Knights Of Sparta

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.