So unless you’re living under a rock, then you know they’ve announced a November 13th release date for Wrath. Also, if you are living under a rock, stop. First rocks aren’t comfortable homes. Second, if you’re going to be a good leader you need to know what’s coming and prepare for it.

Now if you’re anything like me, the release date was the trigger you’ve been waiting for to start making solid Wrath plans. Sure I’ve been keeping up with Beta and Test server information but always with a grain of salt, because it’s Beta. I’m not ready to go up in arms about Beta information until it’s written in something more solid than a flavorful gelatin product that I’m sure has a trademarked name. A two month timeline on the release means it’s time to start taking Beta and especially test server information more seriously.

So as an online leader what does an expansion mean to you that it doesn’t mean to other people? (Conversely if you’re a member what should you expect to see your leadership do to prepare and how can you help them?)

The major thing a vertical expansion provides is an opportunity for change.

Whoa wait a minute, Auz you said vertical expansion, I heard this was a Wrath expansion, has that medicine the doctor given you finally gone to your head?

No little voice in my head, it’s not affecting me any more than to make me publically argue with the voices in my head, I’m ashamed to admit I was doing before the medicine they gave me. Vertical is an adjective that gamer theorist (yes this is a real class of people, some of whom actually get paid but most are laymen with blogs like me) have attached to expansions that require a character’s growth (leveling) to reach new content. It’s counterpart is a horizontal expansion which provides more content and items to be acquired without requiring character growth to reach it. (I apologize to all the gamer theorists out there I have offended with my crude but concise definition of these concepts.) So the Sunwell patch could be considered a horizontal expansion and the Wrath is a vertical expansion. And now someone queue that music from the now you know comercials.

Uh Auz, we don’t have a staff, you’ll have to do that yourself as I’m incorporeal.

What do you mean we don’t have a staff? Matt has a staff, and I’m at least as cool as he is.

Yeah but Matt suckered them into it by bribing Wyn with cookies and snagged Syd with that clever So You Think You Can Write Blog Posts So Matt Doesn’t Have To thing.

Darn him, I’m guessing I can’t steal that idea and have it work twice huh?

Nope but you might be able to train the pug.

I do have cookies… ChickGM and Pugdude!

Damn it voice in my head, you’ve gotten us way off track, and probably lost our readers.

<Ahem> So vertical expansions create change, by requiring us all to level. The gear advantage that individuals and guilds have and the requirements that zones have disappear. Shaking the Etch-a-sketch of wow gear hierarchy and forcing us to draw a new picture. In addition the class balance etch-a-sketch will be shaken, and we’re going to get used to classes playing new roles. (Rogue Synergy? Pally AOE heals? Druid out of combat Rezs? It’s a scary new world) Finally, the tradeskill etch-a-sketch will be shaken.

So in the face of all this potential change, what does an online leader do?

First, read Bre’s post, protecting your landscape.

Okay now, do an internal check. Find out what aspects of the game you are willing to focus on, both as a leader and a member of a guild. Then keep your mouth shut about them so that you don’t influence the others and you get honest feedback.

Next, speak to your guildmates. Sure right now you’re a casual guild, but what secret hopes do your guildmates hold? It may turn out that now is the time that your teammates want to start some raiding or maybe your raiding guild is tired and wants to step back? You’ll never know if you don’t ask them. (Note I’ve been out of touch with my guild for a bit, but before I was away I already knew the thrust of my core members. Even if you are in close contact with your members, you should check again. Some people’s opinions are going to change as the possibility of change is higher.)

Take your polls and put them in three categories, the leadership, the core, and the future (your newer members).

• If your leadership, core and future are all in alignment - The future path is clear and your life is beautiful. Give your guild recruitment leader/process a pat on the shoulder and start working on your path.
• If your leadership and core are in alignment but your future is out of alignment - Let your future know that you’ve heard their views but that the guild is not going to change to meet their expectations. They are welcome to stay on if they’ll accept the current guild path or you won’t begrudge them if they look for a guild more inline with their desires. (Bonus points if you help them find it). Then take a hard look at your recruitment process and make sure you’re clearly stating the guild focus and asking people about their goals within that process.
• If your leadership and core are out of alignment - This sucks. If there is room for compromise, I highly recommend exploring that opportunity first. If not, then one focus has to win out. I will refrain from commenting about which I believe should win out and only say that no matter which side goes the guild has a hard time of rebuilding ahead of it. Whichever side wins, let the guild know as soon as possible so that everyone can make plans. If you are stepping out of the leadership position, a gracious last act would be to help the guild establish their new leadership to the best of your abilities.

Now that you’ve found your guild’s Wrath path, it’s time to lay the groundwork.

• If your guild is continuing along it’s old path - this work is fairly easy. You’ll need to look over all your publically available information to make sure it’s updated for Wrath (applications, website, etc) and you might want to use that time to look over your guild rules to ensure that what you have documented is actually what you’re enforcing.
• If you’re making a path change, - let your guild know right away, so that people know what to expect out of the guild for Wrath and can make plans accordingly. Then take a look at the guilds on your server who are currently on your desired path. Read all of the guild’s publically available material and if you are fortunate enough to be able to find a leader in another guild who is willing to answer your questions, remember that this leader is also preparing his/her guild for Wrath and you should use the time they make available to use wisely. From this information you’ll have a good idea of what other guilds offer and their structure. From there you can work with your leadership to determine what you can offer and what new responsibilities need to be doled out. While you’re discussing this, think about how your guild can differentiate itself from your peers in your chosen niche and be sure your recruitment process capitalizes on this distinction.

Let it be known that I’ve never lead a non- PvE raiding guild, though I have been an observer or member of most types of guild. With that caveat, here is a rough listing of the responsibilities, as I see them, of the leadership for different guild niches.

Any Guild

• Guidance of focus
• Recruitment process
• Acceptable behavior standards
• Enforcement of standards
• Communication -Website, Vent, Email Chain, Phone list as required
• Conflict resolution
• Shared resource management
• Event Organization as required
• Documentation of required information
• Publication of guild standards, goals and accomplishments as required

Role Playing Guild

• Environment crafting
• Overarching guild plot
• In character/ out of character protocol and expectations.
• Role playing guidance
• Event Organization

PvE Raiding Guild

• Research - zones, bosses, classes, patches, etc
• Set raid strategy communicate it
• Loot distribution system
• Expectations of raid behavior
• Class/Role leadership

PvP Raiding guild

• Research - zones, pvp objectives, classes, patches, etc
• Set PvP strategies and communicate it
• Expectation of PvP behavior
• Class/Role leadership

If you have anything to add that I’m missing please let me know in a comment.

I had intended to make this a complete guide to Wrath guild planning, but this post is already too long and I’ve only just begun. So in order to; not draw me from my own guild for too long, keep you from falling asleep and bolster my post count, I’ve decided to make this a post series.

Hey Auz I know this is the end of the post, but you see all those bullet points you don’t have links for. You should totally fill in the blank spots for those.

I know voice in my head, looks like I won’t run out of topics for a long time.

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

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?

Let me preface this by saying there are LOTS of opinions about guild applications. My opinion is but one of many. However, you’ve chosen to visit my corner of the intarwebz, so mine is the one you get to hear.

I view an application to be a tool for eliminating people I clearly don’t want in my guild, with the least amount of reading possible. Basically when I’m done reading the application I want to be thinking, “Gee I’d like to talk to that person” or “Ewwwww no thanks.” With that goal in mind, I’m going to take you through my guild’s application. Here is a sneak peak into the pitfalls and what I’m really looking for when I read an application to my guild.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We ask that all applicants read our guild policies before applying.
Please use the following template for your application.
This is your warning, make sure you know what you’re signing up for, and fill this stuff out.

Character Name: I do need to know what to call you. Also if your name is Buttfloss or something equally dumb I generally stop reading here.

Class: Yep, this is important too. If you spell your class wrong, I’m not interested.

Armory Link: Sure we could ask for your detailed history OR you could just give me the link. I check this for rep (Don’t tell me you’ve been farming BT for 6 months and have your Deathsworn Ashtongue Rep at Honored.) Did you gem, gear, enchant, or spec in a way that meets our expectations for raiders?

Why did you allocate your talent points where you did?: Defend your choices. If I see the words pvp or solo here I normally stop reading. This is a raiding guild. It’s not a pvp guild and it’s not a let’s go solo guild.

What do you believe your class (and spec) brings to raids?: This is the first question I ask where I’m looking for an insight into the player’s class knowledge and play style. “I pew stuff” indicates a different personality and understanding of a class than “I provide CC, biscuits and high AoE damage.”

How long have you been playing WoW?: I’m honestly not sure why we have this here. I think one of my officers wanted it. As long as the answer is above 4 months or so I’m normally fine with it.

How long have you been playing this character? I want this answer to be over 4 months also.

Pre-BC raiding experience: What did you do before BC? Honestly at this point Naxx isn’t a deciding factor, but it does tell me that you’ve had experience in our type of raiding environment before. With less experienced players you have to determine both if this type of raiding commitment AND if this guild is for them at the same time.

BC raid experience: What do I have to teach you to get you up to speed with our current progression?

What do you anticipate your raid attendance will be if we were to offer you a raiding position within our guild?: I don’t trust 100% I don’t want to hear about well my dog or school comes up sometimes. I want a good guesstimate of how often your real life interferes with your raiding plans. If you tell me 95% and it ends up be 60% imma be pissed.

What do you want out of being in a guild?: This is honestly about your expectations meeting our offerings. If you expect a military style raid that’s not what we offer. If you want us all to be best friends and not care that you have green gems, this is also not the place for you.

Tell us about your last guild and why you are looking for a new home.: This is my “Plays well with others” section, where I give you a chance to make a jerk of yourself. If you trash your old guild as a bunch of jerks who don’t understand, that raises red flags for me. (Especially if I know your old GM.) If you were booted for ninja looting, I’d make up something about not having compatible raid times.

What do you know about The Guild*, and how do you know it?: Have you done your homework about my guild? If you haven’t, how flattering can you be?

Who do you know in The Guild*?: Do you have someone in my guild to vouch for you? If you do, do they actually know and like you?

We ask you to prepare yourself for a new boss encounter, how do you go about this?: This is kind of a give me. Tell me you read strats, get consumables, and/or talk to friends that have done the fight. Just remember, I keep this application if I tag you. So I’m going to remind you that you do these things.

Please allow us up to 3 days after acknowledging receipt of your application to review your application and post an update before you contact us and ask for an update.
Don’t pester my officers 20 minutes after you apply.

If your contact requests that you get in touch with them and you fail to do so within a week, your application will be considered withdrawn and no longer considered.
Don’t make us go looking for you.

Unless otherwise stated, officers are not available to discuss applications during TD’s raid hours. We’re all an active part of the leadership of raids and it’s unfair to our guildmates, our applicants and ourselves to attempt to give both your application and the raid the attention they deserve at the same time.
Don’t pester my officers during a raid; they are raiding.

Please delete the instructional portions of this form before submitting your application.
This is my idiot check. I don’t need to read my instructions to evaluate your app, however, if you’ve deleted my instructions, then I know that you have read them. If you don’t follow directions on your application, you probably won’t follow them in raids either.

*Name changed to confused the truly obtuse.