/officerchat

These past two months I’ve been all over the place.  There were various games, a plenitude of communities, and a swarm of  guilds of which I’ve dipped my toes into.  It has been quite some time since I’ve been able to experience first hand the strong effects of differing leadership styles which populate internet gaming.  And here we were, simply listening to my one man (and girl) show about our lonely guild management troubles.  “DIVERSITY!” the people cry, “LET US SEE FREELY!”

IRL Guild Officers

-Close knit leadership team, or exclusive guild clique?

I’ve recently had the joyous opportunity of becoming included in a guild ran by IRL (In Real Life) friends.  If my recollections do not evade me, I would say there were 40 members- 8 of which holding the officer position.  Progression was fairly current and the gear was prevalent in the “group” of IRL friends, as I’ll now refer to them.  Now rather than turning this into a grand ole story time and risk upsetting the few of you who hadn’t thought to pack their blankets, I’ll cut to the nitty gritty of my observations.

Benefits

• “Group” contained key raiding roles, and knew how to efficiently communicate together.
• Guild utilized a /roll system for loot disbursement to avoid any outlandish claims of favoritism.
• Stable leadership without shifts or loss in personnel.

Failures

• ‘Friend-only’ leadership team left members without an unbiased source to speak with concerning issues.
• Inside jokes became normal conversation and isolated the remainder of the guild from community bonding.
• Raids = 8 chiefs, not enough Indians.  Ever try raiding with 8 raid leaders giving you different orders mid-fight?
• Separation of IRL and in-game.  Problems from their personal lives became apparent in online leadership squabbles.
• Vague favoritism.  Raid invites given priority to buddies, regardless of: Gear, Skill, Performance, Attendance, Punctuality.
• 20% Officer:Member ratio.  Woah.     Too many jobs -> promote officer.  RIGHT!      Promote officer -> find a job?  WRONG.

One bad apple ruins the bunch

Take note, that every guild and group of friends hold different attributes and styles.  This particular guild, however, seemed to have plenty to work on.  While they thought ahead by utilizing a /roll system for 10m raids, I fear that 25m content will bring problems with proper gear placement in accordance with progression of the raid.  While the old adage rings true (Always gear up tanks & healers first) I would suspect that those tanks and healers would be their buddies instead of those who have shown proven skill, attendance, and commitment to success.  It’s hard enough being a GM and having your officers whispering in your ear in-game, but to have it consistently in person as well?  It can be easy to falter your equality and justice.

If a guild were to remain objective and focused upon the guild as a separate being instead of a virtual hangout spot, I could foresee this sort of situation working.  In fact, I would be willing to place more speculation on my experience as guild management inexperience and lack of control rather than point a finger at “IRLeaders”.  Being the case, this still brings an issue to the table worth us all recognizing:  How is your leadership team being perceived by the rest of your guild?

One may not be aware of how comfortably they have set into their habits in a guild environment.  The older a guild becomes, the easier it is to forget what it is like being a new member in such guild.  Inside jokes run rampant, players have formed their cliques, raid groups & invites are predetermined…  It is VERY easy for a newcomer to feel shunned and left out of the group.  Hell, I’ve seen new members of my own not even get hello/good-night  replies when they come & go.  Unacceptable.  Remember and remind your team – There is a person behind each name, and they are all working towards the same goals you have set for your guild.  Real life friends or not, you are a team of people, no ifs, ands, or buts about it.