on how this new game can add to the rest of the AIE family--for example, opportunities for interacting and “cross-pollination”.
• Anything else you care to say to impress us :)