The past 2 to 3 weeks my guild has been largely leaderless. Our Guild Master (GM) has quite frankly f***ed off with no warning. He logs in for a few minutes here and there at weird times (according to real ID). When I say weird I'm talking at times of the day when we all know the guild will be dead. You might even be inclined to say he's logging in so it doesn't get to 30 days when somone can take over!
Likely reasons for him going AWOL:
- Internet issues. He has had net issues in every house he's lived in (as far as I'm aware). The question of whether it's his computer and not the net is one that should not me muttered for penalty of a death. Anyhow, he has been managing to log in so it can't be that bad.
- Real life issues. Again very possible given family circumstances. But again, he has managed to log into WoW so why not leave a guild message of the day, or send mail to someone. Secondly, he has the mobile numbers of several members including myself.
- Simply doesn't give a s**t. This one gets my vote. Raiding hasn't been going to plan and considering it's prertty much his only reason to play I think he's decided to p*** off as a sort of childish protest.
However, there are issues with not having a GM.
- We can't promote any new officers. Currently there are 2; my good fried Roooby and another guy who is as much use as a chocoloate teapot! In the near future Robs work commitments will be (temporarily) increasing so he'll have less WoW time. Officers are very handy for just generally looking after things, talking to people, recruiting etc.
- We have very limited control over the guild bank. As of late guild challenges haven't been getting done (for a number of reasons) which means very little money going in. But guild banks repair are still on - what if the money gets low and we need to turn repairs off??
- Limbo. I think this is the biggest issue. Everyone knows the GM is AWOL. People have started asking questions - especially the raiders who are without a leader. Now, no-one stopping them going to other guilds to raid but I think a lot of them would appreciate some sort of closure. This extends to the socials (i.e. myself) too.
Now you might be thinking why am I so worried about it? To be honest the boyfriend seems to ask me this question a lot. But I think I have finally come to realise why. For all the faults that the guild has I love spending my time in Azeroth with most of them (and by most I really mean the only ones that I do stuff with). We have a great bunch of people at the minute and I'm not willing to sit back and watch the guild go to s*** because of one guy whom I suspect is to chicken to quit the game for good!
Another reason requires a little story first. You may remember at one point the boyf was GM. Well this was after the original (and current) GM left the game. At the time there was about 5 of us playing regularly - the boyf (then GM), the 2 current officers, myself & Adam. The boyfriend decided to promote me and Adam to officers as we we're essentially doing officer stuff etc. When the GM came back me & Adam were demoted for no reason other than 'he hadn't voted'. I mean who'd have thought someone that quits the game gets a bloody vote! Anyway, I have continued to do exactly the same stuff as before, despite lacking the rank and a fair few people would consider me to be an officer. But when someone who does f*** all sits there and says they're an officer (despite the fact that they aren't) as they've known the GM for years I really feel like /gquit'ing.
Then I remember the lovely people and think 'no, I'll stick around a bit longer'.
Perhaps I just need to learn to let go but this is still my first guild, my Azerothian home. I guess it's something that you get used to with time.
You are completely justified in the issues you've brought up. Being in limbo is aweful. Having a repeat offender as your guild master is even worse.
ReplyDeleteMy guild has had the issue before, though eventually the GMs, plural, have been kind enough to relinquish control. Though the behavior was the same: Aloof, ignoring guild chat, and only logging in when they think no one is looking.
With the advent of the mobile armory being completely free, most people really don't have the "I couldn't log on" excuse. Even if they are only on for a minute, they can send an officer a Dear John letter, or something.
It is very hard to up and leave, especially if it is THE guild, instead of A guild. Best of luck in getting your guild back.
Being in limbo really does suck. It's hard to know whether sticking arounf and hoping things will get resolved is the right thing or whether moving on is. Hopefully it will all work out in the end like your situation did!
DeleteYou are right to be upset by your GM's behaviour. No active GM and officers who are powerless, well that is a death knell for guilds. People WILL start leaving, and once it starts, it will continue very quickly, especially when 5.4 gets here and we're all presented with an amazing choice of guilds who do have GM's who give a toss.
ReplyDeleteIf you can't convince this GM to hand over control, I would suggest talking to your friends about breaking away and starting your own guild. There is no point putting work into a guild when you will most likely never see the benefits. Guild leveling is so fast these days that being level 25 is almost a non-event. Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if one day you all log on and discover that guild bank is drained or you have all been removed in the dead of night. I really hope you don't have to experience that!
Good luck :)
Hey Neri! Yeah people are starting to get restless already - especially the raiders. A few have started leaving, they were happy to be way behind aslong as they were raiding but the complete lack of has driven them to atleast consider other guilds (most of which are more successful anyway!).
DeleteI think the prospect of creating a new guild, or atleast trying out other social guilds, is getting increasingly appealing.
Yeah I hope I don't find myself in the situation where I'm log in to find either everythings gone or I've been removed - but it might be a good thing, that little prod that I need.
Regarding your GM's absence; yes it can be that he is quitting or not giving a shit, but it can also be that he is going through something really difficult in real life. Something so difficult that he feels that he can't send someone a note about it. Has anyone tried to reach out with an in-game mail with "are you ok mate?"? I'm not saying this situation is like that, but try assume the best instead of the worst until you know the facts. There is nothing you can do about it either way. The only thing you can do is decide what is right for you.
ReplyDeleteThe facts are:
- The GM is missing in action. The GM views the guild as his property; he's not giving it up whether he plays or not. You don't like the GM very much I think? You don't like his moaning, ranting or how he runs the guild.
- You would like for yourself or someone else that you trust to be more in control over the guild; ranks, bank etc.
Think through whether you think you can settle in this guild with this GM and his rules. And another thing; is it just you, or is everyone unhappy in the guild without leader? If you're all unhappy I think Nerisella is right; you need to try to make a new guild together with your friends. If it's only you, then that's even more thinking for you to do.
Making a new guild is not easy, and it's not the right thing for every situation either. I'm certainly happy I/we made a guild 2,5 years ago, it's good to have a stable home in Azeroth.
Good luck!
The thing is, he has only told me (I'm an officer in the guild) that he hasn't got time to log in (which is rather a weak excuse as he has no job, a child that goes to nursery/school - can't remember which) although he's a single parent he let's his kid play as well as he seems to enjoy it!
DeleteBut recently he has been logging in in Armory on his phone, then not saying anything and going off again, sometimes its just a hey, then offline.
When it comes to personal issues, he has previously told us that his mother got very ill around a year or so ago, but he told us about this and we understood the difficulty for him naturally, so I would imagine that anything of such a serious nature happening again that would take him away from WoW would mean he would tell us, as some of us have met IRL too and known each other for years so there is very little we wouldn't share between officers and GM. Just also seems to me at this point he truly does not care anymore.
Yeah Rob is right in the sense that we know the GM has real life stuff to deal with but he's always been open and we have in return been understanding. This seems to be different though. The GM did log in remotely last night and when I commented that he'd vanished he said he wasn't aware of it! Which says to me that he either denies he's been absent or he thinks his absence is acceptable.
DeleteFortunately I know I'm not alone about feeling uneasy so I know it's not just me being OTT about it. Everyones getting restless and it's no good for morale.
I agree that making our own guild could or simply joining a different guild as a fresh new start could be the way forward :)