Recruiting
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Officers' Quarters: How different is too different?
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. One of the most important things you can do when you start a new guild is to differentiate your community from other guilds on the server. When you offer a different experience or a different set of expectations from the typical guild, no matter how slight, you increase your chances of garnering attention and, thus, recruiting players who are attracted to those differences. It's a concept I've mentioned in a number of columns over the years. But is there such a thing as differentiating too much? One guild leader wants to know: Hello, I'm Emir Ergenç from Turkey, i read your wowinsider column for a long time. And i really enjoy your writings. Me and my girlfriend found a new guild named "Efsane" (meaning Legend in English) in our realm (Wildhammer-EU), i'm telling this to you for checking us :). Our website is efsane.guildomatic.com (although its Turkish). My characters are Alhara, Faelha, Eladia on guild. My girlfriend is guild leader and Shehrazad. Together we wanted to form a Turkish speaking Rated Battleground guild. Our aim is to have about 14-20 members (we do not aim to be a big guild, but time will tell) and get high ratings (read: hardcore) in rated battlegrounds as Turkish people. This is a very specific aim, thats where i started having some issues.
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.
Lost Pages of Taborea: Is the guild lock-out good or bad?
I want to talk about Runes of Magic's lock-out that prevents anyone from forming a guild or inviting players to a guild between set hours each night. The lock-out takes place between the hours of 7 and 11 p.m. EDT every night. That's a four-hour window each evening that is within the only hours some people can play. It prevents players from forming or getting into guilds, which are standard features expected of MMOs these days. Forming communities and playing with others is one of the biggest reasons to play an MMO. This week on Lost Pages of Taborea, I want to discuss the allure of this feature, why I think it's bad that players have to work around it, the pros and cons of why it's in RoM, and why it's not being discussed.
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: That other guild reputation
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. These days, when you say "guild reputation," most people think of the guild rep grind that's required to buy items like the Armadillo Pup and the Dark Phoenix. Cataclysm didn't invent this concept -- the expansion simply turned what already exists into a specific number with some fun rewards attached. As long as there have been guilds, there have been players with an opinion about them, and vice versa. This kind of reputation plays a huge role in a guild's success or failure, particularly when it comes to recruiting. This week, an officer with a rep problem asks how to deal with a handful of former members who are sabotaging the guild's recruiting efforts. Hey Scott, So my guild is fairly new (about 3-4 months) we started at the beginning of cataclysm as a guild of friends who wanted to raid on the weekends together. We slowly built up and developed a raider base however it was very difficult to get new players as every other guild on the server was looking for people. We had around 6-7 devoted raiders but those last 3 or so raiding slots left it difficult for us to pug and find members in general who were willing to raid. We went through a variety of members in these slots but most of these people didn't understand the concept of a "raiding guild." Some misunderstandings occurred and over the course of our guilds existence we developed about 4-5 "haters."
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.
Officers' Quarters: How a guild dies
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. This column is a special one for me. A reader wrote an email to the Drama Mamas, who passed it along to me as a topic that seemed more appropriate for OQ. When I read the email, it struck quite a chord, because the issue the guild leader raises is one that led directly to the collapse of my own guild. Yes, my own guild is finished, and so I can now reveal what guild I led and why it is now defunct in the hope that others can avoid the same fate. But first, the email: My girlfriend and I are the founders of a casual raiding/leveling guild. It's always been an eclectic mix of people, and it's one of my favorite parts of playing WoW. We're both friendly and empathetic, and people tend to develop bonds with us. We spend time together to the point where they feel comfortable in asking us for advice with serious real-life problems. However, the major problem is that our guild is that it's highly focused around my girlfriend and I. It feels like the only people who can lead a raid are the two of us, for example. People help in other ways, like donating to the guild bank or recruiting, but there isn't much leadership in the guild.
The Guild Counsel: Want to join my guild?
Out of all the issues involved with guild management, there's nothing more important to a long-lasting guild than a solid, time-tested process of screening potential members. Surprisingly, when you look at many of the traditional methods of filtering potential members, very few of them actually succeed in rooting out whether an applicant will be a good fit or not. Sure, a guild and its applicant both want to progress, they both want loot, and they both want to succeed. But when it comes to things like pace, behavior, playtimes, or guild culture, it suddenly becomes a lot harder to find that perfect match. I've seen many ways to screen applicants, and believe me, I've let some real stinkers into guilds I've led. Let's look at some of the more popular screening techniques and see why they're not always the best ways to evaluate applicants.
US Marines experimenting with iPads for recruitment
OK, maggots! If you'd like to sign up to be a member of The U.S. Marine Corps, you're going to need to learn to use an iPad. Or at least sign your name on one. Military Times is reporting that the Corps is experimenting with the use of iPads in recruiting. The blog reported that the commander of the Marine Corps Recruiting Command, Maj. Gen. Robert Milstead, noted in a recent interview that the Corps is doing well in recruitment, but that it faces challenges like a shrinking advertising budget. That's where the iPads come in. Recruiters set up booths at county fairs, athletic events and the like, creating contests for able-bodied young people such as performing pull-ups. In order to participate, the students need to sign a waiver. In the past, waiver forms were filled out by hand and then re-entered into a database for future contact. The re-entry took time and effort, and often the handwritten information was illegible. Using the iPad, the recruiters can capture the information immediately with fewer errors. The Corps isn't sure that they're going to continue the program beyond the experimental stage, but they recognize the potential of Apple's top-selling tablet. Oohrah!
Apple hiring BlackBerry enterprise sales staff
The era of the BlackBerry's dominance in the corporate communicator market may be drawing to a close, and Apple is recruiting staff to speed that process along. Over the past year and a half, Apple has hired at least five senior enterprise sales reps from Research in Motion (RIM), the Canadian manufacturer of the BlackBerry. In April 2009, Geoff Perfect joined Apple from RIM as Head of Enterprise iPhone Sales, and he has since been joined by four colleagues with contacts in the business. It's unknown how much of the increasing corporate adoption of iOS devices is due to the efforts of this crew and how much would have occurred organically as a result of employees bringing in their own iPhones. Either way, there has certainly been no love lost between Apple and RIM in recent months. Apple has recently claimed that the iPhone is outselling the BlackBerry and that smaller seven-inch tablets are a bad idea. In response, RIM co-CEO Jim Balsillie has accused Apple of playing fast and loose with the numbers and spreading disinformation about devices like its upcoming PlayBook tablet. Ultimately, RIM's biggest problem is unlikely to be either staff poaching or executive sniping. Instead, it is the lack of any real innovation or even keeping pace with its products. Hiring Perfect and his colleagues is probably just a bonus for Apple. [via Electronista]
Officers' Quarters: The great raid size debate, part 2
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, I received an email asking me for my thoughts on raid size in Cataclysm. As it turns out, I have quite a few thoughts -- three columns' worth, in fact, covering four different categories: gameplay, logistics, rewards and intangibles. My goal is to help officers and their guild members to choose which raid size is best suited for their guild. A week ago, I wrote about the gameplay category. This week's column will cover two topics that have been linked together throughout the history of the game. From the very beginning of WoW, Blizzard has made a connection between more difficult logistics and greater rewards. Molten Core, Onyxia, and later 40-man raids rewarded the best available gear in their respective heydays. Throughout The Burning Crusade and Wrath, 25-man content yielded the best items. For Cataclysm, this paradigm is shifting. Let's take a look at the logistics involved with the two raid sizes and the rewards that each size offers.
Officers' Quarters: Leveling as a guild in Cataclysm, part 2
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, a reader wrote in to ask about some dos and don'ts as a guild leader during the character leveling process of an expansion. Obviously, we're focusing on Cataclysm here, but many of these tips will be relevant for any expansion with a raised level cap. Part 1 provided four tips: Have a plan. Organize group activities. Don't rush anyone. Set a date for the endgame. This week I've got five more.
Flameseeker Chronicles: Back to basics
With all the talk of Guild Wars 2 these days, many players are beginning to pay attention to Guild Wars, something they've not done before. And there's good reason to jump into Guild Wars right now. It serves as the backstory to Guild Wars 2; the entire Guild Wars trilogy plus the Eye of the North expansion can be had for a song these days; and there's no subscription fee. Players who are a little burned out on their previous games of choice are thinking that maybe there's something to this game after all, and I've been getting more than a few emails with general questions about starting this five-year-old game. So while we've been focusing pretty heavily on Guild Wars 2 in Flameseeker Chronicles lately, I decided to take this week to discuss why it's never too late to start Guild Wars while you wait for GW2 to arrive.
Officers' Quarters: The benefits of Cataclysm raiding
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. If you've read WoW.com's reaction to the new Cataclysm raiding paradigm, you already know that I'm a bit biased about this whole situation. I can't deny that this announcement had me cheering. On the other hand, I'm hearing a lot of doom and gloom from around the WoW community. Few people seem to embrace these changes wholeheartedly, and that's all right. There's quite a bit of uncertainty -- even fear -- about how it will all play out. I understand that. All raiding guilds will be affected one way or the other, and it could be that your guild will have a hard time adjusting to the expansion's raiding environment. As officers, however, we can't give in to negativity. No matter how you might feel about these changes, they are happening, so let's move the conversation into a more productive area. Let's examine how Cataclysm raiding could help us as officers and how we can take advantage of these changes to help our guilds thrive.
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.
Big Crits, a new WoW reality series
At the end of the summer last year I had this crazy idea: to make a TV show about a raiding guild. I was inspired by the relationships and interactions in my current guild and how much they impacted me personally -- both good and bad. I fleshed out the idea over beers (many beers) with some friends. We talked about logistics, equipment, participation, but most importantly, the goal. I wanted the show to be about the people, to be about the interaction between the raiders. And I don't mean ninja-looting drama-mama QQing. I wanted to explore the things that go on in a group of people trying to work together online to accomplish something great. There's more to raiding than drama. Things like, as I'm fond of saying, "the soul crushing 1% wipes and the absolute exhilaration of taking down a new boss for the first time." I worked on a pitch and reached out to friends & family in "the biz" but I spent most of my time trying to explain concepts such as a "raid" or a "boss" or that when I said "guild" I meant a group of MMO gamers and not an actor's or writer's union -- which made for some very confusing conversations at first. Frustrated, I wasn't sure I'd ever convince anyone this was an idea worth doing. But I knew it was.
The Classifieds: Buttering up the Panera Bread WoW Man
The Classifieds brings you weekly updates on guild recruiting, rankings, splits and merges, progression and more. Have guild news or a Random Act of Uberness to share? E-mail TheClassifieds@wow.com. Remember back during the holidays, when we had a nice cozy Breakfast Topic chat about the fellow who's been spotted schlepping his entire iMac to the local Panera Bread to play WoW? Sharp-eyed reader Paul discovered a followup article at Gizmodo, featuring five questions with the Panera Bread WoW Man. It's no headline news, but it's an interesting peek into how a fellow WoW player gets his fix. Let's open up The Classifieds ...
The Classifieds: WoW player/MMA fighter on the mend
The Classifieds brings you weekly updates on guild recruiting, rankings, splits and merges, progression and more. Have guild news or a Random Act of Uberness to share? E-mail The Classifieds. In news from the WoW community, guildmates of MMA grappler Haydn Clasby, aka Croc of <Defiant Hearts>, US Bloodscalp-H, are rallying in support after he suffered a broken neck in what was called a freak accident during a match in New Zealand last month. Friends and fans are publicizing a Recovery Fund to help Croc out with the medical costs of the devastating accident. Our friend Jens "Little Evil" Pulver, also an MMA fighter and inveterate WoW player (and seen in yesterday's 15 Minutes of Fame), offered these words of support for Croc: "My heart and thoughts go out to you, brother. Make sure you keep your spirits up and tackle this with the same grit and guts you used to get in there in the first place. Take the time to heal and get well soon. Chin down, hands up and always come out fighting; don't let this stop you. I wish you all the best." Best wishes, Croc, for your continued recovery! Let's open up The Classifieds ...
