(last edited on April 29, 2014 at 1:26 am)
Some friends of mine have been playing World of Warcraft, and they have finally sucked me back into the game. Ok, I admit that I’m curious about the new expansion pack, The Burning Crusade, but I’ve also read how Joi Ito uses WoW for business networking and socializing. This is a fascinating idea: by learning how to play together, maybe you can find people to work with too. Those of you who have played any multiplayer online game knows how much coordination and teamwork is involved. As the days go by, you really learn a lot about people by how they cooperate online…it’s the new golf. The chances of hooking up with another productivity enthusiast at random is pretty low otherwise.
A CAST OF CHARACTERS
Although I haven’t put as much time into WoW recently, I was an alpha tester way back so I’ve played quite a bit of it through its various incarnations. I still have a few retail chars that I’ve transferred from my old realm to Echo Isle to hang out with my friends. I’m too lazy to level back up to a “fun level”, so this is who is in the character roster at the moment. WARNING: GEEKY NOTES FOLLOW :-)
Rendeihl is a Paladin. Functionally speaking, a Paladin combines Priest (healer) and Warrior (melee fighter) skills, with extra abilities related to divine auras and smiting the malodorous Undead.
I tend to play Rendeihl as a no-nonsense but helpful character. However, it looks like she shops for her armor at the Stormwind Salvation Army…nothing matches! That is probably because she has a penchant for very large axes and can’t help but buy the latest one she can afford. I dimly remember thinking that she grew up in a Mediterranean-like environment, hence the swarthiness.
Then there’s Rendellini, a level 23 mage who is very proud of his fancy mustache and well-shaped head. It’s a sign of excellent genetics, according to his grandmother. I can’t remember what kind of magic he specialized in—fire, I’m guessing—but the combination of small stature and large fireballs creates an amusing visual dichotomy.
Since I have the Burning Crusade trial installed, I thought I’d try the new Dranei race to see what their home zone looked like—the art in World of Warcraft is beautiful, so it behooves me to check every nook and cranny of the world (which takes several hours merely to walk across). Rendheml is a Priest (Healer), a class I generally enjoy playing because hitting things gets old. Plus, Rendheml has awesome hair. She’s a mere level 3, but is “fierce”. Maybe one day she’ll be a runner-up “Azeroth’s Next Top Model”.
FREAK OUT!
I got a “charter” to establish a new guild, which shall be named “Défenseurs des Opprimés”, which means “Defenders of Underdogs”. After paying for and receiving the charter, the next step is to find 9 other people to endorse it to make the guild an official organization. I suddenly realized that I was now by default the guild master…I had inadvertently started a company!
My first panicked thought was, I’m not ready! There are others better qualified to lead! I haven’t played WoW in almost two years, and I don’t remember how to play any of the character classes at the level of efficiency that’s required to run a smooth run on a big instanced dungeon. I have no custom UI set up, have never used TeamSpeak, and I don’t know the back way into any of the interesting instanced dungeons though my character still seems to have all the keys. I remembered one time when I mistimed a heal spell and got the entire party killed just minutes from finishing a 4-hour mission. Failure and doom!
I realized then: this might be good practice for starting a real company some day! :-) What is important is not what skills you ultimately have in terms of game mechanics, but in establishing the groundwork for a functional organization. And that means having a clear mission right up front. I need to get comfortable with that, and remember that my emphasis shifts from being able to “do” everything to “being responsible” for directing other people toward a goal. When you become a manager for the first time, this is one of the mental transitions that you have to make.
In terms of this guild, my main goal is to maintain a friendly tone of cooperation for casual players of the game and make some new friends.
HOW TO FIND US
If you’re on the Echo Isle realm and want to hook up, leave a comment below and I’ll add you to my friends list. I’ll likely be playing Rendellini, but Rendeihl is the one who bought the guild charter. I’m not a WoW expert by any means, but it’s a fun diversion and I’m looking forward to playing again for a few months.
Find out what happens when a bunch of positive-minded, productivity-lovin’ people form a guild!
UPDATE: Here’s the Temporary Guild WIKI Page to sign up. Reminds me of BarCamp :-)
22 Comments
I had a 60 hunter on the Bloodhoof realm before I quit the game to focus on freelance. Through my guild I met several professionals, some of whom I still keep tabs on for possible future work (one owns a hosting company, for example). WoW and other MMORPGs seem to have a much broader audience, capturing a much larger adult following than other gaming markets. This truly makes WoW a decent networking environment.
The guilds I’ve been in have usually been lower-key social groups, not aggressive raiding guilds. Even so, it can be a task to manage the expectations of several members. It’s truly good practice in business management to try and organize guild members (“employees”) with different backgrounds and different needs to work together on the core objectives of the guild (“business”).
I have heard of guild leaders from larger, successful guild putting their WoW leadership experience on resumes, and having it actually help. Amazing.
——-
I’ve been reading your blog for months (via google reader). I was sucked in by the PCEO/time tracking stuff, but I’ve really enjoyed all your posts. I’ve been playing WoW off and on for about 2 years, but I never seem to get past level 15. I get bored of soloing and haven’t found a good, mature, fun guild to join. I’m not currently on Echo Isle, but I’d love to create a character and become part of your guild. Since I’m creating from scratch, are there any race/profession needs I could fill? Thanks.
Oh man, yet another server I need to start a new toon on!
I have just started looking at WoW and am installing right now. Once I have created a character I will come find you, this should be fun :-)
Another one succumbs… hehe.
Welcome back to the World. And I’m impressed that you are starting a guild… fun, but can be tough. Sadly I’m on Alleria and in great guild so we won’t end up questing together, but have fun, good luck and… don’t forget to push away from the game before 2am… :)
Jeff: Thanks for posting your perspective! It’s pretty cool to think that there are all kinds of people who will be getting their first taste of organizational leadership through WoW. And it’s great that it counts for something on a resume :-)
Scott: I know the feeling of the solo grind…being part of a good guild helps a lot! Incidentally, you can do a $25 paid character transfer if you don’t feel like grinding back up to level 15, but we can probably level ya pretty quickly.
Anton: Do a paid character transfer, if you’ve got an old toon that you don’t feel like leveling back up :-)
I have created a temporary guild page for Defenseurs des Opprimes (Defenders of the Underdogs, if I used Babelfish correctly). Click here to go to the temporary Guild Page Wiki.
hornbeck: Awesome!!! Sign up on the wiki once you have your character created :-)
rick: Yeah, it’s going to be an interesting time running this thing, but I think we’ll have a pretty flat hierarchy, if one at all. If anything, it will be highly educational :-) Thanks for the encouragement!
Ok, I’m on as Lumine a level 5 Elf Rogue.
“What is important is not what skills you ultimately have in terms of game mechanics, but in establishing the groundwork for a functional organization. And that means having a clear mission right up front.”
I couldn’t agree more. For example, your mission statement of “Create a helpful and friendly guild for casual-yet-productive play” is a good starting point but it needs to be fleshed out so that those prospective guild members know what they are exactly getting into when they consider joining.
I’d recommend figuring out the type of culture you want within the company…er guild. :) To figure this out, think about all of the little nuances of social interaction in groups that you’ve liked and other nuances that you’ve hated.
For example, what if someone wants to join your guild and they continually talk in slang abbreviations, are constantly out of character talking about real life stuff, use foul language frequently, and are often quite derogatory to other people? Also what do you mean by “casual-yet-productive play”? What if a few of your guild members get upset because others aren’t leveling fast enough? What’s your response to that?
If you’ve read Joi Ito’s posts and guild site, you’ll probably know that the best guilds are those that diversify focusing on many things at once. Doing so allows each subgroup to focus on what they enjoy and in turn help each other out. For example, in EVE Online having a subgroup that is interested in mining (resource gathering) and another subgroup focused on combat is great because one helps the other out. The combat subgroup can enter a system and clear it out for the mining subgroup to easily mine. In turn, the mining subgroup helps bring in funds to support the purchase of better ships and equipment for the combat subgroup. Even better different subgroups allow for different subcultures so that you can be more accepting of people, as long as they fit in with the right subculture in the guild.
How you organize your guild’s resources is another focus of interest. Some guilds create bank characters so that if a member has a resource they don’t need (i.e. rugged leather), they can send it to the bank character to be held. Then when a lower guild member needs those resources, you just log into the bank character and send the resources to him or her.
BTW I don’t believe you need to get really elaborate or detailed in making your guild guidelines. For example, the following three rules really cover a lot of bases.
<ol>
<li>Do not offend another player with racial, sexual, or personal remarks or actions.</li>
<li>Try to be a team member. Work with your team, don’t work against your team.</li>
<li>No swearing please, you don’t need to share with us, you can rant in your little room all you want.</li>
</ol>
As for joining the guild, I have a 40th level Warrior named Khorak that I could transfer over to that realm. However, I’m already in a guild on one server and it very instance focused (i.e. dungeons/raids). Therefore, if I joined another guild, I’d want it to be more of a social relaxing thing which I’d do on my off nights (i.e. we usually play Mon/Thur nights in this other guild).
Lumine has Signed the Charter!
Nollind: Cool, I didn’t know you played! Thanks for all the suggestions, which look like they’ve been shaped by experience.
You’re right about being more specific about the guild mission, and I also think this needs to be balanced against OVER specification. No one wants to read a bunch of rules to know what is or is not allowed. In a larger organization the employee handbook spells out specific instances, but for a small group the executives really just set the tone by example…ideally. So what I’m shooting for is an essential statement, and then appointing lieutenants who might want to own the more serious aspects of the game. So long as they abide by the essential spirit of the company at the same time, I think I’m cool with that. I am also happening to be reading “The Seven Day Weekend” by Richard Semler, so this might have something to do with it :-)
I’m starting some low level characters from scratch to have a range of character levels, so I may start leveling from scratch…it’s always more fun with other people.
Started a new toon – a Night Elf Hunter named “Treeroot”. Might consider moving a higher-level character from another server.
Would love to join you, but can’t face the levelling again and none of my chars are Alliance :/
Best of luck!
Hah just as I changed my mind, I realised I only have a Euro account.
Treeroot, Oldmanmike, and Dirk Gently (that would have been a great name for a rogue) are now signees! We have 5, need 5 more!
Keeran: Bummer that Euro accounts can’t play N/A :( That would have been cool.
People are starting with low level chars, so this is cool. It’s good to get a re-intro to the game.
Hi Dave-
I was wondering if we should put up a equipment-trading/gift page? Lumine picked up a nice sword that he won’t ever use, but I’d rather give it to a Guild member than sell it. Also, what’s your vision for the wiki? Roster list? Out-of-game message board? Player schedules? For the record, I’ll be in an out of game all weekend if any level 5-15 elf characters need a rogue-ish hand.
“…but for a small group the executives really just set the tone by example…ideally.”
Exactly. Being a leader doesn’t mean you can break the rules (or guidelines in this case), it means you should following them even more so, since you set the example for the rest.
“So long as they abide by the essential spirit of the company…”
This “spirit” is what I refer to as the culture of the group. BTW nine times out of ten you hear people say “I just want to create a nice casual group for friends.” Yet as soon as things take off, differences start separating people. That’s why it’s better to put some work into figuring out or defining the guidelines or “spirit” first, so you don’t have to worry about defining it later when things have already gone astray. Other you’ll have people say, “Well you said this, so I “assumed” you meant…”
“I’m starting some low level characters from scratch to have a range of character levels, so I may start leveling from scratch…it’s always more fun with other people.”
It is more fun but be careful here as well. For example, the guild that we started, all of our characters started from scratch as well (as we had alternates to play on other nights). Since we wanted to ensure we played together as a group, we had to set guidelines for play so that others didn’t rush through leveling (as the focus was on the “experience” more so than the “carrot” of leveling). Therefore, we set game nights to play and no one was allowed to explore outside of the current region we were playing in or gain experience when not grouped together. This helped a ton because it allowed us to focus on playing as a team and sticking together.
For your guild, I’m assuming you wouldn’t be concerned about this as much.
BTW I love the little back story you did for each character above. I just LOVE character development and creating a back story to flesh a character out (probably gotten from my D&D days). I could do it all day and I’m seriously considering creating a site that focuses on this (i.e. WoW characters and how to develop them, i.e. fleshed out dynamic characters). :)
I’ve got several characters on the Echo Isles server and I’d love to sign the charter and be a member of your guild.
Beetlebum – A Blur jamming human ice mage – lvl 60
Lansun – A feral/restore night elf druid – lvl 36
I’ll look for you online! Cheers!
We got two more signatures, thanks nollind and jonathan! Just three more!
And now we’ve added jeff to the mix. Just another 2! :-)
Hey Dave!
Ok, I have two characters. One is only level 3 human warrior – Marabercy. The other is a level 27 night elf warrior – Eredris. Eredris is in a guild but not happy. Will dis-join and joing yours!
Rock on!
Erin
Dave I’m glad to see that you’re playing WoW, but Alliance? Everybody knows that Horde is more fun!
If you’re ever in the mood to try out the other faction, hop on to Korgath and look up WoogyChuck.