20 Characteristics of a Mature Guild Member
March 5, 2008 by Matticus
Filed under Guild Topics
Our beloved WoW is full of many different types of players. The people behind them are people of all ages and all maturity levels. I’ve met my share of intelligent 16 year olds who have shown signs of wisdom and humility. I’ve also met 23 year olds who wonder why they’re shunned by other players. In my past guild, we would always debate amongst the officers if we should impose age restrictions. Eventually we did but it was solely because of the content and nature of our guild discussions at times and not because of maturity levels.
What exactly is a mature guildmate then? There are 20 characteristics that I can think of:
- Exhibiting patience and calm after wipes.
- Knowing that bosses do not go down right away after 1 attempt.
- Looks at the bright side of a wipe and learning from the mistakes that were made instead of trying to assign blame.
- Able to control their own temper.
- Is empathetic and is able to keep the feelings of other players under consideration before taking any actions.
- Is aware that being prepared for raids on time and always showing up is better then being skilled and talented.
- Willing to listen to negative feedback in order to become a better player.
- Has a high sense of self esteem and confidence.
- Knows that WoW can be a communication barrier as in game text does not fully communicate the emotion or feelings of the other person and does not hesitate to ask for clarification.
- Willing to ask questions until understanding is achieved.
- Willing to answer questions until understanding is achieved.
- Knows the difference between needing an epic and wanting an epic.
- Aware that World of Warcraft is like computer technology and that whatever you have now will be outdated later.
- Accepts responsibility for their own actions and mistakes.
- Knows the difference between confidence and arrogance.
- Realizes that there are real people behind the characters and treats them as such.
- Understands that gear is earned and not freely given.
- Behaves gracefully under pressure.
- Gives 110% effort in everything they do.
- Has an open mind and is willing to try anything.
Most importantly, mature guildmates will not object when they are asked to do something. They are aware of their own capabilities and limitations and they are downright dependable.
I'm Matticus and I play a Dwarf Priest. My home is in Conquest, a raiding Guild that I have founded. Every week, I log 12 hours raiding on Ner'Zhul.
Wynthea is the Troll Priest with the best Mohawk on Firetree. Currently, I raid 4 nights a week in a hardcore guild. I started playing WoW in May 2005, and raiding end-game in May 2007. My guild is currently working through 25-man WotLK content. I've tried playing other classes, but Priests are my passion. I am extremely fond of Dwarves.... especially with Ketchup. 
My name is Sydera and I like to heal things--think Florence Nightingale with foliage. I play a night elf druid on Ner'Zhul, and I raid 12 hours a week. As a guild officer for Conquest, I coordinate healing and recruit new raiders. I started playing WoW in Fall 2005, and it was love at first click. Before I discovered the joys of Broccoli-stalk healing, I raided as a holy paladin, and I now have alts in all healing classes. I have to say, though, bark beats poofy dresses and heavy plate in my book.
nice list, I might nab it for my guild’s forums… will link ya ofc
May I dare to ask what percentage of your guild fits this description?
Good post. It very much supports a a blog entry I wrote about how much I hate rules. The basic thrust is that high character people don’t need to be dictated a bunch of idiotic rules to play a game.
Hard to say, we have our share of mature players and immature ones. Some folks who are solid and mature players the majority of the time can lose their tempers… and some of the more immature folks can have their mature moments as well. I find some of the list to very situation dependent but overall its good stuff.
Faradhim: Exactly what Thor says. We all have our moments. It all depends on the phase of the moon.
A nice list and would be very nice characteristics if you could actually find that in most guild members.
Sonderful post. Sent the link to one my guild leaders and hope that all of them read it, evaluate themselves and (most importantly since I have faith in my GMs) they evaluate everybody in the guild. and I can’t stress #6 strongly enough for me to enjoy a run. tyvm
> Has an open mind and is willing to try anything.
I’ll get the Crisco.