Tamani’s guild leader here and like many leaders, I was ambivalent too. Frist, what we did with ours was use a Google form. No password or log in required. Second, I got a Forms add-on that emails me a PDF and I check my email twice a day.
We ask 3 types of questions, and then have follow ups to that as well.
- Bookkeeping things: Your character name, avatar name, etc.
- The kind of thing that helps us decide if you fit: Can you agree to our rules, how is your character different from lore, what’s your publicly available story.
- An in-character part where you deal with a robot named B.U.N.N.I. Not only does this help get across our theme as a goblin company (although we can and do accept all races) but it let’s us see your roleplay and gives you a scene to interact with. By having it be a robot, everyone is aware that deviation isn’t something we can do on an application but that still makes story-sense.
Afterwards, we get in touch and the actual invitation usually takes less than 10 minutes, including a “Welcome Letter” from the boss. At that point we put you in touch with 2 people almost immediately: a friendly non-officer member who takes you out for coffee or a beer to say hello and our intake officer who’s entire job is to help answer questions and get you settled in.
And, for at least the first month you’re in our guild, you’re in the intro part of the guild as an “intern” and the direct responsibility of both Tamani and that intake officer.
This process saves time, lets you apply at your own pace and think out answers without as much pressure, and makes certain that everything that’s truly important to us in an interview is covered.
What it does not do: Screen you as a human being, good or bad. I have seen apps that tried to do this, interview processes, etc. I have never, ever, ever seen one that worked without a comprehensive psychological personality survey - even for a real job, although those can be better. And that would cost money few of us can afford to spend as well as feeling intrusive for the players of a game.
Does it mean we lose access to some good players out there such as the thread OP here? Yes, we do. But the advantages far outweigh that for us, as a guild. We’ve been doing these since late January now and it’s helped alot.