Look I’m not claiming to be some grand mystical poo-bah when it comes to how guilds run their events, but there are a few things that should be done to make them more enjoyable for everyone participating.
Now there is a reason I’m bringing this up. Tonight a guild I participate with had their weekly “Raid” night. Well our Raid leaders spent the first 20 minutes of the time trying to figure out what raids they were not locked out of due to having run them earlier on in the day/week. Don’t get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with guild members working to get geared up, but it is also proper for Raid Leaders to reserve their options for planned Raid events. Using this as an example lets look at what they could have done to make the night flow smoother.
- Plan beyond deciding on a “Raid Night”. Which raid? What difficulty mode etc.
- Be Prepared. When our two raid organizers or “Leaders” were not able to run half the raids available in the game, they didn’t prepare for their event, we wound up running one we were not equipped for and failed gloriously because of it.
- Evaluate your people so you know if they are prepared for the task at hand before committing them.
- Have a backup plan. So there aren’t enough people to do the raid? Do you have people that need geared up that can get the gear they need from dungeons etc? Nothing wrong with a Raid Night turning into a Dungeon Crawl, the point is for everyone to have fun.
- Actively work on getting others prepared for such events in the future. Being in a guild is about more than just having people to run raids and dungeons with.
In all honesty these are the types of things that anyone in a position of leadership should be thinking about, in a guild, in a business, in your everyday life. They are some of the keys to success: Plan, Be prepared, Evaluate your people, and Have a backup plan. There are other things that are needed but these seem to be the areas most people have trouble with. This is also a reason I think all MMO’s should have in game guild calendars.
Planning events is difficult don’t get me wrong it takes time and patience to evaluate and find out what other players are capable of doing, but if you assume the role of Guild Leader, or Raid Leader or any officer position you should be willing to at least make an effort to do just that. Another part you should be playing is assisting in helping other guild-mates get up to speed when possible. This might mean sparring to help them with tactics, taking them on dungeon runs you’ve far out leveled in order to assist them in acquiring gear and possibly helping them by crafting equipment they can use. Far too often I see guilds take the stance of only being supportive once you get to “End Game” where you can raid. That’s not a good guild in my opinion. The only reason I can think of people having that attitude is they want help to get the next tier of equipment, yet could care less about helping someone else get theirs. When I see this happen I try to point out the definition of what a guild actually is.
guild or gild (gɪld)
n.
There is something about that “Mutual Aid” that strikes me. Does it mean a guild should be working together to help each other out? I think so and honestly it is mutually beneficial to the guild. Everyone looks for a good group that will allow them to engage in crafting, raids, dungeons, etc. with like minded people. By helping people progress to the point where they can do that, you are making your guild more attractive to potential recruits. By planning well for event nights, you are making your guild more attractive to recruits. Spending 20 minutes trying to figure out what can and can’t be done because those organizing it are ill prepared eventually will make your guild extremely un-attractive to everyone. Think on it.