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10 Common Mistakes Made in a Young Guild’s Career
By Tim Bernard | November 18, 2011
There are many mistakes a guild can make; several of them are avoidable so take close heed to the ten listed in this article. When you first start of with your guild, you need to decide what the guild’s goals are and who the people you’d recruit would be. Try not to perpetrate these costly mistakes:
Spamming global – Never a good idea. Players hate this type of recruiting strategy. Only “noobs” do these sorts of things, so try to be more creative!
Spelling alterations – You may be stuck on a word for your guild that just doesn’t fit space-wise or has already been taken. Again, don’t misspell something just to make it your guild name. Use an online thesaurus to find something similar that may not be taken.
“Join my guild” leadership – Players who offer free leadership spots to the first people who join are usually shooting themselves in the foot. Avoid players like these and never use a tactic like this to promote membership. If you can’t get people interested in your guild by its name or your recruiting attempts you’ll need to look at those aspects first.
Loot exchange – Poor selection. Refrain from offering in game gold, goods, or favors to players in order to get them to join. Guilds that make this mistake notice a large amount of their members turning into selfish children seemingly over night. Don’t make this mistake!
Access to guild assets – Depending on the game you’re playing, you may have some sort of guild bank or funding source. Take the time to set the hierarchy and permissions in your guild so you don’t get ripped off by temporary new members. Focus on the hierarchy and assign the new people the lowest rank possible.
Guild chat – I’ve made mention of other communication failures. This is a huge topic all on its own that I hope to expand on in future articles. For the purpose of this quick-ten list, keep your guild chat on a leash. Vigilance is required when it comes to managing internal dialogue within the guild. You want to encourage dialogue and involvement without smothering the guild.
Leadership MIA – Be sure to chose your leaders with care. Are they around? Do your officers make a change for the better or sit on their thumbs? It’s your job to delegate to them to ensure they’re working as promised. Make them work for you and your members.
Lack of guild involvement / activities – Regardless of what level, status, or game you’re playing, you need to maintain a regular schedule of events for members to come together and interact in person. If you’re not already congregating for raids, try meeting up at an in-game bar to throw back some imaginary brew. The point is to make a scene which ultimately raises server awareness towards your guild. Ok, so drinking beer in an online fantasy world may not make you Conan but at least you’re having fun.
No connection to game forums – Your best chances at growing your guild come from the official game community forums. Try to establish a presence on these boards; this is where you’ll see people act authentically. Admittedly its a lot of work, but even if you made one officer’s job staying up on the community forums your guild will benefit immensely. You need to know who the big dogs are, who the trolls are, and where the server is in relation to other guild’s progress. Don’t neglect this aspect of guild management.
Dimishing guild appeal – If you find yourself losing members and aren’t sure why, you need to examine your guild’s purpose against the members who have /gquit. If you’re a merchant guild who’s attracting big gold users, consider if the people who left were a good match for your guild. Contact them, be kind but inquisitive. Try to let them know you’re sorry it didn’t work out and get the reasoning behind their decision so your guild can learn and grow. Take what they say and consider if the problem lies with you or them.
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