LotRO Kinship Interview: Grace
of the Valar

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By Darkgolem



Recently, I had the opportunity to put some questions to the leader of
one of the
more prominent kinships of the Landroval server, Grace of the Valar
(GotV).  For those of you who are not familiar with Landroval
server's population, it seems you
cannot turn a corner in a town on the server without running into some
members of GotV, and I wanted to give our LotRo readers an insight into
why it is that GotV has such a such populous and successful
kinship.  The leader of GotV, Maighdeann, was
kind enough to answer these questions for us here at Ten Ton Hammer.



(Darkgolem) Grace of the Valar is a
great name for a Lord of The Rings Online kinship. What made you pick
that name for your kinship? Does it have a specific meaning, or is it
just cool sounding?



href="http://lotro.tentonhammer.com/modules.php?set_albumName=album40&id=GotV1&op=modload&name=Gallery&file=index&include=view_photo.php"> alt="Grace of the Valar Victorious"
src="http://lotro.tentonhammer.com/files/gallery/albums/album40/GotV1.jpg"
style="border: 2px solid ; width: 250px; height: 188px;" align="left">



(Maighdeann)
We actually spent several weeks researching Professor
Tolkien's writings and several Middle-earth references for something
fitting, yet open-ended enough that it would not tie us directly to a
part of Middle-earth's storyline. After much consideration, we chose
"Grace of the Valar" because it met that criteria, and had a nice ring
to it (no pun intended).



I note you have a lot of raids
scheduled on your web page (http://www.graceofthevalar.com/).
Would you describe Grace of The Valar as mainly a raiding kinship or
otherwise?



As an end-game focused kinship, raiding has always been one of our main
focuses; however, many of our members enjoy other activities such as
fellowship instances, PvMP, and, at times, even some casual roleplay.



I see you folks all over the place on
Landroval, how large is your membership at this time? Is this the
largest that it ever has been, or what is the highest membership you
ever have had?



The past several months, we have consistently maintained a membership
level of around 100 individual members, some with several active
characters.



How long has the Grace of The Valar
been a kinship and how did it get started?



My wife, Aruen, and I decided to found our own kinship on October 2nd,
2007, after being unable to find one that met our expectations.



What is the Grace of The Valar
success rate with raids?



That would depend on how you measure success. In the past few months we
have defeated every raid boss, save for Thorog, have had two raids
defeat the Balrog on a weekly basis, and we've been able to run
Helegrod solely as a kinship.



href="http://lotro.tentonhammer.com/modules.php?set_albumName=album40&id=GotV3&op=modload&name=Gallery&file=index&include=view_photo.php"> alt="Grace of the Valar Dancing"
src="http://lotro.tentonhammer.com/files/gallery/albums/album40/GotV3.jpg"
style="border: 2px solid ; width: 250px; height: 188px;" align="right">What
are the most important qualities
for a prospective member to have? Do you have any requirements for
class/level/player experience?



First and foremost, we are looking for other mature and easy-going
players, who have a willingness to learn and to help others. While our
class recruitment needs change from month to month, depending on how
many RSVPs we receive for raids, we require all applicants be at least
least 21 years of age, and have one level 48+ character in the kinship.
Both of these policies have helped us to minimize tension between
members, and keep our kinship focused on end-game content. The only
exceptions we make are for real-life friends and family of our
long-term members.



Could one of your officers describe
what it is like to be an officer in your Kinship (as opposed to a
kinship leader, which is sometimes a different experience).



(Landho, GotV Recruitment Officer) Being an officer on in GotV is being
a part of a team. We all have our specific duties, but what makes us
works so well together is communication. Each of us have input into all
aspects of our kinship, we have voice meeting bi-weekly to report,
along with an officers forum on our web site, on how we are all doing
with assigned tasks, and other issues concerning our kinship. There is
a very healthy give-and-take, among the Officers and Founders, and like
most people we may have different ideas on execution of a policy, but
we are always together on the overall vision of the mission of our
kinship.



I can't stress enough the aspect of knowing that, I as an officer am a
valuable member on a team, and not just an assistant. We truly hold
each other in the highest esteem, and the knowledge that we share the
same goals for our kinship, is key to the success of Grace of the Valar.



What sort of features does Grace of
The Valar offer to prospective members?



I believe our best features are the camaraderie that exists between
members, the drama-free environment we've maintained, and the level of
organization we've been able to achieve. We also have a web site that
is second to none, and a 50-seat Ventrilo server.



Your web page seems awesome. Who set
it up for you?



href="http://lotro.tentonhammer.com/modules.php?set_albumName=album40&id=GotV2&op=modload&name=Gallery&file=index&include=view_photo.php"> alt="Assembladge"
src="http://lotro.tentonhammer.com/files/gallery/albums/album40/GotV2.jpg"
style="border: 2px solid ; width: 250px; height: 188px;" align="left">Thank
you. My wife, Aruen, and I have put a lot of time into designing
and administering it, as we want our members to be as proud of it as we
are. We have certainly benefited a great deal from the Calendar, RSVP
system, and the customized EQDKP database we use for tracking EPGP
data. We also just recently integrated MediaWiki, as a central
knowledge base.



What suggestions would you give to
someone who wants to build a kinship in LotRO?



I would urge them to establish a clear vision for their kinship and
write it into their charter, before founding it.



What would you say is the greatest
achievement of the Grace of The Valar kinship?



While I'm proud of many things we've been able to accomplish as a
kinship, I am most proud of the members we've been able to attract to
it. I firmly believe that kinship is only as good as its membership.
The fancy web site is just a tool to make communication and
organization easier.



What should new kinship members
expect when they join the Grace of the Valar?



While we do not pressure anyone to participate in a set number of the
activities that are available, we do expect new recruits to step up,
get to know our members, and take part in some of them.



Is there any other things you would
like to say about the Grace of The Valar Kinship?



If you're interested in applying for membership, please read our
charter before contacting us in-game or registering on the web site.



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