Hello Nekos! It’s that time again! Grab a cuppa something and settle in for some big guild news. As usual, you can skim this message by reading the text in red and bold; read the full text for details.
February Wrap-Up
It’s already the end of February, and I can’t say this enough: I am so proud of you all!! This month has been all about gearing up. We’ve done guild trade runs together, had lots of discussions about how and what to gear, and made trades, sales, and loans within the guild; now, nearly everyone has at least 3k gear score, and quite a few have much more! I’m sure you’ve already started to feel the difference in your game-play, and as scores continue to climb, we’re going to be able to do more and more together.
We’re not the only ones who have noticed our immense progress, either. We are getting noticed. Even without actively recruiting or being on the Guild Search tab, people are approaching us because they want to be Nekos. We have recently been mentioned in two “guilds to know on Arenzeb” threads on the official forums; the Reds know our names enough to throw salt our way; and we’ve strengthened our relationship with Awakening, the East’s highest-tier guild. Thanks to your help, I was able to make second-tier hero this month, adding to our guild’s reputation.
Not only is all this true, but I can confidently say we are one of the nicest, most fun, and most active groups on the server. I am immensely proud of everyone learning to work together as a group for everything from trade runs to PvP (sometimes both together). We’ve been taking out Red trade ships at our docks, killing major worldbosses with our allies, and above all, we’re still seen as the friendly, helpful bunch Aranzeb has come to love!
Finally, I can’t say how impressed I am at how quickly everyone learned the Buff Pot Picnic and began arriving prepared with a full Picnic Basket to every raid! That alone sets us up for true long-term success!
On a less positive note, we did not earn as much gold as we had hoped via guild trade runs. This was not at all due to any member failings — on the contrary, you all came together with remarkable determination. Unfortunately, I overestimated the feasibility of doing enough runs each week to provide meaningful gear improvements to guild members. We are not a trading guild; we are a guild of PvPers, traders, farmers, crafters, and dungeon crawlers, and in order to earn the quantity of gold I was hoping, we would have needed to put all those other interests on hold. At any rate, the officers are currently discussing how best to distribute the gold we did make among those who contributed regularly.
Moving Forward With Vehicles
While I hope all of you will continue to work on your gear, the goal for this month is going to shift the guild focus to something a little different: Vehicles! I am not setting a hard goal for our members this time; instead, I’d like you to pick one or two items to work on.
- Tanks / Mortars – I would like to see the vast majority of Nekos owning (at least one!) tank.
- Tanks are a lot of fun for ganking red trade ships at the docks, and they’re incredibly valuable in large-scale PvP and end game bosses.
- People with low gear scores can participate in higher-tier content if they have a tank.
- I recommend getting the honor mortar because it has a stun effect; the gilda tank’s effect is a slow.
- Already have a tank? Consider getting a second one! Having two mortars is a huge advantage in PvP, since you can simply summon your second tank when the first one is destroyed.
- Galleons – Naval battles and bosses require galleons. Starting in April, I’d like to get more Nekos to Abyssal; for that we need galleons! Already have a galleon? Work on getting that baby tricked out with minimum Celestial gear.
- Clippers – Galleons may bring the guns, but clippers are needed for their harpoons and speed. Lachna will be using guild funds to regrade a pile of sails to Celestial for the guild. Guild trade runs are again a Go for this month!
- Haulers – Haulers move packs, and packs make gold! Everyone should really have a hauler.
- Cars – See: Haulers, but smaller, faster, and more fun to drive. Please get your hauler first.
Moving Closer To Allies
With server transfers live on March first, our server’s power balance is about to be rocked hard. We will have to see how it all shakes out, but without a doubt, now is the time for strong guilds and their allies to seize power.
In order to become a fluid fighting force during this crucial time, some of Neko’s strongest people will be temporarily moving to Awakening. Rest assured that although we will wear their tag and follow their lead, we will remain active and present in Neko.
- My alt, Azulle, will be holding the guild leadership.
- All of us will keep a second client open on a second screen with an in-guild alt so we can stay aware of and involved in guild chat and activities.
- We will remain connected to both Neko and Awakening TeamSpeaks.
- Beyond this, Lachna — who games in the same room as me — will also be acting as our eyes and voice within Neko.
Awakening asked us to join permanently, but the officers quickly agreed unanimously that we were unwilling to abandon the wonderful community everyone has worked so hard to create. Neko is where my heart is and nothing will change that. <3
It is our hope that this temporary merge will:
- Help our top-tier members to progress even further, strengthening us as a whole
- Allow us to pull in a steady income of gold and gear to strengthen other Nekos
- Teach us top-tier dungeon and PvP strategies to bring back with us
- Strengthen our alliance with the server’s top powerhouse guild for a long-term relationship
- Strengthen the faction by putting an East guild in power.
If you’d like to join in this temporary move, please speak to Azelle. Minimum gear score for this move is 4,000.
Moving Up the Hero Board
Finally, regarding Faction Heroes: As our members become stronger, the title of Hero becomes ever more attainable. As a guild, we are still learning how many candidates we can realistically support. While we will not forbid anyone from running, we will be choosing candidates who we believe best embody the Neko spirit to support as a guild effort.
Nekos are requested to vote for and thumb only these officially endorsed candidates. The March candidates are:
- Azelle
- Dryzdale
- Venumos
Yes, all of these candidates will be wearing the Awakening tag for the next couple of months. It kills me that Awakening will show by our names on the hero board instead of Neko Punch, but again, this is a temporary arrangement. These people are Nekos, they display the essence of Neko spirit, and they will be returning to Neko after the transfer dust settles.
If you are interested in becoming an officially endorsed Neko Hero, please speak with Azelle. Note that a request for official endorsement does not guarantee we’ll say yes.
In Closing
Lachna and I have been building Neko Punch together for over a year, and we consider the guild’s health our highest priority in the game. This temporary move is a bit of a risk on the part of the leadership, but we believe the rewards will be worth it. We’re therefore asking for your support. All of leadership has their finger on kill switch for this if things should start to go south for Neko, but we believe that we can make this work well for everyone involved.
With your support, we can continue to build and strengthen the Neko community even as we move into a new season for Aranzeb.
<3,
Azelle
Shortlink: j.mp/npmarch
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