Patch 5.4 patch notes
Virtual Realms feature revealed
The Proving Grounds are coming
The latest patch 5.4 newsPatch 4.3 PTR: Inactive guild leader replacement
by Mathew McCurley 
Sep 30th 2011 at 2:30PM
Active guild leaders have nothing to fear. This is not a system for deposing current leaders or voting out current guild masters. This system is in place to allow members of an active guild to wrest control of the guild's functions from an inactive leader, not perform democratic voting procedures. Many guilds are at the mercy of GMs to fix inactive problems, and this system frees up customer support for more important tasks.
Inactive guild leader replacement
In the event that a guild leader takes a leave of absence and remains inactive for an extended period of time, it can be difficult for some guilds to carry on as normal. To help assist with these situations, we're introducing a new system in patch 4.3 known as "inactive guild leader replacement" that will allow players of the appropriate rank to take over leadership of a guild from an inactive guild leader via the Guild tab.
The way inactive guild leader replacement works is pretty straightforward. If a guild leader's character is inactive for 30 days, a notification will appear in the Guild News & Events feed which can only be seen by guild members who are eligible to become the new guild leader. To determine eligibility, the game will look for the highest ranked character in the guild that's logged on in the past week, and any guild member from that rank will be able to request guild leadership simply by clicking on the notification.
As with many actions in World of Warcraft, clicking on the notification will open up a confirmation window which, once accepted, will transition leadership from the inactive guild leader to the first player to request leadership. If guild leadership is changed, the old guild leader will be notified via email to his or her registered Battle.net address. While some players may need to log out and back in before their Guild tab will visually update, the change in leadership will be immediate, with all ranks and permissions remaining in-tact.
Please note that if you're an active leader of a guild, this system should not affect you or your guild. The goal of inactive guild leader replacement is simply to allow guilds which have found themselves without leadership for a long period of time to resolve the situation on their own without the need to contact our In-Game Support department.
Inactive guild leader replacement is currently live on the PTR, but keep in mind that it may be difficult to test, as a guild leader will need to be inactive for a full 30 days before the option to transition leadership will become available.
The way inactive guild leader replacement works is pretty straightforward. If a guild leader's character is inactive for 30 days, a notification will appear in the Guild News & Events feed which can only be seen by guild members who are eligible to become the new guild leader. To determine eligibility, the game will look for the highest ranked character in the guild that's logged on in the past week, and any guild member from that rank will be able to request guild leadership simply by clicking on the notification.
As with many actions in World of Warcraft, clicking on the notification will open up a confirmation window which, once accepted, will transition leadership from the inactive guild leader to the first player to request leadership. If guild leadership is changed, the old guild leader will be notified via email to his or her registered Battle.net address. While some players may need to log out and back in before their Guild tab will visually update, the change in leadership will be immediate, with all ranks and permissions remaining in-tact.
Please note that if you're an active leader of a guild, this system should not affect you or your guild. The goal of inactive guild leader replacement is simply to allow guilds which have found themselves without leadership for a long period of time to resolve the situation on their own without the need to contact our In-Game Support department.
Inactive guild leader replacement is currently live on the PTR, but keep in mind that it may be difficult to test, as a guild leader will need to be inactive for a full 30 days before the option to transition leadership will become available.
Brace yourselves for what could be some of most exciting updates to the game recently with patch 4.3. Review the official patch notes, and then dig into what's ahead: new item storage options, cross-realm raiding, cosmetic armor skinning and your chance to battle the mighty Deathwing -- from astride his back!
Reader Comments (Page 5 of 5)
WrecklessMEDIC Oct 1st 2011 7:55PM
The precious guild perks of course. ;)
Honestly, before they introduced guild perks I could care less about losing a guild I was the GM of. But now, those perks are to die for. I'll never give them up..... never I tells ya. :D
Alister111111 Sep 30th 2011 10:47PM
I have stepped down as guild leader from a guild I have worked my ass off for the last year and a half for because of this. I am the first to say a guild is a group effort, but its atmosphere, group makeup, and policies mainly come from the man at the top. Who I chose to be officers, and what I asked of them, made the guild what it was. In that sense, the guild was mine.
Knowing that if I go away to play SWTOR for a month means my guild could just vanish in a poof of smoke was the final nail. Being guild master is a stressful enough job as it is without having to worry about it suddenly getting transferred to some random officer because something else was going on. LIke I said, the guild is mine, as far as I am concerned, and that it can be given to someone else is almost an insult. I made it, I nurtured it, I got it up to L25/ 500 unique members.
This almost wouldn't matter, but I can see SWTOR coming out soon and I know I'll want to play it. Feeling trapped into giving up GMship at that point is just not nice - my only real recourse is to pass over the leadership to someone I actually choose right now. Since, as Blizzard has just reminded us all, the guild is not and never was mine. I have given the guildmembers notice that I will be reading through their votes this weekend for the new GM.
This is wrong. When you found a company, it is yours. Sure, you appoint managers to run things, but it's still yours. If you go to Hawaii for a few weeks, the quickest manager with the mouse doesn't become the new owner.
This is an ugly and sad consequence of blizzard making the guild system the be-all and end-all of the game.
Bee Oct 1st 2011 4:31AM
I think a lot of peeople are over-reacting to this. To me, there are two issues.
1. Leadership can be passed to anyone after a GM has been awol for 30 days. Nothing has changed - that has always been policy, except now, more people know about it (which imo is a good thing).
2. To all the GMs who say that they want to take a break to play SWTOR, is it SO hard to log in to WoW and make sure everything is peachy with your guild? If money is an issue then you can at least keep in touch with your guildies on your forums maybe? But for those who *could* log in but don't because they are gripped by SWTOR, then tbh your guildies deserve someone who is going to put the time and effort in. You can't have your cake and eat it.
cpeeters78 Oct 1st 2011 4:42AM
This may be a stupid question but where can we get the mounts in picture the start of the article?
Camo Oct 2nd 2011 8:08AM
From a lvl 25 alliance guild. It's the guild mount.
Vlad4ever Oct 1st 2011 5:03AM
Time to take over guild perks!
WrecklessMEDIC Oct 1st 2011 8:16AM
@Telwar
Oh don't worry. I've already set up a guild meeting about this situation. All my guildies are welcome to leave now and find a new guild or they can ride out the level 25 perks I've acquired until I take a break in December. Our guild is strictly social-leveling so the only benefit is the perks.
@Brain
Yeah, I always knew about the old "guild leader replacement" system, but it was less of a worry that somebody would take the time to talk to a GM and go through the hassle of taking my guild. With this new system it's all automated and some lowbie who I barely know could steal my high level guild while me and my officers are away with the simple push of a button. No thanks. Not gonna happen.
Chris Oct 4th 2011 10:52AM
I foresee lots of drama in the coming future.......