How to be a Respected & Productive Guild Member

The first thing many guild members do is post an introductory message of “Hi, my name is neo16453. I like Kougras! This guild looks great.” Now that’s fine in itself, but I strongly recommend that before you do anything, even post, you take a look around the guild. Read the front page, check out any donation shops, and a lot of guilds have a webpage. But the most important thing to do is find, read, understand, and abide by the rules. Most (but definitely not all) guilds have a few rules in common such as no swearing, one-word posts, or chatspeak. One-word posts and other similarly short and pointless posts are spam and will get you nowhere fast. Chatspeak is words that are shortened such as ‘l8r’ for ‘later’ and ‘b4’ for ‘before.’ This generally does not include emoticons (aka smileys) or abbreviations such as ‘LOL’, ‘ROFL’, or ‘BRB’.

Once you’ve read the rules and have a basic idea of what’s going on in the guild, you’ll be capable of a much better introduction, and that will give others a much better first impression of you. Just that this introduction and compare it to the one I mentioned earlier:

“Hi! I’m neo16453. Some of the guild games look great! I can’t wait until Thursday’s Better-Than-You. I’ll see you around!”

Now isn’t that better? You may also add a brief bio of yourself if you want. You could find a lot in common with your fellow guild members that way.

The next thing you need to understand is guild etiquette. Etiquette is the proper way to act, and this can be very important to your progression in the guild. The first major part of etiquette, as previously mentioned, is abiding by the guild rules. But another major factor is using correct grammar. I’m not talking perfection, just basic spelling, capitalization, and using periods. Most of these kinds of mistakes are simple typos and can easily be prevented by reading your message over before posting it. Some people who have a harder time with grammar will write their message on a word processor with a Spell Checker and then copy it onto the guild board.

The third and final major factor of guild etiquette is the way you deal with others. Never be rude or pushy. If you have a problem with another member, do whatever you have to do through Neomail. If a correction or anything else of a sensitive nature is required within the guild board, proceed with caution and tact. While doing this, you should keep in mind that others can only see what you write, not hear your tone of voice. You should be careful to not come across as being rude, although that was not your intention. Remember, rudeness is never necessary.

So, now that you’ve got the other members liking you, how do you become a productive member? Someone who could make a good council member? In short, do things that benefit the guild.

There are many ways to contribute to the guild, the most basic way being donating. Virtually all guilds have a shop you can buy from to donate NP, and an account you can donate items to. Most members will do both, and while it is a good start, you need to separate yourself from the crowd.

You can ask the guild leader, or other designated member, if you could sponsor a game, service, or donation drive. Games could be of your own creation or modeled after some games on Neopets such as ‘Better-Than-You!’ or ‘Mystery Pic’. Keep in mind that you need to abide by theneopetsteam’s rules on the subject, including that there be no participation fee.

Services would include a guild pharmacy, bookstore, toy, or other shop in which proceeds (if any) go to the guild. Sponsoring it would mean that you would keep the shop stocked, proceeds distributed appropriately, and any rewards or credit given out.

Donation drives are just that, campaigns to increase donations. Food drives are fairly common. For a month or so you collect food donations and on a set day you donate it all to the money tree in the name of the guild. (This, incidentally, is a good way to advertise the guild.) But again, remember TNT’s rules. Most notably, raffles are against the rules.

While your first week or two in a new guild is very important, it will mean almost nothing if you don’t remain active. Now, everyone has real-life responsibilities, so you likely won’t be able to check your guild every few hours. But depending on how active your guild is, when you can, try to read as many posts as you can that were written since you were last online. My guild, for example, tends to post somewhere around ten pages every twenty-four hours. That’s a lot to read if you only get on once a day. But I always try to read the most recent one or two pages, and reply to a few of the posts. While we’re on the subject of how often you check the message board, I would recommend you try to get on at least once every twenty-four hours. If you have an exceptionally busy schedule, try for every forty-eight hours.

In any event, post meaningful things, not spam. Most guilds don’t mind if you post if you had good luck in one of the dailies around Neopia. You could ask questions, share tips, or just discuss what’s going on in your real or Neopian life. The point is to have fun and make your presence known. Remember that despite all the effort you might be putting forth, guilds are supposed to be fun. Get goofy once in a while! Throw a snowball at someone, hand out T-shirts that say “SL is crazy”, and, never forget the all-important *runs around in circles flapping arms like chicken* method. But enough on the ‘how to be goofy’ lesson. It can be tough to remain active, but remember that you can always ask questions about people’s personalities such as “Who likes this series?” and “What’s your favorite game?” This easily leads into more topics for conversation, and boosts your activity.

Well, there you have it fellow Neopians, the basics of being a good guild member. I would like to take a moment, however, to note that all guilds are different in their standards and environments. The best advice I can give you is to tread lightly for the first few days until you have a good idea of the flavor of the guild. Well, good luck in your guild!