E.P.O.C.H Freelancer Scheme Idea

An advert pops up that catches your eye on the Holonet:
"Are you a talented bountyhunter that wants the fun of working in a team, facing adventures and getting a juicy paycheck while not being tied down by the responsibilites that other groups would make you do? Well your prayers have been answered. The E.P.O.C.H Agency is offering the Freelancer Scheme. You'll be given contracts from a range of different clients to suit you while not being tied down by anyone or anything. Call our personal consulant Malindryll now on 013-567-932."

A brainwave I recieved. There are hordes of people out in the wilderness of the TOR Forums and beyond who want to play the game but don't want to be tied down. To get a taste of group roleplay but to still work solo. A quick glance round will show you many on the site that don't want a guild or might think it's too early. Here's were my idea comes in.

We offer people a "place" at E.P.O.C.H with no trial period. They can take part in our roleplays, but they can't go into Guild Discussions, News or Guild Roleplays. They operate seperately to the guild so are not obliged to go to any roleplay events (although may come should they wish unless they're super-private), but, if we have a contract that needs doing, we give it to them. The catch is that the E.P.O.C.H bank gets a bigger cut of the contract money than usual, but the freelancer is able to roleplay with us and provide extra support on a group contract - experiancing guild fun without the guild so to speak.

As I said though, there will be some restrictions. In roleplay, the person will only be the rank of an initiate (or an agent at a stretch or if they've been with us a long time), he won't be able to get too deep into the guild's secrets and certainly won't be able to see the random yet quite important chatter in our discussion threads (in case he or she is a mole).

How this will benefit us? We'll get some extra support ourselves when needed. We'll become more well-known amongst the community (as far as I know, this is the only guild that's even contemplated the idea so that has to count as something when it comes to standing out). It also serves as a sort of trial period so people can get a taste for us, but they'll still have to go through the initiate process if they really want to join. Is will also of course add diversity to our roleplaying. You can imagine the myserious human lone-wolf swoop biker who only turns up on Sundays and wears a leather jacket.

So whatdya think?!

This is a cool idea, h2 - and probably wouldn't be too hard to impliment. We'd give the "Freelancers" their own rank, a bit like our allies have and we can decided exactly what they can and can't see on the forum in exactly the same way.

The only thing that might be a problem in my eyes is that of the Freelancers feeling like their being excluded or that the Agents are somewhat elitist. I don't know, thats more a feeling than based on any hard facts thought...

We'd treat them as equals I guess as we treat initiates and allies as equals so I wouldn't expect them to feel that we're elitists. As for the "being excluded" part, if they don't want to feel that way, then they should join the guild! That's the whole point!

That's a very interesting idea H2! I've personally known many roleplayers and also been a roleplayer that wanted to roleplay heavily while not being tied down by a guild and still be able to affiliate with heavy PvE or PvP guilds.

I think this idea wouled be a great suggestion for the guild for the various reasons you've suggested. It would enable E.P.O.C.H to become both a larger community as well as a guild in its own with branches reaching across the galaxy to all the corrupt Moffs and Republic officials!

Great idea H2! I'm backing it.

Thanks 36! I hoped that this idea hadn't gone to dust and I'm glad to see someone who grasps the full concept and reach of the idea.

Building up on what you said, one a sweep round the forums can show that we'll have some of the best roleplaying on the forums. Naturally, people will want in and I'm sure no-one wants to feel Elitist - but these people may not want to be tied down. So, opening the doors to freelancers would give these people an oppurtunity to roleplay with us while it's still "in character".

Harlequin2 wrote:

Naturally, people will want in and I'm sure no-one wants to feel Elitist - but these people may not want to be tied down. So, opening the doors to freelancers would give these people an oppurtunity to roleplay with us while it's still "in character".

Amen to that H2!

It's been a while - do I have any more takers on this idea? Another thought is that we can have an unlimited number of Freelancers. As they aren't really a full part of the guild, we can easily keep a long list of them and we don't have to ask them to stay active. They can drop in and off our radar as much as they like. If a month goes by without them popping in, we can send a note round asking if they want to continue their connection with the guild... No other guild has thought of this idea from what I'm seen and so we'd be tapping into a whole host of potential players.

Sorry Harly I've only just seen this, I'm still catching up a load of things that need doing since my absence.

In 2 words - GREAT IDEA! Love it.

I've actually been debating changing the "New Applicant" rank to something of late so we've been discussing what to change it to but of course I don't mind adding another "Freelancer" rank if we start getting some interest with this idea. As you say it will limit things below the "Initiate" rank so they'll practically have the same access to that as a "New Applicant" but yeah I think it's a really good idea.

How are you planning on going about things? Searching for potential Freelancers over at the TOR forums?

Thanks SS I was wondering if you would reply or not.

Well, in my eyes, there's a difference between a New Applicant and a Freelancer. A New Applicant wants to actually join the guild while a Freelancer doesn't - rather be the guy on the side. New Applicants would be better suited with the name of say "Potential Candidate/Agent" or something similar. Indeed, advertising would very much go down onto the ToR forums. I'm thinking it's best to go on the General Forums with this as people interested would not be looking at the Guild Forums, but an announcement on our guild thread with a link would be nice.

And yeah, the same amount of access as say a New Applicant would be good, except they would be able to see a Contracts sub forum were they would receive their missions and the like. So has this been officially integrated into the E.P.O.C.H or shall I go over to the ToR forums to scan out potential Freelancers first?

Aye I agree Freelancer and Applicants should be seperated. As I say we're working on a new name at the minute and so far it's between Contact & Prospect for the applicants.

I think the plan for now should be seeing how many people you can get interested in this scheme. If you find you're having some success then I shall indeed (with L-Dubz's approval) put this idea into place as I think it has a hell of a lot of potential for community>guild interaction. As for the contracts, I think for the meantime we'll leave it for RP only. When the game comes around though then yeah I can't see why I couldn't start a contract sub-forum. I had a similar idea a while back for the guild which was going to done all in character and stuck on the RP section of the forums.

Best of luck with this amyway mate cause I sincerely hope this works out.

Aye I'm well behind it - in fact let us know if you're planning to make a post over at SWTOR.com and I'll get on there to lend my support (and I'm sure other EPOCHians will too as well as most of our allies)

Absolutely, count me in.

Thanks guys, I'll get on it in a couple of days (tomorrow I'll be out all day). For now though, it should be top secret. No Syndicates stealing our ideas

Harlequin2 wrote:

No Syndicates stealing our ideas

LOL! Syndi who?

Love the idea of Freelancers! Has there been any movement on this?

Would Freelancers have to be aligned to the Sith or would both factions and any class (force users?) be allowed in?

Unfortunately, not as of late. I've been busy with revision. In my eyes, Freelancers can be of any class, although I'm going to ask of only Sith due to the fact that there may be some restrictions such as a language barrier (unlikely - but possible!)

Do you want to enjoy great roleplaying experiences - but without the compulsory weekly gathering? Do you want to be able to raid in a group - but not feel obliged to be part of one? Do you want to have fun in a group, without the responsibilities and hassles that joining a guild poses? If you answered “Yes” to any one of these questions, then you should consider becoming a...



What is this Freelancer Scheme?
Simply put, the Freelancer scheme is where you can enjoy all the benefits of being inside a guild, without having the responsibilities, ties and constraints of actually being in one. As a Freelancer, you will be able to fight alongside our characters in deadly battles, engage in immersive and structured role-playing sessions either (in-game or on our forum), and even go it alone fulfilling contracts for our many allied guilds.
If you decide to be a Freelancer, you’ll be able to join our discussions, activities and many play-by-post forum role-plays, getting access to parts of our forum that many others can’t. But – since you’re a Freelancer, you’re not required to stay active (although if you’re absent for more than two months, we’ll send you a friendly message asking if you want to stay on) and you needn’t take part in our compulsory events.

What are the requirements?
Unfortunately, due to our choice of Faction (Sith Empire), we are only open to Bounty Hunters, Imperial Agents, Sith Warriors and Sith Inquisitors – although there are no restrictions on how many of either class we receive as Freelancers. Our only other two rules however are that you role-play and stay friendly to everyone in the Guild

Who are the E.P.O.C.H?
The E.P.O.C.H Agency (stands for Elimination and Protection Operations for Contractual Hire) is a Bounty Hunter agency that though on the surface performs legal contracts such as military enforcement or search and rescue; they are in fact capable of committing acts of sabotage, assassination and interrogation – all for a price. We recruit only the best and most intelligent warriors, mercenaries and spies to become one of the most respected groups in the Galaxy.
Out of Character, we are a Sith Empire, European, and Medium/Heavy Role-playing guild. If you are interested, our main recruitment page is here:

Thank you for your time,
Harlequin2, Emissary of the E.P.O.C.H Agency

(Whatcha think? )

Nice work but a couple of things need changing:

Harlequin2 wrote:

Getting access to parts of our forum that many others can’t.

The only sections that will be available to Freelancers would be the same as anyone who first registers with the guild but doesn't apply. Only Initiates upwards get to see the guild sections. You're welcome to have dedicated Freelancer RP of course though.

Harlequin2 wrote:

Our only other two rules however are that you role-play and stay friendly to everyone in the Guild

Everyone that comes to these boards has to abide by all the rules stated here.

Also I've seen this crop up a few times now:

Harlequin2 wrote:

The E.P.O.C.H Agency (stands for Elimination and Protection Operations for Contractual Hire) is a Bounty Hunter agency

Even though we are a very heavily influenced by the Bounty Hunter class I actually see us more of a Mercenary/Secret Service type guild. Maybe mentioning just the Bounty Hunters might not grab everyone elses attention.

Apart from that it all looks good.

Reads nice Harl, and lookin' good. I for one understand more clearly what you were trying to propose.... I thought I had it more or less figured out but now the murky waters have subsided and the clouds have parted. I read your ad and went "ooooooooooh, I get it now!"

I agree with Sure's points however, especially:

Sureshot wrote:

Everyone that comes to these boards has to abide by all the rules

This is a forum rule rather than a guild one, so if they join our forum (but not our guild) it still applies.

and

Sureshot wrote:

Even though we are a very heavily influenced by the Bounty Hunter class I actually see us more of a Mercenary/Secret Service type guild. Maybe mentioning just the Bounty Hunters might not grab everyone elses attention.

We were very much a "bounty hunter guild" when we were blasters4hire, but since the revealing of the other 3 classes and us becoming EPOCH I too feel we are more "secret service" that includes bounty hunters among our number. If we go 'too pro-bh' then we are alienating the Force Users of the guild who - while in a minority - still need to be considered.

One thing I will say though, is this bit:

Harlequin2 wrote:

Getting access to parts of our forum that many others can’t.

Sureshot wrote:

The only sections that will be available to Freelancers would be the same as anyone who first registers with the guild but doesn't apply. Only Initiates upwards get to see the guild sections. You're welcome to have dedicated Freelancer RP of course though.

Could we not set up a new Rank as Freelancer? That way we could create a forum that could be seen by the Freelancers, Agents, Officers and Leaders but not seen by the New Applicants, Initiates or Allies. It wouldn't take too long to set up (I'm more than willing to do it if people want), and would give the freelancers somewhere they could call home.

Lunarwolf wrote:

Could we not set up a new Rank as Freelancer? That way we could create a forum that could be seen by the Freelancers, Agents, Officers and Leaders but not seen by the New Applicants, Initiates or Allies. It wouldn't take too long to set up (I'm more than willing to do it if people want), and would give the freelancers somewhere they could call home.

Aye thats not a bad idea. We can always set it up so they only have access to the Open Forums, Events, the new Freelancer section (still not sure wheres best to put it - maybe the Allies section?), and the open roleplay section of course.

Do you want to enjoy great roleplaying experiences - but without the compulsory weekly gathering? Do you want to be able to raid in a group - but not feel obliged to be part of one? Do you want to have fun in a group, without the responsibilities and hassles that joining a guild poses? If you answered “Yes” to any one of these questions, then you should consider becoming a...



What is this Freelancer Scheme?
Simply put, the Freelancer scheme is where you can enjoy all the benefits of being inside a guild, without having the responsibilities, ties and constraints of actually being in one. As a Freelancer, you will be able to fight alongside our characters in deadly battles, engage in immersive and structured role-playing sessions either (in-game or on our forum), and even go it alone fulfilling contracts for our many allied guilds.
If you decide to be a Freelancer, you’ll be able to join our discussions, activities and many play-by-post forum role-plays, getting access to parts of our forum that many others can’t. But – since you’re a Freelancer, you’re not required to stay active (although if you’re absent for more than two months, we’ll send you a friendly message asking if you want to stay on) and you needn’t take part in our compulsory events.

What are the requirements?
Unfortunately, due to our choice of Faction (Sith Empire), we are only open to Bounty Hunters, Imperial Agents, Sith Warriors and Sith Inquisitors – although there are no restrictions on how many of either class we receive as Freelancers. Our only other two rules however are that you role-play, stay friendly to everyone in the Guild and abide by the Forum Rules when posting in the forum.

Who are the E.P.O.C.H?
The E.P.O.C.H Agency (stands for Elimination and Protection Operations for Contractual Hire) is a Mercenary/Secret Service agency that though on the surface performs legal contracts such as military enforcement or search and rescue; they are in fact capable of committing acts of sabotage, assassination and interrogation – all for a price. We recruit only the best and most intelligent warriors, mercenaries and spies (force-user and not) to become one of the most respected groups in the Galaxy.
Out of Character, we are a Sith Empire, European, and Medium/Heavy Role-playing guild.

If you are interested in this unique offer, then you may find our guild site at: www.agentsoftheepoch.org

Thank you for your time,
Harlequin2, Emissary of the E.P.O.C.H Agency

Re-done. Okay now?

Perfecto!!! Nice job Harly. Wait for a double check from L-Dubz and I'd say it's all good to go.

I can actually see this sorting out a lot of problems:

1. It'll help with having plenty more players to play TOR with but it'll still keep our beloved guild small and tight-knit.

2. We'll get to know the community even better.

3. It'll no doubt bring in potential recruits that after a while grow attached to the guild.

4. No more worries about activity!!! <===Thats a big plus!!

Okay! I'm thinking Front bit (or HUB) of Guild Discussions? Or just General Discussion?

3... 2... 1...Blast Off!

Feel free to lend your support guys! I've made a post over at the Recruitment thread as well...

Erm, shouldn't this of been put in our own recruitment thread Harly??