What is Aeon to you?

So I recently read some of the forum post, mainly the complaint section, and read some very interesting drama that's happening in Aeon. After reading post of people verbally attacking each other and going as far to threaten people with bans and cast petty insults at someone because they did not agree with his or her opinion; I have to ask:

What is Aeon to you?

To me, a lazy apathetic player who keeps the alliance chat turned off, I have never seen Aeon anymore than free perc defense, and, since recent treasure hunting activity, useful prism/carrier/drill transportation.

I never chose to join Aeon, though I was politely asked my opinion on it and I did admittedly say I did not care; however I did choose to join my guild. For this reason my loyalties have always been with my guild and I have always been disgusted by the idea of someone joining a guild strictly for the alliance. 

People have insulted my guild leader, Duos-Bandaid, and I have never been more upset over an issue that has happened in a game. I have never had high views of Aeon since the day it was created, and after today I am completely disappointed that Aeon has fallen this far. The people in Aeon are why I can never see Aeon as anything more than a tool to benefit me.

After reading forum post I am curious though, What do you seen Aeon as? Is Aeon more important than the guild you're in? Would you leave your guild if it left Aeon?

Anyways I am quite curious to see how you look at Aeon  

When we first Aeon (my brother was then the Guild-Leader) I haven't seen much talk like this in /a chat. It was right before Pirate-Bay became guild-leader.

It was fun to be with Aeon, we did Koth regularly we helped each other out.

Then for some time our Guild got inactive. Since we were a family guild for a good part, with some extra very active members this was a great impact. Well some of the family returned playing the game. We noticed a lot had been going in on in Aeon that we missed (we got more area's, more transportation possibilities) So that was cool to see, we were sorry we missed that.

But now. From the time we were back again I saw the chat getting less and less polite. I know I always say something about it, most of the time I try to be polite and post the rules and send a pm if they dont listen. Although I must admit that sometimes I just cant control myself in making some fun (like giving the portalhunt start location if people ask for the portal)

First people were pretty cool about getting to know the rules and the fact we even had a forum. But lately people are just shouting everything about how it is unreasonable and it isn't fair besides the badmouthing they got. A lot of discussions, people dont go to PM if you ask friendly.

I'm sorry that Ankama did not make something like a chat regulation possible for certain alliance members to be able to control some of the chat.

Maybe its true. Maybe Aeon got to big. Because with al this growing. I asked a few times, how about getting more area's on pandala. But nobody responds. I think it's a shame.

I'm the guild - leader, So if I would leave, It would be with my guild. I might lose some members (the people I dont know in real life) But that would not control my desission. In fact I dont know what I would do. I do believe the /a chat is taking a lot of fun away at the moment. And no I dont want to turn it of. I want to be helpfull to people who do play the game, but I a also wood like to receive some help if I need some.

I think there is always a better solution than giving up. If you want personal attacks to stop, respond to personal attacks with firm and polite answers. If you want specific territories, post in the "secret" section of the forum and propose plans for getting them. If you don't like the way people in your community behave, use your own behavior to influence others.

The alliance is so big with many people with many different views so arguments are pretty common and there is no real stopping them. I find it best to keep out of any chats that is childish and don't add fuel to the fire.

That being said I think we all get quite a lot out of alliance without having to do much in return (prisms, extra defence on percs, percs not being attacked as often). I think putting a little effort back into alliance when you can is pretty much all anyone should do (defending percs, offering help to others, coming to Koth or giving others information).

On the subject of Duo taking insults I'm sorry to hear that as I have only ever found her to be friendly to others and most likely did not deserve to be treated like that.

Aeon has always been both a community and a resource to me. Even with the drama (which is inevitable with such a large community), I enjoy being a part of it and being able to contribute what I can to the alliance as I use it for my own needs.

I'd be put in a tough spot if Noblige was to leave Aeon, but I like the community my guild has and would probably stick with it as long as the majority of the others did the same.

I made Shieldale join Aeon because it was the place where all my friends, all the people I respected and liked were at. And I felt it's original idea of being a cammunity of midium level guilds, tied closely and respecting one another was something really worth supporting.

A lot has changed since those days.
The friends are still here but I can rarely see them in /a as the nicest people are usually those who do not feel the need of being visible and making their ego outshine their personalities.
Instead, the place at the frontline has been taken by loud, antisocial, immature and egoistic people who make the /a chanel unpleasant and tiring to watch.

And now for me, as a chat moderator, Aeon is a burden...

Aeon started with the idea of medium level guilds banding together for mutual protection and cooperation. This quickly expanded to include smaller guilds when AvA started and was a welcome change as each guild usually brought 1-2 great people who helped out and participated.

Both Pirate-bay and Captain-Toshiro have made some excellent statements. Turning of /a and not getting involved will not help the alliance become the alliance you hope it to be and not adding fuel to the "fire" is also important.

While there is a bit of drama at the moment I still find Aeon a useful resource and an extension of my guild as a place to chat. I am a chat moderator and I have found those in my timezone respond well to polite direction and thankfully I haven't had to step in too many times. Polite reminders from other guild officers certainly helps this process and is greatly appreciated.

So when I made this post I must admit I was rather upset at the time of the negative comments made towards Duos. Now sometime later where I do not have any anger to motivate my words I feel I should make a follow up comment.

First this post in general was the alternative to making a very negative and rather rude post in the complaint section.  I realize now that the people ruining this alliance, in my opinion of course, do not actually read this forum; however I do not blame them, for I imagine they views reflect my own about the alliance and to be completely honest if it was not for my own curiosity about the drama and then poor reaction to the bad mouthing of my leader I would have never posted on this forum.

I believe that Aeon was creative with the best intentions. The idea for small guilds, like my own,  to band together and benefit from each other is still a fantastic idea and for the most part Aeon has greatly achieved such a goal and to be 100% honest I never even expected Aeon to achieve it.

To say that turning off /a is to give up and only allows the alliance chat to become even more chaotic is correct. I cannot lie that turning it off only hides the problem and that I have done nothing to prevent it.

However to be honest I never had any hopes for the alliance. Aeon has far exceeded my expectations and I commend all the moderators and people who try to lead Aeon and keep Aeon under control. I don't believe Aeon will ever be able to control the spam and arguments in the /a chat, /a chat is like village zaap with probably 10 times the amount of people. I hate the idea that a guild would leave the alliance because of the chat and how it has become.

I don't see myself becoming an ideal alliance member anytime soon, keeping /a off is simply the easiest solution to my problems (yes, I'm just lazy) I don't think Aeon is a bad place to be and I believe there are many great people within the alliance, I just believe they are becoming harder to find and working harder doesn't fit my personality.

Anyways back to lurking within the depths of my guild and collecting all the Superior chest I can