Officers' Quarters: A military solution

Every Monday Scott Andrews contributes

Officers' Quarters, a column about the ins and outs of guild leadership.

Starting up a new raiding guild is never easy. There's a lot to think about and plenty of competition for those raid-quality players. It's not easy even under ordinary circumstances. Now try doing it while you're on deployment in the U.S. military! That's what this week's reader is facing.

Dear Scott,

I've been playing since about a year prior to the release of BC and been through many guilds which time and time again failed to meet my expectations of what a raiding guild should be, mostly centered around the lack of motivation. I'm in the military and 6 months ago was put on deployment so I've been "WoWless" for the last 6 months or so. While out here I made friends with some fellow players and after a few conversations I asked if anyone was interested in starting a guild. They liked the idea but no one wanted to spearhead it, well this sounded like opportunity knocking.

Now I have about 20 people who are on my roster and with the help of a friend back home 20 people currently in the guild. Now I'd like to keep as many as possible that are on the roster in the guild since I know them personally, but I fear some may either lose interest or not think that a server change is worth it. I was wondering if you had any advice as to how I'd keep them motivated into wanting to stick with it? If we were actually playing it would be easier as I'd be able to DO the things I say I'm going to.

Best Wishes,

Deployed and Annoyed

You're in a tough spot, D&A, but I like that you're taking charge of your own WoW destiny instead of waiting for someone to hand you the endgame on a silver platter, like too many players do.

Unfortunately raiding guilds are all about "put up or shut up." If you can't produce results, people are going to find a guild that does. It's especially difficult when you're asking people to transfer servers. Not only does it cost "real" money, but they're also leaving friends, rivalries, and alts behind.

Even so, you're doing this at the right time. Many raiders are taking a break these days, burned out from the big push of TBC and all the farming that went with it. It seems like most raiding guilds are on hiatus for the time being, so people aren't expecting much at this moment.

What they are looking for right now is a guild that has a good plan and a committed roster for WotLK. So what I would encourage you to do is to communicate your plan to all the recruits you have so far. Lay it all out there: raiding policies, loot policies, recruiting policies, guild bank policies, the Web site, the Vent server -- everything. Write up a guild charter. Show them exactly what you want to do and tell them why you think your guild will succeed while others fail.

Use your military background to your advantage. I've raided with military people. By and large they make excellent teammates and top-notch raid leaders. The no-nonsense, let's-get-it-done approach often works wonders in a raid setting. With rare exceptions, people respect it and respond to it.

Since half your roster looks to be military personnel, your raiding team will have a leg up on its civilian counterparts. It's an excellent selling point to convince people to join.

However, if you can't get this guild off the ground before other guilds start hitting Naxx at level 80, you're going to be dead in the water. So do what you have to. Work with your friend back home to get as many people on the server and on the roster as you can. Then start clearing Naxx with whomever is available.

You have a great opportunity here. Come home safe and let us know how it works out!

/salute

Send Scott your guild-related questions, conundrums, ideas, and suggestions at scott.andrews@weblogsinc.com. You may find your question the subject of next week's Officers' Quarters! For more WoW Insider gameplay columns, click here.