A Guild, my Guild, any guild, why bother?

I was about to write up your standard recruitment post for my guild. You know it, guild looking for three of this class and two of that yada yada yada

Then a rather central question dawned on me, why would you join ? We do not do have any world firsts, no server firsts. Its fun to be in but we have our drama too. We belong to a decent alliance that we enjoy but its nothing special by the standards of other servers. It dawned on me that this description covers most guilds in most games.

So thought why don't I interview our guild leader and see if he can convince me to join my own guild. I have kept editing to a bare minimum as I think it does a better job of keeping Badgers voice.


So Badger why are you a guild leader?

Well it started back when i discovered that Warhammer was going to be my next big game, I wanted to be ahead of the curve and get established in a guild before release. In the past i always joined guilds in other games after once reaching the highest level. This meant i was always back of the Queue for raiding and always missed out. I searched for guilds on unofficial Warhammer forums a1. After considering the guilds available i chose a mostly UK populated guild in July 2007. Things where going good, the forums where really active seeing as the game wasn't released, and it help to build the anticipation for the games arrival. In other mmo's and guilds ive never had much to with the leadership side but i didn't want the great bunch of lads i have met to split and go there separate ways because of the lack of leadership, so i took it on my self to help them in keeping the guild alive and to which they made me a officer. Then the worst happened, only after a couple of days of trying to get the guild morale going again the site went down and we had no way of contacting each other. I had but a hand full of the members i got on mostly with on my msn and some i knew in wow. After several days of discussion we decided to start up our own guild, the only problem most have already tasted being a guild leader and did not wish to do it again. So i took the bull by its horn with no experience and raised my hand to say ill give it a shot. One of the lads asked a favour from a friend who was a web designer to set upe a website and forum and on the 11th January 2008 the guild was born. I emailed every one from heresy to let them know about the guild and they flocked in numbers to sign up back with there old friends. So i guess that's my story how I ended up a guild leader.

What experience had your previously?

None at all, as i said above my previous gaming experiences have always been as a follower as much i am in real life as well. Only experience i have is from the guild leaders i have played with in the past. I had reservations about some guild leaders mentality, some seem to think they were better than the run of the mill player. I'm not saying every guild leader is this way i have most likely been very unlucky in the guilds i have joined in the past. There always seems to be a invisible line between the selected raiders and the back ups that could only sit and watch as there fellow members link loot they had won in high end instances. I know hows these guys felt and its not good. Your only there to make numbers up, to carry the guild tag only to advertise. In my guild i wasn't going to let this happen and i started my own way of guild leading one of which every one is equal. Every one is going to have a chance and be a part of something where every member enjoys playing and will wear the guild tag not to make numbers up but with pride. You can ask any of my members what I'm like and they will properly tell you I'm the thickest person on the face of the planet. they will take the piss out of me until they run out of breath. The reason they can say these things? because they see me and as fellow member and not some one they must suck up to or impress. I also know in the same breath of them having a laugh at my expense they will tell you i wear my heart on my sleeve and i treat every one as equals and more importantly as my friends. So to answer you question i use my past bad experiences to educate my self on how a guild should be ran.

Why The Unnamed?

Well there is no great story to this one unfortunately. It was a drunken night on msn just before the website was created and we spent a couple of ours thinking up names. Some funny, some serious, and some.. well... better left to the people that where there. It wasn't until some one joked "We are never gonna agree a name lets just called it The Unnamed" we laughed a little but it grew on us and there you are. That's we are called The Unnamed.

Your guild leader in a run of the mill guild no world firsts, why is it important that guilds like this get noticed?

Good question and its really what The Unnamed is really all about. I think when people see a guild with no elite background or members with monster reputations being successfully in a game it raises there hope that any one can achieve great things. As a guild we stay in the shadows we don't boast our rewards, instead we work with others to reach a all round goal. This shows that if run of the mill guilds work together they can achieve more than the the elite single guild. Also you gain the respect of other guilds and players, majority of which are the run of the mill like us. They have something to relate with and when trying to organise a server push i feel people listen more to players of there own mentality.

Whats your proudest moment as guild leader?

Every day i am proud, but I'm proudest when my members say things in vent like " badge, your like no other GM your hilarious" i like to think they mean they feel happy to be around some one who is no different from them selves. Most guild leaders when asked this question would probably reply "we downed this boss" Or "we got this loot this day" I'm just pleased to be playing a game with people I call friends.

Guild Politics: Does it rear its head? Why?

Unfortunately it does and there is no way of getting away from it. When you have 60-80 different players with different idea's and personality's there are always going to be clashes. I think a successful guild need to do its best to take all its players thoughts into consideration before making a decision. Having said that with such a big player base there needs to be a team which makes a final decision which is hard as you know some people properly won't be happy with it. And here comes one of my weakness as a guild leader. I'm not the most educated or articulate person and some times struggle to explain to people our decisions, to which I'm gratefully to have great officers. My officers take time to inform the rest of the guild what we decide to do and afterwards take in any criticism or thoughts on the matter and always try to find a happy medium.

When things go well what’s being done right?

In MMO such as Warhammer coordination is the key to every thing. In open RvR every one has a role to play. So when every one works together great things are achieved. In PvE its a practise and dedication thing you get out of it what you put into it and as long as every one is willing, eventually you will get success. Also once you are kited in a certain tier armour its important to keep doing it to help the less fortunate people achieve the same. I am proud to say that the high geared people in my guild always run lower instances to help the less lucky people. The key to things going well, Teamwork.

Good job Badger I am convinced where can I sign up