The Poor-Knights of Christ: The D2R Order built around Support, Brotherhood & Team Play

Retrospective Update

To give context to why I felt so compelled to create The Order, I would like to share the story.

One day, I met a good man in a public game, and we shared a TZ session. We clicked splendidly, and talked and played for hours. When next we saw each other, he gifted me his old eBOTD, Meta and Treachery; 'for your Fury Druid'.

I started a new Druid, and called him Carnavargr (which is both linguistically rooted in both Latin and Old Norse).

This week, during a two-player

Terror Zone session with a new D2 friend, I played my Tanky DPS Carnavargr together with his high AOE Javazon, and an

Ohm rune dropped in

Travincal at the Council.

As is typical public in games, this would have triggered a frantic, greedy race to click the fastest.

Instead of scrambling, we paused. I told my friend to keep it out of reflex.

However, I felt like I had not actually stopped and listened to myself, and my friend also felt bad about it.

I confessed that I was experiencing inner conflict and confusing thoughts. On the one hand, I told myself that 'I had made the game, and was the host, and used the shard', but on the other I felt like I short-handed myself unnecessarily. I reflected on my own greed and FOMO, of missing out on stuff in an unknown future. I saw my own-small mindedness.

My friend was able to be in that vulnerable place and listened to me. In the end, he went to town and grabbed 2

Ist runes. We shared the equity - and saved our brotherhood.

These experience taught me that friendship, trust and communication are more important than the loot, and how to turn greed into a foundation of absolute trust and mutual respect.

This small circle proved to me that the 'loot game' doesn't have to be a lonely, cynical 'race'. These moments set a flame in my heart of a wider fellowship - though my hyper-stimulated brain immediately went into overdrive creating rigid, suffocating laws to protect it.

I see now that you cannot codify brotherhood. It has to grow naturally from personal connections, just like it did in that TZ run.

After reflecting on the thread below, I deem it best to let go of rigid structures for now. However, it is my hope to stay true to the code of mutual support and genuine care, but may it grow from personal relations instead of up-front laws.

I would love to be part of a ladder team that actively works with role divisions (DPS/Support/Melee-Tank/Caster, etc.), and am open to share stash and will strive to help each other where possible.

I am open to joining another group, or have people reach out to me for a (TZ) session along the way.

Have a great start of the season everybody, and I will see you when I return from my medieval camping weekend.



Original Post

Do you want to play stress-free in a devoted team that prioritises trust over greed? And are you tired of starting with the Sorc, and want to finally play a different, niche build for a change?

I envision a small and dedicated circle of players establishing a unique, structured guild for D2R. It is inspired by the historical Templar Knights.

Our guiding light is simple:

'Lead with your Values. Trust over Greed.'

----

Is there anyone here who share this vision of service, humbleness, and genuine brotherhood?

1. To support each other's progression, shared itemisation and build variety
2. To support and protect new players
3. To stand against greed, toxicity and ego
4. To find (and share) Sunder Charms and Colossal Ancients Jewels
5. To Complete the Chronicle


**********

The Logistical Structure:
- We play Softcore ROTW Ladder-only
- Most of our (current/interested) members are in Europe, and play primarily in the evening hours between 18:00 and 23:00 CET and during weekends
- Due to protecting the Order, we only would allow members via invite, Vouch of Trust and/or unanimous vote by the founding members.
- New members will be vetted by the (founding) members and unanimously welcomed or declined
- New members will be assigned the role of Squire, and are required to display behaviour in alignment with the values of the Order before full 'Knighthood', and need to be present during gaming sessions before full approval
- Roles will be assumed in-game (DPS/Support/Melee/Caster), as well as within the community on voluntary basis (Recruiter, Trader, Quartermaster, etc.)
- The Quartermaster will receive and distribute build defining items and collect resources for creating and distributing runewords
- Items will be distributed during ladder according to role and need in team composition to maximise build diversity
- Items must be divided in-game with equality in accordance with priority and need. This means no ninja-looting.
- Every member has the right to request gear from each other and the Quartermaster, and is required to donate unused

Key-items to the Order's Quartermaster. These will be distributed in accordance with priority of build-diversity in group-play
- Members are encouraged to return gear to the Quartermaster when inactive
- Members are allowed to request

Key-pieces from other members
- Trades on diablo2.io and loot disputes and distribution will be settled in alignment with the vision of the Order by the Council
- Misconduct will result in ex-communication based on unanimous decision by the Council (misconduct includes: ninja-looting, 'hiding' drops, flaming, and disrespectful behaviour).


*********

We are currently looking for more founding members to begin the Order at the launch of this Ladder Reset. I myself will be away during the weekend (which is not practical), but will start the beginning of next week. Other members that will be active are self-coordinating, as long as we have a Council and a Quartermaster.

As mentioned, we are keeping the gates to the Order to protect our trust, so we there is no public Discord link. If you align with the values of the Order, and love the idea of the Code, then please reply to this thread, or send me a message via diablo2.io to apply as Founding Member. I will personally approve the Founding Members, and will confirm as soon as possible if you align with the values and Code of the Order.

May you walk in the Light,
Mystic

Bruh.

The Silver Concord
The Ashen Order
The Templar Accord
The Quiet Covenant
Order of the Lantern
The Zakarum Remnant
The Iron Covenant
The Pale Templars
Order of Westmarch
The Burning Sigil
The Seventh Order (

Shout out to

Iron Maiden) - Yes it's a spell too WTF! In this very game!
The Grey Pilgrims
Heck even "The Last Crusade" or "Kingdom oF Haven" rolls off the tongue better.

Dun wanna tarnish the concept,,,,but you got a bajillion ways to call the guild but u settled on...this?

Just too obnoxious and tacky mans c'mon.

Sorry mans..can't help it.

I like your way with words, and the names you mention sound dignified and epic. I like that. It does seem to fit more with the Diablo- atmosphere than what I came up with. However, the name 'Poor-Knights of Christ' refers to the modesty and selflessness that pertains to the historical figures of the Knight's Templar. I intended this. The entire structure and organisation mirrors the organisational structure of the Templars, which prioritise service over Wealth.

Yet, you are right. I am still deliberating if I must alter it, if the Order is at all to live. You clearly do not resonate with it, and I expect many others won't. In fact, I anticipated the name would create strongly divided reactions. I deemed this appropriate, given the strong values that must be upheld in order to guarantee that gameplay experience.

Do you feel inspired by the concept, or is that, too, distasteful to your mind?

Genuine questions:

1. Are you playing D2R for the Christian God or who/what is your "greater good"?

2. Who will make the important decisions? The "Council" or the "master (guild leader)" or both?

3. Do your members have to obey your Master unconditionally?

4. Will you be the Master or will your guild take a vote?

5. How much of your "Wealth" will you give to charity?

Different IP but this very snuggly fits into Church of Ilmater and knights (Holy Warriors of Suffering, Companions of the Noble Heart, Order of the Lambent Rose, Order of the Golden Cup) and monks of Ilmater.

mikelessar wrote: 15 hours ago

Genuine questions:

1. Are you playing D2R for the Christian God or who/what is your "greater good"?

2. Who will make the important decisions? The "Council" or the "master (guild leader)" or both?

3. Do your members have to obey your Master unconditionally?

4. Will you be the Master or will your guild take a vote?

5. How much of your "Wealth" will you give to charity?

Great questions:

1. The values are central: trust, humility, service. When you truly live like this, it will reveal that Light within I personally call 'Jesus'. However, I am critical of institutional religion and do not count myself a worshipper of the Catholic God.

2. It stands to reason that I will be in the Council to aid the decision process if need be, but I would be open to someone else taking on that role (if he or she displays the right attitude and aligns with the values). The Council would consist of members who live by the code, and can clearly perceive where greed takes over from helping others thrive. This is an important, but very delicate side of any such organisation. I hope that forceful action will be rare, which I intend to achieve with strong gate-keeping.

3. I consider myself as vision holder, not as final jurisdiction. There is in that sense a 'master', but the code matters. If you don't actively FEEL that code and willingness inside you, you won't be happy in a group like this. It radically shifts the mentality from personal gain to the joy of assistance, protection and happiness from structured group play, such as allocating aura's, items, curses, merc options, elements/damage, etc. But, yes, if you do not resonate with the idea, and you rebel/violate against the code, there will be no tolerance in this hypotehtical group. This is, I think, the only way to guarantee trust, cooperation, mutual equity and heartfelt connection.

4. As long as I am the only active member, I will have to take the vote of who aligns with the vision - though hopefully people filter themselves out and they can just proclaim in happiness that 'such a group finally exists at all!'. I am completely open to delegating the Grand Master and Quartermaster to another (likely more capable) person who feels called. I just want to have fun, help others, and experience a selfless ladder group-play.

5. This is not entirely set in Stone for me. I think that people should voluntarily help their team mates to better gear, in order for their own build to be supported during group dynamics (such as TZ

Herald hunts). It's not a matter of 'paying tribute', because this should come from the heart, knowing that RNG can be rough, and we all have better and worse days, and, at the end of the day, we just want a wholesome ladder experience. It would be beneficial for the Order to receive every spare rune and gem, because those can be combined (and cubed) into runewords, or traded for

Key-pieces for

Key-builds in the group. (I.e. HOTO for a caster, Enigma obviously, or specific items like

Magefist, Grief, Fortitudes, etc.).


---


If people do not willingly and wholeheartedly agree with these things, we are not a match. Even if I (or any other member) would say yes, if behaviour and mentality go against this mentality, it will not work out - so it's better to be clear up front and try to create a structure around it to manage expectations.

Queegon wrote: 15 hours ago

Different IP but this very snuggly fits into Church of Ilmater and knights (Holy Warriors of Suffering, Companions of the Noble Heart, Order of the Lambent Rose, Order of the Golden Cup) and monks of Ilmater.

That looks wonderful. Thank you. Let me know if you would be interested in such a humbling road.

You know what, never mind. I'm going let go of the construct around it and just play with people I love.

It was born of an inspired moment, and I had fun with creating the structures, but hearing how this does not land, I will simply revert to carrying on in person, and from the heart.

I feel hurt, yes, but I'll take it as a lesson to not put out something unfinished and simply start from scratch instead of a whole template.

If anyone has feedback surrounding the concept, feel free to elaborate.

If you still would like to share the ladder, reach out to me.

Well, I am inclined to say that "this escalated quickly"...

Here is another guiding Principle I want to propose: If you don't have to say something constructive as a criticism (e. g. for what reason in particular you dislike something) and only want to express your feelings and distaste, it might be better to stay silent.

That aside, I do not play ladder because of having a somewhat "demanding" real life but I welcome every effort to build trustworthy and generous communities and I see nothing wrong with the proposed principles.

oOKIWIOo wrote: 13 hours ago

Well, I am inclined to say that "this escalated quickly"...

Here is another guiding Principle I want to propose: If you don't have to say something constructive as a criticism (e. g. for what reason in particular you dislike something) and only want to express your feelings and distaste, it might be better to stay silent.

That aside, I do not play ladder because of having a somewhat "demanding" real life but I welcome every effort to build trustworthy and generous communities and I see nothing wrong with the proposed principles.

I agree with all of the above, but would like to add that presenting these principles in form of a

Codex worthy of a LARP kingdom might be slightly overbearing. And picking an in-game reference for the name, as suggested in the first answer, would certainly have been the better choice.

In any case, not a ladderer either, but I wish OP good luck in making new acquaintances.

I think starting a guild is a good idea, and could be fun, but by including "Christ," in the title, you've excluded all those who're non theists or non Christians. If That's your purpose then it's also your choice, and it shouldn't concern those who choose not to join.

Let's start the "The Siblinghood of Pastafari" for all of those

Quote removed by moderator.

You have no clue what any one person might be going through at anyone time. Who are you to judge them? I know OP fairly well and I know he has gone through A LOT recently and is still recovering. I'm impressed with his levelheadedness in response to the unnecessary barbs thrown at him here.
I agree with @oOKIWIOo "if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all".

Hey, trying to be constructive and respectful, my 2 cents.

IMO, what failed to land here (if indeed it has) weren't the principles, but the tone. This read a bit too self-serious and constricting to me.

Generally speaking, if you're starting something new, from scratch, and want to attract people, it's not the best of ideas to be so draconian about filtering people out and about how huge of a commitment you expect from members. The subtext almost seemed like you're giving me all the reasons you don't want me in rather than showing me why it'd be awesome to join.

I don't play ladder, but the spirit of your message is fine by me, yet I still wouldn't have joined because of how solemn and restrictive your text read.

You might be fighting an uphill battle on two fronts here. One that may well be worth fighting to you to find the right people for you to play with (for which I wish you the best of luck) but probably not an easy one none the less.

For one, the implicit christian/Jesus tie-in immediately drives off plenty of people. Might be intentional, might not but it'll more likely than not work out that way.

For another, plenty of older gamers have either themselves been burned in the past or know folks who have by "let's be nice and share everything!" guilds that 99 out of 100 times ended up with a guild leader/quartermaster/whateveryouwannacallit just taking off with the loot and leaving everyone else out in the Rain. I'm not saying that's what you're aiming to do but I would go out on a limb and say I'm not the only one who immediately recalled multiple such instances from the past after reading through that quartermaster bit. Making that a prerequisite is quite likely to again drive off quite a few folks.
For many, the idea of sharing isn't necessarily a bad one and possible even quite attractive. The idea of "give me everything and I'll decide" though, probably less so.



// Added moderator bit:
Everyone is welcome to make up their own mind as to whether they'd be interested in this or not but regardless of how much you may or may not disagree with whichever aspect of it, either choose to move on or keep your feedback civil and productive. Don't just jump in here and be an ass for no reason. (Prior posts cleaned up accordingly)

MysticRanger200 wrote: 14 hours ago

You know what, never mind. I'm going let go of the construct around it and just play with people I love.

It was born of an inspired moment, and I had fun with creating the structures, but hearing how this does not land, I will simply revert to carrying on in person, and from the heart.

I feel hurt, yes, but I'll take it as a lesson to not put out something unfinished and simply start from scratch instead of a whole template.

If anyone has feedback surrounding the concept, feel free to elaborate.

If you still would like to share the ladder, reach out to me.

No need to feel hurt. You just be you and post what inspires you.

Everyone is into different things. Don’t let that stop you.

@MysticRanger200 one further thought I want to share which others have hinted already: I am a professing Christian, too and some sort of a sceptical theist. Therefore, I am in Principle sympathetic to your endeavor. However, as you can see, invoking supposedly historically real and controversial figures seems to trigger some people more or less intense Therefore, it might have been advisable to clearly state from the start that you intend only to capture a certain Spirit, morals and/or lifestyle of the person in question and if someone at least shares this sentiment, he is welcome to join (this might even get you Richard Dawkins in your Order who calls himself a "Cultural Christian" now ).

Thank you all for your generous support, understanding and reflections.

It is true that I wished to find like-minded people to play with, but it seems that intention was overshadowed by grandiosity.

Therefore, I will remove and forfeit any structures that I, now too, deem as suffocating, and will return the my simple beginnings: to play from the heart with the people I resonate with.

I understand Schnorki's concern about corruption due to catastrophes in the past. Hoarding Wealth at the expense of others stands diametrically opposed to my values, and the code of 'my' proposed order. Therefore, I wish to remove that feature in the future, unless actively voted for in the group. It was my intention to help provide, but I can see how that can go very wrong, or can be perceived like that, despite honest intentions.

It is also intentional that I called on Christ. As we have seen, it created highly divisive reactions. The 'filter' worked exceptionally well.

After consideration, I deem that it would be best to surrender the Order as a public group, and make it simple moving forward.

I do still want to experience coordinated ladder-play, with a code of conduct, and clear values, because I prefer attunement, humbleness, selflessness, and, above all, trust. However, I see now that imposing such a code from the start, will not work.

So come, let us find the people that we like to play with, and enjoy this wonderful game in the way that we feel is right for us.

Thank you to the admins and my friends for standing up for me, and protecting the integrity and trust within the Diablo community.

If anyone would still like to have a TZ session or a shared ladder start, I would be delighted to receive your message.

I wholeheartedly support the don’t-be-a-dick ethos of op’s proposal, and wish them all the luck in finding like-minded people with the same level of ambition and commitment (of which I’m certain there will be enough to get the guild going). I’ll consider myself an aligned <3

wrms wrote: 1 hour ago

I wholeheartedly support the don’t-be-a-dick ethos of op’s proposal, and wish them all the luck in finding like-minded people with the same level of ambition and commitment (of which I’m certain there will be enough to get the guild going). I’ll consider myself an aligned <3

I am delighted reading this. And it heartens me that you see and appreciate this level of devotion - as even I lost trust that it was feasible! I doubt your certainly, at this point, but I will leave this post open. It is my Dream that The Order will garner interest over time, and pre-select those handful of individuals who feel called.

If you would like to be a part of this, or simply get connected for future play, please add me on Bnet and I will introduce you to my staunch Poor-Fellow Soldiers of Christ.