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The Guild Counsel: Does running a guild have to be so hard?
When you hear people describe the role of guild leader, you often hear descriptions like "herding cats," "constantly busy," or "running the crazy house." Guild leaders are often easily identified because they're the ones running around at a frantic pace, trying to micromanage every last detail. It's no surprise that few people actually want to be guild leaders because the way the role is described, you're almost expected to take on a second job. But sometimes guild leaders make things harder than they need to be. Part of that is from a desire to take on too much, but part of that is because there have traditionally been certain things we all assume have to be done. Whether you're a brand-new guild leader or someone who's been running the show for years, it's worth stepping back and questioning whether we really need to be doing all of the things we're doing. Let's put on some Bob Marley and look at a few ways to cut down on the busy work.
The Guild Counsel: Fan Faire 2011 guild leader panel
As you know from this column, I'm a big fan of guilds. So it's probably no surprise that I went to Fan Faire with a special goal of meeting up and talking to guild leaders from a variety of SOE games. Last year, I teamed up with Adam Trzonkowski, my former podcasting co-host and author of the book The Guild Leader's Companion, and together we recorded a show with several guild leaders from EverQuest, EverQuest II, Star Wars Galaxies and Free Realms. This year, we met again, and had a chance to catch up with a few returnees as well as some new faces. Joining the discussion this year were leaders from DC Universe Online, EQ, EQII, and RIFT. Judging by the turnout, you could say that guilds are like snowflakes. We had Rick Hall and his juggernaut guild Heroes, the oldest guild on the Luclin server in EverQuest. He's carrying a roster of hundreds, and regularly raiding 54-man raid content. Added to the list of "long in the tooth" guilds were Legion of the White Rose in EQII, led by Kendricke, and Iniquity, who has moved from EQII to RIFT, and is led by Adam. The league Absolute Justice in DCUO, led by Arctic Titan, is not only playing in a different genre of MMO, they're on a completely different platform, the PS3. Twilight Company, led by Megera in EQII, is mainly a tradeskill guild, which set it apart from the others in attendance. And last, but not least, is Revelry and Honor, my guild from EverQuest II, and now led by Maesyn, Nauralea, and Andaraiel. Read on for a peek at what has led to their success, and some amazing war stories along the way.
