Council Chambers: Ready To Go

Council Chambers is all about the ins and outs of guild leadership in Star Wars: The Old Republic.  Each week, we’ll look at running and managing a guild through good times, bad times and everything in between.  

On December 3, the Pre-Launch Guild Program came to an end. In the following announcement – on both the official site and the official forums – the customer service representatives explain what to expect in the coming days:

Today we are announcing that the Pre-Launch Guild Program for Star Wars™: The Old Republic™ has come to an end. Guilds that have met the prerequisite of having four members redeem their Pre-Order Codes at our Code Redemption Center are now locked for transfer into the game in time for our December 20th launch.

If your guild has qualified for import, you can expect to receive an email at some time over the next several days. This email will give you further details on how to check the status of your guild as well as further details about how to join your guild once you’re in the game. Your email will also tell you which server your guild has been assigned to, so you will know which one to select when Early Game Access begins. While we will do everything we can to ensure that your Allies and Adversaries are on your server with you, we can’t necessarily guarantee that every guild will see their Allies and Adversaries on their server with them.

We want to thank each and every one of you who took part in the program, and we look forward to seeing you all in the game!

You can also read about it in our recent update on the topic, as well. This is something that we had known was coming, and discussed in last week’s article the specifics that guild leaders should do to prepare for the end of the Pre-Launch Program. Now that the Pre-Launch Guild Program has ended, guild leaders can no longer make any changes to their current roster, add or remove allies and adversaries, and are largely in a holding pattern with respect to guild management between now and launch.

So what is there for guild leaders to do over the next two weeks to prepare? First – as we discussed last week, the Guild Headquarters and its websites on the official forums will be closing two weeks after launch. That means in a little over a month from now! For guild leaders and officers, that’s a lot closer than you may realize.

Server Assignments

According to the above announcement from BioWare, guild leaders should expect to receive an email sometime in the next several days, with instructions on both how to check the status of your guild as well as the assigned server for your guild from the pre-launch program. Remember, you can create your guild on any server you want. The benefit of the pre-launch assigned server just means that the guild will already exist and prompt your first character, upon logging in to the appropriate faction, if you want to join the guild. If you want to have your guild reside elsewhere, you’re free to have your members roll on any server you like and form your guild there through the in-game guild formation process.

Once you receive word of your assigned server, you will want to let your fellow guild members know what server your guild was assigned. When the game opens for early access, guilds members will need to roll a character on that server, and of the faction to which your guild belongs, before they have the option of joining the guild. Especially for those guilds with fairly early pre-orders, you will want to distribute this news as quickly as possible. Early access may begin as soon as December 15th for pre-orders, which is less than two weeks away.  The easiest way to do this is to post an announcement in your guild forums, though additional lines of communication, like Twitter or email, work equally well.

Next Steps

The other thing you will want to do in this down time is to prepare your guild both for launch, and also begin preparations for the closing of the Guild Headquarters.  Guild leaders and officers will want to be looking around for hosting alternatives for their guild websites and forums over the next month, and preparing to set up their guilds on new websites and transition the members over to these. This is no easy task; while the mechanics are not terribly difficult, moving guild members from one forums site to another is a lot like herding cats. It’s chaotic in the worst of circumstances, and confusing in the best of them.

Does this mean the guilds are being transported to Boba Fett's cargo hold now?

What are some good features to look for in a new hosting site? That depends on a few things. First – are you looking for free hosting, or paid hosting? Most websites do offer both packages. In general, there is a free version that will include a much more streamlined (read: stripped down) version of the functionality and features of paid sides, and then a paid hosting option (usually with a monthly fee) that includes a number of useful or advanced features. Each option has pros and cons, of course. You’ll want to think about what your own means are in terms of paying a monthly fee for a site; some sites will post PayPal links for member contributions to chip in for the site hosting.

Forums and You

You will also want to take some time to think about how often you want your members participating in the site and the forums. For some guilds, forums participation is a must; for others, it’s not essential. If your guild falls into the latter category, then paying for hosting is probably not something you need. For the former though, it’s worth considering – a lot of the features you will want are included in premium hosting packages, and the advertisements can get annoying for regular users.

Once you settle on an alternate site for your guild members, you will need to start working on design and porting content over from the existing TOR forums. The good news is, most of the guild hosting sites are very user-friendly and easy to set up. Whether you’re a skilled scripter or brand new to back-end functionality, the hosted sites make setting up a new site very straightforward. In fact, Enjin even has a series of TOR-themed templates you can use for your site.

The other alternative for web hosting is to design your own site. This requires more work up front, but also has the significant advantage of providing exactly what you want, where you want, and how you want it. However, this option is significantly less user-friendly and requires a significant amount of time to develop. You will need a decent understanding of scripting languages, and ideally either some experience with Photoshop or another graphics editing program, or someone else in the guild that is ready to pitch in and help.

Once you have determined whether you need a new website or will make do without after the first of the year, those who do set up shop elsewhere will need to begin the task of populating content. This may include writing up any rules or guidelines for your TOR guild, copying over popular or useful threads from the official site, or trying to track down some interesting screenshots and graphics to add a look and feel that suits your organization.

The Future of Guild HQ?

It should be interesting to see what the new Guild Headquarters looks like and what features it will include once it re-opens to TOR guilds. Next week, we can look at that question a little further, as well as evaluating whether or not allowing and then closing guild forums through the official site is a good idea or could cause challenges in trying to draw back guilds once the new Guild HQ opens. As always, feel free to write in with your own guild management questions, too!

Got a question for Council Chambers?  Drop a line to ladyoftherepublic@gmail.com or post a comment here, and you may see your guild questions answered in a future column.