Change In Management

[Elysse]

The time has come to pass on the reigns of leadership of Royal Steel. I've been in here for a long time now, and really I've stayed too long. Royal Steel needs someone to lead it who has a plan for where to go with the guild. I don't have that any longer. I've been far to hands off, especially lately and have lost touch with what the most active players in the guild want, probably to the detriment of the guild itself.

I love Royal Steel. I wouldn't have put so much effort into saving it after the near fatal split a few years ago. I had a lot of people telling me the guild was going to die. I didn't want that to happen and fortunately a lot of you didn't either. To everyone who stuck with the guild in those times, who helped keep it alive despite all the pain, thank you very, very much.

Sometime pretty soon I will be passing the leadership on to Squey. He's stupidly...er, bravely, agreed to take over. I wish him good luck and hope for a bright future for Royal Steel.

See you in guild chat,
Elysse

[Squey]

First.. i just want everyone to know.. i will not be kicking people or anything like that ... what i want to do with Royal Steel is build it back up to what it use to be (or so i have heard)... i want us to be a Raiding guild.. and eventually i want us to be doing 25 man and all having a blast with it... i don't want to turn this into hardcore come raiding or you're out.. or anything like that... somewhere in between hardcore and casual... i hope you all will stay and at least give me a chance and see what you think of things... if you have any suggestions or complaints or just want to talk about all this.. just send me a tell, in-game mail, or anything and i will try my hardest to answer everything i can... i hope to see you all around and hope we can get this all worked out and get back to having as much fun as i use to raiding with you guys

Thank you all in advance.. and please, don't hesitate to talk to me if you have questions

[Bushikatagi]

This is wonderful news. I don't mean to say Elysse did a bad job leading the guild. It's lasted this long hasn't it?

But seriously, the guild has slowly been losing people for a long time. I felt we should have recruited long ago when 25mans were our only option but people did not want to do so then. Now we have the option of 10man but still we lose people and it's become so stagnant that we've lost even enough for that. I don't know if a recruitment blitz would be a great idea but I like the goal of 25mans. I hope this brings some life back into the guild.

[Erianya]

I for one, welcome our new gnomish overlord.

And to Elysse, thanks for your years of dedication and effort. Without that, RS would not be what it is today. You've earned a break from the top spot.

And congrats to Squey on becoming GL!

[Synalon]

It's been obvious for awhile that Elysse has been pre-occupied and while that is fine it probably is time for a change of emphasis. Elysse did an awesome job of keeping RS afloat (I joined a few days after the initial split and then watched stunned as my new guild lost member after member) and then steering us through to this point in time and I will always consider Elysse as one of the stars of RS!

In a lot of respects the high regard I have for many of the RS folk has made it hard for me to do the thing I don't want to do... leave. But it's been sad and depressing watching RS fade away so just yesterday I spent a number of hours researching and selecting raiding guilds on a new server to send my application to.

In all honesty I'm of two minds over how this can pan out - it's nothing to do with Squey (Grats!) but rather the problems associated with building a successful friendly-casual 25man raiding guild. Doing pug 25 man raids (especially) you see it all; the greed, the stupidity, arrogance... it goes on and I'd rather see the goal of doing 25man raids fail than RS become just a collection of self absorbed loot whores. Keeping it small and running 10man is possibly the best compromise that can be found - I don't know really but I do know, this will be the true test of Squey's leadership . I'll stick around and see how it goes.

I'm going to leave it at that because this isn't the time to be discussing the ins and outs of the new direction of RS but rather to salute Elysse and welcome Squey as the new top dude!

[Bushikatagi]

Maybe it is the time to be discussing the ins and outs of the new direction. Rather it is talked about here than discussed hidden somewhere.

I don't think just by nature of having 25 people it will be all about the loot. Perhaps if we did a recruiting blitz like I mentioned we would get a lot of unscrupulous people, but if it's done controlled I think it can be just fine. That being said, 10man certainly is still a great option.

I think goals are a good thing, whatever happens we need an official goal.

[Kallinan]

First, congratulations to Squey! Thanks so much for taking this on. It means a lot to me to see Royal Steel continue on.

Second, thanks so much to Elysse. Knowing how hard guild leader can be, I appreciate all the effort that has been put forth. Whether it's listening to and inviting recruits, installing a good guild culture, or dealing with the occasional complaint... it can be a emotionally draining job. Not only did Elysse do a fabulous job, but he oversaw the most stable and arguably successful period of Royal Steel for, what, 2 years now?

[edit] Doh, I totally missed the important line in Synalon's post! I thought he was leaving!!!

[Dureena]

Thanks so much, Elysse, for everything you've done. And thanks to Squey for stepping up! You will do a great job, I know!

[Fiorella]

Elysse, Thanks for being there for our good times and never giving up through our bad times

And Grats Squey! good luck

[Valryn]

Just an echo to the previous comments, I'd like to thank Elysse for taking the helm a few years ago and guiding Royal Steel out of some rough waters and into clearer days. It was a hell of a job, and one we all greatly appreciate even if we didn't come right out and say it.

Change isn't something to be scared of, so congratulations Squey, and I look forward to seeing Royal Steel full steam ahead.

[Barachus]

Well. As any good dwarf would do at a time like this . . .

I raise me tankard to ye, Elysse, fer a job well done.

Barachus raises his stein in salute and downs the entire mug in one gulp.

Juss lemme refill it right quick.

Alrighty! I raise me tankard to ye, Squey, fer steppin up like the man ye be.

Barachus looks around the room for Squey, and notices that he's very short for a leader type.

Is that a GNOME?! Yer turnin our clan o'er to a GNOME?! There be goin the neighborhood! Oh well . . .

Barachus raises his stein in salute and downs the mug in one gulp, then belches loudly.

I'm gonna need that to fortify meself fer the future!

[Bezeltorque]

Thank you for all your effort, Elysse. I too remember when RS was at risk of dissolving altogether. You took over at a very tough time and did a great job. Congratulations to Squey. I'm all in favor of Gnomes ruling the world!

Bezeltorque