Go Guilds! 2 by tolkienlordofthering |  |
GUILD HEADQUARTERS - In this article, I'm going to go a bit further into detail
than my last guild article did. And if you haven't read my first Go Guilds!
article, now may be a good time to do so by clicking here.
OK, now that you've done that, go ahead and read on. I'll be giving the pros
and cons to certain types of guilds, and much more as well.
Choosing a Guild Theme
This can be tricky at times, especially when you want to stand out and be
different. For example, say you LOVED collecting rocks, so you decided to make
a rock collecting guild for avid rock hunters like yourself.
OK, so you've made your rock collecting guild, set up a poll, and a GREAT
layout for your front page, which has information about your rock hunting scavenger
hunt; a contest you've thought up. You're ready to start inviting people, so
you head to the chat boards and post a message that you just made a new stone
guild, and it's the only one ever made.
Sounds cool, and very original, but will it be popular? Will you get any members?
You may get some, but you probably won't get very many. Why? Because, let's
face it, most people aren't very enthusiastic about rocks, and won't want to
join a rock guild, even if yours is the only one in Neopia. *starts sobbing
and hugging her pet rock* Yes, we do live in a sad world where nobody appreciates
the beauty of rocks. ;)
But even if you have a great theme, like a Battledome guild (which are pretty
popular) you may not get many members. Again, why? Just because you made a guild
on a popular subject doesn't mean everybody will want to join it. If you're
using a theme that's already done many times over, you will want to make sure
that your guild is better than the other ones, and also have a good way of advertising
it. Remember, just because your guild theme is popular, that doesn't mean that
your guild will be popular.
So, how DO you make a popular guild, without using an overused theme, or an
un-cool theme? Well, again, theme is the main key to a successful guild. I'd
say next in line would be advertising your guild.
Choosing a Guild Name
OK, so even after all I just said about rock collecting guilds, you have your
heart set on making one. Now that you know what you want, you need to choose
a suitable name. Something like "The Cool Guild" won't fit your theme. Besides,
you want something captivating; something that will catch people's attention
when they see your guild name.
My guild has a very popular theme: Lord of the Rings. There are many guilds
with that theme but have unoriginal names like "The Lord of the Rings Guild"
and "Lord of the Rings" or something that has those words in it. Our guild is
called "Light of Lothlorien", which is a very original, eye-catching name if
you ask me. But you didn't ask me, did you?
So, does that give you an idea? For example, your rock guild still needs a
name, so you name it "The Rock Guild". BOOOORING! Search your mind for something
different like "Rocks Rock", but I'm sure you could probably think of something
even better than that!
The reason choosing names is important, is because it will make people want
to join. If there's a guild that's similar to yours, but it has a better name,
chances are, more people will join. Of course, it's not only your name that
will make you popular; it's also the activeness and helpful comments from your
members that make you rise above all the other guilds.
Banners
Banners are a very good way to advertise your guild. For your rock guild,
you might want to make a few banners for people to add to their shops, so you
can advertise easily, without actually inviting people.
For your "Rocks Rock" guild, you will want to have at least one banner of
various rocks, or some sort of banner with relevance to your guild theme. You
aren't going to have a picture of a Lupe howling at the moon if your guild's
theme is rocks, unless of course, you're referring to the moon as a rock. But
if you are, you have to let people know that somehow, or it won't make sense.
Guild size matters
There are pros and cons to large guilds and small guilds both. First of all,
I'll list the small guild pros and cons.
You've just started your rock guild, and it has five members so far. You probably
only have one or two active members. That could be good or bad. First of all,
you would get to know your active members well before you gained more members.
But also, there wouldn't be very much activity going on in your guild, and you
probably won't get very many donations when you need them.
OK, so now your rock guild is HUGE! You have over 1000 members in one year!
Woohoo! Anyway, you always have messages on the message board, and you have
at least 50 active members (hopefully). You get all the donations you need,
and have even advertised on the Neopets Notice Board a few times. There is a
problem though. You don't know very many people, and a few of your members tend
to get ignored or upset. In a larger guild, the moral can be lower than in a
smaller guild, or at least in most cases.
So, if you want to stay about average sized member-wise, it might be a good
idea to go private after about 100 members or so. It's up to you, the guild
leader to decide what you can put up with from your members.
Private of Public Guild?
Now comes a very fun decision. Is your guild going to be public or private?
Like I said in my previous article, if you want to go private, it would be better
to start out public, and after you have a few active members, then go private.
I personally don't like the idea of private guilds, but that's just me. I've
never been to a private guild, so I'm not too familiar with them, but I'd assume
that they don't have many members, especially if they started out private.
If my guild went private (which it won't) we'd have quite a few members, enough
to still be active and fun. That's the point. You want enough members to still
be able to have fun, although, you can still invite people to join your guild
if it's private, and then leave the choice up to them. That way, you get to
choose your members carefully, so you don't get somebody mean or annoying.
Author's Note: Just because I don't like the idea of a rock guild theme
doesn't mean I don't like you. I'm not trying to discourage anyone with a rock
guild, nor am I making fun of them. It was just something I used for article
purposes only. Also, please understand, I'm not putting down any other guild
that is different from mine in any way.
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