It has been some time now since I did my first WCPI article and I am ashamed! A lot of really great blog posts from the Warhammer community have gone unmentioned by me. Today, however, I found one that just had to be noted.
Codpeace from Knights of the Feathered Hats has written a rather lengthy piece about leadership in Warhammer Online (and, in my eyes, MMOs in general). This article is most certainly worth your time to read. If you’re an Epic Slant subscriber or a frequent reader you’ll know I commonly write about the subject and it is good to get a “guest lecture” so to speak about it. I wanted to really go in and highlight some of the most important points that he made.
4. Recognise the strengths and weaknesses of your Warband. If you don’t have enough healers, don’t bite off more than you can chew. Just because you have a full Warband doesn’t mean you are unstoppable. You and 23 other slayers or Bright Wizards will not defeat the world. I hate to break it to you.
I cannot stress enough how true this is. One of the keys to a great leader and tactician in any MMO is knowing what classes can and cannot do. It is also important to understand the relationships between the classes and how one might greatly improve another. Finally you simply need to understand the strengths and weaknesses of your unit. If you know you don’t have the force to take a keep don’t attempt it just because people think you should try.
6. Leaders do not need to yell to get people to listen. By always providing instructions and congratulating the team after a win or by your reputation as a good leader, others WILL listen. By leading successful Warbands, more people will recognise your leadership. Your reputation WILL precede you.
Knowing when to raise your voice and when not to is very important. If you always talk in caps people will not take you seriously. If you’re always known to be an angry leader than you will lose one of your best tools. Work on keeping your cool at all times. Save the yelling for when it really counts and you’ll be surprised at how quickly players fall into line. When a normally calm and collected leader gets loud people take notice.
Those are just two of the points that Codpeace made and I really think it would benefit everyone to check out the article in its entirety. Whether you intend to lead or follow you’ll benefit greatly from this. If you’re interested in more on the topic of leadership check out the archive link above and read into guild science!
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