New member Killerbob

Hey guys, Rawrr is going to get serious for a little bit here.

Sunday morning (yesterday) I was invited to a Kara raid with some non-guildies, among which Killerbob (not a Bear at the time) was a participant. We had three healers in the beginning - a priest, a pally, and druid (me). During the course of the raid the Priest lagged-out/D/C'ed, so there were only 2 healers left. Throughout the raid Killerbob occassionally would pull aggro from the MT and shout for healing. One time he pulled aggro and ran away: directly into the healers, and consequently I died because of that. I posted several messages reminding people not to do this.

Anyway, after one last big boss (I don't remember which) he pulled the aggro yet again and died. He instantly blamed the lack of healing, and I don't know if he realized that we only had two healers and if we take our focus off the MT then the whole raid would have been wiped. He quipped, "GG healers, no healing. Next time learn to play the game" and instantly left the raiding party.

Fast forward to when our SSC Guildy-party downed Lurker. The GM announced in World and congratulated us. 10 minutes later I see that Killerbob has joined the guild. ...

I feel we need to be more aware of the reputation/attitude of potential members when recruiting (I'm not sure how we can screen better), especially now that we have BT access. Perhaps Bob was having a bad day, maybe he wasn't feeling too good, I don't know. But I wouldn't want to raid with someone who's got an attitude like this, and to join the Bears right after we get BT privileges? Hmm...

Ok, I've had my rant.

I REALLY dont like the idea of inviting random people into the guild. I think the only people that really deserve to go into BT and Hyjal are the people that went into the raid like me Rawrr Mama Solid ect. To be honest it should be EXTREMLY strict who gets allowed into the guild, really....

I agree but then again after teh wipe we lost a lot of members so we needed to lessen teh restrictions on who gets in.

Honestly, as an ex-recruiter, I can say that getting people to go on trial raids is a HUGE scheduling issue. It requires a lot of planning on the applicant's end, and let's face it.. most people who are applying to our guild are not ready for a trial raid, nor the planning and coordinating that comes with it.

I'd love for there to be stronger standards. I really would.
What happened right after the wipe happened because our standards were TOO high.. we didn't have enough members to make attendance.

We need to strike a balance between stringent requirements and lax rules. Too much of either and the guild disintegrates. Honestly, though, Mama and Papa clearly have this under control, so I think we're heading in the right direction.

If you haven't heard, we've simply closed recruitment for now until things settle down within the guild. We have plenty of training and getting along to do before we continue expanding. Give it some time, and as usual enjoy the game !

By persevering in the manner we've been using, we're slowly making a name for ourselves. I'd say we're on the verge of being widely considered uber. At this point, though, I agree that a major member over-haul is in order. This might be something as simple as posting a list of all users and then deciding whose a keeper and who needs to find another guild. This will be difficult especially when we merge with Justice, though, because we aren't going to want to step on any toes, and we're unsure of their membership policy (and whether they even have one).

All in all, it's an administrative mess, but we can sort it out. I've done it before myself in other guilds and clans on other games, and I know Mama and Papa are at least as able, if not more so, than I am. So no worries.

Yeah, we're finding the bad apples and kicking 'em now. We closed recruitment so we can tighten things up for now.

Thanks for being patient with us!

We should be opening up recruitment shortly - if you guys know anyone who wants to join our guild, please have them submit an app on orderofthebears.com. We will contact them as soon as recruitment resumes.

killerbob is gone...what a relief.

Yeah, I appreciate the work you guys are putting into screening.