Officers’ Quarters: Whisper when it’s Mythic

In this week’s Officer’s Quarters, we’ve got recruits that refuse to raid Heroic difficulty, a returning guild leader who’s worried about the pressure to rebuild, and an officer who wants to know how to maintain morale in the face of key departures.

I don’t blame you. If you can’t count on them now, when they are (supposedly) trying to make a good impression as new members of the guild, then you probably can’t count on them ever.

The problem for guilds these days is it’s a “raider’s market.” Even marginally competent raiders are in high demand and can keep joining and quitting guilds until they find the one that’s going to offer them exactly what they want.

I respect the fact that they were honest with your guild. They could have given some made-up excuse that wouldn’t have sounded so harsh, but instead they said straight-up why they didn’t want to go. However, it speaks to the state of the game. They think can say no to guild raids with impunity, fully expecting your officers to simply shut up and deal with it because you need them too much.

You aren’t able to do anything about it yourself, and honestly there’s little your officers can do, either. Your officers can’t force anyone to raid when they don’t want to. What they can do is keep recruiting, and if the opportunity comes along to replace these new members who won’t support the team, then they should do so at the earliest opportunity.

As a side note, this is a strong argument for using a point-based loot system. Raiders are often more motivated to show up when they know skipping raids can cost them juicy loot like weapons and tier pieces.

You absolutely can. You’re under no obligation to take up where you left off. Your life has changed and people will understand that you aren’t able to commit the same amount of time and energy to the guild.

The best way to indicate this change is to come back as a regular guild member or part-time officer instead of co-guild leader. If you retain your rank, your members will expect a lot more from you, and they wouldn’t be wrong.

Yes, you’re going to disappoint some people. You may feel some pressure, both from your guild members and yourself, to step up, take charge, and turn the guild around. You need to be realistic about what you can and can’t do, however. You’re at a critical point in your life and you can’t sacrifice opportunities because of WoW-based obligations. It would be worse to set high expectations, start down the path of rebuilding, and then end up having to pull back and leave the job half-done because you’ve gotten in over your head.

If you end up having some time to help the existing officers, there’s no reason you couldn’t do that. However, saying no is perfectly okay when it’s for real-life reasons.

This situation is no fun at all. There’s no two ways about it: your guild is in trouble. Your members need to see the officers taking immediate action. The best way to build morale back up is to replace the players you’ve lost. It’s no easy feat these days, but here’s my best recruiting advice. Make sure these efforts are known and visible to your members. They need to feel like the officers value the guild and will do everything they can to make up for the losses.

Bringing in just one new player can go a long way toward convincing people to stick around, especially if they enjoy the guild’s atmosphere otherwise.

You also want to acknowledge the situation. Pretending nothing is wrong will just convince your members that you’re out of touch at best or delusional at worst. Tell them you know it’s bad right now, but you’re already working on solutions. Ask for their help. If they care about the guild, they’ll be willing to pitch in, too. Give volunteers specific jobs. Even if their help doesn’t actually help, they’ll feel better about the situation. Other members will see that people are trying and it may convince them that the guild is worth saving.

If you’d like to see your question answered in the OQ, all you have to do is ask in the comments below. Good luck, everyone, and

/salute