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[The Shredder]

Overview:
The following document will lay down the foundation of the White Hounds guild. Through the topics underlined in BOLD, you will learn what it is to be a member of this unit. It is my hope that upon reading this, you will send out a PM asking to be signed up for the Cyber Crusade. Or at the very least, send a PM to determine if your personality is a good fit for the unit. I will state right now that while we operate with Christian attitudes, there will be no discrimination based upon faith, skin color, or any other means of separating various social groups. In the end, it is YOU who will show interest in US. If you feel that you are looking at the right unit for you, then it is our goal to welcome you as if you were an old friend, long removed.

Loyalty:
The White Hounds operates with a mutually assured loyalty. This isn’t a meritocracy – it’s a friendship circle. Any attacks made against one of our own will start the war drums pounding. We choose to offer up a place to belong, rather than a position to strive for. As such, our unit exists beyond the in-game tag. We may have members that don’t even play Mechwarrior Online anymore, or those that play with other units. This is of no consequence, as we do not demand exclusivity. Indeed, we may see members break off for a short while to participate in some event or other, and then rejoin the main unit in glorious battle.

Factions:
While it is common to see our pledge go to Marik for 28-day cycles, we are in no way a House unit. We don’t currently have much Community Warfare leanings, as we are short on members. Organizing drops for CW is also a tricky proposition. Marik is the selected faction simply to open up the option of Community Warfare, with plenty of options for attack vectors.

Common Goals:
First and foremost, The White Hounds exists to provide a haven for those seeking a more sane Mechwarrior Online experience. While we do not run our own Team Speak server yet, we do enforce a non-profanity clause, which is generally respected by non-members when we run on public comm servers.

We also demand that our members not only show respect to each other, but also to all those we encounter. We may come into contact with those we despise – there is no helping that. What will ultimately set us apart is our ability to remain respectful, even if all we want to do is give someone a needed strangulation. We shall defend the wronged, but do so with respect, and with the purpose of not making such confrontations any worse for our involvement. Attacks of a personal nature will not be tolerated, and we ask that should a cyber-thug select you as the target of his/her rudeness, that you do not engage them, whether it be text on a screen or sound over your VOIP. While it may push all the wrong buttons, it has been learned through long experience that the best way to combat this is to not respond to it.

The majority of our stated rules can be boiled down so a single concept: Don’t be a jerk. Our goal is to show by example that respect can be an effective tool for cyber interactions. A goal of serving with honor, and dare I suggest, chivalry.

‘Mechs:
Think of this as something of an ad-hoc command. While we may choose to organize a group along efficient lines to pursue a specific goal, we also challenge ourselves to create a winning strategy out of the hardware at hand. With the gap between PC performance among players proving to be extremely wide at times, it simply does not make sense to try and force particular roles on people. Perhaps “LRM Boat” is all your laptop can manage. Perhaps the lag-time of living on a tropical island means that Gauss Rifles just aren’t going to be in your toolkit. It’s all cool, bro!

Respect:
At the most basic level, Respect relies on the ability of the person to pay attention and listen to those around them. No matter the faith, culture, political affiliation, or any other means of division, our overarching precept is to be tolerant, accepting, and willing to go to bat to defend those that come under cruel attack. Whether you choose to join the fight against internet barbarians, or just want a chill place to hang, the very least each of us can do is have respect enough to not feed the trolls, the sappers, the cyber-assassins.

Simply put, PAY ATTENTION! And don’t let your passion be your undoing.

Current Status:
Currently we are very sparse on membership. Majority of on-site members are not affiliated with the unit in-game. We enjoy a lack of iron bulkheads to form closed circles. The idea is to let companies form organically – to the point that members will be placed within particular ‘Battle Groups’ based largely upon individual involvement. Habits will be tracked, and players that often play around the same time shall be placed within the same battle group.

QUICKLY: I must be sure to mention that ‘company’ formation is done LARGELY on a per-match basis. With a standardization of terminology and roles, it is felt that allowing for a more fluid organizational structure will be key in the overall shaping of this unit. We refer to them, therefore, as a ‘Match-Company’ or MatchCo. Generally speaking, a leader will become apparent to those dropping in the round, with resilient habits formed when positive leaders have been identified. Rather than assigning arbitrary ranks that may stifle unit growth, we will rely on this per-match command identification.

Competition Play:
We don’t have plans to engage in competition play at this time. The demands of running a competitive unit are simply beyond the scope of our current capabilities. For this reason, we allow folks to detach without penalty when they wish to play in this more demanding environment. Go play through a ladder tourney - we’ll be here when you get back.

Achieve:
Many people looking to join a guild are looking for an environment in which they can both feel as if they are in their element, and that there is some provision to display the hard work done by the member. Many choose a ranking system for this. We have elected to try something different. Since our goal is to provide a player base that is free of the common thuggish behavior viewed just about everywhere else, achieving the “Next Rank” should be a non-topic. Individuals will no doubt be recognized by their peers for their hard work. For those joining us now, feel a small amount of satisfaction that your kindness, integrity, and steadfastness will be appreciated and lauded, and your voice will be one to help shape this family as it moves forward. What is it you hope to achieve? Here in the White Hounds, we hope the answer is thus: To contribute to a play environment that will always work to be at the vanguard position. To be a shield against the corrupt. To shelter the meek, and help them take down giants.

Conclusion:
I will not waste anyone’s time by trying to sell the merits of this guild. At the end of the day, it is most important that the membership feel as if they actually belong here. Understandably, if we tried to cater to every taste, we would ultimately end up stretched thin and moving about in an erratic manner. I will apologize for the scarcity of folks to interact with at this time – but this is also why we are sticking to public comms. As we grow, interaction becomes more frequent. The community rallies itself, pulls together, and is ultimately defined by those that defend her.

So, if you are looking for something a bit different, and don’t mind suffering through the initial growing pains, then please feel free to send out a PM either through MWOmercs.com or through our forum at www.thewhitehounds.enjin.com

Godspeed, Mechwarriors!

[The Shredder]

If anyone has suggestions for the readability of this document, sound off below! Always looking to improve, after all!
Hope some folks at least check out our site @ www.thewhitehounds.enjin.com

We're like you - a little different!

[The Shredder]

It is true that we are very casual at this point in time. We don't even have an official meeting time! We would like to have one, but for that to happen, we need applicants like you!

In an effort to remain fully transparent, I won't promise you that you'll have members to drop with every night. I can say that those joining now will be forming the initial make-up of this unit. Even if you don't wish to run our in-game tag, but would like to add some new friends to your drop list, give us a look.

For now, we will be remaining an Inner Sphere unit. We don't have enough members to drop in CW anyway. If you are new to this game, and already know that you won't have hours and hours to devote to a unit, but still want to belong to something, look us up. We might just be the group of crazy-folk you're looking for.

There is a ZERO time commitment. All I ask is that folks let me know how they are doing from time to time. I like to know that my pilots are alright, hale and hearty.