World of Warcraft may not be a difficult game by any means, but that doesn't mean the MMORPG is easy. Yes, I know that gear is collected as time is spent, money is acquired by repetitive quests, and some classes can be setup in a fashion to allow good ole
button mashing victories, but that is the not difficult part. The difficult part is managing the 'massive' feature of the game. I of course mean the very element that's supposed to make MMORPGs so grand, the people. Lots of them.
There is a reason that managers get paid so much in the fleshy world. People are difficult to control. We all have brains (mmm) and each of us works best under different conditions, at different times and with varying degrees of dedication. Take just those few details, mix in the anonymity of the Internet, and you have yourself one difficult situation to handle. The re-grouped
Warriors of Faith were handling it, and well, well until
it happened, the GM got married!
Before his wife reads this over his shoulder and wrings my neck through the tubes let me clarify. The troubles had nothing to do with him getting married, just the simple fact that he was gone for two weeks. His absence, and another main raid leader, lead to nothing for fourteen days. Simply nothing happened, no raids, no heroic Wednesdays (those have been dead for awhile), nothing of interest. Even in a casual guild that will lead to complaints and gquits . And so it did. In the week following their return, one that was marred by sloppy raiding, where it was had at all, we lost core members to transfers,unsubscribing and basic gquits.
I wholeheartedly blame
Canada Summer, but my GM is far to dedicated to brush off the guild's struggles on Mother Nature and human impulses. With himself and others reaching the point of burnout he took the time to
lay out the issues, and then put out a call to the members for creative solutions to our problems. Here's what I have suggested to the leaders and other members:
- With over 200 members, let whoever wants to leave go.
- Although we are casual, trim the roster down to at least active players who login. Personally, I believe it looks bad to have that many members, even if they are alts, and not be able to fill a 10-man.
- Get rid of members the higher-ups dislike. Sorry, but if you dislike them, their very presence will add to burnout.
- Have members fill in the open spots in the roster with friends, alts, or other players that they know well. Even if other players aren't willing to join the guild, drop them a line so they know that WoF is in need of some PUGs.
- Re-roll your main. I am hard at work on leveling my priest so I can fill in the healing hole left by two members. Although I love and enjoy my rogue, I enjoy raiding much more than not raiding.
- Go back to 10-man raiding, two nights a week. Cutting back to 10-man should ensure that the raid is filled. Slashing to two nights a week, say one night progression, one night farming, will give members a concrete schedule and reduce burnout. If they want to do more, see point one.
Unfortunately not many people will go to these extreme measures. In my humble opinion, that is all Blizzard's fault. Unless you are already friends, there is simply no reason to stay in a guild these days, and there was little to begin with.
Blizzard desperately needs to add some sort of guild progression - larger bank, expanded tabard creation options, guild summoning,
discounts with vendors for repairs and consumables. Something.
Any other suggestions? Has summer ruined your raiding or guild yet? Here's to hoping that
Call of the Crusade gets WoF back in action. Either way, I am in it for the long haul.
These issues, headaches and ulcers are the exact reasons I would never want to be a GM again. For the GMs out there, you never get enough praise for all the hardwork, time and effort that you do. Allow me to just say "Thank you" to all those dedicated GMs out there.
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