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The Online Record Keeper (commonly referred to as the O.R.K.) was launched in 1999. Created by Sir Rewth an Sealgair of the Iron Mountains, the O.R.K. is a handy site that allows prime ministers to record credits, awards and other useful information about their players. Parks can be located, credits are tracked, dues paid status can be recorded and maintained and reports can be generated to assist with determining voting eligibility. Awards and titles are entered and anyone can view the records.

The O.R.K. has several different versions available for different purposes:

The O.R.K. (or Main O.R.K.): Records are organized by kingdom and then by park. Every active player is listed and any name can be clicked on in order to view their credits, awards and so forth.

The Knights’ O.R.K.: This database lists all knights of Amtgard that have been entered or have records in the main O.R.K. The database is organized by kingdom and focuses on highlighting the knights and their accomplishments; it even tracks their squires as well.

The Companies O.R.K.: This database is a place for companies and households to enter their group, its members, their mission statement and any recruiting information.

The O.R.K. Atlas: Featuring a nice pushpin map, this portion of the O.R.K. identifies the parks that have been entered by kingdom as well as by state. It lists the actual park locations, the day and times they play and has contact information for the current officers.

The O.R.K. relies on users; how accurate the O.R.K is at any given moment is dependent upon how diligent the prime ministers and other parties are in keeping it up to date. Though most of the kingdoms have made use of the O.R.K., there are still kingdoms and parks that do not use it currently.

Though you may not find every person in Amtgard in the O.R.K., it can be a fantastic source of information about people and places. For example, if you disagree with how someone else is explaining how to sew a seam and are thinking about flaming them for not knowing what they are doing, being aware that they have a Master Garber and are a Knight of the Serpent would be handy, wouldn’t it? If some other guy’s views on shot in motion vs. atomic clock seem stupid to you and you want to flame him for being a newbie moron, it might be good to know that he’s been getting Orders of the Warrior as far back as 1990 and is a Warlord and a Knight of the Sword.

Knowing what sort of titles, awards and masterhoods a person has may or may not change your response in the end, but it’s always good to make an informed decision. The O.R.K. can also help you determine things like what companies or households someone is connected to (and therefore who might decide to jump into the fray should you start a war).

Let’s look at a rather silly hypothetical example:

Someone on an internet forum asks a question about underwater basket weaving supply stores; several days go by without a response. You happen to know that a particular fighting company is based around underwater basket weaving and that they know where to find supplies; since no one else has responded, you drop a post that company U.W.B.W. is big on that sort of thing and contacting one of their members will probably get them the information they need.

To your amazement, a third person- we’ll call him Patchwork Pete- jumps onto the forum and blasts you: you aren’t a member of U.W.B.W., what right do you have to refer people to them?

You’ve never heard of this person before, but perhaps it’s a rather touchy member of U.W.B.W.? It’s off to the O.R.K.!

First we’ll check the Companies O.R.K., where you discover that there is no person called Patchwork Pete named as a member. You then check Patchwork Pete’s personal O.R.K. entry. Patchwork Pete has a pretty bare page- no awards, no titles and no positions held. He also has no group affiliations listed. You then click on his credits, where you find that he only has three sign-ins logged, all within the last two months.

Based upon this information, you can come to a few tentative conclusions about Patchwork Pete. Remember, however, that O.R.K. records are only as complete and accurate as the person maintaining them has made them. For all you know, Patchwork Pete is a member of U.W.B.W. who has been in the game for fifteen years, just moved to a new park that uses the O.R.K. from one that doesn’t and hasn’t had his records updated recently.

But what if Patchwork Pete had looked you up before firing his mouth off at you? Looking at your O.R.K. record, we see that you have a squire who is a member of U.W.B.W. and another who is a pledge. We also see that you are a member of two different households, both of which have multiple members of U.W.B.W. on their rolls. Based upon this information, poor Pete might have deduced that you are on good terms with more than a few members of U.W.B.W. He may have even come to the conclusion that you might have spoken to one of them before posting your recommendation. If he had this information, he perhaps would have responded differently- or at least he would have known the full situation before doing so.

Sound like a lot of work for a silly one-off message? It really isn’t. Thanks to the O.R.K., gathering that information takes only a few minutes of your time. Having information about the people you interact with, whether it is positive or negative, can assist you in determining what your responses will be, or help you to figure out how you can approach someone in the most effective manner.

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