What's it take to be a good guild member?

In "Maltare's tips for starting a guild", Talinna suggests a a thread of how to be a good guild member. So I thought I would throw the question out....

What are some of your suggestions on how to be a good guild member? And are you an officer/leader of a guild offering these suggestions or are you a member who feels you have some advice for others?

There are many kinds of guilds.
Some are Pure PvPers...
that constantly play Heroes Ascent and Guild Battles for Guild ladder competition.

Others are a PvE group which is basically a group of friends that share their time online with each other and play most with guildies instead of PUGs for missions, quests, and Expeditions (Underworld, Fissure, SF, Challenge missions, or just general exploration of new areas.)

Another is new the Faction Farming guild... They basically farm faction any way they can. Alliance, Quests, Aspenwood, Quarry, Anything, and they typically require a certain amount a day for those to be a Officer, and a slightly lower requirement for Membership. This is either for mass profit for gold resellers (IE Selling amber and jadete), or more popular to use said faction for taking over towns with alliance standing.

To get officer status in most means that your are essential to the core team directing the course and actions of the guild overall.

The leader can be really really hands on, or very hands off. and let the guild officers decide the direction to go... With the leader only settling minor problems among the officers.

Once you get to Alliances... the Alliance leader is over the guild leaders under the alliance. Its a little weird...

Basically what you want to do is make a guild to get your friends together first, then decide what you want to do from there, and go recruiting... Friends are always a good place to start for forming a beginner Guild.

Well, I am a guild leader, before that a guild officer, and initially a member in the same guild (mostly, a PvE guild). So in my experience being a good guild member is one who talks and shares with the other members of the guild, this could be advice, joking around, or actually materials (ie items, collector stuff). Also you must be willing to help, and be helped by other people in the guild (listening is good as well). The most crucial part though is be willing to play with other people in the guild. Otherwise what's the point of being in the guild in the first place? Go out of your way to ask what other people are doing ask if you can join them, do they need help, etc. Interaction is the key.

I myself am a Guild Leader and Guild officer in some guilds (currently in my guild LoGW)

A good guild member will try to help other members whenever possible, they will rarely ask for anything on guild chat, and will never whisper another guild member for any items or money. They will be active on forums/website, get vent or TS and whenever they are on guild wars they will be on vent or TS chatting away. They wont be rude to other members (or other guild wars players for that matter). Finally, whenever they are making a new character, they will ask what the guild needs most.

As co-leader sorta (my husband is guild leader) I agree with these guys.

Be helpful, open, honest, friendly, and caring! Our guild likes to joke around a lot, some people can't take jokes very well. But be sure you can dish it and take it.
I look at my guildmates as family. Some are close to me, like brothers and sisters... Some of them are like the cool cousins and others are like distant cousins. But we come together like a family and we all have our hard times somedays, but know that there is a difference between sharing your problem and unloading it. Being fussy at your guildmates cause you have had a bad day is WRONG! If you do something wrong and your guild leader is nice enough to talk to you about it rather than kick you - be greatful and willing to openly discuss whatever is was. Sometimes crap just happens.

Above all be yourself! and don't allow any guild to force you to be something you aren't.

Excellent advice Eviance...your guild sounds nice and fun. I'd like to get our two guilds to together for friendly smashingeach others faces in! And maybe some keylime pie afterwards....

But enough of that!

the topic:

ACTIVITY!
to be a good member you need to be active in your guild. That does not mean you log in and it shows you logged in that day. It means you take an interest in the guild's:
forums/
projects/
recruitment efforts/
helping new memembers feel welcome/
donating artwork for the web site/
Schedule and form teams for PvE or PvP outings/
Participate in schedules outings/
Show up to scheduled meetings and events/
Uphold and help enforce the Guild's charter and culture/

and most importantly be a FUN and you'll be the MVP every time.

Thank you for the replys so far, some great advice being offered.

It seems that being active in some form is the most common suggestion. And this doesn't seem to mean the amount of time spent playing the game; rather what actions the person does to positively affect the guild.

I particularly liked this:
I think that of all the advice, Forbes hit the nail on the head , by saying "Interaction is the key." It's all well and good for a good guild member to put forth effort for the guild, but if there is no one to accept and interact back then what good is it?

Edit, spelling

Now, if only I could find a guild in the UK that was like this I would be a happy man...

I'm a guild leader myself ,but I would suggest being nice,helpful,not to start arguments,and just don't be a jerk to everyone else in the guild. Simply put be respectful to the others in your guild and you'll be doing a good job at being a good guild member in my opinion.

Quoted for truth. If you don't interact with your fellow guild members, whats the point?

Im a mix of PvE and GvG
I think a good member, should be happy to play with guildies, always kind to other members etc.

Good I love keylime pie! But I am betting your guild could hand it to my guild. We don't do a lot of pvp or gvg and those of us that do are decent but not anything spectacular. But we love to have fun, you can call on MEEP anytime ya wanna have some fun! (nice clean fun of course =P) I will PM you with our guild leaders info (thats my husband) and you guys can hash it out ^_^


And on topic here: Yes for goodness sakes be active or at least give a warning before going on 2wks vacation with no connectivity! We have one person on our list that no matter how long she is inactive she will not be taken from the roster and that was cause she was one of the original 4 founding members of our guild.
Most guilds will kick you if you have been inactive for over 2wks... We usually give our guildies 3-4 depending on how long we have known them.
If you decide you won't be back on GW for a long time, be courtious and remove yourself from the guild roster so that the leader doesn't have to feel guilty for kicking you.... >_<

Perspective: Guild leader, "PvE guild"

Overall, activity is the key. Activity has two meanings; one is being online regularly, the other means being active within the guild when online. Just saying "Hi" when logging on and "Bye" when logging off goes a long way. I hardly consider one part of the guild if they log on, say nothing, do their own thing(farming), then log off. Those types get themselves booted very quickly.

Doing things as a team is also key. It's unfortunate that certain aspects of the game can encourage "solo farming." Solo farming is a guild-killer in my opinion. If one chooses to use their play-time to do nothing but farm gold for themselves, they do not belong in a guild. A guild is a team effort, so the key qualities in a good guild member are activity and teamwork.

A good idea is to visit the websites of some of the more high-profile alpha guilds (who are pretty much by default required to have members of a certain "quality") and read their rules of conduct. That will give you a pretty good view of how a "good guild member" is supposed to act.

My advice is for those who are in small guilds, or just hopping around looking for a good one. If you're in a starter guild be aware that you're going to have to give a lot before you start getting back, unless you're one of the founding members(and therefore has a history with the other guildies). If you just waltz in and start whispering ppl asking for stuff, they'll think you're just there to take advantage.Don't expect to be made an officer the first day, etc, etc. If you show enthusiasm and (as someone already said)interact with the other guildies, it will all work its way out it the end. Plus it will give you a chance to see if they're jerks all the time, or only when you're begging for stuff when they don't know you that well.
Also I want to reaffirm the whole "let them know you'll be gone" thing for any guild. I'm in the army and have to train every once in a while, so i let my guildies know before i vanish. I'm one of the original guys and an officer, but its no reason not to be polite to the people which have helped me so much.

To be a good guild member you should be willing to help guildies and be plain nice..you should be conversational! I occasionally ask, "Anyone need help?" in alliance and guild chat and my efforts were recognized last night, when I was promoted to Guild Officer!

Congrats, on the promotion.

I can't type and game at the same time. For me being conversational is before or after gaming, but not during. It just "isn't in the cards" for me. I visit the guild forums daily, welcome the new members, visit the guild hall, chat with the members when I first get online and when we are setting up our mission/quest. But, once the gaming starts that is all I do, game. My guildies know this and I don't have any problems. And I agree with your post. Communicate, ask if anyone needs help and be there for the guild.