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The Guild Counsel: Survive the holidays with these fun guild events
The holiday season can often mean that things slow down in the guild. Members have their hands full with gift buying, holiday events, and travel to visit family. That slowdown is OK. Guilds should encourage players to take a little time off, while recognizing that it'll be harder to organize and run larger guild events like raiding or PvP. But just because things get quiet doesn't mean the guild can't have a little fun and merriment. In this week's Guild Counsel, let's look at some memorable events that are easy to run, bring the guild together, and leave everyone with a smile.
The Guild Counsel: How to lead and still have fun
Leading is hard. Whether it's a sports team, an office of workers, or a guild, there are many challenges that all leaders share and make even the toughest person want to walk away. And because running a gaming guild is less of a job and more of a hobby (or at least, it should be!), it's hard to get good people to step forward and run things. We're all here to have fun in game, after all, and if leading a guild detracts from that, it's not surprising that some shy away from it. But running a guild isn't always about taking power and making hard decisions. In fact, there are plenty of successful guilds that have rejected the top-down mentality. Can leading a guild really be that easy?
The Guild Counsel: Revisiting the Guild Turkey
A couple of years ago, we looked at a few ways that guild members can turn a guild into a nightmare, creating all sorts of drama and becoming the official guild turkey. Being in a guild can be a challenging experience as it is because you have dozens if not hundreds of people under the same roof, with many different objectives and ways of seeing things. But there are some members who amp up the drama and excel at creating tension. Everyone has a bad day here and there, but some players have more than their fair share. Let's look at a few guild turkeys for guild leaders to be careful of inviting in this week's Guild Counsel.
Looking For Guild: These guilds need you!
Ordinarily, we like to help Massively readers find their next guild in this column, but this week we're doing things a bit differently by reversing the roles. That's right, this week we're allowing guilds to get their info out there for all to see. The response to our call-out was excellent and I'm happy to say that many of you might just be finding the guild of your dreams today. For the next edition, we'll be going back to normal, but I'd also like you to submit a personal story if you've been helped through this column. I'll include a few testimonials in future columns down the line. But now, on to this week's list of guilds just after the cut!
The Guild Counsel: How to keep your guild from disintegrating when you need a break
Let's face it, everyone needs a little MMO break from time to time. The open-endedness of MMOs gives a lot more freedom than a fixed-content single-player game, but after a while, that freedom begins to feel grindy. For a guild leader, taking a small break is a dicey prospect, and many leaders have returned only to find that the guild they carefully pieced together and managed is now empty and defunct. The thought of losing the guild has even led many guild leaders to press on and continue playing even though their hearts aren't in it. Can a guild leader take a vacation and have a happy guild upon returning? This week's Guild Counsel suggests a few ways to do just that.
The Guild Counsel: Is shared interest in an MMO enough to justify a guild?
It all starts out so innocently. A few friends are casually chatting and realize they all are excited about an upcoming new MMO. Maybe a group of gaming bloggers connect over their shared appreciation of a certain game. Or even here at Massively, readers notice that there are many others who share their positive impressions of a game's launch. Next thing you know, someone suggests that it would be a great idea to start a guild, and the roller coaster begins. Forming a guild based on a shared interest in a game doesn't guarantee success, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't do it. It does come with its own unique set of issues to address early on, however. Let's take a look at these connoisseur guilds and how to make them work in this week's Guild Counsel.
Looking for Guild: WoW and FFXIV
Things have been going well for the connections made through this column behind the scenes. It seems that we're connecting someone just about every week, although mostly in Final Fantasy XIV! But this week we have someone looking for friendlies in World of Warcraft (OK, and also FFXIV). For next week, I want to do something a little different and switch things around to be all about guilds looking for members. You can certainly still send in your requests for guilds as normal, but in two weeks, it will be all about guild advertising, then we'll go back to normal. So read on past the cut to see how you can get your guild on the next installment of this column, and check out those looking for a guild of their own in this week's list.
The Guild Counsel: How guild meetings can help your guild
I know what you're thinking after reading the title of this week's column. Why in the world would anyone want to have a meeting in-game when many of us spend our days in meeting for our work? But holding a short guild meeting every so often can actually help curb guild drama, boost morale, and bring your guildmates closer together. The relatively short time spent bringing the guild together can pay off later on by reducing time spent on drama created by miscommunication, low morale, and frustration. In today's Guild Counsel, let's take a look at why you should consider holding a meeting and how that guild meeting can improve your guild overall.
The Daily Grind: Should achievements be broadcast to your guild?
Some games do it and some games don't. I'm talking here about broadcasting your achievements automatically to your entire guild. You slay that 500th dragon, ding level 30, or fall to your death for the 10th time, and your guild knows courtesy of the game client being a big gossip. "Hey, did you hear about Syp? Guys, he totally looted the Sacred Gem of Zazzanzorforr!" But is this a good thing or not? Personally, I like playing MMOs that auto-broadcast achievements because I like knowing what my guildies are up to. I see a lot of mutual encouragement going around due to these messages. However, I also know some folks see these notices as spammy, pointless, or annoying. Where do you lie on this issue? Should achievements be broadcast to your guild? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
Ten things to love and hate about Path of Exile
Grinding Gear Games' Path of Exile officially launched last week after a long open beta. Like so many similar titles trailing in Blizzard's wake, it's a dungeon-crawly pseudo-MMO that skirts the boundary between sinking to "just another Diablo clone" and rising above the genre. Some journalists are praising it as Diablo II's rightful heir, while others are putting it aside in favor of their weatherbeaten copies of Titan Quest, which better satisfy their urge to click-click-click. The reality is usually somewhere in the middle of these extremes, but extremes are fun. So let's examine the top 10 things we love and hate about Path of Exile.
The Guild Counsel: How to handle the horrors of conflict
With the arrival of Halloween, I'd like to revisit an all-too-common nightmare scenario: handling guild conflict. We've looked at how to treat complaints before, but what should you do when those complaints balloon into full-fledged clashes? Guild leaders dread dealing with conflicts, to the point that it deters many players from giving guild leadership a try. But even if strife is inevitable, it can be made less painful. Let's take a look at how to steer through the choppy waters in this week's Guild Counsel.
EverQuest Next may allow you to join multiple guilds
EverQuest Next's unique character structure is pushing SOE in the direction of allowing player characters to join more than one guild at a time. The community was nearly evenly split on the topic during the recent roundtable, with half loving the idea of one-guild-per-character, and the other half desiring a more... flexible arrangement. However, the studio saw a lot of discussion concerning creative ideas for connecting players with social groups. SOE is leaning toward allowing for multiple guild memberships because it anticipates that EverQuest Next's one-class-can-do-it-all flexibility will encourage players to reach out to several social circles. The following video posits situations like how a character may want to be in a social guild during the week but join a mass project guild for weekend work. Give it a watch and let us know what you think!
Looking for Guild: FFXIV and Fallen Earth
Did you miss us last week? Now that the submissions have slowed down quite a bit, we're switching to a biweekly schedule for the Looking for Guild column. So if you're on the fence about jumping in and joining up with a Massively player guild (or creating your own), now's the time! This week we have three Final Fantasy XIV players looking to join up with other like-minded adventurers and one from Fallen Earth who's tired of soloing the wasteland. You can catch the entire list after the jump.
The Guild Counsel: Low in levels? Join a guild!
Every single MMO player should be part of a guild. Yes, you too! Massively Shawn's recently launched Looking for Guild column has been well received and is bridging players with potential guilds. But one comment that pops up quite often is that players like the column but plan to wait and level up more before throwing their hats in the ring. Don't wait, and don't hesitate! It's never too soon to join a guild, and there are plenty of good reasons to jump in even if you aren't of the same level as everyone else. Let's look at a few in this week's Guild Counsel.
Path of Exile patches in guilds, classes, and balance changes for launch
It's not fair to call Path of Exile's pre-launch patch a kitchen sink patch; this is big enough to include the sink, dishwasher, fridge, and probably a good chunk of the dining room besides. It's a big patch, and when it goes fully live tomorrow, you'll have a chance to play around with the enormous list of features, starting with the addition of an entire system for guilds that didn't exist before. Yes, the patch includes a guild system. And that's not even the biggest part of the patch. It includes a new character class for players who have cleared the game on Normal difficulty, six new world areas, achievements, new skills, new items, and an assortment of balance tweaks and improvements. That's not even touching upon new challenge leagues and the like. The point is that even if you know the game inside and out, you might want to hop in tomorrow and try out the huge array of new options available to you because... really. There's lots of stuff here.
Tamriel Infinium: Selling your wares in The Elder Scrolls Online
When it comes to the economy of MMOs, I usually run the other way. I admit that I'm not an economist, nor would I consider myself a crafter by any stretch. But I'm not completely ignorant of how important in-game trading is for the overall health of an MMO. If the auction house or player stores are consistently stocked, then there is an organic element to the larger game. I find that exciting, and despite my aversion to crafting, I do enough material-gathering and playing the trading game to appreciate the finer details of a healthy, growing game economy. Until recently, we have heard only bits and pieces of how the Elder Scrolls Online economy will work. Developers claim to have a robust crafting system, and given the history of the single-player Elder Scrolls games, I can accept that. But how do I get my wares into the hands of other players? Gameplay Designer Nick Konkle spoke to Shoddy Cast about that very thing. Surprisingly, he revealed quite a bit, and although it's a very interesting listen, I don't think any MMO has tried anything like it. I'm scared and very intrigued.
The Guild Counsel: Is it time to shift your vision or just shut down?
A big part of running a successful guild is having a clear idea of what type of guild you want to have and knowing how to make that work. Everything revolves around your vision for the guild, from recruitment to scheduling events to guild rules and even the overall tone and atmosphere. But what happens if your guild philosophy ends up clashing with that of the bulk of your members? Massively reader Mbbrazen, who commented on a recent Guild Counsel article, illustrated the issue: The other issue I've seen, which is not specifically mentioned in the article, is what should the guild leader do when the people who originally joined the guild because they all had similar interests are gone (burned out, gone to other games, etc.) and the majority of the new people have more varied interests? Should the guild leader shut the guild down or adapt to the new membership? I actually think a guild I was in recently is dying a slow death because the leaders needed to decide to either shut it down or adapt to needs of the active membership. Thoughts? This is a tough situation but all too common. Let's take a look at some options in this week's Guild Counsel.
Is your guild bank going dry?
I raid with an extremely generous 25-man raiding guild that is chugging along quite nicely through the Siege of Orgrimmar. They are kind enough to provide not only guild repairs, but potions, flasks, and feasts -- now noodle carts -- as well. The guild is pretty good about keeping everything managed, and raiders do a pretty good job about keeping the guild bank filled with materials for all the stuff that the guild supplies on a typical guild run. But we've had a problem recently that picked up in patch 5.4. Someone mentioned that the guild bank wasn't making quite as much gold as it used to, and player repairs are bleeding the guild bank of gold almost faster than it can be put in. This seemed odd to me at the time, but I re-doubled my efforts to continue sticking herbs, gems, and whatever other useful items I came across into the guild bank, figuring it would all balance itself out. It turns out, however, that we aren't alone with our weird little problem.
Looking for Guild: Even more FFXIV
If I was a betting man, I'd say that Final Fantasy XIV's relaunch is a success. Of course, I base this solely on the fact that so much positive feedback is coming out of players, which is certainly welcome after the game's initial launch. Here on LFG, we're also getting quite a few players looking to play with more people in the fantasy-based MMO. It's almost like some enterprising young guild leader could come by and swoop these folks up for a Massively reader guild of their own. Read on past the cut for this week's list (consisting entirely of FFXIV submissions) and don't forget to submit your own for next week!
The Guild Counsel: Speed up those slogging raids
If you ask guild members for their number one reason why they avoid making the leap from casual to a more focused, hardcore progression path, the answer would be time. Progress means raiding multiple nights for several hours, and that's time that many either don't have or aren't willing to give up. Ironically, one of the things that separates good raiding guilds from everyone else is their use of time. Cutting-edge gear and high DPS parses are fine, but even average guilds can progress quickly by making the best use of their time during the raid. And in addition, slow, monotonous raids suddenly feel vibrant and fun. Let's take a look at how to speed things up in this week's Guild Counsel.
