Matticus

Matticus is the founder of World of Matticus, a World of Warcraft blog.

Hagara down! (Old news)

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Hard mode Hagara is definitely a fun fight. Our kill night week was marked with a guild first. It’s never happened before in our history. Something so unprecedented, so unexpected and uncharacteristic.

We scored a progression kill while I was in a Shadow spec

Don’t worry, don’t worry! When we started learning it, I was still healing!

Right now we’re working, on that Yor’sahj guy. Our best attempts saw him hit the mid 30% range with 2 minutes left to go. We’re going to come real close to hitting that enrage timer. I’m a little behind on my Shadow gear (and I just activated my 2 piece bonus yesterday and am still looking for ways to increase that DPS higher). And yes, the reason I’m still Shadow is that we have a fair number of healers. On our next attempts, we’re going to try to run the play with 5 healers instead of 6 and hope that it’ll be just enough power.

We’ve lost several players in the past few weeks to real life, I’m afraid. If you’re looking for a stable guild for the next expansion (or just a group of players to hang out with any play other games like League of Legends and Starcraft 2 with), do check us out. I changed the URL and everything to be more reflective of what we are now.

Since BlizzCon’s been cancelled this year, the crew still wanted to meet up. If there’s anything I personally look forward to, it’s meeting up with the rest of my fellow crazy gamers once a year (and only once a year). We’ve settled on Vegas in late October as the time to hang out.

Such activities will include:

  • IRL need rolling (I love Craps)
  • Go Karting (Conquest Cup, 50cc, no blue shell)
  • Entertainment (Whenever I meet up with these people, there’s always a new chapter in the Matticus saga)
  • Relaxing (Eating, drinking and lounging around)

An Interview with Ferrel, Author of The Guild Leader’s Companion

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After reviewing The Guild Leader’s Companion, I wanted to gain a little more insight from Ferrel about guild leadership.

How about a brief introduction about who you are and what you do?

Hello there! I’m Adam Trzonkowski but most people know me as Ferrel.

First and foremost I’m a raid junkie and guild leader. I’ve been raiding since around 1999 and leading the same guild (in its numerous forms) since about 2004/2005. Somewhere in that stretch of time I started to write on our guild website and eventually morphed that into Epic Slant, my design and leadership blog. That is where I found my inspiration to start my novels. In that place we call reality I’m just a boring engineer.

What were the factors that motivated you to become a guild leader?

I never really wanted to be a guild leader. I did have the privilege of dealing with a few horrible ones. When I got to Iniquity in EQ2 the officers saw potential in me and asked for me to be an officer. I agreed and eventually we decided to bump our absent, non-raiding, non-max-level, paying-a-teenager-to-level-his-character guild leader out of office. We talked it over and I drew the long (or short) straw.

Can you share any good lesson-learning stories throughout your years as an officer or as a guild leader?

I guess the story that I tell the most is a really personal one. It basically teaches the lesson of never giving up. In the early EQ2 days we were raiding Darathar. Our guild was the only one working on him on the server and very few had killed him worldwide. We had been pretty unlucky on gear drops and our main tank was missing this one bracelet that literally reduced all damage types (the only item like it at the time). We had been working on him eight hours a day for a week and our morale was low.

I played with my main tank and one of our main DPS in person and on the fifth night the tank looked at me and said, “We’re not going to win. We don’t have the gear. It is time to call it.” This was a tough thing to deal with. I’m in person with two friends. I took the approach I think is right. I looked at him and said, “That is too bad because we’re going to kill him with what we have so buck up and get back to it.” He and the DPS were obviously upset with me but I felt like we had to do it. The best part is, we killed him that night!

In your mind, what is the single most important aspect a truly brilliant guild leader needs to possess?

Positivism at all times. Players respond far better to a positive leader than a negative one. If you are positive and confident your members will be, too. Positive raid teams and guilds last far longer. Believe me, I know. I used to think being a guild leader meant being Furor or that “more DoTs” guy. The truth is, they’re doing it horribly wrong.

What is the optimal method when it comes to delivering feedback for underperforming players? How do you squeeze more out of them?

To be honest, at this point, I don’t do individual counselling anymore. We use a completely positive method in Iniquity now so to be honest, we do everything at the macro level now. If the DPS is short I just tell them I have faith they can do more and ask them to. Thus far, every time I ask, they give it to me. I praise what we do right, ask for more, and we succeed.

What is your biggest frustration or pet peeve when it comes to leading guilds?

I really dislike the attitude of people that assume guild leadership isn’t leadership. I’ve seen someone “take exception” to using the term guild leader. I’ve managed people in MMORPGs and in reality and all of the skills are the exact same. If it weren’t for MMORPGs I would have never become a leader in reality. The skills transferred so successfully that my raid career has impacted my engineering career in completely positive ways.

Have you had a chance to try out SWTOR?

I was in the beta and was not impressed at all. The game was good; I’m not suggesting otherwise. It just wasn’t “new.” It was just prototypical MMO + Star Wars. I’m also horribly addicted to Rift’s class system. I play healers and I loathe being backed into a corner as someone who can’t do anything but heal. Rift lets me raid heal and smash face. 

Let’s talk about the book, the Guild Leader’s Companion. One of the golden rules you mentioned is that you can never please everyone all of the time. What is the next best achievable goal after that?

The most important goal is to achieve your own (realistic) happiness. That sounds selfish but how can you lead and be positive if you’re miserable? Once you’re happy and positive you can start trying to keep the majority of the guild feeling the same way. That tends to work well and if someone gets upset they find solace in their guild mates.

What are your thoughts on multi gaming organizations/guilds?

It takes a huge commitment but is just taking guilds to another level. Perfectly fine and fun if you’re willing to put in the work. We focus on a more intimate group so it wouldn’t work for us but I think a good guild is a good guild whether it is in one game or twelve.

You mention that one of the big obstacles in MMOs is the fact that egos can often get in the way. How would you recommend dealing with them?

Lead by example. If you and your officers have an ego it rubs off on others. I don’t have a public ego anymore. When I screw up I call it. I make fun of myself. I tease my officers when we mess up. It takes the level of tension down so much. We also focus on the macro level as I said. It is hard to get an ego when we praise the team rather than the individuals.

And finally, the Guild Leader’s Companion has been out for a while now. What other projects are you working on (if any)? Can you share anything?

The Guild Leader’s Companion was my first book and I’m both proud and ashamed of it. I have had a lot of growth as a leader, writer, and publisher since I wrote it. On the last one (publisher) I would say a TON of growth. I want to go back through the GLC and change it up some. I’m actually working on that now with a fusion book. It is more of a book on leadership and team building that is applicable to MMORPGs and uses them as examples but works in any place. One of the curious things about the GLC was that some of the business people in my office liked it enough that they wanted a “non-gaming” version. I hope to meet them halfway.

Beyond that I just finished up The Raider’s Companion (it is actually available now). That is my effort to teach new players how to raid and show old raiders new tricks. We get set in our ways and eventually something new comes along that makes us go, “wow, I wish I had known that.” I’m offering a different perspective on raiding because at this point I’ve done almost all of it. I’ve been a server-first raider. I’ve been a world competitor. I’ve been ultra-casual. I’ve been ten-man. Now I’m current-tier-content. All of those different experiences gave me the chance to borrow what I feel works from each. I also know I can learn more! So I wrote The Raider’s Companion to share my experiences and stimulate ideas.

Thank you for the opportunity, Ferrel!

Friends, be sure to congratulate him on his recent engagement! Remember to check out and subscribe to his blog!

Book Review: The Guild Leader’s Companion

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(Lost my initial post to a crash. Ctrl + S all the things Disappointed smile)

In ten words or less: Solid pickup for new players wanting to start a guild

I’d definitely recommend this for players looking to start their own guilds. Not only does it have an excellent set of instructions, it also gets you to really think about what you want to do and how to do it. The book covers all of the main aspects when it comes to a guild startup: Selecting your officers, recruiting members and outlining policies. Guild policies are often one of the hardest and slowest things to get down largely because it can be a huge pain in the but to write down the different rules and guidelines. Adam does a great job walking you through the process. To top it off, you can find some example charters and other rules at the end of the book to help with your guild’s principles. If you’ve been in a guild before, I’d wager that you would take for granted the day-to-day management activities and the other things that go on behind the scenes. The Companion helps you navigate through them.

Now if you’re a veteran guild leader, you’ll want to know if it’s still a worthwhile pickup.

I’d say yes.

You can pass over the section on loot management and recruiting. If your guild’s been around already, then chances are you’re comfortable with it. Recruiting might be a worthwhile chapter to read through again as it covers other techniques and tips, but if you’re already established with a good stock of players then it might not be necessary. I paid close attention to the section on Public Relations. I’d bet PR is easily one of the weakest skillsets a guild leader can have. Solid tips though on how one should conduct themselves online and how to react to trolls that are trying to bait reactions. Not many people are able to suppress themselves and maintain a level of professionalism against attackers. The section on burnout offered a variety of tips on how to combat both member fatigue and (more importantly) your fatigue. It also offers some information on the differences between raiding and competitive raiding.

I wouldn’t recommend competitive raiding for everyone. Being roused awake at 3 AM to take down a recently spawned Ysondre or one of those other green dragons does take it’s toll. Server firsts ain’t got nothing on world bosses.

Anyway, if you’re looking to start a guild or have started a guild and are looking to polish up your skills, you can pick up The Guild Leader’s Companion on Amazon (Alternatively, Kindle edition).

Oh and check out Adam’s blog: Epic Slant!

I’ll be posting an email interview I did with Adam tomorrow.

Nifty Topics to Increase Forum Use

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Don’t tell anyone this, but I’m actually in multiple guilds. I’m not cheating on my guild per se. But these guilds are involved with different games that aren’t a main focus.

Unsurprisingly, can you guess the most popular page of a guild’s website?

It would be the forums! Home and news pages don’t even come close. I suppose people just head straight to the forums with a direct link and bypassing the front pages entirely.

If your guild is young and you’re looking for ways to help ignite a little bit of life into them, I’ve seen these threads made which help draw people out of the woods.

  • Picture thread: Can never go wrong with the guild picture thread. People are naturally curious about what the real person behind the character is like. There’s always that one person who elicits the “There is no way that person sounds like that”.
  • Music thread: This is a great way to share and introduce your fellow guildies to what you like to jam to during game play. Oddly enough, the thread in my guild seems to just die whenever I mention Lady Gaga or Beyonce.
  • Movies thread: People love discussing their favourite movies along with upcoming flicks that they want to see. Movie trailers are usually posted to offer an idea of what can be expected.
  • UI thread: My personal favourite. This type of thread has the added bonus of discovering new addons or layout styles that you might never have thought of. I’ve even helped players in the past boost their abilities quicker by suggesting small changes to their interface.
  • Quotes thread: Someone say something stupidly quotable? My guild has had their own share of soundbyte moments. No doubt yours will have some. Keep a running thread going whenever someone says something exceptionally hilarious to help relive those memories.

A word to the wise. I’d strongly recommend staying away from political or religious topics. Those can be powder kegs.

Two Different Experiences, One Guild

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Today I’m going to paint for you two pictures of different individuals.

Both of them are in the same guild.

Both are on the same raid team and are of the same member rank. Their raiding performances are comparable to one another.

Player A: Soshal Crither

Shows up a few minutes early before the raid. Sticks around after the raid discussing the evening. Posts interesting and relevant discussion/material on the forums. Players other games with guild members in addition to WoW forging stronger social ties. Has a strong presence.

Player B: Hermy

Stays quiet and doesn’t actively engage with many players in the guild. Promptly logs out right after raids and barely squeaks in before raid start for an invite. Rarely posts on the forums and only chimes in when they’re absent. Not a big fan of hanging out on Mumble during non raid nights.

The point I want to make here is that while being a by-the-book player who does only what’s needed down to the letter can be acceptable, it doesn’t hurt to socialize every so often.

I maintain a memorable impression of players who aren’t afraid of frequenting Mumble and touching base outside of raids. Can’t lay out a theory as to why, but I reckon it’s due to repeated exposure to their presence. Sharing additional interests with other players (in addition to WoW) can create a much better guild experience then simply playing the 9 to 5 career raider.

Do you play other games with your guildies?