Every guild is going to have problems. Members will break rules. Your authority will be
challenged. Challenges in game will come up. People will freak out over something, that
is probably pretty minor, and scream that the sky is falling. Your ability to handle those
challenges effectively and correctly will determine if your guild fails sooner than you plan
for it too.
Here are some guiding principles that you may find useful when dealing with the crisis that
will come up:
●You are the guildmaster. Ultimately you have to make a decision and ultimately
you are responsible for it. If you make a mistake, take responsibility. But you
need to make a decision. Few things ruin a guild faster than a wishy washy GM
who can’t decide on a course of action.
●Be fair and be consistent. If you change your mind constantly or make decisions
that aren’t in line with past decisions. Or if you show favoritism to friends. Or if you
are not fair in your decisions... then you will ultimately cause more problems than
you fix. Perhaps you can solve the immediate problem but you will be sowing the
seeds of discord that will cause issues in the long run.
●Listen to all involved. Be open-minded. Just because you like one person more
than the other doesn’t necessarily mean they are correct. Listen to what is said.
Think about it. Then decide. Sometimes simply listening is all you need to do
since once people have had a chance to vent and be heard and really believe you
did listen to them and hear them, the problem will resolve itself. That doesn’t
happen in all cases but just listening can be a value problem solver in and of itself.
●Do not let yourself be pushed around. You do need to be a friend to your guild
members. You do need to be fair and open minded. But there is a line between
being open minded and being pushed around. You are the GM and you need to
maintain control of your guild. If you cannot control someone then you need to
remove them or turn the guild over to them and quit yourself. Control the situation.
Don’t let it control you.
●Do not make special rules to keep whiners happy. Do not try to make everyone
happy. It is impossible. If you make up custom rules or try to magically keep
everyone happy then ultimately you will anger more people than you keep happy
and your guild will implode. Have one set of rules, for all members, and enforce it
fairly on all members.

●Most online crisis are short term and not really that major. They may seem big
and overwhelming at first but within a few days they are often forgotten or are seen
in a different, much less daunting, light. So try not to get overwhelmed by a crisis.
Take it one problem at a time and work through it.
●Leave your emotions at the door when dealing with a crisis. You are the leader
and you need to act like one. If you act like a baby or a whiner or if you can’t
control your temper or get offended and mad, then you aren’t a good candidate to
be a guildmaster. Check the emotions at the door and be impartial and able to
look at decisions with a big picture view. If you view them only as to how they
affect you OR if you can't view them without getting mad or sad or upset by the
process of reaching a decision then you won’t reach the best decision possible.
●Remember your guild rules. If there is one that applies to a situation, then apply it
and that should be the solution/answer you go with. If you don’t have a rule that
covers that scenario then once you reach a resolution, create one so the next time
the issue comes up you will have a clear path to follow
One thing is certain, you will have crisis as a guildmaster. You need to learn from them.
Apply the lessons of the past to the future ones. And you need to keep control of your
guild. Don’t let the crisis take control of you. You take control of the crisis.