We often talk of slippery slopes in World of Warcraft as if Azeroth itself is on major decline and everyone is falling down it. It’s usually all gloom and doom but I’m here to bring a bit of a happier approach to the subject – how to stop your guild from reaching critical. Yes, we all know it, there has been a huge downtime in patches, no one logs in anymore, and your guild is talking the big “m” or “merger.”

Need help removing trouble from your guild? Look here for some handy advice.

So let’s analyze if you have a problem and go from there. Are you unable to field raids without taking in tons of PUGs? No one showing up most of the time? Are there people upset and leaving without a single trace? If so, your guild has a problem and the first step is to admit to it. If you admit to it then it’s time to get things started.

Stop the Bleeding

First and foremost, let’s talk community and how you need to reestablish it right now. No matter who you are, a regular member or the guild leader himself, you can work towards establishing a sense of community with those who remain. Make sure everyone feels as if they’re together and they can’t possibly abandon ship.

If you’re a regular old member start talking more, try to engage everyone who logs in, and bring some action to the guild. If you’re an officer or a guild leader then start events or call times for people to logon and start talking to one another. The quicker you can bring people together, get them talking, and understanding that they belong in THIS guild and not THAT guild the sooner the bleeding stops.

You’ll also want to look at why people are leaving. For instance, right now there isn’t much to do in the game for raiders and it’s an established fact – so reassure everyone who still logs on that the action will kick back up when the next patch hits the servers. Until then, everyone needs to just wait things out. If you merge, join another guild, whatever then the doldrums will continue there and everyone will come back next patch.

If it’s for another reason then, well, find out what it is and take care of it. Are you having trouble makers in your guild? Read this article on how to deal with them. The quicker the better, because as soon as you have the problem taken care of then it’s time to start the repair.

Fixing the Leak

Sometimes it's smart to just make someone walk the plank.

So you’ve got people not rallying to abandon ship, what do you do with them now? My suggestion: start recruiting. The quickest, easiest, and safest way to keep your guild going under. Even during a downtime, pulling in more players means you’ve got more people active and the more people feel like your guild is doing something. Don’t make the big mistake though and pull in too many new guildmates too quickly. If you do, the quality of your guild will run downhill fast. Bringing people in makes sure you have the numbers and as older members return, you’ll have a stronger, better, more impressive guild.

That’s about the all there is to it, of course, all of us can’t recruit members into our guild because we’re just lowly peons and sometimes bringing people together just won’t work.

That’s when the best fix is to understand that the guild is indeed running down a slippery slope and there is no climbing back up. In these instances always consider doing a server transfer if the guild you’re in has been your home for a long time. Why? Because once you leave you’ll have that guild in your history and what friends remain will loathe you, unless, of course, it’s all on good terms.

Sometimes it does pay to be a bit selfish and think of your needs, especially if you don’t have any control of the situation, but on the other hand it’s also good to protect yourself from unneeded drama. WoW is just a game and having people scream at your in trade isn’t the main objective, which sadly can happen in a bad breakup. When a guild is on the decline, each person leaving is like a personal stab at the remaining members, and sometimes people do take it a bit too seriously.

Hopefully it won’t come to that and you’ll have a healthy, long standing guild, especially once the patch launches. Until then, though, hang in there and try to make things work the best you can. Got any comments? Leave ‘em below!