June 27, 2004
Recently I had the pleasure of interviewing Allyrellia, the current leader of the clan, Eternity (8). She created Eternity after stepping down from a leadership role in clan 85 (Soldiers of the Eternal Flame). The original aim in creating Eternity was to make a newbie-oriented sister for 85. Here is what Allyrellia had to say.
Kimetan: Give us some background on your clan. Why did you decide to create it?
Allyrellia: I created 8 for a couple reasons. One, I'd retired and stepped down from 85 (Soldiers of the Eternal Flame, which I also created), then unretired and was bored. Two, I wanted to make a really newbie-oriented sister clan for 85, since I was active again... plus I just love making clans.
Kimetan: You mentioned something about 85 in your "leading past" - is that the only clan you've ever lead or co-lead? If not, which other ones have you provided your leadership to?
Allyrellia: Yup. My clan history is fairly short and sweet... I started out as a newbie in 35 with Ogrady, I ended up in 1, then I went to the old 55 when it was created. While there, I got together with some old friends from 1 and we decided to make our own clan. I got the majority of the money myself, and started 85. That's basically it. 85 had a long string of coleaders, but I started it and continued to lead for a couple years. So yes, I lead in 85, then I stepped down, then I made 8. :) If I've been a coleader somewhere else, I've forgotten it now!
Kimetan: Is leading a clan everything that you expected it to be? Did you have any expectations when you went into your first leading 'gig'?
Allyrellia: I had no expectations at all, but I was very nervous of the responsibility. I shouldn't have been! If you're meant to be a leader, it just happens, especially if you have a wonderful group of people with you, like I've always had. In starting 8, I was pretty well set, I'd lead before, become a Hero and an Avatar, I'd had a lot of clantown building experience, and I knew the people that were my "core" group... I had it made! Basically, I expected leading to be a lot of fun, and I've always found it to be so.
Kimetan: Did you find it difficult to get the funds together to start 8?
Allyrellia: Oh no, not at all. I've kept a running total over the years... if I'd never made either clan, I'd have about 2.35 billion gold now. Plus, I only paid for about 2/3 of the cost. Ansel, my starting coleader, paid the other 1/3. We traded our rears off, we went on stone run after stone run (luckily, my fiance was in Fate and a Bloodstone leader, haha!), and we came up with the money easily enough. In addition to that, several of the core members donated dozens of millions between them, so that started us out with a nice little bank account for the clan.
Kimetan: Did said romance lead to alliances amongst clans?
Allyrellia: A long time ago, it did! 85 and Fate were allied for a short amount of time due to the fact that we were almost always formed together for eq runs, thanks to Danock! By the time I started 8 though, Danock had mostly retired, and came to 'sit' in 8 and help me out here.
Kimetan: You've mentioned the "core" members of your clan a couple of times so far. Who are those people, and how important have their contributions been to keeping both you as a leader and your clan successful?
Allyrellia: Ansel (starting coleader), Danock, Kilith, Trrapsin, Hagus, Nannia... Dan's still notorious in our clan for his "DanoFormsTM" - labeled such by Malastaf - he would take a group of clannies out to nice xp zones, like Arena, get them a lot of great xp, and wind up killing them all off by taking too much on. Good times! :) There are more people who started out with us, and I'm so sorry if I forgot anyone, but it's just been so long! Well, the money wasn't very important, but the fact that they supported us and were willing to join and work to make the clan a success... well, that was everything! A clan's not a clan without members, and those people really were the ones that made 8 what it was and what it is.
Kimetan: You mentioned Nannia in your list of "core" members. What made you choose her to be your co-leader?
Allyrellia: Well, I've been through a long list... Ansel, Danock, Essej, Stavia (sniffsniff), and then I had this huge gaping hole to fill. I was absolutely beside myself... but then Nannia just seemed to step right in to it. She came to me JUST as I was about to go to her. She didn't think she could lead, but she had some good ideas. I wanted her to colead. I think you can see who won! She's been absolutely wonderful. She's a breath of fresh air, she's helpful, and everyone loves her, myself included.
Kimetan: Why the "sniffsniff" by Stavia's name?
Allyrellia: Oh... because Stavia is Kostia, and I just love her. Love, love, love her. We didn't do so hot as a leading team simply because... we both are busy with the work we do as part of the Medievia staff. She obviously has a lot more to do than I do, but I'm pretty busy myself at times, especially now, after taking on the clantown stuff. Anyway, we were both absent for long periods of time and inactive a lot, and the clan really suffered during that time. Eventually, she decided to become more active and left to find a clan to suit her needs. She still has a character or two in 8, but I just have to sniff over the loss of Stavia too!
Kimetan: What do you look for in enrolling a new clan member?
Allyrellia: We look for someone who's enthusiastic and friendly, with a great sense of humor. We generally like our new enrollees to be new players without alts in other clans, but exceptions are made once in awhile. We prefer that any new member not have a reputation of being vulgar, profane, or lewd. I'd say we're pretty family-oriented, as from time to time, my various siblings play and are in the clan. That's about it. We're not too picky.
Kimetan: Do you find that your clan actively seeks out new members, or do they typically come to you?
Allyrellia: We used to actively recruit people, but we've grown much more laid back and tend to wait for people to seek us out. I find that we have a better "success" rate so to speak that way. Now I just have some info on our clanpage and a form to email me if interested. I get 2-3 applications a week, and we go from there.
Kimetan: Excellent idea! Would you recommend a Web page to other clans/towns? It sounds like you've had some successes with it.
Allyrellia: I think it's a really great way to get information out about your clan and even to your clan. It works well as an advertisement, and if you explain your clan's guidelines and expectations there, it helps potential applicants decide if you are what they want. Saves for confusion later! "Oh...I thought you guys CPK." "Er, nope!" "Bye!"
Kimetan: What are the basic expectations of your clan members?
Allyrellia: I expect they log on once in awhile, though if you see our clanwhen, you'll notice that I have members who haven't been on in a year or so, laugh. I expect that they maintain a friendly, personable attitude with their clannies... I frown upon in-clan fighting, but we've never really had a problem with that. I ask that my clannies help each other out when needed. I also expect them to act as ambassadors and good representatives of our clan to all the other players of Medievia. We like to keep our reputation clean and friendly, as we've got a few god mortals and several avatars in the clan. Plus, the only member that lasts long here is the one that's friendly, respectful, and whatnot, so it all works out well!
Kimetan: Is there a certain area of the game that your clan specializes in (e.g. combing, CPK'ing, trading, etc.) or particularly enjoys?
Allyrellia: Oh, this is SO easy. We're the fishing clan. We specialize in deep sea, but we often "own" normal fishing as well. Other than that, a lot of my members love to trade run (shudder), and they do that quite often.
Kimetan: Several clans in Medievia find it useful in paying their clan-tax to tax their individual members on a monthly basis. Does 8 have an individual "clantax?"
Allyrellia: Ah, we ask for 20% of TR or AQ profits, but that's not enforced at all. I find that my active members give often and generously, so we've never had to worry about that.
Kimetan: How do you feel about charging your clan members this tax?
Allyrellia: It's a necessity to run the clantown ... we also provide eggs to all our clannies for multiclassing, we help out with equipment sometimes, and we're saving up now to make a new clanitem. I don't feel bad about charging a tax since I haven't had to actually enforce the rule ... our members give as they see fit, and I'm just fine with that.
Kimetan: One aspect of the game that players have always shown a great interest in are clan items. Would you care to share a little information about your clanitem and what significance it has to your clan?
Allyrellia: Our clanitem is Eterna, Life Forever, the most beautiful star of the heavens. I created it in a "beautiful" moment, and I just wanted to have a gorgeous item. I think we have that, though some whiners out of clan (why do they care?) often complain about its "spam."
Kimetan: The item's special procedure?
Allyrellia: Yes. If you die, I'll show it to you!
Kimetan: Let's hope that won't be necessary! Moving along, how liberal (or conservative) are you in giving clan members varying privileges? For example, are there certain privileges that are more widely distributed in your clan than others?
Allyrellia: I don't give clantown privileges out almost at all. I'm very territorial of my clantown. Obviously withdrawal privileges are not given out either, no one else needs them. Other than that, if a clanmember wants something, I give it to him (or her).
Kimetan: How is your clan politically aligned?
Allyrellia: We're not.
Kimetan: What made you choose to remain neutral?
Allyrellia: Stavia and I weren't interested in setting an alignment for the clan. We figure that the clan can vote in the finals for whichever candidate they like, and that's enough for us. We tend to remain politically neutral ourselves, and I think our clan does as well.
Kimetan: Does your clan town like to participate in town games?
Allyreliia: Actually, we don't participate in town games anymore. We rarely have eight people online (since we're pretty loose as far as activity goes), and quite frankly, we're mostly full of newbies. We figure it's enough of a game for us to get them leveling up and have a steady hold on the game ... plus there's always fishing. We'd die if we were stuck in a town game and a fishing quest was announced. Now ... team fishing as a town game ... sign us up!
Kimetan: What do you think makes clan 8 unique from every other clan in Medievia?
Allyrellia: Well, I think we're one of the only clans that just doesn't care what others think of us. I've had people tell me my clan is dying off (laugh), that we're losers, whatever... We just enjoy each other and the game, the rest rolls off. We don't worry about CPK or eq runs... we don't stress about ranks. We really are all about having a good time and helping others learn how to play the game and enjoy it.
Kimetan: What would you say is Eternity's strongest point?
Allyrellia: Not to be boring and say this over and over again, but I really do think that our strongest point is the fellowship that we have. The sense of comraderie. We've known each other for a long time, or it feels like it, and we just enjoy ourselves. No group has more fun doing absolutely nothing than we do!
Kimetan: Conversely then, what would you say is the clan's weakest point?
Allyrellia: I guess our weakest point is our activity level. We're all very busy with our "real life" stuff. I'm rarely on during the weekend, others during the school/work week, etc. We're working on it!
Kimetan: Do you have a couple memorable events from your tenure in Eternity that stick out in your mind?
Allyrellia: I think the thing that sticks to my mind the most is when we had nine members online ... and we were all fishing in a quest together ... we ended up taking almost every place too, I think! And of course ... there's Malastaf.
Kimetan: Malastaf?
Allyrellia: Somehow he managed to start this insane Kumquat thing. He loved the word, and he uses it in stead of many things... like thanks, welcome back, congrats... KQ this, KQ that... it's our clan fruit.
Kimetan: Perhaps you found the idea for your new clanitem?
Allyrellia: That or a fishing rod!
Kimetan: What long term goals or plans do you have for 8? What, in the future, are you most looking forward to with your clan?
Allyrellia: We don't have any real goals... we plan to just keep on going and enjoying the game... But, I'm looking forward to the clan being more active again, that's for sure!
Kimetan: If your clan was disbanded today, what do you think people would remember about Eternity?
Allyrellia: Oh... I don't know if anyone other than the clannies themselves would remember us, but I certainly think that we'd all remember each other and the good times we've shared. If we were remembered, it'd be as a quiet clan with a spammy item.
Kimetan: Who sweeped Fishing Quests, right?
Allyrellia: Exactly!
Kimetan: If you, personally, had to quit playing Medievia tomorrow, what do you think would happen to your clan?
Allyrellia: I'd give the clan to Nannia and be completely confident that she'd carry it on as well, if not better, than I do.
Kimetan: You've had so much rich experience leading clans ... do you have any words of wisdom or advice for aspiring clan leaders and co-leaders?
Allyrellia: Hmm... I'd say a few things... Good luck, for one! I'd also caution people not to let themselves get too cocky and think that it's all about them, as leaders. It's not. The best leader in the world is nothing without a wonderful group. It's important to listen to your clannies. Make sure you're addressing all their needs and concerns. One unhappy clanmember can make for a lot of internal problems and discontent. Oh... and stay cheerful! Enjoy what you're doing. That's the most important thing.
Kimetan: When you think of your clan, what are the first three words that come to mind?
Allyrellia: Friendly, funny, and crazy. Definitely crazy.
Kimetan: Do you have any concluding remarks or anything else you would like to add?
Allyrellia: I'd like to say that I just can't give this clan justice in a short interview, or even a long paper. We've shared so many wonderful experiences and supported each other through personal crises. I joke a lot about Eternity, but I wouldn't change a thing about it. We've achieved perfection - we're all happy and content, and we truly do enjoy the game and each other. And... if you really have questions because I haven't said something clearly, or you're just plain interested, visit our website!
Kimetan: Remind us of the URL?
Allyrellia: http://www.heartofeternity.com/
I'd like to thank Allyrellia for taken the time out of her hectic schedule to sit down and talk with me. I'd also like to wish her and her clan the best of luck in the future!
For more information about clan 8, check out their Web site or their MedWeb Clan Page.
Is your clan interested in being featured in the Clan Spotlight? Sharing in the limelight is easy! All you have to do is submit a MedWeb Clan Page, if you haven't done so already, and send me (Kimetan) an e-mail expressing your interest in an interview!
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