Discussion Tips and Tricks, nice to knows for Guild creation

Lythor

Hello folks,

First of all i'm thinking about creating a guild/ i just have created one but thats not gonna be the topic here.

So as i was creating the Guild on the foundation and when i was thinking about it I came to conclusion that in fact i dont know how to do so effectively.

Over the years i was in a lot of guilds, i've seen many things, what you could do, what you should do and what you shouldnt do but thats only based on my own opinion and experience. I'm trying here to get a bigger, brighter picture on the topic with your help and ideas. Dont get me wrong, ideas on lore for my guild or what it should focus on is my task. The topic here should focus more on organisational /logistics level.

I thought that maybe there are some people here having experience with guilds as leader, officer or even member and that could give some tips and tricks or Feedback in terms of concepts that worked for their guilds and what didnt work, or simply some tips and tricks on how to start the whole task "Guild creation".

Some topics that interest me the most are like

How do you keep people active and on track (till life version of game and after release to keep them at your guild on the long run)
How do you develop your guild (planning activities or letting the people do their on things or any other ideas)
Democracy or Authocracy ? (How far should you go, at some point decisions must be taken but you dont want to impose everything?)
Communication platforms/ websites etc (what's most effective in your opinion, does it make sense to have separate forums / website or is discord enough )
How do you "lead" effectively? What is the job exactly like? I mean everyone knows a guild leader leads the guild but what does this really mean?
How active do you have to be yourself? (24h/24h or 1 a month..i know i'm exagerating here)
Every other idea or Tips you can provide us with

I kinda hope that this thread becomes a topic not only for me but where everyone can state his experiences if he wants to or give feedback, ideas and that there will be a big exchange for everyone having questions on the subject.

Greetings Lythor

edit. I wasnt really sure on what forum to post this, hope here is ok.

Gothix

Never start the guild alone, you can either bring some of your friends from past games and form a guild with them, or if you are new to the game and alone, then first meet up a few people in the world, get to know them, and when you have a few nice people that are trustworthy enough and fit you, form the "guild core" together. Always start like this with some core, because decent players will always check if you have a nice guild core before joining, they will not randomly join randomly made guild.
Once you have your guild core, talk about rules you wish to have, and make those rules and put them up before you start further recruitment. Again decent players will not tend to join a guild that doesn't have any rules, because this would mean that that guild will also have bad attitude players inside, and no rules to prevent bad behavior, so they will avoid such guild.
Prepare some communication platform so players can communicate (and also where rules can be laid out, so everyone can see them). Today a discord channel is basically a must, while forums are optional (but nice to have).
Use a combination of autocracy and democracy but make sure your type of leadership is laid out in the guild rules so it clear to see how it works. Basically use autocracy system, distribute some tasks to officers, but always let guild members have input on what goes on in the guild. Basically, hear your guild members out, and make sure majority voice is heared and taken into account when making decisions, but always have the leadership make the last say, never just let things go to a public vote, that just brings chaos into the guild.
you don't have to be active 24/7 yourself, but you have to make sure that leadership together is active. Have officers that you can trust, and that are active enough, so that at any time someone from leadership is available to players. Depending on that you will decide how many officers you want in guild. Hardcore guild requires less officers because everyone is active and online often. Casual guilds require more officers because people are less active, and having more officers means that there is higher chance someone from leadership will be online to do stuff.
Always have core activities planned for guild, so there is always something to do, but let enough free space around them so people can do their own thing as well. The amount of planned activities will depend on how hardcore your guild is, but always have something planned, regardless.
As leader always care what your members think, and be fair in disputes (do not pick sides based on friendship). However, never let people go without consequences for bad behavior, it will just lead to more bad behavior. When needed, make sure people have consequences, and in last case scenario boot people from guild without regret. Some order must be maintained, this is so members of your guild can have peace and not have to tolerate troublemakers. You do this for them.
Have fun! Because that's the main point of gaming.

FallenW1ng

To touch on a couple of your other points, being active in general is a plus. People often join guilds in order to have people to play with. Having an inactive clan kills many peoples' desire to be in the group.

Having some sort of structured events laid out upon starting can not only encourage activity, but also help you meet more people within your guild. Events can encourage a sense of community, which helps in the long run.