My Guild

Posted 5 months, 2 weeks ago at 10:20 pm. 12 comments

Ugh, a guild post.  blah blah blah.  I skip these myself. Um, I mean not your posts about your guild. I mean those really boring ones. But really, don't stop reading or you'll be missing out.

I don't usually talk about my guild.  I'm not sure why.  I love my guild.  I love the people in my guild.  It's filled with real life friends I knew before I started to play and new real life friends, some of which I've later met in real life and some I have not.

We were having a rough time around the new year.  We had a motivational meeting and we were going to kick it into high gear!  And then both of our active officers who lead raids had real life events yank them from the game.  We hit a severe low in guild morale and all official raids stopped for about two weeks.

I'm about to say "we" and when I say "we" I mean a small subset of the veterans and raiders that didn't want to stop raiding and cared about the guild, not to say that anyone else in the guild didn't.  We were thinking of several rash choices, but luckily one of the officers, who was gone, sensed the turmoil and promoted several members to raid officer status.  I was one of the members promoted and I was slightly hesitant about accepting.  I'm quite busy myself, but I realized that I wanted to do everything I could for my guild, because they were family and they had done so much for me.  Yeah, yeah, like a JFK flashback or something.

After these promotions, the guild had a completely new surge in efforts and morale.  We are filling up our 25-man raids on time and often having to decide on which guild members might have to sit out until the next raid because we have too many willing to go.  One of our new officers, Gizoku/Jijisan, has been instrumental in leading the new raids and doing excellent research on the bosses we've yet to face in SSC.

As a result, we killed Hydross for the first time last night and one-shotted Lurker.

We are still recruiting.  Not as heavily as before, but we are.  And during this time, there were several applicants I didn't think would make it due to conflicts of personality or play style.  There's a thread on Blog Azeroth about mistakes new guild recruits make.

So far, I think every one of the applicants that I have voted against fall into a similar personality type.  They are pushy, greedy, needy and arrogant.  They think, for whatever reason, they can instruct the rest of the guild what to do.  They publicly question everything and make their opinions known on every matter, even if they haven't a clue what they are talking about.  Now, there are ways to do this sort of thing, even if you are the new guy, and there are ways NOT to go about this. It's a matter of tone and attitude. It's not something you can easily change about an applicant.

Yes, it's also about respect. Respect is earned by both sides. But if you're an applicant, you are the padawan, you are the squire, you are the noob. Even if you think, even if you know you deserve so much more, currently you are in the position of the new guy and you need to show respect to every member and officer of the guild.

This brings me to one of the latest applicants that just didn't make. We were in SSC last night and we were trying to refine our attempts on Hydross. We knew we had the strategy down and with a few tweaks we were getting closer on every attempt. However, it becomes readily apparent when one of your two tanks goes down, it's wipe time despite your best desires. We, the officers, called the attempt and announced that everyone should die on the bridge. However, you know how it normally goes, things go bad and Rogues try to Vanish, Hunters Feign Death, and Mages try to go Invisible and run. However, most everyone understood the drill. One of the main complaints recently had been our slow wipe recovery, so all the Rogues just died, the Hunters feigned death if they could, but didn't press it.

But we had a few members and an applicant shaman who decided they could make elevator and get away. For whatever reason, they felt they were more important than the rest of us, they couldn't afford their repair bill or whatever. We waited another half a minute to a minute for them to escape. We reiterated that no one should be running and everyone should die on the bridge.

Next attempt, we had another hiccup and one of our key members went down. We called for everyone to wipe. The same applicant shaman runs again. We call over Vent and in raid for him to die, but he doesn't. He runs and he lives. We reiterate that everyone needs to die on the bridge. This isn't the first time we've had clashes with this applicant. I decide as an officer, I should talk to him and perhaps find out what his motivations are.

25:12 [Valenna]: Is there are a reason why you are running instead of dying on the bridge?
25:13 [App]: why are you pissed about that
25:13 [App]: does 30 seconds mean that much fine
25:13 [App]: I enjoy avoiding death if possible
25:14 [App]: do you have a problem?
25:14 [App]: are you there
25:15 [Valenna]: I do. So, does a lot of others, like the other officers. Why do you have a problem doing as you are asked?
25:15 [Valenna]: 30x24=12 minutes of wasted time.
25:16 [App]: Two things
25:16 [App]: one I am not trying to take this the wrong way but I get the impression your meaning it that way
25:17 [App]: I understand your point and I don't want you to worry about it so I will do what you ask
25:17 [App]: relax

I'm not sure if it's during this next break of time we wipe again and the app doesn't run, or if we killed Hydross. Regardless, he responds with:

25:21 [App]: are you alright now
25:22 [Valenna]: I'm not sure if you remember, but you are an app, not a member. You aren't making a good impression.

So, what's my point? My point is, if you're applying for a guild, remember that until you're accepted as a full member, you're just an applicant. We've made some people full members in days, others we've debated about for months before making them full members. We've never kicked a full member. Once you're in, you're like family. It's like kicking your brother out of your family. I mean, I guess you could, but most people don't and neither do we. And until that happens, you have to realize every moment before you're officially in the guild is part of your interview.

Here's a short list of how to ensure you get into a guild after being accepted as an applicant:

• Show respect to every member.
• Know who the officers are and show them deference.
• Listen. Don't talk immediately. Find out the tone of the guild. Find out who everyone is: regulars , raiders, officers, etc. It may seem daunting, but you don't want to offend anyone.
• Talk to the recruiting officer or your sponsor regularly to find out things rather than asking everyone.
• Show enthusiasm without being annoying.
• Don't expect for your opinion to be respected until you've shown your opinion should be respected.
• If you think something is major enough that it needs to be taken into serious consideration, talk to your sponsor or someone you know respects your opinion and get them to relay the information.
• Don't act overly concerned with loot, even if you really are.
• Don't spam for invites to groups or raids.
• Obey anything you're told to do over Vent or raid chat and don't question why at the moment you're told to do something. Even if you know you might die or even wipe the raid, you need to show you're a team player. Ask privately and politely after the fact if you're curious why they had you do whatever it was.
• Don't waste the guild's time because you're slacking or goofing off.
• Don't ask excessively for buffs. Virtually no buff is this important. If the raid leader or someone called for everyone to have a certain buff for the fight you're on, politely inform the raid leader that you still don't have buff after politely requesting once or twice.

Lastly, I dedicate this song to my guild, to all spasmodic applicants and to Bellwether for inspiring me with her recent post.

My Guild (Valenna Remix)
Based on Justin Timberlake's My Love (Paul Oakenfold Remix)

If I wrote you a symphony,
Just to say how much loot means to me.
If I told you you were uberfull,
Will you take me for a regular?
Well maybe I've been around the world,
But I ain't seen myself another guild (like you).
This app here represents my heart
But there's just one thing I need from you (say, "I do").

Because ...
I can see us making plans,
Getting us the bear mount in Zul'Aman.
I can see us glowing with pride,
Kaz and Azgalor laying side by side.
Can I be one maybe?
Gonna make you my guildies.
Guild you amaze me!
Ain't gonna do nothing crazy!
See all I want you to do is be my guild!

(so just say okay)
My guild
(don't delay)
My guild
(do it today)
And I know no newbie that could take my spot.
My guild

(so just say okay)
My guild
(don't delay)
My guild
(do it today)
And I know no newbie that could take my spot.
My guiiiiillllllld
Guuuuuuild
My guuuuiiiild
My guuuuiiiild

Now if I wrote you a private note
And make you OMG with every word I wrote
Would that make you want to change your scene
And wanna be the one on my team (tell me, would you?)
See, what's the point of waiting anymore?
Cause guild I've never been more sure (no maybes, it's you)
This app here represents my heart
And everything that you've been waiting for (just say, "I do")

Because ...
I can see us making plans,
Getting exalted with Scale of Sands.
I can see us glowing with pride,
Lurker is dead, all boiled and fried.
Can I be one maybe?
Gonna make you my guildies.
Guild you amaze me!
Ain't gonna do nothing crazy!
See all I want you to do is be my guild!

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