guild-leadership
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Officers' Quarters: Flexible raiding and you
Every Monday, Scott Andrews contributes Officers' Quarters, a column about the ins and outs of guild leadership. He is the author of The Guild Leader's Handbook. Just when I think I have Blizzard figured out, they throw us a curveball. Only a month ago, I made the case on the Starting Zone podcast that raiding had evolved into three difficulty levels, and those levels could be compared to the easy, normal, and hard modes that most single-player games offer. I wrote in a column that normal mode raiding should now be labeled "guild raiding," because it took a certain level of coordination to succeed at that level. Normal raiding is no longer PUG friendly. I said on the podcast that Blizzard is still figuring out just where the difficulty of normal modes should lie on the curve. It seemed that once their encounter designers figured out the appropriate tuning for the three modes, that is what raiding would look like for all foreseeable upcoming tiers and expansions. As it turned out, Blizzard had a new raiding system hidden up their sleeve the entire time -- a system that few could have predicted. Let's look at the potential impact of this new way to raid and how your guild might need to adjust.
The Guild Counsel: Some finer points of raid leadership
Whether you're leading a raid or running an in-game event, it's a real challenge to pull it off smoothly. Leading a large group of players in game is a combination of teacher and coach, minus the ability to be face to face. In effect, you're flying blind, but you still need to communicate, coordinate, and motivate in order to be successful. We've gone over some basics of leading groups of players before, but in this week's Guild Counsel, I'd like to offer up some finer points that often get overlooked but can make a big difference in making your raid successful (and also fun). While most of these are about raid leadership, they could be used for PvP or player-run events as well.
Officers' Quarters: Next in command
Every Monday, Scott Andrews contributes Officers' Quarters, a column about the ins and outs of guild leadership. He is the author of The Guild Leader's Handbook. Some people became guild leaders because they had a vision for a new type of guild or a new policy. Some just saw a need for better organization among a group of friends and took up the mantle. Some are elected. Some volunteer. Others have the position thrust upon them. Such is the case for the author of this week's email: Hi Scott, I was recently given the GM position by my former GM who also happens to be our raid leader. He's cancelled his subscription as he's not enjoying the game anymore, and left everything to me. His leaving has caused other members to leave as well, for similar reasons. I can't fault them for not wanting to stay if they aren't enjoying the game. I initially feared these people leaving would be the death of both the raid team and the guild (we are small, with few people playing other than to raid), but other members of the guild have stepped up and begun to help with recruiting to replace our missing raiders, and I am very appreciative of their efforts. So my greatest problem at this point is that I never wanted to be GM or raid leader, and now I'm both.
The Guild Counsel: Lessons in guild leadership from a pop star
Apologies to the Beliebers, but good old Justin hasn't exactly had a banner year. He's been in the news a lot lately, just not for his dulcet tones or his fancy dance moves. But his behavior can actually remind guild leaders of a few important things not to do. Can a brash pop star really provide tips on guild leadership? Let's take a lighthearted look in this week's Guild Counsel.
Officers' Quarters: Breaking good
Every Monday, Scott Andrews contributes Officers' Quarters, a column about the ins and outs of guild leadership. He is the author of The Guild Leader's Handbook. Breaks are good. Everyone needs a break from something that they do on a regular basis: work, school, sports, etc. Raiding is no different. Raiders need breaks. So do roleplayers, arena teams, and achievement junkies. Whether it's one person stepping away from WoW for a little while or a team taking a week or two off from group activities, this kind of short-term sabbatical is a healthy practice. As an officer, breaks can be dangerous to your guild if you handle them poorly. Take a lesson from the Horde: Thrall needed a break and now Durotar is a war zone. Let's look at the right way to manage it.
The Guild Counsel: Managing the peaks of success
I'm a Red Sox fan, and if there's ever a team that can exemplify the ups and downs of running a guild, it's the Red Sox. This was supposed to be a rebuilding year for the team, and yet they're near the top of the standings, only a game and a half behind the Team that Shall Not be Named. Managing a guild is also very often about handling the peaks and valleys of day to day life. It's as if the whole guild were manic depressive: You need to downplay the peaks and minimize the valleys. We've looked at the valleys quite a bit in this column because valleys represent a more urgent problem, but in this week's Guild Counsel, let's look at how to handle the peaks.
Officers' Quarters: 9 new guild activities in Mists
Every Monday, Scott Andrews contributes Officers' Quarters, a column about the ins and outs of guild leadership. He is the author of The Guild Leader's Handbook. Mists of Pandaria has given us some fantastic raiding experiences -- it's easy to forget just how many activities this expansion currently offers. Much of this new content is either group-oriented or can become group-oriented if you want to make it so. With Mists' third content patch set to go live tomorrow, now is a great time to look at some of the many guild activities that are possible in this expansion. Here are nine ideas that go beyond raiding. 1. Earn your Stormbreaker titles. Some of the achievements for this meta can only be accomplished solo, but many of them are much easier with some help -- and some all but require it. The summoned elites for It Was Worth Every Ritual Stone, for example, mostly require a group to take down. Some classes can't solo Tak'u with all of his powers active if they can't dispel his robust HoT for Our Powers Combined. Ready for RAAAAIIIIDDD?!?ing is rough to solo. It can be accomplished most easily right after a server reset, but with a raid group you skip that hassle. Every roach squished counts for everyone in the raid.
The Guild Counsel: How Stargell stars can help your guild
When I was a kid, I loved the Red Sox, but I was dying to get a Pittsburgh Pirates baseball cap. It's not that I was a fan of the team; I just loved the unusual look of the hat, with its pillbox shape, gold stripes, and most importantly, rows and rows of gold stars. Those stars were called Stargell stars and were the creative genius of Hall of Famer Willie Stargell. It might seem strange to be talking baseball in a guild column, but those Stargell stars played a key role in the Pirates' success, and they serve as a great example of successful guild management. Can a little embroidered star really make a difference? Let's take a look in this week's Guild Counsel.
Officers' Quarters: The new burnout
Every Monday, Scott Andrews contributes Officers' Quarters, a column about the ins and outs of guild leadership. He is the author of The Guild Leader's Handbook. Mists has delivered new content faster than any WoW expansion to date. The days of waiting six months, eight months, or more between major patches seem like a bad memory now. With patch 5.3 likely to drop in the next few weeks, that will mean we've had an average of one patch about every three months in the wake of 5.0. In years past, officers had to steel their guild for long lulls, which always seemed to land in summertime. They had to make backup plans to account for long absences from players who just couldn't stand to run the same raid one more time. Guilds who couldn't find replacements sometimes found themselves closing shop instead. In 2013, that age seems far behind us. However, the accelerated content has brought with it a new kind of burnout instead, and it's one that officers and raid leaders should keep in mind as we move deeper into Mists.
The Guild Counsel: Taking the reins and dealing with discipline
It's hard enough for any guild leader to enforce rules and take on problem players. But it's even harder for guild leaders who have stepped up to take over for one who has retired. Comparisons are made between how the old leader did things and how the new one is handling it, and some members might challenge a new leader's authority in order to "test" him. This week's column is a reply to one Massively reader, who wrote, My main commander has retired from the game, and I am struggling filling his role. Our biggest issue is dealing with discipline, either in Teamspeak or in following commands. I read your column on managing mistakes, but I am still finding it hard without being the bad guy. I know it's part of who I am; I am not an aggressive or "Bad Cop" guy. Is there a way I can develop discipline without having to totally change my personality and relationship with the guild? This is a great topic because it's a situation that many new leaders find themselves in almost immediately after taking on the role. In this week's Guild Counsel, let's look at some ways to deal with the challenge.
Officers' Quarters: 5 tips for casual raiding in Mists
Every Monday, Scott Andrews contributes Officers' Quarters, a column about the ins and outs of guild leadership. He is the author of The Guild Leader's Handbook. A few weeks ago I had a great chat with Mick from The Starting Zone podcast about casual raiding in Mists of Pandaria. We both agree that normal mode raids have become more difficult than in the last two expansions. The existence of LFR has emboldened Blizzard to tune normal more tightly than they have in recent years. If you're in a casual raiding guild that is having trouble in normal mode, here are five tips on how to improve progression and morale without pushing your raiders to the breaking point. 1. Talk about your lack of progression. For an officer, silence is deadly to morale, both during raids and after. In that silence, you know that people are whispering to each other about what's going wrong, or griping about other players. Maybe they are just sitting there stunned and disappointed, unable to muster a coherent thought. In any case, it's bad. It's up to the guild's leadership to break the silence. During the raid, talk about what's going wrong in a constructive way. Don't forget to talk about what's going right, too. Afterward, create a thread on your forums to debrief. Solicit suggestions and strategies. Encourage a dialogue. Let people vent a bit, if they have to. It helps relieve the pressure -- just be sure to moderate and make sure the discussion stays civil.
The Guild Counsel: Why broken economies hurt guilds
I have to admit, I read the recent article by Ramin Shokrizade on the pre-endgame economy of Guild Wars 2 and shrugged. He made a lot of great points, but the problems with GW2's economy are really not that unique. One of the biggest dilemmas is the fact that dropped items, like weapons and armor, really don't have any value prior to the endgame. As in many MMOs, the broker or auction house is flooded with pre-endgame armor and weapons and there's just no demand for it. There are several design flaws that play a role in why dropped items, and virtual economies in general, feel stagnant. Let's look at a few common problems in MMOs today and see why broken economies actually hurt guilds as well.
Officers' Quarters: Roster cleanup pros and cons
Every Monday, Scott Andrews contributes Officers' Quarters, a column about the ins and outs of guild leadership. He is the author of The Guild Leader's Handbook. Guild rosters inevitably become bloated over time. They fill up with inactive players or throwaway alts that current members haven't dusted off for years. This week, a guild leader asks when is the right time to remove characters from the roster -- and whether we should even do it at all. I run a casual guild. One of my officers puts it thus, "We're a raiding guild that acts casual." We have a decent roster and a great group of people, but we also have a lot of people who join, show up for awhile and then disappear. Some come back in six months and some, I have no idea if they are coming back or if they are gone for good. I like my roster to reflect an active guild, which we are. My membership officer sent me a roster list and I'm in the process of going through it for names that haven't been played in over 6 months. We've been doing a purge like this for the last 3 years and, every time, there's always some consternation about removing names from the roster.
The Guild Counsel: Guild leadership isn't a job
Guild leadership is challenging, but as I've written before, sometimes guild leaders shoulder the burden of extraneous responsibilities and make the role harder than it should be. You'll often hear players referring to the leadership role as a job, meaning that it's work rather than fun. But while running a guild can be tricky at times, it shouldn't be a job, and there are some important differences between the two that are helpful reminders for guild leaders. In this week's Guild Counsel, let's look why the role of guild leader should remain distinctly separate from that of an employer.
Officers' Quarters: Defeating the needies
Every Monday, Scott Andrews contributes Officers' Quarters, a column about the ins and outs of guild leadership. He is the author of The Guild Leader's Handbook. We've all been there. You invite new people to your guild. They seem like they'll be a great addition to the roster. They ask for help and you gladly offer it. They ask for more and you give more. Then they promptly ride off into the sunset. This week, an officer wants to know how to avoid being the victim of these players. Hi Scott We're a friendly, mainly social guild with helpful officers and roster. We occassionaly meet some seemingly cool, nice people that I or the officers warm up to immediately, chatting in vent, etc. They might jump right in to be active in guild chat, and otherwise give every indication that they are mature, responsible and ethical. Every now and then I guess I'm too trusting, and extend help to some of these people in the form of time, guild bank items, and even gold, and then I log in and see they've left the guild without so much as a thank you. Mind you, some of these people have accepted some rather expensive help from us. So I've decided that no matter how nice you seem, or how much any of us may like you or know you, you will have to have been in the guild a certain amount of time before getting any bank items or money, etc. say, over a certain value maybe. I'm just not sure what the specifics on this rule should be, or what else we should do to protect ourselves from these kinds of people. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks, pj
The Guild Counsel: Finding a guild with off-peak playtimes
One of the things that always makes me grumpy about MMOs is the number of game-imposed barriers to players doing things together. Levels, gear, skill points, group and raid caps, and prerequisites are just a handful of common game designs that make it hard to be social. MMOs are getting a little better at removing those hurdles, but one they can't address is the reality of conflicting playtimes. Everyone has real life responsibilities, and that means we sometimes can't be online when our friends are. For some players, this is a constant challenge because their work, school, or family responsibilities allow them to log in only during off-peak playtimes. Last week, Massively reader Barachiel1976 brought up this very topic, and it's actually surprisingly common. So in this week's Guild Counsel, let's look at a few options for players who want to be part of a guild but can't play during peak playtimes.
Officers' Quarters: Reworking a guild concept
Every Monday, Scott Andrews contributes Officers' Quarters, a column about the ins and outs of guild leadership. He is the author of The Guild Leader's Handbook. Ideas for unique guild concepts are hard to come by. This week, a guild leader who thought she had a winning formula finds out that no one is interested. Let's look at what she came up with and how we can rework her ideas to entice more recruits. I have recently transferred from Nazgrel to the RP server of Moon Guard. I did this with a certain goal in mind, to establish an all Goblin Trade Guild. I have hit a crucial snag however and can't seem to generate any interest in my Guild idea. One major selling point of my Trade Guild would be that we would hold a monthly [Bazaar] in which other Guilds would be encouraged to join in and sell their wares along with us. Using [Gryphonheart Items] we would create an item catalog and haggle over prices. I was hoping that this would help revitalize the role play community. Nothing I have tried has worked to recruit Any suggestions?
The Guild Counsel: Jumping from casual to endgame
It's a classic scenario that's all too common: A guild builds up a solid roster, with enthusiastic members, and decides to make the leap from casual to hardcore. But that leap can sometimes become a free-fall spiral and a potential guild-breaker. How does a guild shift gears and go from easygoing to endgame? Let's look at a few ways to make it work and avoid the growing pains in the process.
Officers' Quarters: Charter pirates
Every Monday, Scott Andrews contributes Officers' Quarters, a column about the ins and outs of guild leadership. He is the author of The Guild Leader's Handbook. I never thought I'd be writing an OQ column about intellectual property, but here we are: Hi Scott, I'll make this short and to the point, because I'm honestly at the end of my rope with just how disrespectful, inconsiderate, and shady some folks who play this game are. Without going into too much detail, we removed some folks from our guild a few weeks ago; they tried to poach our members and couldn't, so they ended up stealing our charter instead. I found out because I noticed them advertising in trade chat, so I scoped their website out. Lo and behold, there were MY words I worked so dutifully on, for many hours, over the course of a few weeks, with my co-GM and other officers. This charter was the result of almost a year's worth of questions, concerns, comments, and experiences we all have shared since forming our guild, and to see another guild just blatantly rip it off was infuriating.
The Guild Counsel: Managing mistakes
Despite what some folks say, running a multi-party event (raiding, PvPing, dynamic events) is hard. There are the logistical issues of trying to coordinate many players who are scattered all around the world and rely on only voice chat and typed text to communicate. There's the need to instantly react to changes during the course of battle, and the larger the party, the slower the reaction time. And there are even nuances in how individuals approach various situations, which has a ripple effect on the others. Tank Bob might prefer to pull a boss to a different spot than Tank Susie. Or Sniper Sally might be used to peeling away and taking up a position in a tree while Captain Pete prefers to charge in as one force. Suffice it to say, there are plenty of mistakes that happen any time large numbers of players get together, and it's often difficult to sort out which ones warrant a player's removal from the force and which ones don't. Let's take a look at how to handle mistakes in this week's Guild Counsel.
