Guild Gathering #7 - Ideal Members

LieutenantToast

Glorious Ashes community - we're excited to continue our new series called Guild Gatherings! Guild Gathering topics are a "reverse Q&A" similar to our Dev Discussions, where we ask you about your thoughts on everything related to guilds.

Our team has compiled a list of questions we'd love to get your feedback on regarding guild tools, gameplay, your previous experiences, and more. Join in on our Guild Gatherings and share how your gaming family is special to you!


Guild Gathering #7 - Ideal Members
What characteristics make an “ideal” member for your guild? How do you set and communicate those expectations, and keep track of a member’s performance against them?

Keep an eye out for our next Guild Gathering topic regarding app integrations!

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Hi again friends! Thank you all for taking the time to stop by and share your thoughts on the ideal guild member! We had a blast reading through them all! Check out some of the top notes you shared with us below:

• Many players want members who are knowledgeable, helpful, skilled, and willing to learn and get better.
• The ideal guild member is willing to have fun, be respectful, “chill”, and create an overall sense of camaraderie.
• Many players want members who are able to play often, consistently, and can communicate their availability.
• A member who is team-oriented and participates in the creation and execution of guild activities, as well as shows up on time.
• Some players expressed that they wanted mature guildmates as well as guildmates that would follow the rules designated by guild leadership.

All in all, we thought this quote summed up many of your sentiments quite well

Noma wrote: »

enjoyable to play and talk to kinda funny thats about it idc what else they do

Comatic

an "ideal" guild member actively participates in guild tasks. no matter whether as a group while some players are online or, for example, at night alone when not that many are present or you only have an hour to play.

Unfortunately I don't have an alpha key at the moment, but I would like to express my opinion about it in order to play the best mmorpg one day

Azherae

My idea of ideal members of a guild are 'people who know how to communicate their availability and what they need in order to have fun'.

I don't have age or maturity requirements, I'm used to dealing with teens and teen drama (I don't personally find it much different from adult drama, except that teens are more likely to act out, then listen, and adults are often the opposite).

But players who either 'expect the guild to make all the fun for them' or 'get pulled into the flows of others and don't say what they really want' cause problems and drama later. This isn't the same as 'players who just go with the flow'. As long as that type can communicate their general availability, it's fine.

The problem is actually that games don't often easily give players tools for communicating this quickly to other guild members or guild leaders outside of the game, and even these days, with the various methods of communication easily available to people, even people with powerful gaming computers, it still varies. I won't go too far into that since 'App Integrations' is the next topic, but you can assume I'd have a lot to say about that. Players need to be able to use their App to communicate availability and wishes in a way that the Guild Leader/Officers can organize.

Since I prefer freeform guilds that just tend to 'do whatever most people align to on that day' or 'sort groups out to go do preferred content', and I have no focus on 'retention', being completely fine if people use the guild as a stepping stone to guilds that are more focused on their content preference type, the key is 'communication'.

The expectation of other members is that they are understanding of that communication.

Finally, people who don't have another strong goal or something are expected to at least consider helping out with activities that someone has a strong desire for, after all, if you aren't doing that, why are you in my guild type? If you just want a social place to hang out and chat, there are probably better guilds. If you are focused on one type of content and wish you were always doing that, there are better guilds for that too.

Besides that, communicating upfront that there will be things you shouldn't do, that certain rules can't be 'interpreted to the letter' and therefore to some extent either majority rule or my say, goes, and that there will be a record of negative behaviour (stuff that can be tied directly to some infraction of the rules, minor internal drama between specific people that isn't harrassment isn't that big a deal to me, that's just 'people'). I'm pretty despotic even if I try not to be, and to some extent I feel that's a valid way for a guild leader to be if that's extremely clear to anyone who wants to join, up front.

An ideal member complains, communicates, even can be toxic (to me at least), and aims to get things worked out or decide if they want to just let it go, and understands that the guild's style isn't going to change, and obviously some trust in myself or my officers is required. If they want the guild to change significantly, they need to find a new guild, and there will be no hard feelings if they do.

JeanPhilippeGunghar

My idea guildie would be an 18+ that do each or so guild activities we are planning. He would be the very active type of player on both Discord Vocal and In-Game chat. He would be someone that help newbie guildies and answers they questions. Patience is quality I would look for in a guild mate. He would suggest things to get us better. He would also trust officers and the GM. He would be a mature person. He would show at time at in-games events.

JeanPhilippeQC

Verus

Of course, the ideal guild member will vary based primarily on guild focus (PvE, PvP, trading, area control, etc.) and intensity (casual, hardcore, etc.). A trading guild will want members more influential and knowledgeable in the economy, while PvP guilds will want players with more gear, general skill, and ability to coordinate and schedule. What they all have in common is activity. Members that are more active (i.e. more time in-game) are generally more desirable members.

Most guilds need both those who wrangle and direct general members as well as those members who are there and willing to be directed for the benefit of the guild and its goals.

Personally, I will be seeking out a guild that focuses its efforts in a particular part of the world — the area where I choose to live and operate. An ideal member of a regional guild seeking to influence happenings and gain local control would be a member who lives in this area and has a vested interest in the outcome of events and the well-being of a settlement. Such members are more likely to put more on the line and be there when they are needed.

Better members cooperate with the guild and its goals. Better members have their interests aligned with the guilds, lest their potential be squandered. A member may be active and capable, but with misaligned interests and goals. In this latter scenario, an otherwise desirable member is mismatched and not suitable, despite activity or skill.

Guilds need to find players who are aware of what the guild aims for and who are interested in supporting the cause. Players need to find guilds that offer a community of members that while working for their own interests will be symbiotically assisting those other members and the whole. A medium-sized guild of active members with similar goals will be more powerful in their pursuits compared to a very large guild of assorted and miscellaneous members.

In summary, the interests of active players must have aligned interests in terms of region and goal.

JustVine

As an officer my ideal guild member is either easy going in regards to 'what they do' or 'easy to read' in terms of what they want out of their time online. I am very used to people being uncertain about what they want and have found that many people either need a new situation to get a better gauge of what they want or they have a very clear idea of what they like or dislike. These two types of people are good guild members when they are trusting in their team members enough to actively share their opinions when they change, and to be open to adapting their personal goals to meet other guild members goals in the middle. I prefer guilds that aren't focused on a particular content type and crafting oriented guilds as those two types tend to have a culture of promoting this.

People who are argumentative or unsure of what they want are both fine, but not when those two traits combine. When those two traits combine it leads to them not listening usually. The more someone is trying to listen the more likely they are able to come to a resolution in internal conflict.

I tend to trust guild members more when they have proven they are actively trying to come a positive conflict resolution for both parties in a disagreement. If you have argued with others more AND resolved them even if not always optimally, this is my sign that you are a person who is responsible and reliable for other things. People who try to avoid conflict outright are people I trust less because no one knows how you will react when you are backed into a corner. However they can still be a suitable guild member, with less responsibility maybe, as long as they are the 'easy going' type when it comes to what activities the guild is going to be doing.

I generally find it easier to deal with conflicts when there is a common space for the guild to hash things out in that they are actively contributing to. Having an unconscious reminder of peoples work and effort that they shared in helping build up is a good way to ground the situation back into the guild's culture.

I personally need to know my guild members needs in an easy to access fashion. I am used to games where not every member is online at the same time. This is why communicating the needs or desires so that people can group around whatever goals may be available at the moment is so vital to me as an officer. It can be almost physically painful when people are dragging their feet or worse 'trying to catch up to something'. I don't need people active all the time. I need people to be comfortable giving their availabilities on a day to day basis so that way there isn't fear of missing out and it's easier to make sure people who got left behind in one activity can muster for the next 'wave' while people swap out of their availability windows. I technically therefore prefer whiny guild members who become content quickly when they are given a satisfactory answer to their problem. I'd rather have you whiny than quietly suffering and resentful.

Consistency with schedule is still nice. But I measure your 'successfulness' in terms of how well you handle 'missing out on something you wanted to do' and how well we as a guild can make sure you still get something out of the day. I therefore prefer content that is more doable in 45-65 min blocks as it allows for easier rotations. People should know a day in advance if the guild is doing longer or more intense content and is expected to respect the time windows for those. If they don't that's 'fine' as long as they do not complain about not being able to join. At some point the guilds gotta go and do what's scheduled you know?

Tl;dr I'm looking for your clarity in expression of your wants and your ability to be a 'goal focused' team member who is looking to align your goals with those of people around you without necessarily deferring to them. I don't view this as an age or experience thing and so don't care about age restrictors in that sense.

Demoyan

An ideal guildmate is one who plays regularly (at least 10+ hours per week), takes pride in being a skilled, knowledgeable player, communicates well, and has a team-oriented attitude.

HumblePuffin

I like to surround myself with people that like to have fun in many aspects of a game. While I certainly understand people focusing more on certain aspects, I feel like it’s important for guild leaders and members to find ways that they can have meaningful moments together, and be willing to cross over into areas that aren’t their “speciality”. This is why I like to focus on being in/running smaller guilds. . It’s also important to find who people who can play consistently when the rest do.

To communicate and track these expectations and others it’s important to simply have good ways to communicate with everyone, that is preferably in game. This can be guild bulletin boards with different guild needs posted, or “messages of the day” that you see when you log in. The reason I think it is important to have most of the guild systems in game is simply Im asking someone to play a game with me, not asking them to spend all their time in discord. I don’t want anyone to ever feel that they need to check an outside source for super basic guild things. They should be able to log in, read messages/bulletin boards, see our guild introduction and clearly know what needs/expectations the guild has. Outside apps obviously can provide more in-depth community and information as well, but it should not replace certain basic in game abilities.

I think it’s important to have a basic guild introduction paragraph that explains clearly the basic guild expectations, and I feel like it’s important to have leadership broken down in various ways that make it clear “this is the person I want to talk to about this”. I hope this specific one is in game, with naming capabilities so I can point people to the PvP leader, or the economic leader.

I also hope we are able to see metrics such as last time logged in for X time, items donated to the guild bank, guild activities completed, and node citizenship. Several other metrics would probably be too difficult to do track in game and could be tracked outside of game such as attendance of dungeons/PvP events/world bosses/guild groups.

Torytar

In my opinion, it´s simple. The ideal member is someone who you can trust, and is active, and also communicates of course and it´s not rude i guess..

SunScript

It's easiest for me to talk about this as a guild officer, so I will do that. I can't have people who ignore the rules or my authority while enforcing said rules. I can't have people who politely listen when I explain they crossed a line, and then continue on as if I hadn't warned them. This to me is possibly grounds for immediate expulsion because it can be "contagious" and sets a bad example. I need a way to communicate this expectation to players before they even sign up to be in the guild.

By contrast, picking a fight with me and conflict in general is not itself a problem as long as it is understood that I will genuinely listen and try to help but expect my final decision to be obeyed. I found this to be difficult to communicate to others because people think conflict is automatically bad, it's probably something that is understood by players through the 'culture' of the guild.

I prefer when people are outspoken about what they want and what they don't in terms of activities and their availability so I can make sure to match them with the right guild members for that day/activity. I trust such players (even when it generates conflict, as long as they also have a willingness to resolve the conflict) way more than players who keep silent about their desires in order to get along better. That never works out, it just builds up negative feelings over time. I would like a way to let the players know "communicating desires" is a requirement, and I would like to be able to do so both outside the guild/before they sign up and once they are in the guild.

I also think players who want to get along above all else and without goals in mind might not belong in my guild, or they'd have to genuinely be the type who goes with the flow (rather than "put up with it") to belong.

And I want players who are tolerant enough of cultural differences that they won't bully guild members for it. I've seen the type, I don't want them. And just generally don't be a douche.

To sum up, I need them to communicate their wants and availability clearly and to be honest about them. I need them obey the rules and not be a douche. I have no reason to care about age or any other such traits, people can be awful or awesome regardless of that.

George_Black

Real life friends.

Goalid

An ideal guild member is someone who meets the expectations set out by the guild in their recruitment post. Usually that involves meeting the hours per day requirement of the guild in the simplest form.

I feel that this post is more of a, "how could Ashes facilitate players being matched with their ideal guild and vice-versa." And really, the only way I think that could be done is by providing information about how active the member usually is in game, as well as how active the guild is. (Using the median hours per day members that guild puts in during the last month.)

Having server reputation would be a good thing for this end too. How often does a player participate in arenas for PvP? What's their arena ranking? What siege battles have they fought? What dungeons have they cleared previously? Do they have experience with a player stall, what's their freehold look like? What node are they a citizen of? What's their specialized profession? And, how often do they go red?

If we're asking "what's the ideal personality traits I want for my guild members", that's something that can only be discovered after they join, or through an interview. I feel any system that would act like a "yelp review" for players would be beyond toxic, and abused by trolls.

I think applicants to a guild having their toon's "history" / "reputation" readily available for a guild to look at would be the best way to match applicants with guilds. There could be a "LFG" post you could put on in game bulletin boards that guild recruiters in a node could look at in game / on an app. And you could have in game interviews at an inn with voice chat to up the immersion in the game as well.

Guild quests that can be created for guild members could also be a useful way to track if someone is being a good fit for your guild, post-recruitment. "This guy has given this much to the guild bank, and gathered these mats, participated in these guild caravans, etc." And you'd know because you'd see who turned in those guild quests for those activities.

These server reputation features are something that would have to be sociologically tested for the game. Do they promote toxicity, or do they allow for better guild experiences on average? I imagine this is something that could be tested before the game is released, in the alpha 2 and the betas.

Orgagriffith

an ideal guildmate: questions the status quo, pushes for quality of time spent rather than quantity, and participates in appreciative/inquisitive community building.

Sarevok

For the more coordinated guilds, we’re focused on communication being the key component for success, as a member and for the guild. If you were actively playing the game then you needed to be in coms. We made this a mandatory step for a few reasons. You could be muted and just listening as long as you were there.
1). If you get attacked in PvP the rest of the guild is there. You speak up and we drop what we’re doing to come clap some cheeks. Don’t ask in guild chat. No one reads that shit when everyone is in coms.
2). Camaraderie and getting to know your guild mates. We need to make sure you’re a decent human being and worth carrying the guild name.
3). Questions! We all have different ranges of knowledge and experience that might be helpful to others.
4). Asking for help with quests, dungeons and raids. LFG but with your voice.
5). Entertainment. You never know who might break out their guitar and freestyle a jig.

Attendance is recorded in spreadsheets. Didn’t show for our scheduled raid night or siege? Did he/she say they were going to be gone to an officer or in the afk channel in discord? No? Then we’ll have a brief conversation later. Do that too many more times and we may have to part ways. If you can’t make it then just say so. Communicate! IRL always comes first.

maouw

I've mainly been in casual social guilds - but not in official leadership.

My ideal guild members are distinct in personality, but supportive of each other and united towards some sort of purpose.

Usually there are basic rules to set ground standards, but beyond that it's contextual and flexible.
The guild's home turf isn't explicitly decided, but is somewhere convenient to access (usually a major junction) with room for people to stand around - places where players tend to pause and look through their inventories etc. This is important because members are more likely to interact if they can see who else is idle, and leads to spontaneous loitering - which can't happen when you have to ask in chat "Hey, is anyone free right now? Wanna do nothing over here?"
Toward that end, it's really useful to be able to see how long someone has been afk (but also give members the option to appear offline for touchy situations)

Culture of guild members is established by the socially dominant members and the way that they interact with others - these members are usually the ones who end up getting promotions, and big drama happens if rifts develop between these members.

Individually earned guild points are usually ignored - because less social members are more likely to be grinding thus passively earning guild points (if guild points are earned by solo activity - they aren't useful numbers for social guilds. I can't comment on guild points earned by group activity).

Members with looser loyalties usually hang around in their down-time - depends on what they want in the moment, and they might float between multiple guilds. However, their presence still contributes to the the community vibe and encourages relationships within the guild to also reach outward, reducing insular bubbles inside the guild. (less "us vs them" mentality)

For these guilds, their success can probably be measured by how often the guild is communicating to each other, and/or grouping together, but I'd be careful of incentivising guild loyalty - can lead to very stagnant guilds.
Maybe recruiting new people keeps a guild fresh? (even if others leave the guild).

Noaani

There is no one ideal characteristic.

I want people that can be online at the time the guild does what ever the guild does, and is willing to be a part of a team.

From there, I want as diverse a crowd as I can get.

cakewalk

Having run the same community for the last 17 years I can tell you easily what the ideal guild member looks like. In fact, it's the only kind of guild member we accept.

We're looking for people who understand that this is a team, and the individual wins when the team wins. You don't get the ring if your team loses the Superbowl, no matter how many points you scored individually. Period.

We're looking for people who show up, fill a role, get things done and make things happen. People who know what our goals are, what their role in helping to achieve them is, and get in the game and do that. When we find we have recruited a solo superstar who is more interested in what the guild can do for him rather than what he can do for the guild, we ask him to tell his next guild we said "Hi", and send him on his way.

I'm Cakewalk. GM of Infernal. We'll See You In Game...

Malastic

My ideal would be someone who is cool with chatting and not entirely serious, but still able to learn the game decent enough. From there just a good team that can come together to help each other and cover weaknesses that others have. An individual but not an entire solo player. Is also open about availability and shows up when they say they will and do what needs to be done. Someone to be able to be a friend more than just inside the game, but outside as well. So ideal would be able to help make a group of friends not just playing the game and getting loot.

HazardNumberSeven

Chill members that can work well with others and alone.

lupeh

for me a ideal guild member is active with the guild and groups up and shows up on organized events. willing to help other guild members and learn from possitive feedback, and learn from mistakes

WizSupport

The ideal candidate for my community is someone who is teachable, skilled, knowledgeable and has to fit in with the guild mentality (gets along with everyone) and can lone wolf things if needed and be a self starter.

In events that they sign up for I expect them to be there on time and prompt. Because they made a commitment to a team for their dedication and time.

They need to be in a discord or VoIP for events even if just listening for call outs.

They need to know when to be serious and when to joke around.

They have to have same end game goals and willing to pitch in for the greater guild, like potions or food or gold for repair or whatever over the weeks and not take.

In my frame of reference these are some of the qualities that make up the best guildies. 👌

Warm regards,
Wiz

latisullivan

"Ideal" teammate is someone who doesn't take anything seriously, so it's fun, except when it's serious. Someone who is groudned and knows they either made a mistake or need to improve, or, if they're great, teach others (when raiding and such).
No creeps, no stupid drama like "I'm the owner of the guild and this is my bf/gf who is now an officer".

I don't really mind being #1 best guild in the world or the worst, just as long as the common goal is shared amongst most if not all members so everyone is ok with what's going on.

Adonex

I think an ideal guild-mate comes down to two simple characteristics:
1.) A team player (Tracked: Actions that take into account the interests of the guild/party as well as his/her own.)
2.) An active player (Tracked: Showing up and regularly interacting with the community.)

I think those expectations are best set by vetting players based on those qualities before inviting them to the guild.

Bot

An ideal member of a guild to me is someone who is active, good at the game or at least shows a commitment to improving, listens to comms, communicates information when appropriate, fun to hangout with or quiet and fun to play with, doesn't start drama/whine all the time, and is willing to adapt to the group's needs instead of playing selfishly such as speccing a certain way for group activities. I think most of the expectations are pretty standard. I think reminding people when issues arise is the main way to set the expectations. Such as when people aren't listening to comms and just talking to clear comms and follow the calls. I think performance will just stand out in terms of who isn't following the expectations. If every time you fight in a ball for example and you see the same person's dead body far away every time, good chance they aren't listening to calls. If someone always complains about having to spec a certain way, good chance they aren't a team player and likes to whine.

Noma

enjoyable to play and talk to kinda funny thats about it idc what else they do

CROW3

Hm... I find it easier to talk about what I don't want from guildies than some ideal. So, I'd say folks that enjoy playing the game, don't take the game too seriously, see the value in contributing to the guild and get value from the guild. Other than that I just don't want toxic, insecure children.

Rexxy

- Active
- Dependable
- Hard working
- Non-elitist

Vhaeyne

What characteristics make an “ideal” member for your guild? How do you set and communicate those expectations, and keep track of a member’s performance against them?

"Ideally", me and my five closest IRL friends clone ourselves seven times to build the perfect forty-man raid. We then send each "clone group" of five to seven random foreign countries to live and adopt other cultures for a decade. This will allow each person to become different enough to be fun and interesting, but the same enough to fit in to our collective...

Since, none of this is possible with current technology. I will just settle for dependable people that are fun to be around.

SoggyBandaid

What characteristics make an “ideal” member for your guild? I would say just supportive teammates with aligned interests. I plan on picking up or making a casual guild emphasizing learning, leveling, and having fun, and ideal guild members would be interested in the same.

How do you set and communicate those expectations, and keep track of a member’s performance against them? Really, the biggest drag on having fun is typically social drama. So keep that to a minimum. There is no real measurement stick for fun, so I think as long as the guild feels good... warm, fun, comfortable, and welcoming, we're in good shape.

LaZzIsFree

very easy ....

active,
dedicated,
loyal,
funny,

people you wanna just have around

Powurshot

1. Enjoys playing and has fun playing an MMORPG as an actual MMORPG.
2. Is interactive to some degree with other players of the guild.
3. Has Integrity.
4. Is not easily offended and is not often offensive.
5. Not an elitist but, good player just the same.
6. Understands that Steven Sharif is the chosen one.