Player Associations Archive
Thread: Any hints for someone who just ended up taking leadership of a guild?
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CasNe
Mon Feb 28, 2005 12:15 pm
#1
Due to personal circumstances outside of SWG, some of the key figures in the guild I'm a member of left the guild. Before leaving, the guild leader passed his position onto me. I assume that he felt I was up to the task and I have accepted these duties. This change shocked the other members but I have established that everything will be fine and that we should carry on and stick together.
I'm just wondering if there's any guild leaders out there that could give me any tips and hints about what kind of things might lie ahead for me? This guild is like a family and I don't want things to fall apart because I wasn't ready.
Thanks,
Cas'Ne Ephoi
Master Swordsman/Master Doctor
CenoKreFey
Mon Feb 28, 2005 2:04 pm
#2
Keep things running like it always was. Some/all/none of the following may apply in your case:
- Schedule guild hunts, base attacks, pvp attack groups,or events often.
- Don't let hours pass by in guildchat without any conversation.
- Keep the bonds going (encouraging where needed) to make sure the guildies help each other out. Make sure even the casual players are taken care of.
- Don't overlook any players, regardless of howlittle you know themor how little youhave interacted with them in the past. Start conversations with them, find out what they like to do, maybe even some real life stuff. Try to find some common interests that will give you something to conversate over in the future.
- If you've got some extra money, help out some of the poorer members who are struggling with basic equipment or grinding a crafting profession. Feel around to find out if they would rather borrow than take money.Some like to earn what they get and do not want charity (or it diminishes their immersive experience to have stuff handed to them).
This is stuff I learnedfirsthand. I was a founder of my guild (but not leader). After it'd been going for about 10 months, I took a 3 month break that ended a few weeks before WoW was released. Soon after returning, our guild leader and about 75% of my guild went to WoW. The few remaining lost interest and basicly stopped playing. Over 30 members were gone in the space of a month, leaving me and another who'd been in the guild for about a month. I took a proactive approach, recruiting quality over quantity, keeping our city builtup, planning hunts every week, and helping out our new struggling members. Now we have around 30 active members including about 7 who were lured back, a completed city with shuttleport, a solid base of crafters/warriors who have a blast on guildchat and on hunts, and we're planning the opening of a mall in March.
People will leave with no explanation, some will go straight to other guilds. Stick with it and don't lose heart. There are always good players out there.
![Iron City, Corellia [Gorath]](http://www.jedisanctum.com/swgpics/IronCity1300x1300.png){kind=link}
Zutono
Mon Feb 28, 2005 2:57 pm
#3
As leader of one of the oldest guilds on Corbantis...I only have 1 bit of advice. If a conflict or dissention start. Deal with it. Rumors about guildmates doing/not doing things can cause quite a ruckus. We have a single strict rule in our guild. If you've got a problem with someone...you either bring it up with them, or you bring it up with me. (the guild leader)
In the year and a half that I've been guild leader...I've only had to deal with ONE instance where people brought the situation to me. The faster things are dealt with, the less of a mess they become. (guess I should apply that same priciple to the mess in my car 
)
)
CasNe
Mon Feb 28, 2005 6:11 pm
#4
Great advice thanks everyone. I'm going to fight tooth and nail to keep my guild going and your advice is really going to help.
Cas'Ne Ephoi
Lonaris
Tue Mar 01, 2005 1:52 am
#5
Run for the hills?
For me I just try to talk to all my members, see whats up with them, what they need and connect people. Make sure what the guild goal is you stick with. For us we like to have fun ... so mandatory stuff is not our thing ... I just find ways to bribe them to do what I want lol.
Good luck 
wisp1422
Wed Mar 02, 2005 12:49 am
#6
What Z said is very true the sooner problems are taken care of the better... and yes Z you should apply that to your car 
Message Edited by wisp1422 on 03-01-2005 11:49 PM
Takii
Wed Mar 02, 2005 11:20 am
#7
I would also setup a forum for your guild. This will allow the players to talk off line, setup guild hunts, share ingame hints/ tricks and post request for help.
All you need is a website that support forums. I use hostgator.com. It's a nice cheap webhosting site. They also have an automaic setup for forum software in the Cpanel.
All you need is a website that support forums. I use hostgator.com. It's a nice cheap webhosting site. They also have an automaic setup for forum software in the Cpanel.
klawdec
Thu Mar 03, 2005 11:48 am
#9
As long as you were handed everything, including the powers. Our guild leader up and vanished. Took us a month before we finally decided he wasn't coming back. I had to call a meeting of roughly 40 plus people and coordinate everything. Got everything situated and a new guild structure organized.
Only problem...no one had guild powers. We couldn't invite anyone or send out guild emails. I had to type in each name into 4 mails (too many names to fit onto one mail)just to let them know we were having a guild meeting. In the end with no way to add new blood and no way to communicate effectively we had to disband.
Note to guild leaders make sure to pass everything on to someone else if you might vanish. Still never did find out what happened to him.
GloriousLeader
Thu Mar 03, 2005 12:13 pm
#10
All the above advisement should be kept close on your mind. There are other things, warnings that cannot exactly be forseen but are conquerable.
Our guild was founded by several members but ultimately in charge of by a corrupt, egocentric, downright devil of a guy. In the end, the entire PA (and this was ancient years ago) banded together and switched leaders (I was elected by the guild) and the former members was removed and the guild was so.
Unfortunately at the time, it was soon to be endured that it is not so easy to perform such a needed action, and this person declared war on us, creating insecurities and feeding fires, and downright insulting many people in the PA's forums, causing us to revamp everything, and create a newer BETTER forum.
in the first month, things did go well. But it was difficult. With the veteran members whom had endured the fight of their lives ooc, it was truly hard to get back to normal. But as time passed, and things became a thousand times better than they ever were before, and newer members, new roleplayers were being fed into the mix, those days are a memory from a forgotten time.
And the PA has grown enormously because of it.
basicly:
1.) Assure your members.
2.) Make them confident.
3.) Make them excited for new change.
4.) Assume a strong role of 'leadership'
5.) Promote trusted members as a sort of 'chain of command'
6.) Make your guild (every member) feal useful in some way.
7.) Create off computer means of connection, ie.. private forums.
8.) After truly making your guild better than it was, give it time. And soon, the memories of the old times will become just that.. memories.. before the newer and funner times.
9. and 10.) We wish you the best of luck!
Our guild was founded by several members but ultimately in charge of by a corrupt, egocentric, downright devil of a guy. In the end, the entire PA (and this was ancient years ago) banded together and switched leaders (I was elected by the guild) and the former members was removed and the guild was so.
Unfortunately at the time, it was soon to be endured that it is not so easy to perform such a needed action, and this person declared war on us, creating insecurities and feeding fires, and downright insulting many people in the PA's forums, causing us to revamp everything, and create a newer BETTER forum.
in the first month, things did go well. But it was difficult. With the veteran members whom had endured the fight of their lives ooc, it was truly hard to get back to normal. But as time passed, and things became a thousand times better than they ever were before, and newer members, new roleplayers were being fed into the mix, those days are a memory from a forgotten time.
And the PA has grown enormously because of it.
basicly:
1.) Assure your members.
2.) Make them confident.
3.) Make them excited for new change.
4.) Assume a strong role of 'leadership'
5.) Promote trusted members as a sort of 'chain of command'
6.) Make your guild (every member) feal useful in some way.
7.) Create off computer means of connection, ie.. private forums.
8.) After truly making your guild better than it was, give it time. And soon, the memories of the old times will become just that.. memories.. before the newer and funner times.
9. and 10.) We wish you the best of luck!
_YakFace_
Thu Mar 03, 2005 3:39 pm
#11
CasNe wrote:
Due to personal circumstances outside of SWG, some of the key figures in the guild I'm a member of left the guild. Before leaving, the guild leader passed his position onto me. I assume that he felt I was up to the task and I have accepted these duties. This change shocked the other members but I have established that everything will be fine and that we should carry on and stick together.
First of all, make a new voting processto elect tne new leader.
It's some kind of frustating when the old leader impose a person to be his succesor, that's not a dinasty, it's a 'family' and the new leader has to be elected in democracy, dont you think?
Yeah, it's great to be the leader but not without the real support of the others members. Personally you need to know they want you, and second, if you are notsupported then it's better to elect another one that everybody like Think first in the community, it's all for the PA
LordFerno
Fri Mar 04, 2005 8:46 am
#12
Taking over the mantle of PA Leader is never an easy thing , and it is going to drastically change your game life.
The following things I can suggest to you though are:
1) Always do what you think and feel at the time to be best for the guild as a whole and for the members. If you've done what you genuinely think to be right then you can do no more.
2) Be prepared to take time out of your own playing schedule. Your guildmates will be your best friends ingame, but they will sometimes need help, need to talk, need advice. if you're incharge, you're the person they'll come to, so you may well have to take time to sit down somewhere, or find somewhere safe to stand and answer /tells.
3) GuildChat is your best friend! Your second best friend is guild mass mails.
4) Be cautious without hesitating and be spontaneous without being careless. Sounds like a strange mix but its important to be able to act at the right time, for the right reasons.
5) There are lots of guilds out there, and as a result lots of guild leaders. If your guild has chosen a side in the war, go and talk to one of your allies or another friendly PA. I see no reason that they won't help you. In fact in all honesty you could probably talk to guild leaders from any faction and they'd help you out. PA's are content and ensuring the survival of another PA means we all have some to fight with or alongside. So remember you're not alone.
6) Surround yourself with a good team to share your responsibility. There's only one Emperor in this Galaxy and even he has others to take the weight off. You don't have to run the guild by yourself.
Gothywench
Sun Mar 06, 2005 6:01 am
#13
The folks who've suggested putting up an out-of-game forum are spot on. So is a lot of the advice that you've been given. If you want to see a good example of how one can have fun with a forum, visit our site:
http://www.lostcityoflok.net
A lot of people sign up for our forums who are not Lost members, and we're always happy to see new people.
http://www.lostcityoflok.net
A lot of people sign up for our forums who are not Lost members, and we're always happy to see new people.
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