Guilds are a formidable challenge to most servers, as forming and maintaining them is a long and endless process. However, there are ways to promote communication amongst guilds while keeping players in power under DM supervision. Let me give you a few ideas as to how guilds can be manageably run:
Establish guild leaders that are friendly to DMs and are dedicated players. This is absolutely essential to maintaining the guild. If the leader is at odds with the DMs, then it will be a large barrier to communication. If a leader arises that is capable and an established player but has problems with DMs, then try to talk things over with the guild leader and see if things can’t be made better. You never know, the player in question may be seeing things incorrectly due to a lack of communication in the first place. If the player is not dedicated to his or her guild, then the guild will naturally collapse if another leader doesn't step forward.
Give guilds their own separate forum. This will help maintain the guild and give them a semblance of privacy when they can go to their forum and discuss things. DMs should have access to these forums as well so they can tell the guild what they can and cannot do regarding certain topics that may arise. It also helps players feel proud of their guild since others cannot access it.
Establish guildhouses for a successful guild after one (1) month of active participation by its members. This could just be a hole in the ground, a small outpost, or whatever would fit the guild’s parameters. This doesn’t necessarily have to happen IMMEDIATELY after one month passes, but after one month, that’s when the DMs should begin discussing the possibility of giving them a guildhouse. Remember, the DMs are the final arbiters over when a guild deserves a guildhouse. If they need to prove themselves more after one month has passed, then tell them that. This is just a guideline.
Give guild members their own custom gear. A lot of guilds will want distinctive armor that sets them apart from others. This helps them feel elite (but not elitist), because they’ve earned their way into the guild. The items themselves shouldn’t be too powerful, but as the players in the guild get higher in rank (if there are ranks), then they should get better gear when they step up onto the next rung of the ladder.
Establish NPCs that hand out recommendation letters after players have completed a series of quests. For example:
A paladin PC wants to join the Kholingen Defenders. First, he goes to the NPC Kholingen Defender and speaks to him about joining. The NPC gives him a scripted quest that he has to complete (it can be whatever). After doing several of these quests (all must be completed successfully), he hands the PC a letter of recommendation. HOWEVER, as soon as he gets that letter of recommendation, he ~cannot~ join another guild. The NPCs for the other guilds will not hand him letters of recommendation. This will keep people from abusing the system and only with a DM vote and permission will a character be able to join more than one guild. Also, the recommendations are just that – recommendations. Only the guild leader (and the others s/he appoints to do so) can allow membership.
Establish a Guild Leader forum. This will serve several functions. First, it will allow guild leaders to get together and say, “Hey, my guild wants to do this to your guild. Can we work out a scenario?” and then they can discuss the ramifications of it, how the other guild leaders would respond, etc. This would all occur under DM supervision and the DMs could interject their recommendations/opinions and tell them what they can and cannot do. Second, guild leaders can discuss a problem with their guild and then present a basic outline of the problem to the other guild leaders (and DMs). Third, this would help increase communication and give a firm structure to the guild system. Fourth, it would add a dynamic atmosphere to the server and allow for a huge increase in roleplay potential, as guild leaders would be providing scenarios for their members (and other people) to enjoy!
I will gladly expand upon the guild structure system if anyone has any questions about it. Guilds are definitely possible, they simply need structure, communication, and firm leadership in order to survive on both the player and DM-side of things.
_________________
I have no intention of telling you my likes and dislikes... as for my dreams, I have many hobbies.
Wonderful post, Matt. This should be stickied, as it definitely is a good reminder.
I would like people to remember that name changes are -not- neccesary, unless a player wants the namechange ofcourse. But if they wish to keep their original name, yet still wish others to see that they belong to a certain guild, uniforms are a great idea in this purpose!
Also, to add a little spice to your guild-RP (those who are members of the Darkwill/the Banite cult know what I'm talking about) alternate clothes are an option. That is, if you don't wish people to see your true identity - only wear your original uniform along with a helmet, or only your alternate uniform with a helmet. This is great if you want to keep your identity hidden, and sort of roleplay -two- different versions of the character. And yes, the PC will be fully aware of this ICly.
A concrete example: My cleric Nimien only wears her black uniform with her helmet, acts differently, and even changes the tone of her voice when she's her -true- self, but when she wants to act good for various purposes she has her green and black suit, never her helmet, and her voice is much softer and merrier.
Great points Matt! If I ever start a proper serious guild (which is fairlu unlikely due to many of my friends changing chars *points at 555444333*) Then I'll stick to these guidelines/rules/tips/whatever you want to call them.
Perhaps (aside from the letters point) this is why drow society has so much appeal too.. they seem to have all the other points in line pretty well down there!
Establish guild leaders that are friendly to DMs and are dedicated players.
This is the responsibility of the guild, and its choice of leader.
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[*]Give guilds their own separate forum.
Agreed. This is a great way to promote guilds.
However, private forums is unnecessary and would actually hurt guild growth, because privacy is elitist. What you should want is public forums, so that Amia newcomers or other interested players could browse your guild forum and get a feel for your guild.
Forums are OOC anyway, so anything requiring double-secret privacy can be handled in-game IC, or through chat/email. And if your guild is actually active and worthy of its own guild forum, most guild members will be online so inter-guild communication is infrequently through forum posts.
Additionally, there's nothing preventing Amia guilds from registering their own forums offsite, like with Bioware's guild listings. While it would be nice to have forums on Amiaworld.net, active guilds don't need a special invitation to organize (forums). Further, having amia admins responsible for guild forum approval, creation, management, or deletion (for inactivity) places an unnecessary burden on them, I think. It'd be easier to organize an offsite guild forum, then ask DMs to add a link on the amiaworld navbar.
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[*]Establish guildhouses for a successful guild after one (1) month of active participation by its members.
Agreed. Though I would also hope DMs required IC payment for building a guildhouse, either through dream coins or gold coins... But, guild houses add a dynamic sense of area-development to the gameworld for the players, which are the core of the gameworld. Gameworlds that never evolve their areas over time, become static and boring. Gameworlds that only evolve NPC areas can be one-sided, whereas evolving PC areas through PC roleplay is a great thing.
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[*]Give guild members their own custom gear.
Disagree. Use a color-scheme. Unless your guild is a Magical Weapons Crafting Guild, custom gear for simply holding meetings in a house is RP-flimsy. Even then, it'd only be -weapons- not magical shields, etc.
RP doesn't require special weaponry. To me, this custom gear suggestion is as out-of-place in your list, as a half-orc SGO member.
Establish guild leaders that are friendly to DMs and are dedicated players.
This is the responsibility of the guild, and its choice of leader.
Agreed, it's the responsibility of the guild as to whom they follow. However, if the leader they're following is at odds with the DMs, then there will be a problem. That's why I recommended that if guild leaders DO arise that have problems with DMs, the DMs and that player sit down and try to talk things over. It would definitely help communication.
Quote:
[*]Give guilds their own separate forum.
Agreed. This is a great way to promote guilds.
However, private forums is unnecessary and would actually hurt guild growth, because privacy is elitist. What you should want is public forums, so that Amia newcomers or other interested players could browse your guild forum and get a feel for your guild.
Forums are OOC anyway, so anything requiring double-secret privacy can be handled in-game IC, or through chat/email. And if your guild is actually active and worthy of its own guild forum, most guild members will be online so inter-guild communication is infrequently through forum posts.
Additionally, there's nothing preventing Amia guilds from registering their own forums offsite, like with Bioware's guild listings. While it would be nice to have forums on Amiaworld.net, active guilds don't need a special invitation to organize (forums). Further, having amia admins responsible for guild forum approval, creation, management, or deletion (for inactivity) places an unnecessary burden on them, I think. It'd be easier to organize an offsite guild forum, then ask DMs to add a link on the amiaworld navbar.
I don't think that making guild forums public is a good idea. That would increase the amount of metagaming on an exponential level. People would snoop into these forums and even those that don't mean to will often metagame a piece of information that they learned from it. In addition, guilds already have private forums. The Council of Cordor had one, the Drow now have one under Stone, and it makes sense for them to be private - it doesn't matter if it's an OOC forum, it's there to help communication amongst members and keep everybody on the same page. Privacy is not elitist in any way, shape, or form IMO. Back on Dusk Haven, my father and I ran two guilds (the Holy Order of Knights and the Darkeyes), and none of our members ever bullied anybody around OOCly. If they did, they were effectively removed from the guild. Zero tolerance.
As for DMs, I realize that this would create a burden on them and I acknowledge it. However, I think that if DMs are assigned a guild that they watch over, then it'll make things easier on the DMs as a whole - it's just like how Stone takes care of the Drow. He has my admiration for that and it's worked out wonderfully. After all, they're thriving down there thanks to his guidance. The DMs also have the right to say, "We have enough guilds right now, we're not accepting any applications for more." Too much of a burden is never good and setting limits is always an option.
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[*]Establish guildhouses for a successful guild after one (1) month of active participation by its members.
Agreed. Though I would also hope DMs required IC payment for building a guildhouse, either through dream coins or gold coins... But, guild houses add a dynamic sense of area-development to the gameworld for the players, which are the core of the gameworld. Gameworlds that never evolve their areas over time, become static and boring. Gameworlds that only evolve NPC areas can be one-sided, whereas evolving PC areas through PC roleplay is a great thing.
Totally agreed. DMs would require potential guilds to pay up a sum in gold pieces and DCs, which is what House Shadowflame had to do when it first came to be. And I completely agree that evolving PC areas is a much needed thing as well to prevent stagnancy. Once again, just look at the Drow areas that are about to go in.
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[*]Give guild members their own custom gear.
Disagree. Use a color-scheme. Unless your guild is a Magical Weapons Crafting Guild, custom gear for simply holding meetings in a house is RP-flimsy. Even then, it'd only be -weapons- not magical shields, etc.
RP doesn't require special weaponry. To me, this custom gear suggestion is as out-of-place in your list, as a half-orc SGO member.
It doesn't require special gear, but on Amia we already have gear that is intended solely for certain classes, and House Shadowflame has its own House gear also. I don't think that there would be any problem with adding custom gear for new guildhouses provided that the equipment isn't ridiculously powerful. Perhaps guidelines could be set up as for what can/cannot be allowed on gear items. It gives guildmembers a sense of pride to know that only they can get this special gear, even though it may not be too powerful.
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Good ideas, and good luck!
Thank you kindly, I always appreciate hearing positive, constructive criticism. It brings up issues I haven't realized and helps make everybody more aware of the guild process and structure.
_________________
I have no intention of telling you my likes and dislikes... as for my dreams, I have many hobbies.
While I agree with some of your ideas, guild forums help a lot, and the idea of a forum where all guild leaders can talk is great. =)
However I think you've missed some important points. What makes a guild on a roleplaying server is not their fancy gear, or having a guildhouse, but rather what they are IC, what their goals are, and why they even joined together in the first place.
If you are starting a "guild" try to give it tangible IC goals. They do not necessarily have to be easily achievable ingame, or they can be more simple, but in either case having goals for the faction will both make it easier (Or at least more intresting) to recruit people, and will make it easier to create plots, and quests for the members.
Limit yourself when you are making the guild. You don't want the entire server gathered together. Lets say you are making an evil guild: Instead of making it a gathering of all evil forces, focus on one particular dark plot your faction has. Like a cult of necromancers for example, or better yet; a cult of necromancers who band together to try and resurrect the ancient lich Ixxzadasffet (Or whatever) If the faction has a clear purpose, it will make it easier to run it, and more fun for those involved in it. While if it lacks purpose completly, it's members will very likely lose intrest, and abandon it. Unique gear is only cool for so long.
Wonderful points, Alchas. I completely missed those and you hit the nail on the head. Yes; the purpose of guilds is to have specific goals in mind, and be made up of specific kinds of people. Being "evil" as a prerequisite is too vague for a guild. Just because we can see the alignment on our characters' sheets doesn't mean that the characters themselves have such a clear-cut idea of the alignment of other people. So, the guild must have a definitive stance based upon other factors. The Holy Order of Knights that my father & I ran was peopled entirely of paladins and clerics who worshipped Tyr, Ilmater, or Torm. Those gods are the Triad and they have specific goals in mind for Faerun; naturally, the Holy Order followed those goals and based their priorities around them.
As far as forums for guilds are concerned, I think that there are benefits and drawbacks to having them either on Amia itself or on a separate page as Neus mentioned, such as an MSN Group. If the guilds are on Amia, then it's concise and all the DMs can access them. However, it makes the screen look really cluttered for DMs and that can be overwhelming. On the other hand, if they're a third-party forum, they will need a specific DM watching over them who has access to this forum, and communication will be somewhat diminished. It's really up to the DMs as to whether a guild should have a place on the Amia forums, or whether it should seek a third-party site. Some groups will already have a third-party site though and that's fine. It just makes it one less decision the DMs have to make.
_________________
I have no intention of telling you my likes and dislikes... as for my dreams, I have many hobbies.
Good points, although we as players here on Amia (the majority) don't know if these points are being followed cause all the guilds are either hidden or don't have forums. But come to think of it, thats both good and bad. Bad cause no one will know anything about the guilds (cause they can't see guild forums here on the website) but good cause that makes guilds more rare and secret which enhances roleplay. But after reading Mathias's post, it makes me wonder if indeed his points are being followed here on Amia.
Good points, although we as players here on Amia (the majority) don't know if these points are being followed cause all the guilds are either hidden or don't have forums. But come to think of it, thats both good and bad. Bad cause no one will know anything about the guilds (cause they can't see guild forums here on the website) but good cause that makes guilds more rare and secret which enhances roleplay. But after reading Mathias's post, it makes me wonder if indeed his points are being followed here on Amia.
I believe all his posts were suggestions for future implentations.
on a less serious note, can SGO be considered a guild? if it can, what are our goals?
As i think on in, SGO is a great guild... clear cut entrance rules (be small, but not a pixie)... clear cut goal (drink as much as possible, fall over and such... also at least Brognar uses the guild to get in touch with dwarven females... WHERE are they all btw?)
_________________ "Brognar's already poo-ed and peed on me, which is horrible. So I had to scold my little Brognar.. Well, not really. I couldn't scold him, Brognar's too cute." -Fweee
I played a dwarven female briefly. Bizarrely, I found that she got hit on more than ANY of my other characters. Maybe I should have made her with a beard...
Chuckles. Once I am done with my drowess I was thinking of making a dwarven ranger. He is now a she. of course I won't be finished with the drowess till she is very high level, just to prove to myself I can get a character past about.... lvl 7 and stick with one for at least a month.
I think that you should have forums but they should be faction members only so that faction members can keep up on the progress of the big secret plot thing (or whatever)
Don't make a stupid goal (I think) Otherwise your guild will just be drifting until everybody has left seeing as there is no point, OR, they will hang on because its fun, some guilds (I have made one, not on Amia) are just made for messing around and having a laugh, of which I very much enjoy.
Once Upon A Time Played Adr'ael Ken'rahel, Auron Teken’ath, Aurora Mesodias, 'Daniel' Daoskinaxarijikkym, Eilin'ira, Helena Rios, Layla Faircurrent, May'Une Do'Ndar, Mellinda Tellus, Michael of Cliffside, Rizzen of Twilight, Valkirya d'Claddath
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Once again, just look at the Drow areas that are about to go in.
