I have a question. How hard is it to run a Guild in terms of being the Guild Master, setting up things ingame like your RP Character as set Guild Master with TRP, Dicemaster, Discord Management and etc?
Like let’s say I want to do a Human Kingdom like Stormwind or Stromgarde or a mix of both in terms running a guild made by you. Any thoughts on tips of running a guild like in terms of RP, and etc like Human Based, Worgen, High Elf, Dwarf, and etc?
Hey there Bryian, you’re asking an age old question with some very important sorting to it. Let me see if I can tell with some of the important parts hmm?
There are several questions you should really contemplate before buying a charter. If you don’t then you’re only going to wind up wasting time and effort that could have been focused elsewhere. Like real life or playing with a more established group. Leading a clan requires dedication, commitment and investment. I’ll touch more on that in a moment. Here are the questions you should really think about.
Am I ready and able to start this group?
Running a guild is an undertaking and a personal investment, especially when you’re just starting out. You have to be active and around as often as possible for your guild to thrive. If you don’t have the time or passion to dedicate to the guild and it’s development, you really can’t expect others to do the same.
Why do I want to do this?
If your answer is anything other than “Because I want to”, “Because I can” or “Because I want to be da boss”, then you’re off to a decent start. Creating a guild for selfish reasons will only end in disaster for you and others who you have conned into being part of it. A guild shouldn’t be made to fit your agenda, but to share a community with others. Roleplaying, raiding, social. No matter the type of guild, they all share that fundamental aspect.
Some good answers to this question are:
I want to do this because….
….no other guilds offer what I’m looking for. Good chance others out there feel the same and are looking for something similar.
….I want to utilize the knowledge I’ve gained from being part of other guilds to build a new community.
……I want to create something fun and unique. Some people are drawn to this aspect alone and want to experience.
……my experience in other guilds has left me yearning for a better community. There’s a lot of good guilds out there but there’s two to three times as many bad ones. Sometimes you have to create the atmosphere you want to be in. Just don’t let it suffocate you.
Will my group offer anything to the community at large?
I’ll tell you now, you’re going to be stepping into a world of competition where every guild out and about is trying to suck up new members as quickly as possible, clans are no exception. You’ll also be contending against veteran clans who have been established for a long, long time. Not to mention all of the other upstart groups trying to do the same thing you are. What will separate your groups from the others?
Am I capable of doing this?
This goes hand and hand with the first question but is also different. Being ready and able is different than being capable. The thing I’ve enjoyed most in my 20 years of running such groups is that being a guildmaster can give you real world training if you allow it. It can teach you general leadership skills, tact and how to handle conflict. You can learn employee and time management skills. Amongst many other skills. Sure, you don’t need that knowledge going in but it helps a lot. It will be a lot of trial by fire and a lot of pressure but it will be worth the investment you put into it.
How will I handle officers?
There will come a point when you will need officers. There is no getting around that. You will not be able to lead alone after reaching a certain point. Even with a small guild, you’ll need at least one reliable officer. Don’t promote officers too quickly or promote too many. You’ll want to screen them, make sure they can follow the guilds themes and uphold the rules and aspirations of it. Be sure to test them thoroughly, give them duties that will test them before making them a fully fledged officer.
Leading a guild is not for the lighthearted or the casual player. It takes patience, passion, dedication, hard work, adaptability, investment and, I cannot stress this enough, commitment. If you don’t see yourself leading for months, possibly years, I implore you, just find a guild to play with. Guildmates will follow your example. If you’re not active or committed to the guild, you can’t expect others to be either.
Naming the Guild
The most common method in naming a guild is [Noun][Verb]. It’s simple, it works and there’s a few canon clans that support that method. However, you don’t have to follow that trend. Verb-Noun, Color-Noun, Noun-Nature, Nature-Verb or any other format can work. The most important thing about the guild isn’t how the name is constructed but how it’s represented.
Make a list of 5 names. If you have trouble then feel free to use a random guild name generator. Or heck, dm me on discord (BaSingTea#1627) and I’ll be more than happy to brainstorm with you. And I’m setting up servers too. Once you have five names, decide how they will be represented by the guild. Don’t name the guild after your character. That’s a bit arrogant. Alternatively, you can make your guild’s name a title and pass it from leader to leader.
What kind of guild do I want to lead?
Finally you need to ask yourself who your guild is. Are they noble protectors like the Shado-Pan? Masters of the arcane like the Kirin Tor? Or perhaps hearty sailors like those from Kul Tiras or even Booty Bay. Maybe they’re unique and don’t have a niche that they fall under?!
This is important because it will draw in roleplayers and potential clan members of a similar mind. So if you’re more neutral oriented, a warmongering character likely won’t mesh well. Thus it is extremely important right after creating a guild name to focus on this point and flesh it out along with its lore.
There is more topics I could keep writing about, but I’ll save that for others. I hope this helps and wish you luck in your journey ahead.
So much this. I have seen a lot of guilds who promote officers immediately after just getting a few first members. In most cases, those very same guilds didn’t last much longer than a few months. In fact, I don’t think that any of the guilds that come to mind with this kind of officer promotion is still around.
Of course if you have a friend(s) who you already know and trust, and who’d fit the role and would want it, then that would be a great way to start out with an officer already in place.
Also, I would really think about how you also plan on recruiting members for it, and what size you are aiming for. I see people who will happily join large guilds that just send out mass macro-invites or spam trade, but some (myself for example) would sooner join guilds that are not based on mass invites and where recruitment is more of an individual process.
I just want to second this as well. It’s so important to have an online presence as a GM (especially in the early days/months as a guild) and therefore preferable that your main is in the leadership role. Most players who are considering joining a guild will want a GM who is active in the game. I was asked to join a person’s guild and I was confused because they had no guild tag, so when I asked what guild they were speaking of I was told “Oh that’s on a different character. I’m not really on her that much.” That’s definitely a no-go for me.
Edit: I just want to add this neat guild startup thing. It’s originally written by Bellatorx and aimed towards the Horde as that’s their faction, but it honestly is a great-great read and I’ve gone back to it more than once. It easily applies to any guild, regardless of faction.
Roleplay guilds are a different beast than something like Raiding or Social guilds.
You need to be consistent and know what you want to do. I’ve been running the same guild for six years and for the first few months of the guild’s lifespan I was on every day, as much as possible.
I would do things and run mini events even if there was only one other person there with me. I’d do walkup roleplay in favor of banner recruitment to get the name out and to get people interested in the concept - and show I was consistent and dedicated to what I was trying to achieve. When people logged on, I was making sure they didn’t feel idle or unwanted or that their time was wasted - and this sort of stuff still permeates now.
Eventually, I started to find likeminded people who wanted to help out; and I started to figure out how they could help - and things just started to click into place. I trusted people with somethings to see if I could lighten the personal load like - recruitment, interviews, helping people feel welcome, running events. It was not a quick process to find a stable team of officers; but that’s alright so long as foundationally, the guild is stable - and you are the foundation as the guild master.
Your mood and attitude are infectious. If you don’t care, they can see it. If you’re unhappy, they can see it. If you’re toxic, you’ll cultivate a toxic environment. And if you’re not around, no one else will be either.
I’m going to say it’s really hard to keep and maintain a roleplay guild long term; but it is really fulfilling if everything falls into place and you keep your head up for the long haul. Set your expectations; whether you’re wanting to do a D&D style party, or large scale worldbuilding and adventures; they’re all valid. I don’t have any input for specific story-beats since I really only know my own stuff, but find something you can tap into and expand on to carve your own niche if possible.
Good luck!
Running a guild can be a difficult thing, but it’s as difficult as you make it. I find if you really want a guild to thrive, you need to have an idea and you need to run with it. It’s less important if your idea is broad and encompasses many aspects of RP, but that will also give you more plates to balance. A narrower, more niché idea gives you less metaphorical plates, but makes keeping them spinning paramount. All the best experiences i’ve had were in guilds with a specialty. Low fantasy human riflemen, for example. These sort of concepts require a lot of commitment and dedication and ultimately what I think is the single most important factor when running a guild: Consistency.
As said above, vet officers and make sure they’re on the same page and singing the same songs before you think about promoting them. Treat everyone fairly, if you let someone get away with something you’ve pulled others up for you will compromise the respect and trust your guildies have in you and things quickly get messy from there. Prioritize your own idea and it’s delivery and don’t let people hinder than. Not members, problem members or outside people.
The second most important thing is have fun, and look after yourself. I’ve had a couple guilds fall apart because i’ve set my bar too high, and i’ve burned myself out making sure everyone reaches it. If you’re not having fun, your guildies wont have fun, then you’ll have no guildies!
Think of running a guild much like a business or other establishment: it has rules, must be properly staffed and busy, has day to day happenings which must be organized etc. How hard is it to run a guild? Somewhat taxing but rewarding, my biggest advice is starting out with a group of friends/trusted acquaintances and going from there. A good guild advert is golden, I don’t suggest using trade chat for it, it is over saturated. Getting over the DOA bump is crucial, especially in SL.
It is hard to run a good guild for certain personality types. It is like a job you are not paid for. This means you need to have passion, conviction, and grit to do so but nothing easy is worth doing.
I am going to take a hard right for a minute so bear with me. There is a concept called the Five Love Languages. I am going to list four of them that work for the digital world.
While these are written in the concept of romantic relationships, the way you interact and want others to interact with you is present in all relationships. So if I am someone that needs affirmation, it isn’t just from my partner but my boss, family, friends, etc to feel good.
Why this is important…
Being a guild leader is being the head of a family, a business, a social organization. That means there are a lot of relationships that have to be balanced. You have to be able to read your people and offer the types of things they need to feel good. You have to know which ones you have to constantly praise, do things for, give them quality time, etc.
On the flip side, you have to understand some of those you won’t get back. And you have to either be okay with not getting it, or you may not be a good fit as a leader.
So doesn’t matter how organized you are, how friendly you are, how many great ideas you have. It all comes down to your ability to interact with others. Otherwise, you are a clique with your favorite people, which you make officers, and the guild falls apart in a couple of months after the initial Yee Haw.
It is always constant work. Even after leading for 16.5 years, I still learn more every day and have to keep working at it. You never know it all, you are never done growing or learning. And that is okay, because I as I said, have passion, conviction, and grit.
Everything Persefani wrote (and all others, for that matter) is dead on true. The reason I highlighted this one phrase is for this:
Your guild lives and dies with you. If you go, it goes. You are the keystone. Remove yourself, and it crumbles to the ground.
And bourbon. 
Hey now, I wanted to keep some trade secrets. 
These are very thoughtful comments. I would add that guilds need to facilitate loyalty through timely promotions for those that are new. Sitting on the roster for months and attending events with a new recruit status, is evidence of not tending to the flock. People like to be a part of something.
Hey! I noticed you gave your discord name and I tried to add you to discuss guild names/check out the servers you said you were creating but it says you are no longer accepting friend requests! If it’s okay with you, if you’ve created a few servers about guild-creation, I would love to join them.