Introduction
Greetings fellow Eldar players, scribes, and aficionados, and welcome to the new Path of Command (PoC) for the Eldar boards. This is the place where members of the Eldar community can find information on how the PoC works, information on current events on the forum, such as contests, and links to articles, commonly posted threads, or other threads of interest, on the Eldar boards. The PoC thus serves as a index to help members to navigate the Eldar boards more easily, and a repository for useful resources.
What the PoC thread is not for is for the discussion of army lists, tactics, rules, background, or painting questions. All of these belong in their respective boards, and need to be posted there accordingly.
Keep checking this thread to see what's happening across the forum, so that you don't miss getting involved with Eldar related threads.
PoC members can post links to contests, and articles, in this thread, in order to publicise their work. Stand out work will be added to the list of useful threads below.
PoC Membership
The qualities of a PoC member:
Members of the Eldar PoC are experienced Eldar players, many of whom have not only been forum members for a long time, but have also played the Eldar for more years than they care to remember. These members not only produce material for the Eldar community here, but also help new members with army lists, tactical questions, painting issues, and just about any other Eldar related issue you can think of. Newer Eldar players are also welcome to join the PoC, and if this is of interest to you, then read on....
Joining the PoC:
Becoming a member of the Eldar PoC requires you to demonstrate that you have a good knowledge of the Eldar, and to be a regular contributor to 40K Online. This is usually shown by helping others through helping them with their army lists, answering tactical questions, solving rules queries, showing a detailed knowledge of Eldar background, and/or producing your own material, such as through painting, or writing articles in the Eldar Project board.
Please do not ask to join the PoC - such requests will be deleted, and ignored. We will find you, and invite you to join, based on the quality of your contributions to the Eldar community here. This usually means that members of the Eldar moderation team will send you a PM if we think that you're making positive contributions to the forum, and ask you if you want to become a member, but experienced members of the PoC (see below) can also recommend members to the moderation team if they think that they have spotted someone who would make a good PoC member. The moderators cannot be everywhere after all.
In addition to demonstrating a sound knowledge of the Eldar, adhering to the following guidelines is essential if you want to become a PoC member:
- Follow the rules of the forum (http://www.40konline.com/index.php?action=about;sa=rules). Forum members who continually break forum rules are not invited to join the PoC.
- Be aware of the content of stickied threads, and FAQs. Having knowledge of the information here is important for all members, but especially PoC members.
- Using report to the moderator button. If you spot breaches of the forum rules, use this button, and don't take matters into your own hands.
- Be courteous to others. We all like to think that our point of view, especially regarding tactics, and strategy is the right one. By all means demonstrate your expertise, but do not be dismissive of other points view. Treat others how you would like to be treated yourself.
- Use proper grammar when you post. Text speak is against the forum rules, and is very annoying to read. Long posts with no paragraphs are also to be avoided.
- Produce good quality articles. This is one very good way to get noticed.
PoC Ranks:
Members of the PoC have one of the following ranks:
Farseer:
This rank is only available to moderators of the Eldar boards. They are responsible for moderating the Eldar boards, overseeing the PoC, and answering questions which members may have. They also send out invitations to potential new PoC members.
Autarch:
This is rank is for very experienced Eldar players who have been members of the forum for a long time, and displayed a very high level Eldar knowledge. They have provided substantial advice to other Eldar players, been involved with producing articles, writing battle reports, or otherwise had a prominent role in making positive contributions to the Eldar community. They are responsible for overseeing the runes system, and can also oversee the running of the PoC in conjunction with the Farseers.
Exarch:
This is rank for experienced Eldar players who have been members of the forum for a significant period, and have displayed significant knowledge of the Eldar army on the battlefield. They have provided substantial help to other Eldar players with their army lists, strategies, and tactics, and/or have also been involved in producing tactical articles, or battle reports.
Warlock:
This is rank for experienced Eldar players who have been members of the forum for a significant period, and have displayed significant knowledge of the Eldar background, and other narrative discussion. They have provided to substantial help to other Eldar players with background related issues, writing articles, and also may have contributed to helping with army lists. Warlocks may also be members of the editorial team, who are responsible for proof reading, and editing, articles for the front page.
Aspect Warrior:
This is a rank for new members of the PoC. They are relatively experienced or impressively knowledgeable newer Eldar players who regularly provide help to other Eldar players with any Eldar related issues which they have.
Infinity Circuit:
Former Farseers, Autarchs, Exarchs and Warlocks who become inactive or leave the PoC become part of the infinity circuit. This is an honorary title to recognise their past contributions.
Other ranks:
The above are generic ranks for all those members of the PoC who are not affiliated to one of the big five Craftworlds. PoC members who reach the level of Warlock, Exarch, or above, or have demonstrated, over time, a strong preference for a specific type of army list associated with one of main craftworlds, have the option to purchase a customised craftworld title (see below).
Note that some members of the old craftworld specific PoCs have specialised titles. These members have been allowed to keep these titles, but they are no longer given out, so please don't ask for one.
Rising Through The Ranks: How To Progress Up The PoC
Promotion and demotion:
Rising through the ranks comes about as a result of meeting the guidelines above, and through continuing to show the qualities of a good poster, which were outlined in the previous section. Promotions are posted in this thread by members of the moderation team, and are also decided by the moderation team. Note, however, that Autarchs are allowed to suggest members for promotion to the moderation team via PM.
Note that you can lose a rank, or be ejected from the PoC altogether if you start to break forum rules. Elitism has been a problem with some PoC members in the distant past, so don't fall into this trap. Having a title does not make you exempt from following the forum rules.
Runes:
Runes are awarded by Farseers or Autarchs for high quality contributions to the Eldar boards by PoC members. Any member of the PoC is eligible to receive runes, but again, as is the case with ranks, please don't ask to be awarded any, as this will hinder your cause, rather than help it. Runes are awarded for the following:
Becoming a member of the PoC: 1 rune
Posting a comprehensive battle report, story, background piece, painting guide, tactical article in the appropriate board, and linking it to the PoC: 3 runes
Posting an article for peer review in the Eldar board: 5 runes
Uploading an article to the article database queue following peer review: 1 rune
Providing consistently good advice on helping other members of the Eldar community as a whole (i.e. not just helping PoC members): 1-5 runes (sliding scale, depending on the frequency, and quality, of help given).
Runes can also be awarded in other cases where the Farseers, and Autarchs, deem it appropriate.
Using Your Runes:
Members who receive runes are listed in this thread, so this is another good reason to check for updates here. Once a PoC member has accumulated a certain number of runes (s)he can spend these runes in exchange for a craftworld customised rank in much the same way as outlined above in the ranking system.
Ensure that you choose carefully, for once you have opted to spend your runes on a particular craftworld customisation, you must remain loyal to that craftworld, and may not change your customised rank.
For those with the Aspect Warrior rank, the ranks listed below are available in exchange for 20 runes. Remember, you can only choose one.
Alaitoc Ranger
Biel-Tan Aspect Warrior
Iyanden Wraithguard
Saim-Hann Wildrider
Ulthwé Black Guardian
For those with the Exarch or Warlock rank, 20 runes can be spent to place the craftworld of choice after either title, e.g. Exarch of Biel-Tan, Warlock of Ulthwé.