A week ago, the venerated Bear Butt made a post reacting to a blogger speaking about raid guilds struggling this summer. He mentioned in it that he’d like to hear my reactions. Bear’s post can be found here. The Officer’s Quarters post he was reacting to can be found here. Neither are necessary to understand this entry, but both are good reads. Both Bear Butt and Officer’s Quarters speak about two issues, the death of raiding guilds and taking back old members. I’m only going to focus on raiding guild death for this post, as I’ve covered returning members in a previous post.

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Why are raiding guilds falling apart? We’ve all seen it. I don’t think a single server has escaped the death of a well respected raiding guild, but why is it happening? Have these guilds all been simultaneously mismanaged into oblivion? Are aliens shooting discontent gamer radiation down to the Earth? Is WoW dying? Nope, well maybe, but I leaning towards more mundane causes.

I believe current raiding guild deaths are being caused by a combination of three factors.

• It’s summer
• There is a looming expansion
• There is a significant difficulty and gear gap between Hyjal/Black Temple and Sunwell Plateau

It’s summer - The typical hardcore raiding demographic is college kids. (Statistics gathered by a rigorous process of thinking back on the hardcore raiders I’ve known over the past years) Summer for college kids generally means a job, moving back in with their family, maybe sharing a car, basically less control over their own schedules and availability. Outside of that, summer is the time of barbecues, vacations, day trips to the beach or an amusement park, reconnecting with old friends, etc. In my own guild this has affected us:

• one of our two main tanks is currently on a 3 week vacation to France,
• one of our enhancement shaman just came back from Italy.
• One of my favorite priests has to pick up his sister from work at EXACTLY the start time of our raids.
• The list goes on and on.

In addition to that, some people are working hard to re-arrange their schedules to avoid having it interact with raid time. When raids don’t run silky smooth they may start to question why they’ve made that effort, or feel bitter towards their teammates who haven’t.

There is a looming expansion - With the flood of information about Wrath available, many players have their eyes on the future. They realize that in a few months the purple gear they are wearing will be replaced. For those that raid primarily for gear, they look around and realize they are in a hamster wheel, gear will always be replaced they’ll never “finish.” This can be disconcerting and cause people to wonder why they play or at least why they raid. Even for the less gear focused, they may be looking around wondering what aspects of the game they are missing by focusing on raiding.

Sunwell is hard yo! - Sunwell is significantly harder than Black Temple and Hyjal. The fights are more complex and leave less room for error. That’s not a bad thing, but it’s also. in my opinion, designed gear wise for people who have been farming Illidan for at least 6 weeks, more time than that, if the loot gods look upon your guild with disfavor. So when a raiding guild first sets foot in Sunwell they are either; woefully undergeared or fat and lazy from 6 or more weeks of just farming old content.

All of these challenges taken individually are painful, yet manageable. With their collision though, most guilds don’t have the strength or energy to master them. But fear ye not! I am not here to depress you with bad news of your impending doom. I have suggestions.

First, be it known that my guild, where you mostly hear me spout off a list of positive suggestions and ideas, is not immune to this phenomena. We have struggled. We have not progressed as quickly through raid content as I know we can. We are affected by these things too, and my suggestions are not the end all be all of leading your guild through this time period. They are just one GMs list of stuff that works or doesn’t work. With that lengthy preamble here are my suggestions:

• Turn these challenges into positives
• Publically acknowledge your struggles
• Draw on your strengths
• Ask for help

Turn these challenges into positives - I know I just talked about how all these things suck, but the fact is they are also all AWESOME. It’s summer time, the sun is shining, girls are in bikinis and life is generally good. Capitalize on the good mood that summer brings and capture that in your raids. People’s schedules are erratic, use that as a reason to let people try something new. If that’s respeccing a hybrid or bringing in a well geared alt, at this point in the game most people are very open to doing old content from a new perspective. There’s an expansion looming, people are excited about new class abilities, Death Knights and new raid zones. They are excited about the game again! This can help shake of the dulldromes, but remind them while they have their eyes on the future, the reason most raiders learn about our classes and gear up is to experience the raid content. The time period in which to experience TBC raid content is running out, let’s make the best of that time by focusing our raid time to make sure we get those experiences. Sunwell is hard, but that’s what we play for. I don’t know about you, but I get bored when I’m not challenged. Sunwell is a challenge and a half and it keeps me on my toes. It’s heightened my skills as a healer, raid leader and guild leader. I don’t know about the others, but deep down that’s why I play. Life is complex and situations aren’t always what we chose, but all of these challenges have locked within them the potential to be something that grows and strengths your guild in addition to the challenge they provide. You can’t will them away, but you can capitalize on that.

Publically acknowledge your struggles - Your guild looks to it’s leaders the most when things are rough. Don’t hide the fact that the summer and other factors have rocked your world. It may seem counterintuitive but by acknowledging these struggles you improve morale. You send a message to your guild that you are aware of the challenges and working to make them better. You can also help people articulate what they are feeling but don’t know how to express. Sometimes people feel a general sense of discontentment, but don’t always know why. By helping them identify why they are discontent, you can help them find a solution. Finally, but publically acknowledging your struggles, you get your guild focused on them which can lead to some brilliant solutions you didn’t think of. Some of the best solutions my guild has had, weren’t my idea. I’m not here to have all the great ideas, I’m here to make sure the great ideas turn into great solutions.

Draw on your strengths - This may seem like fairly obvious advice, but you’d be surprised how many people miss it. Your guild has different strengths and weaknesses than mine. It has to, it has different people in it. When you’re looking for solutions, it’s great to talk to other people, but remember you’re looking for a solution for your guild. Think about your guild’s strengths and find ways to capitalize on those strengths. If you have an amazing graphical artist, then maybe have them draw diagrams of bosses you’re struggling on. If you have a guild full of friend ranks maybe help organize them into a support crew that helps farm consumables for the raiders and in return hand out some of those yellow and green epic gems you have piling up for their pvp gear.

Ask for help - The worst thing that can happen to a struggling raid guild is leader burn out. When the guild is dissatisfied that creates a lot of pressure on you. It also generally makes some of your members feel helpless to change the dissatisfaction that surrounds them. By asking for help you do two things, you take the pressure off of you and you empower your member. Not ever member feels this way, but sometimes just knowing they are doing something to contribute makes a raider feel content. Don’t be afraid to ask for help on the routine things in order to free you up to focus on the things only you can do. Do make sure to give people thank yous and credit when they’ve agreed to help you.

I’ve said before that what defines you as a leader isn’t always keeping your guild running smoothly, it’s what you do when your guild isn’t running smoothly. I hope these things will give you food for thought, or help you in some ways. If you are the leader of a struggling raiding guild; take a deep breath, remember you aren’t alone in facing these challenges, know that these challenges will pass and your guild will be stronger for it.

A few posts back I had a commenter request that I post an example gear plan like I proposed in an earlier post. I thought about it decided it was a good idea, and promptly forgot to do it. I went over my blog notes, (Yes I keep notes about what I’d like to blog about; don’t blame me, blame Matticus.) and decided I should to this quickly before I forgot. Let me say two things that will both be probably be promptly ignored.

• I am not posting this gear plan as a list of gear that you should be trying to get as a raiding priest.
• I do not care to debate with anyone the virtues of this item verses that item for raiding holy priests, nor my spec, etc.

Both of these points stem from the same basic reason, I probably don’t heal the way you do. I’m a very specialized role that is specific to the needs of my guild and myself. I do not wholesale recommend my spec or gearing choices to anyone that’s not functioning in the exact same role that I am 100% of the time. If you would like to discuss the finer points of healing with me, I highly suggest coming over to PlusHeal.com and chatting with the numerous intelligent people there and I about what’s on your mind.

Without further ado, here is my gear plan.

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My Armory

Updated: 7.1.08

Major Upgrades
Hands of Eternal Light - Sunwell (craftable)
Boots of Absolution - Sunwell
Memento of Tyrande - Illidan - BT

Nice to have
Amulet of Flowing Life - Trash (JC pattern) - Sunwell
Shroud of Redeemed Souls - Twins - Sunwell

Wouldn’t Let it Rot/Sidegrade
Cuffs of Absolution - Offspec in case I want to avoid breaking my set bonus later.
Tome of Diabolic Remedy - I get more out of my spirit trinkets, but I might play with around with this some.
Crystal Spire of Karabor - Illidan - BT
Archon’s Gavel- I’m a staff girl and this is good for others but I’d be tempted if it was going to rot.
Haste:

• Shawl of Wonderment- Twins - Sunwell
• Robe of Eternal Light- Trash drop - Sunwell
• Blessed Band of Karabor- Trash drop - BT
• Dark Blessing- ZA - Zul’jin
• Book of Highborne Hymns - Twins - Sunwell

Today’s post comes from the mail bag. By the way, if you are one of the lovely people who have written in and you haven’t gotten a response yet I promise I’m getting to you. It generally means you’re getting a long response I plan on posting rather than a short and sweet answer. Please keep writing in and have some patience with me.

Auz,
I guess I have a sort of question, but it’s kind of rambly and behind a story. I don’t know if you read or follow my blog at all, if you don’t, here is the lowdown: for the past year or so, my boyfriend has been the guild leader of a very fun and active guild of some 200 people. We are a dual roleplaying/entry-level raiding guild, do Kara runs, etc.

Anyways, a few weeks back the boyfriend basically effectively quit WoW and gave Guild Leadership to me. I feel very overwhelmed. I have never really been a “leader” sort of person and suddenly being presented with having all these decisions and people asking me to make decisions, is very hard. I’ve had to scale back the guild because having two different focuses was just too hard: at this point I’ve scaled back on the all-guild raiding and now we’re sorta raiding with other guilds. This is just because first and foremost we are a casual/RP guild at heart, and we all hang out together because we are *friends* (as opposed to because we want to raid– as much as we love to do that, too.)

I have a lot of great support in the forms of my officers– heck you may be pleased to know that the my two second-in-commands are both chicks as well as me and they are very supportive and offer a lot of help. Still, I can’t help but be overwhelmed by the stress and I often feel that I bring nothing to the table as a GM– people tell me an idea, and I don’t know how to approach the idea because I am bad at making decisions so I usually just approve it right off the bat. I don’t think this will be good in the long run.

In short, I guess I am asking… what does one do when a guild falls into one’s lap? And is it possible that some people are simply not cut out for this job? I worry I may not be. I can teach and I can write, but I just have never envisioned myself as a leader. I don’t want to be the downfall of this wonderful guild that was sort of “given” to me.

-Pike (of Aspect of the Hare)

Through informal polling, namely talking to the people I’ve met in my online travels, I’ve determined that this kind of experience is the number one source of all new guild leaders. Guild leading is a huge time commitment and a lot of responsibility, and sometimes changes in real life or just burnout means a GM can’t make the commitment they used to and someone new has to take the reigns, often quite unexpectedly. This leaves the new GM perplexed and needing to get it together quickly. (Remind me later on I want to write about the importance of a succession plan.) It sounds like your question is broken into two parts; Am I doing it wrong? and Are there people not cut out for GMing?

Am I doing it wrong?

First - Your former GM chose your for a reason. Even disheartened GMs who burn out are protective of their guild. My co-GM and I joke that it’s our baby. (Which raises an eyebrow from Mr. Auzara who wasn’t aware I had a kid) Your GM likely knows more about the people in your guild than anyone else, and they picked you. That’s pretty strong evidence that you’re cut out for it. In this particular case, I’m willing to bet your boyfriend knows you very well, and knows your flaws and weaknesses as well as your strengths.

Second - You have something no one else does, access to the former GM. You can ask about how he was working to grow the guild, what he might do, etc. Clearly he doesn’t want the responsibility of full time GMing on his head or he wouldn’t have passed on the responsibility, but if you’re ever stuck he might be an excellent resource.

Third - Leadership is a team effort, I don’t believe anyone can do it alone. Even those who in name are sole leaders often spread tasks and responsibilities to other trusted members. It sounds like you have a team of great leaders with good ideas who respect you. Any new leader of an existing environment will need to identify your existing leaders and cultivate a working relationship with them. In addition, identify potential leaders from the membership and look to develop them.

Fourth -Develop your vision. You don’t have to come up with all the ideas by yourself or any of them to serve as a good leader. You steer the ship so to speak. Keep your eye on the horizon and keep your ear on your crew. It sounds like you have a solid idea of what your guild is at heart and what it’s members want. You could serve as a referee bouncing ideas off of you and making sure they are inline with where the crew wants to go.

Fifth - Define what you are willing to give. GMing will consume any and all time you chose to give it. There is always something else to do. Do yourself a favor and first define what time you can afford to give to the guild and then work to fit the things you have to accomplish into that time line.

Sixth - Find a mentor. As a new GM the best thing you can do is find an experienced GM who is willing to take you under their wing. Some things are common to GMing experiences and some skills are developed over time. If you can, find someone to bounce ideas off of and vent frustrations to. (<3Yeti, Tarsus and Lume!)

Seventh - I, a random internet stranger, cannot tell you if you’re doing it wrong, only your guild can. There are millions of different guilds out there all with different views “right” and “wrong.” Nin has come here and passionately argued with me that overruling a loot decision is “wrong,” while others have argued that it’s “right.” The fact is, it’s wrong for Nin and right for those that argued it’s right. What makes a good leader is ultimately decided by those you lead.
Are there people not cut out for GMing?

Yes, emphatically yes.

There are universal truths of GMing.

• You will spend more time focused on the game and the guild than if you were not leading.
• You will hear complaints.
• You will have to make tough decisions.
• You will be to blame when things go wrong.

A good GM needs tools to handle these things.

Time - You need the spare time to dedicate to leading. Lack of time is often what ends up causing GMs to have to resign. You also need strong time management skills so you can make the best use of the time you can dedicate to the game and to leading.

Complaints - You need a thick skin. Regardless of how well or how poorly your guild is doing people will have something to complain about. A good rule of thumb I use to measure the health of my guild is not how much complaining is there, instead it’s how petty are the complaints. If people are complaining about things like “He gave the turtle book he won to another mage and not me.” or “The loot I want hasn’t dropped in 6 months.” This is the sign of a healthy guild. If complaints run along the lines of “He called me a useless mage in guild chat.” or “I haven’t enjoyed a raid in 6 months.” This is the sign of a more serious problem. Good GMs learn to take these complaints and turn them into something positive. That being said, these complaints are the highest cause of GM burn out.

Tough Decisions - I’ve said before, you don’t have to have all the ideas to be the GM, but as GM the final call is left to you. You need to have a vision for your guild but that vision has to be tempered by the needs of the other people who share your guild. In many ways your job as GM is to take the needs of 40 or so individuals and mesh them together into one guild focus. This involved compromise on the parts of the members and awareness on the part of the GM. At some point you will make a decision that you know is bad for an individual you value, but is still right for the guild as a whole. It’s a tough call to make and every time I’ve had to make one like that I’ve hated it. It’s also what makes a strong GM.

The Blame Game - People like to assign blame and they rarely assign it to themselves. As GM you’ve signed off on every decision, therefore when something backfires guess who’s fault it is? You need to be able to accept accountability and you need to learn how to turn failure into triumph. I’ll give you an example from my days waitressing.

Once upon a time I was a waitress, I was good at my job and therefore was “rewarded” with twice the tables as a normal waitress. One day I screwed up. My table had ordered 20 minutes ago and I went to ask the cook where their food was. Ooops I never entered their order. FAIL! Fortunately the cook had a kind heart and put my order in with a rush. I quickly went to my table and said “I’m sorry, I’ve neglected to put your order in, it’s in now but it’ll still be about 10 minutes. I’d like to make it up to you with one of our readily available items to tide you over for free, what can I bring you?” The customers accepted my offer graciously and I brought them out salads (paid for out of my own pocket). 10 minutes later the cook had the food ready and I brought it out to them. I apologized again for my mistake and praised the cook for his quick response time. They got through their meal and I was very attentive to their needs (I’d just cost them 20 minutes it was the least I could do.) When they were leaving I noticed them talking to my boss. I was definitely in trouble. I cleared off their table and did my best to focus on my current customers. Having already screwed up once that day, I didn’t need any more angry customers talking to my boss. At the end of the night my boss called us around and read off a note the customer had left to me in front of everyone. Apparently rather than complain my customers were impressed that I’d taken responsibility for my mistake. They were also impressed that I offered them compensation and that I passed praise onto the cook. They left me a $40 tip, and my boss paid me back for the salads. My boss said something that I’m afraid I don’t remember and gave me the note and a raise. I keep that note with me even today as a reminder that it’s okay to screw up, as long as you take responsibility and work to fix it.

You will screw up. You’ve taken on too much responsibility to not mess up from time to time. What defines you as a leader won’t be your lack of screwing up, it will be the grace with which you recover from those mistakes.

That’s a quick and dirty introduction. It should be known that there are about a million things to learn and develop as an online leader. I’ve edited this post about 5 times and I still simultaneously think it is too long and too short. Thanks for your question Pike! I hope this helps you.

This is the first of what I’d like to make a series of interviews with online leaders. If you’re interested in telling your story please use the “Leadership Interviews” link in the right hand column of the homepage to contact me. Thank you very much Sydera for bearing with me through this learning process.

About Sydera

Tell us about your gaming background.

My exposure to video games as a child was occasional and usually second-hand. Eventually some games moved me to try them myself, and I played through the Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, up until the Fire Temple proved too hard. Until my mid-twenties, I thought of video games as a neat pastime for people who had great hand-eye coordination. However, Neverwinter Nights changed everything. That was the first game I finished on my own, and I became more and more interested in story and roleplaying-oriented games.

In 2005, my boyfriend’s cousin got a job at Blizzard, and he told us all about this cool game called World of Warcraft. The rest, they say, is history. I got my feet wet in the endgame with my first character, a holy paladin, at 60, but I only became a serious raider in BC with my resto druid.

How did you become a leader of an online organization?

My position of officer was given to me rather suddenly. I had been a longtime member of a casual guild, Random Acts, and the GMs elevated both my boyfriend and I to officer positions right before they left for a more progressed guild. At this point, we were just about ready to start Karazhan. The remaining guild officers worked to rebuild our team to the point that we could clear the instance. We forged an alliance with another guild and started running Gruul’s Lair. During this process, more officers left, and I found myself the new GM of Random Acts by default. Along with two other officers, I decided to start the process of merging with our allied guild. It took about eight weeks to put the merger together. We negotiated every point of the charter and guild rules as carefully as one would negotiate a business contract, all the while continuing to run allied 25-mans and Kara. On Jan. 1, 2008, we officially formed Collateral Damage, with all of the officers who had worked on the merger as co-GMs. The official title rotates among us on the first of every month. We are all equals, but we have different jobs. I do recruitment and guild publicity, and other officers take care of raid leading, website design, loot system management, attendance, etc.

What strengths do you bring to the role of recruitment/publicity officer?

In my real life, I am transitioning from graduate student to college professor. My career has given me an ability to read critically, to write well, and to research any topic. When I took on the role of recruiting officer, the first thing I did was read lots of recruitment posts and guild websites to find out what other people do. I adopted the techniques I liked and made adjustments of my own. Moreover, when I write a recruitment post or talk to a potential recruit, I tap into the genial professor tone. I have information to share, and I do so clearly and calmly in a way that makes sense to my audience. I have also trained myself to be a thoughtful listener. I often take notes during a recruitment talk—just as I would in class—so that I can process the information later.

Your boyfriend also has a leadership position within your guild. How does that impact your relationship both in and out of game? Do you find the impact positive or negative?

Briolante and I have been together a long time, and we are very stable. That does not mean that we always agree. We have often taken opposite points of view in officer meetings, particularly about matters like the loot system or recruitment. Our core goal, however—progress in raiding—is the same, and when a critical decision needs to be made, we tend to work together. The lesson of compromise is a critical one for any relationship. I like the sense of working together on a project, and the guild gives us an endless source of conversation. However, sometimes we struggle to get out of the WoWspace because we are both so involved. We have both just finished dissertations, and that means we’ve spent a lot of time together in our living room working, writing, and playing the game over the last couple of years. That certainly can lead to frustration! We really need our daytrips and weekend getaways from time to time—sometimes we’ll even go on a walk and ban WoW as a topic of conversation.

How much time do you spend completing your in game responsibilities a week?

Probably more than I need to, but I’m a grad student and have all the time I could want. I would say 3 hours for the officer meeting plus any little chats we have between them, and another 3 for participating in our active website. I also count my raiding hours as part of my responsibilities—as we’re a raiding guild, it is important that the officers raid actively. 20 hours total seems about right. Any time I am in game, I am leading my guild, and there’s no kicking back and shutting off the world.

What tool couldn’t you lead without?

I couldn’t lead without my long list of WoW blogs. I try to learn from other people’s experiences, and I love to read and research. I research guild organization and leadership in addition to my class and raid role. I think that any problem can be solved through reading.

About Collateral Damage

Your guild has an interesting leadership structure, can you tell me more about how this came to be, and how the logistics work out?

Our guild is the result of a merge between two casual guilds. Going into the merger, each officer who wanted to participate had an equal say in the proceedings. This quite simply worked for us. Our meetings were often long, but the process of coming to consensus was an illuminating one. We decided to continue this democratic structure. Just by personal preferences, we tend to represent different demographics within the guild. I see the eight of us as a small congress, with the position of speaker rotating every month. In terms of perception, most of our members see our raid leader as the most powerful officer. However, in guild meetings, it is usually others who take the lead. Thankfully, none of us has a big ego. No one is actually interested in the credit for leadership—what we want is progression raiding on our terms, and we’ve got that.

What are you current guild goals and focus?

Right now Collateral Damage is focusing on T6 content. We worked our way through all of T5, downing Vashj and Kael several times each, even though attunements had been removed by the time we were ready to work on Kael. In T6, we are 4/5 and 4/9, and our main goal is to dance on Illidan’s corpse by the end of the summer.

What makes your guild unique on your server?

Collateral Damage came late to the end-game, so we cannot be called innovators in the sense of progression. However, compared to many who came before us, we are uniquely thoughtful and member-oriented. We carefully craft guild policy so that the terms are fair for everyone. The fact that the officers have equal power means that we have had some epic meetings to decide guild policy.

We also take a “work smarter, not harder” approach to progression. We only raid between 10 and 13 hours per week, and we kill most bosses in a very short amount of time. My guild is full of intelligent people, and I cannot emphasize enough how much this fact helps progression. If something can be defeated by intense research and planning, that is how we will do it. I have a belief that all boss fights are won or lost before the pull. Success depends on preparation—each person’s research of her class and the fight, combined with the raid leader’s strategy.

In addition, we are a bit older than most guilds, with an average age of about 30, which differentiates us from the stereotypical raiding guild. Many of us bring the skills we learned in the workplace to the table at the raids, and as such, the tone of our events is respectful and cooperative. We might be called carebears, but it hasn’t hurt us yet.

How does your guild measure success?

Our success can best be measured in group stability. Sure, we down lots of bosses, but I find guild organization to be the bigger challenge. We have managed to make steady progress while keeping people more or less happy. I never have to wonder if the BT raids will fill. I know they will, and I also know that win or lose, we’ll have a good time.

What is your guild’s greatest success story?

I credit Lady Vashj for making Collateral Damage what it is today. It took us three and a half nights of serious teamwork to take her down for the first time, and I think I’m still deaf in my left ear from all the cheering on Vent when she finally died.

What is an officer’s greatest learning opportunity?

Guild organization itself is a constant challenge. We essentially arrange the recreational hours for 30 other people, and we have often made the wrong move with the best intentions. For example, when the guild first formed, the officers wanted an attendance requirement. So many of our raiders expressed concern about this (even those whose attendance has turned out to be upwards of 80%) that we never put one in. Officers have to interact with the real guild they have, and not the image of an Ideal Raiding Guild. It is a constant challenge to understand the members and their perceptions.

What is the guild’s biggest current challenge?

Black Temple challenges guilds with a relatively light raiding schedule like ours. It’s huge and full of trash—so large in fact that we may have to add a fourth raid night on a permanent basis. I would like to see us improve the efficiency of our raids, such that we can raid a forgiving schedule and still down Illidan.

What is you best guild quote?

“Peanut butter.”

We used to have a very verbose raider who would talk and talk until we all forgot what we were supposed to be doing. The officers decided to institute a “safe word” for this player, something neutral that would tell him when to shut up. “Peanut butter” has become a catchall term to apply for anyone who is, er, oversharing (or threatening the PG-13 vent rating) during a raid.

Are you recruiting?

We’ve had an influx of summer raiders and we are not short on bodies to fill slots right now—in fact, quite the opposite. We are looking for an enchancment shaman. Also, if there’s an excellent shadow priest out there, geared and ready for the content we are doing, there might be an opportunity. In addition, we always welcome applications from exceptional candidates. There are likely to be more spaces as well when school starts again.

Wrapping Up

What advice do you have for a new online leader?

Don’t be afraid to be active. The worst thing a guild leader can do is let the guild stagnate. Always have a project, and let this project suit your guild. Not all guilds are the same, but every one of them can have events that the members will enjoy. When you decide what your guild’s project will be, think about your members. What will they be satisfied with? What do they like doing now? And then design a project that fits that, but pushes your members a little bit beyond. Your job as leader is to be the visionary. This is what I told myself when I first started doing—if you want to be a leader, then lead. Don’t coast.

How can someone get in touch with you to find out more about your guild?

Go to www.cdvekguild.com, make an account, and send a PM to Sydera. Alternately, you can also talk to me in-game on Vek-nilash, Alliance-side, on Sydera or my alt Isidora. Unless we’re raiding, I’ve always got time.

Have any shout outs?

My fellow officers, Briolante, Bruug, Carluta, Camelita, Steelbrick, Fandame, and Catal—who make the whole bother of guild organization worth it.