The big news of today is that patch 3.1 is going live today. This makes me happy, though I am a little bummed I didn’t take the day off work (yes I enjoy WoW that much). However, this post is not about the patch, but about guilds. In particular, about guild leadership and the roles of members.

The first thing to think about when joining an established guild is that you are not special. I’m sorry, but it’s the truth. You may be skilled, you may know your class/spec up, down and sideways, but you are not the ace the guild needed to finish its content progression. In all likelihood you were chosen to fill a role, be it tank, dps or heals, that the guild needed. Your job is to fill that role to the best of your ability.

A most common heard quote among new members attending their first raid with a new guild is: “Well in my old guild we did it like this.” (Or some variation when facing a boss). Your new guild is NOT your old guild. Upon facing a boss with a guild for the first time, if it’s a boss with multiple strategies, the first question a new member should ask is: “How do you guys kill X?”

Well-established guilds often recruit before new content to ensure enough members will be available so there is no downtime in progressing on said new content. This usually means current content is on farm. If content is on farm the guild does not need your strategies, exploits or different ways to do things. You weren’t brought in to save the guild from itself. If an officer or raid leader tells you to do ‘X’, do ‘X’. You are in their house now, play by their rules. Don’t like it, then leave during your trial period and there is no harm, no foul. I personally never understood why people do this, since it not only takes you away from filling your role to the best of your ability, but it also is a slight insult to the guild you just joined. You’re making a statement that you think the guild can’t handle the current encounter or has no strategy in place. If the guild is farming current content, then they already know what they are doing.

A second, related common occurrence among new members, and though this is most often seen with new tanks it is not limited to them, is the “officer recruit” mentality. Someone comes in and immediately starts to tell people where to go, where to stand, what buffs to put up, healing assignments and similar orders. This person probably held a leadership position in their previous guild, which is understandable since that is a hard habit to break, but you were not recruited to be an officer. It doesn’t matter if you were the guild leader of the top-ranked guild on your previous server or whatever. This is NOT your old guild.

Most end-game raiding guilds getting ready for new content have well-defined officer and leadership roles. Again, you are not special and they do not need you to “whip them into shape.” The biggest reason this is harmful is that, because other new members may be raiding as well, it creates confusion about who is calling the shots. New members may not know who has been there for a while and who is a new recruit, so they don’t know who to listen to. This can lead to messy wipes on farm content and make the guild look like they don’t know what they are doing. Of course, this is all moot if you were in fact recruited to be an officer, but that is rare.

One of the big draws to my current guild is that they had these well-defined leadership and officer roles. They had several officers, class/role leads, etc. While I do read strategies and enjoy offering up thoughts on encounters (which will be more prevalent for new content), I have no desire to be in charge. I have not the patience nor the time to do all of the things the officers and raid leaders do and make all of the sacrifices they make. If it hurts your pride to take instructions, you may want to go elsewhere. Or, you can always start your own guild and call all the shots you want.

Guild structure, an analogy

If you’re joining a guild for the first time, understanding the leadership structure and roles of the members may be confusing. This can be especially nerve-wracking if you’ve only done solo content or 5-man instances. Raids with 25 people may seem like chaos, but with the right leadership that becomes controlled chaos. I like to think of guild structure as like a restaurant.

• Guild Leader = Owner/manager: The GM is the public face of the guild, the head honcho, the person that signs the checks (or DKP as it were). They are usually the person that brings it all together, keeps the engine running behind closed doors. They may not always have their hands in the day-to-day affairs, but they’re always there to be the last word on a dispute or decision.

• Lead Officers = Floor managers/Chef de Cuisine (aka Executive Chef): The lead officers are the generals, the head of the kitchen that lay down the orders. They make the day-to-day (or raid-to-raid) decisions that move everything forward. They decide on the recipes the restaurant will make and how each one will be cooked. The raid is using their cookbook.
• Secondary officers = Sous chefs, pastry chefs, Chef de Partie: These folks carry out the orders of the executive chef and perhaps hand down more orders to those underneath them in the leadership tree. They cook the food, add the garnish and hand it to the wait staff to serve the mob. They may have secondary responsibilities of grooming the Commis or apprentice chefs and showing the rest of the staff how they can maximize their role.
• The rest = Wait staff/dishwashers/bar staff: The rest of us, as much as we would not like to admit it, are the grunts, the shock troops, the boots on the ground. We generally have no other responsibility than our established role, be it dps, healing or taking hits to the face. Every so often we may be asked to fulfill a different role (clean the bathroom), but for the most part we have a singular purpose. And, like wait/bar staff, we are always appreciated yet easily replaced. Though unlike restaurants, your officers/GM will probably appreciate you more when you do your job well.
• Restaurant customers = THE MOBS: The customers are the mob. Our job is to have the tanks seat the mobs in front of us, we serve them some fat, heaping bowls of DPS while the healers keep the tables set, stations clean and everyone alive. We serve the mobs, get them out and take their loot (on hard mode they give you extra!).

Now all of this may sound like it is sucking the fun out of the game or that enjoyment takes a backseat to a well-oiled machine. This is not true. Good raid leadership and understanding guild roles is all meant to make raids run smoother, keep morale high, limit AFK boredom and above all else, enjoy the damn game. That’s what we’re all here for, to have a good time and get our $15 a month worth.

The short version: Fill the role you were recruited for and, above all else, have fun!

Categories: guild, raids
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