/officerchat

Tue, Oct 13, 2009

Hey Sedge,

Here’s one for you.  Recently my guild had a member return to the game after a few months on break.  He was a good member typically, helpful if not too talkative or generous.  Here’s where it went bad.  Apparently after a few BG’s (not guild pre-mades) where he had a losing streak, he felt it necessary to exclaim the deficiencies of the Alliance within /Trade chat.  Complete with profanities.  One of our officers happened to be in /Trade at the time and asked him to stop. Response was to the effect of, “You cant tell me how to behave.”  Discussion became heated and led to guild member removal.  Said member then logged on to an alt, told us all that he hoped we failed and how basically we were all chicken excrement.

For a little background, we are a mostly casual guild that does some raiding 1-2 nights a week as a guild, maybe every other week or so.  But many of our members raid much more frequently as PUGs.  We try to make sure that members of our guild are not “those” pugs, so that if someone needs a fill in they have no doubt that if they pick one of our members they will not be sorry.  (Skills may vary, but the attitude won’t).  We have a list of guild rules that prohibit flame wars within Guild Chat, but never thought to extend it to General or Trade.

Is it too much to ask of members to not troll in public channels as well?

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When it comes time to step up to the plate, one must do whatever is necessary to move their guild forward. The dedication that members show within their guild throughout the months, even years, can grant them the possibility of an Officer title. The promotion to such an honorable title is an achievement in itself if the member is able to handle the challenge which awaits him or her. What I have found during my MMO roller coaster ride was that becoming an Officer was more than just having experience, knowledge and showing respect towards other members. It was the dedication I gave to my guild. Being loyal can greatly increase your value as a member beyond anything else.

Unfortunately, this may not always act in your favor. You see, for me, being dedicated and loyal actually cost my rank to a clan I wanted to help succeed in every way possible. The rank was taken away from me by another Officer of the clan. This is where many might argue that a sense of leadership was taken more as a threat, than as a blessing.

This is my Officer Mishap:

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Guild Merges are horrible. If you take anything at all away from this entire post, take that.

Two guilds, each unable to fulfill their goals on their own, combine in attempts to create something epic. More often than not, however, it falls apart in a heap of fail, leaving a terrible taste in the mouths of everyone involved. Oh guild merge, why must you tempt me with your sweet scent, yet taint my taste buds with your rotten secretions. We are just two guilds who want to raid and shower in the purple rain. It seems that due to leadership greed, selfishness, and power struggling, the members are the ones who truly suffer. Poor members, I shed a tear for you.

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(Salt Grain Goes Here:  I know men have problems running guilds.  I know all of these things are not female specific.  However, I’m focusing on things that I see happening to female GMs in large numbers.  So if your dog’s former owner’s cousin’s girlfriend’s brother was totally talked dirty to by some girl on WoW, I believe you, but that’s not the focus on this post.  It’s for the ladies.)

Warning! There are two off color words ahead!  Don’t clicky if you don’t like strong language.

Girls run guilds.  We run them very well.  We are not playing because our partners made us play.  No one handed us our epics.  We don’t all want a bunny and a pink glitter armor set (though I totally ran around in the Bloodscale plate set on my pally shouting, “I’m pally Barbie!  Math is hard!”)  I have the distinct pleasure of being one of a trifecta of female run guilds on my server.  We are all at about the same level of progression and we are good friends.  However, on most other servers I have played on, this is not the case.  Girls are scarce, being a female gamer can be a very isolating experience and it’s to say, “Man, screw this!”  There are a lot of things a female GM has to deal with that only other female GMs will deal with on a regular basis.  Here’s how I get through it with at least a little grace.

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A true conundrum for any guild leader in the midst of a raiding guild.  Do you start 10/25 man progression raids with your core, or put the emphasis on 25 man farm raids to gear up those behind the curve?  On one hand, you’ve put in your time and are excited to start learning and gearing up with new boss encounters.  On the other, you have at a MINIMUM of 15 other people who want to join your level of expertise and experience new content themselves.  Not to mention those who ARE ready to venture into newer pastures, yet can’t fit into a nightly 10 man group.  With whispers from all sides finding their way to your ear, how can you possibly find a solution to keep people happy and from looking for alternate guilds to meet their demands?
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“Um, excuse me, are you the GM of your guild?  Oh, good.  Um, I just wanted to let you know that one of your members, PLAYER X, awarded himself ITEM Y in RAID Z earlier today.  I know we don’t tolerate that kind of stuff in my guild, and wouldn’t want to see your guild’s reputation on the server become ruined because of INCIDENT XYZ.  Just thought I’d let you know.”

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