Guilds are an integral part of MMORPGs and MMO games, bringing gamers together into like-minded groups, allowing them to more easily make friends, find questing partners, get help, and more. The majority of MMO gamers will join guilds, and most have thought about what it would be like to create and run their own guild.
Unfortunately,
most gamers also don’t realize how difficult running a guild (or at
least a successful one) can be. You have to be an active player, be
skilled at and knowledgeable about the game, a great diplomat, social
and personable, and most of all, a great leader. If you think you have
the necessary qualities to lead your own guild, then read on to get all
the details of how to do it.
Getting Started
Your
first step will be to determine what the prerequisites are in order to
create a guild, which will vary by game. Firstly, you’ll probably need
to be at a minimum level to create a guild, which usually isn’t in the
upper level tier, but somewhere around the middle (let’s say the level
20-40 range in most games).
You’ll
also need a relatively healthy helping of gold pieces (or insert random
game currency here), which will probably prove to be a greater headache
than the level requirement. Lastly, you’ll probably need to have a
minimum number of members or officers within a relatively short period
for the guild to be officially formed (often 24 hours).
So
before anything else, you’ll probably want to make sure you have all of
these prerequisites in order, including friends ready to join your
guild as officers, before you actually make one. When you’re ready, head
to whomever oversees guild creation within the game, plunk down your
hard-earned cash, choose your name (try to keep it sensible, as the name
could affect the willingness of others to join your guild), and create
your guild.
At this point you’ll
probably need to write some sort of description for your guild that
interested applicants will be able to view. This would be a good
opportunity, if you haven’t done so already, to come up with a general
guild philosophy. Is your guild going to be geared towards casual
players who like to chat? Will it be focused on PvP? Trading?
Roleplaying? How big do you plan on growing? By having a clear vision of
your guild and expressing that in your description, you should be able
to more easily attract like-minded players to your guild.
Growing Your Guild
Now
that your guild is up and running, and your vision for the guild is in
place, you can begin to actively recruit fellow players yourself (and
set your officers loose as well, if you’ll be trusting them with
recruitment duties). By being socially active in-game, following the
chat rooms, and constantly checking the info of players you cross paths
with in the game world to see whether or not they have guilds, you
should be able to find plenty of great candidates to recruit into the
fold.
At this point, you’ll also want
to set up a guild website and forums where your members can hook up and
stay in touch outside of the game. There are plenty of great options
available, such as guildportal.com. You’ll also want to put some guild
rules on your guild page. What rules you decide to enact is entirely up
to you, but some good examples would be to ask that guild members stay
relatively active, and treat everyone with respect (not only your own
members, but everyone in the game, as your guild could develop a bad
reputation if some of your members are running around acting stupid).
Keeping Everyone Engaged (and Civil)
Now
that a lot of the early work is out of the way, you may be expecting
things to settle down into a nice rhythm with relatively little upkeep
necessary at this point. Well…think again chief. No, the fun is really
only getting started I’m afraid.
You’re
now in a constant battle to keep your members happy and engaged with
each other, lest they jump ship to another guild (or even worse, be so
put off by your guild that they would rather just play alone). You’ll
need to be firm in enforcing your rules to root out any negative
influences that could drag the whole guild down.
You
may want to begin setting up guild events at this point to help get
everyone acquainted and having fun together, which will build their
loyalty to the guild. You’ll want to pay attention to how people get
along during these events and in your guild chat so you can identify any
potential trouble spots before they happen. You may also want to begin
forming partnerships or alliances with other guilds, bringing yet more
options and chances for excitement to your guild members.
Conclusion
Guild
leadership really can be a rewarding experience, but it’s a constant
juggling act, and there’s always drama galore. If you can handle that,
or especially if you thrive in that kind of environment, then there are
plenty of players just waiting for the opportunity to serve under a
great leader like you.
interesting
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