Guild Leadership

[Akasha]

So you have a guild to lead? It is up to you how you run your guild as long as members follow the game policies. However, here are some tips written by an experienced guild leader which you might find useful.

Create Guild Rules
Come up with a list of rules for your guild. Make them available to your guild mates via a web page, if possible, or you can also pass them out via email. You can solve many common problems by coming up with rules and making sure everyone is aware of them. You can update the rules as you go as various issues come up. Most people are fine with the rules as long as they are public and they can read them. Remember that it's good to make sure your members are aware of the game policies.

Select Good Officers
Select good co-leaders for your guild. These players need to be able control the guild while you're not around. It's common to select your closest friends for this role but they are not always the best choices. Some good friends don't make good leaders. For the best results you need people who can lead and arbitrate disputes. It really depends on how large your guild is. If your guild is a close group of friends this may not be necessary. If you have a large guild with players which you may not be personal friends with in real life, than you might find good officers are a requirement.

You can create your own ranks and define rank permissions via the guild management controls. This allows you to start off officers with some basic commands then you can reward them with more if they earn it through good leadership.

Reward Good Behavior
Reward good behavior in your guild with increased power. You can create special ranks for your guild that players can earn through whatever deeds you deem necessary. Just as players wish to upgrade their characters, players also wish to improve their status in the guild!

Punish Bad Behavior
You can punish bad behavior in your guild by having a leader talk to the person causing trouble. Remember that a threat to remove them from the guild is always a good way to improve their behavior. Another option is to create special ranks in your guild that are identified as punishment. You can then reduce the permissions for that rank to virtually none (can't talk in guild chat). When players have served their punishment you can reinstate their powers by upgrading them back to their previous rank.

Item Disputes
Item Disputes are the most common source of conflict in a guild. Sometimes players get greedy and fight over the same item in a party if they both especially want an item. Create rules and make them public as to how guild members should respond to the situation. You can also refer them to the guild leaders to help determine what should be done. Otherwise item disputes can blow up into huge fights with people taking sides. A good thing to remember is that you can type "/random 1 100" to generate a random number between 1 and 100. Whoever gets the highest number wins the item. This is a common method used for determining who gets an item if multiple people want or need an item.

Guild Chat
Guild Chat can get out of hand sometimes if you do not manage it. You can tell people in the channel to settle down. You can also demote a bad member's rank in the guild to a level which doesn't allow them to talk in guild chat until they improve their behavior.

Inactive Guild Members
You might want to create a policy which removes guild members that are not active in the game. It's up to you. It's not really hurting anything by allowing them to continue to be in the guild but it doesn't encourage other players in the guild to play. It also takes up room on the guild roster list.

Create a Guild Web Site
Most guilds do this. If you don't know how to create a guild web site, find someone or invite someone to your guild who can.

Trade Skills
Sometimes it's better to pick one person for each trade skill that is responsible for being the best at that trade skill. When you a bunch of people doing the same trade skill they compete against each other and that doesn't get the guild ahead. You probably do want to have some backups just in case the main trade skill person is not online.

Let everyone in the guild know what trade skill items and recipes they should collect and who they should give these items to.

If the guild works together with the members using trade skills the entire guild can benefit.

Hand-me-downs
When you are done with an item, offer it to people in the guild chat channel. Other players might wish to use that item now. Meet up with them and give them the item. This can really improve relations between guild members as well as assist the guild as a whole.

Pool Money
If there is something that would be especially helpful to the guild, pool money together from members and buy it. This can allow you to buy things that wouldn't otherwise be possible.

Guild Tabard
Have everyone in the guild contribute to the purchase of the design for the guild tabard. That way you can afford it much sooner. You also may wish to involve the guild in the design of your guild tabard. Higher level players in the guild can also help lower level players get their guild tabard since it is expensive.

Guild Events
Guild members enjoy planned events. Notify members ahead of time when an event is going to happen and make sure you have strong leaders to run the event. Common events include attacking the same location with your entire guild. These gatherings also give a chance for players to exchange items for trade skills or give hand-me-down items to lower level guild members.

Information Source : WoW Beta Site

[R2D2]

Yes it is a perfectly valuable walkthrough, hard when you need to be hard, and fair when fair is right...and be able to take dessicions..

[boscolio]

this is interesting since lately my guild has sort of froze. we really don't have anything going on. if it's this way come game time then i'll be organizing my own guild. of course that's a thought for the future. just have to wait for the present to unveil itself.

[R2D2]

Originally Posted by boscolio

this is interesting since lately my guild has sort of froze. we really don't have anything going on. if it's this way come game time then i'll be organizing my own guild. of course that's a thought for the future. just have to wait for the present to unveil itself.

wells dont worry bout your guild, its probably just a busy time(It is for mine and self i know), so later on the year activity will prob. be much better..

[boscolio]

oh i know. i've been with them for over a year and gone through a few reconstructions of the guild. only time will tell. there's always a great chance everyone will reappear closer to release. that was just my pessimistic side showing through.

[Kalazor]

It's always good to be pessimistic - that way you get surprised when a person does something nice for you =).