Spooncraft

Ladies and gents, let me be the first to introduce you to the Captain’s Lounge, our guild leadership and relations column. In this column you’re going to see discussion ranging from recruitment to real life events. There many different elements in managing a guild and socializing in the World of Warcraft, so with that said let’s begin with a few ways to keep things going smooth in your guild.

Essentially the PVE world has two kinds of boss encounters, completely random events like Prince in Karazahn or Aran, or the specific scripted kind that relies on precise execution like the bear boss in ZA or Kael’thas. Individual raiders can bring a lot to the fight by knowing their class and being geared/talented properly, however. The biggest driving force in any raiding guild is the GM and his or her officers/raid leaders. To avoid the numerous pitfalls of a guild coming to a grizzly demise here are some pointers brought to you by Adam Holisky.

1. Stay Positive

Anyone in a position of leadership should always maintain a positive attitude. This is the number one point for a reason: nothing can make a group of people feel more hopeless then a negative leader. Granted, even if your group is having trouble with simple things, and even if people keep getting killed by the same thing over and over, stay positive no matter what. This doesn’t mean that you can’t gently drop them comments and suggestions on how to improve their game play (this is a prerogative of a raid leader), but doing it tactfully and not in front of the whole guild is key. This brings us to the second thing to do…

2. Keep Embarrassing Issues Private

Maybe your off tank doesn’t know he needs to keep up shield block all the time on Sanguinar. Perhaps he just hasn’t been in a situation yet where he needs to. Of course this needs to change, but don’t call him out in the middle of a raid. It doesn’t do anything for his self esteem, and he might just decided not to come back the next day. Private tells in these cases will work wonders. You can get a lot more out of people if you help them with their issues, rather than pointing them out and walking away.

3. K.I.S.S.

Keep It Simple Stupid. There are a lot of complex things going on, but don’t worry about everything all at once. Break it down into simpler parts, and keep working on one simple part at a time. Doing this will ensure that all issues are eventually figured out, and everyone gets a chance to participate in the strategy building and fine-tuning.

4. Know When To Pull The Plug

A break can do amazing things. It can rejuvenate people, give people a fresh perspective, let a few pieces of missing gear come into place, and generally let people relax a bit. Know when to take one of these breaks. While it might seem a bit fundamental, there are a few different types of breaks that should be considered:

* A five minute break. This can do wonders. Let the raid go to the bathroom, get another drink, have a stretch, etc… No matter what people do, insist everyone goes away from their computer. Put yourself on /afk and follow your own words too. Amazing success can come after this.

* A night off. Know when it’s time to take a night off. It might be that people are getting too bored with this repetitive content. Set a limit for yourself, or some other benchmark; when that limit is reached, take a night off and go kill something easy. (Hogger, of course.)

* The rest of the evening. Nothing is going right, no progress is being made, and you seem to even be back tracking a bit… just stop. Sometimes people are just not focused enough to raid and there is nothing you can do about it. So just take the rest of the evening off. But remember to do so with a positive tone. Say something like, “Okay, while we really wanted to go on, it looks like the raid leaders need to get together and get our ducks in a row.” Even if you don’t need to do that… say it anyways. Don’t say “Hey losers. If I could 25-box this raid by myself I’d have cleared the Black Temple already. Go take a night off and let me try that.”

5. Allow Feedback

People are raiding with your guild by choice. With the induction of server transfers over a year ago, people are no longer forced to stay on a server, and thus with a guild, like they used to be. Let the raiders give you feedback, and take that feedback positively and proactively. By proactively I mean solicit it. Ask people questions, get their opinions. Asking your third string mage (or anyone) what he thinks of the fight and what everyone needs to do differently will do wonders. Not only will it give them a chance to sound off to you about their frustrations (which is another topic in and of itself), but it will also get them to think more critically of the fight. Only good things will come of this.

As you can see, there is a lot to do concerning this one-two-knockout punch Blizzard has provided us with. The very nature of the situation means that guilds need to step up in not only their playing abilities, but also their social management skills. Having a good understand of what needs to be done to keep people motivated, happy, and optimistic is just as important to these fights as any gear ever will be.