SWU Event "After Party" Time

Friends and Guildmates,

I'd like to emphasize something in regard to our regularly scheduled roleplay events. From this time forward, it is no longer permissible to utilize our "after party" time following SWU-hosted community events for furthering personal storyline arcs.

The sole exceptions to this rule are:

• If permission has been obtained in advance from either myself or another Officer. (And even then, expect that this permission will be granted sparingly at the most.)
• If the progressive-style roleplay situation/session pertains to the active Guild Main Storyline. (Once again, the Officers and/or I would sparingly exercise this privilege.) 

Traditionally, one of the cornerstones of our "after party" time is to further and maintain the great reputation of approachability which we're very well known for as a guild.  It's that friendly demeanor and welcoming, inclusive manner in which we openly conduct ourselves that encourages walk-ups overall.  This is how we consistently make new friends and acquaintances, both personally and as a guild. This is also how we've made many friends and allies over the years who remain with us today.

This approachability has also been a fairly effective recruitment tool for us over the years.  Newcomers to our events oftentimes see what we're about during this time, and it helps to socialize with them and help them to feel more included. To feel like they matter to us as fellow RPers and trailblazing leaders of positive community roleplay involvement.  And best of all, we're promoting something non-exclusive!  Something that they can partake in and easily be a part of!  This is vital, as a surprisingly large majority of guilds are very closed-off and give off an air of exclusion.  We do not!

Additionally, and possibly even more importantly, our "after party" time has been an excellent method for us to remain in contact with many of our non-SWU friends and allies, and to help maintain those relationships. In some cases, these occasions are the only time we may have with said person(s) outside of scheduled RP events throughout the community (ours, theirs and others').

Furthermore I strongly feel that our "after party" time, above all else, is meant to be social time for everyone involved.  No one should be pulling focus upon themselves and their personal storylines while there are non-SWU members around.  No one should be imposing their personal storyline progression upon others - be they SWU members or not - without any sort of warning or acknowledgment of their willingness to participate.

The "after party" is a time for winding down and taking a welcome breather into more casual, and ostensibly, pleasant situations ICly.  (And OOCly, as many of us - especially event runners - welcome the opportunity to just settle down from their duties and not feel pressured or urged into further critical-thinking and/or dramatic situations!)  

As a final note, I will also ask that any pretense of cliquishness that could be perceived during these times also immediately ceases moving forward. This is both within and without the guild, as it instills a connotation that "these three" or "those two" are ICly exclusively involved with their own content, and there's no point in even attempting to interact.

Get up and talk to people.  Engage actively in the conversations around you.  If everybody does this, then no one will ever have to worry about feeling excluded or like they don't have an "in" to join the active roleplay at hand.  If you feel the need to whisper and conspire among yourselves, leave the immediate area so as not to disturb or distract anybody else.  (And even this, within reason!  What's the point of being in a guild/social group if your characters constantly move off to the side to do their own thing?!) 

We are zero tolerance about that sort of behavior as a whole, and all of you know that by now, so consider this a generous final warning.

If any of the above mentioned behavior is noted by the Officer team, we will first issue a warning via PMs, and on the second offense, consequences up to and including termination of membership in Stormwind University will be incurred.

~ Amara & the Officer Team