[Odegra]

I am an "officer" in a casual-core raiding guild. We are currently progressing through the end of Ulduar-10 and will be starting experimental runs into ToCr-10 within the next week or so. The problem is that the guild has no real structure.

We broke off from another guild on the server that was having issues between the raiders and the casual social players who expected to be pulled through raids. About a half-dozen of the raiders formed our own guild and were all instantly "officers" of the new guild, put in charge of bringing new people in and getting the guild stabilized quickly. Now that we've grown, these veteran guildies are throwing around power and handing out rank promotions and the privileges that go with those promotions however they feel like it. Our guild bank was raided recently by someone we felt was a dedicated raider who then lied to all of us and absconded with several big-ticket items. In spite of this, nothing has changed, and I'm getting frustrated.

The question becomes: How do I approach my guild leader about re-organizing the situation? If we do re-organize, how can we do it without sincerely disrupting the friendly feeling of the guild itself? Am I way outside my bounds by wanting to change the guild mechanics?

I guess that's several questions....
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

[Celuna]

Do you have a website with an officer's private section? This is pretty much a requirement when you have a "council" type leadership made up of more than 2 or 3 people.

You need to write down the rules somewhere and stick to them. Officers need to bring their concerns up in a place where they can be discussed by the officers without the fear that the drama-llama's are gonna stir it up and make it crazy. Although it sounds like some of your officers might fit into this label? If so, you need to challenge the officers to do things for the good of the guild, which, if the main focus is raiding, is good for your raiding. If they want to stir up drama, then your guild leader needs to un-promote them and deal with the drama now, rather than letting it fester to the point where you lose not only the drama lovers, but legitimate raiders who have been poisioned against the guild.

A raiding guild has a bank for raiders, not for alts or people just leveling up. You need rules about what should be in the bank, and who can take it out. If there aren't level 50 blues in the bank, then there is no reason someone other than an officer to have access. If "friendly/casual" includes love for non-80's, then at least use different tabs with different access rights.

So, 1. Make rules. 2. Stick to them. 3. If people don't like a rule, have your officers debate it and make a change if necessary. 4. Do not ignore drama, confront it.

[Odegra]

That makes sense. It now comes down to how I go about talking to the guild leader. Do I just sit him down and lay out everything and say that this is what needs to be done to fix it, or is there a better way to do it?

[Thaak]

That is a question that we really can't answer for you (though we can give suggestions), as it depends both on your personality, and the personality of your GL.

If you are both forward people, your best bet is probably a head on approach. "We need to talk." Then go to a private vent channel and lay out all your concerns. Discuss them afterwards.

If you are a bit on the shy side, or your GL is the type to not listen, try writing your concerns in a letter and mailing it to him, typically then he'll atleast read it and can't interrupt you while you're talking. The downside of this, is somethings don't go across well in print, as it is more difficult to ascertain the tone in which they are being delivered.

On a side note, have you tried talking directly to the other officers that are handing out candy? It could be as simple as they don't realize what they are doing.

As far as the underlying problem, it sounds as if you need a guild website. Yes, I know that sounds overly simple. However, it will allow you to have an officer forum as was mentioned in the previous post. It will also give you a place to create and maintain a Guild Charter, that lists the rules/expectation/etc for the guild. Here is a link to my guild website just so you can get an idea. It has a couple section that are for guild members only (real life pics of people, etc), and sections that are for officers only (recruitment, officer forums, etc.) but you should be able to see enough to get an idea.

Hand Picked - Home - WowStead

Also, Celuna was correct about demoting people. Its unplesant, but often times necessary for the best of the guild. I've had to demote friends that I have been playing with for almost 2 years because they weren't doing their job, and because their jobs weren't being done, it was severely hamperingthe progression of the guild.