Mercing, Joining Raids or Opening Slots.

[Bj_Knows]

Subject
Mercing, Joining Raids or Opening Slots. A Guide for Merc & Guild, Being Polite

DRAFT
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Abuse and harassment are not tolerated, even in Guild Chat, by Mercs or Guild members. Report each instance of abuse and each of your responses [unless no response was the appropriate response], since only “reported” Chat messages/ lines are saved to the abuse server and you need to preserve the whole incident for review.



For Low RPP/ Skunk Mercs

Subject
Reporting Skunk Mercs
https://www.venan.com/boh_forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=7082

MY PERSONAL OPINION
I do not work for Venan.

I have submitted several ideas for how to deal with Merc vs Guild situation (Note 1). But given the *current* BoH, here are my recommendations:

Open Raid Merc Etiquette 101
Use at least a full Energy Bar in each Raid you Merc,
If possible, spend at least 24 additional Energy of regen or Energy Potions, in each Raid you Merc,
If you find out Guild Chat is inappropriate for you (ex: minor in Fresh Hell), please let a Guild Officer know you have mistakenly joined an inappropriate Raid,
Thank your host Guild.



Password Protected Merc Etiquette 101
Before joining, or spending any Energy, see if they have special rules for all Raids or *current* Raid including Guild Chat,
Notify the Guild if you are running Elixir of Vitality (it will screw up regen for Ties) or Burning GS (it will screw up Ties),
Pay attention to Guild Chat,
Unless Guild trying for Ties, use at least a full Energy Bar in each Raid you Merc,
Unless Guild trying for Ties, if possible for you, spend at least 24 additional Energy of regen or Energy Potions, in each Raid you Merc,
Participate in Guild Chat if time permits,
Thank your host Guild.



Open Raid Guild Etiquette 101
Do not cancel the Raid, unless the Mercs agree with the Guild on cancelling,
If you find out Guild Chat is inappropriate for a Merc (ex: minor in Fresh Hell), please let the Guild know to keep it appropriate until the Merc has left (usually 15 minutes after Reward Mail),
Be Polite in Guild Chat.



Password Protected Guild Etiquette 101
Before letting Mercs join, or spend any Energy, let them know if you are cancelling/ Farming Guild Loyalty,
When giving a Merc the password, send a BoH Mail with any special rules for Guild Raids or *current* Raid including Guild Chat,
If you decide to Tie, explain to Merc and Guilds what you plan to do if Gold Finish going Silver, or Silver Finish going Bronze.
If you decide to Tie, explain what you plan to do if one Guild member or one Merc accidently/ “accidently”/ on purpose violates the Tie,
If you change your password regularly, let trusted Mercs know where they can find the current password on the Internet (Livejournal, Facebook, Twitter, etc.)
Be Polite in Guild Chat.



Edit

MERC, GOOD LIST
2014-Nov-21

Make a "Good Merc" list and send them schedules and passwords

Yes, making a "Good Merc" list is a way better idea since this thread (Loafers) will most likely get deleted as it will definitely break our rules of conduct if it continues. Always decide to do something positive for the community here instead of negative.
https://www.venan.com/boh_forum/viewtopic.php?p=36708#p36708

Note: You can set up a Message App Group (ex: Line), Blog Community (ex: Word Press) or Journal Community (ex: LiveJournal) so only people you let in can read the latest Raid Schedule and Passwords. In addition, Mercs can set up a list pointing to all the Good Guilds.

If you do set up a Message App Group, Blog Community, or Journal Community and notice Mercs are quitting your group, your Guild may have developed a Bad Merc Reputation. Make sure your Guild uses passwords on any Raid you plan on canceling, or have special Raid rules, so not to trap unsuspecting Mercs using an Elixir of Stamina or Burning GS.

Raising the Raid Caps from 20, 40, 60 to 100 for all Raids and allowing characters to join 3 Guild Raids and Merc 3 Raids, appears to be the limit of Venan's action on these issues.

Mistakes in communication will still happen, Guild members, and Mercs, are multi-lingual, multi-cultural, and include children nine or older.

Open Merc Slots require both Guilds and Mercs to work together within the limits of the current version of BoH.

Guilds that make Mercing a good experience, have a good reputation among Mercs, so they will tell their friends to Merc with those Guilds.

Mercs entering a passworded Raid, are expected to try and respect the host Guild's ideas in return for the password. This will encourage allied Guilds to share their passwords with the player.

Note 1)
Requires a laptop, or desktop, will not work on a smartphone:

https://www.venan.com/boh_forum/search.php?keywords=merc*&terms=all&author=Bj_Knows&fid%5B%5D=5&sc=1&sf=titleonly&sr=posts&sk=t&sd=d&st=0&ch=300&t=0&submit=Search

DRAFT
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[Mr_Op]

Your thing about gs there is next to no guilds that would say hey BJ no burning gs and saving this raid because that would mess us up...

[Illy_the_Red]

Your thing about gs there is next to no guilds that would say hey BJ no burning gs and saving this raid because that would mess us up...

Exactly.

Also I must add that ties are extremely overrated. Who cares that you want to get 14 toons, half of which are the same 3 players, to all tie at xxxx rpp? Be thankful that the mercs came and saved your raid from going silver, which wouldn't have even done so if you'd not kept your guild members from hitting. If you try to stop people from hitting, they'll find a guild that doesn't mess about while their raids are 7min from silver with 40% of the last phase still to go

[Bbbb]

Open Raid Merc Etiquette 101
Use at least a full Energy Bar in each Raid you Merc,
If possible, spend at least 24 additional Energy of regen or Energy Potions, in each Raid you Merc,

You need a big time exception for raids open in late stages when you join. It's a common practice now for guilds to open slots very late in PM trying to save gold or silver. They are not looking for a whole bar - just whatever they can get.

Also, it is more than fine with me (and probably most guilds) if you dump a bar in P1 KFS (or LoB even) and then disappear.

RSA used to try to force everybody to tie and it did not sit well with the mercs. I'm unaware of any non-GG raid attempting pre-planned mass ties anymore.

I'm a strong believer that there is only one way to do ties (excluding GG). That is to raid and then in the last 10% of the raid see if a tie is possible and organize it on the fly. However, personally, I will tell you that if your guild has an annoying chat, I'm either in home guild or global and not watching the tie talk.

[Illy_the_Red]

There are still a few clinging on to mass ties and start planning them and ordering players about before the final phase is halfway in some cases. Hopefully their players will push back and stop it. It's fine to organise ties if the top two or three are close and decide to do it.

[Bj_Knows]

Your thing about gs there is next to no guilds that would say hey BJ no burning gs and saving this raid because that would mess us up...

I have Merced in Guilds that preferred to risk losing a Gold Finish, or Silver Finish, than to break a massive tie, even when the current active members did not have enough Kills Per Minute. Every time they failed and lost the Gold Finish, or Silver Finish. In one instant, Mercs had already burned, but the Guild members had run out of Gold Shields. I no longer merc in those Guilds. Several of those Guilds are disbanded or inactive.

[Illy_the_Red]

Your thing about gs there is next to no guilds that would say hey BJ no burning gs and saving this raid because that would mess us up...

I have Merced in Guilds that preferred to risk losing a Gold Finish, or Silver Finish, than to break a massive tie, even when the current active members did not have enough Kills Per Minute. Every time they failed and lost the Gold Finish, or Silver Finish. In one instant, Mercs had already burned, but the Guild members had run out of Gold Shields. I no longer merc in those Guilds. Several of those Guilds are disbanded or inactive.

My advice to anyone would be, if the raid looks in trouble, break the tie, get the Gold finish and then look for another guild as its holding you back.

[Finnius]

BJ...do you actually ever finish these drafts? Why do you keep announcing they are drafts...cant you save them in notepad on computer until you are done? I iz confuzed...

[DreamingDæmon]

BJ...do you actually ever finish these drafts? Why do you keep announcing they are drafts...cant you save them in notepad on computer until you are done? I iz confuzed...

BJ is like Google. Y'know how everything stays in Beta with them? Same thing.

[Bj_Knows]

BJ is like Google. Y'know how everything stays in Beta with them? Same thing.

Don't blame me, it's Shekka's, er, Venan's fault. BoH Raids are still in Beta so Venan has had to make some tough choices (Note 1).

I am hoping to see improvements in earning Valor and Hero Tokens in the next 2 years.

MY PERSONAL OPINION
One of the reasons I stopped participating in Double Valor Weekends was because of how Raids are currently structured.

If your Guild can function without Mercs, great. If your Guild needs, or likes Mercs, it is important to understand both sides of the Mercing situation.

This Topic is not how to improve Raids, or how to improve Mercing, but how to deal with the current Raid Finder. It is a thousand times better than the introduction of official BoH Mercing, but is still in need of a lot of work.

Note 1)
http://kotaku.com/five-things-i-didn-t-get-about-making-video-games-unti-1687510871

"What were the devs thinking?!" Many were the times I yelled that phrase at my screen when playing a game I didn't like. Why is that level so crap? Why is that plot point so underdeveloped? Why is that ending so abrupt? Maybe, I thought, the developers are just dumb. How could they have not seen these problems coming?

As it turns out? They quite possibly did. Game devs are not a bunch of oblivious monkeys who smash their keyboards with crosseyed indifference—they often know what works and what doesn't, and why. When particular aspects of a game end up being less than stellar, it's likely not because the developers are dumb, it's because time and money constraints forced them to make tough choices.