Valar Guild

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Joining the Valar Guild:

How do I Join?

    We have no age, gender, or country requirement. We currently have full members from age 11 to over 63. You may have other guild memberships as well.
    We currently have two styles of membership: Tolkien-only or Full Member.
    Guild-friends: they like our game-style.

Tolkien-only Member:
    If you do not wish to do online gaming at this time but would like to indulge your inner Tolkien, this is for you.
    To join as a Tolkien-only, email Varda (erase the NOSPAM) to say what you're interested in, and then send something that can be added to the Tolkien site. This can be an article, humor, art, poetry, story, book review, or something to do with Tolkien's languages. Varda and others can help you, but the work should be original with you, your very own Precious. Articles must be researched from the books as your last fact check, as non-Tolkien books and the web have incorrect information that others pick up and pass on. Let's not be part of the incorrect information dispersal.
    Another usable item is expected at least once a year to keep membership. At least email Varda (or talk on AIM) to let her know what you have in progress or ask for suggestions.
    You should at minimum have seen the movies or heard the audio books, although having read Lord of the Rings or more is even better.
    You may also use the Forum and enjoy live AIM chat meetings every Sunday at 5pm EST in Valar Guild Meetingplace. Please use courtesy of which Tolkien would approve in all communications.

Full Member:

    If you've finished reading the Lord of the Rings and enjoy courteous gaming, then email Varda (erase the NOSPAM). Or come to a Sunday AIM meeting, using courtesy, enjoy the meeting and get to know a few of us, and ask to join. Let your helper know which games you are interested in and which Tolkien books you've read. Take a simple entry test to show you've read Lord of the Rings (LotR) answering four of five questions right.  The test can be retaken. Together pick your primary guild name (a Tolkien character from any book not yet taken) not yet used by another member (check Membership page for used names).
    You are welcome to indulge your Tolkien Side by contributing to your guild's Tolkien site, but it is not required. (Still, we like it!)
    As Valar Gamers, Members need to prefer following Tolkien's values of working together, fair play, trustworthiness, clean language, and literacy. We have a nifty yellow boot for the other sort.
    The current main guild games are 1: World of Warcraft. 2: Lord of the Rings Online
    World of WarCraft (WoW) has official branches of Alliance on Lothar server and Horde on Uldaman server;
    2: Lord of the Rings Online (LotRO) has an official branch on Landroval server, Turbine of mixed race, light rp. We have a text story running in our Valar Guild Forum in Lord of the Rings Online: "Scouting Ahead" and a kinship thread on LotRO's forum where you can say hi and tell your guild names and crafting needs.
    We have members playing nearly anything online and try to keep track of this on our Games page, by using versions (some peculiar) of our primary guild names, and using AIM.
   
What is the Valar Guild ?

    We are an international Tolkien fan club that first came together while gaming in Diablo 1. We made a haven online to join together with trustworthy, clean-spoken players, much as the Valar tried to create Arda Unmarred. Then we created web pages for Tolkien and Gaming, making ourselves a productive guild rather than just a clan. We formed our current system in October 4, 1997 in Battlenet East, using the original Diablo game. We went on to everything Blizzard put out, but now we play all online games, including MMORPGs, with games defaulted to Eastern USA to help us find each other. We default all our times to Eastern Standard time.
    We are not a movie guild and pre-date the movies, although most (maybe all) of us did see those movies and enjoy chatting about them as well.
    But if you really want to know us, see these jokes by Guild members (mostly from Diablo players)!:
"You know you're in Valar when....".

I never finished or never heard of Lord of the Rings! What do I do to game with you?

    You're kidding, right? If not...
    Guild-friends are not members, but are people whose gaming values are the same as those of the Full Members. They might be considering membership, they might not have finished reading or never read The Lord of the Rings, or they did read it but haven't fully joined or rejoined yet.
    They can game, scout for new members, and do anything that does not require a password.
     In Lord of the Rings Online, Battlenet and World of WarCraft, they can come into the Valar friend channel to find us for gaming and chatting; courtesy required. Friend lists are also helpful.
    Guild-friends cannot give entry tests. They cannot go into passworded guild games and areas such as banks. They cannot participate in Guild or Kinship chat. They do not have an exclusive guild name.
    A guild-friend is like an elf-friend in Tolkien: a trusted companion to elves but who is not an elf and may not be able to understand all things elvish. Best idea? Play with us and read the books! It is recommended to read the Hobbit prelude to the Lord of the Rings, but is not required for simple entry. For non-readers, the movies can help a lot with understanding us although the movies are not good enough for Full Membership.

Meetings:
    We meet as a whole every Sunday 5pm ESDT/ 22:00 GMT on AIM for business followed by Tolkien chat. This is not required, but is a great way to speak with an officer or chat about gaming and Middle-earth.
    AIM (AOL Instant Messenger) is a free download from http://www.aim.com and you don't have to use AOL for anything else. AIM names of members are listed on the Members' page for contact and for your friend list. If you don't like to use AIM, Pidgin or Trillian programs also work.
    Transcripts of meetings are linked on the News page from the meeting summary in case you can't come. Links inside the transcripts allow readers to pick just the part they want to read. The Forum helps keep up contact for those who can't make it to meetings.
    Meetings can be a good place to find out which suit to wear to play with your buddies, as well as talk Tolkien. We often game after the Tolkien chat. OK, some are gaming during the whole meeting with alt+tab and scrolling, or homework or surfing, but we don't know about that, of course.

Organization:

Chairmen > Council of Mahanaxar > Gaming > Valar > Maiar > Full Members > MoH's, and Initiates.
Chairmen > Council of Mahanaxar > Tolkien Site > Web masters > Tolkien-onlies, Full Members, MoH's, and Initiates.
Special ranks only for a single game:
    World of WarCraft: Tulca "Steadfast". Stuck with the guild branch through thick and thin. Title and extra bank privileges.
    Lord of the Rings Online: Warlord. Leads instances regularly and may specialize in certain instances.
Entry testers: any Maia or Vala officers (generally 1, sometimes with a trainee or just a fellow tester who wants to join in).
Maia testers: any Vala officers (generally a panel of 3).
Vala testers: any Vala officers (generally all other Valar).

Contact:
    Email
Varda for general contact about anything. Erase the words NOSPAM before the actual email.
    Web pages start from our domain name . From there, the index leads to all guild pages.
    Guild news is found on the News page and Forum .
    Forum - use your guild name and jump in. PM's to admins will be read, as will emails.
    Emails to the group go out for special projects and to see if an apparently absent member still wishes to be in the guild. It's kind to let Varda know if you are leaving, so we can adjust the web pages and naming system. If you wish to drop full membership due to not gaming, you might consider shifting to Tolkien-only membership.
    AIM: we conduct meetings on AIM, can give tests, and get together outside meetings and games just because.
        Room name: Valar Guild Meetingplace.
        The Members page gives guild AIM names.
    Name: We recognize each other by a specific Tolkien character name as our primary way of reference, as if it were your real name. The name is used to refer to each other and give credit for articles and actions. (You do want credit!)
    Meetings are helpful to both the member and the guild, to take care of the monthly contact and to give each member a chance to comment. It's your chance to make your opinion or suggestion known in live chat in a civil manner. Guild leaders are present and can be of immediate assistance. This is the member's guild. It will be what the members help make it to be. Meetings are not required, due to the problems of time zones, work, and school. They often include a "before" and "after" meeting for those with time problems or just to hang out.

    The Council of Mahanaxar coordinates guild projects and handles issues. Council members must be Valar honor. Vala honor can handle tests singly for Full Member and in a panel for Maia, and Vala.
    Varda is co-chair of the mother-guild (overall), is the contact person for everything, does overall web page co-ordination, and does numerous web pages including the Tolkien and Community sites. The Tolkien Site includes Articles, Stories, Poetry, Translations, Art, Humor (handled by Menelvagor and Varda), Art, and Reviews (Review page handled mainly by Arveleg). She is one of three Forum administrators, plus admin for the old Discussion Board.
    She is branch master for Lord of the Rings Online ( fka Middle-earth Online) and helps with World of WarCraft. She currently plays Lord of the Rings Online and sometimes World of WarCraft with a bit of  BroodWar.
    Eonwe is co-chair of the mother-guild (overall). He is branch master for World of WarCraft and helps on Lord of the Rings Online (fka Middle-earth Online).  Eonwe is a major Forum administrator, working with Menelvagor and Varda. He does a lot of already visible programming, including the Tolkien Site Search Engine and the entire Games Site. He is bringing the coding of the Tolkien Site into the 21st century, so it will eventually all be in php and css.
    He plays World of WarCraft, sometimes Lord of the Rings Online.

    Valar honor members are required to sit at least for a time on the Council, but can then retire to just gaming and Tolkien while retaining the Vala honor.
    Any Vala Honor can scout and do any test, including entry, Maia, and Vala.
    As Council, they handle security with member and Maiar help, handle issues, start, join, and handle projects. They must be able to email with the other Council members to be effective. After retiring from the Council, they retain Valar Honor in recognition that they have given great service and commitment to the overall guild, and proven strong knowledge of the Silmarillion as well as the Lord of the Rings books. They may continue as Advisors or finally rest.

    Maiar honor members help the Council, start (coordinating with Valar), join, and handle projects, scout and test for entry, and bring in new members reporting in email to Varda to let it be known on the web pages. They have given service and commitment to the guild and show strong knowledge of the LotR in a live test by Valar honor members. Service is weighed higher than book knowledge, but book knowledge is necessary to be good as entry testers. A Maia can be invited to test for Vala honor.

    Full Members can start projects (coordinating with the Valar Council) or join projects and scout for possible members.  They can do everything a Tolkien-only does plus game. Members of all honors help with scouting and security. Full members can apply for or be invited to test for Maia honor if they have shown commitment, service, and knowledge of the LotR books. They give suggestions which have been known to change the whole course of the group. They are a major strength of the guild.

    Tolkien-only members can join and can start Tolkien-related projects (coordinating with Varda), and scout for possible members. Their main job is to help with the Tolkien site , which includes articles, poems, stories, translations, humor, book lists, book reviews, and art. They can join the Forum and AIM meetings.

    Members of Honor are usually children of Full Members. The full member sponsor has read the LotR to the MoH and makes sure the MoH plays honorably. They are one reason our guild requires all gaming members to keep their language clean and generally be role models of how to behave as an honorable person should.

Rules and Code of Conduct:

    If you want the Rules and Code of Contact spelled out, instead of just saying courteousy and fellowship, we can oblige you. Hop to the following!  :)
    Rules, Code of Conduct - rules in gaming and chat behavior: page by Elatan-(T) fka Amillo-(Valar).

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