First, thanks for telling us the sources of information that you've already tried. That saves us some time.

Second, I agree with Skepticraven. Basically there are too many small guilds. To stand out, you need a clear identity or reason for existing: excelling at PvP, continual Shadow Lair runs, collecting data, etc. Almost all guilds are like Skepticraven's: "nice people who just want to have fun". That's great, but we could do with about 1/10 as many as we currently have.

Third, because this game is casual, players tend to play for a few months and then quit. Even the heavy players tend to play for one or two years and then go on hiatus until new content arrives. So even if your guild succeeds this month, it may be nearly dead four months from now. And you might not want to kick out your dear friends who are just waiting for new content.

So here are my honest recommendations:

A. If your guild doesn't really have a reason for existing, then maybe it shouldn't. Consider merging your guild into another one. You get a *momentary* bump in population and activity.

B. You need to recruit actively all of the time, to maintain a steady flow of new members. To keep up the pace you need a decent Officer corps. So you need to keep track of your best members and gradually promote them up the ranks. Never get complacent.

C. Yes, recruiting in Haven works. Don't recruit 0-star knights, because they have a low rate of sticking around. Recruit 2-star knights or so. Start open missions, Arcade runs, and PvP matches, and try to recruit players who don't annoy you. Keep up your politeness. Looking desperate doesn't help.

D. Once you've recruited someone, try to keep them hooked. You need lots of members online, offering to help with missions, etc. In other words, when you have many members online, then recruit aggressively, so that new members entering your guild will see a lot of activity.

You already know all of this probably. There's no magic answer. You just have to keep trying. Frankly it's a lot of work, if you really care about your guild. Good luck.

"One more question though: why promoting gradually when you're in need of officers?"

1. Bopp's C's final sentence: "Looking desperate doesn't help."
2. Dedicated members should be the only ones to hold positions of power. If members aren't in the guild for long enough, there isn't a good way of showing their dedication towards the guild. If you aren't strict about this, you will likely lose officers as fast as you get them.

My guild promotes recruits to members after about a week.
Member -> Veteran is at least 1 month of being active in the guild (not during an event).
Veteran -> Officer is at least 4 months of being active in the guild.
Officer -> Guild Master... has only happened 6 times in the past 4 years this guild has existed only when officers made significant contributions to the guild (setting up wiki page, private forums, large events).