[Groundchuck]

Source: veneretio As a result, my guild has 5 active women in it and a few inactive ones as well which probably means it has a lot more than most guilds.

That's right about where we are as well. Roughly 40 active accounts and 5 highly active women. Two of my officers are women and they're both the recruiting officers. I find they're extra harsh and picky when recruiting new members. They also place a stronger importance on personality than on skill which I like. Skill is easy to teach.

I would definitely classify them as Cider's "serious gamer" profile, though they can both "turn-off" so to speak.

In terms of being a guild leader the issues you bring up regarding "picking leaders to advance in the guild" are particularly important. I would pretty much consider it out of the question to promote someone who is in a relationship with another inguild, however real or imagined. Keeping officer chat and forums private are far too important.

[Paruhdox]

Well I remember you pruning some stuff because you thought it would be offensive but at the same time it is completely relevent. I think your right cider but there are so many other factors that have to be considered when you bring women into raiding, I unfortunatly are way to lazy to get into it.

[Shorty]

I've thought about responding to this post several times - so here goes - going to be a bit rambly - mainly cos I'm not sure what I really want to say - although I must say that I can relate to much of cider's original post

I probably count as one of cider's serious girl raiders - although the guild I'm in is hardcore at being casual (just netherspite left to go in kara) and pretty small.

My first char and main is a male gnome tank and it was only when I started raiding ZG that people realised I was a girl - only a close wow friend had realised before that - suspected I patted the hunters pet too often or something I'm now warrior CL and MT; my husband is also in the guild and our priest CL is also female. And although I can attest to the extra drama that women can bring into guilds and raiding I also hope that we bring a gentler touch when people are having bad days or just feeling down.

Part of the problem I find often in WoW (and particularly on the EU servers) is that most conversations occur by text, where small nuances are hard to pick up and when many people are not writing in their first language - leading to misunderstandings.

I hope (and believe) that my guildies treat me differently but equally - I love the fact that shorty gets more kisses and hugs than most male gnomes warriors

Yeah, knew it was going to rambly (we can't all write as clearly as cider), but it's just a few thoughts from a female perspective.

[Joanadark]

where small nuances are hard to pick up and when many people are not writing in their first language - leading to misunderstandings.

This part of Shorty's post jumped out at me.
When I was a guild leader, my guild was by far the most nationality diverse one on the server, with Brazilians, Guatamalans, Puerto Ricans, Mexicans, Canadians, Austrailians, New Zeelanders, as well as Americans.

I learned a lot about guild leadership due to this dynamic, and I think I'll write up a post addressing it when i get a little time today.

[Kazeyonoma]

Shorty hit it on the nose. Without tones and accentuations sarcasm can easily be lost in simple text, especially when in non-native tongues, or in the middle of combat. I think this leads to more drama than just male/female relations. Miscommunication, it just so happens that in REAL LIFE, men and women have miscommunication issues even in marriages, where from what I've noticed (and don't get mad at me ladies, this is what I've observed and spoke to my g/f about rigorously for 4 years now) is that women like to be subtle about what they say or do, and hint at what they want. They'll go so far as to never actually "ask" for what they truly want, because it would demean the whole experience of receiving/obtaining what they want since in relationships its a give and take thing, and asking for it just seems like its all taking. Meanwhile, on the male side, we're pretty blunt, we're pretty straight forward, you could hit us in the head with a 2x4 with what you want us to do and we'd still probably overlook it. A guy could go up to another guy friend and just say "hey, give me my money bitch" and they'd laugh it off, but if a girl went to another girl and demanded her money back it'd be a cat fight (especially if they called each other a bitch! /popcorn).

Back to the point this is all about miscommunication, and sadly over the intraweb people just get into cases of miscommunication much faster and much more often than we'd like to in a real life family/community situation. Hell, even when apologizing and trying to resolve issues, without the look on the person's face, without the expressions that he/she exhibits when doing it, can it truly be taken sincerely?

[Sprinks]

Source: Kazeyonoma Shorty hit it on the nose. Without tones and accentuations sarcasm can easily be lost in simple text, especially when in non-native tongues, or in the middle of combat. I think this leads to more drama than just male/female relations. Miscommunication, it just so happens that in REAL LIFE, men and women have miscommunication issues even in marriages, where from what I've noticed (and don't get mad at me ladies, this is what I've observed and spoke to my g/f about rigorously for 4 years now) is that women like to be subtle about what they say or do, and hint at what they want. They'll go so far as to never actually "ask" for what they truly want, because it would demean the whole experience of receiving/obtaining what they want since in relationships its a give and take thing, and asking for it just seems like its all taking. Meanwhile, on the male side, we're pretty blunt, we're pretty straight forward, you could hit us in the head with a 2x4 with what you want us to do and we'd still probably overlook it. A guy could go up to another guy friend and just say "hey, give me my money bitch" and they'd laugh it off, but if a girl went to another girl and demanded her money back it'd be a cat fight (especially if they called each other a bitch! /popcorn). Back to the point this is all about miscommunication, and sadly over the intraweb people just get into cases of miscommunication much faster and much more often than we'd like to in a real life family/community situation. Hell, even when apologizing and trying to resolve issues, without the look on the person's face, without the expressions that he/she exhibits when doing it, can it truly be taken sincerely?

With that in mind, and Blizzard's upcoming addition of VoIP to WoW, do you guys think it will help with this at all? Or do you think that people will still prefer text for most of their chatting? I realize that almost all serious guilds have either Ventrilo or Teamspeak, but I'm wondering if the addition of VoIP will make people want to talk more instead of type. Just curious...

[Kazeyonoma]

most people don't talk because they are shy or don't have a mic, i think having a VoIP built into WoW won't change this. It might help smaller guilds who want ventrilo but don't have the knowledge or bandwidth to host one themselves. I personally won't stop using Vent because Vent allows for control over who's talking and who can enter. VoIP will have 12 year olds screaming profanities into my speakers while I'm trying to tank, and seriously some people's voices are just.. ugh. Think of what VoIP did to CS. It didn't improve the gameplay at all, i found myself joining a server only to immediately mute everyone cuz they'd just say things back and forth all day like "OMG YOU STOLE MY KILL ZOMG!" or "ZOMG I JUST PWNED THIS NOOOOBS FACE HAR HAR"
not to mention it turned everyone's voice into a retards (no offense to any people who know mentally challenged individuals! my g/f works with them!)

[Tra-writerM#1]

Good article:

I was wondering why I was having problems at work. I agree with your article and I'm told that cat fights at my job are the norm. So I got another job.

No one wants to listen until there's a problem. Then they'll hunt you down for help.

[Alixander]

Iboga and Mizim... Hmmm.... >.>a This may seem like an odd question, but what guild were you in, and did those two transfer from another server to play with your guild?

[Ciderhelm]

Source: Alixander Iboga and Mizim... Hmmm.... >.>a This may seem like an odd question, but what guild were you in, and did those two transfer from another server to play with your guild?

You already know the answer to that question. I doubt you'll find two other people with that name.