Have any Tips on Running and Leveling a Guild?

[DarcNecro]

<p>My brother, myself, and some friends from work are starting a guild.  Can anyone out there that has done this give us some tips on to making it run smooth and keeping the majority of people in it happy.  We are only going to have the few of us in their to begin with to get things rolling.  How soon after starting it should we invite new members?  We work shift work so our playtime is not really all day every day.  Any and all advice will be appreciated!!<img src="/smilies/283a16da79f3aa23fe1025c96295f04f.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></p><p>Ratbastird 36 Dirge Nektulos</p>

[bensilvi]

A guild is what you make of it. Dont invite people just to level it. Seek out new friends by grouping and helping others out. Take in noob players and offer them help but no handouts as people will come to expect that. Its a lot of work and get out of it what you want dont make a guild and give up on it if real life sets in. Only benefit to a guild is status items. The main benefit is forging new relationships. Guilds that are only about numbers fail. Be there for your members with aid but also with companionship. Make the guild chat lively and have fun.

[Lornick]

<p>Sure, I can throw out a few tips.  I built my guild with my brother so I have a little experience with the topic.</p><p>Tip #1 Recruit, recruit, recruit.</p><p>Don't ever get into the frame of mind that you've done enough recruitting.  It's not about building the most massive guild out there.  But you need to have a realistic expectation that you will lose members over time.  It's hard to think about how great your guild could have been if you managed to keep all the best members you've had over time.  My guild would be one of the best on any server if I could have done that.  But it just isn't very realistic.  People will naturally burn out on the game or move onto another guild that they feel meats their playstyle desires.  It's just going to happen and as a guild leader or officer you need to not fault them for that (as long as they didn't do something despicable right before leaving or getting booted).</p><p>Tip #2 Give players a reason to stick around.</p><p>If your guild never does anything together then there isn't much point in joining is there?  Have a goal in mind with what you want your guild to be.  Do you have raiding aspirations?  Just looking to have group of people with similar sense of humor to chat with as you play?  Like to roleplay?  Like to host various events like arena rumbles, lottos, races, etc?  What do you want your guild to be?  Define it first and foremost.  This is important for alot of reasons.  Refer to tip #1.  How are you going to be effective at recruitting if you can't answer this question to potential guild members?  Players like a guild with vision.  It doesn't matter how casual your guild will be.  You still need guild goals.</p><p>Tip #3 Make guild rules and enforce them swiftly and fairly.</p><p>Unfortunately it is really hard to have a good understanding of what other players are really like after only meeting in game for relatively short periods of time.  Sometimes bad apples will get guild tagged.  Being a guild leader or officer isn't always roses.  You'll have to be the badguy sometimes.  That means when guildies don't follow the rules put forth by the guild then you need to lay the smack  down from time to time.  I like to follow the rule "Praise in public and punish in private".  This serves you two fold.  First, it raises alot less guild drama in guild chat.  People who have nothing to do with the incident can often make mountains out of mole hills.  Don't involve people who have no business with the drama.  Second, it also is better for the person being punished.  It gives them a way out without losing face in front of others.  Remember, the goal is to prevent further bad behavior... not to play the role of dictator.  Don't punish other players to be mean.  Do it only as necessary.   But at the same time you need to be quick and decisive.  Above all else, enforce the rules equally.   It's natural do develop different relations with different guild members, but when it comes time to enforce rules... there can be no favorites.  Falling back on rule #1 again.  My philosophy has always been to cast a wide net and weed out the bad fish.</p><p>Anyway, I'm out of time.  If i have more time later I'll post more tips.  Good luck with the guild.</p>

[gnomemyst]

It is not easy to keep everybody happy. However make sure you recruite a good player. You can lvl the guild very quickly if you have a lvl 70 toon by doing city writs. You can complete 4 writs at a time in Bonemire.

[Spyderbite]

My only suggestion would be to limit who can purchase from the stable master and city merchant by their guild rank. This will discourage those who join your guild exclusively to pick up a horse at a discount or purchase a title off a city merchant. Smaller guilds tend to be ripe targets for these people because they're often in a hurry to get their roster numbers, level and status up so quickly and sometimes recruit blindly.

[UlteriorModem]

<p>Only advice I can give is to have the leaders rule with a firm yet compasionate hand.</p><p>Dont be wishy washy and try to please everyone all the time. It cant be done.</p>

[stgninja]

<p>As a former co-leader of a guild I can say this:</p><p>Take in newbies: People tend to stick around in a guild that they "grow up" in.  Later down the line these people will be the core members of your guild, the people you can trust to be officers someday.</p><p>Plan events:  Yeah this was mentioned earlier but this is one of the reasons people leave guilds imo, its boring and there is nothing to do.  Arena battles with cash prizes were my favorite.  Having a website with a calendar of events is nice ie HQ day, alt day, writ day..etc.</p><p>Make sure members know and understand the charter:  You don't want members acting a fool and giving your guild a bad reputation.</p><p>Ranks, status and privileges:  IMO a recruit should be given a prohibitory period of about a couple weeks or so with no privileges.  Once that period is passed you can give them the option to get higher ranks by having a set status amount required for each rank.  The higher rank they get the more privileges that member gets.  From my experience it encourages guild leveling.</p><p>and finally</p><p>Guild mail:  Keep your members updated with the guild's status.   No one likes to be left in the dark about anything.</p>

[Jai1]

<p><i>Bloodlich wrote:</i></p><p>Take in newbies: People tend to stick around in a guild that they "grow up" in.  Later down the line these people will be the core members of your guild, the people you can trust to be officers someday.</p><hr /><p>I thought this once.  One of the raiding guilds I was in split up and I became co-leader.   I deemed lack of loyaty to be the issue and most were people I had recruited.   I never asked loyalty questions in interviews.  So I invited over a hundred people between levels 10-20.  I imagine if ppl would have stuck to the game, there would have been loyalty but they all are MIA with the exception of about 5.  I NOW think that it's better to get people after they put time into the game.  I think they'd know if they like the game at later levels and may tend to stick with it longer.</p><p>I</p>

[Hoark]

<p>There's already been some great advice given in this thread. Our guild (Black Sheep on Oasis) began as just my wife and I and a big dream. I wanted to build a raiding guild that was ideal for busy, working adults like myself. The goal was to gather a solid raid force together that could tackle the top-level raid content in the game 3 - 4 nights a week. I'm happy to say that with a lot of hard work, we have managed to do just that. So here's my two cents, for what it's worth:</p><p>1) Have a clear vision for your guild - What kind of guild are you trying to build? What do you want to accomplish as a team? For your guild to succeed, you need to have the end result in mind. Once you know what your guild is going to be all about, you can set out to find players with similar objectives.</p><p>2) Make sure you have the tools you need - For a raiding guild you will want to have a website, forums, loot distribution system, and voice-chat at a minimum. If you don't plan to raid, you can get by without these things, but they would still be helpful. Add these tools as they became necessary. </p><p>3) Set clear expectations and goals for your members - The whole purpose of a guild is to have a team unit that works together to accomplish things together. Set reasonable goals for your team to work on every month. Goals can be simple things like: "Let's focus on getting every member to lvl 40+ by the end of the month" or "Let's focus on writs until we reach guild level 30". Tailor the goals to your guild based on what you want to achieve. The important thing is to <b>have </b>goals and work towards them together.</p><p>Setting expectations is a little harder, but just as important. For example, if you expect members to give Master spells they loot to members of the guild that need them, you need to make that clear. If you expect members to make a certain number of events/raids per month, make that clear. Lead by example. Don't expect anything from your members that you are not willing and able to do yourself. Lastly, hold people accountable if they fail to meet your expectations.</p><p>Your goals and your expectations will change over time. It's good to reevaluate them once a month at least.</p><p>4) Create a positive culture - Do everything you can to minimize guild drama. When drama starts to rear its ugly head, [Removed for Content] it in the bud. If you want to gain and retain members, your guild needs to provide a positive experience for its members. Don't be afraid to lose a member that is disruptive to your guild.</p><p>5) Don't get discouraged - Building a solid guild takes a lot of time and patience. Things will not always go your way. You'll run into snags and problems everyday. Stay focused, and don't throw in the towel when things get rough. Look for ways to turn problems into opportunities.</p><p>There's a lot more to leading a guild, but I'd say those are the main things I have done and have had great success. It's very difficult building and leading a guild, but it can also be very rewarding. I wish you and your crew the best of luck!</p><p>Sincerely,</p><p>Hoark Ninjafrog, Leader of Black Sheep</p><p><a href="http://www.eq2blacksheep.com/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">www.eq2BlackSheep.com</a></p>

[DarcNecro]

<p>Do any of you have any experience using the guild website producer(for lack of correct word) that EQ2 players provides?  Was it easy to use, my computer skills are somewhat mediocre.  Any input is appreciated.</p><p>Mordikai 55 Wizard Nektulos Server</p><p>Bloodknight Brotherhood Guild </p>

[Sirlutt]

I've been involved in various levels of leading online gaming groups for about 8 years, all the way from original CS Beta clans, to realism clans in DoD, through guilds in SWG, and 3 guilds in Eq2. Heres some tips. <ul><li>communication is key, get a guild website.  I like guildportal recently.</li><li>voice chat is nice to bond with... but not required imo. </li><li>a leadershipcouncil works best in my opinion.  make it an odd number, no more than 5.. and dont vote on everything, just the major things.  5 means no stalemate.  Council also means when people need to leave for a few weeks to take care of RL stuff, the guild forges on happily.  Replace leaders regularly to avoid burnout.  replace with super performing officers.</li><li>be fair and predictable as a leader.  If people know what your answer to a question will be because your leadership style is even and fair, they answer it themselves and lead themselves. </li><li>get good officers, but make sure they have a job.  Making people an officer just because you like them is a good way to sow dissent.  Make your officers have a job and pick people who enjoy doing those jobs to do it.  Make them accountable for what they are doing.  If they arent performing, replace them.  Being an officer isnt a popularity contest, its work and its the officers who make and break the guild.</li><li>make sure you have a clear understanding of what your guild is about.  </li><li>Recruit based on that mission statement.  If your not a raiding guild, dont recruit raiders.  If you plan on raiding "one day when you get enough people" .. make sure people know that.</li><li>Remember its a game and people have real lives and stuff too.  we arent all playing EQ2 8 ours a night to be the hardcore raiders... unless thats what your guild is about, and then if it is, go hard or go home <img src="/smilies/69934afc394145350659cd7add244ca9.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></li></ul> Couple of donts. <ul><li>dont be psycho controlling bipolar beotch, nuff said.</li><li>dont treat your players like kids.</li><li>dont pick a new person each week to be your whipping boy to bear the brunt of all the pent up tensions becuse your real life sucks.  Go talk to the people in real life your avoiding, <strike>and take your husband with you.</strike></li><li>dont recuit more people than you can control.</li><li>dont blind invite.</li><li>dont make up stupid rules about loot, peoples time spent or anything else like that.</li><li>dont be afraid to step down and go away if its made obvious to you that your the reason people are abondining ship.  If people are finding things to do in RL to avoid you, its a problem. </li></ul>Thats pretty much it.. focus on the do's, the donts arent as important.

[Ex_Venia]

<p>Here is a quick one:</p><p>1) If you make a list of Rules for your members to follow regarding anything from loot to public relations, follow them your self.  Be ready to lead by example. </p><p>2) Be open and willing to listen to new ideas from your members. When some members provide suggestions there is a good chance it is because they care about the guild, not because they are out to discredit you.  (and be able to filter good suggestions from bad and discuss them with more than one person to uncover any alternative perspectives on the idea. see #3).</p><p>3) Allow for multiple "leaders/officers".  Spreading out responsibility will not only save you some headaches, it will also allow more informed decisions to be made.</p><p>- Guild leadership is basically a sacrafice of your time for the game enjoyment of others.  Make sure you enjoy the role and do not expect too much back in your investment other than personal enjoyment and potentially a much wider pool of friends. -</p><p>Best Wishes!</p>

[CapnMac]

My two copper... Communication is key to good leadership. Be honest, direct and straight with your membership and they will respond to that. Make a website for information... use the guild forums... always keep everyone informed about events and policies. And never forget that anything you say comes from the leader and can be used against you. I learned the hard way that when you're tired and cranky and not at your best and likely to say things you don't really mean, it's probably a good time to log off and take a break. Booyah has a council of leaders and that's so we can distribute the responsibilites. As some others have said, being a guild leader is a job and it can be easy to burn out if you're taking everything on yourself... so find those you trust to lead and share the load.

[tass]

well for leveling Id keep it small just ur family and freinds would be best as you get alot more guild status with writs and hq's. Also have different things planned. My guild plans out things like hq grps to from start to finish to get more status from the number of people turning them in and so that its easier to do them and have fun. You can even schedule guild raids with 2 grps or a bit less to have fun nd start getting good sub raiding gear. Pending on ur personality if ur an upstanding person 1 thing you shouldnt tolerate is troublemakers. People who rob from the guild bank. People who dont give a dam about the guild who would rather farm then maybe help out a guildy that needs it, people who say do it urself and then "want in on raids for the loot". Better just to boot there [Removed for Content] out of the guild at the start.

[Tyrani]

<cite>tass wrote:</cite><blockquote><span style="color: #ff0000">well for leveling Id keep it small just ur family and freinds would be best as you get alot more guild status with writs and hq's.</span> Also have different things planned. My guild plans out things like hq grps to from start to finish to get more status from the number of people turning them in and so that its easier to do them and have fun. You can even schedule guild raids with 2 grps or a bit less to have fun nd start getting good sub raiding gear. Pending on ur personality if ur an upstanding person 1 thing you shouldnt tolerate is troublemakers. People who rob from the guild bank. People who dont give a dam about the guild who would rather farm then maybe help out a guildy that needs it, people who say do it urself and then "want in on raids for the loot". Better just to boot there [Removed for Content] out of the guild at the start. </blockquote><p> Just for clarification on this point, if you meant that you get more status the smaller your guild is, this is no longer the case as of a recent update.  All guilds, regardless of size, now will get 10% of all personal status contributed by all members.</p><p>If you meant something else, then my apologies <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></p>