Ok, so what is Cogsprocket really?
We're a World of Warcraft guild on the Thunderhorn realm focusing primarily on playing the game for entertainment over competetive progression play. Founded on February 14th, 2005 we are one of the oldest guilds on Thunderhorn and boasting 289 members with 86 current max level characters (as of 07/21/2009) there are plenty of players currently in guild to facilitate most any activity. We are weekend raiders. Point of fact, our membership consists primarily of people who spend plenty of time away from keyboard, generally investing time in 40-hour work weeks, college schedules and social lives. We promote attention to personal lives over attendance and we treat matters of external personal issues with a level of reverance and appreciation.
Why "Thunderhorn's Premier Slacker Guild?"
First, to emphasize that we do not take ourselves too seriously. Second to promote the fact that we are indeed casual and up front about our desire to remain that way. Yes we raid, it's a part of the game, but we do not focus on how we stack up against other guilds as far as raiding progression is concerned.
How can I become a member?
We have an open enrollment policy. Anyone can join Cogsprocket and become a member. Members have all the priviledges of joining any guild with the exception that resources are limited to new invites. New members are kept at the rank of "Member" for a 1-2 week probational period to ensure that they're a good fit for the guild and not some nefarious no-goodnik out to clean our guild bank out and destroy the balance. After this period members are generally advanced to Sophomore automatically, a rank which provides more priviledges and the ability to invite other players.
How do I advance my rank?
Ranks beyond Sophomore are considered on a semi-regular basis via a round-table discussion of the officership. Consideration is given to members that stand out as helpful, non-combatative and interested in the greater good of the guild proper. Often this can appear as cronyism, however, the guild is a very large entity and generally promotions are handed out to those who stand out. If you have not been promoted in a long time a single, polite comment is considered appropriate. Multiple argumentative comments in public are offensive and may result in a long stay at your current rank or possibly demotion.
What is your loot policy
Our general raid loot policy is Master Looter, need rolls of 100 and greed rolls of 1000. Need rolls are considered only for main spec in order to outfit those who need gear the most. Greed rolls are considered for off spec and should be used accordingly. We outfit main talent specs first as a matter of facilitating progression and off spec as a matter of preventing useful gear from becoming enchanting materials. Raid members are encouraged to consider the raid as a whole when deciding whether to roll on drops or not.
These loot rules do not apply to a PUG. Any group consisting of more than 2 out-of-guild members is considered a PUG. The same random-roll/loot council system is used for PUG groups, however your main spec is whatever you enter the raid with. This is used to protect the raid from outsiders rolling on gear that is clearly not their main spec.
Are there exceptions to the loot policy?
Yes! While that is our general loot policy a raid leader has every right to institute their own loot policy, however disputes over loot policy changes will default to the plaintiff raid member if the raid leader did not outline the loot rules prior to saving a raid member to the raid instance. If such an event occurs it would behoove the raid leader to default to the general raid loot policy if a disagreement results.
What could get me kicked out of the guild?
Outside of the many disreputable things you can do within the World of Warcraft such as ninja-looting and general griefing anything that might disrupt the guild or give the guild a black eye could very well see you dismissed. We expect members of the guild to treat each other with respect and consideration. In general personal issues are your own to solve. Do not ask the guild leadership to take a side on your personal argument. We do not police your language in guild chat, but when offensive remarks are made directly at another member those remarks may result in dismissal.
But I'm a great raider! You surely wouldn't kick me would you?
You have no idea how many times we've kicked or lost our best healer. At least that's how it was expressed to us as those members left. Understand that running any current instance is a team sport. No one of us will clear a current level raid on our own. Our motto in regards to raiding members who choose to become disruptive is "just because you're important, does not mean you are neccessary." The result is that often times members who think they will recieve special treatment because they have high DPS, high threat or high healing numbers find themselves left out in the cold because, frankly, with nearly 300 members there's bound to be another "best healer" just waiting to take your spot.
The guild isn't really for me, I think I want to leave.
That's perfectly fine. We can't be everything for everyone. Should you choose to leave of your own accord we hope you will do it on good terms. We have many friends outside of the guild who found it just wasn't for them and we'd like to keep that friendship despite the fact that they no longer fill our green text.
