I’m still off doing that wacky Ph.D application thing, but I wanted to throw this out there.

It’s not all raids.

Every now and then, it does help to kick back, relax and give out some money for nothing. At least once a month a run a guild event that’s got nothing to do with a raid, and gives out at least as much money if not more. I thought I would share these events because it’s cute and because you really want to spend time with your internet friends and not just advance your character and bounce to a better server…right?

First things first, money or prizes can come from the guild bank or from a personal stash. The set up of your guild depends on how much you want to offer. I’ve seen guilds give away mechanohogs and those nifty 20k gold mammoths. I’m not quite there yet. I give out a thousand gold in cash money to first, second, and third and then probably rare pets because we seem to like those. Give away anything, get creative. Hell, give away your officer team for a night of whatever heroics the winner wants. Give them the ability to take an under geared toon to a raid you’ve got on steamroll.

Now, onto the events.

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With MMOs continuously giving us larger and expanded content, it is hard to form a skilled group of players who will show up and perform to set expectations.  Upper echelon guilds have taken years to build and mold their member-base to produce the efficiency that most can only dream of.  In the lands of world firsts, complete PvP destruction, or even wipeless runs, you will be required to find people who not only meet the game’s expectations, but also your own.  Eventually we may come to the conclusion that those in our guilds may not be able enough to complete such a task.  What if many of these short-skilled guilds came together to form a union though?  Could an alliance between multiple sovereign groups produce results and maintain a successful demeanor?  Perhaps.

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Part 4:  Leapfroggers

One of the few joys of leading a guild is feeling that “rush” when everything goes right and you meet one of your goals.  The enthusiasm exuberated from your members provides a euphoria which surpasses just about anything else the game has to offer.  Whether it be downing that boss after weeks of attempts, finally stabalizing a core group of solid players, taking that PvP zone once and for all, obtaining that long sought after piece of gear, or simply reaching a certain member cap, meeting set goals greatly improves guild morale around the board.

What happens when during the midst of your celebration and rejoice, things take a huge step backward?  Unforseen events will always happen; You can’t predict them.  Let’s say that this event was conspired and planned beforehand?  A player swooped in, took advantage of your guild’s current needs to suit their own, and took off for greener pastures.  Say hello the the “Leapfrogger”, also occassionally known as a ‘Guild Jumper’.

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Every now and then, you come across someone who is playing…in a really interesting way, possibly to the detriment of the raid.  Or the heroic. Or the dungeon. Or the BG. Whatever it is, they aren’t pulling their weight and when you’re trying to get somewhere, it’s got to be a team effort. That means the team has to bring everything they’ve got.

Rather than accuse, it’s often better and nice to offer suggestions. You can’t hold someone’s hand, but you can point them toward
the resources to get what they need. Call this your cheat sheet for a handful of common issues.

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I am always wary of guilds that take players with no application process. I mean, sure, if you throw enough crap at a wall, some of it might stick…but then you still have a giant pile of floor crap on your hands.

Whatever, I’m tired. It made sense in my head.

Your method of guild application is up to you. I personally interview all applicants via whispers. I find that easiest, as I’m a WIM devotee and it means I can interview while farming, doing heroics, running a raid, whatever.

But if you want in, here is what you have to do:

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Hear Ye! Hear Ye!  The guild now requires 100 gold coins from each man, woman and child per fortnight.  Any unwillingness or inability to meet these standards will find themselves REMOVED AT ONCE!

That would be rough, eh?  …Or would it?  Requiring a weekly/monthly stipend from each of your members could yield vast guild resources, or a complete mutiny.  As we dive deeper into the world of guild management, more and more situations come up in which there is no right or wrong answer.  The more educated and prepared we are for issues that do arise, the better leaders we end off becoming.  You decide which path you wish to take:  That of English King with your tax demands, or one of a homeless food shelter- complete with moths.

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“A case of Alt-itis?”

Tue, Sep 15, 2009 at 1:56 PM

I’m in a 25 man raiding guild. Lately, most of our members just log on to raid. There are people on our non-raiding nights, but it’s mostly the same people, and maybe half of those people are happily playing alts. We can barely field any 10 man group outside of scheduled 25 man raid times.

I have nothing against alts, in fact, I’m guilty of mostly playing my alt as well, as it’s the character I enjoy playing most at the moment (I would switch if I could, but there’s no spot for my desired role, currently). I pretty much just log on to raid, do daily heroics and try to pug VoA on my raiding main. The rest of the time I’m farming heroics to gear up my alt. Personally, I don’t see anything wrong with this, as there’s nothing else I can do to improve my raiding main outside of guild raids.

The problem is that I’m not the only one doing this, but not  every body’s main is as geared as they should be. We have people leveling alts when their mains can still use Conquest badge upgrades, or not doing the daily heroic for Triumph badges. The guild leadership (as well as myself, personally) would like to see these members spend more time improving their raiding mains outside of raids.

So I need advice on two things:
How can we increase the level of activity outside of official raid times? And how can we push people to go after upgrades for their raiding mains that they can get outside of guild raids (5 man ToC, Conquest badges, etc) without being too Draconian and basically telling people how to play? I should mention that I’m a former officer, so I also wonder if I’m providing a bad example by being on my alt most times.

Thanks
A concerned member

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We’ve been focusing quite a lot on the ‘raiding guild’ for some time now.  How could we forget about those still holding the prideful flag of ‘leveling guild’?  With as many hardships as we’ve discussed with coordinating raids, distributing loot, and scheduling instances, it’s very easy to overlook the problems that you have (or had) when your main focus was retaining quality, loyal members and motivating them to keep leveling up.  Guild leadership is still leadership, whether you have 25+ players in Ulduar, or 100 players in Tanaris.

How do you find worthwhile members, and more importantly, what can you offer them to join your guild and stay loyal when your biggest achievement has been hitting level 60 and gaining your epic mount?  Leveling guilds carry just as many headaches as raiding guilds, all the while being extremely crucial to a guild’s future development.  Make sure you get it right the first time!

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Saying that you get more flies with honey than with vinegar may be an awful, headache inducing cliche when it comes from Mom… but it’s also true. GLs and officers have to be adept at dealing with people, because they will have to do it on a large basis. Even my bank officer has members who come to him with raiding issues or personal issues, even though that’s not technically his “job.” You don’t get to decide that all your members must connect with and trust the “Personal Issues officer”, people are going to talk to the one in power who they feel the most comfortable with (and if everyone in your guild is only comfortable talking to one person, you need to first buy them a car for having the grace and patience to deal with that and then fix it, because that’s a bad sign).

I’ve found a few ways to make yourself significantly more attractive to the guild membership.

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Fri, Aug 14, 2009 at 11:52 AM

I am a guild master of a progression guild, we started out as a 10-man Ulduar guild with a plan to get more members so we can do or at least pug a 25-man Ulduar consistently. Half a year later, we are still having trouble filling in a 10-man raid and sometimes 25. It seems that our biggest problem is raiders leaving the guild.  A number of members have left because they consider me too strict about attendance, responsibility, and competence when I ask them to show up to raids they say they would, not stand in fire, and do  their job as well as expected from their quality of gear. Is this unreasonable to expect from players?
There are players that I have kicked from my guild because they were rude or didn’t really care enough to attend raids that they said they would. These players have gone on to other guilds and have done extremely well, which leads me to the question:

Should I have been more accepting of these personalities so we could have success in raids?

Thank you,
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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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Ah, I just had this fall on top of me, so why not make a post about it.  The drama bomb went off. I couldn’t sleep one night, so I logged in to four mails and I was immediately pulled into a party with, “Sola, we need to talk!”

I knew hot milk was going to be a better idea.

While I was gone for the night, two members who did not like each other had a fight.  One had left the guild, the other was leaving the guild as soon as he spoke to me.  ‘They just cannot… be around one another! anymore!’

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