Knights Of Sparta

YNGR 4

Yuletide Naked Gnome Race 4

27th December 2011

So it was that cold, snowy time of year again, and time for rolling a few little gnomes, making them strip off their clothes, and run for their lives to some unknown destination. I actually thought this was the third such race until Leolass corrected me. Just to spice things up, I wasn’t expecting to be the organiser, but due to unforeseen circumstances Leolass had to suddenly leave the house, and so the event was left in the hands of a particularly mischievous mage, Mandelbrot.

We had six contenders as follows:

Tamsklet (Tamsk)
Tordengnome (Tordenilden)
Woodwyrm (Wyrmwood)
Lillsati (Sativana)
Littledantii (Dantii)
Filaimi (Daimi)

So we had less gnomes that usual, due to a combination of factors, not least of which was the race being a little later in the year than usual (typically we try to do this race the week before Christmas). However, fun was still had, and it started with a surprise for our newly rolled gnomes sat waiting for the race to begin in Gnomeragan. They found themselves summoned to a far less cosy venue i.e. the back door bridge of Karazhan.



Their mission; to find their way home – to Gnomeragan.

I decided to put the six little people into three pairs. The teams were:

Tordengnome & Lillsati
Littledantii & Woodwyrm
Tamslet & Filaimi

They all set off down the numerous decaying stair ways of Karazhan and out into the dangerous lands of Deadwind Pass. Unlike previous years, the most dangerous part of the race would come first. And so it proved to be. Tamsklet was first to escape the front of Karazhan, rounded the corner and dashed hopefully past an Ogre who seemed to be too busy to notice him. Wrong! And Zap! One toasted gnome slightly well done. I watched the same Ogre claim several gnomish lives, the Ogre’s ate well that night. Although some how Woodwyrm got past that particular Ogre (perhaps he doesn’t like invertaebrates).

All the gnomes planned to escape Deadwind Pass to the North, then head West into the less dangerous (although undoubtedly still fatal) Duskwood. That was until Tamsklet announced he’d devised an alternative ‘escape route’. Instead he headed East out of Deathwind Pass, and into the Swamp of Sorrows (are you totally out of your mind?!). Apparently he wanted a look at the Dark Portal in the Blasted Lands!

Whilst Tamsklet and Filaimi made steady progress through the Deadwind Pass, the other teams were struggling a little bit with the Ogres and Vultures. About 10 minutes into the event I saw Lillsati make a long run away from the Ogres into the territory of the Vultures – what would she do now? Apparently she decided death was certain and chose to accept it nonchalantly reading her map. One minute the little gnome was opening her map, and the next she was torn limb from limb. Her partner Tordengnome however was being used as a football by the Ogres – he just couldn’t seem to escape them.

Woodwyrm and Littledantii were the first to escape Deadwind Pass via the West path, but not before an Olympic effort by Littledantii to out run, not one, but seven spiders, had final ended badly. It was an excellent effort though, and I’m not at all sure how she managed to stay alive with those spiders on her heals for so long.

However whilst Littledantii and the invertebrate patted themselves on the back having escaped Deadwind Pass, the Tamslet / Filaimi crazy plan to head into the more dangerous lands to the East looked like it just might pay off. They had cleared the Swamp of Sorrows already in double quick time and were entering the Blasted Lands, with talk of some special portal to Stormwind near the stairs of the Dark Portal! Very clever little gnomes, but you still have to brave the ferocious beasts of the Blasted Lands (mwa ha ha).

About quarter of an hour into the race, and Littledantii was doing well and was mid-way through Elwynn Forest. The worst of the race was over for her, although Woodwyrm was lagging behind a little and my map had him still trying to escape Duskwood. Lillsati reached Elwynn only a couple of minutes later, but again the map revealed her teammate was also lagging behind . . . way behind . . surely Tordengnome can’t really still be in Deadwind Pass after almost 20 minutes can he?! Apparently the Ogre football game was in deadlock and a ‘next goal wins’ ruling had been made. However the score after 90 minutes had been 0-0, so a next goal wins scenario didn’t guarantee a conclusion to their gnome soccer any time soon.

At about the same time Tamsklet announced it was time to make a drink and put his feet up waiting for the tram. But might his over confidence be his downfall? Filaimi and Littledantii were closing in on Stormwind as well.

Just as Tamsklet was running down the slope at the front of Ironforge, Littledantii announced she had DC’d. Having run all the way to the tram, she reconnected to find she was still in Elwynn Forest, hich had to make one wonder if the Tamsklet / Filaimi team was being sponsored by Richard Branson! So Filaimi had made it to Stormwind in time for the tram, but Littledantii had missed it and would have to wait for another (that is after running through Elwynn Forest a second time). It did however give her team mate Woodwyrm a chance to catch up, and he too was now running through Elwynn Forest, with the towers of Stormwind visible in the distance.

At about the 25 minute mark, Woodwyrm arrived in Stormwind and boarded a tram, but without his team mate Littledantii who had DC’d again! Despite their efforts though it was looking like Tamslet’s lead was insurmountable – he was entering Gnomeragan. The final test was to find Mandelbrot who was hiding himself in there. Meanwhile Tordengnome and Lillsati were still in Duskwood. It had been a hard day for those little gnomes. But at least with gold being paid to the top three places, and only three teams entered, they were guaranteed a pay out if they only finished the race. On they marched in the gloomy light of Duskwood.

At 8:33, approximately half an hour after the start, Tamsklet found Mandelbrot and claimed first place. His teammate Filaimi wasn’t far behind running through Dun Morogh, and Wyrmwood was exiting the front of Ironforge. However poor Littledantii had been going backwards and forwards on the tram between Stormwind and Ironforge, because of numerous DC’s that were not letting her get off the tram. On a positive note, Lillsati and Tordengnome had reached the relative safety of the green woodlands of Elwynn.

One by one the gnomes arrived at their destination. The order of arrival and the finish times were as follows:

8:33 Tamsklet
8:37 Filaimi
8:39 Woodwyrm
8:47 Littledantii
8:50 Lillsati & Tordengnome

Congratuations to all our gnomes, who all received a pay-out from the Guild bank as follows:

Winner! Tamsklet & Filiami 1,000g each
2nd place Woodwyrm & Littledantii 500g each
3rd place Lillsati & Tordengnome 250g each

Thanks to everyone who participated. I plan to run additional fun events next year and hope for a better turn out once Christmas is over and the newer members have actually found this website!

23 Nov 2011

Contents

1. Winds of Change
2. Guild Bank Funds
3. Raiding

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1. Winds of Change

Due to the break me and my family took from the game recently, it’s been a while since I posted one of our newsletters. During the rest I’ve had a lot of thoughts about the direction our guild has taken. Now that I have returned and have a renewed enthusiasm for the game, I am very focused on undertaking a bit of an overhaul of the guild. Some of the changes that I am going to make may not be popular with some, but nevertheless I am resolved to press on regardless. Those who work with me through the coming changes will have the opportunity to further their progress through the guild ranks.

Managing Expectations

First off, I’d like to say a word or two about people’s expectations of me and the management of KOS. In recent months there have been a number of debates in the officer forums, which have sometimes become quite heated. I am sure no-one wants to be involved in arguments, but debate is a necessary part of anything which involves organising a large number of people. There is nothing any of us can do to avoid this. I will continue to invite debate, but I want to manage people’s expectations – your opinions are valued, but you are members of a guild that was set up by a family, for the family, and those ‘like-minded’ players who liked what our family guild had to offer. Whilst I do listen, whilst I do try to take into consideration what members say, the guild is nevertheless not a democracy, I cannot be voted out of office, and the primary purpose of the guild is the same as it always was i.e. it was founded for my family and those who like what our family guild has to offer.

Guild Emblem

You will have noticed that the guild emblem changed recently. Before discussing this further, a little bit of a history may be beneficial for the newer members. The emblem of the cross + was the one originally used by the guild. This was later changed when our guild merged with a second guild, called the Dreamweavers. At the time we wished to change the emblem to something that was representative of this ‘union’ of two guilds, and hence the entwined double snake emblem was chosen. As it happens, some months later, practically all of the Dreamweavers left after a dispute about casual –v- progressive raiding (more on that later). Therefore the symbolism of the double snake emblem is no longer appropriate. By default I recently changed it back to the original cross, which personally I always found more ‘knight’ish and therefore fitting to our guild name. I have been heavily criticised for this in the officer forums (which is nothing new and is something to which I shall return in the next section of this newsletter).

Therefore, I have decided to invite ALL members of the guild to talk about what emblem they would prefer, to take us into our third incarnation of KOS. I won’t be returning to the double snake, but the guild may elect any other emblem that receives a general concensus in due course.

So could you all please have a look at the following link:

http://www.merciless-gilde.com/index.php?show=tools&tool=3

Which has a collection of the available emblems to look at. Then either post pictures, or descriptions of the ones you like in the thread I shall now create specifically for that issue. Pick more than one emblem if you want. The emblems that feature most in this thread, will then be shortlisted, and we’ll have a poll to determine the winner.

Officer Forums

Non officer’s may be forgiven for thinking that relatively little discussion takes place on our website. The truth is, we have periods of intense discussion, however it always seems to be in the officer forums. In hindsight this is not a positive thing. Every member has a right to be involved in those discussions.

Therefore with immediate effect I am asking Tree to mov all future discussions posted in officer, into the members area instead, for all to see. Only issues requiring an officer vote (more on that later), will be discussed in the officer forums. The only other exception is in the unlikely event that an officer has something they wish to discuss more privately (e.g. perhaps concerns about another guild member’s behaviour [surely not!]), then they can post that in the officer forums, and I will determine what if any action is required.

Guild Ranks

Which brings me nicely onto my next subject i.e the guild ranks. I see no reason to change the ranking structure of non-officers, however there is to be an overhaul of the officer ranks.

At present there are three officer ranks; Signifer, Prefect and Centurion. The Signifers are peripheral officers, who can observe officer chat and forums, but have no officer voting rights. Prefects are full officers, have an obligation to participate in officer discussions, and police the guild generally. Centurions were those officers with special duties e.g. managing guild applications, managing the website, managing raids, managing the guild bank and managing the guilds PVP duties. This is all about to change.

Going back a couple of years, the Centurions were not defined by their ‘specific’ management duties. The origins of the Centurion rank were those long standing officers, who I felt I could confer with when I had decisions to make about the guild. They were valued friends and advisors, people I could turn to, people I could rant at when I felt aggrieved about something, but where it would be inappropriate for me to rant in front of the guild generally. They acted as my conscience, they were my sounding board, and mirror in which to keep a check on myself.

With immediate effect KOS will be returning to this earlier, more helpful ‘definition’ of Centurion.

The Prefect and Signifer ranks are to be ‘full’ officers. There is to be no ‘observational’ officer rank anymore. Should I put an issue to an officer vote (which is my prerogative and not an automatic right) then Signifers, Prefects and Centurions will all have voting rights. All three officer ranks will have access to officer chat in game, and the officer forums on the website.

The difference between Signifers and Prefects will be that the latter are also ‘managers’. By that I mean those who have specific jobs to do. The specific jobs to which I refer are as follows:

• Managing the Guild Bank
• Managing Membership Applications
• Managing the Website
• PVP Leaders
• Raid Leaders

By default the first three of those managerial positions will be retained by the Centurions who have been undertaking those tasks for some time now i.e. Sophoceles, Tamsk and Tree respectively. Moreover, those three officers will retain the rank of Centurion, as they are my preferred advisors, and will be joined by my family members Dantii and Leolass.

The PVP and Raid Leader positions are now open for applications. There can be more than one of each. Those who fill these roles will be given the Prefect rank to distinguish them from non-managerial officers (Signifers).

All those interested in being either a Raid or a PVP Leader and attaining the rank of Prefect should PM me on the website. By default, all officers other than the aforementioned Centurions, will be reassigned the Signifer rank. Once leaders and managers are appointed, they will be promoted to Prefect.

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2. Guild Bank Funds

Some time ago the guild opened its purse for the first time to contribute towards members’ repair bills. We were very cautious at first and only allowed 10g per character per day. This has been extended a couple of times since. The default for all ranks apart from the Footman, is now 30g per day.

I wish to reward those who take on additional responsibilities and so Prefects (the managers) will now qualify for unlimited guild repairs on their mains. Their alts shall remain Signifers and be subject to a daily limit like the rest of the guild.

I will continue to monitor our guild resources and am constantly extending the raid repair bill, but in a controlled manner so that we don’t reach a situation where the guild bank funds start to diminish simply due to repair bills.


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3. Raiding

Our raid progress has marched on steadily with some of our members having recently completed all the Tier 11 raid content. Congratulations to all those who have achieved that.

Not to diminish that achievement but there is the need for a reality check here. We’ve lost a few good raiders in recent months because our progress was too slow. Whilst some have now cleared Tier 11 content, Tier 12 hasn’t been touched and Tier 13 is just around the corner. It’s worth also pointing out that Tier 11 has been nerfed, and most of us are actually over geared for it. So whilst it is always nice to clear content, we do need to realise that that achievement is, for some, too long in coming.

The issue of casual / gradual / less focused raiding –v- progressive / faster / more focused raiding has been without a doubt, the single biggest recurring issue the guild has had to deal with, and the source of almost all heated debates that have taken place in the officer forums. Where I stand on this issue is that the guild needs to be able to cater for both types of raider. However this means we require sufficient raiders to field two teams, one that is very relaxed, and the other which is more focused on progress. I will therefore be recruiting specifically for raiders (but whose attitude is fitting to KOS in terms of friendliness / respectfulness etc. Which team you are in, will depend not just on your own personal preference, but also on ability. We want ALL to raid who are interested, but also we must recognise that this guild, has on several occasions now, lost some bloody good players, because try as they did to be patient, progress was simply too slow for them personally.

So in summary:

• To be inclusive KOS must accept both casual and more focused raiders.
• Our experience shows these two categories of raider do not get along in the long term.
• The ONLY solution to this problem is to have two raid teams.
• We currently have insufficient raiders to form two teams.
• There is a need to recruit more raiders.

So that’s it folks, a lot to take on board there, things are changing, please work with me to make this transitional phase as smooth and productive as it can be.

Regards

Juggernort

20 July 2011

Contents

1. Raid News
2. Guild Bank Funds
3. Other Events

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1. Raid News

KOS have certainly benefited from the 4.2 nerf to the early Cataclysm raids. Having only killed Omnitron and Magmaw a couple of times, we now find ourselves at the foot of Nefarion having killed all the minions who defend him. Maloriak, Atramedes, Chimearon are all under our belts now.

We’ve been a little unlucky with some of the drops I think, having seen some DE’d and others go to Offspecs, but now that we have learned the bosses and are due a reset, hopefully our next run through up to Nefarion may be a little more profitable.

Our first look at Nefarion however was a bit of a rude awakening and a reminder its not all plain sailing. We spent about 30/40 minutes on him and wiped several times in the opening seconds of each attempt. So it’s back to doing some research, a reset, and maybe next time we’ll have a better idea what to do with him.
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2. Guild Bank Funds

As you may all have noticed the guild is benefiting nicely (financially) from our regular heroics and the success we’re now enjoying in the raids. The officers have therefore been discussing how to pass these financial benefits on to members of the guild. Provisionally the following has been agreed:

(a) Flasks

These will be further subsidised and now cost members just 25g each. These are for use in guild events only e.g. raiding, rated battled grounds, or harder heroics. We trust members to determine when flasks are necessary and trust they will exercise restraint and not use them for just easy emblem farming. Using subsidised flasks for PUGing is strictly prohibited.

(b) Repairs

Yes that’s right! The guild is opening its purse for the first time to contribute towards members repair bills. We are very unsure how much this is going to cost the guild, so initially there will be a daily limit of 10g per character. If the guild easily affords this, the benefit will be gradually turned up. Of course if this costs the guild too much the benefit will be removed.

Please note this perk is for Legionnaires and above. The justification for this is that those ranks are the one who generally contribute most to the guild. If those at lower ranks contribute regularly to guild events and use the website, they will soon find themselves becoming legionnaires as well.

(c) Lottery / Reward Scheme

The details of this are still being discussed, but the officers want to reward members who regularly participate in guild events. No details have been finalised about how this might work as yet, but more on that in another newsletter later. Of course, if you have any ideas, post them on the website or discuss them with an officer.
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3. Other Events

Aside from raiding we’ve seen some other events happening. Wyrmwood has been organising group achievement runs working towards both the Glory of Hero type achievement in both Wrath and the latest one in Cataclysm. Those events were well supported and the Cata version even saw two full guild groups running simultaneously. It’s always very satisfying to look at the guild roster and see a long line of our guildies together in instances J

The guild also made good use of one raid night when we were a little short of players and went and clear all but the Lich King in Icecrown. A follow up event was posted and our guildies earned themselves the Kingslayer title. Although just to be a party pooper, I’d like to see Blizzard only grant titles like that for kills ‘at level’. But nevertheless well done to those that achieved this.

7 June 2011

Contents

1. Raid News
2. PvP News
3. Officer Promotion
4. The Signifers

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1. Raid News

A little disappointing but the last couple of weeks haven’t seen any boss kills. We’ve been dividing our time between Omnitron, Magmaw and Halfus. A couple of weeks ago we had some pretty good attempts at Halfus, but other than that c. 70% boss health seems to have been the order of the day.

On a more positive note raid sign ups seem to have been on the increase. Whereas a few weeks ago we were struggling to get 10 players sometimes, we’re now consistently getting about 13 sign ups. The new selection criteria also seems to be working with no-one having missed out more than once in the last month, with the exception of Wyrmwood who specifically asked to be a reserve in the last couple of raids. Perhaps more of a challenge in terms of fielding a balanced raid team is the ‘all or nothing’ availability of tanks. There is no shortage of tanks in the guild, but often we only get one of them sign up for a raid, and then like last night we suddenly had four sign up. However so far we’ve been able to work around the variable tank availability.

All I can ask is that all raiders do their own research on boss tactics. A search on a boss name on You Tube normally gives many video examples showing how to kill the bosses. The more you watch, read, and practice, the more second nature the fights will become, and success will surely follow.

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2. PvP News

Thanks to the grand efforts of our PvP Centurion Melphor (aka Dephor, Malcor), our guild is at last cultivating some consistent levels of interest in PvP matters. We’ve had guild battlegrounds, ad hoc arena matches, and random battlegrounds for honor points. Melphor’s efforts certainly seem to have gathered some momentum, and there is now talk of rated battlegrounds and regular Arena events.

I understand Melphor is due to go on holiday (if he hasn’t already) but on his return he plans to turn his attention to building a KOS rated battleground team. Ooh So Exciting

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3. Officer Promotion

I am pleased to announce the promotion to Prefect of Deelight.

Deelight



Dee, as we often refer to her, has been with KOS for as long as I can remember. She signed up on the website in August 2008 which is when the site first went live, so presumably she was a member even before that?! Always bubbly and full of life it seems, her voice is one that everyone recognises in game and on TS

Dee just missed the cut off date last month although her name had already been mentioned by the officers in connection with a promotion. But I have no hesitation in accepting the officers recommendation that she join their ranks, as she is always helpful and friendly. Hopefully once she joins the heated debates the officers sometimes have, she won’t regret her choice to accept the promotion

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4. The Signifers

As promised in the previous newsletter, the list of Signifers is now ready for release. These are also officers, the only differences to Prefect being they have no obligation to speak up on officer issues if they do not wish, and therefore the rank does not carry an officer voting right. They are in effect observational officers, in that they can observe everything the officers do behind the scenes to make the guild work, and can speak up on those issues as and when they wish, but without obligation or responsibility to always do so.

Without further ado, the Signifers are as follows:

Unikorn
Resti
Zeilyn
Draemon
Leolass
Dantii
Indicana
Kissitbetter

Welcome to the maelstrom that is the officer forums

So that rounds up another KOS newsletter. It is my intention to release one of these approximately every two weeks.

26 May 2011

Contents

1. Raid News
2. Recruitment
3. Officer Promotions
4. The Signifer Rank

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1. Raid News

Last weeks raiding saw a total of 4 hours spent on Magmaw in Blackwing Descent. The lack of variety in last weeks raiding was forced on us due to only a single tank being available on Sunday and Monday nights.

On Sunday night wiping was the order of the day, but we’re KOS and we’re no strangers to wipe fests. However what was a little more disappointing was the lack of progress. I don’t think we ever got Magmaw much past 90% and the situation was no better at the end of Sunday night as it was at the beginning.

There were two main problems causing the difficulty with Magmaw. First, we were struggling to use the chains to pull his head down, which Cidella and Swainie had been charged to do. By the end of the night we had decided the most likely explanation was lag issues on Cidella’s connection.

The second difficulty was the lava adds. We simply did not have enough AOE. Leolass had been charged with the job of being the sole member at range so she could set down her frost trap. However after laying the trap she had to spend a lot of her time running away from the adds instead of shooting at them, because they simply where not dying fast.

So to address these two problems some changes were made on Monday night. Dantii took on the task of using the chains on Magmaw with Swainie, and Mandelbrot got himself a frost spec and took on the job of being the sole raid member at range. This freed up Leolass to spam her multi shot, and gave us more slowing options with the mage frost spec and additional AOE capability.

It was immediately apparaent these changes could work, with one very early attempt seeing Magmaw down to 45%, considerably better than anything we had achieved previously. We pressed on with renewed confidence and with only minutes left of the raid we got Magmaw down.

Congratulations to all our raiders on a superb job. So KOS adds another kill shot to it’s gallery, making that a total of three Cata bosses we have downed.



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2. Recruitment

As you will be aware, KOS has been having a bit of a recruitment drive. This has been done in a few ways, from occasional shout outs, posts in the official Blizzard forums, and though the new in game guild finder facility. The response has been overwhelming and we currently have a backlog of applications in game. What is less impressive is the poor conversion rate of in game applications to website applications. Many applicants can’t be bothered to answer a few questions about themselves on this website. On a positive note, I see this as a good means of short listing those who are serious about joining KOS and so we will continue to insist on website applications.

However, despite using the website as a filter in this way, we have still had 11 members join us in the past 16 days. Welcome to all our newcomers. I hope you find KOS to be the guild for you.

With the expansion of our guild through the recruitment campaign, there is a need to have responsible members to help with the running of the guild, which leads me nicely on to the next topic; promotions.


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3. Promotions

I am pleased to announce the following officer promotions:

Wyrmwood (née Cassandera)



Cass was previously an officer of the guild before deciding to take a break from the game for a while. His return on Wyrmwood has seen him picking up where he left off, jumping right into the thick of the action, including leading some of our raids. I am very happy he is back in the game and in the guild. Congratulations Cass.

Trixxie



Trixxie has been in KOS for about a year now and has been a very regular participant in guild events throughout that time. She is a voice everyone recognises in guild chat, is always prepared to help her fellow guildies, and is one of the best examples of the type of player KOS wants to recruit. Congratulations Trix.


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4. Signifer Rank

In a general overhaul of the rank structure a few months ago, the Signifer rank became dormant. This was simply because the officers at the time could not entirely agree between them 'what' the rank should represent. Well now we have reached a consensus on the issue and the Signifer rank is once again active.

So what is a Signifer then?

We are making the Signifer a junior officer rank. They will have access to the officer forums on the website, and to officer chat in game. Their role is to ‘observe’ the Prefects and Centurions and speak up in the officer forums / chat if they have an opinion on the discussions taking place there.

How does Signifer differ from Prefect

The Signifer rank is non obligatory. Whereas Prefects are obliged to speak on all officer issues, to police the guild and the conduct of its members, and to vote on all officer ballots raised by the guild leader, the Signifer rank is more observational. They can speak up in the officer forums if they want, but will not be criticised for not doing so. Moreover they will not be obliged to police the guild generally, although they will be expected to report any concerns they may have to the Prefects for action. As such the Signifer rank carries no officer voting rights, although they do of course retain their general 'guild issue' voting right.

Who is the Signifer rank for?

This is an ideal position for those who are considered worthy of the full officer rank of Prefect, but for whatever reason cannot, or do not want, the obligations of the Prefect rank. Examples are those who have real life commitments such that their time in game is variable, those who do not want the obligations and responsibility of a Prefect, those who are honorary members of the guild i.e. have made substantial contributions to the guild in the past, but are not currently active in game.

Who are the Signifer’s

This is under review. A full list of Signifer officers will be released soon.

Centurion's are officers with a specific administrative role in the guild. They have responsibility for the running of a particular aspect of the guild. We currently have -

• Tree - website centurion
• Tamsk - members centurion
• Sophoceles - bank centurion

However one aspect of the guild that has been neglected for too long is PvP. Admittedly we're a guild focused on PvE content - but PvP is a nice challenge and introduces some variety into our play. In the past I have made some attempts to get regular battlegrounds going and PvP achievements with limited success. Tree too has tried putting together KOS arena teams, again with limited success.

However, a new player has entered this long neglected aspect of KOS and made it his own. His efforts over recent months are plain to see in the calendar, and his success outways anything previously achieved by KOS officers.

Therefore I am very pleased to annouce that Melphor has accepted the often discussed, but never before implemented, PvP Centurion position. Best of luck to him in his new role. Remember any questions about guild PvP should be directed to Melphor from now on, as he has the day to day control of all matters PvP in KOS.

Congratulations mate
– Juggernort

Welcome to the Anual Yuletide Naked Gnome Race



Start - Gnomeregan
Finish - Fort Livingstone

This year we had a Radio Active start to the race ...the newly re-opened back-under-old-management, the one and only Gnomeregan!



Aglow with our semi naked gnomes. the start of the race was slightly confusing while we tried to clarify a few rules and form the teams.
Tree unfortunately didn't make it, however this didn't stop his team from holding out hope that maybe he would show up, at least I think that's why Misssanta and Ainairia didn't move when we started the race.
Also I think Jug started questing for some reason... lol... but the ones that were on the ball flew like the wind to catch the deep run tram to Stormwind then scarpered down through Elwwyn Forest, this was the easy peasy bit, then to Duskwood... getting a bit treacherous, and then the first team to hit Stranglethorn was... Met and Trix, followed by Soph, Jainai and Cid, then in third was team Jug, Rob and Noodle.

However this is where the tension starts to mount, once in Stranglethorn, death is only a moment away for a wee level 1 gnome, and while the first 3 teams struggled coming down the centre of stranglethorn, team Dee, Tamsk and Danti took a slightly different rout and came down the coast. Not sure where Missanta and Airnaria were at this point, I think they stopped at Cafe Gnomer for a latte.

The costal rout seems to have paid off for Dee's team as they charged into the lead leaving the others graveyard hopping, all except Soph whom I can only assume must have used his teammates as bait for the hungry inhabitants of the vale, allowing him to charge into Fort Livingstone first.






Not far behind him was Danti, then just pipping Tamsk into third position was Trixx. After that everyone trickled in, well almost everyone... where did Missanta and Ainairia go? and Cid was busy trying to make friends with the wolves. In the end the positions and prizes where as follows....


Deelight 5 ----------------50g
Tamsk 4 ----------------50g
Danti 2nd ------------150g Prize + 50g

Soph 1st--------------200g Prize
Cid 11
Jaini 8

Jugg 6
Robyn 10
Noodle 9

Met 7
Trixx 3rd-------------100g Prize

Missanta
Alnair






Thanks to everyone that participated and have a super Yuletide xxx

Aule



It is with great pleasure that I welcome Aule back into the officer fold. Many of you will of course remember he was an officer previously, but took a break for a while. He is without a doubt one of the most helpful members we have in KOS, always willing to help out a fellow guildy in need.

Thank you Aule for your patient service and welcome back to the rank of officer.

Juggernort

The Third Annual Yuletide Naked Gnome Race

It's that time of year agin guys, time to get yer Gnome out and get naked!!!!

for anyone that has never participated in the Gnome race, it goes something like this...

You roll a level one gnome
You all meet at the designated start area
The organisor (me this year) will give you a destination
Then its go go go go and the first to get there wins super prizes! yay

There may or may not be teams, that'll depend on how many sign up.
Which brings me to the point of this post, when is the best time to have it?

I though 19th of December would be good, what do you all think?

Where's Wally?



Meet Tree's Pet 'Wally'.

He's a bit dim and keeps wandering off. He's gone and gotten himself lost, and Tree's had to take leave from the guild to go and find him.

Please can you help Tree to find him, so that he can rejoin the guild?

There's a reward if you do.

If you'd like to help, please sign up to THIS EVENT in the calendar and meet Cedar in the centre of Shattrath City 10 mins before the start time.

At the time of the event Tree shall post a picture of Wally on the Website and link it in this thread (As Above).

The first person to seek Wally out, find him and /pat him will receive the reward.

Be warned, he got the hat from some lanky oik in glasses and a silly jumper that he ate in Feralas, and he may not be still wearing it

This event is entirely inspired by Juggantii's Mystery Triathalon and Melphor's Screen Shot Competition. If it proves popular then it may become a series of events.

Your Guild Needs YOU !!!



With immediate effect Dhorhe, our esteemed raid centurion has decided to take a break from raid leading, and who can blame him for its a stressful job leading the KOS army into war.

So we're looking for new raid leaders, from anyone at all in the guild, there is no requirement to be a guild officer. Clearly anyone who takes on the responsibility of raid leading will have won feathers in their cap when it comes to the next round of promotions.

I have attached a poll to this thread which I would like EVERY guild member to respond to, so we can assess what level of interest we have in raid leading.

Juggantii's Hallows End Nightmare



Juggernort and Dantii invite you to the Forlorn Cavern for a night of spooky story telling to celebrate Hallows End. But when things take a turn for the worse, are you prepared for what lies ahead…

Meet Juggernort at the Forlorn Cavern at 6.15 game time; bring whatever character you like although high levels will have an advantage. You must also have one character slot available.

The event has been posted for 31st October, at 6.30 game time.
Click here to sign up.

Juggantii's Mystery Triathlon



The new name in WoW entertainment, Juggantii, would like to present their first fun event for the Knights of Sparta guild; the Mystery Triathlon. Starring our very own NPCs: Hickory, Dickory & Dock.



As the name of the event suggests the Mystery Triathlon will consist of three stages. No information regarding these stages will be given until the start of the event, hence the name ‘Mystery Triathlon’. This will give the participants no time to prepare, and instead they will have to make tactical decisions ‘on the fly’.

This is an individual event, although Stage One of the Triathlon will require you to work in small teams of two or three players. The only rule on this event is you must not log out. Hearthstones, flying mounts and whatever other means of travel you can use, are not only allowed, but are recommended. You may compete on any character you wish, but high levels will have an advantage.

There is a total prize purse of 2,000g which will be distributed as follows:

The Winner = 1,000g
Second Place = 600g
Third Place = 400g

The event has been scheduled for 1pm on Sunday 12th September, to sign up click here.

Now rescheduled to September 26 6pm (see post below for details)

New Officers


It is with great pleasure that I announce the promotion of two of our members to the officer rank of Prefect.


Dengske



Dengske has been an officer before but took a break from the game for a while so stepped down. However he is back in action and as active as ever. I would therefore like everyone to welcome Dengske back to the officer corps.

Just remember if you want to stay there Dengske; my young padawan Anakin is a great Tankadin


Eliina



Our newest officer is Eliina who has been exemplary in terms of his attitude towards the game and our guild, and has been very active; not least with his very popular 'alt raid' on Tuesday/Thursday nights. He was also in attendance at our latest real life get together (RLGT 2) and unlike another who will remain nameless (you know who you are - Mrs Healdin) did nothing to upset me there lol

Thanks for all your hard work Eliina and I'm sure you'll make a great KOS officer.

The title pretty much says it all, and in usual KoS style it was the into-extra-time-last-try-of-night attempt that got it.

Great job everyone, especially our healers for keeping us all alive. Broccanne healing 2 tanks, Dengske chasing me around, and Tamsk keeping everyone up with heals flying in all directions. A couple of Guardian Spirits on me were all that stood between us and a wipe during the Shadow Lance phase.

Having produced the Full WoW Continent Maps for easy reference last year, I was giving some thought to the forthcoming cataclysm.

I'll likely recreate the Kalimdor and Eastern Kingdom maps with the new terrain post-cataclysm. The thought I had was "What of the old World", once it's gone it's gone forever Blizzard have told us.

So I decided to produce a little memento of the World as it is soon to no longer be.

Using the high resolution Photoshop files of the continent maps, I have created a full Azeroth map. A low resolution file of which is here:



I've been looking into the possibility of getting this printed out at Zazzle.

At full size the print would measure 72cm x 55.5cm (28.4" x 21.8")
On Standard Heavy Paper, a normal print would cost approximately £15-£20 (€18-€24)
On Matte Board, a UV resistant print would cost approximately £23-£28 (€28-€34)

I wondered if anyone else would be interested in a print.

Alternatively, I could send you a copy of the hi-res file to do with as you please (it's about 10mb in size).

If so, then please vote in the poll attached to this thread (click on the thread title on the news page to see the poll).

Please note that I'll probably have to lose the WoW logo at the bottom in order to get it professionally printed. I shan't be making any money out of this so there shouldn't really be any other issues.

Guild roster clear-up time!

The following characters on the roster are marked as "not on website"; if they're one of yours, please claim your alt here, or mail me in-game if it's more complicated than that.

Ailadead
Ailadon
Ashkel
Macblue
Quasarin
Tilion

The following member doesn't have an active website membership, but does have a character on the roster; if you'd like to keep them in the guild, please let me know and we'll get your account sorted out.

Öjvin (Donaldh)

The following members haven't logged any of their characters in for at least two months; please show yourself, or explain why your membership shouldn't be closed for inactivity. (I know that there are a couple of Good Reasons on this list.)

Bearvis (Bearvis, Bearviste)
Centurus (Centurus, Centurun)
Elfcastle (Elfcastle)
Galwind (Galwind, Barium)
Heinzrick (Heinzrick)
Hieronymous (Hieronymous)
Judgejudith (Judgejudith, Judgejenny, Judgejessica, Judgejolanda, Judgejulia, Judgejury)
Lunath (Lunath, Adorabelle, Delacour, Isabellina, Rafamorf)
Madabar (Madabar)
Musmus (Musmus)
Nathia (Nathia, Balria, Kitsie, Naginita, Powah, Zordid)
Parata (Parata)
Refluxe (Refluxe)
Robyn (Robyn, Runica, Saphyre, Tanza)
Shadowfiend (Shadowfiend, Shadowbolt)

New Officer Promotion

It is with great pleasure that I'd like to announce a new appointment to our officer ranks.



Melphor has been a great example of the KOS way since he joined the guild. He has been active both in game and on the website. He regularly participates in guild events and also arranges his own events through the website calendar. His attitude is always helpful and friendly, and so the officers agree that he well deserves the rank of Prefect.

Welcome to the officer corps Melp and congratulations

Just in case people hadn't made the connection.

Since Patch 3.3 and the advent of the LFD tool and teleporting to dungeons it has now become perfectly feasible for low level Alliance groups (approx 13-16?) to be made for running Ragefire Chasm (RFC) in the heart of Orgrimmar. Just be prepared for a looong ghost run from Razor Hill graveyard since Alliance can't use the one outside Orgrimmar.

See the first official guild run on the calendar. (Edit: now Done, see pic)

The Second Annual Yuletide Naked Gnome Race

The Cast:

Team A:
Cido (Cidella)
Métrille (Metrille)
Deelicious (Deelight)
Restin (Resti)

Team B:
Swaimi (Daimi)
Broccanini (Broccanne)
Tinyseren (Seren)
Sophjunior (Sophoceles)

Team C:
Jugalug (Juggernort)
Ilydantii (Dantii)
Baybeleo (Leolass)

Team D:
Tamsklet (Tamsk)
Santavana (Sativana)
Treezemie (Treezeke)
Vadsgnome (Vadaszkutya)



15 little gnomies sitting in their undies, one had to go wash-up… then there was 14.

Sophjunior was the first casualty of the evening, having to attend to something IRL (whether that WAS the washing up, I couldn't say).

I take this opportunity to curse Blizzard's decision to stop characters below level 10 from joining Raid groups, I've no idea why they did it and all it's done is make events like this one a major headache to keep track of…

We joined everyone up to the guild, picking up a stray gnome in the process (welcome to the guild Silíence) and then I gathered each of the teams together, one by one, and then got all the party leaders to create a ' /invite Tree ' macro so that I could whisper them and get an instant invite to the group.

That way I could spend the rest of the event partying with each group in turn in order to watch the progress.

I apologise for the brevity of this write up as I couldn't follow things anywhere near as well as I could last year.

I then announced the finish line for this years run… The Lighthouse at Venture Bay in Grizzly Hills, Northrend.

I advised the runners take stock of their choice of routes and discuss them before setting off and off they went.

They all made short work of the run out to Dun Morogh, no casualties were seen. Teams A and D headed straight for the road to Loch Modan (nobody went cross country this year I noticed). Team B also headed for Loch Modan but seemed to run to Ironforge first for some reason.

Team C were the only ones to head through Ironforge and catch the tram to Stormwind to grab the ship to Borean Tundra.

Team D was the first to Loch Modan but Restin was the first true casualty of the evening somewhere en route to Dun Algaz I believe. All three other teams hit trouble getting passed the orcs in the Dun Algaz pass, as usual.

Tamsklet: Resti was the point man going into Dun Algaz, I think, which left him first to be clobbered (and left me free to sprint through to be clobbered by the next orc along and res at the Wetlands GY).

With the change in rules this year allowing Resurrection at the Graveyard, this made for much quicker progress than before.

Team C landed in Borean Tundra and discovered getting out of Valiance Keep wasn't a particularly easy thing due to a LOT of Nerubians, this is where their real work began.

A, B and D had Spider issues in the Wetlands and then later discovered that the 'Res at the graveyard' rule change was quite the double edged sword. There is a graveyard in the heart of the swamp in the Wetlands that is no where near the road and surrounded by not very nice mobs.

Eventually, however, they all managed to wend their way to Menethil harbour, just in time to miss the ship to Howling Fjord. This did let them all catch up so all 11 of them were stood waiting for a ship to certain doom.

Tamsklet:11? No! This is where one of the really classic moments came in, with nine gnomes on the dock when the boat came in, and two from Team D still making their way across Menethil island; Sati had initially forgotten which dock the Northrend boat left from, but got it right second try, and Treezeke came pelting along to leap onto the steps just as we started to move off. Gripping stuff.

About this time Team C were paying a visit to the Druids of D. E. H. T. A. possibly playing with some poachers. They seemed a little indecisive about direction at this point but headed off to the East and the promise of a lift from the Tuskarr.

Jugalug:We did then compound the problem by forgetting which of the several Kaluak harbours the turtle boat actually stops at, Kaskala? Unipe? Moaki? err . . . Had things ran a little better for us on the transport I reckon it would have been a very close thing.

Teams A, B and D arrived in Howling Fjord, some managing to jump off the boat before the tedious loop through the cave, others didn't. They all headed up the cliff path and passed Utgarde. They all then headed West, some deciding to swim down the river in order to avoid the now seriously over levelled mobs, (in a river you can't aggro what can't swim).

Did I say 'all', sorry, I meant 'most'. For ereasons only known to them selves Restin and Deelicious decided to head North East, swimming their way up river. I may be a little guilty of pointing them in the right direction here (a job I believe Cid and Mét should really have done) but at that point Teams B and D were already starting to breach the Grizzly Hills borders anyway.

Team C had made their way to Unu'pe by now and caught the turtle boat to the middle of the South Dragonblight coast. They began their run passed Dragons and mages and teddybears (oh my!) to try and reach Venture Bay from the West.

As they reached the Eastern edge of Dragonblight, the first members of the other teams entered Grizzly hills.

Team B were in no way in the lead here but they were the team that had managed to keep closest together, a fact that later gave a strong 'moral to the tale'.

Santavana was the first gnome to reach the soft rocks behind the lighthouse, where I had been stood for what seemed so long, swapping teams. The first I was aware of it was as she ran up behind me and insta-died from the Elite mob stood 60 yds away.

I moved a ways from the hordes (oh, did I not mention that the Horde were in control of Venture Bay tonight LOL) so people could come and Trade with me to register their arrival.

I don't remember the exact order of arrival, but the outcome was that whilst all of Team D had arrived first, Tamsklet had managed to arrive trailing approximately half dozen wolves that used his little gnome body for a chew toy as soon as he got there. And his consequent ghost run gave Team B's final member time to arrive without the entourage and take the prize.

This almost ended differently because Yavonne had come to see the finish of the race and actually started Resurrecting Tamsklet and had to be sharply warned that should she succeed I would have to disqualify Tam for cheating.

Team C all came in together making their team third, they would've been closer in the running but there was some confusion of direction between Dragonblight and Grizzly Hills. It's not as easy as you think when you don't have any of the map uncovered, is it guys. Quite a lot of people don't remember where Venture Bay is off-hand.

Team A made it in fairly good time with the others, all apart from Deelicious who, rather unfortunately, got caught by how close the Deep Sea comes to the coast at the Howling Fjord/Grizzly Hills border and died of Fatigue while swimming around the coast. This put her right back to Kamagua.

So Prizes off 100g went to each of the members of the winning team: Swaimi, Broccanini and Tinyseren, and a further unmentioned prize of 100g for first place runner went to Santavana. Congratulations all (I didn't previously mention that one because I didn't want to encourage people to abandon their team.)

All in all a good, fun run again this year. I hope that the runners themselves can fill you all in on the episodes and amusing moments I missed due to location and Blizzard's nonsensical game changes.

Don't forget to get your gnomes out there taking amusing 'Holiday Snaps' for the 500g photo competition.

Have fun

PS Next year someone else can Referee so that I can take part