Shattered Kingdoms

If you are seeking to join a faction, talk to members of the faction about what it's like, what their goals are, and what is expected of you once you join. After that, if you want in, tell the member(s) you're talking to that you wish to join.

What not to do after talking with a member and you want to join:
1. Say things like "Oh wow, that sounds pretty cool" and expect to be inducted without any further communication from you.
2. Fight along side a member, thinking that you teaming up with them is your way of saying you want to join.
3. Curse at them afterward because they didn't try to bring you in without you saying you wanted in.

What to do after talking with a member and you want to join:
1. Say "I would like to join the <faction name here>"

You will get an answer.

I figured if Meissa or whichever Imm was going to write the rules for the faction induction policy in all the Faction boards, newbs who don't know how to properly seek a faction needed a write up on expressing interest properly.

Sticky.

It's perfectly fine to be "subtle" with wanting to get into a cabunal. I've never had to outright ask for membership into anything I wanted, even though sometimes it meant that I had to wait beyond the two-week boundary of critical mass (gasp!). And it was worth the wait, because it meant that I got that extra warm and fuzzy of feeling "wanted."

It's unreasonable to think that your subtlety might not get mistaken for apathy or disinterest.

It's ridiculous to expect to be spoonfed an induction request when you haven't specifically asked for it.

It's absurd, when a leader says, "What do you want to do with your life?" and you give a vague, non-committal response, to expect any other followup.

This is fine, but don't go crying about having to wait longer than two weeks.

P.S. Nightwing - I know you didn't go crying. I'm talking to others that might want to.

Generally, in the "olde days of yore" (around 2000 - 2002) and before the ambiguous Cabal Raid System was implemented, there were only cabals. No tribunals.

Also, membership in most cabals was a very very well guarded secret and people used to play longer lived characters so this sort of information didn't quite leak so often as it does now. It felt truly a privilege to join one of these "prestigious" organizations and it was a major milestone for every character. Also, walking up to any of the members of a Cabal and saying "hello, I want to join" - however politely - was considered to be "bad form" from the majority. In a way, the theme ran like "In Pyrathia, you do not choose a Cabal. A Cabal chooses you".

Because the above led to quite a few incidents of people being asked to wait for impossible amounts of RL time before a decision on their worth was made, the "Two Weeks Induction Policy" was created. Under this policy, Faction leaders are expected to have replied to every supplicant to their faction within two weeks from when they made their desire to join known.

It has always been one of the most strictly enforced rules because Factions, along with Religions, are major deciding factors for a character.

Now, there are still some people of the "Old School" that might consider it bad form to walk up to them and ask them outright, but regardless of what every person thinks, a player's best bet to have an answer is to somehow make it very clear they wish to join. Very clear. If you can pull it off without being blunt, kudos for your roleplay skills. If not, resort to bluntness.

Not any real reasons to post this as to offer some more history and weight on the above posts.

I agree it's pretty bad form for someone who knows, let's say, Toji Moji, is in the Harlies to just run up to Toji Moji and say "Hey I wanna be a Harlie!" That's not necessarily bad RP, but it's a little lacking at the least. The character shouldn't know much about the Harlies except that they are known for "seemingly random tricks, events, and ambushes", as per the help file for Harlequins. He should try and find out more from Toji Moji about what the Harlies are like, and after a discussion, expressing interest is fine.

Now, if a character does run up to Toji Moji and exclaim "I wanna be a Harlie!", the member should instigate the discussion above. "Why do you want to join?" "Did you know we are at war with practically everyone?" "If you join, this is what will be expected of you..." (granted from what I've seen, not much) Then, after that discussion, if they still express interest, hop on in. The seeking character starts with "bad form", but it can be salvaged.

Toji Moji?

LOL!

I forget who I was playing at the time, or who the character in question was, but there was an incident where my character had reservations about another character who expressed a clear interest in joining. I spoke at length IC to him, and it was determined that he would work to alleviate some of the concerns. I informed him OOCly of the two-week limit on our interactions, and he stated OOCly that he was fine with putting in the effort to be legitimately inducted.

However, two days later, he started whining to me OOCly and the staff OOCly that he wasn't already inducted. That pissed me off so badly.

Two weeks seems generous enough for the cabal or tribunal to make a decision, to me. It's enough time to vet someone who's actively interested. But I don't think you need to be so blatant, either. The onus, in my opinion, is on the cabal or tribunal. Oh, hey, this dude's hanging out with us a lot. Maybe he's interested in joining the group. Let's ask him!

Toji's right about the way it used to be, and honestly I think it was -better- in some regards then. Joining a faction was a privilege, not a right, and you had to earn your way in by merit. The whole recruitment process was on the shoulders of the leadership, and outright asking meant that the potential member was less likely to be invited. (Aerlyn got ignored by the Harlequin because she called the leader out after FOUR MONTHS of trying to sneak her way in, and then she was invited into the Adepts, which completely threw me off guard.) Now, it's (mostly) different, but I think there's room for give and take.

Both parties are partially responsible.

Let's be fair here, Evena. Everything pisses you off so badly.

Nothing quite like your face, though.

I said "You will get in." I've edited that to be "You will get an answer." The rule is don't string them along for two weeks. The faction can still turn people down!