Highlighted Guild
- Grievance – both factions
This week’s guild has been in several games for many years. They have been through several changes in their own ranks and seen changes in the gaming landscape. Despite all these changes, they have held onto a simple code…Family, Honor and Loyalty. We will get to know this guild more with the help of Bellyphat, the director of the Grievance Community Outreach Group. He will help us understand how this guild maintains a high level of gameplay and still holds onto their valued ideals.
More about the guild Grievance after the Jump…
- Guild Q&A
Grievance has a long history in various games. Can you tell us which games your guild is or has played? What brought your guild to SWTOR?
Grievance was originally formed in EverQuest on October 15th, 2000. Since EQ, our strongest presences have been in Dark Age of Camelot, Star Wars Galaxies, EverQuest 2, World of Warcraft, and now Star Wars: The Old Republic. We’ve also had Grievance members play and/or form Grievance guilds in Vanguard, Aion, Rift, League of Legends, DC Universe, Battlefield Bad Company 2 and 3, and Eve Online. Grievance became a trademarked organization in 2009, uniting all our affiliate guilds under an organizational charter and led by our Progenitor, Steelheart, and a seven member Council. We’re proud to say that since then the organization has expanded steadily and enjoyed some great games.
Our EverQuest 2 guild is still strong and active to this day. Recently we had many members want to play Battlefield Bad Company 3 as a clan rather than solo, so they were up and running in the Grievance FPS Division. Our Ambassador Core explores smaller games, betas, and independent games to see if a guild presence is warranted for our members; they’re currently researching and laying the ground work for a corporation in Eve Online.
SWTOR was a game that could not release fast enough for Grievance – before SWTOR we had started guilds in Rift, but our members lost interest in it so fast. Then last summer a significant number of Grievance members received invites to beta test SWTOR and the Organization went nuts. With so many testing, the interest in the game went crazy. On pre-order day, we had about 75 people in Ventrilo all waiting for SWTOR to go on sale. It was amazing to see so much enthusiasm for a game. Let’s be frank – it’s Star Wars developed by Bioware, and that was more than enough to get our attention.
artwork from Grievance guild member
Grievance has chapters in both factions. How is this working so far? Why did you decide to have the Grievance’s factions on different servers? What type of server does Grievance play on?
It’s working perfectly! When you split your player base it gets a little scary. In Rift we went in with both factions, and it was great. When I joined Grievance in Rift beta, I always wondered if the guild would have been better off all on one side. After I played both sides though, I realized that without giving members the choice to play either faction, it probably would have made some members leave, as some just did not like the other faction. We’ve found that it’s easier to please a large member base if both factions are available. This has held true for SWTOR, and here we even have members that play both factions – we just ask to be updated on which faction is a member’s primary choice.
No guild bank is a known issue, besides that has Grievance found other guild issues or some feature that your guild would like to see added to the game?
We’ve heard rumors about this that got us excited – right now I think the biggest feature we would like to see added is an app that would allow players to send companions out on missions or craft remotely when not online. Other features would be new innovative Warzone scenarios, more options when it comes to character customization and our personal space ships, guildhalls or guild space-stations. We would also like to see new cities, new planets to explore, new races, and more guild related events and functions.
How would Grievance describe their gameplay in the MMO environment? Is there an area that you all excel at?
Grievance has all types of players, from hard core players that are on all waking hours and reach max adventuring level and crafting level in record time. We also have casual players who set their own pace as they cannot dedicate as much time to a game that others can. The majority of our member base is somewhere in between.
I think the best thing we excel at is the learning curve. We seem to always have someone that knows the exact strategy, recipe, or quest that someone needs help with. We have active forums where strategies and skill trees are posted and discussed at length. Not to boast, but we always have members that play the Warzones scenarios and excel at them. We’re not traditionally PVP players, but one of the best things about Grievance is our versatility!
Family, Honor and Loyalty are all strong themes throughout your website. How does Grievance translate this philosophy into the game?
Our members are proud of the Grievance organization – we are like an extended family. In all my years of gaming I have never had the head of 900+ member gaming Organization give me a call to take the time to answer some questions that I had posted on the forums. Grievance and its members realize that everyone has obligations outside of gaming. We would all love to play games as much as possible, but real life and family comes first, and that is understood throughout the organization. Grievance does not push members to get to max level immediately, though we do require that members are geared to raid and will help them reach that goal by joining them in flashpoints or crafting. We have all been in guilds that punish to some degree when people miss scheduled events, but not us. Just let us know with a quick word in vent or on the forums, we understand!
Honor, to us, is treating fellow Grievance members with respect and representing Grievance well outside of guild functions. For example, while in pick-up groups we expect guild members to treat people with respect as we do our guildmates. Courtesy, common sense, and treating people how you’d like to be treated all fall into our definition of honor.
Loyalty runs very deep in Grievance. One simple example is crafting in games. We promote crafting items for cost between guildies. We also help members in real life situations: just recently a Grievance member fell from a roof and had serious injuries. The organization came together and members donated a sizable sum of money to send to the family. We’re happy to report he is improving, and are kept updated on his condition regularly by a close friend who is also a member of Grievance.
While looking through your website, I noticed your guild is having a live guild event later this year. This fit your family, honor and loyalty philosophy. Does the guild plan these types of events often?
Grievance has a “family reunion” every year (the Annual Get Together, aka Geek Fest) where members meet and spend the weekend together. We know the majority of our members have kids so these are definitely family friendly events. This year we are going to Orlando, Florida. There is no requirement to go, it’s fully optional and it’s even open to non-Grievance members who wish to attend and get to know us better outside of the game. We even plan to broadcast it this year for members that cannot make it.
Every January the Progenitor, Steelheart, holds the State of Grievance Address for all members and affiliate guilds. This is always our biggest meeting. The Progenitor talks about the plans and goals for the Grievance Organization in the coming year and years to come. Last year we had to upgrade our Ventrilo server to make room for everyone, and many couples had to share space. These meetings, as well as the monthly Council meetings, are open to the public and held monthly in Ventrilo.
What class/advance class are you playing and what level are you at?
I have never played a tank class or the “bad” faction before, so it’s a first for me as I am playing a Sith Juggernaut. All my alts are on the Empire side. I do have an alt on the Republic side that I plan to play a bit later on. My highest level character is 31.
This is where “family comes first” aspect of Grievance benefits members like me – I have to concentrate on my daughter more now as she gets older so my play time is less. I am usually on vent though even if not in game. I also have three boys that love the game, and only one is old enough to read so he has his own character. My other two boys get planted in a zone where they can easily kill all creatures and enemies.
How does Grievance, as a guild, handle loot drops in Flashpoints and Operations?
In flashpoints it’s “group rules” – whatever rules the group agrees on is fine. Usually it’s need-before-greed with the needs of companions falling under Greed.
Operations will run a bit differently. First of all, a player can decide whether they wish to be a Member or a Raider rank. With Members we hold to the philosophy that it’s their $15 and they can play how they wish as long as they show up to guild meetings. With Raiders there will be some minimum requirements like being level 50 and mandatory attendance to raids if online during raid time.
Grievance will be using a modified DKP system that has evolved over the last decade since EverQuest. DKP will be used in operations wherever we can apply it fairly. After all these years it has become apparent that (for us) there just isn’t a better system.
Is Grievance currently recruiting? If so which faction and classes does your guild need?
At the moment, both SWTOR Grievance guilds are in open recruitment for adults age 18+. This is not going to last to much longer, and may become limited since we are starting to get members close to raiding capabilities.
It’s too early to tell what is needed, though right now (funny enough) the Republic guild needs DPS. This is funny because DPS is usually the largest group of people – our family friendly players are taking care of each other playing a majority of tanks and healers. The Empire side is a tad short on tanks. We have a few of our hardcore members playing tanks, but we are falling short with lower level tanks. There is always an open invitation to (real life) friends and family to join Grievance, no matter what state of recruitment we are in.
What steps does a potential recruit need to do in order to join?
First we ask is that you are an adult age 18+. You have to register on the Grievance site forums and then post an introduction in the Forum Registration / Applications section. If there is a family or couple applying, we ask that each person registers and posts an introduction individually. We do require that everyone use Ventrilo, and let’s face it – how can you ever go back to typing after using a voice chat program? Long gone are those days of typing boss instructions like in EQ. Along with the Grievance organizational charter, we have a SWTOR Guild charter that people must read and agree to.
What are the requirements for members to remain in good standing?
Activity! We have gone great lengths to inform members of what is going on in Grievance. We have a Facebook page and a twitter account that post news bits when a topic is started or replied to, and have also installed “Tapatalk” on our forums so that members can access the forums from their smartphone with ease. Again, we realize that real life happens. We don’t want people to think they have to hit the forums once a month and/or post/reply to a topic so that they don’t get kicked. If members need some time away then we just ask that they post in the forums that they will be away. We have many active members of the military that post when they will be deployed and inactive.
We’re happy to report that many Grievance members who took a break from gaming due to choice or real life obligations have joined us again in SWTOR. Grievance is looking forward to many years enjoying the game.
Please check us out at our website, or on Facebook at World of Grievance, and on Twitter. Our contacts, including me, are listed on the website.
Does the idea of a guild being like a family interest you, or being with others looking to conquer challenges in-game, but never forgetting Family, Honor, and Loyalty? If so you might look into the guild, Grievance. They are recruiting and looking to add more quality members to their ranks. I want to thank Grievance and their members for being on Guild Checkpoint, especially thanks to Bellyphat for all the help and time.
Remember, if you would like to have your guild to be highlighted on Corellian Run Radio, please submit your guild’s name and website in an email to me at jason@corellianrun.com. May the Force be with you all!
One of the greatest organizations you will ever find 🙂
Glad you approve and I think Grievance is a great group of folks 🙂