War-Crafting

Had another rainout again at work, thus we weren’t able to set up our equipment for the day. So I spent my time there with my clipboard and pen out writing as I was inspired by the business I was in.

Throughout your travels in World of Warcraft, all of you will have the distinct pleasure of joining organizations known as Guilds. The purpose of these Guilds will vary. Some will be a small group of friends who have decided to officially band together. Perhaps it is a straight up PvP Guild dedicated to the utter annihilation of the Horde (Or Alliance depending on your faction). However, I believe a majority of Guilds have the intent to tackle end game raid bosses and instances. I wouldn’t be surprised if there was a stats somewhere to prove me wrong :D.

A lot of Guildmasters feel stressed about running their guilds. There’s many different things to micro manage and a lot of interpersonal relationships that need to be maintained and balanced. It helps to remember that your Guild operates as a business. It IS similar to work (and others say it IS work), except it is way more fun!

Hogwash you say? My Guild isn’t at all like that?

Perhaps not. It’s true that you aren’t being paid in greenbacks, but you are rewarded with drops, gear, & recipes. Anything that makes you as a player that much better, I consider payment.

Guildmaster: He is the Captain of your ship. She is the CEO of your company. The direction your Guild proceeds in is based on their decision. They decide the schedule of the raid and who gets to attend. Guild policies regarding player behavior, item drops, and disciplinary action belong to the GM.

Recruiting Officer: Typically a position held by one person, I have seen it manned by two players. They are the Human Resources manager within the Guild. They are in charge of hiring (/ginvite) and firing (/gkick) of of personnel. Good HR managers are blessed with excellent instincts. If the guild needs a healer or a DPS caster, they will start headhunting until they find a player that matches the need.

Guild Banker: Most cases, this is also your Guildmaster or another designated officer within the Guild. You can think of this person as your CFO or game accountant. If resources for enchanting or crafting are needed and you are unable to farm (as a Priest, I know I can’t anyway), this is the first person you turn to. In raids, any drops which are used for crafting are usually sent to the banker for Guild needs (Profit)! The next upcoming patch has been confirmed to contain an actual Guild bank.

Now that we’ve covered the essential people involved, let’s talk about the main operations of a raiding Guild. You will raid anywhere between 2 – 6 nights a week from 6 PM to midnight. Sound familiar? Similar to work, no? In addition to that, most players will be farming outside of that time to get mats for potions and mana oils and such. That’s a lot to accomplish in a typical day. Most player’s are not able to handle it and just want to have fun. I guess those are the casual players who may not see as much end game as they prefer.

As a GM, if you approach your Guild as a business perspective, it will help make things easier. Set a role for the Guild. Set a quota that you want to achieve. You want this boss down by this day or week. Lay down the law if you have to. Businesses have different policies about that. Most importantly is communication. Without that, your Guild isn’t able to compete in the harsh rigors of WoW.

This is a message delivered to both people and players who believe they can get away with doing nothing.

The people believe they can show up and ride on the backs of others to gain what they do not have the right to gain.

The people who do not put in 100% effort when they are most counted on.

The people who simply are not dedicated to the responsibility that they have been entrusted with.

Who the hell do you think you are? Who are you to join an organization and expect to get handed rewards without pulling your share of work?

Here’s some news for you. Communism is dead. Capitalism is now the norm. If you do not work, you will not survive. They tried that years ago and they failed. Society is based on the premise that you work for what you earn. Without that simple basic principle, life would be virtually non existent. Not everyone can be a professional slacker.

Even in World of Warcraft this simple principle rings true. Work hard and bring your A game. If you don’t pay attention, the boss does not go down and you will waste the time of 24 other people in raids. Then you will get promptly replaced. If you want the rewards, you must work for it.

In hockey, players lay down everything for a chance at cracking the top lineup in the hopes of playing in the real league that matters. One cannot constantly rest the efforts of a key player like Roberto Luongo and expect to coast to success. Life is a big team game where you will be relied upon to work with friends, allies and even enemies towards common goals. If you do not embrace this skill, then you will not get through life easy.

Psychology has a term for this. I believe it is called social loafing. It is the concept wherein the more people that are involved in a task, the less effort everyone contributes individually. If two people deliver a 100% effort to lifting a log, then 10 people will deliver 10% effort each simply because they believe it is not necessary. But imagine the power that all of us can bring to the table if we all contributed 100% to the best of our ability the task at hand. Imagine the combined strength if we all give our best. Stanley Cup’s are awarded to the most deserving team in the entire league. Loot drops from bosses to Guilds who work together with no regard. No one relaxes. No one is ill prepared.

Even the Spartans recognized this important concept of cooperation. The positioning of their personal shields was designed to protect the man next to them.

We would do well to remember that.

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Lurker 1 – Carnage 2

Those were the headlines last night as Carnage, a special forces guild on Ner’Zhul marched into Serpentshrine Cavern to help prepare for the oncoming winter. Repeated attempts to summon this monstrous monstrosity of a monster failed with various fishermen ill-equipped to lure a creature of this size. But in the end, dinner would be served. Now we look forward to eating fish for a whole year.

Moments before the kill. As you can see, Carnage lost three strategic members during the encounter. But perseverance was in order today. With 2% left to go, we would not be denied.

While the group was busy discussing who would get what piece of the kill for dinner, a secret shot was taken. The skull icon over that one fellow over there indicates he gets first pick of the part.

[item]Bracers of Eradication[/item]
[item]Cord of Screaming Terrors[/item]

Took us about four hours and 25g in repair bills each, but Matt and co. strike first blood in SSC finally. He dropped cloth healing bracers (Which I shoulda bid more for, but eh, didn’t really want it that badly) and something else which wasn’t that important either.