Gulid member retention

It feels like it has been an awful long time since I’ve done a guild leadership related article. The reason for this probably has to do with the fact that I wrote a book on the subject and it really consumed all of my time and creative energy. It is hard to get excited about a topic when I’m sneaking around and writing constantly about it behind your back. At this point my book has been in editing for a while and I’m getting the itch to give advice. Today I want to talk about how to retain guild members and ensure the longevity of a guild.

Meet your members

This may come as a shock to many but a lot of guild leaders and officers don’t actually spend a lot of time meeting members. They’ll do the basics of socializing when someone joins or needs attention but, in general, a guild’s leadership can become quite distracted with what they view as more pressing concerns. This attitude basically ensures that your members will be no more than acquaintances. Make an effort to get to know them on a more personal level. Find out a little bit about them. Greet them when they log on. Say goodnight when they leave. Discuss what they want out of the game and share a casual conversation or two when you can. Engaging your members shows them you care and they are more inclined to trust you and remain in the guild. Your goal should be to make a friend. If not, your members should at least qualify as “a work buddy you’d do a favor for.”

It is important to realize that the larger your guild gets the harder this becomes. You can still be successful in a larger organization by distributing the personal connections between your officers and chosen members. Spend less time with each member but try to hit up more. You’ll also find some players that simply have no interest in being your friend, buddy or anything more than an acquaintance. Do not force yourself on them. That will only drive them away. These players may not last long or may be content for years. Generally they’ll take care of themselves and it is best to let them do so.

Introduce your members

Building a bond between yourself and your members on an individual level is important. What is more important is building bonds between your members! Guilds can be like high school. There will be a lot of little cliques and being a new kid can be rough. Make an effort to introduce members to each other by including ones you think will get along in outings that you arrange. Consider it like building play dates. If you see a member being marginalized do your best to start bringing them in on things. Have your officers and chosen members do the same. The more social connections a player makes the more likely they are to remain in your guild and in the game. Anyone who is playing the lone wolf will likely move on soon and that can usually be avoided with a little effort.

Positivity

It isn’t uncommon for me to give a very “gloom and doom” explanation of guild leadership when I’m teaching. I try to present the most realistic outcomes when possible. To be blunt it usually sounds pretty negative. The humor in this is that when I lead I’m the exact opposite. Ask around and you’ll find I’m a bastion of positivity. You simply have to be! A negative guild leader creates a culture of negativity in their guild. A negative guild culture means people won’t want to stay. It is the responsibility of the guild leadership to keep a positive attitude and atmosphere. Look for the good in a bad situation and focus on it. Point out what your guild does well. Occasionally praise individuals for their contributions but most often speak well of “the team.”

Positivity needs to be the team motto. Start at the top and let it work its way to the very bottom. Build your “team culture” around it and do everything in your power to nurture it. You will find that over time your members will start to swing in that direction. For some it is an extremely easy change. Most people want to be happy! Others might take a bit longer but you should never lose your drive towards “the good” in gaming. Should someone be a deep dark pit of negative energy that saps the will of other members you may just have to separate them from the guild. We had one in Iniquity a long time ago. It became so bad that people asked NOT to be placed in this individuals group. I knew then it was time for him to go. You may have to make a similar choice at some point.

Be a team

I cannot stress how important it is to treat your guild like a team. You are not a confederation of individuals! You’re a cohesive union that must rely on the individual parts for success. The better your members work as a team the better you’ll do. Foster that notion and express it often. Do everything in your power to be inclusive and see that your members do the same. Try to treat everyone equally and avoid playing favorites. That will upset your members and it doesn’t really do a lot for your fairness score.

The key point to remember is that retaining players directly affects the longevity of your guild. Churning through members is demoralizing and it can frequently mean finding inferior replacements to superior players. You’ll also have to gear new characters and train members on the raids you currently do. These activities are resource and time hogs. A lot of guild leaders forget that fact. It is true that everyone is replaceable and you need to keep that in mind when someone is being obnoxious and ridiculous. Outside of that, however, you must be loyal to your members. If you’re loyal to them they’ll be loyal to you and your guild’s longevity will be secure!