Red_Hecate

Thanks so much for starting this thread! I love to hear about families in CoX. My husband and I have always believed that “the couple that plays together, stays together” and playing CoX together has been great way to keep our relationship strong. I know other couples that spend their “together time” watching TV, but I feel much closer to my husband when we strategize and work towards common goals as a team — I mean, we’re actually interacting with each other, as opposed to simply sitting next to one another.

Now that our daughter is taking an interest in the game, CoX has become a great vehicle for family bonding as well. I read recently that the average American parent spends less than 40 minutes a week actively playing (meaning, participating in any enjoyable shared activity) with his or her children. In our case, gaming as a family has definitely increased the quantity and quality of our “fun” time together.

My daughter is 10 years old and has been playing CoX off-and-on with us since release. Her early efforts were mostly limited to the costumer creator — she’d make up one gaudy character after another. Now, however, she gets a lot of pleasure out of so many aspects of the game. She:
<ul type="square">[*]Loves visiting and admiring bases; last weekend she participated in the base builder tour and had a great time.[*]Reached level 28 during double XP weekend.[*]Enjoys the animation of her Fire Sword Circle.[*]Has participated in three task/strike forces.[*]Adores Pocket D (although I have to admit that going dancing in Pocket D sometimes feels a little bit like playing tea party).[*]Is always impressed when coming up against a new enemy group.[*]Introduced me to Bloody Bay — I’d never spent any time there at all before she convinced me to tag along.[*]Likes reading other players’ backstories and inspecting their badges. [*]Also, of course, loves writing her own origin stories and going badging.[/list]And her enthusiasm rubs off! She’s so much fun to play with that my husband and I rethought our preference for adult-only SGs. (We’re now in one that is geared toward adults and their families.) Like any player, she makes mistakes, but unlike some players, she learns from hers. We usually group together, but she does play independently sometimes (I’m always in the room with her just in case anything questionable comes up, but she has a good head on her shoulders).

She is very, very interested in playing with other kids. If any families are playing villainside on Freedom, we’d love to meet you!

* Supergroup Name: Kindly Ones

* Website (if any): http://www.kindlyones.com

* Leader or Recruiting Officers: BlackCaduceus, Red Hecate

* Preferred Method of contact: via the Kindly Ones forums

* Guild Description:

The Kindly Ones is a mature, friendly, casual City of Villains super group operating on the Freedom server. Our membership consists of adults and families who play together.

The Kindly Ones offers a unique experience and fantastic benefits for all members. Some of the things that make our group special:

<ul type="square">[*]A mature environment for adult players.[*]The opportunity for families to play together.[*]"Safe" teaming experiences for younger players, both with other young players and with adults.[*]Because the Kindly Ones is freshly established, all members are able to participate in building our base, our culture, and our coalitions. Older groups may already have the biggest base plot, etc. -- but new members may feel like "add-ons".[*]Member involvement in decisions about prestige investments.[*]Generous financial support for members.[*]Creative events (not just the same old costume contests over and over).[*]No prestige requirements for promotion.[/list]
We abide by a Code of Conduct to guarantee a fun, relaxed experience for everyone involved -- no drama. Thanks to the recent prestige grants, we have a full array of teleporters, an Oracle, and so on, plus full-service storage with plenty of items awaiting the new member.

We understand that families often create their own "private" super groups, and deciding to leave that group for another is a big decision. You may enjoy first applying to the Kindly Ones with an alt to get to know us better. (We're interested in coalitions, too!) The ideal candidate is one who is mature, ethical, and a lot of fun. We welcome applicants from every archetype and level. Refugees from WoW, EQ/EQ2, etc. are invited to shelter in our base. However, we do not consider applications from players currently under sanction by NCSoft, or those who have been under sanctions before.

One of the primary goals of the Kindly Ones is to serve the needs of families and groups of friends who enjoy playing together. We welcome applications from young players (i.e., under 18), but do expect that an adult will "sponsor" the application.

Our forums feature two special areas for members: an Adults-Only area (save your "special" jokes for that forum); and an Under-18 area (where no one 18 or older, with the exception of forum moderators, is allowed to post). All other areas are considered common ground. In-game, we have two special chat channels designated; and in addition to the Teamspeak channels set aside for teaming, etc., we have casual "hanging out" channels for both older and younger players.

Our goal is to be as inclusive as possible and provide a relatively "safe" environment for younger players. . . . While, at the same time, avoiding "cramping the style" of our mature players who want to hang out and converse freely with other adults.

Speaking from personal experience. . . . In general, I've always sought out adult-only SGs and guilds in games. However, now that my daughter is old enough to play with me, I want to share the game with her, too.

It's impossible to be all things to all villains, but this approach allows adults to get to know other mature players (and young players to meet other kids) without "splitting up families."

To learn more, check out http://www.kindlyones.com or contact us: @BlackCaduceus or @Red Hecate. We look forward to hearing from you!

In the short term (my top priorities):

<ul type="square">[*]We really, really, really need Global and/or Alliance chat to help allied supergroups work together. [*]It would be nice if SGs could exceed 75 members, but with alliance chat, it would be less of an issue to refer overflow to a sister SG and yet still stay in touch.[*]We need some method of dealing with inactive leaders. One of our "CEOs" is unable to play the game because of computer failure as well as work issues, and now his account has expired. However, he remains listed as one of our top leaders. In this case, the former player if more than willing to take his name form the roster but cannot.[*]I love the new roster information about hero level. However, the "last on" column is no longer sortable (it was when we first got it). I would like to have the "member since" column restored.[*]The MOTD interface is frustrating. If I make a typo at the beginning of a message, I have to backspace through the whole message to correct it. I can't click and place the cursor.[/list]
In the long term:<ul type="square">[*]The option of SG uniforms instead of just color changes.[*]Some way to formalize alliances between supergroups.[*]Alliance uniforms.[*]Some sort of SG-exclusive mission/TF/trial.[*]The ability for leaders to mass-email SG members.[*]As it stands right now, I can boot but not simply demote a Lt. when he or she is offline.[*]The option of moving influence in larger increments.[*]Headquarters! I saw the recent "Ask Statesman" info on this and I'm really looking forward to having a base of operations.[*]Banking abilities. It would be great if SGs could store enhancements/inspirations so that members can trade on a larger scale.[/list]
Thanks so much for looking into supergroup issues! We really appreciate it!