Granted, I never lead a guild solely by myself, but I have helped to co-lead a guild back during 2013-14, so while my experience is nearly a decade old, I do remember some of it. And lately I’ve thought about starting something of my own.
And in the event that I -would- begin a guild, I think I would focus on a guild concept that can be sustained by small numbers. Try making sure that the people I have in my guild, -want- to be in that guild. And keep the numbers small initially, so that I have room to get to know my guildmembers better both IC and OOC, and make sure I can give members individual attention, also on both IC and OOC level. Recruitment would only be secondary to that. I think if, as a guild, you can manage to have atleast five people online every evening, then you’re already doing something right. And if you manage to do that with bigger numbers, hey, more power to you.
I feel like that’s then not the issue of recruiting other warriors, which is what I assumed you actually meant with the ‘role’. However;
As your character is the foil, wouldn’t that already contrast the other warriors by making them seem nicer? Plus, having no flaws is in of itself slightly uninspired, but maybe they do? Maybe they take issue with doing some more questionable beat 'em up jobs that your character doesn’t? Maybe it’s the opposite, they seem very nice but have at the same time questionable morals while yours doesn’t.
Any character that goes through a development stops being the same character they were pre-development. I don’t think that’s an issue, there’s always ways to improve. If your character feels left out because of their personality, then instead of him having a flat arc he could have a narrative where he learns how to socialise with other people better. Maybe he has reasons for why he is how he is, and how can he overcome those?
I’m not sure if I necessarily agree with the comparison. Zuko was often sympathetic, not abrasive once he joined the group. He wanted to prove himself and complimented the other cast members’ personalities. Yours can still do that, but perhaps you just don’t mix? That’s not necessarily the fault on recruiting too many nice warriors, as they can still mix together well, even with a jerk. Perhaps they failed at recruiting you, since your character doesn’t seem fit in.
I used to have a character who was similar - cold and uninviting, not sociable and she had reasons for that. I was slightly waiting on people just uncovering her true self underneath the hard exterior, but instead what I learnt was that people don’t want to bother with it. If your character is not fun to roleplay with, there might be payoff in the end but why should you even go through the struggle of befriending the jerk?
She ended up being very much a loner, because the drama and tension aren’t always worth it, nor are they always necessary either. I don’t agree with all-nice group becoming sedentary either - you can have a lot of diversity through other means. Personalities, while still amicable, can still be vastly different.
I disagree, though the character-driven plots were driven by the players themselves, somewhat on their own as well.
I think I disagree with your general point overall, however that being said - I don’t know the characters you were/are with, so I can only speak from my imagination. I suppose there’s many ways for everyone to improve the general roleplay there.
You think I’m talking about myself, but I’m not. Barbour here is… was, one of the all-rounders. He got along with everyone.
Maybe they do, but in the example I was giving, they don’t.
If said character, in said example, learned to socialise better, that would do exactly what I said he shouldn’t end up doing: being just another lovable guy.
Zuko was sympathetic to the viewer, not to the cast, which is the example I gave. Only in the 3rd season, and after much convincing, did he become a part of the in crowd. And even then, he’s always on the outskirts.
Precisely. This is the topic we’re talking about. Guild leaders recruiting for the fun of it, not realising that by adding such characters to the roster, they then need to make an attempt to balance them out; or risk ostracising them.
Because ideally, the party should have to. The fact the tank is a jerk is a superficial aspect of his character, secondary to the party’s goal: saving the world, conquering Elwynn, defeating the necromancer. Getting hung up on whether someone is ‘‘nice or not’’ didn’t stop Frodo or Sam from accepting Gollum’s help, because in the end he was the only way to reach Mordor.
I also don’t agree that tension is always necessary. Like everything, there needs to be balance - but that’s a given.
Talking esthatically and replying instantly to a possible recruit until they join, only to almost never interact with them anymore.
Worst way ro recruit is not being truthful to your recruits, Ive met GMs that would lie through their teeth about activity and event schedules like it was nothing.
I’m not the best recruiter, far from it admittedly, but advice for my fellow officers is to be truthful to your recruits. And if you cant be honest to recruits, you have another problem to solve first.
I mean, you referred to the example as your character so I only referred to it as your character. That’s not the point and you can swap pronouns from your/you to the character’s or w/e.
I disagree, you can keep many mannerisms and quirks and still be different. But there’s a plot arc for the character unused just to keep the character stale and one-note throughout. As you said, a flat arc.
Zuko only joined in the last half of the last season, obviously he was a villain for the first book (and less so in second). But the cast quickly accepted him as well, even Katara towards the end. He stopped being on the outskirts immediately, as only Katara kept throwing barbs at him until he figured out why. He wasn’t a jerk either - he was a lovable character for the viewers, and quickly became lovable for the cast too. I don’t think he fits your analogy well.
Yes, that is the point, however you made it seem like the guild leaders/officers already know their players. In these cases, I’d say you might not even know how well you fit in or not without actually RPing together for a short time. May as well be invited for the time and if it doesn’t work, you quit. I don’t think it’s the worst way, otherwise this is a lot of words for just stating ‘don’t mass invite’.
Of course, and in those cases, I really doubt the party would be just fine with benching the jerk because of their differences. His role is to beat 'em up. Whether there’s just one tank or multiple, you’re not making others redundant by adding another to the group. You’ll beat the necromancer up faster. Heck - you can even have a plot arc that the jerk still does care about the group and is somewhat self-sacrificial, tanking bad spells for the weaker party members at the back.
I think the need to be a jerk is very questionable. You don’t always create positive drama out of it, whether it’s overall in a balance or not.
Did anyone mention creating a thread on the AD forum and openly saying that you don’t like some other guild/community in it? That’s very much a PR suicide, since it’s bound to create drama from the very start of your guild’s existence.
Oh yeah! But keep in mind, there is a handful of people that want that PR suicide and riddle of names and guilds they hate and never want to RP with and their own guild wants -nothing- to do with them.
Oh, I can comment from the other side on that one. I was once in a guild where there was such a character, cold, selfish, one-word answers and the like; other characters in the guild did try to include and befriend them… For a time. If there’s no give, no trade and it’s just the more socially matures characters who have to bend backward for every interaction, it’s not fun at all for them, and what’s the point?
(Morality here: RP is a social activity, not writing a solo novel, don’t make characters that are utterly anti-social for rp in the hope that a stranger will kindly take on all the work to make them interesting.*)
Jerks who do socialise, with facets, or who don’t need for someone to unbury that for six months for a crumple of content are not included. Just, you know, make your characters interesting for the people around them too.
Following this, stay true to your concept and don’t sugar coat questions for the sake of keeping someone interested, because when they find out they have indeed not been told the actual truth, you’ll lose that person and any possible OOC bond.
RP isn’t a number game, it’s about interactions so make them meaningful and something to remember.
Don’t run up to someone because they lack a surcoat, but read through their TRP and interact with a tidbit they have and find out IC if they’re actually an asset to your group.
Learn to be picky and take your time with finding members for your group, and always use the “Quality over Quantity” mindset, a GM that only cares about numbers because it’s cool and he’ll be called a ‘good’ gm shoots himself thrice in the foot and the Guild is designated to sink faster than the Titanic, eventually also wasting people’s time and efforts.
The numbers in your Guild roster are not going to help with your endurance if you’ve recruited 4 people that cause nothing but dramatics mostly OOC soiling the entire athmosphere.
A tactic I have seen used, and implied when officering is breaks in between recruitment to allow people to settle in and see how they interact, I can only recommend it because it genuinely works!
And whatever you do, and if someone is reading this that actually performs these practices NEVER EVER FORCE your members to recruit in order to gain ranks.
It’s one way look like a complete chicken and a douche, if people are feeling welcome they will most likely lend a hand and promote their Guild where they can and it is much more healthier than spotting initates making recruiting rounds because otherwise they can’t rank up… (Admittingly, I’m not a person that RP’s for ranks but I know that for some it’s their RP style so I don’t neccesarily judge on that)
I generally think that the best way to ‘recruit’ is simply to make yourself / your guild seem appealing to any potential applicants. If you have a cool concept and a strong presentation, people will come to you – you won’t need to go out of your way to bring in fresh blood.
So for me, unsolicited guild invitations or approaches of any kind tend to put me off (unless it’s the result of roleplay that was unconnected to any sales pitch).
I think this ties in well with what I can attest as being good guild recruitment: win people over with your RP. Don’t stand in the Cathedral Square with a banner, occupy a tavern and do some RP. The best recruitment RP I ever did was sitting across a table in the Pig & Whistle where someone’s character was trying to convince mine to join them on an expedition to the Blasted Lands over a mug of mead, and after I agreed we kept RPing for a while after - it feels so much more organic than just “heres ur tabard lol also no talky talky now : )”
For me the worst is not taking no for an answer. One of the most unpleasant bits of RP I had was I believe either a guild leader or officer trying to recruit my warrior, with my character saying “No, I’m not interesting in fighting” in a tonne of different variations for an agonizingly long ten minutes or so.
I believe that guild is now thankfully defunct, but that memory sticks with me pretty vividly. A no is a no, asking again isn’t gonna change anyone’s mind, and it’s just gonna wind up with the player on the other end of the interaction thinking you’re desperate, needy, and honestly just kind of cringe.
I have to agree that the best method for recruiting is just to roleplay with people in a casual or organized manner. For me, it’s not so much the concept that will have me stick to a guild more so than it is the other players within it. If they have interesting characters and my character bonds with them, then they’ll be more likely to follow them around on adventures or want to work with them.
I feel the best means of recruitment don’t involve guild banners and idling in the Cathedral district because all I think of when I see that is “That’s what I’ll be made to do if I join”. The best methods are;
Engage with people in the city but don’t mention recruitment unless they ask. Roleplay with them as if you would roleplay with anyone else. Do public work that puts you in the spotlight. Go to a tavern and share stories of your latest exploits, hand stuff out to the public if you’re a charitable group, hold sermons or demonstrations, do storytelling events ETC.
Offer characters the chance to come along with you on an event without inviting them to the guild. This gives you a chance to see if they’ll even vibe with your guild and lets them learn how you handle events/rolls/emotes. It also comes with the bonus of allowing mercenaries to join in on stuff which is something I wish I saw more of.
Not yelling. Do not yell in a city about how you are recruiting because nothing will make people see you as little more than an annoyance in dire need of a /ignore.
Interact with people. Really obvious but, by that I mean you should welcome people to engage with you and be proactive about it. If you’re all hanging out in a tavern and someone walks in on their lonesome, invite them to come sit with you.
Anyway, all of this is just how I see things. Mileage may vary.
I change my mind. Although the guild in question wasn’t a RP one, the reward for the worst recruitment attempt ever seen from a WoW guild is putting so little care into spamming your recruitment macro you end up trying to invite someone you’ve put on your ignore list.
