I was just curious on how hard it is to start up and manage your own guild. The costs, upkeep, recruiting and benefits. Is it worth it to start your own guild when you're already in a well-off guild with a position of veteran? Is it time consuming? And how does it effect your gaming?
Thanks in advance guys!
A question for all guild masters and ex-guild masters.
Sat, 08/17/2013 - 23:36
Sun, 08/18/2013 - 00:12
#2
This upkeep thing is a pain,
This upkeep thing is a pain, it's bad enough that I pay rent irl, but now it's gone to the games that I play too? None of us can take a vacation without having to come back into a guild with default. It's hard for the small guilds; you can't get more furniture unless you expand the guild hall; furniture is pricey; it's all a team effort, so it's actually all pretty easy and possible to do. In a guild with 100 members, if all of those guild members pay 1k every week, that's 100k being deposited into the guild treasury. But of course, this is nice and dandy for popular, known guilds. Recruiting isn't a walk in the park, and majority of the people that you recruit, they tend to not come online as often as you hope for them to. And I understand how they feel, because I myself don't really feel like being online on certain days. Guild management ain't easy pal. It can get very stressful. I don't even know why I bothered to do such a thing, I'm just a casual player! What is wrong with you, Bushido!?! Gaaah... I don't know, I really don't know what's wrong with me..
Sun, 08/18/2013 - 05:16
#3
if you like your current guild, then stay in it
Before the guild hall update, starting your own guild was fairly inexpensive. And every player likes to be the big man in charge, right? So there were many, many guilds. Thus, finding guildless people to recruit was not easy. The real purpose of the guild hall update was to make running a "decent" guild expensive, so that there would be fewer, higher-quality guilds.
Running a guild sounds like fun, but in reality it's pretty tedious. You have to handle disputes among your members. Even if you can fill up your guild, many SK players leave the game after a few months. So you have to recruit continually, and foster enough Officers who will recruit continually. You have to worry about your Officers behaving badly, and new Members raiding Member storage (even if you personally don't use it), and so on.
Starting your own guild will be fun and exciting for the first day or two. Once the novelty wears off, you will really wish that you just had fun people to chat and play with. So, if that's what you have in your old guild, then just stay there.
Sun, 08/18/2013 - 07:04
#4
Nope
Ask EoS, Jempire, and Impervious. The Very elite guilds. A while ago there was AFK but they disbanded.
Mon, 08/19/2013 - 13:57
#5
Ownership
If you have your own Vision and your own set of Ideals that you prefer to be associated with...then start your own Guild. Also, if you have an awsome Guild name that you want to represent and can't stand the idea of being represented by a name such as 'Bronies-for-Life' ...start your own Guild.
If you stick by and stay true to your original Vision and Ideals.....and aren't consumed or put off by whether or not your Guild has a thousand people or just 1 in it...you will be fine. It is a great growing and learning experience and well worth it. Good luck with all your endeavors.
Mon, 08/19/2013 - 18:07
#6
Money is no object
I find the most difficult part of managing a guild to be finding balance between all members. Some of us are more tolerant than others to less savoury talk, and drawing a line is difficult.
The important thing to consider before starting your own guild is this: what can your new guild offer to other players? How are you going to gain good members, and retain them? Why join your guild, as opposed to your current one?
Mon, 08/19/2013 - 18:49
#7
The biggest problem with
The biggest problem with managing a guild is how the guild leaders deal with their different types of members. The guild is composed of a variety of players, each individual holding different personalities; what may seem detestable to you, it may be enjoyable to others. Most guilds that I've seen are ran by bias people with strict ideals; perfectionist that want things their way. You can't behave a certain style or way, you need to speak in a certain matter; you're not allowed to send private messages to fellow guild mates; you're not allowed to talk individually to a certain guild mate on guild chat; in my opinion, good guilds are those that are are ran by multiple people. That has always been the best way for leading something, and it's done in real life, too. The President and Congress; governments, The League of Nations; notice how good countries aren't run by Kings and Queens anymore; the UK just has the royals as a figurehead, I believe.
If you know about history, then you know that dictators and Royals; one person ruling something, only causes chaos and problems for the community.
Mon, 08/19/2013 - 19:29
#8
Its not hard only if.....
1. You have a solid base of people who want to work together to make a successful guild
2. Have active leaders
3. You give your guild a niche, say lockdown guild, pvm guild, bomber guild.
3rd is the most important, because your guild has to be attractive to other players. Lets just say if you are a lockdown guild that likes to do a lot of gvg someone who plays a lot of lockdown and is looking for that guild that he can team up with will more likely join you.
It takes good leadership, a fun atmosphere, and an active guild to make it. Since sk already has small player base most of the players are already in top guilds so very few rogue players are out there. I wish you luck if you do make a guild and I hope you enjoy it as much as I have.
I have seen a lot guilds rise and fall including my own.
http://forums.spiralknights.com/en/node/64300
Mon, 08/19/2013 - 20:47
#9
Honestly, you can go a while with the default guild size. Start small with only a few players, and then work as a group toward getting furniture. It's not a 20k cr for a chair, rather it's 5 players donating 4k crowns each, or 10 players donating 2k crowns each. Work for furniture, one at a time. If you have late(r) game players who are motivated, it'll only take you a week or so to at least fill out the main room. Upkeep isn't as scary as it seems. As long as you don't try to expand too quickly, you shouldn't have to worry. You can have a cozy guildhall with just the default guild size.
As for recruiting... Figure out what you want your guild to do (as Hollafamer said), and focus quality over quantity. Don't advertise your guild via shouting in haven, or even whispering to random people in Haven. Run/join some random parties and strike up (or at least try) a conversation with party members. If they come off as pleasant enough people, ask them if they want to join/send them an invite.
Usually if you want players that stay around, you'll need to... well... talk to them. I got into the habit of just saying "Howdy" whenever someone logs on. Makes people feel a bit more appreciated. If a guildmate talks a lot (without talking about how terrible your guild is or how awesome another guild is), they're more likely to stick around.
Mon, 08/19/2013 - 21:18
#10
In it together
I would like to support, or even stress the notion that you ought to have a common element about the guild, as Hollafamer detailed. It can be something simple, like gameplay (broader), some common interest (more niche), or some sort of more abstract concept behind it that'd work well. While deciding on that, consider if your target audience, so to speak, will be substantial to what you're aiming for in your prospective guild.
Tue, 08/20/2013 - 18:26
#11
Tried to run my own guild
Tried to run my own guild once, but the co-founder did a huge mass recruit and left the game. Turns out 99% of those that he recruited were not even active. So I ended up stuck in a dead guild for the longest time, but eventually left it in the hands of some alts and joined the beloved Shard Squad, of which I am a proud guildmaster. It's a lot tougher trying to manage and build a guild up by yourself than with some help, that's for sure.
~Magnicth
Wed, 08/21/2013 - 02:22
#12
Thanks so much everyone!
To thank only one of you would be a crime since all of you wonderful people give wonderful advice. You guys have given me an idea which I can build up a guild on. Sadly I don't, currently, have the finance needed to open a new guild (spent it all on a crafting spree) but I assure you guys that I plan on starting a guild in the near future. I was NOT expecting such a response and so I repeat myself; a BIG thanks to all you wonderful people out there in the SK community!
Wed, 08/21/2013 - 04:43
#13
what a nice fellow or lady
What a nice fellow or lady you are. While I speak only for myself, I expect that everyone is happy to have their advice so appreciated. Good luck with your guild.
It's not easy. Not easy to recruit decent members, not easy to keep them around and such, not easy to get enough donations to cover your upkeep every week. I don't think the work it requires is worth it if you're already doing well in your own guild. But if you're just fooling around and making a small-ish guild with some friends and not worried about expanding and keeping it alive then I suppose it's not that bad.