Curse

Horus · Oct 20, 2008, 02:18 PM // 14:18

As a guild leader of guild with simmilar size and and past, i can say i can really feel this with you :/ Maybe my guild is not as old as yours, but still over 1,5years which i think is quite a lot. Probably i can't really complain about guild activity since we still have around 50members daily online and all 70 members in last 7 days, but i noticed some ppl don't log in as often as they used to, some for guild important ppl left the guild, some ppl just quit etc. Those are replaced with new ppl, but of course noone can replace old core players that quit for another game or something.

Anyway, I have also noticed that many other big guilds are facing same problem, so we're not alone in this

Probably it's just that we're used to high standards in guild and having 90+ ppl and 80% daily online what we're used to and decrease in those % is something new - but i got used to it and now live with it, GW is not really what it used to be (same game, doesn't give same feeling anymore tho), so either keep active forum (that's what we do in GoDT, every member is required to register up on forum and check it at least weekly, makes it easier to keep in touch with ppl), exchange email with other core ppl, or consider a guild move to another game - we were considering a guild move to Aion when it's released to keep us busy till GW2, noone knows if we'll do it or not, just a suggestion

anyway, can only wish you all the best with you guild, since there really isn't much more than i could suggest you for events

~Horus

boarderx · Oct 20, 2008, 02:44 PM // 14:44

Quote:

Originally Posted by elpedro

Hey guys, this is pretty much new to me posting here on Guru (other than the odd guild ad)

I'm the guild leader of Pirates Of The Searing [YoHo] - you may have heard of us, may not. I would class our guild as highly successful, attracting a huge amount of interest and members; obviously with this you have a large amount of people leaving. However, things are starting to change. Our core players (members and officers) are losing their interest, some have already moved on, others contemplating.

Would you agree that as a game, the content in GW is drying up and an alarming rate - more so for the people like myself who have played since the start? The pressure it is putting on me as 'the lead guy' is crazy, I have people PMing me, leaving posts on the forum complaining of the lack of activity and events taking place. The bottom line however is, we do organise these things, but there is no real desire from the members to take part; they almost seem hypocritical.

YoHo has been ran by more or less the same core people since our first 6 months or so. If they aren't interested and helping as much, the guild will surely come to a halt.

So what do I want for the guild? There's no way I would jump overboard

YoHo will be around in GW2 but until then, I need to keep things moving. Granted, we are still relatively large despite these setbacks (80+ total). I would really appreciate any ideas for boosting activity. As a leader figure, I have been the one who has conjured plans, put together teams, provided the goods in terms of our Ventrilo, forum, website etc. But I am genuinely stuck. Any other similar guilds in terms of age and size experiencing this?

Ty in advance Guru community.

Guardian

im in the exact same boat you are, EYE is still a strong guild and going good but ive really noticed it in the alliance, activity is getting rather uncomfortablely low desspite the vent, forums, website, etc etc etc. GW is aged and i hate that cuz i still love playing even after 3 years i still enjoy playing. Feel fre to PM me if you wanna talk more about this craziness or not, i jsut dont have much time now to respond

MStarfire · Oct 20, 2008, 03:58 PM // 15:58

I led a guild for two years. We were massively successful, once heading up an alliance of around 800 members. Then we got bored and let it all crumble. Those of us who were there from the start of [STAR] formed up and made a new guild and now we're no longer bored. Things die. Move on. Sometimes it takes a fresh start to rekindle your love of the game.

elpedro · Oct 20, 2008, 04:12 PM // 16:12

Thanks for the great responses and keep 'em comming. We decided to go down the 'hibernation' route. Myself, the officers and core members are staying but we are relaxing recruitment, organised events and compulsory activity. We are also going to take down emails from people who want to come back come GW2.

In our prime, we had too many people wanting to join, there was constantly something happening and guild chat was more like Kamadan. Like I said we are still at 80+ but also like Horus mentioned, the percentage online at once is much lower and not as often.

Wasn't there meant to be a team dedicated to GW1 content between now and GW2?

Taken couple months ago

Rhamia Darigaz · Oct 20, 2008, 05:20 PM // 17:20

i'm under the impression that many people who play guild wars don't realize that they can stop playing and come back:
a) when gw2 comes out,
b) when some cool update comes out, or
c) never
and that it won't be a big deal.
protip: gw isn't designed to last forever

Crystal Lake · Oct 20, 2008, 06:16 PM // 18:16

Elpedro, why do you only have 3 officers? Maybe that's part of the problem, in your guild. I was a officer in my old guild and I'm a officer in this 90+ guild. We have 90+ members and 15 officers. We certainly see a lot of coming of going but this guild seems to grow anyhow. I make a point to recruit every week - I still have a level 13 monk in pre-sear.

I started playing about 10 months and still love the game. I play a lot but haven't maxed out titles. etc., but I also have a lot of different characters to play, so boredom hasn't set in. Also, a lot had to do with the fact the core members of my old guild were active and played together a lot, and we discovered a lot of the game together and we used ventrilo.

Part of the problem is there are a lot of active people out there playing in really tiny guilds they don't want to give up. I was in a guild I helped set up, and I was getting frustrated at not being able to find people to do the more advanced areas with. We were invited to join a bigger alliance by a guild that has 90+ members and my guild declined

no matter how much I tried to convince them it would help us recruit and keep new members if we had more activity. So I left my old guild and joined this bigger guild which I love.

This new guild does organize events,although there does seem to be lack of interest, but it could be timing also. This guild and alliance is also pretty friendly and people are always doing runs of CoF and invite members to go for free. They do FoW and know those areas enough so we get to the end chests.

. (Now I know why they are rich)

I believe that there will be a slow decline because of a lack of new content for the long time players, and really another year or two before GW2? EOTN is almost a year old already. However there are new players coming on all the time. If you have a guild/alliance that's willing to help them out some of those players are going to stick around. It helps to have a lot of officers that are willing to recruit at least once a week.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Emperor Bush

Starting 2 years ago, I played for about a year. Straight. I don't remember eating or sleeping for that year. I had a lame guild that never did anything. Once maxing out my charecters, I found endless hours of entertainment farming FA(final assault, and Tombs. I loved it. About 2 months after Eye of the North came out, my computer went *poof*, and I didn't play again until this month. I had been kicked out of my lame guild, and have joined a new lame guild that does nothing but ask each other for money. And now nobody farms FA or tombs anymore. NOBODY! It sucks. I ask people where everyone went, and they say "Domain of Anguish". So I go there, and can't even find a group going out without heroes. So I've spent the last two weeks trying for my vanquisher titles. Just me, my heroes, and my henchmen. I preferred doing FA and tombs over and over again with strangers. I really just want to farm FA and tombs all night (with people). But since that isn't an option, and I haven't found anywhere that people meet up to farm together, I don't think my second run in GW will be lasting too long.

LOL, looks like you just need a new and bigger guild.

elpedro · Oct 20, 2008, 06:34 PM // 18:34

We have more than 3 officers, we were currently deciding on new officers back then to accommodate the new levels of members

Horus · Oct 20, 2008, 06:38 PM // 18:38

need to agree that having only 3 officers is not really good, at least can say so from own experience - usually officers + guild leader are those that keep guild on it's feet, imo 7-13 is somewhere optimal and best for guild, however depends on ammount of (active/helpful/prosperous) ppl in guild. Maybe raise number of officers and give them some special roles each - few to organize weekly events, few to keep recruiting active, etc.

edit: just saw a post you posted while i was writing this

enter_the_zone · Oct 20, 2008, 06:57 PM // 18:57

Quote:

Originally Posted by elpedro

Would you agree that as a game, the content in GW is drying up and an alarming rate - more so for the people like myself who have played since the start? The pressure it is putting on me as 'the lead guy' is crazy, I have people PMing me, leaving posts on the forum complaining of the lack of activity and events taking place. The bottom line however is, we do organise these things, but there is no real desire from the members to take part; they almost seem hypocritical.

Guardian

QFT. This, in spades.

Members : "Why are there never any events?"
Officers : "There are plenty of events, please read the forum"
Members: "But I don't want to do %insert event type here%, I want to do %blah%"
Officers : "Yeah, we can do that event next time"
Members: "Oh, but I can't wait that long/can't make it then/wanna do it NOW!!!"
Officers: "Why do I flipping bother arranging these things. Go hang, all of you. Use a 12 foot rope, and a 25 foot drop, just to be sure."

Karate Jesus · Oct 20, 2008, 07:15 PM // 19:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by elpedro

I'm the guild leader of Pirates Of The Searing [YoHo] - you may have heard of us, may not.

I read the article when you guys were honored and you sounded like such a fun guild. It's sad to hear that you're declining. I wish there was some way I could offer help, but honestly, every guild I know is declining. Maybe you can just chalk it up to the game's recent decline and hope for the best.

Other than that, I don't know what to tell you and I'm sorry to hear you guys are struggling.

elpedro · Oct 20, 2008, 09:23 PM // 21:23

Quote:

Originally Posted by Karate Jesus

I read the article when you guys were honored and you sounded like such a fun guild. It's sad to hear that you're declining. I wish there was some way I could offer help, but honestly, every guild I know is declining. Maybe you can just chalk it up to the game's recent decline and hope for the best.

Other than that, I don't know what to tell you and I'm sorry to hear you guys are struggling.

Yeah, is a shame. At least we know come GW2, we will be back better than ever. For now, we just have to make do with what we have. As leader I'm staying all the way but there's nothing I can do about the members who don't want to play 'cos the game is a bore for them.

Still, made a great bunch of friends who are always on Vent. As long as we are together there will always be a future for the guild

Cathode_Reborn · Oct 20, 2008, 10:31 PM // 22:31

Quote:

Originally Posted by Crystal Lake

Part of the problem is there are a lot of active people out there playing in really tiny guilds they don't want to give up. I was in a guild I helped set up, and I was getting frustrated at not being able to find people to do the more advanced areas with.

You can probably say I'm one of those types - I still play actively everyday but the guild I'm in is small and inactive. I've been trying to find a guild for myself and 4 other friends that I've been sorta guild hopping with, but it's not easy, so we just sorta stopped at this inactive guild.

The problem is that so many guilds rely on mass open-recruiting to stay active. They advertise with stuff like FoW/UW/Urgoz/DoA/HM/Titles/etc, but once you actually join those types, you're in a 80+ guild full of people that do nothing. So many guilds have to lie to recruit more members. It's sad and annoying. I've joined way too many of those.

Quote:

Originally Posted by enter_the_zone

Members : "Why are there never any events?"
Officers : "There are plenty of events, please read the forum"
Members: "But I don't want to do %insert event type here%, I want to do %blah%"
Officers : "Yeah, we can do that event next time"
Members: "Oh, but I can't wait that long/can't make it then/wanna do it NOW!!!"
Officers: "Why do I flipping bother arranging these things. Go hang, all of you. Use a 12 foot rope, and a 25 foot drop, just to be sure."

Honestly, this is why me and a few others I know don't join guilds that use websites/forums to organize events - we don't need events to tell us what to do and when we should do it. If I feel like doing something, I start a group for it and do it right there. I also just don't feel like I should have to visit some random website to participate in guild activies - seems really silly.

The Oracle · Oct 20, 2008, 10:44 PM // 22:44

Yeah I agree, hardly any game can hold your attention for 3+ years. I've played the game since release and after a year and a half it simply became.. boring. Nothing you can do about it, it just happens.

Zacchius · Oct 21, 2008, 12:45 AM // 00:45

It's probably inevitable that people will stop playing because the game has nothing left to offer them. My guild is just me and my high school buddies, and few new guys we picked up recently, and theyre all fun guys, but if there's really nothing for ppl to do, then even having fun ppl isnt much of a motivator when you can just talk to the on aim/skype/whatever. fortunately, all of us in my guild have titles to go for, so we're all staying. some of them play tf2 or something inbetween, but we're here til gw2.

maybe instead of builing up and getting more members, you should get to know the ones you have already better and give them a reason to stay and come online more, and when you do recruit, do the same for them. not just getting new guildies but making new friends at the same time, y'know?

Pae · Oct 21, 2008, 12:55 AM // 00:55

Guilds will come and go. As time goes on, some guilds will need to merge, if they want to maintain a roster of experienced people, or people will need to find different guilds. The other option is to start finding new players and hoping that they'll stay. That's easier to do when it comes to PvE than PvP, though. Then again, people could just buy their way to UAX and start from there, heh.

Nanood · Oct 21, 2008, 02:00 AM // 02:00

When the leader of our guild got bored and left for another game and made me leader. I went through the list and kicked out everyone who had been off for more than a month. Eventually there was only a few of us left and even then they are not that involved. I much prefer having a small guild of friends.

Unreal Havoc · Oct 21, 2008, 10:20 AM // 10:20

Quality > Quantity

Etta · Oct 21, 2008, 10:51 AM // 10:51

Nothing can last forever, even solar fusion only lasts so long.

creelie · Oct 21, 2008, 02:32 PM // 14:32

3 years is an excellent run for a game made to be a hobby instead of a lifestyle.

BladeDVD · Oct 21, 2008, 08:57 PM // 20:57

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cathode_Reborn

You can probably say I'm one of those types - I still play actively everyday but the guild I'm in is small and inactive. I've been trying to find a guild for myself and 4 other friends that I've been sorta guild hopping with, but it's not easy, so we just sorta stopped at this inactive guild.

The problem is that so many guilds rely on mass open-recruiting to stay active. They advertise with stuff like FoW/UW/Urgoz/DoA/HM/Titles/etc, but once you actually join those types, you're in a 80+ guild full of people that do nothing. So many guilds have to lie to recruit more members. It's sad and annoying. I've joined way too many of those.

Honestly, this is why me and a few others I know don't join guilds that use websites/forums to organize events - we don't need events to tell us what to do and when we should do it. If I feel like doing something, I start a group for it and do it right there. I also just don't feel like I should have to visit some random website to participate in guild activies - seems really silly.

If you have 80+ people in a guild, they are not going to all be on at the same time. More likely than not, they are spread out over several time zones, continents even, and even if they weren't you have people who are still in school, or people who work nights, or like to play from 3am to 7am.

And people can be flexible with their schedules. If they know people will be getting together to do DOA next Tues. at 7pm pacific they will make time to show up.

But how do you communicate that kind of thing? Especially if you have a number of regular events going on? What do you do to create a sense of being a member of an organized group if there aren't ways to interact with everyone?

A good website is the best way to do this. It provides a central place to meet and talk but you don't all have to be online at the same time to do so. People can sign up, discuss builds to make up for people wanting to use their main characters, and just shoot the breeze and get to know each other a little better.

Being able to just say, "hey let's go do this," is great (and more likely to happen in a good sized guild and alliance) but it doesn't always work. If your goal really is to find a group to do things with, I strongly recommend taking advantage of their guild or alliance website if they have one. It's not a huge investment of time, and really helps people get organized for the harder parts of the game.

---------------------------------

Our guild too has noticed the decline in participation. It's tough to maintain an active alliance too, for all of the reasons the same reasons mentioned already. Being able to find good officers can help a lot, but other than to keep recruiting hoping to find new players who are still having fun with the game while fitting in to your guild/alliance culture is really all you can do.