Difference between revisions of "Lancer Knightz (Guild)"

Revision as of 08:57, 24 August 2013

Lancer Knightz

A selection of Lancer Knightz members. Guild Founder: Whitelancer, Shakugan, Pula Approx. Population: 122 Guild Master(s): Shakugan, Epoxee, Fafaprince, Zverolka Website: http://steamcommunity.com/groups/lancerknightz

This is the official wiki page for the Spiral Knights guild Lancer Knightz. Here you can find our steam group: http://steamcommunity.com/groups/lancerknightz. Our guild is much like other casual guilds in the game, but with these distinguishing characteristics:

• We're one of the oldest living guilds. We formed in April 2011, shortly after Spiral Knights launched.
• Our members seem to be more mature than those of many other guilds. For example, many of our officers are married with children.
• While some of our members like PvP, we're not into PvP as a guild. If you're looking for an elite PvP guild, then we're not there yet, but we do try to work on it. :)
• We run a long-lived project to collect data on weapon speed and damage.

There are no official requirements for entry to Lancer Knightz. If you are a pleasant, active player, then we'd love to have you.

Rules

Our guild is casual. Except for the rules of promotion, we have very few rules:

1. Be pleasant; don't beg. If you want crowns, then don't beg; kill some bosses, sell materials, items, and recipes, deposit minerals, etc. If you have no energy, then don't beg; wait for tomorrow. If you're a Veteran, then you can use our mist well occasionally too. If you invite someone to join your party, and they won't come, then don't beg; get over it. If your request for promotion is declined, then don't beg; keep playing, and you'll probably be promoted eventually. Don't use any racial, sexual, or other slurs. Don't scam people or steal from them. Let's develop a reputation, of which we can be proud.
2. Be active. Everyone goes on trips or is otherwise busy in real life sometimes. It's okay if you don't log on every day, or even every week. But any guild member who is dormant for a month or longer may be removed from the guild. If you need an exemption (for example, you're going on a five-week trip, but you'll be active after that), then send an in-game mail message to every Guild Master, stating how long of a dormancy you plan, and you will not be removed.

Brief Hints

1. Looks like the easiest way to make crowns without an elevator pass is running "Shadow of the Beast" mission. Not Vanaduke as most think :) (although he is also good). You get money for the levels (about 1800 cr) + high valued materials (monster bones 200-250cr, sharp fang 200-250cr, green shard about 100cr) + you can sell snarbostuffing which you get for 12 tokens. And all for 15-20 min. You can do only the first 2 levels. And don't forget to sell materials. And you should better run alone or max 2 cause materials are divided.
2. Read about types of damage and equipment before you make some. Ask someone from guild about best equipment for you according to what you like to use. But most common best choise is Owlite Shield, smth from wolver series for armour. Start with Brandish line and a Barb (Final Flourish or Barbarous Thorn Blade) if you like swords, Polaris and Needle Shot for guns, Shivermist Buster and Voltaic Tempest for bombs. You will need at least 1 shadow sword, and the deeper you get, the more you'll need elemental weapon.
3. Ask someone from the guild if you need help on some rank missions. There are some missions that are really hard to do alone and are really really hard to do alone if you didn't do it in a group before. We sometimes make Shadow Lair runs but to join you should be equiped well and have CE for 1/4 of the Shadow Key cost.
4. Buy an elevator pass if you can. It's the main thing that really makes the difference when playing.
5. We have some stuff in a member storage. It should help new people. You can take what you need, but it's highly recommended to take only 1 thing of each type. It's for usage, not for the market.

New players are urged to check out these resources, to learn about the game:

• Starting Out and New Player Briefing
• Damage and Status
• Bopp's Sword Guide, Gunslinger Guide, and Bombing Guide

History

Whitelancer created Lancer Knightz in mid-April 2011, with Pula and Shakugan. (Spiral Knights itself launched on April 4, 2011.) After a couple of months, however, Whitelancer left the guild to start Valkyrie Knights, Pula followed him, and Shakugan went dormant.

Donkeyhaute was invited into Lancer Knightz by Pula in mid-April 2011, and was the eighth or ninth member of the guild. Around the time that Whitelancer and Pula left, he was abruptly promoted from Recruit to Guild Master over a 10-day period. As the de facto leader, Donkeyhaute created our various rank systems, our defunct recipe-sharing scheme, our ongoing data collection project, and this wiki page.

By the summer of 2011, most of the guild's members had become inactive, as Spiral Knights often do after a few months. Representatives of The Ascendicate approached Lancer Knightz, suggesting that the guilds be merged. Sooch, who was then an Officer, convinced Donkeyhaute that they should try to revive the moribund Lancer Knightz, rather than abandon it. Sooch was promoted to Guild Master and helped rebuild the guild to a high level of activity.

By the autumn of 2011, the guild had become a bit dormant again. Norpo, who was arguably the social hub of the guild, was promoted to Guild Master. He spearheaded the recruitment of numerous highly active knights. The guild became more prosperous than ever before.

On 9 November 2012, Epoxee replaced Norpo as Guild Master, after Norpo had grown dormant. Epoxee is our first Guild Master, other than the founders, to live outside North America.

In April 2013, Fafaprince replaced Donkeyhaute and Zverolka replaced Sooch. (Donkeyhaute and Sooch had led the guild for over a year and a half, and felt that others should get a chance. They are still Officers in the guild.)

In September 2012, the Ascendicate merged with Delicious Bacon to form Coalesce. By March 2013, we were no longer in contact with Coalesce or Valkyrie Knights, as our contacts left those guilds or moved to the Asian servers. Shakugan, who is technically still the head of Lancer Knightz, plays occasionally.

Donkeyhaute	Sooch		Norpo
Shakugan	Epoxee	Zverolka	Fafaprince

For more images, check out our guild photogallery.

Rank

In Lancer Knightz, rank is based not on gear or skill, but rather on being mature and responsible. Our first rank system codified this idea into a notion of "Helpful Deeds". Our second rank system had no criteria at all. With the guild hall update, we have moved on to our third rank system:

When you first join our guild, you are a Recruit. The members of Lancer Knightz tend to notice all new Recruits. They may offer to go into the Clockworks with you or join you on a PvP team.

You get promoted to Member as soon as it's clear that you are going to be an active player. If we invite you one day, and on the next day we see that you're back, then that may be good enough. Traditionally, most people in Lancer Knightz are Members.

A Veteran is a member who has demonstrated that he is active, experienced, and responsible. Because Veterans have access to our mist well, promotion to Veteran now requires an application.

An Officer is a highly experienced, active, trusted member of the guild. Officers recruit new Recruits and promote new Members and Veterans. Promotion to Officer now requires an application.

The Guild Masters manage the membership of the guild, by removing inactive or disruptive members and promoting new Officers. Occasionally they alter guild policy and start new projects. Most of their actions are performed collectively, after meeting and forming consensus. Practically speaking, there is no single head of the guild. Promotion to Guild Master happens very rarely, and there is no guideline for who deserves it.

We do need to pay Upkeep each week and we also want to upgrade our guild hall from what it is now. So there is a recommended weekly donation depending on your rank. Currently it is 500 crowns for members, 1500 for Veterans, 5000 for Officers, and over for GMs. Although it's not a must in our guild but it does show your loyality.

Activities

Guild members are encouraged to organize projects, events, and activities, to enrich our lives in the guild and to serve the wider Spiral Knights community. We used to have many such projects. Our recipe sharing project was made obsolete by the mission system. Our forum, contests, lotteries, and organized PvP are largely defunct.

Slimeball Championship

We are starting a new guild event we called Slimeball. It's a shield-bumping game that could be played with a little lichen. Anyone from the guild can join, there is no entry fee, and anyone could win. You just need to be quick with a shield.

Here you can take a look at the example of the field and the game: http://youtu.be/kFQYsJL5Oz8

Prizes (more to come):

The event starts on May 27. You can tell any GM that you want to take part in this event and start to train. You can also write a mail to Zverolka or Epoxee. We will make the table of the matches. The end time will depend on the number of players.

Procedure: Someone finds a field to play. It must be a map with slimes. You need to find a field with 2 gates - at the right and at the left. Don't kill all cause you need a ball! For a ball you need to find a lichen. Better to take one-nucleus. Bump it to the field. Then you call your opponent, a referee and the game begins! For the referee you can take any Officer or GM. You can play without a one but in this case if you want for the results to be accepted you need to take a video of the match.

A good map was found on rank mission 3-1 Alien Ooze on 2nd level .

Rule (tentative):

1. You can bump the lichen with a shield. It's forbidden to attack the ball :). After 1-st attack you get a yellow card. After 2 attacks you loose.
2. After each goal the time stops, the referee returns the ball to the center, then he shouts "START" and the game continues.
3. The game has 2 rounds, after the 1-st the gates switch. Each round is held for 5 minutes (maybe will be set a little more). If no goal is scored you get additional time - 5 minutes. If still no goal then as usually - a penalty time comes from the spot the referee shows - until someone misses.
4. You can heal any time before the game. But if you die during the game - sorry, you loose.
5. The game is played in the olympic system. For the semifinales, finale and the match for the 3-rd place a GM has to be the referee.
6. When your opponent is announced, you have 4 days to arrange your match.

It will also be great if someone would record videos of the last four matches.

Food Sharing

Donkeyhaute has launched a new scheme for sharing sprite food, to avoid the mineral bottleneck. Your participation is greatly appreciated.

Data Collection Project

Donkeyhaute runs our long-standing project to collect data on various aspects of the game. Your data and ideas are welcome.

Steam Group

GulliverBFG has started a Steam group for us. As a forum, the Steam group is somewhat more polished than the Spiral Knights forums. All guild members are encouraged to participate. Here is the process for signing up:

1. If you don't already have a Steam ID, then make one here. You don't need to play Spiral Knights through Steam, and you don't have to buy any games.
2. Edit your Steam profile to mention Spiral Knights, Lancer Knightz, and maybe your in-game knight name. A few details like these make you much easier for us to find.
3. Find GulliverBFG or Donkeyhaute on Steam, and add him as a friend. Or, in Spiral Knights, send a mail message to GulliverBFG or Donkeyhaute with your Steam ID. As soon as he can find you on Steam, he will invite you into the Lancer Knightz Steam group.
4. Check your Steam profile for your invitation. Accept it, and you're ready to go.

Lottery

Shuraka held a lottery on the night of Halloween 2012, to give out a variety of Hallow items donated by the guild. Here are some of the prizes awarded: Akiroar got Raiment and Plate Mail. Bionicfusion got Cloak and Hood. Boomkid got Scale Helm, Sallet, and Round Helm. Dhalgren got Cuirass, Crescent Helm, Maid Headband. Donkeyhaute got Sallet and Tailed Helm. Squamph got Crescent Helm and Hood. Swolenator got Mecha Wings and Com Unit. Tsiddique got Toupee and some armors. Dhalgren also got a trinket slot upgrade.

PvP

We are looking for enthusiastic members who are interested in promoting PvP within Lancer Knightz — either for guild-vs-guild or individual play. Let Sooch or Donkeyhaute know, if you're really into PvP and want to get more of our members into it.