Looks a little different huh? I was feeling cramped by the limitation of my third party hosting and decided to bite the bullet and make my own home.

Welcome to www.ChickGM.com! Expect to see some tweaks to the layout while I learn my way around this self hosting thing. Many thanks to the BA (and specifically Matt, Fim and Val) crew for their help thus far!

If you are one of the lovely people who has included me in your blogroll, it’d be wonderful if you could update my link, but the old link should direct people here for a while.

In other news, I got new pants tonight. (I couldn’t make a whole post about my new pants, but gosh darn it, I’m excited about them anyway!)

New pants, new site the world is my oyster my friends.

Congratulations! You got accepted to that guild you wanted to join!! How do you make sure your initiation period is successful? Below are some tips to try and pitfalls to avoid to make sure you move from “Who the heck is that?” to “Gee what did we ever do without you?”

Avoid making it the “Me Show” - I know you’re worried about making an impression, but sit back and observe for a little while. First watch the others in the guild and the guild chat and make sure this is a place you want to be. By getting a feel for what the guild chat and members are normally like, you can learn what’s generally accepted banter and who’s more sensitive. You can use this information to make a good impression, rather than just an impression. Once you’ve watched long enough, start slow. Add an insightful or funny point to an existing conversation and add to what they are saying rather than changing the topic. After a little while it’ll be easy for you to slid into a conversation or even start one of your own.

Even though I’ve cautioned you about not making it the “Me Show” do be yourself. If you try and pretend to be someone you’re not or curb your bad habit of letting puns loose it will slowly wear you out or slip out on it’s own. Let the guild see your quirky personality traits as you slowly introduce yourself, it’s what makes you different from everyone else.

Know your Leaders - Quickly learn who the leaders are, what they do and how they do it. Every leader has a different personality and a different way of interacting. While the best leaders are willing to take feedback, the way you approach them will determine how willing they are to listen to you. In the end, if you and an officer disagree, take a guess who’s going to win? To illustrate how not knowing who your leaders are and how they interact can hurt you, let me tell you the story of an initiate who didn’t make it in The Guild.

Once upon a time Auz tagged a shaman. Now Auz is a generous leader and so one day when our guild’s enhancement shaman had to take a night off, Auz lent her new shaman to the melee team. Once in the melee group, our melee lead said, “New shaman please drop Windfury for the melee team.” The shaman said, “I think Grace of Air is the better totem to drop for this group, so that’s what I’m going to drop.” The melee lead responded with, “I’d prefer that you drop Windfury and since I’m melee I believe I have a better understanding of which totem will benefit us.” To which the shaman retorted, “Too bad they are my totems and I’ll drop what I want!” At this point our melee lead ended the conversation and came to me. “Auz your new shaman is not only an idiot but he’s also refusing to do what I asked.” After getting the whole story from my melee lead my new shaman receives the following tell from me, “The player you are speaking with is our melee lead. If you wish to be successful in our guild, you will respect all the leaders of this guild and drop the totems you are requested to drop as well as the attitude.” The shaman did drop those totems, but never did drop the atti0tude. Needless to say, his initiation period with us did not end in membership.

Do your homework - I spend a lot of time making sure the information my recruits need is available to them on our website. I typed it out there so I only had to type it once. Nothing irritates me more than when an initiate fails to respect that time and the time of the 24 other people in the raids by failing to read the information I have provided. Even if your leadership hasn’t explained the fights, Boss Killers, MMO Champion and several other sites have.* Take your time and read all the information that is available to you. After you’ve read that information if you still have questions ask them before the raid. When you are coming into a new situation make it your responsibility to know what you’re doing before you get there. Bonus points if you can get that accomplished without taking a guild leader’s time.

*Note there are many different ways to kill the same boss, when you read over a third party site, don’t get married to the strategy they suggest. Do make sure you learn the boss abilities and go over the tips that are specific to your role.

Mind the feedback - I’ve said it before but I believe it so strongly that I want to say it again:

Receiving honest communication from a [person] is a gift, even if you don’t like what the [person] has to say. When a [person] comes to you with something on their mind, they are creating an opportunity for you. If you make them feel like they aren’t being heard, or worse derive them for their opinions, you ensure they won’t give you another.

If you get feedback from a leader, listen to it; make an effort to incorporate what they’ve said to you into your playstyle. If you don’t agree with the feedback you’ve received, the time to ask questions or disagree is outside of raid times. Remember, most leaders are promoted to that position because they have experience and a deep knowledge base. It can never hurt to at least try what they’ve suggested. Who knows, maybe they know something that you don’t. Remember it’s okay to disagree, but in the end the person with the final say is your leadership. If you find that you disagree too much you may want to look for a new home or you may be asked to look for a new home. Honestly, I’d like to think I’m an approachable and reasonable person, but if giving you feedback becomes a chore for me, I’m more likely to look for someone else who’s more receptive to feedback, even if their initial skill set is weaker.

Make a friend - Auz, this is too far, I wanna know how to do well in a raiding environment, not how to make friends. Random internet reader, I promise you this is good for both. While you’re watching your guild (like I suggested at the beginning of this post) I want you to find two people. First find the person in your class role who everyone respects but isn’t an officer. Next find the person who everyone likes and enjoys talking to. Then go to both of them and ask questions. You’ve read the strat for the next boss and you’re not sure you understand it. Ask the person in your class, often they can coach you and are flattered that you’ve asked them. This takes the strain off your leaders who may be doing other things and makes you look good for knowing it without having to go to them. Just choose wisely, picking a bad person to use as a resource may end up making you look worse than if you hadn’t asked anyone at all. Okay Auz, I see the wisdom in that, but what about this popular person? I’m glad you asked, while you are getting used to your new guild you’re going to have to learn to interact with new people. If you need to give feedback to a leader or even another member, the popular person probably knows how best to approach that person. They wouldn’t be popular if they didn’t know how to talk to the other members of the guild. (Though if it’s a chick and you’re not a chick, you might not be able to use all their tricks) Ask for this person’s help when you need tips on how to approach your new teammates.

Now it’s your turn, tell me your horror stories either from the perspective of evaluating an initiate or from the perspective of being an initiate

I was interviewed on World of Matticus today but when we got to the rapid fire section of the interview I turned the tables on Matt and Wyn. Anyone who’s been reading too long knows I can’t give single word answers. Below are Matt and Wyn’s single fire responses.

Ladies First: Here’s Wyn.
For those who don’t know Matt has a new woman in his life (well at least his internet life) Wyn has joined the writing team, and she’s very much the ying to his yang. Despite all stereotypes about women and Asians, she schools him in math.

Auz: I need rapid fire question for you before I publish my link

After WAY too many disconnects holding us up on a recent raid night, I’ve written the following letter to send to my ISPs customer service center. It amused me enough I’ve decided to share it with you guys too.

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Dear Internet Service Provider,
We’ve been together for 6 years now but recently your instability is endangering our relationship. I’ve always relied on you to protect my data as you take me all around the world (wide web). We’ve shared interests, games and even some more private moments. We’ve connected with friends and family. You’ve taken me to places I’ve never seen before and shown me things beyond my imagination.

Recently, you’ve been dropping out on me when I need you most. You’ve embarrassed me in front of my friends, and you’ve made me appear like someone they can’t count on. You laugh it off and say; “It’s only for a moment.” “What about all those other times I’ve been there for you?” “It’s not a big deal.” But it is a big deal. People DIE when I disconnect. I lose documents I’m in the middle of -

…..

- writing. Worst of all, every time it happens, I lose a little faith in you.

I know you’re going to tell me you can change. After everything we’ve been through together, I really hope we can make this work. But I think it’s fair to tell you there is a new guy in town. His name is FiOS and I’ve heard that he’s a real lady-pleaser. I’m sorry. I do care about you. However, if this instability continues, I might have to see if there’s an opportunity to make a connection with him.

Sincerely,

Auzara

Chick GM

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PS. Chick GM has now been viewed in 49 of the 50 states plus DC! Quick someone fetch me a reader from Wyoming!

NOTE: This post is more geared to progression or raiding focused guilds.

So you’ve successfully navigated a guild’s application, and scored an interview with a guild. What exactly is the person doing the interviewing looking for? Interviews are as varied as applications, but again, it’s my corner of the intarwebz so it’s my opinion you get here.

My goal in an interview is to get a more in depth view of what the player is looking for in a guild, their understanding of their class, their attitude towards raiding, and how their personality might mesh with our members. First, let me clarify by saying my interviews are not a set process, depending on the applicant’s answers, and how the conversation goes the questions change. What I’m outlining here are just a few of my frequently asked questions, why I ask them and what I’m looking for in the applicants answer. It’s also fair to inform you that I do not currently conduct primary interviews for my guild, so my questions may be a bit out of date.

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How has playing a changes in raids and 5 mans from level 60 to level 70?
This question is one I’ve retired, but I used it when TBC was less than 3 months old. I wanted to learn how the player had integrated the new tools available to their class. I found that some of the most skilled players adapted these new tools right away. Some of the more mediocre players were slow to make changes their familiar patterns.

What’s your weakest piece of gear and what’s your plan to upgrade it?
I believe good raiding requires self awareness and, like it or not, your gear is part of what your character can do. You can be an AWESOME priest, but if you have 900 +healing you simply CANNOT put out enough healing to keep an Illidan tank alive. I like to hear the player be able to answer right away. Bonus points for already working on it, and for the upgrade being available outside of raids.

If you had to play another class in raids, what class would it be?
This is just a discussion question. I’m listening here for what aspects of the game the applicant enjoys.

Pretend I’ve never seen the Illidari Counsel (or another complicated fight they have listed in their experience) before, explain the encounter to me.
Every person focuses on different parts of the fight. I’m listening here for a complete understanding of what their class does. Bonus points if they can explain with confidence all parts of the encounter and each boss ability.

What do you want out of your raiding experience and guild?
I realize that applicants ARE probably going to bullshit this answer, but even in the bullshit you can learn something about how they think. Also, if later on I’m getting feedback from them that they aren’t happy with the amount of loot they are getting etc, it’s nice to remind them what they told me in their interview.

What do you anticipate your raid attendance will be? Do you have any real life obligations that conflict with our raid schedule.
Again, what an applicant tells me and what they actually do can be expected to differ. This is an opportunity for me to express to them that it’s OKAY to have a real life. Also, I am going to hold you to what you tell me. I might be looking for a druid who an make Sunday nights religiously, because one of my druids can’t ever make Sundays. If you tell me you can make Sundays, I tag you and you miss 3 Sundays in a row, we are going to have problems mister.

When was the last time you died in a raid in an avoidable manner, and what killed you?
This often takes people by surprise and I tend to get an honest answer. It’s good to know that a player is aware of what kills them. Bonus points if they tell me what they’ve changed so it won’t happen again. Negative points if they tell me they’ve never died in an avoidable way.

Are you willing to respec if asked?
The initial response to this question is to BS me and tell me they’ll be whatever the guild needs the most. I always counter this and tell them. I am the GM, my primary focus is this guild’s success but I am NOT willing to go shadow. I know I’d be terrible at it and frankly don’t enjoy dpsing. I clarify that the point of this question is to find out what experience have you had with other specs/roles of your class and if you personally enjoy them.

How you you like to receive feedback about your gameplay?
This is for me. Every single raider in my guild has recieved feedback from me. From “good job” to “dude quit that shit.” Each one of them prefers to get it in a different way. One of my shaman likes for me to call it out in vent. One of my priests gets very defensive if I call stuff out in front of others. One of my pallys likes to hear stuff right then in the raid. Another shaman would rather I give them a short instruction in the raid but always after the raid would like me to explain my feedback in detail. I will have to give you feedback and your preferred way has to be something I can actually do. Note: I rarely ask this question unless the interview has gone well.

Have you read our guild policies?
If they say yes - If I allowed you to change one of our policies what would you change and why?
My guild does not run exactly how I want it too. There are 40 raiders in my guild and 150 accounts. When you gather that many people together you have to compromise. I seriously doubt I have a single player in the guild who doesn’t have one thing they’d like to see change. Knowing what they’d change gives me insight into what they value in a guild.
If they say no - This information is available here, please read this over before our scheduled recruit run (again only if I am thinking about tagging them)
I spend a lot of time, keeping our public policies up to date. It pretty clearly outlines what to expect from us and what we expect from you. I want EVERY potential member to come into the guild with this information, so there are no surprises.

How do you evaluate yourself at the end of a raid night?
This question lets me see what a player sees as their job or role in a raid. Some hunters will tell me top dps, others will tell me strong pulls or saving a squishy with an Ice Trap. There really isn’t a wrong answer, but I’ve found players are typically more content in a raid environment where their supervisory officers agree with what the player values.
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I’d like to note the topic I tackled this time is a broad one. I have gotten great feedback regarding the application post I made. I’m hoping for similar results from this one. What questions do you ask, or have you been asked in an interview?