We've had some questions and a bit of confusion amongst the cabal members about Standard Bearers, and what their role and purpose is in ODO.
To (hopefully) give it some clarity, we've decided to make this post to talk a little more specifically about the rank.
First up, Standard Bearers are not officers.
They are not junior officers, or any kind of officer. They are not involved with any of the decision making process which the cabal council goes through, unless it is decided to consult the whole cabal.
Standard Bearers do not outrank knights.
This is a rank with more responsibilities, but Standard Bearers do not hold any authority over any other rank.
Promotion to Standard Bearer has nothing to do with how long an individual has been in the cabal.
It is not a rank based on veteran status. Newer members may be promoted to Standard Bearer if the officers decide that it is the right decision for the cabal. We'd love it if there was a way to recognise our long term knights, but we don't have that option with the rank system Funcom has given us.
Standard Bearers are able to approve applications to the cabal, and are able to invite new members.
This helps us respond quickly to applications, and allows us to try to avoid delays in getting people invited because they are waiting on an officer to be online to invite.
Standard Bearers are members who have shown they are helpful to other members of the cabal and are active in the game.
This includes helping people out with dungeons, lairs, Kaidan runs, gear & build advice and other helpful activities. We are not trying to say that members who are not Standard Bearers are not helpful, because we are really lucky to have lots of helpful members, and we really appreciate your efforts!
We do not use Standard Bearer as a way of finding new officers.
It is not a pre-requisite of being a Master Commander to have been a Standard Bearer.
If you have any questions, please comment here. Comments will be moderated to keep this thread on track if needed.