How do we start a guild?

I'd like to take a moment to address another reader email. In this post I kind of skirt the direct issues of recruiting and establishing a guild bank. I offer my best advice on the absolute basics of starting a guild. Please ignore spelling, grammatical, and punctuation errors in the reader's email, and direct all of your ire toward mine.

heya,

me and my friend want to start up our own to guild working towards raid progression. We have both done all pre 3.1 content on other characters on different servers and on moving to a new server have found it hard to find a guild that meets our needs/scheduale; thus we want to form our own guild. However neither of us has any experience in doing so, and would appreciate some tips on how best to start ie. how to recruit, how developed the guild bank needs to be etc

thanks

Before you get started making your guild, I'd like to let you in on a little secret. Some of the most painful experiences in my life include boiling the skin off the back of my right hand with scalding water from a steam iron (you wouldn't notice the scar unless I pointed it out, but even 22 years later I use it to tell left from right), the massive hangover I had on 1/1/2000- three days after I got my tongue pierced (and working a double shift), and starting a guild with a handful of friends. My best advice is that unless there is a real need for a guild, don't do it. You and your friend may want to look for a guild that meets your needs, our readers have posted many that are looking for members.

If you are still keen on starting your own guild you're going to face alto of challenges. For today, let's start with the very basics: Assessing the need for a finding your niche and establishing your mission. What is it that you want your guild to do? Do you want to foster hardcore raiding, or cater to casuals? Are you going to focus on leveling, role play, or PvP? Pitch your idea to some of your realm mates and see if there's an interest in your guild idea. You should begin planning for your guild before you even purchase your charter.

Once you have established the need for your guild, consider your potential membership. Who do you want to attract to your guild. Remember that the guild name can be a turn on or turn off for potential members. What do you want your guild culture to be? Some guilds cater to mature players- that doesn't necessarily mean old and stuffy, but a behavioral expectation. Other guild are focused around a goofier atmosphere where anything goes.

Begin to consider your rules and expectations. What's a deal breaker in a potential guildie? Will you have structured guild ranks? How will you deal with personality and mechanical conflicts? If you prepare yourself for some of these, you'll save yourself from dealing with drama in the future.

We'll talk about recruiting in a future post. Starting a guild is a pretty tough row to hoe, but there's great potential if you're willing to work through the growing pains of your guild's early months. Read through Scott Andrew's weekly column Officer's Quarters to better understand more of what you're up against. Also you'll find comfort and solace in the Guild Relations forum on the WoW page.

Good luck, and may The Force be with you.