style="color: rgb(154, 185, 124);">Building A Guild: 

How to
manage a guild in a MMORG


Perhaps one of the most rewarding and enjoyable things I have done in
the time I have played online games is lead a guild.  It's hard
though, taking a lot of dedication, patience and creativity.  Here
are some tips toward running a successful guild I wanted to pass on.

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Starting Your
Guild

A basic guild starts
with only a few people.  One of the most
important things you can do when you are starting your guild is find
the right people.  At this point, your guild is basically a few
people who like to play together.  However, the formative core is
very important.  This group of people sets the tone for your guild
in the future.  The behavior, attitude, and activities your guild
will be seen by future members, and the “fit” those href="http://ddo.tentonhammer.com/index.php?module=ContentExpress&func=display&ceid=122">members
make with
your guild will determine whether they stay.

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So picking your beginning members is
critical.  They have to be
active, knowledgeable, willing to work with others, and able to
communicate well.  A guild will not succeed if your guild members
now do not talk to others, and do not care to reach out to others they
don't know.




I was lucky, personally.  When
I was made the guild leader of our
guild, many of the members were inactive, but there was a core of
members who were still active, competent, friendly, and mature. 
This step was more or less started for me already.

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Setting the Tone
of Your Guild

When you form your href="http://ddo.tentonhammer.com/index.php?module=ContentExpress&func=display&ceid=137">
guild, the tone of your communication is
important.  You should anticipate everything you say to be
misunderstood.  Most communication is non verbal, determined by
tone, bearing and other queues.  Since typed and spoken
communication misses much of the information you give other people face
to face, people will misunderstand you.

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The solution to this problem is to
avoid “risqué”
comments.  In this case, jokes which could be taken as offense by
other people, comments which are only acceptable for adults to hear,
politics, religion, and so on.  The people in your guild could be
from all walks of life, and you may not realize your being offensive.

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Furthermore, other people will learn
from your behavior what is
acceptable.  They might go further than you, saying things or
behaving in ways that normally would be totally acceptable, but because
you don't personally know the people your playing with well, might be
inappropriate.  However, the lines they cross are defined by you…
the more correct your tone in your actions and conversation, the less
“out of bounds” will they go. href="http://ddo.tentonhammer.com/modules.php?set_albumName=album50&id=Guild_Members_Waving&op=modload&name=Gallery&file=index&include=view_photo.php"> alt="Guild Members Interacting"
src="http://ddo.tentonhammer.com/files/gallery/albums/album50/Guild_Members_Waving.sized.jpg"
style="border: 2px solid ; width: 250px; height: 186px;" align="right">

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It's not that they are being bad by
making jokes, comments, and so
on.  I am not saying people will behave rudely or otherwise
unacceptably, but they take your lead on how your guild deals with each
other and outsiders.


What Your Guild
Contributes

People stay in
guilds because they like the people in the guild. 
But they don't join guilds for that reason alone.  People join
guilds because they see your guild members around a lot, which implies
they will have an easy time finding people to group with.  They
join because they have grouped with your guild members before, usually
as an alt, and liked what they saw.  Sometimes they join because
they find your on the Internet or heard about things your guild has to
help it's members.




You need to be able to find the
things your guild provides to encourage
new members.  They will stay, as I mentioned, because they like
you (as long as you set the correct tone), but they will initially gain
interest because of other things.




Our guild was lucky enough to have
acquired a guild web page just before
I became the leader of our guild.  I immedeatly set up a guild
bank, a new appearance, calendar of events, encouraged use of our
forums to get rid of the “empty” look, and set up other little “perks”
to visiting the web page (such as links to PG related cartoons,
etc).  This all helped encourage people to want to join our guild.

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Recruiting

No matter how good a
judge of character you are, you are going to
occasionally recruit the wrong person.  You should recruit people
in small groups, getting enough people that they have members of
similar levels to play with, then take a week or two to confirm they
are a good fit for your guild.




You should remember that even the
most dedicated members of your guilds
will eventually leave, for all sorts of reasons, not out of any issue
with your guild, but problems with the game, finding other interested,
family or schools needs, and so on.  You need to have members who
will “pick up the torch” being your core members as people leave. 
So you will want to have members who are new all the time, and should
remember to occasionally set up recruiting events.

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Information Is
Key

It is very difficult
to get information to guild members.  They
put different priorities to things than you, may be distracted, may not
be on when you are on.  Your officers should know that if they
recruit someone (and they should know the criteria for recruiting) they
are to make sure the new member knows where to find your guild web
page, how to register, and so on.




href="http://ddo.tentonhammer.com/modules.php?set_albumName=album50&id=Guild_Web_Page_Picture&op=modload&name=Gallery&file=index&include=view_photo.php"> alt="A Guild Web Page"
src="http://ddo.tentonhammer.com/files/gallery/albums/album50/Guild_Web_Page_Picture.sized.jpg"
style="border: 2px solid ; width: 250px; height: 164px;" align="left">A
guild web page is a very important tool for passing information on to
your guild members.   Personally my guild uses Guild Portal,
but I am sure there are other web pages out there.  Personalize
your web page, and take the time to learn how to use it.

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A very crucial part of a guild web
page is the forums, bank and
calendar.  A calendar is useful because it passes on information
about events, and allows those organizing the events to estimate how
many people will arrive for the event.  A forums allows more
communication between guild members.

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A guild bank works this way. 
You create a guild mule character
who has a easy to remember name.  All donated items should be
mailed to the mule.  Then set up a bank on  the web page
(this usually is available on guild hosting pages, and is semi
automated).  Any time a donation is received, simply place the
item in the web page list of href="http://ddo.tentonhammer.com/index.php?module=ContentExpress&func=display&ceid=438">items,
and when a person wants to have the
item, the automated system will send mail to the web host/guild leader
saying who wants what item.  In our guild, I also have a system
using the minimum level of an item to determine how many withdrawals
and donations people make.  This helps makes sure our guild bank
isn't being raided.  The downside of a guild bank is that it
requires about an hour a day or so of accounting, but the dividends in
membership appreciation is well worth it if your can take the time.

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You Cannot Do
This Alone

After a certain
point, your going to need help with administering the
guild.  You may not believe it, but if the people who are the core
of the guild are not online, the members who are newer will lose some
motivation, and eventually fade away.  You need to be present
online enough so people in your guild see you around, and your core
members, the leaders of your guild, need to be able to also.  It
takes time for a guild to atrophy from lack of leadership presence, but
it is inevitable if you and the core members of your guild are not
around.




You need to be able to depend on
your core members.  These are the
people who know what the guilds tone is supposed to be, have been in
the guild for a while, and know how to play the MMORG you play in
question.  They are able to lead groups of adventurers, so that
they can form groups of guild members and have a good time.

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You should be in communication with
your core members, ask they
opinions and solicit their ideas.  You will miss details and good
ideas if you don't.


Handling
Discipline

It is inevitable
that you will find it necessary to speak with someone
regarding their behavior, or ban someone.  There are not many easy
ways to deal with this, but here are some basics.

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  1. Don't take
    your time about it.  When someone
    is a problem, those who are offended by their behavior will leave,
    sometimes without warning, soon after they mention it.
  2. Be fair. 
    Take the time to speak to someone,
    but if you can't, send a message to them.  If possible have a
    guild officer speak with them if your not around.  Everything you
    do will be judged by other guild members.  Even if you don't go
    into the details of why someone is removed, other guild members will
    hear about it, and if you treat someone unfairly, they will know.
  3. Be
    mature.  When someone is booted, or spoken
    to, don't bad talk the person.  Say they were not't a good fit,
    not
    that they were jerks, or if they were glaringly bad, just avoid
    commenting about their character at all.   Remember that a
    negative tone, even if not directed against someone, will make that
    person uncomfortable.  How you comport yourself with people who
    are removed or disciplined will reflect upon your guild to your new
    members.

Have Fun

You need to know
when your getting burnt out.  If you have led
your guild long enough, you will get tired of the work, bored with the
game, or otherwise have other interests.  You owe it to your guild
members to find a good replacement for yourself when you leave, and you
should be aware of the signs of it… don't feel obligated to stick
around to the point that your no longer willing to go online. 
Instead, recognize that your getting tired of leadership, find a
replacement, make sure the replacement is a good leader, and then let
people know if your going to go.



Remember that if your tired of leading, it doesn't mean you have to
leave the guild to be fair.  You can chose to retire and promote
someone else to the guild.  Just explain you need a vacation from
managing the guild, and make sure to have a person who is willing and
able to run the guild.  Teach them  the ropes a bit so that
they can pick up where you left off.



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our forums!






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Last Updated: Mar 29, 2016

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