guild-recruiting
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The Guild Counsel: How many guild officers do you need?
One piece of advice you often see in guild advice write-ups is that you should delegate tasks to officers, not try to handle everything on your own. It makes sense because running a guild requires many layers of leadership, and it's impossible for one person to successfully handle everything. But at what point do you start to reach critical mass -- when you have too many people involved in the guild's management? There's no magic number, but there are a few things to consider when sharing the duties. Let's look at some key factors in this week's Guild Counsel.
The Guild Council: Why you should diversify your guild roster
More than once in this column, I've tried to hammer home the point that it's important to recruit players who match up well with your guild. So much guild drama spawns from a situation in which one player just doesn't fit in with the culture of the guild. But you don't want to lead a bunch of sheep, either, and while there are certain traits that you want to see match up (like playtimes, game style in general, and chat preference), it's worth it to carry a roster with some diversity. In the past, we've looked at a few good player types to seek out, but in this week's Guild Counsel, I'd like to look more closely at some of the more subtle personalities that are good to have on board.
The Guild Counsel: Finding the best times to recruit
When you're recruiting more members to your guild, it can sometimes seem like there are just no more fish in the pond to attract. And managing a roster can be frustrating at times because just when you think you have a healthy number of members, attrition sets in. We're all familiar with the launch-day, mass influx of players to an MMO, and we've seen the waning numbers over time, meaning a smaller pool of candidates to recruit. But there are actually peak times during the course of the year when recruiting becomes easier. In this week's Guild Counsel, we'll look at a few prime opportunities to seek out good members for your guild.
The Tattered Notebook: Looking beyond the price points in EQ2X
Last week, I began a little experiment in the world of EverQuest II Extended. I wanted to see whether a longtime, loyal veteran could find enjoyment on the other side of the wall that separates my live server from the free-to-play server. Almost every assessment about free-to-play servers is dominated by talk of price points, fairness, and bang for your buck. But it's not a used car; it's a virtual world, and there is a lot more to look at beyond dollars and plat. EverQuest II and EverQuest II Extended actually offer a unique look into the similarities and differences between subscription based servers and free-to-play servers because they're completely separate entities, yet they're basically the same game. Read on for highlights of my second week in EQ2X!
Enter at Your Own Rift: A guild-tool wishlist
As we fended off dripping, soggy, Abyssal infiltrators all over the cities, many rejoiced at seeing the arrival of guild banks with the latest update. Finally, guild members could unload their stacks of tradeskill resources, extra shinies, and other random loot that ends up cluttering the bank and making guild leaders cringe in frustration. Now that our patience has paid off, and the non-stop calls for guild banks has been answered, I'd like to show my appreciation by doing what any true MMOer would do -- rattle off a wish list of new guild tools that I want to see in RIFT! Read on for a look at what I'd like to see added, and also what I hope isn't put in game.
Officers' Quarters: The three biggest mistakes new guild leaders make
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, available now from No Starch Press. Starting a new guild in WoW is an uphill battle. Make no mistake: It's not an endeavor to undertake lightly. Every server has established guilds that you'll be competing against with an unknown "brand." Even so, the number of players you need to recruit to experience most of what WoW has to offer is a mere 12-15. In that sense, taking a guild from an idea to a fully fledged community is much easier now than in the past. For players who are unhappy with their current situation and wondering why they can never find a guild that's just right for them, why not create your own? WoW needs dedicated player leadership now more than ever. Too many guilds are failing because their leaders and officers have burned out on the game after playing for so many years. Taking up the mantle of leadership brings with it many pitfalls. But of all the mistakes that a new leader can make, these three are the ones most likely to turn into major headaches -- or even guild-shattering drama.
Officers' Quarters: Making the most of the guild finder
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, available now from No Starch Press. A helpful feature for guild officers was added with patch 4.1, but I haven't seen many people talking about it yet. The guild finder isn't going to replace other recruiting techniques, but it can be a solid addition to your toolkit. For WoW, it represents a milestone: Players now have a viable method of searching for guilds within the game. In the past, looking for a guild usually meant whispering players you didn't know, combing through forums that often lack good search features, or -- worst of all -- asking in trade chat. (Yes, there is also a specific guild recruitment chat channel, but I've never heard of anyone using it.) With the addition of the guild finder, players have a far better option, but only if guild leaders use it -- and use it wisely. I did a quick search for guilds on my own realm (Khadgar US). With apologies to the guild leaders there, I didn't see a single ad that took full advantage of what the finder can provide. Let's talk about how we can make the most of this new UI feature.
Officers' Quarters: 5 tips for guild recruiting in a post-Cataclysm world
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, available now from No Starch Press. Last week, we talked about why officers are burning out so early in the expansion. Many of the same factors have burned out average raiders and PvPers, also, leaving gaping holes in our rosters. In the current environment, recruiting can be extremely difficult. I've received quite a few emails lately asking for tips. Here's my best advice. 1. Don't be intimidated by guild level and achievements. So you just started a guild, or your guild hasn't kept pace with leveling since the expansion went live. Those perks are awesome, and no one will join unless you have them, right? Wrong -- players care a lot more about the type of community they're joining and the sorts of members that inhabit your roster. They care more about whether or not your schedule meshes with theirs. And they care more about having fun than 10% more justice points or faster mount speed. Well, maybe I'm generalizing a bit and not everyone feels that way, but honestly, do you even want a player on your roster who cares more about those things than the quality of the guild? Don't fill your roster with random players just to level faster. You'll only hurt the community in the long run.
The Guild Counsel: What every leader should know about recruiting
We've all been there -- you came up with "Your Vision," the paint's dry on the guild hall, and you're ready to select some quality members, but instead you're surrounded by chirping crickets and tumbleweeds. You patiently wait for people to start knocking on your door, but that turns to desperation as you resign yourself to the fact that someone, anyone, is better than an empty guild. Next thing you know, you have a healthy-sized roster, but you're now leading the misfit robots from Wall-E. Before slipping down the slope of inevitable drama and potential collapse, check out this handy list of dos and don'ts to help you with recruiting.
The Classifieds: Lord Valthalak lives again
The Classifieds brings you weekly updates on news from around the WoW community. Have guild news or a Random Act of Uberness to share? Email TheClassifieds@wow.com. We meet again: The Spirit of Lord Valthalak, a nasty-tough boss summoned in Upper Blackrock Spire as the last step of vanilla WoW's Dungeon Set 2 quest line, has been popping up in the most unlikely of locations on multiple realms over the past few days. He doesn't seem to be around on any of the realms I play on. Reader Garrett sent in this screenshot as his contribution to the puzzle. A realm-specific bug, a new bug with the amulet that the few players who have one are discovering -- or something more cataclysmic? Stealth amulet-poppers, reveal yourselves ... Let's crack open The Classifieds.
Officers' Quarters: Pre-expansion doldrums
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, available this spring from No Starch Press. On most servers, guilds experience a severe lull in interest and activity prior to the release of an expansion. Players get sick of the old content. They achieve the goals they care about. Then they do other things with their free time until the next expansion gives them new goals to achieve and new content to conquer. These pre-expansion doldrums hit guilds pretty hard during the long wait for The Burning Crusade, especially considering that many raid teams were unable (or unwilling) to progress into AQ40 or vanilla Naxx. The situation grew so dire while players were awaiting Wrath that poaching -- despite its stigma -- became rampant (so much so that I had to rant about it). Now we are facing the same situation again while waiting for Cataclysm. One guild leader is reaching out for advice on how to recruit in this environment. Hello, I am writing in hopes that this could be answered in an upcoming Officers Quarters feature. I am an officer in a small, semi-casual raiding guild. We exclusively do 10-man content; we lucked into having a group of players that enjoy raiding, but not the "cat herding" required for the larger 25-man raids. I use the term casual loosely; we're (mostly) serious raiders, we just don't have attendance requirements for raids nor a complex looting system. We've had relatively steady raid progression thus far, where we're working on a few (normal mode) encounters in the upper spire of Icecrown Citadel. In short, we feel that the 10-player difficulty was designed for our level of play, and enjoy the challenge that it provides. Unfortunately, we've also run into the problem of some serious guild attrition.
The WoW Headhunter helps with guild recruiting
Last week we were kindly invited on the PixelatedGeek podcast (thanks, Erin and Nelson, for having me!) and while there, we heard from Darren of WoW Headhunter, a brand new site that wants to get you or your guild hooked up with some new guildies. The site is pretty barebones: you can look through available guilds or enter your own. But they do add a little something new: whenever you enter a guild into the site, you can create application questions and even run through a survey that charts your guild along four lines: between Reckless and Deliberate, Social and Competitive, Fun and Serious, and Learner and Veteran. So you can choose between the Reckless Competitive Veterans and the Deliberate Social Learners.Kind of a fun idea. Unfortunately, the site isn't too populated yet (I couldn't find recruiting guilds on either of the servers I frequent), but it did just go live today, so it may take some time for recruiting guilds to find their way over there. And unfortunately, while there is an option to put an Armory link in your profile, the site itself doesn't tie in to the Armory directly, so you still have to go searching for metrics when players apply (would be nice to see a list of what achievements have been done by the player, as well as some common stats to compare).But it will be nice to have a list of guilds to browse, along with a little more info about them, all in one place. If you've been looking for a guild for a while with no luck, there's one more option.
Raid Rx: Little guild, little guild... Let me in!
Raid Rx is designed to encapsulate and cure the shock and horror that is 25-man raid healing. Ok, so it's mostly horror... Anyways, if you're a big fan of X-TREME Whack-A-Mole (or are being forced into it against your will) this is the column for you. I had planned to finish the title with "Not by the hair on this Dwarf's chinny chin chin!!" but I've been foiled by the T5 hood. Sad. Many moons ago, I covered what a healing lead needed to get their 25-man off the ground and into mob-infested content. Today I'd like to look at the other side of the coin - what it takes to get into a 25-man raiding guild as a healer. There are two common paths into 25-man raiding. The first is bum a ride with your Karazhan groups to Gruul, Mags and onward into infamy. This is pretty ideal since everyone you're playing with is continually at the same level of progression, like gear and raid faction rep. You should also have some experience playing with your fellow healers, at least in pairs. The second way to get into 25-man raids is to transfer guilds, typically because your current one has been unable to progress for whatever reason. This isn't always an easy process, especially since guilds can be as picky as they choose and it's up to you to make a good impression. Since this is probably the most difficult way to get into 25-mans, I'm going to cover what you need to do to be successful at getting your foot in the door from entry to end-game guilds. Right after the break, that is!
