Jan 20 2008
Leading a Guild in an MMORPG
Volunteer organizations exist in all shapes and sizes. Team based sports are a type of volunteer organization that most people are familiar with, but a specific kind of team based sport most are not familiar with is a guild in an online game. Guilds can be defined simply as a group of players, ranging in numbers of a few dozen to several hundred, who play an online game together regularly under the leadership of a single or multiple other players. A guild leader faces the same organizational challenges that a coach faces when organizing a purely volunteer baseball team. Through proper planning, anyone with the aptitude for leadership can create and maintain a richly rewarding guild that will hold up to the test of time.
Individuals contribute time, effort, and in some cases money to participate in organizations they want to be a part of or believe in. Unfortunately, the definition of participation is different for everyone. Some people believe that simply being associated with the organization is enough; while others will give their all to make sure the goals of the organization is achieved. Deciding on what level of participate that is wanted from people in a guild can be difficult. Online organizations also face unique challenges which include geographical differences, ever changing personal schedules, and the barriers of online communication. All of these issues play a role in not only acquiring the right people, but keeping those individuals who will define your organization over time.
When creating a guild, the first step should be to take the time to define it. This process should include not only defining policy and procedures of how the guild should operate, but also clearly state the feeling of the guild. Some guild leaders create a militaristic style guild with hyper focused goals while others might choose a laid back structure which promotes a family style atmosphere. Regardless of how one defines the feeling of a guild, clearly defining it ensures that the people who are recruited into the guild feel the same as the person who formed it. There also needs to be clearly written policies including a code of conduct, disciplinary steps, and some kind of recruitment or evaluation process. All these policies should give structure and support the written vision of the guild. These steps are no different than those a corporation takes to define a mission statement and write an employee handbook. Every document written in these early days of a clan, builds a solid foundation for the creation that is being built.
No organization of significant size can be lead by a single person. Choosing the correct people as officers of a guild can be one of the single actions that can result in the failure of even the best planned guild. Thankfully if the guild is clearly defined, attracting the correct people to help lead an organization will come with time. While previous leadership or managerial experience is helpful, having motivation for leadership and having a high belief mission of the guild result in stronger officers. Strong officers will help lower the stress and responsibilities of a guild leader, allowing the leader to focus on maintaining direction and guiding the guild, not running it.
Creating and leading a guild can be a daunting process, but if a guild leader follows the appropriate steps during creation it highly increases the success rate of a guild. Many guilds don’t plan correctly in the beginning, inevitably resulting in the failure of the guild after only a few months. The investment of a few days of planning can increase the longevity of a guild from a few months to several years.