GuildRelations
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Children of a lesser guild
The worst part of guild membership is, by far, watching a guild die. I've seen guilds die from poor recruiting practices, internal drama, and, in one memorable case, a disgruntled member with /gkick privileges. But the most painful death I ever saw was that of a large casual raiding guild in which I was an officer. We weren't very good, and we never progressed far, mostly because anyone decent in our guild was immediately recruited away by one of the high-end guilds on our server. We kept it together for several months, but in the end, ten of our best players (including our two tanks and the best healer) were poached away by another guild. Eventually, the guild leader and I left too. Judging by his post on the EU General forums, Aires, GM of Flames of the Phoenix on EU-Terenas, is having the same problem. His small Kara guild is being eaten away by larger guilds who whisper his members, invite them to come to 25-mans, and then ask them if they'd like to join. Admirably, Aires does not cry about it or name names, but asks a general question: Is it ethically right to poach members from smaller guilds who don't approach you first? Opinions seem to be divided. On one hand, few people will argue that it's "nice" to cannibalize a smaller guild, and many SSC/TK guilds who do this to "loser guilds" would scream bloody murder if a BT/Hyjal guild did the same to them. But every server also has a limited supply of players who don't suck, and new recruits do have to come from somewhere. Plus, there's no real way to steal a player who doesn't want to be stolen in the first place. The thread also contains a rare personal opinion from a Blizzard employee. CM Vaneras says that your answer to the question basically depends on why you play the game. If you play for what Vaneras terms "shiny epics", you probably won't see anything wrong with poaching, while those who play for "the cameraderie and accomplishments of a guild" will hate it. What do you think about guild poaching?
Guild divas: There can only be one
Yes, we're stepping once again into the steaming hot gumbo of WoW gender relations -- this time with the delightfully spicy flavor of the Guild Relations forum. Altaan is a female player and the GM of a casual raiding guild with about 80 players. She describes herself as a laid-back leader who lets the raid leaders take over the instances while maintaining a fun environment for her guild members. However, she's recently had problems with a few female members, and is wondering whether to kick them out or let them stay. "They undercut my authority in subtle, almost underhanded ways that I'm having a hard time pinpointing to my male officers, who love the fact that there are women in the guild ... especially ones who will flirt with them," Altaan writes. "One of these women recently asked the men to attempt to procure my picture, purportedly because she is concerned with being the "hottest girl in the guild." The other has announced several times that the Raid Leaders "belong" to her and she is only allowing me to "borrow" them. Both women routinely use guild chat and Ventrilo to stake claims on the male players ("this is my paladin"; "my druid"; etc.)" I've seen this phenomenon a few times in my WoW history, and it's recently been popularized on AFK Gamer. A small minority of female WoW players do not play well with others. They generally tend to mention their gender at any opportunity and flirt casually with anyone in a position of power. The label of girl gamer is important to them, as it makes them seem like a rare breed in a male-dominated virtual world -- the "guild diva." When another female comes along -- especially one who's an officer or guild leader and not flirty -- they feel that their territory is being threatened and lash out. Altaan understands this, but is unsure of how to proceed. If she keeps the players, they will continue being nuisances and hindering her raids by flirting with the raid leaders and taking spots from better players. If she kicks them, she may be seen as catty herself, and she may lose one of her raid leaders. There's a debate on the forum, but most people seem to think that she should kick them for challenging her authority and being drama queens. What do you think Altaan should do? Female officers and GMs, have you had any problems with divas in your guild? Is this about gender at all, or merely a more subtle display of power struggles?
The Van Halen Clause
Applications for high-end raiding guilds are kind of like job applications. You have to list your experience, your availability, and why you'd be a better player than every other mage/priest/warrior applying. On the other hand, as an officer or leader of a successful guild, you have tens or hundreds of qualified people applying. How do you decide who gets in and who gets shut out? Lucas, guild master of Gods on the Arthas server, has come up with an interesting way to weed out lazy applicants: the Van Halen clause. Lucas explains a Van Halen clause as such: "placing a frivolous and easily accomplished requirement in a contract to make sure that the other person actually read it." Apparently, Van Halen used to demand a bowl of non-brown M&Ms at every venue they played at to make sure the promoter actually read their contract. All Gods applicants must read the guild rules page, and if they don't find the Van Halen clause and do what it says, they're unlikely to get in. Can you find it? So is Lucas's policy a good way to keep uncommitted people out of the guild, or is it just a frivolous test of someone's skimming ability?
Guild Relations Program
Community manager Eyonix has announced a new guild relations program (or here if you're in the EU), which rewards guilds who positively participate in the Warcraft community. The invitation-only program is looking for guilds who participate in constructive/helpful discussion on the forums; post Warcraft-related movies, fan fiction, or game guides; or anything else that shows the guild has a genuine willingness to help other players. Once a member of the program, guilds will have their own link from the official website, be eligible to participate in an upcoming beta test, and have access to live developer chat sessions.While the benefits sound interesting, I wonder what level of community activity allows guilds to participate. If you're interested, head over to the new Guild Relations Forum (or here if you're in the EU) to see what's up.
