If you’ve decided that running a guild is the best option for you, first let me say congrats and good luck! Running a guild can be one of the most rewarding things you ever do in game.
But getting started can be hard if you’re not sure how to get players to join your new guild. If players join and nothing is going on, players will get bored and leave. If they join and it’s just you buggin the crap out of them they’ll leave. And even if your doing everything right and there’s a bunch of people, players will still leave the guild.
Don’t worry about people leaving, it happens all the time and it’s no biggy. Maybe they want to start their own guild, or maybe they’re helping someone else get one started, or maybe your guild just wasn’t right for them.
Having real life friends who you play with online is the easiest ways to get it going fast. The more people you have helping you recruit new people the faster your guild will grow, and the easier it will be to operate.
There will be plenty of jobs for leaders in the guild. You may have some people who just like to invite new people and help them out, some may like running low level players through instances. As your guild comes together you’ll start to get to know the people, and how they make the guild better.
Your best guildies should be promoted and let them know that you appreciate what they do for the guild. A simple thanks to someone can really go a long way. You’ll want to make each person feel like they’re part of the guild, and get to know as many of them as you can.
Make sure you have atleast 1 guild bank tab, preferably 2 place some greens and mats in there, and then start recruiting.
Some of the best things you can do offline are set up a website, and get vent chat. You can set up a free guild website at places like guildportal.com and guildlaunch.com both are free, and easy to get set up.
There’s about 3 websites that can set you up for vent chat. It does cost a little every month for the service, but if this is an issue for you, you may find someone in the guild who’s willing to do it for the guild. The best place I’ve found instantventrillo.com has the best customer service as well.
Next, you’ll want to start finding people. There’s a ton of ways to do this, but one of the easiest has always been finding people using the Who Is tool, and aren’t in a guild. Then sending them a message with a little invite to your guild. Something like, “Hey <MyGuild> is a leveling guild for players of all levels. We have a website, vent chat, and do a lot of dungeon runs, if you’re interested let me know.” This simple approach will be one of the easiest, and most effective.
Recruiting in trade chat is always a good way to get people as well. Just don’t spam it every 5 seconds! Saying something every 5 or 10 minutes is effective enough, and should get a few people whispering you wanting to know more about your guild.
But trade chat, and asking people that you meet in game isn’t the only way, and shouldn’t be the only way that you find people. One of my favorite ways that I have found is by looking for people on the world of warcraft forums. There’s a guild forum, and you can recruit there.
I once did a re-roll post on the world of warcraft forum, and had about 25 people ready to come and re-roll into a leveling guild! But the most important thing that you can do if you want a guild, is get started now. Don’t expect to have 500 people in a week.
Anything good takes time, so be patient, consistent, and have fun with the people that are in your guild. After all, it is a game, enjoy it.
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