Fast Tips for Keeping a Guild Together

We all have heard of guilds falling apart after Burning Crusade came out. Don't feel bad if this is one of your guilds. I have a feeling every time an expansion comes up, many guilds will crumble because the structure of the game keeps changing.

Many guilds will stay together and continue on. I was a regular member in a well established guild (one of the first created on my server) for almost a year. It was a family guild that raids. And it truly was exactly that. However as time got closer and closer to Burning Crusade release, tension grew because some people wanted to cover as much as possible before the release, while others were unenthused to play because within a month all items would be obsolete. Whatever the case may be, guilds will always go through a lot of problems. Here are some fast tips to try to keep things together.

All officers are well informed

Make sure there is no separation between officers. If the guild master is only talking to a select few officers, or if officers are only going to certain officers for discussion, it will create a lot of tension and mistrust between each other. If not all officers are well informed, it could cause a "guild split" due to officers feeling cliques between each other and not part of the whole team.

Keep your guild active

A guild with members that do nothing but come online and chat, and play alone will only work for so long. Eventually members are going to leave for other guilds that do things together. One reason for people to even have a guild is to have people there that can help them overcome content they couldn't alone. How frustrating it can be to be part of a guild that no one ever wants to come along for an instance, or start up a raid. Even having a few weekly guild events will help keep things together, such as contests.

Keep the drama out

Keeping the drama out of guild chat, between guildies on forums, or even in officer chat is enough to get people to feel uncomfortable and move on. Even if they are not involved in the drama, it'll keep them wondering when they'll be next. Guilds with too much drama and people having fits and leaving raids will in turn make a guild fall apart.

Avoid cliques

This may be one of the hardest things to do because every one wants to come on and play with who they want. This is perfectly fine. But including all members is essential. I have been part of a guild that the cliques got so bad they would lie to other members that there was no room in a raid, when there was. Even if you do not feel like there are cliques, other people may not feel the same. Do your best to announce to every one that they are welcome to join. Avoid calling out any particular member by name for a particular run. Example: If there are 5 priests online, and your friend is Healzalot, do not log in and ask in guild chat, "Healzalot would you like to come to Steamvault to heal?"

This may seem like a friendly invite, but to others they may be wondering why they are never asked to go every time. Instead, private message the particular player, or ask in general, "Do any priests want to come to heal?"

Do Not Take to Threats

Some guild members may threaten to leave if they do not get their way. If you are an officer, you can take it up to the guild master. However if you are the leader of the guild, remember that it is your guild and if you do not agree with the member, do not let it turn into a long drawn out drama and threatening session. If the guild does not work out for that member, then they need to go to a guild that fits them. Letting guild members continuously threaten can add drama, stress, and be uncomfortable for others to sit through. Keep it out of the guild.

Don't Let Others (even officers) tell you It's over

I agree that at some point you just need to know when it's time to quit. However, if you still have the drive an motivation to keep the guild going, don't let others tell you its over. If they think it's a dead guild, and over, they can leave. Just learn from your mistakes, pick yourself back up, maybe re-design the website a little, clean up the forums, and recruit again. It is just a game, and if building a guild is what is fun to you, then keep at it no matter who may /gquit and leave for another. Even if Officers leave you, don't get discouraged.

Essentially, people are going to criticize you when you are running a guild. Not every one will agree with you. But keeping a drama free environment, keeping the guild active, and avoiding cliques as much as possible will help keep your guild together. The basic thing to remember is, if you started the guild, and it falls apart the first time, don't get discouraged.

A side note of inspiration: Did you know that Kentucky Fried Chicken was on the verge of failing at one point? The right person came along (Dave Thomas the founder of Wendy's), helped, and it got turned around into a million dollar success.

Though restaurants and guilds are two different things, keep in mind that some things don't always work out in the beginning. And as much as you may want it to work out, if you keep working hard, something great just may show up and make it the best on the server!