Posts with tag membership

We get lots of email from our readers trying to find their way though WoW. I'd like to take a moment to answer a question about membership retention. This also builds on a previous response regarding the trials and tribulations of starting a guild.

Hi I been reading your posts and listening to the podcast and you recently made a new guild. I have a guild with around 140 members and we do some raiding weekly but every time I log off, it seems that people start arguing, and drama just starts building up. I went away for a couple days and when I come back from my vacation, Alot of people have left the guild. Maybe 10-15 people. Now they are stealing my members and have made a new guild. Do you have tips on member retaining and stuff like that, would be cool if you can do a post on that kind of stuff and how you work that out, thanks

Hello reader,

Thank you for the email. One of the hardest things I've noticed about a guild is dealing with a certain amount of churn. Acceptance is the first step. People leave for all kinds of reasons. There will be those that come and go. The stronger you make your core, the stronger you make your guild.

Oldmaveric of Azgalor posed the question on the General Discussion Forum: are Big guilds on their way out due to easy WoW? He suggested that easier content on 10 man raids and regular content nerfs has led to the breakdown of some of the top guilds and caused players to quit the game.

Savvage of Spinebreaker quickly responded that big guilds have their place, but "People can now play in closer more tightly-knit groups..." For many players, raiding offers sufficient challenge while being more enjoyable than it once was. The raiding experience is not only more accessible, but also more fun. Smaller guilds can afford to be more selective of the online personalities of their membership, while still being able to to make progress.

I've been reading the comments from some of our recent posts and realized that there is quite a bit of mismatch between players and guilds. There are casual players in hardcore guilds that find themselves being passed over in content. There are hardcore players in casual guilds that don't get to move on to things they want. Some players need a higher level of maturity.

There are usually a handful of guilds recruiting in the Guildwatch column, but I think, for today, we can do better. If your guild looking for more take a moment to comment with the nitty gritty. If you're interested in putting up a little advertisement take a moment to copy/paste and complete the following form:

Every Monday Scott Andrews contributes Officers' Quarters, a column about the ins and outs of guild leadership.

World of Warcraft has been around for over two years now. Many of its players have been paying the monthly fee for quite some time. They have one or more max-level characters in established guilds. These days, guilds seem to multiply like murlocs. In this environment, starting a new guild can be tough, especially for those who are relatively new to the game. One of our readers finds himself in this situation:

Hey Scott, Eric here. I play a 52 Shaman on the Stormrage server. My question to you is this: What's the best way to go about recruiting members? My friends and I have tried starting new guilds, but when you have people from guilds in previous games to compete with as well as the inexperience of new officers, it just seems like an insanely difficult and daunting task. Any ideas?

Thanks!

-- Eric D.

I've seen guilds with 1 member, I've been in guilds with 500 members, and yet I've never found a guild that can be everything to everybody. I'm sure even those guys with their 1-man guilds get a bit lonely from time to time. So what is it that makes a guild too big, too small, or just right for your average player?

Would you prefer to be a member of a small, tightly-knit guild or a sprawling mass of people so huge that everyone on your server knows your guild, if not you? What does the size of a guild's membership say to you as a member or prospective member? Does size matter, and if it does, which is better - erring on the smaller side of numbers, or a population enough to start a small city?

How big is your guild, and is it the right size for you? Why? If not, then what are you looking for from a guild, and how does the size of the guild play into your perception and comfort-level with that guild?

Lots of questions, let's hear your answers!