The short version: Welcome to the KOU guild blog site. KOU has been a strong, respectful guild since April 14th, 2006. We look forward to you becoming an integral part of our fabric.
We are always recruiting great people that are good players - regardless of character class, spec, level or gear score. First and foremost we are friends that enjoy raiding and hence our culture and atmosphere is respectful and fun while keeping a focus towards performance and reliability in our raid groups.
Most of our players are working adults with families and as such we recognize that while WoW is just a game, we are mindful and respectful of the fact that it is also other people's real life time and we avoid wasting it. Very few of us have a single "main" character and fewer still have only one toon. There are always new characters leveling up or gearing up while at the same time there are others learning the progression fights. After many years on our server, we have a well known reputation for being a great guild to be a part of or to run with - a legacy we strive to keep.
We chill and have fun - and we also had raiders in the newest tier content in the first two weeks after release. We work hard, we play hard.
If a respectful, fun and performance-raiding guild atmosphere is interesting to you, contact any one of the following officers in game: Orderedchaos, Novastorm, Niemeh, Ozwald, or Beartooth. We would be happy to chat with you and see if it is a good fit.
Ranks Explained.
Our guild ranks are designed to be simple, follow common sense, and avoid inviting the drama llama. They are thus explained:
Applicant - The rank a character holds after they first join the mechanical game construct that is our 'guild' as they, literally, apply themselves to be a member of our community. Active verb of 'apply' is critical to moving on to the next rank(s). Applicants are well-advised to participate in our community, truly become a part of our guild. Characters are typically left at the rank of 'Applicant' until they reach end cap level seeing as both the time it takes them to really make an impact and apply themselves to the community as well as the shortened time it takes nowadays to reach end cap level are pretty much about the same duration. Applicants are unable to withdraw items from the guild bank and are not eligible for items beyond bank tab 1 if at all.
Member - The rank an Applicant can be promoted to after applying themselves successfully to being a member of our community. Quite literally, when an Applicant is recognized as a member of our community and is under the level cap, we promote them to the rank of 'Member' to reflect such accordingly. Characters at the level cap but which are not raiders remain at the rank of Member regardless of which rank their "main" is.
Knight - An Applicant or Member can be promoted to the rank of 'Knight' which is indicative that they are raiders. The only difference between a Member and a Knight is that the Knight has been recognized and rostered for raiding.
Veteran Knight - A Knight can be promoted to 'Veteran Knight' when they have been with the guild for multiple years. That is to say, they have been in the guild for at least two years.
Officer ranks: All of the officers (Officer, Quartermaster, Raid Leader, Guild Leader) are all equal in rank and seniority in the guild, however have different functions. They are thus explained:
Officer - All officers except the Quartermaster, Raid Leader, and the Guild Leader hold the rank of 'Officer'. Typically, the officers recommend from the ranks of Knight and Veteran Knight for promotion to Officer, although this is not a hard and fast rule. Officers have to fit in and work well with the other officers for the 'body of officers' (this includes the QM, RL, and GL) to be a functional organization. All officers have access to every bank tab. The officers form the working animal of the administration of the guild - both the general guild and the raiding arm.
Quartermaster - Equal in footing to the Officers and has the primary responsibility of ensuring that the guild bank is properly supporting the general functions of the guild, the raiding arm, and the professions of the guild. As an equal to the Officers, a Quartermaster does not have the authority to demote an Officer unless by unanimous vote of all other officers (all officers have to be present at the same time, only the guild leader excepted) or in the case of an emergency (e.g. Officer account has been hacked). The Quartermaster is elected by the Officers to serve during the tenure of the Guild Leader. Should the Quartermaster require to replace themselves for any reason, they may select their replacement.
Raid Leader - Equal in footing to the Officers and has the primary charge and responsibility for the success of our raiding arm and the primary authority over all raiding assets - items and guild gold. The Raid Leader is the equal counter-part to the Guild Leader where the guild leader is responsible for all things not related to raiding and the Raid Leader is responsible for all things related to raiding and not for those things unrelated to raiding.
Guild Leader - Equal in footing to the Officers and has the primary responsibility of maintaining the in-game mechanical configuration of the ranks, guild bank tabs, and ensuring that there are enough Officers to administer and manage the guild on a day-to-day basis. Must designate a Quartermaster (different player) to provide continual and redundant access to the bank tabs in their absence. It is their responsibility to receive the guild from their predecessor entrusted to them by the officers and to turn it over to their successor in better standing than how they received it. The success and improvement of the guild is therefore squarely upon their shoulders and the Officers are the tools by which they undertake that work. It is the responsibility of the Guild Leader to ensure no Officer nor other member takes for personal possession or use the funds of the guild bank, the Guild Leader included; which is to say, they cannot take the funds with them when they pass the rank to their successor and cannot expend them for personal use when in the office. While not a hard and fast rule, we aim for the Guild Leader to hold office for no longer than a year before passing the rank to their successor, which is now traditionally the Quartermaster. The Guild Leader can change the roster of Officers at will. The exception being the Quartermaster which is elected by the Officers for the duration of the Guild Leader's tenure.
