The Members II – Special Members

The second half of my Members II section is an attempt to answer another one of the questions raised by the original article. How do you handle “special members?”

I feel it necessary to again define terms. A special member is someone who has distinguished themselves as indispensable to the guild. They are generally long serving and extremely loyal players who always put the guild first.

In many ways I want to tell you to treat them just like other members. From the perspective of management that is your safest practice. The truth is, however, that will never be the case. Members such as this will always be treated differently.

A lot of guilds out there will create a management position for these individuals but I must stress against it. Check out my articles about officers to see why. The summary of that is, “making an officer just because is never a good idea.”

The way that I’ve found that works best for these individuals is to be supportive of them and to take their concerns under consideration quietly. These are often your greatest allies as a leader. They’ll bring you information and do their best to head off issues before they explode. Anything that they bring to you deserves a look as they often have a better feel for what the rank and file is thinking than you do.

While you do this, however, it is a necessity not to show favoritism. Other members, who are no less valuable, might take exception if others of their same rank are given authority. As with anything it is a balance. In some cases your members will treat these players as if they were officers. They, in essence, become senior members. This again brings up the issue of making them such officially.

Keep to a simple set of rules. If your special members are doing a job outside the scope of regular members and are indispensable, make them a staff member. If they’re just amazing players, good friends and truly loyal, treat them the same but always give them your ear.