Guild Discussion 1-Guild Leadership +Goals

[Ayna]

I'm just going to give out my opinion before I read anything.????

????* Can anyone you feel lead a guild?
No. It's not an easy task just anyone can pick up and suddenly do well. Or else we wouldn't have guilds falling apart. I've lead two guilds before on other servers and, yeah. It's really not easy.

????* What kind of people should be leaders for a guild?
Someone who is a rock and unbiased if drama occurs. You need to be able to step between people and act as a referrer without letting it affect you. Then take a step back and discuss with your officers in a mature manner what to do about it.
I think you also need to be a people person. Who wants a quiet leader? People look to you for guidance more so than they will anyone else in the guild. You also need to be able to approach people for possible recruits or your guild will not grow at all.
You need knowledge of the game because, as said before, people will go to you more so than anyone else.
To be able to think quick on your feet, be reliable, assertive, but not aggressive. RO isn't a dictatorship. You should be able to laugh at yourself or along with your guild members. And take defeat as a chance to learn and strengthen yourself and the guild. Not something to beat up yourself or others over a loss on a game. Lost a castle or wiped at a MvP? No problem. Step back and discuss with your members what you did wrong and what you can improve.
And I know I said I wouldn't read over other opinions, but I agree with Amara on the being able to ask for help. No, not everyone will be the picture perfect leader and that's why it's important to set up other people with the duties you lack. My last guild had something like that. There were four of us. I was the guild leader for my activity. I also handled the forum. Two of the others had knowledge of RO and the people skills I lack. When one was online, they kept the guild talking and answered questions on gears/cards/etc.

????* Does a guild need a goal it strives for to be successful, please give examples of why or why not if possible.
Yes, I would think so. It gives everyone something to do. To work towards. It's organized. It also makes your guild look better, more professional. You are planning for the future.

????* What does hearing the words "WoE guild" mean to you?
A group of people who aim to succeed in WoE. To either have fun or win. I always expect them to be more geared than a social guild, since they have to stay as tough as they can be to do anything in WoE.

????* What does hearing the words "social guild" mean to you?
A group of people who aim to have fun and enjoy the game in a casual manner, whatever that happens to mean for them. In no way do I think a social guild is any less capable of doing MvP's than a WoE guild, even if the second may be more geared, what with their needing to prepare for battle.

????* Do you feel that a person needs a guild to find success and fun within the game?
Not really. You can just as easily find people through main or Pront to play with just as well as you can ask in guild chat.

????* Does a guild in your opinion "end" if the leader(s) is/are not active anymore, or is it possible to find someone else to "pass the torch to" so they say?
Not 'end' so much as die a bit. Whether it goes the whole way and dies completely I suppose depends on a few factors. The activity of the leader is certainly really important. If the leader doesn't see it in their trouble to take care of their guild, why should anyone else stay and keep it alive? You can't have anything without others in authority to keep everyone else under control. Whether or not you have officers set up, as well. They can keep the guild going during days/weeks/months you can't be around.
Yes, I believe it is possible to pass the torch to someone else. Again, under certain circumstances. If that person was already an active member of the guild and known and trusted by the other members to pick up the guild where the other leader left off without changing it into a whole new guild.
So long as there is someone of authority there, I believe any guild has a chance to survive.

I don't feel I contribute enough to these kinds of conversations.

[Motenai_Ronin]

Before I answer the slew of questions I would like to say for the record that I'm very satisfied with the "transfer" of Geonosis members to Mognet.

[Irxallis]

# Can anyone you feel lead a guild?
No, definitely not. I have led a ~40~50 people guild for ~7 months on another server with mostly active members and I am well aware that I am not a good leader for a guild. Or maybe: everybody can lead a guild, but it is extremely hard to keep an alive and prospering guild which is able to survive for a long time and be successful.

# What kind of people should be leaders for a guild?
The high command of the guild (not necessarily one person) needs to have 3 areas covered:
- management: needs to change titles, taxes, select officers, resolve conflicts, invite and expel etc.
- public relations: needs to be known and interact with other guilds and players.
- vision: what is the guild about? What is the goal of the guild? What is to be done to get closer to vision. Ensure all the officers follow the vision and those who do not must be demoted even if those are leader's best friends.

If the high command has those areas covered and is quite accessible in case of emergency and there are enough people on the server which would accept the vision as their own I think the guild will survive and prosper.

# Does a guild need a goal it strives for to be successful, please give examples of why or why not if possible.

Yes. If the guild does not have any goal, why join it? Even a goal of 'group of people having fun together' is acceptable - as long as the vision does not change.

I would say WoE guilds are more stable, because they have at least part of the vision ingrained into their very description: to succeed in the War of Emperium.
Non-WoE guilds have to think of a reason why they should exist at all, but after this happens they have it easier to keep players: most non-WoE players want to play with people they know and like.

Example you asked for:

The guild I created long time ago on another server was a guild built around partying and it was very successful. It sucked lots of non-WoE guilds and quickly became one of the larger ones, with high activity, alive forums and overall atmosphere of trust, gear passing, events and various level parties.

The vision became the pitfall of that guild however, as with nearing transcendence most of the officers (and some members) wanted the guild to turn to WoE and others decided that WoE did not interest them, following the original vision (which was the guild they joined). This rift splitted the guild violently creating incredible internal drama and in the end two guilds were formed with people feeling very hurt and betrayed over this stuff for a long time.

If I had clarified the goal, I might have lost ~20% of members but the guild would stay intact. That is why keeping the vision pure and making sure all the officers follow the same vision is one of the most important steps in having an alive and successful guild in my opinion.

# What does hearing the words "WoE guild" mean to you?
A guild which participates or intends to participate in WoE. This type of guild usually drives the economy of the server with particular items (starsand, karvo). Members usually have PvP gear.

# What does hearing the words "social guild" mean to you?
A guild which is mostly focused on the social side of a server - meeting people and chatting. Members do things which are out of the scope of RO as a game (werewolf, for example) more often. On HeRO it seems 'social guild' means 'non-WoE guild with major focus on social component of the RO'.

If you asked me what does hearing "non-WoE guild" mean to me, my answer would be very different though ;-).

# Do you feel that a person needs a guild to find success and fun within the game?
Absolutely not. If a person is not very interested in social part of a game and treats HeRO mostly as multiplayer PvE game guilds are useless. I would even say a guild might be a nuisance if they require anything out of their members and the goal of the guild does not align with the goals of the member.
Of course guilds can be very useful to meet like-minded people and to start RO journey - but they are by no means required to have fun.

If your goal is WoE you absolutely require a guild (I hope this is obvious).

To be honest guild as a tool is useful because of:
- guildchat (promotes social interaction and coordination between members)
- allows WoE

Everything else (forum, helping each other etc) is not a part of a guild as a device, it is the people playing RO. Those do not require a guild. That's why I say guild is not required - most of the benefits of having a guild do not come from a guild, technically, but from the actions of people.

# Does a guild in your opinion "end" if the leader(s) is/are not active anymore, or is it possible to find someone else to "pass the torch to" so they say?
If the high command is composed of more than one person, additional person simply needs to be added to the high command (get interns until you find a proper one). A very important thing - whole high command has to have the same vision or the guild will either split or die.

[Motenai_Ronin]

# Can anyone lead a guild?
No. Guild leaders must be able to read people and address their issues. Guild leaders are more successful if they got their act together. While charisma is a plus, it is not an absolutely essential characteristic. Long as a guild leader seems motivated and focused it does trickle down to his/her members.

# What kind of people should be leaders for a guild?
Mature folks. Folks with high tolerance. Folks that have clear rules and clear ideas. Someone that can create an officer group and maintain its order. You'll be surprised how much restrictions folks will accept if it makes their lives easier.

# Does a guild need a goal it strives for to be successful, please give examples of why or why not if possible.
A goal? No, not really. Democracy works, especially in small units, and ideally (in my mind) serious guilds work best in small manageable units. Of course this entails why there are officers. It is my observation that however many are in a guild, there are rarely 10+ on at the same time. Be flexible and open to change. Be spontaneous. To a point.

# What does hearing the words "WoE guild" mean to you?
People lets meet once/twice a week to work together to give our guild publicity directly related to aggressive-power. The longer we have a castle, the longer we're in the lime-light; its a positive review of our "integrity."

# What does hearing the words "social guild" mean to you?
People lets form parties that deprioritize Farming and give everyone a new / unique experience that being with chatty folks can bring. For people that get the most out of growing with the game. Has a different set of values (sorta). Gets publicity from inviting other guilds or guildless people to their soirees.

# Do you feel that a person needs a guild to find success and fun within the game?
No. Guilds are tools, and some folks feel they need to use tools. Others are more hardcore and do it straight. Taken to the extreme, a guild may be a storage facility for someone's slew of characters. Toys are more fun the more ways you can find to use them. Otherwise they are hunks of plastic.

# Does a guild in your opinion "end" if the leader(s) is/are not active anymore, or is it possible to find someone else to "pass the torch to" so they say?
In the rare case that every officer feels the guild is a washout, it would be difficult to restore the guild to its once former glory. If one or two leave, the others re-elect amongst themselves or take things on themselves. How about we look to the evolution of our GM-Team for insight on how and why guild leaders dissolve or collude?

[Veed]

1.)Can anyone you feel lead a guild?
- No, since most guild leaders take sides in internal strife's, the main thing about being a guild leader is to have the ability to take and understand everyone's opinions and unite the differences between these people.

2.) What kind of people should be leaders for a guild?
- Someone Respectable. Being caring is a plus since it helps motivate new members to join. but someone who is able to not let their personal feelings
get involved for the good of the guild.

3.) Does a guild need a goal it strives for to be successful, please give examples of why or why not if possible.
- Not really. Taking myself as an example i want to do anything i want when i want. Enforcing a goal may not be a bad idea but if that goal somehow interferes with the freedom i have in the game then sayonara.

a.) What does hearing the words "WoE guild" mean to you?
- Serious dedicated people working towards a certain goal.

b.) What does hearing the words "social guild" mean to you?
- Just epic randomness.

c.) Does a guild in your opinion "end" if the leader(s) is/are not active anymore, or is it possible to find someone else to "pass the torch to" so they say?
- Some guilds fall apart due to the leader being inactive. but there have been cases where the disbanding of a guild has been prevented