It was mentioned that I quit the game three times which isn't accurate and I thinking about it, I did quit Bonded one time only to return after some discussion with Vato. I also mentioned that I would take a long vacation from the game while I was with Bonded. Stress from the game during that time was hitting me and keeping me up at night. Many do not know just how hard it was for me during the MC days and with BC we made many mistakes in Bonded. I've always mentioned that Bonded was a casual guild that had raiders in it and for a bit there was a mix. That mix was sure to fail. You can't have your cake and eat it to. So when I came back to Bonded we did have our moments. We did defeat High King the first time we went in. We did defeat Gruul one week later.
The guild was moving in the right direction. Shortly after that Vato left the game. It was all on my shoulders to make it happen and I didn't. I failed and if I had the chance to do it again. I would know exactly what was needed in order to improve and take Bonded to the next level. Problem was - I was already frustrated with the game. People Like Kytus hated the game. The drama in the game was stressing everyone out. I then made the choice to leave. It was to much on me. I'm telling you this so you can get an understanding of my position. There was one night that I woke up having trouble breathing because of all the stress I was receiving from the game. I quit and was very happy to quit.
Life was getting back on track for me. No more sleepless nights. No more trouble breathing. No stress. I was a free man. I broke away from an addictive game. While I was away I would say maybe two weeks later I was shown a free server. I tried it and leveled professions, obtained armor I didn't have for my tank, and had mounts that I would never get in the real game. From 1 to 70 took less than 1 minute. Even with all that, I felt that one day the server would die and all the time invested would be wasted so I quit that game as well. It was the final day of my paid subscription. I logged on to say Bye. I found myself still in bonded and I told everyone goodbye and quit the guild. I whispered Hitman who happened to be short a tank. He asked if I could help. At first I didn't answer him. I felt sick of the game but I was always down to help a friend.
So off to Kara I went. During the game Hitman tossed me an invite. Just when I thought I was out, I'm back in the game. I just didn't know it then. I have quit the game and the plan was never to return but after running Kara I got the bug and wanted to improve my tank so I can help the guild. That was a goal that required an endless amount of time but I didn't view it that way. I viewed it as, I was helping the guild. This isn't about me it's about everyone else and so again the goal was to improve myself so I can help but things started to change for me. I can see that no matter how much we try and change we would never improve in terms of challenging ourselves in raids. Kara was still on Radar and didn't fall out of radar.
We did get new people only to gear them in Kara. Some left already and some stayed. I was getting frustrated by the lack of movement and commitment from our players. There it was in my face. The same feeling I had while I was with Bonded. I was getting stressed out again. The lack of movement and the lack of commitment. That's where you define a guild. Dragonsbane is a casual guild and may never be anything more. I don't know if they will change, I won't find out. There is was slapping me in the face. So I can't complain if I accept the terms of a casual guild. Well, I didn't accept it. I was sick and tired of gearing people up only for them to get tired of waiting for those in leadership to make a move toward progression and sadly leadership can only do so much because of the players it has. So there I was frustrated again and so I made a post in the officers forum and mentioned my frustrations.
I mentioned that I was going to quit and although they tried and they were hearing what I was saying, it was already to late. I was already stressed. I was already frustrated. I was having sleepless nights again. I had enough. So I mentioned I would quit and I did. There were so many options on the table in terms of leaving the guild and joining another. I didn't do that. I could have but choose not to. I was asked to change my name if I didn't want to hurt feelings but I didn't do that as well. The rumor again that I was going to change my name. Considering something and doing something are two different things. So I don't blame anyone for any action that has taken place. Everything that has been done has been done by my own action and I did take action. I left the game that was causing me so many issues in real life.
I also mentioned Friends in game and how players are only friends in game etc..Well that statement is so true and the reason I say that is because I'm guilty of the game thing. I haven't spoken to Waseem, Mandy, Pball, Astro since they left the guild. I feel bad about that. Blmp is one who I mentioned that after everyone left for Wow, everyone forgot about him till he got the game. That is a fact. That is a true statement. So when I say friends in game only, well action speaks louder than words. You can say " Well Dyce, couldn't you email or say anything " I did, I spoke to rebel about this. I spoke to Hitman about this and I posted about it in the forums so it's not like anyone was clueless to the fact. I said I was going to quit and that's what I did.
I also mentioned that after some thought I think the fact that nobody said anything to me when logging on and everyone and their mothers said hello to penny, as mentioned that did get me upset but I think now it was an excuse but it was enough for me to leave the game. I think people like Sworn, Garth, Derek, Dev/Zoon, Zag, Rebel, Lil, Penny, and Funk deserve better when it comes to the game but I promise you that if you do not change then you will deal with someone leaving the guild from these names that I mentioned. Nobody in their right mind is going to pay $15.00 a month to wear Kara, Badge, and Zul gear till the expansion and please don't use that as an excuse to fail. OH let's wait till the expansion and go from there. Yes people will come and go but direction and organization is needed now.
You need to get into the habit of being an End Game guild instead of a casual guild. If you are a casual guild then accept all that comes with it. Put your toons on the back burner and watch others have the gear you wish you had because there is a difference between casual and hardcore. I took action. I quit the game. I quit the guild. I quit it all simply because I was sick of it all. Who's to blame in the final result of what happened to me? Me of course and nobody else and if anyone is bad mouthing me because I quit the game, I don't care. It's my peace of mind, my $15.00, and my toons. I gave enough of myself to this guild, the previous guild, and to the game itself. Like I said, will I return when the expansion comes out, who knows maybe. I can't say for sure at this moment.
Trinidad well, he hated raiding. He grew to hate it simply because it never changed from the days of bonded all the way up to now. He was ignored and you can say that you get what you put in but Trinidad put in countless hours to help others gear up and helped moved us forward. The only area he lacked was communication but most adults can speak to children on a personal level. There is no connection. Unlike myself, Trinidad isn't as open as I am. Someone needed to break the ice with him but sadly not one person or should I say adult took the time to do so.
What are the challenges that every guild faces? The challenges of managing are plenty, there's everything from making sure everything is working as it should be to website, community, forums, application system, teamspeak, our schedule, member’s problems and recruitment. Managing a guild is a full-time job-- if not more. Hell, I don't even know if anyone can explain what the ranking system is with Dragonsbane? I knew I couldn't. For a serious guild, what steps could be taken.
Alts - limited to one only or remove all alts and create an alt guild and place all alts in that guild.
Guild Structure:
Guild Leader - Only One Leader of the guild
Officer - Only One Officer
Class Leader - The leader of each class.
Veteran - Member who has been in the guild for a period of 9 months or more.
Member - A guild mate who went through the initiate process and was accepted and has maintained consistent raid attendance.
Initiate - Individual recruited into the guild with the intention of being a normal raiding member if accepted. Must display very high raid attendance.
Casual - Rank reserved for more casual and/or members on extended leave.”
(casual ranked lower than Initiate due to direction of guild)
Try to find similarly-minded members. Set a vision/goal for the guild early and make it very clear to everyone. That way you won’t end up with members that share different views on what the guild's overall goal and vision is. Make sure your leadership is strong and actually has the required time to invest into the guild, not to mention the experience to do so. It's much harder then you think. Plan for the long run, many guilds do not do this and end up with several bumps on the road that might result in that guild dying. Raiding should be daily with at least a day break. If let's say you are stuck on a boss and have wiped over and over, come back again and do it the next day. Keep pushing and yes people will get frustrated but the goal is progression.
Something will happen, you will defeat the boss in front of you and it will become easy to beat him again but to not raid will cause what to happen? Will cause people to leave. I don't have the answers but I do know that unless you get into the habit of wanting to do and see more, Dragonsbane will need to change the way they think or this will be yet another expansion that has come and gone that content was not seen. I'm on the outside looking in and I have been there and done that. I made mistakes and learned from them. In order to progress in this game, you need to give up freedom at first. That's the price you pay. I say at first because when Raiding daily gets you clearing the entire run, then 6 days turn into 5. Five turns into 4 and it's only because it's getting Easy. Kara wasn't cleared in one night and now it can be cleared in 4hrs.
Anyway, I hope this cleared up somethings and I'm not saying that my answers will solve all the problems but structure is what is needed. There is no need for two leaders. There is no need for more than one officer and if you have more than one then they need to act like it or be removed from that position. If you are in a leadership role and are NOT active in the guild then you need to step down. Take a company, if you are not doing your job what will happen? My point exactly, it's just that nobody wants to hurt anyone and thus nobody changes things and when you don't change things how do things remain? It remains the same so change needs to take place if you wish to improve the guild, any guild. That's just my two cents. Leading a guild and being an officer in one but even if I started a guild this is what I would look for in players
First - Time Zone is very important. If you have work and are limited on how long you can stay well that hurts the raid. If it doesn't matter then time zone doesn't matter but you need to be on when raiding starts
Second - Age - You cannot have mommy or daddy telling you it's time to get off the computer. If you have kids in your guild, then they should take a back seat to those who can be on and stay on for as long as it takes.
Thrid - Activity - This includes fishing, sports, movies, etc. This is all secondary. Raiding comes first. After raiding you can do what you wish.
Fourth - Definition - You must define what kind of guild you are. If you are casual then expect players to always come and go. If you are hardcore or want to be a bit more hardcore then structure and organization is needed.
Fifth - Rules - State what your rules are. Make sure everyone who applies in the guild knows the rules.
Sixth - General Raiding Info: Everyone is responsible for his or her own consumables. You must be on-line at least 5 minutes before raid invites go out and you must be ready to go in terms of repairs, regents, consumables etc.. If you are late by 5 minutes then you will be replaced by someone who signed up. Signing up is a requirement, failure to do so will remove you from the starting line up. I don't care if you are the guild leader, if the rules are made and agreed upon, you as the leader should set the example. If you can't show for two raids, then you are replaced by someone who can always show. Raid leaders are required to know each fight so they don't go into an instance blind. There is to much information to take advantage of. Starting line up are also required to do their homework. If it's a team effort then the team needs to take the time to do their homework. It shouldn't fall on the shoulders of just one guy.
Seventh - Members - Officers, Guild Leaders or should I say those in position of power need to at least spend more time with members. I don't care if it's lower levels. Get to know your members. In turn it will allow them to open up and feel as if they are apart of the guild instead of being ignored till they are 70 and if at 70 leaders should try and include them. Don't play favorites. Get to know your members. Be fair and be kind. Set rules and expect them followed. Anyways, this is it for today. See yalls Tuesday.
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