Officers' Quarters: Soloing a guild
by Scott Andrews 
Sep 19th 2011 at 4:00PM
Every Monday, Scott Andrews contributes Officers' Quarters, a column about the ins and outs of guild leadership. He is the author of The Guild Leader's Handbook, available now from No Starch Press.
One of the most frequent questions that new guild leaders ask me is this: How many officers do I need to run a guild? It varies, of course, based on what your ambitions are. However, the following email represents the first time anyone has asked this question: Do I even need officers?
Hi Scott,
I have started a social guild recently with the purpose of it being a place for guild members to have others to chat with, run dungeons, and other game related activities. The guild won't really be for progression or leveling, though I'm not opposed to guild members doing those activities.
As I've never ran a guild before, I was wondering, are officers truly necessary for a social guild?
I do plan to draw up rules for if members run dungeons, or do raids, together but I didn't know if I'd need more then that.
I truly want to make this a fun place for my guild members so any help you give will be appreciated!
I. Blue
Hi, I. Blue. As always when I hear about people forming guilds, I first want to thank you for your enthusiasm and willingness to lead. It's players like you that keep MMOs in business. So a hearty /salute for that.
Now, to your question: Every guild is of course required by the design of the game to have one player as the guild leader. That player has access to all the guild UI functions, the ability to gkick any other members, and the permission to disband the guild. Beyond that, you can have as few or as many officers as you want. It's entirely up to you.
Tasks and assignments
The question mainly comes down to this: What tasks will the officer(s) of your guild manage? You mention writing up some policies for grouping. Creating written guidelines is an important task. Fortunately, once they are in place, you won't often have to change them or add to them. You will, however, have to enforce them, interpret them when necessary, determine the truth behind any drama springing from them that you didn't personally witness, and (where appropriate) dole out stern words or even punishment when people violate these guidelines.
Some other potential tasks for a social guild include recruiting, bank/gold management, mediating disputes between players, organizing activities such as dungeons, raids and Battlegrounds (if you want to), and inviting and kicking players.
If you think you can handle that all by yourself, then you don't need any other officers. However, what starts off as a few simple tasks can become overwhelming as the size of the guild grows, so keep an eye on how much time you spend on leadership duties. If you think it's too much at any point, then you'll want to promote some officers and assign them to specific tasks. That way you won't have to shoulder the burden all by yourself.
Benefits of multiple officers
Don't let me talk you out of going it alone if that's what you truly want. I will, however, point out a few benefits to having more than one officer.
Other officers can be online when you're not. Having at least one officer online is helpful for a few reasons. They can invite players who have been accepted as members to get them on the roster right away. They can answer questions from nonofficers. Finally, they can be a witness to inappropriate behavior that might concern the guild's leadership when otherwise it might have gone unnoticed.
Another officer can also provide a different perspective on a tricky issue. It's helpful sometimes to bounce ideas off of someone else who's privy to the same information you are.
More officers can organize more events. It doesn't sound like you're planning to provide organized guild activities. If you ever change your mind on that, having some more officers to help out can allow you to provide more and better activities for your guild.
In the end, however, the decision -- and the ultimate responsibility for this community -- is yours alone.
/salute
Recently, Officers' Quarters has examined how strong new leadership can create a guild turnaround, the pitfalls of promising more than you can deliver, and lessons learned from Scott's own guild demise. Send your own guild-related questions and suggestions to scott@wowinsider.com.
Filed under: Officers' Quarters (Guild Leadership)
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Lillyth Sep 19th 2011 4:06PM
The only thing I would add is it is nice to have a few of your more active/trusted members to be officers so they can invite new members to your guild. If you are the only officer / guild leader, then new folks can only be considered for guild membership when you are online.
Den Sep 19th 2011 9:51PM
I'd care to disagree. Just because you trust them, doesn't mean they're good officers, or even want the job. Make leadership transparent. Social guilds are the ones where corruption is going to be called out the most. Put stuff in writing in make it so that people can see the rules and agree to them before they join.
wedgefulcrum Sep 19th 2011 4:26PM
This sounds like myself over a year ago. I opened up my small three-person guild to folks looking to house an alt and/or check out the server. The idea was to have a place to chit chat and have fun. I ran the guild solo for the first three or four months, since membership was low. Activity picked up and I can't be online all the time, so I promoted two of the most active members to be officers. This worked out fantastically, and in January I had the need to promote two more folks to officer (who didn't end up working out).
The most important thing I've learned is that you can't do everything. You'll want to try, if you want the guild to be a success. Trust me, speaking from experience, you can't do it all. And you shouldn't! Being a guild leader can be stressful at times, and if you are trying to balance everything on your plate...it just won't work. Don't be afraid to rely on other folks who are interested in having a fun and successful guild.
I have to say that guild leadership has been the most rewarding thing I've ever done in wow, and is the reason I am still playing. I love my guild - they are amazingly fun, diverse, friendly, and a little kooky. Congrats on taking the plunge, and I hope your guild turns out o be just as amazing as mine is. /salute!
wedgefulcrum Sep 19th 2011 4:29PM
Gah, wtb edit button much.
I meant to add that I have four officers now, even though two didn't work out, I found two other folks who were willing and excited to help out. My officers keep me sane, and I keep them sane. We don't have many problems in our guild, but when you do hit a rough spot, you'll appreciate your officers all the more.
Morgatho Sep 19th 2011 4:30PM
After my guild had its big fall out early into cata and me being boosted from being just a top raider to the GM I tried to recruit new people to fill us back up. but in the end we just became a social guild of friends who'll take anyone that wants to join. My advice is if your willing to be open to anyone that's interested in joining your social guild to have the people that's been with you for a while to have inviting powers as well.
kalmbob Sep 19th 2011 4:39PM
I would say, that for a small social guild, the only real rule you need is: Don't be an asshole to each others or other people.
As your guild builds, you may want to have more specific policies, but don't become overwrought writing everything down at first. As the guild grows, your policies can grow.
VSUReaper Sep 19th 2011 4:53PM
All depends on the size of the guild IMO. When I was a GL in TBC and WOTLK, I did one officer for every 20 members (in addition to myself), and told them that if we dropped in active members, what order they would be demoted in.
I did this so that I had help with the guild when I needed it, and I never ran into the situation I see often is that a guild surges, then crests and declines a little and you end up with more officers than members.
I would suggest 2 officers, one preferably that plays at odd hours (overnight or early morning) and the other that plays "primetime" (when the moat people are online). That way you have someone to help out when there are many people online and someone to handle problems/opportunities when your not able to.
Just make sure they are people you trust!
imm110 Sep 20th 2011 7:23AM
There's one important reason to have officers that hasn't been said yet.
"You can't please 100% of the people 100% of the time." While that fact is obvious, when someone does feel dissatisfied with some aspect of the guild-experience and/or leadership, they need to feel comfortable approaching someone in a leadership position to express their feelings. And that someone isn't always going to be you. As a leader, you need eyes and ears on your team that a variety of guild-mates feel comfortable approaching.
TL;DR - Not every member will be comfortable approaching the "Big Bad GM", so it's nice to have officers who can act as intermediaries. Without that alternative outlet to vent their frustrations, it will eventually manifest from complaining behind your back to outright mutiny.
That might all be a little extreme, but you get the idea.
Good luck to you!
Rob Sep 19th 2011 9:39PM
I am not active any more but i stop by my guild to see how it's going. Generally if you recruit strong people you will get a strong guild. Time after time we've recruited people who just did not fit (we are an older, mature guild), and that invariably lead to drama. Don't be afraid to remove people if the fit is bad. You have to expect a certain amount of churn, if you leave the guild, and your officers bail on you, then you have a ghost time, with a defunct bank full of garbage and nobody who can do anything. So make sure there are always strong people who can lead the guild in your absence.