ANNOUNCEMENT: Future of the Guild

As Blue Skooma grows in membership and activity, certain obstacles to meaningful and fun roleplay have come up. In order to further the sub-plot of each commune and bring a richer, more developed feel to our guild story, the guild leadership is considering a restructuring of the guild. As it is now, Blue Skooma caters to a very small niche of characters, namely those who would be drawn to the shady life of a skooma dealer. This tends to cut out the more 'noble' personality types and leaves our roleplays a little one-sided. In order to fix this issue and bring in more roleplayers, the guild is changing.

The first thing we are thinking of doing is rebranding the Blue Skooma Company name to something more neutral. This isn't set in stone, and may not even be possible, but it is something we are considering.

Another thing that will happen (and will be facilitated by several RP events happening over the next few weeks) is the breaking off of communes into separate entities [EDIT: and the addition of a new, good/lawful commune called the Peacekeepers to accomodate the nobler characters]. Each commune will be come an autonomous body under the larger umbrella of the main guild. Events will still be organized through the guild website, and the heirarchy will remain largely as it is now.

What does this mean for your character?

In reality, very little! Characters will remain in the communes they are currently part of, and unaffiliated characters will remain free agents. If you were a Sellsword, you will still answer to your Captains and have your commune-specific weekly RP's to further your own personal stories and plots. The same will happen with the other communes.

What will definitely be changing?

Roleplay backstories will have to be made for each commune, and the skooma dealing backstory for a guild as a whole will be changed. It will not disappear entirely, but become instead the shady underbelly of a business that it should be.

I have a question!!

Please, if you have any questions, suggestions or input, post!

This one is able to adapt to anything you do :) (except if you kill him, be warned there are those in the wings that will avenge him :evil: )

((I am in favour of opening it up as per the suggestions if there really is the need that as perceived. At first I was resistant to the idea, because I am happy with how things are and didnt see the need but I am curious to hear what other people have to say. e.g I have a lawful good character that would find it a challenge to be involved with company but I would make a reason for her to be there that she could work with))

((As a writer type, I also volunteer to help write the back stories for people if they balk at having to do that.))

If we are to go down this path then we will need new communes. These noble types will be unlikely to join the current ones unless they're a merchant.

Is the Sellsword commune not honorable? I would think it would be enough. Otherwise maybe it could be changed to more focused on the war in Cyrodiil and claiming land for the guild? I don't know really just a thought. Am I even allowed to say anything on this thread if I'm not a guild manager?

Assassins - someone who is called in when sellswords need more subtlety and secrets need to be protected at all costs... or when we just have some pestering Inspector we don't want killed in plain sight! *coughcough*

I like the proposed direction. I have several characters who have story arcs that would mesh with existing BSC characters, but not with the guild's current structure. Such as my good aligned ranger who has a lover in the sellswords.

As managers, we are very interested in what the guild member's thoughts are on the future of the guild. It is your guild as much as it is ours and our most important reason for changing is to bring better roleplay content to you, the player. The roleplays would not be nearly as amazing without you to enjoy it with us.

A new commune is already in the planning stages: The Peacekeepers. A task force comprised of those characters who lean more toward upholding the law than breaking it. Noble, altruistic, lawful, and good-aligned characters could find it very easy to find a home within the Peacekeepers.

The major distinguishing feature of the Peacekeepers versus the other communes is it's alignment. Spies, Fighters, and Healers who are honorable people fill it's ranks, and it is possible that some characters within an existing commune would defect to the Peacekeepers because of recent events. The sellswords have noble or lawful members in it's ranks but as a whole, they are neutral in most things. They follow the orders of the person who hired them, for the most part. There are, of course, exceptions.

How do these "Peacekeepers" tie in with our guild? Like the people who watch over the guild and stop anything that might hurt the guild's reputation or stop pesky eyes?

I would say that I have tried to keep the sells words as noble a group as possible I always imagined leaving the assassination business to the commune of secrets. I have strived to paint the sellswords as stated a neutral group, being that they as a commune should view themselves as their own business set on making money lawfully as a front for the skolma business that they protect possibly even secret to its members. I'm not sure i would know what to have the overall goal of the peacekeepers to be as protection duty fits well into the merc business . I guess my question is what is left of the merc business of the protection jobs end? You could assign them the assassination business but that make the blue skooma as a whole take a very dark turn. Granted that if that is the direction you want to take then so be it. It would have still fit the idea that I had one day hoped to make the sellswords into. For the most part youth I thought the splitting into communes of the guild was already this step into allowing members to rp that they have no knowledge of the skooma that is secretly being crafted here. That was what I thought would be our way of having noble characters come into e guild, you might have noticed that is what I portray Qa'iit to be, and he in his noble nature is still apart of the sellswords. Overall I'm uncertain of what this new commune might do and how it could play out knowing that it is just a vernier over the skooma and undoubtably incomparable with its nature. Though i would hate to alienate our noble rp fan base.

Oh, it looks like Vladimir is gone, but it is a good question. Each commune (or House, or Faction, whichever label you prefer to use) should have more say over their own stories and won't have to be tied to the canon "Blue Skooma Company". The Peacekeepers will be a new faction (or House, or Commune) independent of the In-Character "Company".

As far as the future of our story goes, the actual Company will fracture and be dissolved. The facade of a legitimate business has been shattered because of the death of the Dominion Inspector in Khenarthi's Roost during this past week's RP event. The logistical changes will happen over the next few weeks as each major shift is played out in-character during guild RP events.

Meaning that Qa'iit's Sellswords will eventually become a neutral entity able to be hired by anyone. Companions can sell their services to any of the other Factions, Secrets members can be contracted out for the dirty jobs against anyone and Merchants will be able to make coin selling goods to everyone. The Peacekeepers are not part of the "Company", but are/will be part of the guild. They are not a veneer over the illegitimate business, they are a whole new faction of characters.

Alright I guess I was taking your statement of separate entities too lightly you're talking full on disconnect , all ties severed kinda thing. My question now is how, when, and if we are to have full scale all guild members grouping or events, being that we no longer have a united guild rp. Perhaps this is the direction guild leadership would like to take, I know smaller group stories are often more manageable and can b more inclusive. Though I would find it difficult to see any story created where this group of peacekeepers fit in allegiance with the other factions. I know that despite the communes new individualistic nature naturally their remaining ties would still allow them to work together in rp with each other. This new group would be alienated however seeing as they are not familiar with the old united company. Perhaps this peacekeepers commune is actually meant to be our own sect of individuals trying to stop the skooma trade, but since their in the guild their actions would be more controllable.

As for an idea of a name that truly honors our current name and our proud khaj'iit culture: Blue Puma

The ultimate goal is to have 4 or 5 distinct houses where one will appeal to any kind of character. This will open up our guild to more kinds of characters and hopefully put these houses at odds often, providing conflict and thus content. We already have a plan set in motion to make this transition IC. :)

I admit do not like the idea of The Blue Skooma Company fracturing into seperate pieces. I am a new member but I do not see how this will be good for the guild as a whole not having everyone tied to each other. Just my two cents.

Lawful Good: The Aldermi Dominion
Neutral Good: The Peacekeepers, Diplomats
Chaotic Good: The Courteans
Lawful Neutral: The Merchants
True Neutral: The Sellswords
Chaotic Neutral: The Spies
Lawful Evil: Ri'sari

Ive never understood Chaotic.

Looking at that nearly every character fits in except the Thalmor/Paladin type and not really needed within the company. For those who have these types of characters could they not be outside the company but still RP like the other day with the Inspector and his guard?

The more I sit on this and think about it, I dont want to see a full split but rather an internal split with Ri'sari and his loyal followers, that survive his wrath in the coming weeks :p go underground and operate from the shadows with perhaps less say over the houses/communes?

I also want to keep Blue Skooma Company and the Khajiit profile but open to other races as we are, that is now your identity and would be like NIKE changing to N ... just not the same

Need to add to your list
Chaotic Evil: Ice-Eye :)

Sylvaswift wrote

Ive never understood Chaotic.

Essentially the easy way to describe being Chaotic is by saying "I don't care." For example:
Chaotic Good: I'm a good person, but I don't care about the rules because I follow my own rules.
Chaotic Neutral: I don't care what people think of me because I'm neutral. I do what I want because I don't care.
Chaotic Evil: I don't care about the poor orphans, KILL THEM ALL.

And a Paladin NEVER fits into any party. Having a paladin in the party basically condemns the party to be a paragon of good, or an orphan slaying murderer.

I like the idea of the skooma business having to go underground. Can one be a member of more than one commune? For example Sahlaa is the owner of The Caravan and Carnivale of Dark Delights. This is his business and it earns coin. However Sahlaa's real trade is in information and the retrieval of rare artifacts. So is Sahlaa able to be a member of the Secrets commune and also the Merchants commune? I think having ties to more than one commune will help if the main company will fracture.

I have an idea! Instead of reworking the entire backstory and whatnot, let's do a Hollow Moon sort of idea; we sell Skooma to the rich and steal and whatnot in order to feed the poor. This way, justice-types don't feel awkward (we got sum justice), and thief types still work.

I also like the idea of the Hollow Moon concept! Since the Company was formed by Khajiit, it should be sensitive to the Khajiit idea of the noble thief. The Bosmer (another large contingent in the guild) also have a tradition of respecting the accomplished thief. If we go semi-Robin Hood, that might make for a more inclusive base story -- with different communes being lighter or darker from this base.

My characters are way too complex for me to want to even attempt to make them adhere to that old poorly designed D&D alignment scheme. As long as no one wants/needs me to try to do so, there won't be any problems.

Sumar's alignment is not even listed here, using traditional DnD rules. (which he was designed using!)

I think my problem is that he belongs dipping into several pots here, and I am trying to figure out how to classify my character into things that (sort of) define him. Some devil's advocate here - not all characters are easily defined. And should we label them, it could taint how others view them.

Example:
I had Sumar join the Secrets. He did so, privately. He acted mysterious and hung around meetings sometimes, sure. But he was quite secretive about his actions, and he only told one character ever something of his alliance. Yet, I had characters coming up to him all the time claiming he was a leader of the Secrets, and they wanted to get in. I was also called out (in a large meeting!) as Secrets by a character he had never interacted with IC. This 'label' people saw defined my character, even for those who did not know him.

Something to ponder, that is all.

I think this labelling and confusion IC was a result of Sumar being the character listed as a leader of the commune of secrets on the website for a while before being demoted again. The leaders of the communes would have been known in IC most likely. This could have easily led to Sumar being labelled as such. (I might have even made the mistake myself, and for that I apologize.)

Yes Sahlaa saw Sumar listed as the leader of the Secrets at one point. He asked in character who he should speak to about joining the secrets and was told to speak to Sumar.

Perhaps if a character is not publicly know to be a leader or even within a commune we could make a note on the roster?

Something like public or private? This might help to prevent RP snafu's?