TankSpot Podcast #8 Guild Relations 2
Patrick O'Callahan "Ciderhelm"
31:14
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Podcast Information
This podcast answers several user submitted questions regarding guild decisions and management. Is there anything wrong with skipping Kael'thas and Lady Vashj? Should loot priorities be used? What's the best approach to min/maxing a raiding group? How do you handle a fluctuating guild with a small hardcore base of players?
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Pre-Recording Outline
The following questions are responded to in this podcast. Please note that some questions were not responded to, and there's significantly more to the final question that will be responded to in the next podcast.
My guild has finished almost everything in SSC and TK and we're just going to have KT and Vashj soon. Some of our raiders want to jump into Hyjal first. Is that ok?
From the leadership's perspective, is it ever a good idea to use loot priorities in raiding, specifically in regards to gearing up the MT?
When do you feel it is acceptable to enforce controls as a guild leader on members to min/max in order to help the raid?
We allowed friends/family to join and now have 120 members, about half of whom would call themselves raiders, have passed the "gear check" etc. Since we have no required attendance, every member is aware that they'll have to sit out sometimes. But the attendance goes up & down.
We have about 15 highly skilled players who sat through all of this fairly patiently. Prioritizing them is obvious.
It would be easy to say, just take the best & progress. But what happens next month when attendance goes lower again? I'm reluctant to cut anyone, but I'm getting swamped with "When's my turn?" During the low attendance period, we added benefits for members who are most consistent in attendance, and points for standby. Apparently this worked too well, because now its 45 online every night. I'm getting overwhelmed fast.
The closing comments cover self-confidence as a guild leader and the importance of being honest with those you're recruiting.
Just listened to this Podcast and wish to thank you. As a former guild leader, I too was plagued with these decisions. Unfortunately I was quite new to the game at the time and had minimal playtime so I was unsure as to the correct decisions. I ended up catering to the "casual" players and put my more dedicated players out. Had I known then what I know now or had I had the opportunity to hear these words of wisdom I would have handled things a bit more differently. As it is, I ended my tenure of leading the guild but wiser for it.
Hearing your words, I am fortified with the knowledge that I was not alone in this experience and, after examining my past decisions, am glad that I made the decisions at the time as they were "learning" decisions.
Your Post "Fortifications" helped me become a better tank. This podcast helped me forgive myself for what I perceived to be failings on my part when I was a guild leader.
I think I'm going to have my GM listen to this, there are some good points that you brought up.
Edit: I was also wondering if you could also give advice to regular guild members who want to impress their officers and GM, as well as become better raiders in terms of attitude and behavior. Thanks in advance.
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Thats it Mr. Giraffe, get ALL the marmalade.
Last edited by Shadowsense; 04-23-2008 at 07:12 PM.
Although they were all fairly relevant, the first question you address was the one that was plaguing me the most. I am the MT and class leader for my guild, and I have a say in where we go on any given night. We have been struggling with Vashj since about a week and a half before they released 2.4, and we haven't even taken a dash into Kael at this point. I was adamant that we really had no right to set foot in MH or BT until Vashj and Kael were defeated, so that we could complete the attunement quests completely before going in, following in "proper" order. Some officers shared my sentiment and others did not. Now I listened to this the other night and I was shocked at how close it sounded to our predicament, pretty much everything you listed for that answer totally applied to us. After our 5/6 clear last night I pulled the GM aside, because it's his guild and he ain't even having fun anymore, as a lot of people had kind of noticed. Well I brought your argument to the table and he listened while I nearly recited pretty much everything in there (gave credit of course ), and when I was done and gasping for air, he said he agreed with me 100%. That we have to go in and get some work done in BT and Hyjal and get spirits and recruitment up, then we can go back and steamroll SSC and TK once and for all. I hadn't noticed until the end but our rogue class leader had jumped in right about when I was introducing the GM to who you were and all the stuff correlating to this site which I've been studying, and he pretty much also shared the same sentiment.
We're having a nice long O-core meeting about it Saturday, we're going to work out our DKP system from the ground up as well as take another look at raid rules and ranks, and our strategy for how we're going to pull this off. I have to admit I'm friggin grateful for this particular podcast and all the excellent answers you provided in it. Thanks Cider.
Thanks. 
), and when I was done and gasping for air, he said he agreed with me 100%. That we have to go in and get some work done in BT and Hyjal and get spirits and recruitment up, then we can go back and steamroll SSC and TK once and for all. I hadn't noticed until the end but our rogue class leader had jumped in right about when I was introducing the GM to who you were and all the stuff correlating to this site which I've been studying, and he pretty much also shared the same sentiment. 
