In that order as well. And the former made me want to do the latter. We found great importance to using the charter to keep our hands from being tied, due to vast difference-of-opinion of how things should be run among the casual officership. The first guild was a casual leveling and eventually kara guild that got a taste for 25 mans. Then the guild built small divisions within it, and since we had no goals, we met an impass, and eventual disband. Some wanted 10′s, some wanted 25′s, some wanted us to gear all their alts first, and some wouldn’t come once they got the loot they needed. It all led us to the point where we decided to have a concise document that outlined our goals, and our expectations (albeit, mostly common sense stuff).

I’ve seen a surprising amount of guilds on our server that have nothing like this, and it boggles my mind. Its either buried in a confusing forum thread, or its not available to the public, but ours is posted on our front page, so anyone interested in joining has an opportunity to see what we’re about without ever needing to talk with us. We even make all apps read it as well, and encourage our guildies to continually read it.

Among all the decisions made in creating our guild, I believe that drafting a charter was by far the most beneficial. For the weeks of work that went into it, the dividends have paid off for months of raiding and getting the most out of what many consider ‘scrubby’ players, and will continue to do so (I believe) well into WotLK.

Good stuff! Lovin’ this series!

snostreblas last blog post..Fraps isn’t all fun and games..

Jezraels last blog post..In your face Archimonde!!

1. My guild is actually quite contrary to their guild charter.. our charter is a gigantic looming multi-post, page-stretching affair that makes the entire guild seem very serious and restricted. However I guess things have changed since the charter was written, or something, because ingame we’re extremely laid-back and we all consider ourselves casual raiders.

3. Our guild uses a combination of both models. We have TWO guilds, the main raiding guild and a ‘Jr’ guild for alts and socials. There’s only about 40 people at most in the main guild. When raid invites go out, the people in the main guild get priority and then an officer logs over to an alt to see if any eligible 70s in the alt guild are online. While this makes guild chat less effective we’ve made a custom channel for everyone to chat in.. and don’t forget vent! It’s been working very well and also has the added benefit of making the guild tag of the main guild more precious.

I look forward to the continuation of this series guilds and guild drama have long been a shadow on my WoW-life <.<

Also agrees with “Syd” above. That saves me some writing.

Hmm, I’m one of those close to second in command as well. And being that I spent several years as a sailor to on the high seas. I guess I’m a salty dog as sailors say.

Galohearts last blog post..WotLK Beta: Almost There..

I agree establishing clear goals, objectives, and acceptable behavior are a must to have a successful guild. I would add conditions for leadership for your officers and raid leaders as well. Officers and raid leaders need to fully agree with everything above and need to have a good working relationship with you as the leader. That does not mean you have to see eye to eye on everything, just be able to come to terms. Mutiney’s are generally led by the second in command.