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. This lacks creativity and is often perpetrated by inexperienced players.
Changing the spelling - It may seem cool to alter words to get them to fit your guild, but they often come back to bite you in the end. Resist the urge to misspell or alter it to fit your needs. 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. Do they play often? Do they do anything or just wear the badge? They wanted the title, so put them to work! Have them assist the members and build the team.
No guild activities - It doesn't matter what game you play or where your guild is progression-wise, you need to have regularly scheduled events. Heck, if you're not off slaying dragons you may as well slay a few brews at the local tavern. Be obnoxious and invite non-guildies in on the fun, you'll be amazed at what that does for your recruiting effforts. 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. Develop your guild's personality here; 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. This is a huge aspect of managing your guild successfully.
Failing membership - Once members start a mass exodus out of your guild, it's time to reevalute your stance as a team. If you're a mercenary guild bent on total PvP destruction, you'll need to find out of the people who left fit that role well. Always follow up and get their opinions. You can apologize for their leaving but it's meaningless if you don't have the "why" to build from. Use this feedback to determine if the problem was on your end or theirs.
Spamming global - Never a good idea. Players hate this type of recruiting strategy. This lacks creativity and is often perpetrated by inexperienced players.
Changing the spelling - It may seem cool to alter words to get them to fit your guild, but they often come back to bite you in the end. Resist the urge to misspell or alter it to fit your needs. 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. Do they play often? Do they do anything or just wear the badge? They wanted the title, so put them to work! Have them assist the members and build the team.
No guild activities - It doesn't matter what game you play or where your guild is progression-wise, you need to have regularly scheduled events. Heck, if you're not off slaying dragons you may as well slay a few brews at the local tavern. Be obnoxious and invite non-guildies in on the fun, you'll be amazed at what that does for your recruiting effforts. 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. Develop your guild's personality here; 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. This is a huge aspect of managing your guild successfully.
Failing membership - Once members start a mass exodus out of your guild, it's time to reevalute your stance as a team. If you're a mercenary guild bent on total PvP destruction, you'll need to find out of the people who left fit that role well. Always follow up and get their opinions. You can apologize for their leaving but it's meaningless if you don't have the "why" to build from. Use this feedback to determine if the problem was on your end or theirs.
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