The path to successfully leading a guild



Foreword
In this guide I will discuss several aspects of leading a guild and give you some tips and tricks on how to successfully lead a guild. If you have any (worthy) suggestions yourself, don't be afraid to post them here or telling me them in a Private Message. If they're good, I will add them in the thread and you will get credited for it.

Guildname
Creating a successful guild starts at the very beginning: the guildname. Believe it or not, but your guildname will have a lot of influence on the type of guild members (also referred to as "guildies") you will attract. Think twice before you choose one. Names such as <Maelstrom Swimming Team> will get more attention from casual players, whereas <Manslaughter> from more hardcore players. Latin or (ancient) Greek names may sound cool, but please do realize that a lot of people think the same way and there are more Latin guildnames out there than you think. The most appreciated overall is an original guildname that fits your guildpillars.

Guildpillars
Once you've created a guildname, it is important that you choose a few guildpillars. These "guildpillars" are everything your guild is based upon. For example, a guild called <Gamon hits truckloads> could have the pillars "casual", "leveling" and "Swedish". This means that (most) people in that guild are casual players, of which most are still leveling, and (supposedly) all are Swedish. Keep in mind that this is the basis of your guild and it is the reason why your guildies are your guildies. Changing, removing or adding a pillar would mean that a lot of people would leave your guild. It is strongly suggested that you have a guildmeeting before doing it, if you don't want to lose your guildies. Do note that, even though often overlooked, "guildsize" is one of the guildpillars.


As you can see, the guildpillars form the basis of your guild. Take one away or change one, and your guild might collapse.
Guild structure
It's extremely important for a guild to have a good guildstructure. A lot of guilds have the problem that there are too little/many officers or that there are more high-ranked than low-ranked members. A good structure is a pyramid, where the lower-ranked members are at the bottom and the guildleader(s) is/are at the top. I also strongly suggest adding a "Naughty Corner"-rank (or however you want to call it) to your guildstructure, where the only permission is to read guildchat (and not typing in it) We all have our little nerdrage moments, but it is obligatory for a good guild environment if you aren't the one getting raged at (this will thoroughly be discussed in the "Guildie treatment" section). If a guildie starts getting out of control (e.g. scolding at another guildie because (s)he lost the roll on an item (s)he wanted), you can simply demote them to the Naughty Corner, where they will be able to cool off.

It'd be best for the "leading part" (= guildleaders + officers) of the guild to be a small group of people who you trust blindly. They are the ambassadors of your guild and set an example for all your guild members, because guildies will look up to them.


How the guild structure should look like

Guildie treatment
It is self-evident that you must treat all guild members equally. Guildies will notice when you favor some more than others and treat them differently, which is the start of a bothersome environment. The best way to achieve this is to make clear guildrules without exceptions or small backdoors. For example, "No foreign languages in guildchat" is a simple and clear rule. However, "No foreign languages in guildchat unless the others aren't listening or are all speaking the same foreign language" is a bad rule, because people will always make up excuses such as "I thought they weren't listening!" or "Oh, isn't he also <insert foreign language>?".

However, when it comes to punishments, you will have to treat your guild members differently. Some guildmembers will already tremble on their feet when you tell them you're unhappy with their behavior, whereas others will only listen when you threaten with a guildkick or even put them out of the raidgroup for a while (if you lead a raiding guild, of course). Some people need to be talked to in guildchat to get their attention, but others find that a humiliation and prefer a warning in a whisper. It all depends on the member, so make sure you know all your members well and how you have to treat them.

And remember: respect gets you a long way. If you treat your guildies respectfully, they will treat you with respect as well and listen to you.

The domino-effect
I would also like to discuss something that I call the domino-effect. When a guild member leaves the guild, the guild is (usually) in a state of panic and upheaval. At that point, the guild is prone to some more leavers (because they don't like the current atmosphere). It is a good idea to put the guild on "lock-down" then, which means that you try and recreate the previous atmosphere and pay some extra attention to unhappy guild members. Leaving guild members is like an avalanche: the more leavers, the bigger the chance that someone else leaves and thus the bigger the impact on the guild.