At the risk of sounding totally ignorant...

[Neerie]

Being new here, I figure there have to swallow my pride and ask you guys to explain some word in order for me to simply understand the place better.

I see the word "orientation" thrown in many threads here, and to be honnest, I have no clue what it means in this context (or maybe it has a definition in English that I'm not yet aware of, English not being my native language).

[LUCKY FRAG]

orientation is a meeting where you go over the clan handbook rules, and such, and discuss why it was started and where athena got the name PMS (Greek mythology)

[PHiNiX]

^^ that pretty much explains it...its meeting hosted on the second sunday of every month to fill you in on the rules of the clan and give a bit of a background story behind the clan and what it means

[LUCKY FRAG]

so no need to be embaressed. Its not ignorant to not know something, asking questions is key to learning

[H2O Hamlet]

As the others have stated, please feel free to ask questions if you are confused. We as a clan and organization hope to welcome you and get you acclimated with the forums and community. Besides, English isn't your native tongue- so it's completely understandable if you don't understand what a word means.

First let's start with the definition of the word:
Orientation; 1. the act of orienting, 2. an integrated set of attitudes and beliefs 3. a course introducing a new situation or environment

Basically, as the above have stated; Orientation is a required meeting that our recruits attend before they can acquire their forum rights and Clan Membership. It is a informational session where you will go over the Handbook- which will explain the basic fundamentals of Clan PMS|H2O. This includes, but isn't limited to; How the clan began, What PMS|H2O stands for, What is an H2O, What are the clan ranks/positions, What are the rules, What are the practice requirements, What is a Small Teams, etc...

Basically Orientation gives you the whole enchilada on what PMS|H2O stands for, what we're all about, and what will be expected of you.

You can read the Handbook- CLICK HERE, ahead of time and get a feeling for what will be discussed ahead of time- in fact I highly recommend this. That way you can raise questions during Orientation and already come in knowing what you'd like to be explained.

Be sure to visit this link- CLICK HERE. This will briefly explain, again, what Orientation is. It will however, explain how you get to Orientation via Ventrilo.

Hope we were able to help! And again, please feel free to ask any questions you may have!

[Neerie]

Thank you all for your answers, especially Hamlet, you were very informative!

So if I'm not mistaking, the next orientation session will be next week, the 12th, at 3pm CST? That's 4 EST right?

[H2O Hamlet]

That sounds about right. I would also ask your Practice Captain/Division Leader to confirm that.

But yes, it should be April 12, 2009 @ 4pm EST.

[Neerie]

Originally Posted by H2O Hamlet

That sounds about right. I would also ask your Practice Captain/Division Leader to confirm that.

I would if I had one... but I only registered today so..

[H2O Hamlet]

Ah, that would help. Let me help you out.

I see you already made a Introduction Post, which is good. Next you'll need to create a recruitment post- CLICK HERE. That link will take you to our recruitment section. Navigate your way to the corresponding Division, make a post, and someone will contact you about beginning recruitment.

[Neerie]

Hmm, what happens if I don't even own any of the games for which there is a division for? Of course I could make a suggestion for a new division, but... I'm new

[H2O Hamlet]

Unfortunately those are the only Divisions we hold. In order to recruit for PMS|H2O, you'd have to join one of those Divisions. You can always suggest a Division and try to find others that are willing to join with you. There are criteria we have for starting new Divisions, but it's definitely worth the try if you'd want to go that route. But as of now, those are the Divisions we currently support.

Recruitment consists of 8 hours of practice per week with your Division, for 4 weeks, equaling a total of 32 hours of recruitment. In order to become a member of Clan PMS|H2O you need to be dedicated and follow through with these hours; it would be hard to get those hours in if you didn't have the game- it's not possible.

You can still be a member of our community and post around if you don't want to start up another game. We have a very large community here, many of which are friends and not in PMS|H2O. You are also still more than welcome to play with our members and interact with the community, but in order to recruit for the actual clan you'd have to have a game for which a Division is supported.

When you think about it, you join the actual clan to game with your clan members and have fun in-game with them. Joining a clan and not gaming with any of the members is kind of unnecessary, or at least that is how I personally see it. I consider everyone in this community family, both Clan Members and Non-Clan Members. There is no difference between being in the clan and just being in the community. There are a few extra forums that open up to you, but really they are based on Divisional things, and members can also have the Clan tag in the Gamertag, but you have to go through recruitment and show dedication to earn that right. The Clan Member aspect is based off in-game time and building camaraderie with your fellow clan members.

Think of it like this. You got to school with all of your classmates. You happen to play Football on the school team. A select number of you go to practice and games and are considered "football players". You are all still students at your school, and interact with your friends that may not be on the football team. But when it comes to practicing, playing on gameday, wearing the jersey, and being called a Football Player- only the people that are on the Football team have that opportunity. You're still friends with all your classmates, but it's special to have that unique title.

But if you'd really like to become a member of PMS|H2O and would like to see a new Division- please by all means raise the issue and try to have a Division created. It doesn't matter if you are "new" or a veteran; we welcome all suggestions and treat all members fairly equally.

I hope this hasn't deterred your desire to join Clan PMS|H2O, and I wish you best of luck with your future endeavors! If you decide to recruit for one of our Divisions, or try to start up a new one- best of luck! Let me know if you need any help and I'll do my best to lead you in the right direction.

[vVv Antidote]

Hamlet, your advice kinda makes me want to try playing football, except id get smooshed.

[Neerie]

Well, I've been interested in playing SSBB, but not having anyone to play with, I never actually got it. I guess that since I know this place, I'll get the game, play through the single player mode (cause I never played any SSB game before) to train myself at the basics and then go for the SSBB division.... once I get a new job and can afford the actual game.

In the mean time, I shall just lurk around

Can I still attend the orientation on ventrilo even if I'm not currently aiming for a division or should I wait till I actually own the game?

[H2O Hamlet]

You know I never really looked into our SSBB Division, then again I don't have a Wii so I unfortunately have never had the pleasure of doing so.

We'd love to have you around! Don't think of it as lurking, but as becoming a part of our community and family.

To be honest I don't know the answer to that. My best guess is that you should be able to attend Orientation and it will last for your entire duration. On your Forum Profile (the myspace looking thing)- something will show up in your About Me section as

Orientation
Yes

and show that you did attend. This is done to everyones forum profile as proof and for records. So based off this, I would probably think it ok to attend now. But since I am not 100% sure, I wouldn't take my word for it. I will be sure to ask for you though, unless someone else that knows responds here.

Then again, it doesn't hurt to do it later either. You do have to do 4 weeks of recruitment, so another Orientation will fall within that time frame. Just a thought.

I hope you enjoy the forums and welcome to our Community! Please browse around and get to know our members, they'd love to get to know you and interact with you

[Neerie]

Thank you.

Well I've been enjoying the IRC chat quite a bit thus far lol

[H2O Trogdor]

Hey, don't forget about the Anything Goes forum!!!

For all your forum posting game needs.