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The Guild Counsel: Are you in a guild?
I'd like to do a little experiment for this week's Guild Counsel, and I need your help. In years past, studies have been done that showed the importance of guilds in MMOs. (And by guilds, I mean any organized grouping of players, be it a clan, empire, corporation, etc.) Back in 2008, Dr. Nick Yee's Daedalus Project showed that 89% of respondents had at least one character in a guild. But over the past few years, the MMO landscape has changed dramatically, and those changes could have an effect on the number of players who actually join guilds. Over the next few weeks, I'm planning on taking a closer look at this topic. So I'd like to do a very unscientific poll, and I'm seeking your input. Read on for a look at a few factors that might affect the importance of guilds, and then let me know in the poll below -- are you in a guild?
The Guild Counsel: Guild horror stories
Ah, fall! Crisp cool air, gorgeous foliage, and enough horror and frights to leave you looking like someone who's just seen Samara from The Ring. Halloween is chock full of scares and horror stories, and guilds are no different. Whether you've led a guild or been part of one, chances are you've witnessed your fair share of terrifying tales. In this week's Guild Counsel, I'll share a few of mine, and I welcome you to add yours below. So gather round the campfire, pass the marshmallows, and bundle up in that sleeping bag because it's time to share our guild horror stories.
The Guild Counsel: A look at Race to World First
As MMOs grow in popularity and age, they're being seen as a serious subject of study. And as they gain acceptance, we're beginning to see more exposure on paper and in film. Recently, we looked at the documentary The Raid, a portrayal of one guild's progression through World of Warcraft raid content. In this week's Guild Counsel, we'll look at yet another new documentary: Race to World First.
The Guild Counsel: Making a new guild work in an old game
Running a successful guild is a difficult challenge, and I'm defining successful as a guild that, regardless of playstyle, can accomplish its goals and endure for years. There are thousands of guilds created, but very few of them last more than a year, and even fewer can boast of being around for longer. One of the toughest challenges for any guild leader is creating and building a guild from scratch in a game that's been around for years. I experienced that when I moved our guild from Vanguard to EverQuest II, where I had played for a few years before. We were the little fish in the big pond, and since everyone was either starting there for the first time or re-rolling on the server we chose, we had to build everything from the ground up. What made it hard was that as we leveled together and struggled through the content together, it became more and more tempting for people to jump ship and move to an established guild that was ahead of us. Building a new guild in an older game is difficult but not impossible, and there are a few areas to be mindful of if you want to run a guild that can survive the test of time. In this week's Guild Counsel, we'll look at a few ways that guild leaders can make a new guild in an old game actually work.
The Guild Counsel: A closer look at leadership style
There's a little saying that dogs and their masters often tend to resemble one another. That can also be true for guilds and their leaders. The atmosphere and feel of a guild, more often than not, is a mirror of the leader's personality. If a guild is running roughshod across the server, laying waste to the countryside, chances are that it's being led by an aggressive, type A personality. Similarly, if there's a guild that charms the pants off the server and is known for its friendly tone, there's a good chance it has a leader with a matching style. But sometimes, a certain leadership tone can work effectively in some ways and fall flat on its face in others. This week in The Guild Counsel, we'll look at three common leadership styles -- the yeller, the motivational speaker, and the den mother -- to see how each works well and how each can fall short of the mark.
The Guild Counsel: Running a guild on a free-to-play server
If there's one trend that's dominated the MMO industry over the past year and a half, it's the notion of free-to-play. What was once taboo has now become mainstream, and while it's breathed new life into the genre, it drastically changes the ground rules for players and guilds. Each week, we've taken a look at common issues in guild management, but what are the specific challenges that guild leaders face in free-to-play games? In this week's Guild Counsel, we'll examine some of the complexities of guild leadership in a free-to-play world.
The Guild Counsel: Can GW2's multiple guild feature work for other MMOs?
Guild Wars 2 caused a stir recently at PAX when its devs announced their concept of multiple guilds. According to the news, guild membership will be account-wide, and players will be able to log in and browse the chat for each of the guilds to which they belong. In a recent installment of Flameseeker Chronicles, Rubi gave a great rundown of the pros and cons of a multiple guild system. While there are still a lot of details yet to be revealed, Guild Wars 2 is changing the way players view guilds. But what about all of the other MMOs currently out there that we all know and love? If you're a guild leader, chances are that you've already dealt with the question of whether to allow members to have characters in other guilds. Can it work, or is it a recipe for drama? In this week's Guild Counsel, we'll look back at how far guilds have come and whether allowing for multiple tags can work in current MMOs.
The Guild Counsel: Dealing with 'Mr. Wiggly'
So there you were, ticking those last few points of health off the raid mob, preparing to celebrate a major victory, when all of a sudden someone triggers a massive AoE and the raid wipes. Even worse, you and everyone else on the raid instantly know who it is because it's the same person who mem-blurred the boss the week before and accidentally ported his group out the raid before that. In fact, it's beginning to seem like the raid should stop fighting NPCs and start taking on this guy because he's a much bigger threat. The easy answer is to ream him out, boot him, and refuse to ever rez him again, but it's not that simple because he is extremely nice, is married to the guild leader, is helpful and contributes immensely when not raiding, or is a combination of all three. That's right, in this week's Guild Counsel, we'll look at what to do with the nightmare of having a Mr. Wiggly in your guild.
The Guild Counsel: Pre-launch pitfalls
There's nothing more enticing than that new car smell of a soon-to-be-released MMO. And it's no surprise that many players make the decision to either bring their guilds over or build a new one from the ground up. It's exciting, but forming a pre-launch guild comes with plenty of potential hazards, and all too often, those months before the game goes live are the best and happiest months of a guild's life. In this week's Guild Counsel, let's look at some dos and don'ts when it comes to building a pre-launch guild... and hopefully keep the good times rolling long past launch day.
The Guild Counsel: I'm just a number
Sometimes it seems that numbers dominate MMOs. We play in worlds that are filled with stat-based items, resists, crits, parses, rankings, heck, even little tech issues like framerate and latency often come into play. After a while, you start to wonder if you've somehow turned into Cypher from the Matrix, able to see things in the steady stream of green numbers. But the most worrisome of all the numbers comes up when members of your guild feel like one. There are several ways that this issue can manifest itself, and it always leads to people feeling alienated and frustrated, and at its worst, it can lead to a complete breakdown of a guild. In this week's Guild Counsel, let's crank up the Bob Seger, look at some of the ways that members end up feeling like just a number, and focus on how to avoid it.
The Guild Counsel: A color-blind world
A couple of interesting points came out of last week's review of The Raid, and I'm going to use them as a springboard for this week's column. There were two topics that dominated the discussion: one was Edward Castronova's analogy of raiding as sport and the downing of the Lich King as a World Cup Championship victory. The other was about the use of inappropriate language in game, including some racist and sexist remarks. In this week's Guild Counsel, we'll look at soccer and sexism, and we'll see why Castronova was worth hearing out and why there's a big difference between what players say and what they do.
The Guild Counsel: Confronting our raid ghosts
In last week's Guild Counsel, we looked at how parsing tools can aid in raid leading. It triggered a lively discussion on raiding in general, and it was pretty clear that it's not everyone's cup of tea. Scripts, add-ons, dps checks -- they leave some standing in shock like Theoden, muttering "how did it come to this?" Others will channel their inner-Gimli and shout, "bring your pretty face to my axe." Raiding offers both the best and worst parts of MMOs, and it's come a long way through the years. It's worth taking a step back, and spending some time with the ghosts of raiding -- past, present, and future. In this week's Guild Counsel, we'll do just that!
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.
The Guild Counsel: A chat with Linda "The Brasse" Carlson
By night, she's the impeccably-dressed, bearded dwarf that MCs Fan Faires and never turns down a good pint of ale. But by day, she's the Community Relations Director for SOE, and she dons several different caps as part of her job with the company. At Fan Faire, she took the time to speak with Massively about a variety of topics, including forum wars, social media, the future of SOE's Facebook games, and even a revamp of the popular Guide program in EQ and EQII. Read below the cut for highlights from the interview.
Guild Counsel: The dreaded guild meet-and-greet
You've played together for months, even years, and now it's finally time to put a face to the name. Yep, it's the dreaded guild meet-and-greet. Summer tends to be a popular time for guild meet-ups, since the nice weather and flood of game conventions bring ample opportunity to get together. But meeting up with guildmates can be a hectic and somewhat stressful time. Even though online bonds can be as strong if not stronger than real-life ones, that final hurdle of meeting in person is daunting. You've probably seen the parody of The Guild's luncheon, with Tink surreptitiously sneaking in, Codex nervously trying to play host, and Vork passing out laminated copies of the guild agenda, but with some planning and thought, guild meet-and-greets can be a lot of fun. In this week's Guild Counsel, we'll look at some dos and don'ts when it comes to meeting your guild.
The Guild Counsel: Raid leading 101
It's time to break out the chalkboard and textbooks, as The Guild Counsel begins the subject of raid leading 101. Ironically, the more I think and write about guild management issues, the more I realize how much they really do have in common with my experience in the classroom management. Teaching history to a class of high school students and running an online gaming guild seem like two completely different spheres of responsibility at first glance. But in order to do each well, they actually require similar preparation and a common approach. Read on for a look at how teaching and raid leading resemble each other!
The Guild Counsel: The Syndicate's Sean Stalzer talks guild management
In last week's Guild Counsel, Sean "Dragons" Stalzer took the time to talk about his new book, The Syndicate: Beyond the Legend, available at Lulu.com. In this sequel to Legend of the Syndicate, Sean gives readers an update on his guild's accomplishments both in game and out, and last week in part one of his interview, he spoke about his thoughts on the industry and where it's headed. This week, Sean discusses the other major focus of his book: guild management. In part two of our interview, he talks about the keys to running a longtime, successful guild. He also discusses how guild management has changed over the years and how his guild has evolved and grown to become drama-free.
The Guild Counsel: An interview with The Syndicate's Sean Stalzer on his new book
As you pack your bags for that trip to the beach (or that annual fan gathering) and you toss in that bottle of sunblock (or aspirin), you might want to make some space in your bags for some summer reading as well. Fortunately, there is a growing number of titles, such as Adam Trzonkowski's Guild Leader's Companion, that examine the methods and lessons of running guilds and online communities. To that list we can add Sean "Dragons" Stalzer's sequel, The Syndicate: Beyond the Legend, which is now available at Lulu and soon to be sold at Amazon. In the book, guild leader Sean Stalzer picks up from where his first book left off and gives us even more insight into the MMO industry and his guild leadership philosophy. The book is divided into three parts. The first covers The Syndicate's recent history and continued relationship with several MMO studios as well its job writing guides for Prima Games. In the second part, Sean explains his time-tested philosophy for running a guild, dubbed S.U.C.C.E.S.S. And the last section of the book looks at where MMOs are headed and what's needed down the road. Sean took the time to talk to Massively about his new book, and there was so much to discuss that this interview is split into two parts. In this week's Guild Counsel, Sean talks about the lessons he's learned from his work with MMO studios. He looks back at how it's influenced his leadership approach, and he gives a glimpse of why he's excited about his current work with 38 Studios. Read on for the interview!
The Guild Counsel: Odds and Ends
With summer approaching, school coming to an end, and summer travel right around the corner, I find that this is a good time of year to step back, take stock, and reflect on things. It's easy as a guild leader to put the blinders on and get on the treadmill of day-to-day management. But it's worth pausing every now and then to consider the bigger picture. In this week's Guild Counsel, we'll do just that. Read on for a few thoughts on some of the odds and ends of guild management.
The Guild Counsel: Surviving the summer doldrums
Memorial Day weekend has come and gone, and as we all know, it marks the unofficial start of summer. That means lots of grilling, extra sunblock, school vacation... and the summertime blues in our favorite MMOs. Summer is always a difficult time for MMOs, and for guilds in particular. Expansions tend to arrive in the fall and winter, meaning that content begins to grow stale by summer. Members aren't on as often; instead, they are busy with children out of school, summer trips, and shockingly, a desire to soak up some sun and nice weather. For a guild leader, this is one of the most difficult times of the year, and many guilds fail to make it through the summer. But there are some ways to get through the doldrums, and the experience can even be a great opportunity to strengthen your guild in the long run. Read on for some helpful summertime tips in this week's Guild Counsel!
