What makes a good guild?

[Praxian09]

And for that matter, what makes a good guild leader?

I'm trying to make my own guild on Ghallanda, one that will (hopefully) be fun for all who play while in it, and survive the test of time.

But, what exactly makes a good guild (besides a catchy name)?

And what pray tell should I make a point of doing to make myself a good guild leader?

While I have decent leadership skills outside of the game (and in my field of expertise), in game, less so. So I'm turning to Ghallanda for advice.

Just please, if you don't have positive or some kind of reinforcing advice, don't hate. Just don't comment. I'm really looking for advice to build up and stabilize my guild set.

Thanks in advance!

[LoveNeverFails]

To me, its a mixture of order and structure. Don't wanna invite every Tom, ****, and Harry because ****'s probabaly, well a ****. And that would make Tom and Harry upset, and not wanna play, and go away. Make sure that when you ar recruiting, you recruit people with similar play styles. Invite 1 zerger, and 1 flower sniffer, and someone will feel left out. Recruit people with similar play times. Nothing sucks as much as being in a guild where a majority of the people play when you are asleep, or at work. Most often, the point of joining a guild is to avoid Pugging. Can't group with guildies if no guildies are online.

I personally recommend a website, at the very least. Keeps things cohesive, keeps things organized. A great place to talk about grouping/raiding schedules (if your into that) and to just shoot the breeze when you are unable to get ingame and party hardy.

There are more. I just can't think about them atm because it is early...lol

I also didn't state the obvious have fun. Because, well, who wants to be in an unfun guild?

[DevHead]

For the love of all that is holy don't misspell your guild name or have it all lower case.

[Hordo]

I won't go so far as to say I'm a good guild leader...I'm a lucky guild leader.

We've had so many ups and downs over the past 5 years that I still am amazed we've survived as a guild.

The most important thing to remember is that a guild is a group of people that really must truly enjoy each others company on a daily basis. They may have flare ups and misunderstandings, but when those get worked out in a way that strengthens the bonds...then you've got a guild.

Look first to the attitude and bearing of your prospective members, second to their way of dealing with stress, third to their game-playing skill. You can teach them how to play, but not how to be a good person.

Get good people, and your guild will flourish.

Hordo

[LoveNeverFails]

I won't go so far as to say I'm a good guild leader...I'm a lucky guild leader.

We've had so many ups and downs over the past 5 years that I still am amazed we've survived as a guild.

The most important thing to remember is that a guild is a group of people that really must truly enjoy each others company on a daily basis. They may have flare ups and misunderstandings, but when those get worked out in a way that strengthens the bonds...then you've got a guild.

Look first to the attitude and bearing of your prospective members, second to their way of dealing with stress, third to their game-playing skill. You can teach them how to play, but not how to be a good person.

Get good people, and your guild will flourish.

Hordo

Well he said that much better then i ever could have.

[LeslieWest_GuitarGod]

The most important thing to remember is that a guild is a group of people that really must truly enjoy each others company on a daily basis. They may have flare ups and misunderstandings, but when those get worked out in a way that strengthens the bonds...then you've got a guild.

Look first to the attitude...

This is very, very true, and better advice than this is simply unavailable.

+1.

[Praxian09]

Thanks to everyone for your advice! I definately appreciate it!

Will have to get to work on a website later on tonight. Anyone reccomend some good software? Is Frontpage still the goto for web page building or something better out there?

[nolaureltree000]

no drama or politics. thats about it. id rather PUG everything or be in no guild than be in a guild with jerks pretending this is the young and the restless online.

[Micron]

From my own experience, every good guild should have one person (ideally with a thick skin) that serves as a scapegoat and an easy target for jokes. Nothing like having someone to blame every failure on and have fun at their expense. My guild has a person like that and it works wonders. Of course I won't give their name away in public.. I would never do that do Dandonk.

[Maxelcat]

Simple.

1) Have like minded members.
I run a small guild, we have a tone of alts. When Guild ships came up we held a little meeting about weather or not to "beef up" our numbers or not. It was decided that we rather have a small ship and know everyone than to have a huge ship with people we don't know. Also play style is important. We're a casual guild, and support each other in quest completion based on need. having a couple of zergers/powergamers in the mix would spoil our dynamic.

2)Don't expect to know everything, but have a plan when you don't.
Being a casual guild we (shock) haven't run all the material yet. but even if its new content, we Tactics threw it. know your members, how their toons are run and you shouldn't have any issues no matter what shows up around the corner.

3)Know your members.
Talk out of game life with them. Get to know them by name, whats going on with their lives. also say hi to everyone that logs on!

4) Voice chat.
vital to good guiding/leading. we only use type when were split partied.

5) organize things to do together.
sometimes this is just as simple as helping members with a quest for loot to organizing guild raids. the more you can foster a group mentality the better in my mind.

5.5) ask them what they want to do next.

6) Organize your guild assets.
I run the guild banker. (a gimpy high haggle bard) that holds the purse strings for buying stuff for the guild/guild ship. this toon also mass collects all the collectables for storage and turn ins. (you would be surprised how much guild cash you can make with turn ins with a high haggle toon). find a dedicated toon to do your crafting, (in prep for unbound crafting coming up)

(note: unbound bags in the guild chest makes this super quick)

6.5) Share your assets
high level toon pull something awesome but low leveled? put it in the guild box for others to use.

7) guild charter
have a few rules and have the ability to add or change then with votes by members. also have a place for these to be seen (webpage/forum/something). also have rules for who gets officer and why, what guild membership in-tales, how to deal with issues if they occur. if its all in place in b+w its easier to in force.

8) dont be a task master
no body likes a bossy bossy. not everyone will be built perfectly or geared out awesome or know every quest backwards or having a good play day have a goal and plan but dont micro manage other players.

9) HAVE FUN!
even when everything goes horribly wrong laugh at it. (this is where having a plan all the time comes in handy). IMO some of the best times is getting over our heads and a (possible) wipe. it might be frustrating sometimes, but if your having fun then you will be that more determined to finish. also gives moments of pure awesomeness.

10) HAVE LOTS OF FUN
a good guild is always having a good time.

Hopes that helps!

[GuntherBovine]

My two cents:
Step #1 - Determine what your resources are
Do you have any friends that are committed to joining your guild? How high is your best toon? Do you have a loot to share with your new guildies?

Step #2 - Determine what your target audience is
Are you looking to be a guild for TR's? Capped toons? Raid runners? Mid-level toons? New players? Obviously, how high you aim for depends on what your resources have - you can't be a guild for TR's if all you have is a level 3 toon. Your guildies are going to be able to group together only if they have toons at roughly the same level.

Step #3 - Make your guild appealing
Don't start recruiting when you are a level 1 guild. Build the guild up to a level that it has amenities that would be appealing to a prospective player before you start inviting new players.

Step #4 - Make your guild fun for your target audience
Plan events that are going to appeal to your target audience. If you a raiding guild, have every Friday night raids. If you are new player guilds, have vets who will take newbies slowly through Harbor quests.

Step #5 - Choose an appropriate recruitment strategy
If you are a guild for low-level toons, then inviting every toon that comes off the boat isn't a bad strategy. If you are TR guild, then you are going to be looking to quest with the player before inviting him/her to make sure their attitude fits your guild.

[grodon9999]

Keep your pimp-hand strong, crush drama immediately before it festers, and don't get too big.

Play with people at your skill/experience level. DO NOT make everybody an officer.

[Bodic]

a good guild is a group of friends. you can **** in each others cheerios and still be nice to each other. Its like extended family close knit and protect each other from everyone else, yet still not always get long perfect and accept differences.

a guild leader is well the father figurehead charismatic learned person that all can respect.

I have been in only a hand full of guilds and had the same people in them from virus to sanctus as people leave the game it more of a consolidation than a recruitment. I have seen the petty squable destroy a guild(Prophets of Destruction).

I can say to those guilds that have stood the test of time you cant compete with them dont try.

Numbers doesnt make a guild either so sdpam recruiting does no good except to cause potential for striff.

also everything Hordo has said is spot on.

[Praxian09]

Once again, thanks all for your advice! Hopefully I can take all this great advice and make something out of nothing!

[Daerius of the Blessed Blades]

I am going to disagree with some of the above posters. Recruiting people you enjoy playing with is NOT the most important thing in building a strong, successful guild. It's arguably the second most important thing, but it is most assuredly not the first.

Sharing common, clear goals is the number one most important thing in building a successful guild. Hands down.

I once joined a guild that was a group of the nicest people you ever wanted to meet. I even eventually became their guild leader. We recruited fun people from all aspects of gaming - casual, raiding, young, old... no matter, as long as they were respectful and fun to run with, they were in. We grew to be one of the largest guilds on the servers several years ago. Then the wheels fell off.

One group was upset because people only wanted to zerg low level content. Another faction was upset, because we were ALWAYS lagging behind in completing high level raids and content. Fights broke out because someone started recruiting kids (hey, they were nice and wanted to learn) and so others had to watch their language. No one left under any sort of desire to run from who they played with, they left the guild (me included) because the guild shared no common goal other than the desire to play DDO and the desire to not do it with jerkwads.

Guess what? Most of the players playing DDO are looking for those two things... and it isn't enough to build a drama free, quality guild foundation.

Some of us that left the aforementioned large guild formed The Circle of Night (my current guild). From day one, we set clear goals about what our purpose was, who we would allow to join, what we will tolerate and not tolerate, and what type of player will be successful in our guild. And of course, we wanted people who we would want to play with, but without that core set of guiding principles about HOW we play, WHO we allowed was not enough.

We rarely recruit anymore because (1) we’d rather focus on the game than recruiting and (2) we rarely lose anybody. Period. Some people take breaks or have left the game but if they return they come back to CoN. Two or three have moved some or most of their alts to a larger guild, but they remain active in CoN as well. I believe that having clear, core principles is the number one reason for our success.

Clear rules also help to reduce the drama. I read a warning to NOT make everyone an officer. In CoN,. every member who is active and has proven to embrace guild principles becomes an officer and it has NEVER become a problem. Again, because we embrace a clear set of guiding principles beyond just ‘wow, they seem nice’.

And finally, a closing word of advice. Building a GOOD guild is a SLOW process. You can build an army fast by blind inviting every Drizzt clone without a guild name floating above their head, but you won’t have loyalty, cohesion and pride. If you want to lead, start by building a coalition of like-minded folks and agree ONE HUNDRED PERCENT on key principles. Are you a raiding guild? Adults only? What is your recruiting policy? Who deals with someone who is recruited and ends up not being a good fit? Do you have loot rules that you insist everyone follow? etc... Work these issues out first with a core group of dedicated folks, be prepared for a long road, don't cave on your principles ever and watch your guild develop over time.


Best of luck! The fact that you care enough to seek advice from people who have already made it work makes you better than many of the leaders out there today! Hope it works for you...and if not, check out circleofnight.com and let me know if we share common goals. Like minded folks are always welcome, even if not aggressively pursued!