I am taking the time tonight to stir up some conversation about the direction of our guild. I like to think that we have created a sense of pride, among our small group of members, carrying the name Phoenix Ignition. We have been in a lull for a few months now, mostly due to the gaming market, but where do we go from here?

From time to time I meander gaming forums, usually when I am looking into a new title, and always stumble upon the Guild Forums. There are a lot of guilds out there that are far more experienced than us, and also some that are just beginning. I don't want to rank us in any way, because that is not our personality, but I do like to look at what the top guilds are doing to retain member's attention.

One reason, I noticed, was that they get totally absorbed in the game they are currently playing. They live and breath the game. I think that is part of the reason we were particularly successful in WAR. We all were very interested in the game, and our role in it.

Also, they seem to play games for extended periods of time. years instead of months, or even weeks. I especially understand that people have to take breaks once in a while, but how can we retain our strength when one or two top members take a short break? Again, I contribute our lasting appeal due to the current game market. We really are just waiting for the next big MMO, playing misc games in the meantime. Fortuneatly Rift seems to look like a title that we can make our home for awhile.

To get past rambling and to the point; I want us as a gaming community to come together and brainstorm. To think about what we all want to get out of this community.

Here are a couple questions to think about, and post your opinion on.

1: What do I want from PI?

2: Why do I enjoy PI?

3: How can we bring in more enthusiastic members?

4: What can I personally do to help grow our community? (Personal strengths such as persuasion, website building, marketing, leading, socializing, lots of play time, etc.)

5: Do I even care where PI goes from here?

6: Where do I see PI going from here

etc... Please humor me by giving a well thought out response.

I play games purely for the teamwork and social aspect of them. I want this community to thrive so we can continue to enjoy gaming together. I really enjoy this community. It is why I stick hundreds of dollars a year directly into supporting this community (website hosting, marketing stickers, ventrilo server, time and effort.) I look forward to hearing from people who are proud to be a part of our gaming community.