What is the best way to recruit for a Guild?

The guild is currently made up of my friend, who is the leader, and a few other officers alongside me. We have 20 members or so, but these are members from before I joined. Then it was under the leadership of a rather apathetic guy, who gave the guild to my friend.

I created a forum for our guild, and got us a TS server too. My friend and I decided that our current members are just a bunch of inactive, an apathetic guys, who never respond to calls of “GvG in 10 minutes, meet in Hall!” or anything like that. SO we are planning on purging all the members (kicking everybody), and starting from scratch this summer.

Now I want to know that I can recruit my target demographic, and not another bunch of apathetic, inactive guys, so any tips on the best place/method for recruiting would be much appreciated.

I made a short "recruiting document"(?), which I am attaching, so you guys can read, and tell me what to fix.

Thanks a lot!

I read your post (obviously), and the attached document. TBH, I wouldn't join your guild. So what, you GvG, AB, whatever, but you leave no impression of friendliness. We boot you for this for that... Why would anyone join ? Are you a highly ranked guild that someone could learn a lot from ? Doesn't seem so because you would have said so.

And you are surprised that people don't respond to a call of GvG in 10 minutes - get to the GH ? What if they are actually in the middle of a quest or mission, as most "active" players will be.

That's just the impression it left on me. I'm sure others will have other opinions.

Good luck with your recruiting.

Those are some pretty stringent rules for an unknown guild. Your best bet is to keep playing and taking note of players you enjoyed spending your time with. Join PUGs in RA and whatnot and keep in touch with people that seem to meet your guild's acceptable criteria. Your officers should do the same.

IMO the best guilds aren't the ones with the most talent or experience. Good guilds have freindly players that are willing to help others and can have a good time playing together.

Friendliness and fun will appeal to a larger audience than strict rules that can lead to punishment. Remember, this is a game.


If you are dead set on being in a competitive PvP guild, then invite people with serious interest in PvP. Invite players new to PvP and see if they last. Don't threaten to kick them. Eventually you might have a large guild with enough people to frequent GvG. Keep the invited members in the guild since you'll eventually know who will be there in your Guild Hall when it's time for some action.

I see. So if i go with that approach, i will scare people off?

Let me come up with a new one.

Her is the new recruitment post.

Much better, except "cool cape" is entirely subjective.

Skip that part all together.

wrong forum. moved.

I used to use an application (see below attachment) for my old guild that I used to run. If you want, you can borrow the application but please give credit where it's due

--edit--

well its too big to fit so here it is in plain text forum:


United Merchants of Guild Wars [UMGW] Application

Instructions
1. Send this blank resume to your Guild Wars buddies (optional)
2. Fill out this form (all questions must be filled unless stated)
3. Give me your application (see contact info at bottom of page)
4. DO NOT pm me more than once asking me when you will get an answer.

In-Game Information

Main Screen Name (So we can contact you):
Global District (America, Europe, etc.):
Hours Spent on Guild Wars per Week:
Hours Spent Productively on Guild Wars per Week:
Position(s) Applying For:

Reason(s) for Applying for / Joining Guild (less than 175 words):

Personal Information

Name (First):
Age:
College (optional if applicable):
Email Address:
AIM Screen Name (optional):
Country:
Region (U.S. / Canada Only):
State / City (optional):

Describe Your Personality (less than 50 words):

Contact Info
Forums: [removed info]
AIM Screen Name: [removed info]
Email: [removed info]
GwG Forum Screen Name:[remoed]
Guild Wars Screen Name: [removed]

If you cant reach me at the above, contact [removed] at the following:
Guild Wars Screen Name: [removed]

Here's my opinion and some suggestions and tips...

First, when writing your guild desription, avoid sentences (or statements) like "will get to a good alliance", or say "will reach top 500 in the ladder" (<-- example only). Because this will later cause a big problem in your guild - players quitting because the statement wasn't met.

Second I noticed, "and are looking for veterans to help raise our standing, and get us into a good alliance", I will suggest that you remove it. It sounds like well tbh, it really leaves the impression that you are dying to get into a "good alliance" and will do anything to get "veteran players".

Maybe you'll get 5 veteran players, but not more than 10. Maybe 5 is enough but when will those 5 arrive? If you need 'veteran players', one way of getting their attention is to just simply state you are here to share and learn with them. That together them and you can achieve something more. Keyword: Unity/Unification.

Third, its fine to say you have leeways, but I will suggest that you dont mention it, instead, say that we have a set of rules (and you really must have one coz they'll surely ask), these rules are implemented and being followed, but we all have real-lives to live, our rules state that we have to inform our immediate officer if we will not show up in a GvG (for example) otherwise it will be put in your guild records.

That way it sounds more professional and you are leaving an impression of "professionalism" and "maturity". There's no need to mention that "we are a mature and professional guild", everybody say that. If you really want to say those two words, one good way is this: "We take our guild's reputation seriously and thus we expect professionalism and maturity from all our members and applicants".

See the difference?

Try to avoid the word "hardcore" or "hard-core". It has lots of meaning. Your guild, once you gain ranks in the ladder or gets more popular will be marked as "hardcore" sooner or later. Or maybe you are an organization of hardcore gamers - meaning, you all play games, be it GW, WoW, Quake, Doom, StarCraft, Lineage, etc. That's another meaning and usage of the word "hardcore".

Hmm the others are fine, tho I will still suggestion instead of writing your invitation by wording your sentences as-if you are feeding them, try to make it sound like they are missing or going to miss a lot.

Currently, your GW2, is more of a marketing approach than an invitation It is more of a promotion than making them curious about your guild.

Oh, before you start inviting, be sure you really have rules. Trust me, existing, written rules makes the difference from all the other guilds out there.

It's all about friendship and camaraderie, yes, but there is only anarchy if there are no rules set forth and laid by the founders themselves. Your rules must be public. Potential members must know your rules beforehand. Remember this, a member that's already inside and then leaves afterwards for whatever reason will cause a chain-reaction in your whole organization. The longer their stay was, the stronger your organization will feel that members resignation. Been there

So there, I hope your guild will become one of the highly respected guilds in the gaming world.



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There are more into guild leadership than it appears and what I and the others have said, we don't have enough room and time to explain it all though.

Try to read these, it will help you: http://boards.Anthenuria.info/Knowle...house-f18.html


If you want to see samples:
My founded guild (30th January 2003) Holy Order of the Light - http://Holy-Order.org
My first guild I joined when MMOGs arrived (UO) - Lost Order of Akalabeth - http://lostorder.com
An Elven Guild - The Ancient Order of Elves - http://www.elvenorder.com

There are other guilds worth mentioning, but those three I mentioned above have been in existence fore more than 3 years and with members over than 150.

I would tend to agree but disagree with some of the above posts (as usual).

We had much better luck with QUALITY of recruits after we instate a much more clear vision of what we expect out of our members.

Even though we worded things with tact, we made it very clear that we had certain policies that would be enforced from day one. Wehter there were 3 members that started the guild or 100.

The statments above about "well if your an established guild you can make rules like that"

other wise your just going to be working your butt off building a Guild that in the end...was not the type you wanted.

to me that seems to imply you'll be having no rules then get established; and then making a bunch of new rules that your members new knew were coming.

This can cuse serious issues. It's called bait and switch.

This to me shows that you are dedicated to your vision of a guild and will stick to it.

The question is....

Are you building a guild of your vision and looking for others who share that vision?

Or are you trying to build a guild to suit a majority to get as many players to join as possible.

I can tell you from experiance that the latter case fails more often than not.

as the old saying goes:

Try to please everyone and your going to lose your a$$.

You seem to havea very clear vision on what typr of person you want in your guild. I wuld stick it out and see if you can find them (within reason).

hmm, out of curiosity, who said that statement?
I also read both GW1 and GW2 and no one seemed to have said or implied such, so I'm confused with what you explained.

Sorry for the very bad paraphrase Laibeus.... this is the quote that sparked that train of thought in my brain. Even though the overall tone of the quoted poster's post was a very good point.

Does this mean he can make more strigent rules when the guild gets better known? And if so, how will that make the current members feel?

Some times this is nessacry I know....but shouldn't the guild follow it's core rules from the onset?

Honestly the first document appealed to me more...as it it seemed less vague....It told me this was a weekend PvP guild! Now if that was what i was looking for I would want to know that. it also told me if I was a PvE'er that I probaly shouldn't join.

Now the new document is more vague and seems to be less of the vission the OP had in mind for his guild. I feel in the end he will not be happy with it, nor will his members.

In fact the only problem I had withthe First document was a few slang terms and the "Submit a screen shot" (that is just a hassle)

Laibeus Lord has some excellent advice about having some real rules written down. It help greatly with conflicts that may arise.

Thanks a lot to everybody who posted. I have a SAT prep class, so afterwards, i will draw up a new form and post it here again, so you guys can see if it is any better.

PS: I know you guys have no obligation to help me, so thanks again for doing so anyway.

Here are the updated Application form (adapted from UMGW) and the new recruiting form itself.

I am currently making a website, and I probably wont be able to actually get any work on it done till summer starts.

The real question is, where do I put this information, where the public can see it? Should I do it on gameFAQs? If recruiting is allowed on GWG, then where should I post?

So I read all three of the documents, I have to say your last one seems much better than the first two. It gives a clear definition of what your guild plans to do (GvG, etc.). My suggestion about the revoking of membership, you should word that differently becuase it sounds either too harsh or it's not clear what will make you kicked. I would go with something like, inactivity (as defined by logon) for longer than XXX, will result in being dropped from the guild, and missing more than XXX (perhaps a %) number of guild events. That way people will know what to expect, because lets face it not everyone will be able to make EVERY event. You could even keep track of this on your website or forums (I have seen this on several guild websites) where everyone can see who's not holding up their end of the bargain. Oh I think the screenshot thing is kind of silly, you should meet the prospective members in-game before having them join, so you should be able to tell if they have a level 20 or not.

Anyway, good luck with the guild.

An easy way is to get ranked on the ladder and then you will get alot of people wanting to join you, one person pmed me if EvIL was recruiting,

i said probably not,
he said well i will try anyways,
i replied you havent gvged before have you,
he replied yah i was in a rank 100 team before
i asked what guild it was
he said "it was A somethin somethin"

in reply tho this thread....
sit in Shin Jea d1 or Ascalon City d1

Sit in town and spam all that? how?

Or should i just say a short line, and give people a link to the application form?

What are you referring to in "all that"? I actually don't prefer the spamming in town, but I know it works for other people, if you are going to do it, you want it short and sweet. If someone is interested they will whisper you.

I would start by posting in the guild sections of all the major GW sites (including this one). They are easy enough to find. But if I were you, I'd wait until you at least have a website or some forums or something, it makes for a better impression.

That sounds good. It will be a few weeks though, before you see this guild come to power...

I have to study =(