Unofficial Senior Member Guesting

Marivea al'Corriyi

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I can't find it on the old boards; what Ajahs/Companies allow it, how do we find the information, what are the individual Ajahs/Companies policies on it, and how do we find said policies?

I am intensely curious about this as of twenty minutes ago.
 

Kelgan al'Moranwin

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I believe they're published in the Library, let me have a look...
 

Marivea al'Corriyi

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Ahhh, that is the link I spent almost an hour looking for, and clearly didn't find because I was searching for the wrong thing on the wrong boards. :desk

But it's woefully lacking in up to date information. :(

Perhaps a better question would be: when will all the information about invited/unofficial guests be published? Inquiring minds must know! For the sake of knowing it!
 

Ubahsur Kindellaer

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It isn't required to publish any policies the groups have come up with, if they have any. The majority of the groups have not created a policy at this time. As far as Serenla has shared with me :-)look) that thread is still current information with no changes between then and now.
 

Vivianna L'antreau

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Yep what they said! That thread is still accurate, but if you want to know for certain I'd encourage you to email the individual HOAs and CCs to ask :D their emails are colorajah@tarvalon.net (blueajah, brownajah, grayajah, greenajah, redajah, whiteajah, yellowajah) or companyinitials@tarvalon.net (dm, sds, mdd, vc)
 

Toral Delvar

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I believe the Grays are the only ones that put their rules in the library
 

Jeffan Caliarthan

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SDS's rules are that you don't ask to be invited, we ask you.
 

Leese Sulan

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I've really wanted to comment on this issue, but haven't been sure of where to put it. I'd like to just put it out there for some admins to read as feedback from someone who wanted to try out this new system.

I was looking into all of this previously, as I wanted to get to know other groups without having to sacrifice all my time spent as a senior member. I found that overall the policies were really restrictive. I respect that is each group's collective choice and it is their prerogative. I completely understand the feeling of wanting to protect your home from outsiders, I've been there too. In my experience of seeking info to find out more about the possibilities of becoming an invited guest though, I was just really bummed to find that I probably wasn't going to achieve much in my efforts to reach out to the groups who were willing to conditionally allow invited guests. The people I tried poking in ajahs and companies to talk about it... everyone was really against it. So I backed off on something I'd had excited hope for, because I didn't want to disturb/disrupt people in their own home spaces.

My decision moving forward was to demote and meet the other groups as an accepted and I'm fine with that... but I have to admit if I'd had the option to do the same and keep my earned senior member privileges like participating in the Aes Sedai Forum, I would have preferred go that way. My current worry is that I won't find a new group I want to settle down with, and will miss out on site volunteering and contribution opportunities due to my reduction in rank. :(

The part that I found most restrictive was just getting invited in at all. From my point of view, if an Aes Sedai is visiting from another ajah, it's almost like having an accepted guesting. I do believe groups should have the power to vote someone to not get an extended stay if they find it is in the preferred interested of the group to have the person go. But trying to get in at all and meet the people in the group seemed like something that was not going to be possible for me. :(
 

Taika Vinh

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SDS's rules are that you don't ask to be invited, we ask you.

That's what Brown decided too, in the end. We actually decided to participate in the SM guesting system mostly for the hypothetical situation like this: A Brown sister retires or quits the site, but her bond mate had already become part of our Sitting room. We took part in the system just so that we could keep the warder. Things may change with time, though, I don't know.
 
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I've really wanted to comment on this issue, but haven't been sure of where to put it. I'd like to just put it out there for some admins to read as feedback from someone who wanted to try out this new system.

I was looking into all of this previously, as I wanted to get to know other groups without having to sacrifice all my time spent as a senior member. I found that overall the policies were really restrictive. I respect that is each group's collective choice and it is their prerogative. I completely understand the feeling of wanting to protect your home from outsiders, I've been there too. In my experience of seeking info to find out more about the possibilities of becoming an invited guest though, I was just really bummed to find that I probably wasn't going to achieve much in my efforts to reach out to the groups who were willing to conditionally allow invited guests. The people I tried poking in ajahs and companies to talk about it... everyone was really against it. So I backed off on something I'd had excited hope for, because I didn't want to disturb/disrupt people in their own home spaces.

My decision moving forward was to demote and meet the other groups as an accepted and I'm fine with that... but I have to admit if I'd had the option to do the same and keep my earned senior member privileges like participating in the Aes Sedai Forum, I would have preferred go that way. My current worry is that I won't find a new group I want to settle down with, and will miss out on site volunteering and contribution opportunities due to my reduction in rank. :(

The part that I found most restrictive was just getting invited in at all. From my point of view, if an Aes Sedai is visiting from another ajah, it's almost like having an accepted guesting. I do believe groups should have the power to vote someone to not get an extended stay if they find it is in the preferred interested of the group to have the person go. But trying to get in at all and meet the people in the group seemed like something that was not going to be possible for me. :(

Ok, I'm not 100% that this, from the way I'm interpreting what you wrote, is what the point of the process was at all. The original thought that spurred this was to allow SMs that maybe got along with a specific Membership group that they didn't belong to access to those semi-private forums as a Guest. I don't think it was supposed to be set up as a "SM Guesting Process" for us to go through the same sort of process as a SM that one would have gone through as an Accepted while not taking a demotion in the process. :cheeseeni: If you're looking to relocate, then you accept that it requires a demotion in order to do so and move forward that way. I can't remember if you were Raised before the Guesting process, Ariana, but if you made the decision to visit with other groups in order to potentially find a new home, then the demotion process is the way to have done it. If I'm missing something here, or misinterpreting, please clarify for me because I want to understand this correctly. :hug
 

Ty al'Djinn

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That may be so, Lireina Sedai, but what about everyone who never got to know other groups outside of Tower events because they were raised before Guesting was implemented? I can see where Ariana is coming from.
 

Jeffan Caliarthan

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You can get to know a group without having access to their Sitting/Great Room.
 

Zashara Sho'am

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Here's my take on it, as a member of Ajah that has a pretty stringent Guesting system:

If you just want to get to know other groups, then post in their threads in around the Tower - each Ajah/Company has threads in the OWAH, Hallways/Garrison, and other places. Get to know the individual members that make up the groups. Yes, people who were raised before Guesting started didn't have that experience, but they've had other experiences, and they have their Ajah forums. Yes, some people do lurk in the their own Ajah/Company forums, but you aren't going to get them to come talk to you just by joining their Ajah forums.

But, if you don't feel like you fit with your group, then you absolutely should demote. When I demoted, I didn't know which Ajah I would join. I had some idea, from talking to people in other Ajahs, and my general experience around the site. Demotion is something that is difficult. You have to give things up so that you can gain the ability to guest with other Ajahs. It does kinda suck in that you don't want to offend your Sisters in your old Ajah, or have them feel bad, and you have to do the whole raising process all over again. In the end, though, it was totally worth it.

My thought process just comes back to this: What's the point of Ajah/Company Sitting/Great Rooms if other SMs can just come over and hang out? It just doesn't compute, and maybe that's because I'm looking at it from a very different point of view. Becoming a guest should be difficult - you already have your 'home', your own Ajah/Company forums (private and public). A guesting Accepted/Soldier doesn't have that. Just like in RL, getting a second 'home' isn't something that most people get to do.

I feel strongly about the Brown Ajah and all things related to the Browns; I can't help it. The idea of Senior Members Guesting with my Ajah just make me go ":arch ORLY?" I know that many others feel the same about their own membership groups. Like Taika said, the Brown system was put in place for a specific reason. Maybe that will change, I don't anticipate it happening, but maybe it will.

I think it would awesome if I got to Guest with other groups. However, I made my choice and I'm content with that. I can understand the way that members of other groups might feel, based upon my strong emotions. I know that if you don't have as strong of an emotional response as some of us, then we probably come off as being difficult and stubborn, among other things. :p And for those of us who are passionate about this subject, others come off as insensitive potential trespassers.
 

Ty al'Djinn

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Just call me Elmer Fudd? :p







I get where you're coming from. Thank you for that, Zashara Sedai.
 

Kelgan al'Moranwin

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I can't speak to every Ajah/Company, but I'm definitely under the impression that most uses of this system to date have been to keep former bond-mates in Sitting Rooms/Great Rooms when they would otherwise have been removed under the rules governing bonding. It seems to have been applied principally in situations where the guest was already there for another reason and the Ajah/Company decided to keep them around. I imagine that will continue to be the primary use of the system :cheeseeni: I'll be a bit surprised, frankly, if I hear of invitations being extended for Gaidin to guest with other Companies or Aes Sedai to guest with other Ajahs without some very interesting circumstances.
 
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