Last week, I had an interesting conversation with a guy who wanted to join my guild.

When I asked, “what is your focus”

I received, “what do you mean?”

“I mean, what do you want to do in the game? Raid, PvP, hang with friends.”

“Dunno, a little of everything.” he replied.

That got me thinking.  Having a clear idea of what you want out of the game is important. It gives direction and motion.  But a while a focus is important for an individual player, it is absolutely crucial for a guild’s survival.

Without a clear, solid focus, a guild will die from atrophy, leaving only a husk of what once was…

Deciding on a Landscape:

Try to think of it this way.  You are given a pile of paper, some glue, markers, and stickers.  Then you are told to create a landscape.  No other instructions, no other guide, except the materials at your disposal. But you are told it needs to be to handle the elements, so it needs to be sturdy and strong.

You stare at it, not sure what to do.  You could just try to fold and cut and try to make something, or you can think for a moment and try to decide what landscape you want to make.  A seaside, a moor, a forest, a swamp, whatever it is, you have to decide what which one you want to try.

This is the same for a guild and it is call Focus.

Regardless of what your guild is, be it a high-end progression, PvP, RP, causal, social etc…all successful guilds share the same trait.  They have a underlining focus.  And that focus must be very clear and very strong. It has to be a focus the majority of your members embrace and are willing to defend.  Friction and entropy begins when the focus is undermined or too many members no longer believe in the original focus.

Designing your Landscape:

Think about your landscape for a moment.  Think about the colors you want, its shape and with that image in your mind, speak to your members.  Remember a guild is not made up of one person.  You may want to create a mountain, but your guild mates may only want a meadow.  Do not assume that your vision is the same as theirs and they will just “adjust” to it.  Instead, the forced mountain you planted on their pretty meadow will only cause conflict and strife. It will cause your members to look for similar meadows elsewhere.

Does this mean you have to give up your mountain?  No.  Even if your friends don’t share your landscape there is absolutely no reason why you have to give it up. If you believe in your mountain, love your mountain.  You just need to find mountain people.

Protect your Landscape:

Peer pressure is not exclusive to the real world, it also exists in wow.  A long time ago, when I first started to play the game, my brother was the GL for the original AUO.  At first all was good, the landscape a nice tranquil field.  However, many of his real life friends in the guild wanted to change the landscape.  They  wanted a few mountains and wanted the guild to push towards them.  My brother, not a lover of mountains, wanted to say no, but instead he listen to the minority of voices in the guild and tried to push.

It burned him out and caused a rift.

Afterwards, most of the mountain lovers left and in the wake, a desolate wasteland stood where the field used to be.

Does this mean you can’t change your focus?   No, of course you can, but the point is, be true to yourself, to your goals and to your vision.  If you believe in it enough, it will happen. And remember there are players for every landscape.

Protecting and maintain a landscape takes time and care.  You need to make sure all parts of it remain healthy, and if one part is sick, to try and nurse it back to health.

You are cultivating it, shaping it.  That won’t happen by itself.  Left on its own,  others will trample over it and demolish it before you even notice.

An example:

Okay, let’s take AUO’s landscape under the microscope for a sec. Our landscape is similar to an Irish coastline.  The ocean bashing on the rocks, high cliffs, mountains and hills, but in the center, connecting all those elements together is our huge, beautiful meadow.  Everything else is still part of our landscape and they are important elements to our members, but the meadow is the heart and the foundation. Without it, everything would fall apart.

I never thought I could be fortunate enough to be part of a guild like AUO.  Its landscape is a perfect match to my own and the majority of our members share it.  While some have more mountains in the distance, others may live closer to the sea, but all of them share a meadow in the center. And as long as that holds true, AUO is healthy and whole.

Final thoughts:

Your landscape may spring out of your head like Athena, or it may be a gradual evolution from your gaming experience.  Whichever it may be, just make sure to protect it. Compromise it good, but only to the benefit of your landscape.  Don’t nuke it just so you can feel like your “belong”.

More information on Guild Management and how to be a causal raider.

All things GM at Chick GM

Casual Raiding and play at PTD

Related posts:

1. Preserving Your Landscape Several months ago, I wrote a post describing guild...
2. The Return of the Tzitzimitl and Guild Alliances I snared, yes I can snare..over the phone to a...
3. Gearing Your Guild for Northrend I’m late , I’m late ,For a very important date. ...
4. What Can Ning Do For You? Interactions.  Communication.  Sharing.  All of these are important when...
5. In-Game Calendar, She is a Pretty Girl, but not Ready for the Big Time. The new In-game(IG) calendar is pretty.  She wears nice...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.