Run a Guild in an MMO: What You Need to Know

Running a guild in World of Warcraft is one of the most misunderstood parts in the game. It is a job that you pay to do. There are skills needed that are essential to the position and many are similar to those required for many management jobs. I know this all first hand because I ran a guild for over two years, and would like to impart some of what I learned onto you.

First and foremost you need to know a good amount about the game. What aspects depend on what type of guild you are running. If it's a twink pvp guild, you need to know how to succeed in the battlegrounds your guild will be doing, what enchants are the best, and so on. While a leader of a raiding guild must have knowledge about the boss strategies and preferred raid make up. Even the most casual of guilds benefit from a guild leader who can answer questions about leveling areas. You don't need to go overboard, but a decent knowledge about your guild's main mission statement is essential.

Conflict management and tact. The two go hand in hand, no matter what, we are dealing with individual people. When people interact there is eventually conflict, at it's worse it becomes huge drama. As the leader, it is your job to defuse this as much as humanly possible, and it has to be done tactfully. You can't just insult people, and boot anyone who makes the slightest peep against you. Nor can you ignore all the drama and let it explode. Both will kill the enjoyment of your guild and lead to you being in charge of no one. Also prepare for odd conflicts to come up. There is the typical loot issues, or arguments over who is getting to go in groups over others. But be prepared for people's real life drama to get involved too. I've personally had to deal with people fighting over someone flirting with their boyfriend, friends not wanting to be around each other anymore, and my personal favorite, a guildie told another that he wanted to touch him. All this and more from supposed grown ups.

At the same time, you get to enforce rules and many times get to be the bad guy. Either at the start, or later on, you and your officers will establish rules for the guild. Guess who gets to enforce the rules, gets to kick members when push comes to shove, and has to deal with all the fall out regardless of being around for altercations or not? Yep, you. It is again not the easiest of things to do, you have to interact and enjoy yourself like everyone else, but at any given time you need to be ready to move into "boss" mode. This part of the job leads to people not being as forthcoming with you as you would prefer. Sadly it's part of the job.

An ability to read people, or at least quickly understanding their motivations is very helpful. Everyone has an agenda. Really most people just want to enjoy themselves in the guild and that's it. But personalities are varied and there will be power plays, back door deals, jockeying for power, and much more. You need to be able to identify this as soon as possible, preferably before it even happens. When players grow unhappy, you need to see it. If possible, you need to find out what is the problem and fix it as long as it doesn't go against your rules or upset the rest of the guild. Knowing a person and being able to generally predict how they will react helps out a lot. Some people you can chit chat with all buddy buddy like, others need to be talked down to, while others you need to treat as if they are kings. We do this everyday when we interact with others, World of Warcraft is no different, it is very important to have when leading the guild.

There are two more vital abilities you need to have while running a guild, and they kind of go hand in hand. One is being able to have fun with all this workload. World of Warcraft, or any MMO is a game and designed for you to enjoy, the day you stop having fun being guild leader, is the day it truly becomes a job. When the last time you enjoyed yourself was several weeks ago, it is time to decide if you are still right for the job. The other important skill, is to not get too hurt when things go wrong. Because the guild is filled with people you see everyday, or very close to it, you become emotionally vested in their well being. When people leave, or there is some stupid drama, or a myriad of other things, it does take a toll on you personally. Since most likely the guild is something you built yourself, any shot taken at the whole guild feels like a direct hit to you. The better you can handle all this, the better you will be as a guild leader. It is okay, and really essentially for you to care about the guild beyond some part of a silly game, but being able to separate the blows the guild takes from those you take, will make your life much easier.

I thoroughly enjoyed the time I spent running a guild, even with the drama that came with it. There's no other way I would have wanted to spend my time playing the game. But it's not for everyone, if you feel you have the abilities listed above, I encourage you to try it. It can be a very enriching experience.