Officers' Quarters: Leveling as a guild in Cataclysm, part 2
by Scott Andrews 
Oct 11th 2010 at 4:00PM
Last week, a reader wrote in to ask about some dos and don'ts as a guild leader during the character leveling process of an expansion. Obviously, we're focusing on Cataclysm here, but many of these tips will be relevant for any expansion with a raised level cap. Part 1 provided four tips:
- Have a plan.
- Organize group activities.
- Don't rush anyone.
- Set a date for the endgame.
5. Keep it light.
Just for a moment, think about GearScores, progression bosses, wipes. Think about arena ratings, comps and counter-comps. Did you experience any stress? For most players, these are not stress-free topics. Let that be a reminder to all of us officers out there that the initial leveling period of an expansion is usually the only time players don't have to worry about such things. Don't cause unnecessary stress during this period -- place an emphasis on enjoying the leveling process and having fun.
Striking a balance between maintaining this attitude and motivating people to level efficiently should be your overall goal.
6. Remember that your guild is leveling, too.
Celebrate the milestones as they happen. Publicly thank players who made outstanding contributions through achievements or activity. Reminders like this help members to feel like they are part of a community.
Another way to promote a sense of common purpose is to accelerate guild achievements with achievement bounties or scheduled events.
Finally, remember that at least four of five members in a dungeon group must all be in the same guild for the run to count as a guild run. Encourage your members to run with other members whenever possible. Given the anticipated difficulty of Cataclysm's dungeons, you may not have to twist any arms. It'll just be the smart thing to do.
7. Identify level 1 rerollers.
Some members will be lured by the new races or race/class combos and will decide to level up a new main from scratch. You want to know ahead of time who is planning to do so. If half the guild is starting over, you're going to want to prepare for that by scaling back expectations for the first few weeks. Depending on the rate at which people play, it's possible some of the rerollers will actually beat a few of the 80s to max level. However, you have little control over this, so your best bet is to manage the expectations of players by gathering information and tracking progress.
Players who choose not to reroll might grow impatient if they can't do anything as a guild for a few weeks. Thus, at a minimum, try to ensure you'll have a viable 10-player team for raids/battlegrounds who are leveling from 80. Failing that, a viable 5-player dungeon or arena team will at least give guild members something they can do together if they coordinate their schedules.
If the number of rerollers is going to cause a big problem, you could ask some players to volunteer to level their 80s first to help out with guild activities and then switch mains later. If your guild uses a points-based loot system, you could offer to let such players transfer their points to their new main once they've gotten that character up to raiding speed.
Having said all that, just because a player wants to switch mains doesn't mean you have to give them a slot after they do. If you have to get tough on people in order to make sure you still have a viable group comp at 85, then you have to get tough. Two dozen DPS and a tank won't be able to bring down a boss at 85.
8. Don't obsess over losses -- learn from them.
Despite taking all these steps, you may still find yourself losing members. Most players look at an expansion as a clean slate. They may use the opportunity to join a friend's guild on another server or reroll on the opposite faction for a change of pace. There isn't much you can do about such things.
The real problem is when you lose people because they want to find a "better" guild -- whatever that means to them. The only way to know why members decided to leave, if they're not forthcoming about it, is to ask. Speak to them in private. Explain that you're not angry about the situation (unless you totally are), but that you just want to know why they left so you can better understand the guild's possible shortcomings. They may not give you a straight answer, but some will, and that information will help you improve the guild to prevent similar losses in the future.
9. Recruit early if you think you'll have to.
There will soon be a large pool of fresh 85s itching to jump into the endgame and looking for a guild to join. Other players will want access to your sweet guild perks and bonuses. The moment the expansion hits shelves, recruiting will be much easier than it has been for the past six months, so take advantage of it. Just watch out for freeloaders!
It's impossible to please everyone, but if you've done your job well and built a vibrant, successful community, then you should be able to carry most members through the leveling process and into the endgame. Leveling through Cataclysm will be one of the most exciting times in WoW's history. Try not to worry too much, and let yourself enjoy it!
/salute
Send Scott your guild-related questions, conundrums, ideas and suggestions at scott@wow.com. You may find your question the subject of next week's Officers' Quarters! Filed under: Officers' Quarters (Guild Leadership)
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Saeadame Oct 11th 2010 4:17PM
Nice advice. And on the recruiting - many guilds on my server are already recruiting for Cataclysm haha. There's many types - new guilds forming for cataclysm, older guilds that have beaten all the endgame content so far and are therefore concentrating on the future... Almost everyone should be able to find what they're looking for =).
Dalrint Oct 11th 2010 4:24PM
This is completely unrelated to the article, which is odd because I don't usually do that, but the picture at the top just makes me sad.
Look how crummy the female human model is compared to the werewolf...
Also, uh. Guild leveling! Woo! And...such...I am so on topic. Oh yes...
Ikatsu Oct 11th 2010 4:45PM
My thoughts exactly lol
He even looks misplaced there, like copy and paste from a different picture.
Polygon count makes the difference.
Rolua89 Dec 3rd 2010 11:24PM
Good Lord! Stop worrying about freeloaders! THEY HAVE NO APPRECIABLE NEGATIVE IMPACT ON YOUR GUILD.
The system is built with the guild XP and Cash Flow perk such that people can't AVOID contributing to the guild. And as long as you set up things such that people can't come into the guild, grab something from the gbank, and leave, there's no reason to worry so much about them. In fact, having freeloaders will get you to guild level 25 FASTER. Unless you already have a guild with 200+ members, most of them active, freeloaders will help you level faster. And even if you do, they still help out through Cash Flow.
Note that this is very different from someone who actively harms the guild purposefully. But for someone who's just there for the perks, and who doesn't go out of his way to harm the guild or the guild's reputation (not the literal kind)? They're harmless, and even in some cases beneficial.
They're not parasitic. They're symbiotic.
Toranja Oct 11th 2010 4:50PM
To Guildleaver: Hey, man, I heard you left the guild. I read up on some stuff @ WoW.com and they told me that I could totally rage on you if I felt like doing so.
To Guildleaver: *insert wall of rage here*
Guildleaver is ignoring you.
*rage*
Kurash Oct 11th 2010 5:04PM
"Explain that you're not angry about the situation (unless you totally are)..."
That doesn't say, "Rage at them." It implies that if you are angry, don't lie and say that you're not angry. It implies you don't mention anger at all, if that's the case.
Tom Oct 11th 2010 4:53PM
Man, that is some bitchin' armor.
Umbralite Oct 11th 2010 5:21PM
What are your thoughts on guild leveling speed? On beta I found that my guild was leveling super quickly ( it had around 15 active members at any time). We were reaching the the guild xp cap every day, and this would get us to max in less than 2 months with no achievemnts.
This would mean the vast majority of guilds would be capped pretty soon and with no guild talents now I feel that this would prevent the guild differentiation that I hoped for.
The only thing I could see making guild advantages not just clones of eachother across the board is the guild achievments, and I hope blizzard keep these linked to many of the rewards (not guild perks) in the system.
This could actually be a really good choice as they allow guilds to feel they arn' t missing out on 'mandatory' guild perks (as some of the perks could be considered) while providing long term incentives to work toward, giving small benefits to the guild that require personal achievment within the guild (guild rep) to prevent guild hopping for perks. They'll even provide some gold sinks into the bargain. This is actually much closer to what I hoped from the system.
Sorry for the wall of text, I got a little carried away, my real question was do you thing Guild xp has been balanced yet?
Angus Oct 11th 2010 7:03PM
They increased the guild leveling by 5 times in the Beta.
They wanted to get a feel for the amount of time required.
So if you have around 75 players all doing the same amount of stuff, it would be the same pace as 15.(For the mathy challenged)
I anticipate for decent sized guilds (30+) it will be fairly quick.
Umbralite Oct 12th 2010 1:06AM
Thanks, I had missed the announcment and was getting the feeling it was just ridiculously fast.
rkaliski Oct 12th 2010 3:15AM
Also don't bug the tanks and healers to constantly run instances to gear up your alts. They may want to level THEIR alts and its gonna be a long haul in the expansion for those on the pointy end of the sword and the healing crew. This was one of the prime sources of tank/healer burnout in BC and early Wraith.
Its also not a bad idea to toss some gold their way to pay for repairs.
Jen Oct 12th 2010 4:06AM
This healer will happily run your alts through things, as long as there's something in it for me too! (I.e. still needs points.) I'm a healer because I love healing, not because it gets me easier spots :)
datgrl Oct 12th 2010 8:32AM
It just occurred to me that this could impact guild recruitment. Will guilds who are totally committed to guild achievements, not want to add players to the guild? New members haven't been part of the prior aspects of the achievements.