World of Warcraft®

I want to take a moment to ask the wow community a question. I have recently founded a guild on spirestone, I would like to know how I can get more members to join and not be discouraged by the low guild level and lack of members. My goals are to have an active social guild that supports its members through all levels and has a more welcoming and personal feel to it. To go raid towns, host events and just have fun playing the game. Maybe even party during brewfest lol. But i cant seem to recruit anyone as my server is dominated by massive impersonal guilds. Any input would be much appreciated. Also my guild name is obsidius so i dont believe the name is turning people away.

patience and effort are the secret ingredients.

Start running pugs, have fun, recruit from said pugs. They won't care that your guild is low level if they like you.

Well said, thank you ive noticed that the largest issue is that when i put my guild out and try to get noticed it is almost immediately followed by anothe well established guilds recruiting macro. Its like competing with a large corperation and im a small businesses. You kind of get the idea of the type of guild obsidius wants to be how can i really set myself apart from the crowd?

Also to add on to my previous post when my wife and i run pugs most members are already with another guild.

Google SGI super guild invite...awsome tool to use every now and then.Set up a whisper and scane your server levels 1-40 and 40-85 it works wonders for a guild starting out

Im not sure id like to use something that spams as I don't want to give a negative rep to the guild.

^ I wouldn't recommend doing it either. Sometimes you have a chance to get a few good members, but mostly you'll get people that won't last long for one reason or another or just get trolls. You could whisper people specifically that you notice are guildless and let them know of your guild's goals and aspirations, but even that is iffy. It's harder to recruit when a guild is of a lower level.

As someone said pug. If you have other guildmates within your level ask in trade if anyone would want to join you for a few dungeons, chances are a DPS will join since they'll get a quicker queue if you or your guildmate is a tank or healer. If they enjoy running with you there's a chance they'll join, even if they're already in a guild. Guild levels and rep is a lot easier to earn since the patch now, so people are more likely to join another guild than before.

You mentioned you advertise in trade, what message do you advertise with? Best thing you can do is keep trying!

short and to the point they all go something like this, Obsidius a casual social guild made for the players we support leveling 1-85 and have nightly events from raiding org to brew fest. pst if you want to know more. and i try not to put it out more than every hour or so. cant say the same for the few guildmates i have they might put it up more but we all have an understanding that spamming is bad. many guilds on my server spam or auto inv. i try to put humor in my ads as well, Ie: Obsidius, kill orcs, drink grogg, damn good time. pst. but it doesn't seem to work. i will admit ive made lots of friends so far added 2 real id in the past 2 hours alone, but even though friends are great they can't help build a guild if they are not even in it.

But I understand nothing happens overnight so i will keep trying in the meantime though all the advice is great thank you for the replies!

My best advice is patience and stay true to your vision for your guild. I think on our server, even the larger guilds are having trouble recruiting at the moment. It's that quiet lull before Expansion.

I've noticed an increase in player return in the last week or two. I think this may be a boon to newer guilds as people will be looking for new homes.

I'd have to agree with everyone, even with using a "guild spam addon" as I call them... My suggestion with that though, is to turn the auto invite part off and just use it to mass whisper. The ONLY reason I even suggest it is that I've seen one guild I'm in (just as a member) grow to 200 toons in under 5 months that way.

Personally, it took us awhile of solidly recruiting. Cata helped catch us a few... and we lost a lot too over time because a lot left. Though we've seen some come back just in the past two weeks also.

We even had luck catching people from other servers when they saw some of us having so much fun together in dungeons they were in. Sometimes too, just seeing you all having a good time together will convince others to leave their big, impersonal guild for one that's more fitting to what they want.

I love your fun recruitment macros... we use fun ones sometimes too, they seem to get good reactions anyway. Sometimes that's the best thing you can ask for ... keep your name in their mind for later ;)

Unless you are adamant about having a LARGE guild, I'd forgo the add-ons. You won't have a "personal" feel to the guild. Know what you want, offer what the larger guilds can't. Be willing to be patient, be willing to screen. (Remember - having too many unpleasant people in the guild can actually be a turn-off to new guild members). Have standards and stick with it.

There may be others out there NOT wanting to be in a mega-guild. Often, the members get lost there. The green chat can scroll by so fast, you don't know who said what, or people just give up and don't use it. Maybe you can offer a more tight-knit feel, a place where each member makes a difference. Don't promise what you're not willing to provide, or willing to make your guildies put up with. ("We'll run you through ALL the dungeons you want. We help you with mount costs, etc.") just to get people in.

As you get a few core people, run things together. Be seen doing fun things out in the world, together.

Good luck and I hope you can build a fantastic guild and make some great friends. :)

The idea of keeping a small close-knit and active guild is really what I'm looking to create. i found a way to make the SGI work as well without spamming everyone. It has a very helpful search feature that can find those with out a guild that way i can whisper them directly keeping the overall feel of the guild. I'-m really hoping that Mop brings in some players that have a similar view to mine.

Thank you all for the advice as well everyone has helped so far and i think i should be able to get my guild running soon. maybe just need to level it a bit so that it doesn't look brand new.

Centrionage, not everyone in a guild is happy with their guild. If guilded pugs like you, there is a good chance they will hop over.

09/18/2012 05:28 PMPosted by Centrionage

Also to add on to my previous post when my wife and i run pugs most members are already with another guild.

I'd say 90% of my guild members started out by pugging in with me on raids. Even founding members fall into this category. They followed me from another guild that we weren't happy in, but they joined that one by raiding with me while they were members of another guild.

Don't let that stop you. Ever.

My one lead officer was guildless and actively looking for a guild. 2 1/2 years later I couldn't manage this whole guild and 2 raid teams without him because I provided him with what he was looking for. Aside from him, every current member of my raid team was a pugger at one point or another. And every single one of them had a guild when they started pugging with me. 2 people were in a guild during naxx that went defunct. They had been raiding with me and stayed with me ever since. The rest of my current long term members left a guild.

Those people who joined me when they had no guild - they end up eventually leaving anyway.

Your most stable members will be the ones who make a conscious decision to commit to you and your guild.

09/19/2012 08:44 AMPosted by Centrionage

The idea of keeping a small close-knit and active guild is really what I'm looking to create.

I recommend you forgo the mass whispering and grow your guild organically then. Pick a night out of the week to start running an open invite raid. DS is a good one, there will still be people wanting to raid DS come the next xpac. Heroic, achievements, and so on. A lot of people don't get to do it while it's current, and/or don't get to do it on their alts, etc.

As the xpac progresses, raid 1 tier back from the top, open invite, and have fun with it. Start inviting the people you like back, eventually they'll ask you if your guild is looking for people, and/or if you really like them, let it be known they're welcome in your guild at any time. Use the open invite night as a recruiting tool.

If you have a tank class, start running dungeons, holler in trade, open invite for anyone who wants to come. If you have a healer you can depend on, even better, start announcing the insta-queue. Same thing, recruitment possibility. Have fun with it, start inviting the folks you like back.

You'll eventually start getting personalities in your guild, some of those personalities will attract people. You'll find some guildies like small, close knit groups of people to play with, and others like everyone. The ones that like everyone, perfect recruiting tools. Be sure to ask them if they know someone when looking for people, they invariably do. Recruitment opportunity.

Remember, the hard part isn't recruiting people, it's recruiting the right people. My guild is turning into more of a raid oriented guild. I'm more willing to take that good guy or gal who has never raided than that expert who has raided forever, but has a bad attitude. One of those is easier to fix than the other, *always* keep that in mind. Do *not* recruit for ability, recruit for attitude, you can fix ability, you cannot fix attitude.

Always treat pugs with respect. If you have to do a crappy thing, and sometimes you will, apologize for it profusely and make sure they understand. I'm talking about things like accidentally inviting 11 people to a 10 man raid because someone else got invited before you realized it. Be fair about it, ask the last person invited to leave unless they're a role you absolutely cannot run without. Don't play favorites.

Do not treat guildies better than pugs. Don't force a pug out of a raid because a guild member logged on. Be respect in trade chat, horsing around is fine, trolling and being downright mean is not.

Your best recruitment opportunities are the new players, not the old. The new will appreciate being shown the ropes, and you can help 'grow' them as players. In turn, you'll get someone you know is a good guy or gal, and has some loyalty to the guild.

But all of this takes time. The kind of time that takes an entire xpac. And it can be frustrating. Not every night of raiding will be awesome, some nights will downright suck. Some nights you'll have to pug, some nights you won't be able to find everyone you need, etc. You'll deal with personalities that don't mesh well with yours. You'll deal with people who are too ego driven to think that maybe you have something to offer them. You'll deal with people who get offended by an honest mistake of yours, and no amount of you trying to rectify it will make it ok for them. You'll deal with people who are just selfish about their play time.

And it will wear on you. That's what dealing with people does. So you need patience, and understanding. Patience, above all. Keep that goal in mind, and have fun with it.

And don't get impatient. The guild you create as an impatient GM will not be the same guild you'll create as a patient GM. Remember, GM is something you do for the long haul, if you're not planning on being there for a while, you're wasting everyone's time.

So you should have the time to be patient.

And remember, ABR: Always Be Recruiting, in everything you do.

09/18/2012 01:34 PMPosted by Centrionage

But i cant seem to recruit anyone as my server is dominated by massive impersonal guilds.

That's your in right there.

You're establishing a new brand, so your job is to get people to start buying your brand. And you do that by showing what is special about your brand.

I'm a fan of doing what you plan to do when the guild is all fleshed out.

Plan to PvE raid? Then PvE raid as a PUG and treat it like a guild run, and then recruit from there.
Plan to do BGs? Then set up BG premades and recruit from there.
Plan to do world PvP? Organize some world PvP and recruit from there.

Essentially, pretend your guild is already established, do what you'd do, and make it clear that it's your guild that is doing it.

I'm definitely in this for the long haul so no worries there. I know where I want to go with the guild and thanks to everyone who replied I have an idea of how to get there. all of you have helped me and i thank you. As always i am open to anymore tips or advice the vet players will have. I couldn't have asked for better help guys thanks.

But i cant seem to recruit anyone as my server is dominated by massive impersonal guilds.

That's your in right there.

You're establishing a new brand, so your job is to get people to start buying your brand. And you do that by showing what is special about your brand.

I'm a fan of doing what you plan to do when the guild is all fleshed out.

Plan to PvE raid? Then PvE raid as a PUG and treat it like a guild run, and then recruit from there.
Plan to do BGs? Then set up BG premades and recruit from there.
Plan to do world PvP? Organize some world PvP and recruit from there.

Essentially, pretend your guild is already established, do what you'd do, and make it clear that it's your guild that is doing it.

I understand exactly what your saying and it makes sense. i guess I have a new question to everyone here. you all know what kind of a guild this is now how can i fit the whole idea of my guild into one non intrusive message Ie: a macro or general recruiting statement.

I understand exactly what your saying and it makes sense. i guess I have a new question to everyone here. you all know what kind of a guild this is now how can i fit the whole idea of my guild into one non intrusive message Ie: a macro or general recruiting statement.

Not to cop out, but we can't really answer that for you. A big part of a successful guild sales pitch is the personality of the man behind the guild. You'll need to think of this and let your personality shine thru.

The key point here is that you are different from the massive, impersonal guilds. You obviously want a tight-knit feel to your guild. A "Cheers" bar, so to speak, where everybody knows your name.

Find a way to let that come thru in your advertisements.

Not to cop out, but we can't really answer that for you. A big part of a successful guild sales pitch is the personality of the man behind the guild. You'll need to think of this and let your personality shine thru.

The key point here is that you are different from the massive, impersonal guilds. You obviously want a tight-knit feel to your guild. A "Cheers" bar, so to speak, where everybody knows your name.

Find a way to let that come thru in your advertisements.

I see your point lol thank you.