10-22-2006, 07:50 PM
I have to agree with oldmandennis on just about everything. You're trying to build a team, which is all well and good, but you seem to hold that in diametric opposition to being a community. The most successful raid guilds are teams *and* communities, not either/or. For that matter, you've got what seems to me to be a very skewed vision of community: you're listing all the bad points and none of the good points. The fact is, success in end-game is based on skill, yes, but if your people don't like each other and don't have team spirit, the first hard encounter will shatter your guild like glass.
I can't think of a more confrontational way to build a guild, frankly. Within each class, you've given vague ideas of how ranking should be accomplished and then, essentially, told them to "have at it". You even concede that you expect fighting between the members of your guild, and believe me, there will be fighting. People will rank their friends higher and their enemies lower, they'll blow little incidents out of proportion (because whether you intend it or not, people will trend toward making others look worse to make themselves look better). Class leaders are going to be awash in accusations of corruption (and some of them will probably be guilty). Rankings lead to loot, after all, which only increases the already sky-high potential for drama. Think clearly about this: you're building a guild on the basis of subjective marking and long debates - every raid. Does that sound like a pleasant place to play?
Finally, there are a few things which I think haven't been properly thought through. No offense, but your loot system is silly. Not only is there the arguing factor I listed above, but the supply of points fluctuates radically and incentivizes strange behaviours. Consider: a caster cloth +damage piece that mages and warlocks can use drops. The Lock class leader is a reasonable guy and ranks his locks 8, 7, 7, 6 on average during a raid, because they do okay, but not great. The mage class leader is a congenial guy and awards his mages 10, 10, 9, 9. A few raids into the month, the mages have an insurmountable point lead, and easily buy the cloth piece.
Now the warlocks start debating mage ratings. The mages argue warlock ratings. The priests and druids start to yell at each other. You say you don't want to keep track of every little thing, but that's precisely what you'll have to do because without fail, any assessment is going to get someone unhappy and calling the guild leader on it.
Zeroing points at the end of the month is a similarly silly idea. Consider: you run, say, Blackwing Lair. During the entire run, no Wrath drops. Warriors shrug, figuring they'll get it next week. And the next week none drops. And the next. And the next. At the end of the month, warriors, having purchased nothing, get their points reduced to zero. Every other class, which has been looting stuff, also gets their points set to zero. Is this fair?
Your system has incentivized the opposite of hoarding - buying the first equippable item you see - which results in a uselessly scattershot loot distribution. If nothing drops, everyone gets points purged for nothing: if too much drops in the wrong order, your best tanks wind up with gloves and belts and your weaker players wind up with bracers and breastplates.
In summary, I think you're vastly underestimating the impact of drama. In my time on Stormrage, I've seen guilds come and go, and the thing that breaks end-game guilds is almost always drama, not lack of skill. Skill is important, and it should factor into recruitment, but any guild leader who doesn't try to foster a sense of community and friendship is not building for the long term.
I can't think of a more confrontational way to build a guild, frankly. Within each class, you've given vague ideas of how ranking should be accomplished and then, essentially, told them to "have at it". You even concede that you expect fighting between the members of your guild, and believe me, there will be fighting. People will rank their friends higher and their enemies lower, they'll blow little incidents out of proportion (because whether you intend it or not, people will trend toward making others look worse to make themselves look better). Class leaders are going to be awash in accusations of corruption (and some of them will probably be guilty). Rankings lead to loot, after all, which only increases the already sky-high potential for drama. Think clearly about this: you're building a guild on the basis of subjective marking and long debates - every raid. Does that sound like a pleasant place to play?
Finally, there are a few things which I think haven't been properly thought through. No offense, but your loot system is silly. Not only is there the arguing factor I listed above, but the supply of points fluctuates radically and incentivizes strange behaviours. Consider: a caster cloth +damage piece that mages and warlocks can use drops. The Lock class leader is a reasonable guy and ranks his locks 8, 7, 7, 6 on average during a raid, because they do okay, but not great. The mage class leader is a congenial guy and awards his mages 10, 10, 9, 9. A few raids into the month, the mages have an insurmountable point lead, and easily buy the cloth piece.
Now the warlocks start debating mage ratings. The mages argue warlock ratings. The priests and druids start to yell at each other. You say you don't want to keep track of every little thing, but that's precisely what you'll have to do because without fail, any assessment is going to get someone unhappy and calling the guild leader on it.
Zeroing points at the end of the month is a similarly silly idea. Consider: you run, say, Blackwing Lair. During the entire run, no Wrath drops. Warriors shrug, figuring they'll get it next week. And the next week none drops. And the next. And the next. At the end of the month, warriors, having purchased nothing, get their points reduced to zero. Every other class, which has been looting stuff, also gets their points set to zero. Is this fair?
Your system has incentivized the opposite of hoarding - buying the first equippable item you see - which results in a uselessly scattershot loot distribution. If nothing drops, everyone gets points purged for nothing: if too much drops in the wrong order, your best tanks wind up with gloves and belts and your weaker players wind up with bracers and breastplates.
In summary, I think you're vastly underestimating the impact of drama. In my time on Stormrage, I've seen guilds come and go, and the thing that breaks end-game guilds is almost always drama, not lack of skill. Skill is important, and it should factor into recruitment, but any guild leader who doesn't try to foster a sense of community and friendship is not building for the long term.