Raising a Guild Tips

[iH8t2lose2]

Hi. As I am sure a lot of you know, I am the guild master of Bushido. We got rank 150 and 110 in the first and second war. After that, all of our best people left for top 25 guilds. We got a few more mediocre players, and since then, people kept leaving. We had 3 leadership transfers as our best people all left and now I am the leader. I accept almost everybody because I am desperate to retain a good amount of members, but more people leave then join. We are at 21/29 members right now. During the last guild war, we got 504 place and since then we have already lost 3 people. We had only like 4 people check in and spend at least 25 energy, while most only spent 1 or 2. A lot of the people who spent 1 or 2 are leaving though, because they expect us to carry them to an award. How could I, as a leader for my guild, get people to stay in and join more? I forgot to mention, but guilds with more members are more likely to get requests to join, or at least thats how it appears. Thanks.

[cryologic]

I think that this will be a non stop issue for 90% of the lower rank guilds. People come and go from my guild as well. If there was a penalty for guild hopping, that might help slow it down.

[iH8t2lose2]

I think that this will be a non stop issue for 90% of the lower rank guilds. People come and go from my guild as well. If there was a penalty for guild hopping, that might help slow it down.

Except we are one of the higher level guilds on Android, just we have a bunch of inactive people.

[drygores]

We have lost and we have gained. I think the idea for lower guilds is to not look for the best. Look for future prospects who will grow with the guild. You get enough of these, then one day you also could be competing in the top. There's a Max of 40 people in a maxed guild. I think itll slow down with guild hoping as the top guilds fill up.

[Aerin Kylantra]

People do guild hop. It's a part of life.

We have risen from nobody to low 300s...to 179...to 95. We did it by following a few basic principles:

- I accepted everybody at first until you get to so many members...say...2/3 full.
- After that, don't be demanding, but do be inviting. Be personable.
- Set the expectation that "spending money on gems is not required"
- Set the expectation that "get your max expansions and level 2 training fields first...contribute later"
- Lead by example (I contributed tons early on and did many of the guild level quests alone when I had to)
- Boot people when needed (it's rare, but people DO notice inactive players and they DO notice malcontents)
- Leadership roles are ALWAYS by merit, never by gold contribution (our Sentinel is always the highest point values in the guild, Champion is best performer in last war, HC are next best - ALL are trusted to NOT buy guardians during guild wars without permission)
- Be inviting and personable (this really has been the most important thing)
- Be willing to accept players in their 40s and low 50s knowing you will have to nurture and mentor them
- Accept that when those players "get it" and shoot the ranks to level 70s and 80s...you will lose half of them - it's ok.
- And most importantly...TROLL THESE FORUMS. There are good people who post in many different threads looking for a new guild. PM them, tell them BRIEFLY about the general focus of your guild (fun players looking to kill stuff), and know that they may choose someone else.

It's all dumb luck and sticking to your guild's values. In time, the right people will come...some will go...and maybe some day our guild will drop the ranks as well. But, for now, we are happy because we all believe a guild should be based on the same thing as each other. That makes us all WANT to be active members that lead, not just do stuff.

Hope that helps in some small form.

[nachomasterx]

I built my guild up recruiting lower level players and teaching the fundamentals through Line messenger. Bringing in guys that like the game, but don't necessarily understand the game can become amazing players if you help develop them.
Also using an outside messenger is absolutely required to build a community and a resource center. I prefer line because I can post notes and enforce and set rules and requirements as well as individual goals.
The best way to get lots of applicants, unfortunately, is to rank high. If you get into the top 100, its much easier to recruit.
I would be happy to offer you advice via line if you want, my Line ID is also nachomasterx. Good luck!

[Aerin Kylantra]

Nacho is absolutely right about Line. It helps immensely to be able to utilize it.

My best people have all been level 40-50 recruits who developed with the help of the high level mentors. Once they figure out the best armours and the best way to level them up, they get excited about the prospect of killing everything in sight.

And it can give you a warm, fuzzy feeling all over. If you don't get that, you can always go make some hot chocolate though. That does the trick as well. :P

[JonS52]

Actually the biggest problem I've encountered is lack of communication. Members who don't bother reading messages in the in game chat, and who won't get Line, or if they do get Line won't use it. It's tough to mentor someone you can't talk to.

My guild ended up 431 in this last 24 hour Guild War with exactly 7 active players out of 13, due mainly to good communications using Line. I frequently wonder how well we'd do with a full roster of 29 all of them active. But the original topic of this thread is one I've frequently torn my hair out over: How in the heck can I recruit active players? The Guild Recruiting section of this board is a joke and there is no other method of communicating.