Guild Expansion Readiness Program: Difference between revisions

From AIE Wiki
Jump to navigation Jump to search
(Updated Expedition Phase.)
 
(47 intermediate revisions by 2 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
[[Category:Expansion|1]]
[[Category:Expansion]]


AIE has been growing and changing for some time now. We started out as a WoW
{{fmbox
guild created by the hosts, fans and friends of the podcasts The Instance,
|nocat=true
ELR, Buzz Out Loud and Jawbone Radio. Since that initial small guild was
| type = editnotice
formed, AIE has grown into a community that extends beyond a single game.
| text  = The complete list of games that are currently flowing through the GERP pipeline, and those which have in the past, can be found on the [[GERP Status]] page.
}}


We have expanded into many games; including EVE Online, Rift, and Star Wars:
= Phases =
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,
== Discovery ==
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.
[[File:Civ5 Library.png|right|120px|borderless]]


Information is collected about the game and community interest is gauged by the [[GERP Team]].  The GERP Team is only responsible for evaluating community interest in the game and selecting the director, efforts to build interest or rally support must come from the general membership.


== Discovery ==
=== Activity ===


This phase is the information-gathering phase for games which are in
* Discussion about the game should be posted in the [http://forum.myextralife.com/forum/52-imperium-l%C5%ABd%C4%AB/ Imperium Lūdī].
development. The council has little involvement at this point, we rely upon
* Suggestions for entry into the game may be sent to the [[GERP Team]].
the community to find interesting new games and determine what level of
* The [[GERP Team]] begins internal nomination and selection of the game director.
interest the games will maintain. This phase may last a long time since some
* The [[GERP Team]] assigns one or more advisers (known as champions) who will work with the new game director through the rest of the process.
games are a long time in development.


=== What happens ===
=== Completion ===


* Through forums discussions and polls in the [http://forum.myextralife.com/forum/52-imperium-ludi/ Imperium Lūdī board] we see if there is enough interest in the community to go for it.
* Game director has been selected by the GERP Team and approved by the AIE Council.
* The game is listed on the [[GERP Status]] page to track it through the process.


== Expedition ==
== 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.  
[[File:Civ5 Scout.png|right|120px|borderless]]
This phase may also last a long or short time, based on the developer’s
 
schedule. Ideally, we would like it to be about a month.
The Expedition phase is the period during which preparations are made for launch of the guild.  The new game director will build her or his leadership team and will determine which parameters will best meet the needs of the AIE community (realm, faction, PvE/PvP, etc.)
 
=== Activity ===
 
* A new forum is created for the game in the [http://forum.myextralife.com/forum/52-imperium-l%C5%ABd%C4%AB/ Imperium Lūdī].
* The game director selects the starting officer corps for the game.  All officers must be approved by the AIE Council.
* Parameters such as faction and realm are decided upon by the game director and game officers.
* [[UMAMI]] integration development begins.
 
=== Completion ===
 
* Game has entered general availability.
* The guild has been created in-game.
* A process for joining the guild has been published.
* A policy, based upon the [[Unified Policy]] has been approved by the AIE Council and published.
 
== Settlement ==
 
[[File:Civ5 Settler.png|right|120px|borderless]]
 
The population of the guild begins!
 
The game must be in '''open beta''' or '''general availability''' at this point.
 
=== Activity ===
 
* An ad hoc member tracking system may be used if UMAMI integration has not been completed..
* Guild settings, policies, and processes are tuned.
 
=== Completion ===
 
* [[UMAMI]] integration has been completed.
* The subforum has been promoted out of the [http://forum.myextralife.com/forum/52-imperium-l%C5%ABd%C4%AB/ Imperium Lūdī].


=== Entry Criteria ===
== Domain ==


* One or more of the groups that have formed during the discovery phase send
[[File:Civ5 Palace.png|right|120px|borderless]]
an e-mail message to [mailto:council@aie-universal.net
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.
* The game must be consistent with the culture and policies of Alea Iacta Est.


=== What happens ===
The game guild becomes a full-fledged division of AIE. 


* A subforum will be added to the [http://forum.myextralife.com/forum/52-imperium-ludi/ Imperium Lūdī board]. This board will be shared by all expedition groups in the game.
=== Activity ===
* At this point it is just AIE people playing the game, the expedition groups are not official AIE guilds, clans, or corporations.
* The expedition chooses whatever servers or factions it wishes to explore.  We encourage different expeditions to try different options and compare the experiences they have.


=== Participation ===
* Members are requested to register in [[UMAMI]] within some reasonable period of time to track membership or the data from the ad hoc tracking system is imported into [[UMAMI]].


'''The decisions made in this phase will not necessarily carry over to later phases.  If re-rolling your character on a different server or as a different faction is not something you are readily willing to do, we highly recommend that you wait until the game has entered the settlement phase before participating.'''
= Timeline =


==Level 3 - Settlement==
The amount of time that it takes to progress through the phases will be different for every game. However the timeline will be governed by the following constraints.
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.


'''To the Next Level:'''
* Settlement may not begin until the game is in the general availability phase. This is the point where anyone can join with no restrictions other than purchase or subscription within a geographical region. An open beta period will be considered general availability.
*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.
* Access permitting, the Discovery and Expedition phases should be conducted during pre-beta or closed beta for new games.
*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.


'''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:==
[[File:GERP_2.0.png|frame|center|A visual representation of the GERP phases.]]
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 :)

Latest revision as of 02:05, 11 April 2014


Phases

Discovery

borderless

Information is collected about the game and community interest is gauged by the GERP Team. The GERP Team is only responsible for evaluating community interest in the game and selecting the director, efforts to build interest or rally support must come from the general membership.

Activity

  • Discussion about the game should be posted in the Imperium Lūdī.
  • Suggestions for entry into the game may be sent to the GERP Team.
  • The GERP Team begins internal nomination and selection of the game director.
  • The GERP Team assigns one or more advisers (known as champions) who will work with the new game director through the rest of the process.

Completion

  • Game director has been selected by the GERP Team and approved by the AIE Council.

Expedition

borderless

The Expedition phase is the period during which preparations are made for launch of the guild. The new game director will build her or his leadership team and will determine which parameters will best meet the needs of the AIE community (realm, faction, PvE/PvP, etc.)

Activity

  • A new forum is created for the game in the Imperium Lūdī.
  • The game director selects the starting officer corps for the game. All officers must be approved by the AIE Council.
  • Parameters such as faction and realm are decided upon by the game director and game officers.
  • UMAMI integration development begins.

Completion

  • Game has entered general availability.
  • The guild has been created in-game.
  • A process for joining the guild has been published.
  • A policy, based upon the Unified Policy has been approved by the AIE Council and published.

Settlement

borderless

The population of the guild begins!

The game must be in open beta or general availability at this point.

Activity

  • An ad hoc member tracking system may be used if UMAMI integration has not been completed..
  • Guild settings, policies, and processes are tuned.

Completion

Domain

borderless

The game guild becomes a full-fledged division of AIE.

Activity

  • Members are requested to register in UMAMI within some reasonable period of time to track membership or the data from the ad hoc tracking system is imported into UMAMI.

Timeline

The amount of time that it takes to progress through the phases will be different for every game. However the timeline will be governed by the following constraints.

  • Settlement may not begin until the game is in the general availability phase. This is the point where anyone can join with no restrictions other than purchase or subscription within a geographical region. An open beta period will be considered general availability.
  • Access permitting, the Discovery and Expedition phases should be conducted during pre-beta or closed beta for new games.


A visual representation of the GERP phases.