Hi,
I wanted to get input on identifying healthy and functional guilds vs unhealthy and dysfunctional guilds.
Granted this is somewhat subjective, and all guilds will have elements and health and unhealthy, functional and dysfunctional.
My last guild was AWESOME, but it remains to be seen if those involved will migrate to Classic.
What red flags come to mind when you think of unhealthy or dysfunctional guilds?
Guild chat. If thereās more than 20 members online and the chat looks like a ghost town, you can bet either that guild will not advance much into bigger content like raids or it is divided in little groups who usually donāt talk to each other.
I look for players who seek to include guild members in activities, not just an established āclubā of members who only group among themselves.
This goes for both the ācoreā group of members as well as new recruits.
You should always look to do things together. If you join a guild and just do your own thing and never ask to join other memebers when they run dungeons, youāre not going to be much of a guildmate to those players. Same goes for the recruiters; If youāre inviting people to your guild you still have to invite them along on group activities regularly else they feel like an outsider.
Elitism in non cutting edge guilds usually leads to big trouble and drama sooner rather than later.
Using master loot in raids. How dare you dictate what to do with loot I deserve? I was there for the boss kill, itās obviously just as much mine as anyone elseās!
If they have a website with a spreadsheet and some sort of loot distribution system based on raid attendance and performance, you need to find a new guild. ASAP.
Trust me. Iāve been there. You donāt want to be there.
My experience has been the raid leaders and officers filling up their BiS first and foremost and everyone else just gets the leftovers - unless the guild enchanter needs to shard something. And then, too bad for you.
This is highly dependent on whether they have an active Discord. Consider the general chat of Discord to be the equivalent of Guild Chat.
In terms of new items - Unless youāre going for bleeding edge content, loot council has to be something of a trust issue. Groups that are forming out of strangers are unlikely to have a stable trust network and therefore loot council may be an issue. Make sure there are clear guidelines on appeals and for raising concerns.
Personally, I keep everyone at arms length until I find out more about them, but I donāt let that stop me from having fun with the crew until I decipher motivations, quirks, and other tid bits that make or break a relationship.
Demanding guild masters or officers that always insist on being the center of attention, or who will find any way to sneak diss their members should be taken with a grain of salt, and I would suggest leaving any guild with a volatile officer core. Likewise, manipulative lesser ranks should be taken to understanding higher ups discreetly and then just pray it gets taken care of. If anything bad continues, tell the officers you will be putting that person on ignore.
Dead guild chats that mass recruit over the course of a week, but fade into obscurity less than a month later. Usually when a guild leader starts the conversation with, āWeāve got big ideasā I always take it as a big red flag to not get invested until theyāve actually put more effort in than ideas.
All in all, if you find yourself on the fence about a guild itās probably best to go with your gut reaction and dip out. It sounds silly but you need to do best for you and that includes surrounding yourself with people who are less inclined to screw you over in the long run.
Guilds without definite guidelines.
Watch for divided purposes.
If a guild wants to hardcore Raid, or hardcore PvP, or PvP and gear for mastering BGsāthat guild is focused and will probably remain healthy.
My guild fractured because at least two strong personalities who were officers were pulling in opposing directions: One towards mentoring low(~.~)bies, nee(ā_ā)bies, and Alts, one towards PvP, WPvP, and city Raiding. The first personality began to undermine the guild when she saw me leaning towards the second personality, but before I acted to turn the guild in his direction, the guild fractured and split into three new guilds.
I think that depends on the desired function of the guild.
A red flag that comes to mind for the kind of guild Iād join would be āOur Guild is recruiting everything to form our core raid group when BWL comes out!ā
If the GM ask for picāsā¦
When the 1st raid message is āX, Y and Z are on reserveā.
If you want to do a litmus test on a guild, just disagree with something the GM says. Be polite, but argue a counterpoint with him/her. How they handle the disagreement will show you a bit of their character. Amplify that reaction by a factor of raid stress, and you have your answer.
Healthy Guild - People forming groups amongst themselves, officers arenāt on power trips, having an established loot priority on bindings, leafs, etc.
Unhealthy Guild - Chat looks like twitch chat, officers only chat in /o, no idea on loot priority or attunements
Truthā¦ #1 sign to get yourself out of there.
Hardcore posers will try to inflate their ego as much as possible by shaming others that arenāt doing everything metaā¦
My experience has been a core group of friends that control everything and most others are just fillers. Iām not a fan of that type of guild.
If they ever recruit from trade chat its a no go.
A good guild recruits naturally from running dungeons with pugs.
Bu thatās pretty much every guild!
That shouldnāt matter per se, a guild recruitment channel allows one to get their guild out there, nothing is stopping you or anyone else from running prelim pugs to test those players.
Edit: Oh by that logic recruiting via forums is a no go, yet itās the only we can currently.