So, I've had a great first week in TOR, and I hope everyone else has too. We've got a pretty large, active group, and it's only growing.
With that in mind, and as we talked about briefly during Sunday's meeting, we will be putting the Mentoring system we've used in past games back into place for TOR. While this post may be a bit of a read, I guarantee that the application of the system itself is pretty non-intrusive into your day-to-day playtime.
Below is a description of the system itself, (as meant for the Mentor) then a list of it's purposes, and what you as a member can expect as well as how the system will effect you.
Every member of the TOR Chapter, from Guardsman rank and above, may at some point be called upon by the Officers to serve as a mentor to one of our new members. The role of mentor is a voluntary one and, should you not feel up to the task, you need only decline when the request is made of you.
The tasks of a mentor are simple: be a good friend to your new member, ask questions to get to know more about them, share stuff about yourself and your history with the guild, and encourage them to ask questions and participate in the random happenings around the community. The tasks of a mentor are not meant to be completed with one simple PM - the idea is to build a rapport with your charge and serve as their first point of contact within the guild.
By the time your role as mentor is complete, the new member should be a familiar face to most members within our chapter and they should have a clear understanding of the Guard's unique customs well enough to be prepared for acceptance into the ranks of Proper or full-member status within our chapter.
The tasks of a mentor will never be carried out alone. The Officers will always serve as a secondary mentor, maintaining contact with both you and your yeoman until the petitioner is ready for promotion to Guardsman rank. When you feel that time has arrived, it is your final task as a mentor to speak with the Officers and recommend your petitioner for promotion.
If you should ever have questions or need help with how to be a good mentor, don't feel embarrassed to ask. The specifics of the role are quite subjective and it can sometimes be easy to wonder where to get started or what to do next. No worries!
So that's the outline, and it should be pretty clear what the point of it is.
TSG started about almost 10 years ago, we've played in just about as many games in that time, and we've a pretty substantial history. While we in NO WAY expect new members to learn it all, we do feel it's important you get the bullet points. TSG is a community beyond TOR, and all of our members need to be aware of that - even if they choose not to participate in it.
With that in mind, as a new member you can expect to be told about when the Guard started, our leadership structure, what games we play in, our rules, our traditions, etc. You'll also be encouraged to post outside the TOR forums, to join us in mumble and Echo Rock, and in general become a full member of the guild.
I'll stop right there for a second and say this: while being mentored is required to be a full member of the Chapter anything above and beyond that is optional. There are benefits to participating in the guild as a whole: the ability to vote on guild decisions, the ability to lead a chapter, and the reward of being part of a rich community. But we know that some of you are really only interested in TOR, and that's fine. You'll go through your mentor ship, and that'll be that. For those who want something more though your mentor will teach you about the guild and will then put you on the road to becoming a "Proper Member", which is what we call those who stick around from game to game, and are a part of the greater TSG, not just TSG - TOR.
So - that should basically explain what we're doing and why. Any details and questions will be covered by your mentor, but feel free to ask if you have any now.
As far as how this will effect you - the answer is it won't - not much. You'll get a PM. You'll exchange tells in game. Hopefully you'll hop in mumble with your mentor and you can talk about all of this. The system is designed to be casual and un-intrusive. We can go at your pace, and you can learn as much or as little about the Guard as you like. If you'd like to become a full Proper member you can do that too, which will allow you to mentor others, become an Elder of the Guard, vote on decisions, and most importantly, shows that you've decided to stay with the TSG family.
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Anyways, sorry for the long read. Within the next week or so each new member to the TOR chapter (including Malorath, Rhino, etc, although expect a lot less contact for you guys, since you know a good portion of this and are already active on the boards) will be assigned a mentor, and they will contact you.
Once that person feels you're ready they'll recommend you to be a full member of the Guard. If you only want to be part of TSG-TOR, that's as far as this goes. Otherwise, we'll start the process of you becoming a Proper Member, which is itself not a difficult process.
If anyone has any questions at all please feel free to ask them, and also, if you're an existing member and would like to volunteer to be a mentor for this first batch of bunnies, please step up and say so, as we could certainly use a few more.
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