{"id":97,"date":"2011-06-18T11:57:40","date_gmt":"2011-06-18T15:57:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.acheron-guild.com\/zosima\/?page_id=97"},"modified":"2011-06-21T16:27:05","modified_gmt":"2011-06-21T20:27:05","slug":"so-you-want-to-be-a-guild-leader","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/www.acheron-guild.com\/zosima\/guild-relations-archive\/guild-creation-activities-and-leadership-guides\/so-you-want-to-be-a-guild-leader\/","title":{"rendered":"So You Want to be a Guild Leader"},"content":{"rendered":"

Copied from the guide originally posted by Wytch.<\/p>\n

Note: I do not claim to be the world\u2019s greatest guild leader and I have made some mistakes along the way and learned from those and I am sure I will continue to do so. This guide is not so much for those already leading guilds but for those who are thinking about creating and leading a guild. I see a lot of posts in the Guild Relations forum that could have been avoided if some forethought was given to the process that should take place BEFORE sending out invites to your new guild. It is very simply \u2013 food for thought.<\/p>\n

So You Want To Be Guild Leader<\/h1>\n

Welcome to the beginning of what will be a very busy (and sometimes down right tiring and maddening) but rewarding job. After making the decision to create and lead a guild, generally the first reaction is to run out and recruit. Though you will eventually get to that point, this is probably not the best starting point if you have not thought the entire process through.<\/p>\n

I truly believe that no one starts a guild with the intentions of doing poorly, we all have good intentions, however, good intentions will not sustain a guild. Without great forethought and planning, most guilds are doomed for failure from the start. This guide has been written with the assumption that you are at the beginning of the process of creating a guild. I will speak about considerations and items of necessity for the successful creation of building a strong foundation to support the development and growth of your guild.<\/p>\n

The thing that will kill your guild quicker than anything is the lack of strategic thinking and the ability to be flexible and allow growth. Though much of this will seem like things that will not be needed until late in your guilds progression, it is always best to start implementing them now. It is very difficult to change the direction of a large ship once it begins to move, you need to start your course in the right direction.<\/p>\n

Who Are You?<\/h2>\n

Of the utmost importance now and through the entire life of your guild is that you have clearly defined goals and a flexible plan on how this goals will be achieved. What type of guild do you wish to lead for the long term? This may seem like an easy thing to come up with but it really is not, you need to do a lot of soul searching on this.<\/p>\n

Everyone wants a successful guild but how do you measure success? By boss kills? By the number of members you have? By the friendships you build? By your longevity? This answer is going to be different for everyone and each answer will have it\u2019s core strengths that you as a guild leader will need to possess to successfully lead the guild.
\nIf boss kills is your thing then you are probably leaving towards a hard core raiding guild which requires huge amounts of discipline. For lack of a better term, this is probably the most militant leadership roll. You need to be willing to make the hard calls for the success of the guild which means being able to put the smack down on people not doing their jobs and removing and replacing them if they hinder the guilds progression. The rules are generally pretty strict in these guilds and again, you need to be able to enforce those rules (and I do not mean be a complete jerk about it).<\/p>\n

If socializing and having people to talk to while playing in game sounds like a great thing to you and you are not so interested in boss kills then perhaps a casual guild is more your speed. Though it would seem this leadership roll is pretty easy it can have it\u2019s drawbacks. You need to understand that you will lose people fairly frequently and be accepting of that. These guilds are generally seen as \u201cleveling guilds\u201d and many who hope to raid will move on. As a guild leader you yourself will need to realize that you will not be raiding in end game if you continue to lead this guild.<\/p>\n

What if you like both of the above scenarios? What if you want to have it all? Ahh the ever elusive hybrid \u201ccasual raiding\u201d guild. I probably know this most about this guild as it is what our guild, Resurrection, is. You will have not only the best of both worlds but also the worst. You will need amazing mediation skills while being able to balance that with putting the smack down. You will need to be very flexible in many areas, the largest being the constant leaps forward in progression and steps backwards that are inevitable in this type of guild. It is probably the most difficult of all guilds to run as you are dealing with a variety of people with different goals in the game, the one common thread is generally the time aspect that they have to devote to the game.<\/p>\n

This list is not all inclusive to the various types of guilds on the servers. I have not touched on guilds that role play as I feel they are going to fall into one of the above categories. Not every guild will be the same and even within the three examples listed above they will vary greatly from one to another. This was not meant as a classification of guilds it is merely a tool to get you thinking about what your roll will be and if you are up for that challenge.<\/div>\n

The Charter . What is Your Quest?<\/h2>\n
A guilds charter is basically a verbal snapshot of your guild. It speaks of your members and what their goals are and are not. It highlights the community of your guild and let\u2019s prospective members determine if they will be a good fit or not. The more specific you are about your guild and it\u2019s policies the better you will find like minded individuals to join you in your travels of the realm.Charters should be living documents. You should look and them frequently and ask yourself if it still defines your guild. Your charter should always reflect who your guild is and if it is not either you need to begin living up to your charter or looking at revising your charter. <\/p>\n

The following is Resurrection\u2019s Guild Charter:<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
Resurrection is a casual PVE\/ PVP Raiding guild. Basically this means that we are a group of people that have prior commitments in our lives and cannot adhere to a strict raiding schedule but still wish to experience end game content. Our raiding schedules allow for greater flexibility of those who work and attend school full time while still allowing us to progress in the game.Our average age range is approx 25 – 35 with a few above and below that range. We are a mature content guild and we do not recommend that those under 18 apply. This is not to say that we do not make exceptions to that rule but above all we look at maturity and the ability to work as a team. <\/p>\n

We are not looking for the glory hounds of the server, we do not feel the need to prove anything to anyone with “phat loots” and bosses killed, it is not our style. We do not r0XoR n00bz oMg wtf BBQ!<\/p>\n

We currently have Onyxia and MC up to Rag on farm status as well as many of the ZG and AQ 20 bosses. We have a prominent force in AB and host other guild events from time to time (naked Gnome killing PVP time, naked instance races and Friday Night Drunken Raid) that we run to break up the monotony and provide endless photo ops .<\/p>\n

Again just to be clear: Resurrection is a CASUAL guild and that by “casual” we mean we do NOT raid 5 nights a week, that the schedule can change due to unforeseen issues, we care much more for the well being of our players and their families over the content in this game and that there can, and will be down time and you may actually have to entertain yourself (**gasp** I know – it’s horrible!!!!).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

We clearly state who we are and who we are not. We let applicants know our guild progression and the other activities in the game and we also speak to our community and \u201cflavor\u201d.<\/div>\n

Rules & Policies<\/h2>\n

I know, I hate rules. It would be great if everyone around me shared the same value system as me and the world would live n complete bliss… I know \u2013 who am I fooling? Fact is if you are going to have a large gathers of humans you need to have some really basic rules and policies in place.<\/p>\n

The biggest concerns for most guilds are the chat functions (in game and vent\/ts) and members behavior in them and loot\/DKP rules. These do not have to be end all lists. Again, start with the basics and build from there. If you are months away from end game raiding and DKP then state that you will be looking at a DKP system when you get closer to raiding. If you have one then great! Be aware of it and state what your intentions are with it ie: We will be using (name here) DKP system, or the guild will vote on a DKP system at a later date or all of your loot belongs to me! Just state it so applicants are aware of what they are signing up for, even if it is not determined they still are aware of that fact.<\/p>\n

Ideally your rules and policies should be posted in the same thread as your charter so that the applicant can easily find all of the information about your guild. You can have longer specific threads breakdowns each area down but the overall synopsis and basic rules should be together.<\/p>\n

Post it you say? In a thread? Where?<\/p>\n

Glad you asked\u2026<\/p>\n

Guild Websites \u2013 If you build it they will come\u2026<\/h2>\n

I wish I had a dollar for every thread I have read that starts out with, \u201cWe just put up our guild web site and no one comes to it\u201d. Perhaps it\u2019s my background in the web and the knowledge of how much incredible info there is out on the web that makes me jaded, but I really cannot comprehend not having a web site for your guild as a priority BEFORE recruiting. Why would you begin recruitment w\/o first having a place to say who you are and what your goals will be?<\/p>\n

Websites are great for a few reasons:<\/p>\n