Guild:Dark Siege Academy

The Dark Siege Academy (DSA) is a training school and assistance center which helps lower level players prepare for Dark Siege membership and accelerates their progress so they can join the guild sooner.

It is an initiative of Dark Siege guild leaders / members and is designed to ultimately serve the needs of the guild as a whole.

Goals of the Academy

The Dark Siege Academy is to fulfill the following goals:

To make recruiting active lower levels easier and bring them into the Dark Siege family faster by having something to offer them appropriate to their needs.
Give the player and the guild a chance to form an impression of each other before an application to join is submitted.
Stimulate a sense of helpfulness and team play in new guild members.
To create a bond of friendship and loyalty between students and the guild, so the students are likely to stay with the guild longer once joining (ideally for good).

Size and Scope

It will be important to not sacrifice the quality of the candidates to achieve quantity. The DSA will function under the following restrictions:

A hard limit of five students in the academy.
The number of students can be reduced by guild management at any time should the guild not require more 'up and comers' to maintain membership level balance.
There is no need for the training program to be full at any given time. We only admit good candidates and if there is no such candidate, then there is nobody in the program.
Ideally students should be spread out - not all at same stage / level
No cheaters, no really young, no major language issues, no attitude problems apparent at time of application.

Academy Trainees

Candidates for the DSA should have a reasonable expectation of achieving high levels reasonably quickly and make a positive contribution to the guild's social life and operations.

The following description of the 'ideal' DSA student is designed to help in identifying the ideal candidate:

They level up fast, clearing the program in 2-3 weeks and achieving level 60 or better in 2-3 weeks after that.
They are active and pro-active. They take the initiative, play hard and take responsibility for their own success.
They contribute to the guild and their guild mates.
They are courteous and fun to have around.

Benefits and Responsibilities

Benefits to Students

The following are the concrete benefits DSA students can expect:

Mentors (DSA staff) and Guild Expertise
Tutorials and Leveling Guides (DSA Forum Section)
Equipment loans (modest starter gear)
Buffs (from DSA staff)
Modest starter gold
Peer support and friendship
Guild infrastructure (once promoted to Squire).

Responsibilities of Students

Students at the academy are expected to fulfill the following expectations:

Be active, push hard on leveling.
Report on their progress.
Help each other, especially players in levels below them.
Contribute to DSA guides and tutorials
Learn game and Dark Siege guild essentials
Pass tests / quizzes (simple and straightforward)
Hand down or give back equipment as they outgrow it.

Academy Staff

Academy staff are responsible for the smooth operation of the school. They handle admissions, track equipment, provide mentoring and buffs, write tutorials, administers quizes, track progress and approve advancement. Academy staff are responsible for ensuring number of students is manageable, and need to keep in touch with the guild recruiter and leadership to ensure the guild's needs are being met.

The staff positions are roles within the college and not guild ranks.

Academy Headmaster

The Headmaster is ultimately responsible for the overall success of the college. In this role he coordinates staffing, ensures rules are followed and enforced and watches for overall adjustments to how the college runs. The Headmaster reports to and is responsible to the guild leadership on how the academy is doing.

The Headmaster is appointed by the guild leadership.

Academy Dean

The Dean is responsible for the specifics of the academy program and tracking student progress. They watch for required adjustments to training techniques and library materials. They are further responsible for assigning specific instructors as mentors to the students.

The Dean is appointed by the guild leadership.

Academy Quartermaster

The Quartermaster tracks all school assets (largely equipment). They encourage and coordinate equipment hand offs to other students as equipment is outgrown and monitors for contravention of school rules with respect to those assets (ie. theft and hoarding). The Quartermaster also works closely with the guild's Merchant And Auctioneer to ensure equipment levels for the school are appropriate and that guild tagged items at the school's level are managed properly.

The Quartermaster is appointed by the guild leadership.

Academy Instructors

Academy Instructors are guild volunteers (and of course the Headmaster, Dean and Quartermaster are instructors) who take on the role of mentor for students. They are available for advice and help, provide buffs, can supplement the equipment and/or gold of the student as required. Instructors are not nursemaids. It is important for students to learn how to fend for themselves and be inter-dependent with, but not dependent on, others. In this regard instructors are encouraged to teach HOW to find an answer more than provide the answer, HOW to achieve something rather than do it for them.

The Dean manages which instructors are assigned as designated mentors to which students, but obviously personal bonds factor in strongly when they exist.

Academy Resources

Forums

The DSA will have an area of the Guild's forums dedicated to the school. Forum Sections might be:

Staff Room. This area is used by academy staff and guild leaders to discuss academy operations and specific students.
Library. This area contains tutorials and reference material specifically designed for use by low levels.
Drill Hall. In this area, each student creates a thread for themselves, reports progress, asks questions, does quizzes, etc. We make each student currently in school a sticky and let them drop down or move to an archive when they leave.

IRC

The main means of interactive chat inside the school will be an IRC channel dedicated to the school. Mentors and students can set up whatever other mechanisms they like as well (MSN, Yahoo, etc.)

irc://irc.gothador.com/dsacademy

Squires will obviously have access to guild chat as well.

Equipment Inventory and Backpack Space

School equipment and inventory will use as little guild resources as possible. Gear under level 20 will not be guild tagged or use guild storage. Guild over level 20 will be guild tagged but use as little guild storage as can be managed. The preferred storage mechanism will be on the backs of students or in the back packs of academy staff.

The DSA Program

All DSA students will exhibit a distintive DSA identifying graphic icon in their avatars and indicate their DSA membership and stage in their bios.

Admission

Students are admitted based on guild staff's assessment of their likely hood to succeed in the school and as guild members. This will be determined through an IRC interview between staff and students. At least two of the Headmaster, Dean or Quartermaster must approve the admission.

Cadet (Levels 5-19)

The goal of an Cadet is to get to Squire (lvl 20) as quickly as possible and learn the basic techniques of game play and guild rules.

The Cadet is not a member of the guild, but are admitted to the forums as a visiting member, and can access the Library and Drill Hall. They do their leveling under the guidance and assistance of the academy staff and have a mentor assigned. They are able to request buffs, use academy equipment (often handed down from advancing students) and can be provided with shopping gold to fill equipment gaps.

Squire (Levels 20-30)

Upon achieving level 20 (or if admitted to the school at a level > 20) the student is eligible for advancement to Squire. The student must have achieved the goals expected of an Cadet and exhibit a sense of commitment to the guild and the process. A quiz focused on guild policy is administered as well as an IRC interview, and advancement must be approved by all (Headmaster, Dean and Quartermaster).

The goal of an Squire is to graduate to full guild membership as quickly as possible, become acquainted with guild members and learn the basics of guild operations.

They are admitted to the guild with the rank of Squire, allowing use of guild inventory, chat and structure bonuses. This should enable them to level at even more rapid pace.

Once they have attained the rank of Squire they can submit their application for full guild membership. They MUST apply upon attaining level 30.

Graduation

Upon achieving level 30, the student is eligible for graduation. The Headmaster, Dean and Quartermaster must approve their graduation and they must be accepted as a member of the guild in order for them to be an 'official graduate.'

Graduates are provided with an icon graphic they can use in the forum and on their AV for as long as they remain in the guild.

Expulsion

Student expulsions will be done in consultation with Guild leadership and handled as gracefull as possible. Expulsion requires unanimous approval of the Headmaster, Dean and Quartermaster and the approval of at least one founder. Expelled students will be free to apply for guild membership as per usual, but the reason for their expulsion will be known to the guild and factored in.

Students may be expelled from the school for the following reasons:

They fail to level quickly enough or learn required material
They fail to exhibit sufficient commitment or activity
Attitude issues are discovered that make them unlikely to be accepted into the guild
They seriously and knowingly breach school or guild rules.

Leave of Absence

Should a student not be able to make the commitment to progress required of the school, they are encouraged to voluntarily take a leave of absence from the school until such time as they can. This will not reflect badly on the student, as honesty is encouraged and real life takes priority.

Academy Rules

All guild rules apply, except that Cadets are not expected to contribute to guild upkeep.

All students are expected to pass down or give back guild provided training equipment. Loaned gear is not to be tagged, sold, destroyed or distributed outside the guild or academy.

Cadets are not protected by guild alliances but are expected to abide by them (no attacking allies).