I’ve always believed that if you see something wrong in the way a guild is run, whether you’re an officer or a member who joined up a week ago, you should speak up. Talk to your guild leader, talk to an officer, ask why things are done they way that they are. Sometimes things will change – sometimes they won’t, but you’ll never know unless you try.
When I was a guild leader, there was nothing more frustrating to me than people who would just randomly /gquit or server transfer, never to be heard from again. It made me crazy. Was it something I did? Was it something I didn’t do? Could I have made that member happy if I’d tried harder? I wish more people had come to me when they saw a problem, even if – for whatever reason – that problem wasn’t something I could fix overnight.
That’s a big part of the reason I don’t want to be an officer in someone else’s guild. Unless you’re in a guild that’s run by committee, officers rarely have any power to effect change, but you bet they hear complaints and suggestions constantly. Heck, I hear a lot of it now as someone who everyone knows has absolutely NO power to effect change, and I like being someone that people feel like they can talk to. However, if were in an officer position? I wouldn’t be able to be that sounding board. I’d have to repeat the “official” line – whatever that may be – whether I agreed with it or not.
In my opinion, one of the most important qualities in an officer is the ability to be a part of a united front. To be politic and diffuse challenging situations without going against guild policies. Even if said officer is arguing with the rest of the guild management against a policy he doesn’t agree with? He presents to the general membership his full support until a time comes when it gets changed.
I know I can’t do that.
I cannot pretend to support policies – or lack of policies – that I think are unfair, or that I think give preferential treatment to people who have not earned it. I cannot toe the party line. I don’t want to sabotage the efforts of the people in charge, but I don’t want to be part of what I see as a disservice to the general membership. I don’t want to be the next officer who is saying “I really don’t like it either, but I don’t have the power to do anything about it”.
We left our last guild on Bronzebeard because of a guild management situation gone bad. We had stepped up to help out with a guild that was struggling while the guild leader dealt with some things in his real life that kept him away from the game. When he – and his girlfriend – were back to playing regularly, they decided that they wanted to completely change the focus of the guild. We didn’t want that – as members or officers, and we tried to advocate for the other members who felt the same way we did. We were consistently shut down. In the end, the only thing we could do was leave – it was no longer the guild we joined, it wasn’t a guild we wanted to be in, and as such, we were unhappy members and really terrible officers (although we were still performing our “officer” duties). That’s not a situation I want to put myself in again.
For some people, becoming an officer in a guild is a status symbol. For me, it’s a job, and one I wouldn’t take lightly.
As someone who doesn’t particularly like 25 man raids, I have no business being in an officer position in a 25 man raiding guild. Ever. But I don’t think that makes my thoughts an opinions as a guild member invalid, and unworthy of expressing. I know there are people in my guild who can balance the need to publicly show support for the guild as it is, and then advocate for improvements behind closed doors.
I know that I am not one of those people, and pretending I could be would be a disservice to myself, to our two GMs and to all the other officers who are selected.
So Much WoW, So Little Time 
5 comments
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05/24/2010 at 11:29 AM
brianc74
I agree with everything you just said, except one.
“As someone who doesn’t particularly like 25 man raids, I have no business being in an officer position in a 25 man raiding guild. ”
This is a prevalent attitude in the guild right now that’s the burr under my saddle. And to be honest part of it is because of the way I view this guild as opposed to others, including the other officers.
Why do you have to like 25 man raids, be a 25 man raider, know the ins and outs of every spec of every class, or be an expert about anything in a guild like BoO?
My opinion is you don’t. But so many other people do. Don’t get me wrong, it sure helps!
Why are Sales Managers and CFOs managers in construction companies and yet they don’t know the first thing about how a building goes together? Because they address a different part of the machine. How is BoO any different?
I was asked to be an officer. I told them I didn’t want to do anything with regards to raiding. I would be there to assist if necessary, but otherwise I’m in the background. My role would be to offer a different insight when it came to policies and direction for BoO. If that’s what they wanted, I was their man.
So does that make me not fit to be an officer in this guild? Only Amber and Mach can make that decision because I’m there to fill whatever role they need. When that need is no longer present, then I no longer need to be an officer.
05/24/2010 at 12:04 PM
Krikket
Do I think you can be a good guild officer without being terribly interested in the guild’s main focus? Sure. Anything’s possible.
Do I think *I* could be a good guild officer without being terribly interested in the guild’s main focus? Nope. Because I’m VERY interested in raiding, but I think 25 mans bring out the worst in a lot of people, so I wouldn’t be able to advocate and defend decisions made in support of a goal I don’t believe in.
Your strengths and weaknesses are of course different from mine.
But at this point, I feel a LOT of the issues BoO is having are a result of 25 man raiding, and the policies that do and do not exist around those raids. So either BoO needs to change its focus, or it needs to find people who want to promote and improve upon the current focus. I’m just not one of those people.
Does that mean EVERY officer has to be 100% dedicated to raiding and raid related policies? Nope. But if BoO is looking for a non-raid officer, there are clearly better candidates than me as well. 😛
05/24/2010 at 3:29 PM
theerivs
I am not a leader of men, I am the consument follower. You tell me to take a hill, I will do my best to do it. If others follow me, then so be it.
05/24/2010 at 4:02 PM
Shiva
I was an officer in my first guild. I was a founding officer really, because I was very good at recruiting. And eventually I worked in keeping our DKP up to date by hand a bunch of other odds and ends.
That however burnt me out. Led me to quit raiding for a point and quit WoW all-together and such. I told myself I would never be an officer again. This was in vanilla.
I started back raiding near the end of vanilla, about two-weeks before the launch of TBC. Since then, I’ve been in one guild for the past 3-4 years or so. At first I had no dreams of being an officer, although slowly after turn-over / new people and what not, I sort of became a de-factor officer, just not one de-jure because of issues with my guild-master and also a case of nepotism.
Long story short, the guild-master eventually quit and the guild acquired a new guild-master, he quickly made two new officers, one being me. At the time, I was really ambivalent, I didn’t want to be an officer, but I knew I was already a de-facto officer and the guild really, really needed me. It was a rocky time for the build with the guild-master change, but I knew I was the best suited for the job.
I might sound arrogant, but sometimes it’s important to self-reflect. I take for granted the things I know or the way I see things. I’ve been the healing officer in Exodus for years now. In fact, for quite sometime the sole officer responsible for healing and certain classes. (Our guild officer structure is complex… because there is also a druid officer, who does not heal but takes care of Resto druids).
Sometimes I wish I can give it up. I don’t mind strategy. I don’t mind tactics. I don’t mind sifting logs. But I do mind dealing with people. Especially being a healer, I have to deal with people who complain about sitting or who whine about another healer. It’s a constant pressure, and thrice this expansion I’ve been driven to the brink of quitting over the people.
But I look at it as a learning experience. I know my mathematical and statistical skills are sound for the guild. I can develop healing strategy, but me overcoming the personal relations and dealing with the people makes me a stronger individual. This kind of stuff has real world applications.
P.S. Sorry for the wall of text. Heck, I don’t even know if you care. I think my point was, being an officer can be a growing opportunity. Also, sometimes the guild really needs you.
05/24/2010 at 4:24 PM
Krikket
I *love* the dialogue that comes from having this blog! Different expectations, experiences and points of view are wonderful.
If I really thought this guild needed ME specifically, I might feel differently, but it doesn’t. And there are many things I can do without having a shiny title.
That said – I know there were people who were questioning my lack-of-interest in being an officer, so I felt like I wanted to say something about why that was.