Auth Daug Noss

Background
Auth Daug Noss (ADN) is a (rough) translation of "War Troop Clan" into Tolkien's Elvish. The original "War Troop" was a clan that played Battlefield 2. Since its inception as a LotRO kinship, ADN has grown into a fun, friendly, easy-going, and mature group of folks who enjoy playing LotRO with each other and contributing to our in-game success as individuals and as a whole.

Rank
As of May 1st 2008, we are a Rank 10 kinship that has been on Landroval since LotRO was launched.

Membership
We have 20-25 very active regular members and several more semi-retired or semi-active members. Most members have at least one level 60 character and we have SGM practitioners of every craft. Our members are mostly on US East Coast time. However, we'd very much like to increase our number of West Coast players!

Kin Halls
Our primary Kin Hall is located in the Staffold Neighborhood of Bree. We also have a secondary Kin Hall in the same neighborhood that is owned by our "Junior Kin": Aure Entuluva. Aure Entuluva is generally used as a kin for lower-level alts on an optional/voluntary basis (often used as a means of just "getting away from it all"). Lower-level alts are very welcome to do their levelling in the main kin as well.

Role-Playing
We are not a Role-Playing kinship. However, we are not hostile to Role-players or the concept of role-playing. In fact, the vast majority of us tend to reciprocate if a Role-player communicates with us while in-character. We just don't make it a focus of our gaming experience.

Goals
ADN is currently raiding the Vile Maw at least once per week (often twice). A sizable portion of our membership also enjoy PvP in the Moors (both Freep and Creep) as well as just making the routine "CD Run" for gold and teal drops.

ADN's goals are flexible and adaptive to the ever-changing needs of its members. Indeed, we'd like to continue to add members to our kin in order to preserve and increase this flexibility so that ADN truly offers "something for everyone" wherever possible.

Communication
We use Ventrilo for high-quality, customizable in-and-out-of-game communication. Even those without microphones are strongly encouraged to install "Vent" and get on the server even if you'll only be able to listen. Not only because it increases group coordination in-game, but also because it helps new members feel involved and part of our community.

For written communication, we have our forums at http://forums.authdaugnoss.com. Please feel free to register and say hello!

Maturity
We're not above a silly joke or a bit of ribald humor. However, everyone in our kin is acutely aware that they are just one person in a community and we strive to always treat each other and those we meet in Middle-earth with respect and kindness. With only very rare exceptions, this kinship is remarkably "drama-free." We strive to maintain perspective, common sense, and an overall "easy-going" attitude when issues emerge.

In a nutshell, we like to be around other folks who have truly internalized the concept that everyone else is just as important as they are. Or, conversely, we're all equally unimportant. It's a way of looking at the world and saying: "I'm not going to raise heck about this because in the grand scheme of things, it doesn't matter. . . let's just enjoy the game."

Real Life Comes First
The vast majority of us are in our mid-twenties or older. We don't mind having younger members, but everyone in the kin understands that sometimes our kids, spouses, or jobs require our attention and must come first. There's no "guilt trips" in this kin when you can't stay up that extra two hours to do something that we can just as easily do the following day. Though, that's not to say that we aren't also dedicated to the game. It's actually astounding how much some of our members play the game given all their real-life responsibilities.

No Pressure
If you're a good, friendly, civil, and mature person, we want you in our kinship regardless of your skill level or your ability to play at all hours of the day or lead us to victory against impossible odds. . . thereby helping us all get "ph@t l00t!". Though many of us are heavily into "end-game content," there is never any pressure to take part in it put upon those who enjoy a more leisurely game. Everything in this kinship is purely voluntary. We're all here to enjoy the game in our own ways. Auth Daug Noss is here to help us all help each other to enjoy the game in our own fashion. No obligations and no pressure.

Good/Civil Behavior is Required
It's understood among our membership that everyone must behave in a civil manner both with each other and with our fellow non-kin players. Though we won't boot someone out of the kin based on "he said, she said" evidence provided by random people. . . should a pattern of poor behavior become evident, we do reserve the right to protect the kin's good name and reputation by expelling "problem members" from the kinship. When in doubt, if you can avoid behaving in an overtly hostile, abusive, or uncivil fashion, and you stay within the bounds of the Turbine EULA, you'll most likely have nothing to worry about. "Good behavior" and staying within the bounds of Turbine's EULA also obviously includes refraining from using any 3rd party "cheat" or "bot" programs. As of October 1, 2008, any Auth Daug Noss member determined to be using such programs will be asked to resign from the kin. Using a bot program is cheating, plain and simple. All Auth Daug Noss members are expected to level their characters through playing them. All Auth Daug Noss members are also expected to play the game fairly and not use any third-party programs that otherwise grant the user an unfair advantage.