Oh yeah. When I started my guild, I realized that, because of who I am (upbringing, temperament, life experiences and age), I would probably naturally gravitate to the "mom" position. And to answer your question, "Yes, I have had to tell guild members to 'play nice'." /eyeroll

As I read through the pseudo-rant and, as it's been pointed out, it's not a real rant since the "rant=angry" part is not completely evident, I was reminded of something another guild leader told me. "The way WOW is set up, guilds are NOT democracies. They range from "teams" to "dictatorships" with every variance tossed in."

You can set your guild up to emulate a democracy with a vote on who will be guild leader every so often, but the guild leader holds all the power to set bank access, invitation/promotion and demotion ability and who can use the various chat channels, among other things. Some people will rule with an iron hand while some will actively seek opinions from others, come to consensus and make decisions based on that consensus.

The following is going to sound very egotistical, but please understand where I'm coming from. The people who are officers in my guild are there because they have shown to be leaders and have a good rapport with me and with guild members. I expect them to be honest with me, to disagree with decisions but to do so with reasons why and to provide alternative solutions. That being said, I have the final say. I have a direction in mind for the guild. It's stated on our web site. Everything I do is in keeping with this directive. It defines who we are.

That does not mean I reject, out of hand, new or different ideas. It does mean, however, that if the idea doesn't fit in with what I think is the direction of the guild, I'll listen, but I won't approve it.

I think here is where there can be a lot of carping. Guilds are fluid things. Even the most well-defined guild can, based on the fluidity of the game, change its focus or direction in subtle ways. The guild you started in 8 months ago, pre-BC can be a very different guild now that Wrath is "old hat". You can disagree with that direction. You can voice your concerns to officers or to the guild leader.

But what you also need to look at, is the guild achieving its stated goals? If yes, is it doing so in a positive manner? If not, is there a positive way I can help? When all someone does is cry to officers or to the guild leader or to other members about how things aren't going their way and how they think things would be better "if only someone listened to me", probably people have and are tired of listening.

You don't have to stay in a guild. I appreciate constructive, reasoned criticism. I've listened to knee-jerk rants about someone getting upstaged and found kernels of truth in what they were saying. I've also listened and rejected both the well-reasoned and the knee-jerk suggestion because I felt it took away from the direction of the guild.

I think, in the end, if a player's only reaction to what goes on in a guild is to complain because "it wasn't done my way", that player needs to move on to a guild more in line with their view. In anticipation of the patch, guilds are recruiting like mad. He or she should be able to find something that more closely matches their play style which then spares everyone, including Mr. Andrews, another "how do I change the guild to do what I want to do" QQ.