A new chapter begins
The night began innocuously enough, as most patch nights do, with everyone unable to log in or getting repeatedly disconnected. Invites went out, we raided ICC, etc. The usual.
After we called it a night I lingered in vent and the game, cutting gems for some folks before I logged. Ildara then mentions “did you see the forums?”
I look and there’s a post by Demo saying he was quitting the game, or at least going on extended hiatus. I immediately report this in vent and one of the people there asked who the new guild leader would be. “I guess me,” I sighed.
And just like that I was the new guild leader of Enveloping Shadows.
To be fair, it’s been like this for a while. Demo’s interest has been nothing but waning since January. I’ve been the de facto guild leader for at least two months now.
And to think a year and two months ago I first joined this guild and could barely get a raid spot. Now I’m the goddamn guild master.
There are no hard feelings between us. As difficult as it is to see him go, we always said you gotta do what you gotta do. If you’re burning out there’s no reason to hang around and become ever more miserable.
My immediate goals now are to arrest the morale decline of the past couple of weeks and get us progressing in ICC-25 again. I have no idea how we’re going to do that. I basically need to force a culture shift, which seems near impossible. I’m up for the challenge though.
Toynbee said that “countries die from suicide, not from murder.” I think the same is true for guilds. Leaders lose interest or their morale collapses. This trickles down and people stop trying, and then wipe to stupid things. Issues exacerbate issues until there is a critical mass of discontent.
I won’t let that happen. I can fix this.
If your time to you is worth savin’
Then you better start swimmin’ or you’ll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin’.
Armory Feed
Hey, congratulations on the promotion!
Best of luck to you guys, I’m sure you’ll be successful. :-)
saif’s last blog ..Inbetween Guilds
i know this might sound a little stupid – but i’ve done this twice for my guild and people went nuts for it: throw an ingame party.
maybe like a “i’m the new guild leader and i’m a partyin SOB.”
we gave away epic gems, pets, 1k gold and even some TCG loot cards for prizes (totally optional if you don’t want to spend real $$$). naked Scarlet Monestary runs, timed SFK runs, escort the lowbie through high level zones…..here’s a list of ideas:
http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=12052659
definitely boosts morale and some of my best wow memories come from those parties. you can also help people get to know each other better by grouping them up with people they don’t normally hang out with. anywho….best of luck!
@iamapaladin
24 March 2010 at 12:54 pm #
My guild is also undergoing apathy. My GM had to leave but for personal issues so the co-GM is now GM and an officer got promoted to co-GM. The problem is that we also have been losing veteran players. Almost all of our raiding 25 are initiates. It sucks but I like the guild and I want us to get LK down on 25s, I just hope our guild doesn’t implode in this crucial period.
GL to you and your guild, I know it’s hard but once you come out the long, dark tunnel – it’s all good =)
Spot on by aydinn! I think one way to improve morale to do is events that remind people that a guild isn’t just 25 people who raid two nights a week together.
Some pvp/bg events, old-world raids, 10mans, etc., are all great for getting people to log on besides just T/W 7-10pm, and to interact with people outside your area of expertise (melee dps, healer channel, etc.). Basically anything that will wash away the taste of the slower raid progress that comes with transition. It will also help you find some new people who show interest in leadership, so you can quickly lose the mantle.
@Rhidach
24 March 2010 at 1:26 pm #
I agree as well. I’m checking that thread for ideas for some random fun stuff we can do. A level 1 alt race from the gates of Org to Everlook might be fun.
I’m also pushing someone to schedule some kind of old raid/achievement run once a week.
Take the raid to WG at the start of the night. The whole raid, even the non-pvp’ers. Go after towers and workshops and have a ball. Vent will get very busy, very quickly. People will laugh. People will cry.
…we need to do this again soon.
@HanaMoonfire
24 March 2010 at 3:45 pm #
This happened to me when my 25-man guild died. The guild leaders (a married couple) had been losing interest in the game so they decided to take a weeklong break. Two weeks rather than one passed, and then a message was posted on the forums that they were quitting and I was the new guild leader (chosen because I was the one who’d been organizing the raids in their absence).
As soon as the message went up we started hemorraging people. I had a meeting with the other officers because I knew morale was low and that I wouldn’t be able to run the guild without their help. I didn’t want to get to the point where the guild was a job.
It turned out they weren’t up for helping and most figured it would be a good time for them to retire as well. So we held a meeting in vent where we broke the news to everyone else that our guild was breaking up and the bank would be divided up based on a person’s standing in EPGP.
Those who were interested in continuing as a 10-man guild went with me to make a new guild (folks thought there would be too much baggage under our old name). Most went somewhere else.
It wasn’t a good time, but I don’t hold anything against my former guild leaders or the other officers. They did a good job during the peak of our 25-man guild and we had our time to shine.
When running your new guild just do your best not to burn out. Get people to help with responsibilities. My 10-man guild has responsibilities diffused through everyone. All raid-ranked guildies can invite, participate in the recruitment process, etc, and most of them do! It might not be practical for a 25-man guild, but make your officers work for you so the show can go on if you can’t make it one night or have to go on a vacation yourself.
Hana’s last blog ..The Plight of the Gear Score Reject
Does this mean that your guild is in the market for a new tank?
Congratulations Rhid!
I wish you the best luck in this new endeavour ;)
@Orthien
24 March 2010 at 9:16 pm #
Congratulations on the promotion and I wish you good luck on the culture change its not easy to be dropped into a GM position when the guilds having issues like that.
Will be interested to see how it goes for you and your guild.
Goodluck again and im sure you’ll find a way Rhidach.
Orthien’s last blog ..Holiday Update
Errr…commiserations and congratulations :) It sounds like a burden and an opportunity all in one, but I’m sure you’ll do well with it.
@Rhidach
25 March 2010 at 3:52 pm #
Thanks to everyone offering well-wishes. You have considerably more faith in me than I do!
@Kael: Thankfully we have some great guys will to step up and take over the second tank spot. I think they’re going to rotate so they still get to dps here and there.