The life and death of your guild
by David Nelson 
Sep 21st 2006 at 9:35PM
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The guys over at Kill Ten Rats don't update a ton, but when they do it is generally well worth a read. Zubon's latest post dealing with recruiting, keeping people happy and the life and death of a guild is a good take on what can happen as a guild matures.Zubon contends that as you add new blood, things inevitably change, and the guild you had is gone. This sort of thing happened in my last guild on Bloodhoof. My original friends that I leveled with from 1-60 started to leave, and the people we recruited, while cool, had some new ideas. We acted on some of their ideas and all of a sudden things changed. Change is good in a lot of cases, but this was not one of them. The guild was my little online home, and now there were new people all over the place, and while they were great people, it just wasn't the same as back in the good old days.
In that respect, the guild began to feel like going back to a high school football game during your first year at college. It's the same, but it's different. The guild didn't die, it just isn't my guild anymore. Zubon writes that you have to have the new folks buy into your way of thinking immediately, or the guild will undergo a fundamental shift which will change things forever. They wanted to join your guild because they liked what they saw, so why do they want to change things? I tend to agree on those points, but at the same time, I could see a lack of new ideas and direction to be equally as detrimental. If you are inflexible and never change a thing, are you setting yourself up for failure?
Anyone else have the same experience as Zubon and myself? Is change in a guild good? Or is Zubon spot on in his analysis?
Filed under: Guilds
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
bogen Sep 23rd 2006 4:11AM
i had the same problem but with a guild i joined, my first character ever, a undead lock.
I joined these guys who were all nice and help full then our guild master got a job and had to relinquish the position to his second in command.He still came online ever now and then but it was more to keep himself updated on whats going on and to keep us all in line in regards to alting up and other distractions.
Then all of a sudden he stopped doing this and i think he got a girl friend at that point, anywho a break down in comunication caused us all to go off in different direction play wise, we never met anymore, we never met in org like we used to and it all fel apart, i left the guild and started up a pally with some mates i know in real life and know were cruisin but ever now and again i still think of the guild master and how when he gets beck he'll be shocked, if it hasent happend already.
Duke Sep 22nd 2006 8:19AM
I started a guild not long after launch. It was made up of a great group of people whom I came to know IRL as well as the game. I didnt have to be autocratic, because a small group of people who were friends were usually able to come to agreement on most issues. At some point the size of the guild became more important to some members, and we began admitting new members quickly. They were almost all quality people, but they werent part of the original "club", and didnt always have the same agenda. With a minimum number of original members in agreement, changes made the guild something different than the one I started. After a year, I didnt recognize the guild anymore, didnt know many of the members, and was frustrated enough to turn over leadership to a good friend. Things were never the same, and while Ive met lots of nice people since then, I never have understood the un-quenchable need for a super-huge guild. I think you eventually become a "corporate" guild, when the "mom and pop" guild was much more fun.
Lance Sep 22nd 2006 10:38AM
Duke makes an excellent point. The same thing happened to Unstoppable over on Daggerspine. When we all first signed this kid's charter, we were all expecting to drop shortly after. But we clicked. We were actually good together, and liked each other enough to not leave, but to instead; create a force to be reckoned with. All was well until about 3 of the founding members left. At that point, the guild size began to go through the roof. New people, new attitudes, new play schedules, new game goals (and we were one of those "purpose" guilds). It just wasn't the same. I had to take a 30 day hiatus for work, and upon my return. The kid-lead (who had actually asked me and a few others run it), was the only one there (out of 150+) that I recognized. Things were not the same. We were now the corporate guild, and about 1/3 as effective as the mom-and-pop that we began as. The guild had become a drama breeding-ground. Bah, oh well. Another one bites the dust.
CM Sep 22nd 2006 12:46PM
Well, I just recently had my main (lvl 60) join a large guild on Kirin Tor. Really, I only did it because the guys I initially was in a guild with (we started our own small guild) left for an end-game guild. I know why we all did it = you can't at lvl 60 get a lot of the good end-game gear and equipment without going on 10 - 20 - 40 man raids. And you can't do that if you're in a 15-person guild very well. Oh well. Times they are a'changin.