Council

Kairos, Methrendomir, Belegwe, Eresmir, Crucio

Members

Zlin, Aireniel, Tharmas, Ximenes, Sabraeil, Braglanas, Maegluin

Apologies

Arohtar, Brimstone

inutes

• Kairos opened the meeting by recounting the history of TWA, noting how we are an old, and historic, kinship, founded in the game’s infancy.  That although we have never classified ourselves as a “hardcore” raiding kinship, we completed each raid on level through until West Rohan, when a lack of endgame content spelled the end for many veteran players on Laurelin, and across the game in general.  He noted the kinship continued to survive thanks to a small group of committed, active, players, and how the current pandemic had brought about a resurgence in activity.  He noted it was a credit that we were still going from strength to strength as a community.

• Kairos then turned to the upcoming elections, laying out their structure and format.  Encouraging people to stand, he said our democracy and constitution is something to cherish, and is unique amongst the LotRO gaming community.

• Eresmir then talked about recruitment.  The kin has been running a passive recruitment strategy since our return, welcoming new members (special mention was given to Sabraeil here) but not actively advertising online or on forums.

That will change after alterations are made to our Discord server to make it easier for potential initiates to join (more on that from Crucio later).  In preparation for same, the council has drafted the following recruitment message:

“The Western Alliance (TWA) is now recruiting. Founded in 2007, our focus is on fun, laughter and mutual respect.  We’re looking for like-minded, active players to join us for group content, from 3-mans to Remmo.  All levels of experience are welcome. Get in touch in-game or on Discord (link) for more details.”

• Crucio then talked about upcoming changes to our Discord server and website.

He is amending the introduction page on Discord so that any potential recruit (referred to Discord by our message or by a member in-game) will automatically be assigned a server role, and an officer will be alerted to their application.  The idea is to streamline the recruitment process, making it look impressive for potential recruits, differentiating them from “FotW” guest-raiders, and easing the admin burden of officers.  Crucio imagines this being completed in the near future.

Crucio talked about the archiving of the old TWA forum/website, and how we were moving to a new blog-based website platform i.e. we imagine the vast majority of the day-to-day business/chat will be conducted on Discord, but a simple website would be handy for blog based articles, such as guides/tactics, the constitution, etc.

Finally Crucio asked for comments on the raidbot.  The recently launched website was created with an event planner in mind as well as articles, but the apparent success of the raidbot caused us to rethink the need for an external event planner.  Those in attendance were in agreement that the raidbot has worked well and that we should continue with it, improving where we can (Eresmir specifically asked about people being able to say they could not attend).

Kairos went on to thank Crucio for his work on the website and Discord server on behalf of the kin.

• Eresmir gave a brief update and raiding, congratulating the kin on finishing Remmorchant T1, and looking ahead to the future, which will be a mix of T2, Anvil runs for rimes, and more T1 raids.

• Q&A
  • Ximenes asked about the election schedule.
  • Braglanas looked for clarification on the raidbot changes.

losing

Kairos thanked all members for their support and commitment.

Methrendomir echoed this, saying that as kin founder he was very pleased to see the kin in such a healthy state.  He reserved special praise for Kairos, Eresmir and Crucio for their work over the past few months.

Kairos thanked Methrendomir and said he was very pleased to see Crucio and Eresmir standing for leader and deputy, respectively, given their work/activity since earlier this year.

Belegwe asked about chairs.  All agreed that Arohtar had done a fantastic job with the kinhall, including the placement of many chairs and benches.  These, alas, were not enough to satisfy Belegwe’s insatiable appetite.

Kairos declared the meeting closed.

Everyone, as per tradition, drank from the kinhall keg, resulting in the loss of pants and dubious travels throughout Eriador.