It is fortunate that I am a perpetual font of optimism and enthusiasm - as Sev often puts it, I can be sickeningly cheerful. I don't know how anyone can be a GM and not be thick-skinned, tolerant, patient and restrained. Sounds a lot like being a parent, if you ask me. Of course I have some bad grumpy days but those are not as frequent as one would suppose.
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With so many new people, there has been a lot of concern about people being cliquey and not playing outside their own groups. It's not hard to understand, because people will want to hang with people they feel comfortable with and not everyone will be as outgoing as I am. Hell, even the officers are as recalcitrant and almost afraid of getting to know new people, so you can imagine how the new people feel. I try my best to talk to everyone even if it's just a whisper to say hello, and I had wondered if people thought that overbearing or intrusive or just downright creepy. Actually, half the time I whisper someone, they are afraid that I'm talking to them because I'm about to tell them off about something they had done. I'm not THAT scary. Well, not that kind of scary.
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Reigning in language has been a hard trot. People really do forget that you can't go around saying this stuff in real life, and so why do you think it's OK to say it in a game? On Saturday someone dropped a rule breaking comment which I immediately acted upon and that snuffed that unwelcome spark before everyone thought it was OK to talk like that. The person in question said to me "OMG I do not know why I said that, WTB 1 minute rewind and delete, sorry Navi" and it was a comment that was particularly out of character for that person anyway. Perhaps they too were feeling like they were trying to fit in and their enthusiasm went a little astray.
Then yesterday I had some concerned tells from guildies who worried that people were overly sensitive and thus had resulted in people being afraid to talk in guild chat. It so happened that the incident that spawned this concern was one I had already dealt with and I had spoken to all parties involved with encouragement to think before you speak (and also there was some misunderstanding as someone had said a similar comment only seconds earlier and so they thought it was OK to say the offending line - another example of why a single incident should be dealt with before it becomes precedent). I explained to the concerned people that I had sorted it out, and it was all fine now. They apologised to me for troubling me about the incident and I just grinned and said "Welcome to my everyday as a GM in Frostwolves!"
Don't get me wrong - I want to hear all the things that are going on when I'm not around. I'm not on 24 hours a day and people tend to be more restrained when I'm on. I don't think listening to the constant complaints really gets to me as much as people think it would. I would rather know than not know, no matter how bad it is. I think people worry that I look at them as being a whiner but I actually prefer people to be upfront and tell me stuff. I am rarely offended when people are genuinely being honest (but of course I am irritated by people who are trying to be asshats) but I worry that my calm reassurance is mistaken for nonchalance or couldn't give a poop. How do I tell people that this cycle has happened many times before without sounding like a know it all? How do I reassure them that in the long run, it will settle down?
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I think the biggest thing I am afraid of is that the essential spirit of the guild that I've tried hard to maintain will be washed away or diluted by the wave of new people who don't have the same passion for the values I hold dear. This "new Frostwolves" has people concerned - a loss of spirit, of unity, of togetherness that we had throughout out the last expansion. People can be resistant to change - players from Vanilla in the guild tell me how they miss those good old days in the guild and raiding, and then there are also those who miss what we had in Pandaria. I look back on the guild dynamics over the years and in my mind (and perhaps I am biased) and I feel like the best times were had during Throne of Thunder and Siege of Orgrimmar. Maybe it was because I had a more active role in the guild then - though as an long time officer in Frostwolves I was always involved to some extent.Hostile takeover Inheriting the guild gave me the freedom to set some ground rules in place that I thought the guild had been lacking. I sometimes wonder if I am the only one who wants these rules and everyone thinks I'm crazy or wrong. What if the whole guild doesn't want this and I'm forcing my will on them like some kind of dictator?
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A guild should not be a dictatorship, it should be a consensus. Am I being churlish for not allowing a consensus? I guess it seems a little unfair that I am trying to push the guild towards MY preference for raiding and general attitudes, but fortunately there are a few who also share my ideals, so it's not as if I am trying to shove unpalatable concepts down people's throats. As long as there are those people in Frostwolves, I will always have a guild to call family. And I guess I have always got the other officers around to ground me - though they may be quiet, they're not all yes-men, and they will usually give me a calm perspective n something that my single minded determination has ridden rough shod over.
Anyway it's server shutdown time and this brain expunge has lightened my soul somewhat. I shall finish this post here and go look up some Highmaul fights before tomorrow!
With so many new people, there has been a lot of concern about people being cliquey and not playing outside their own groups. It's not hard to understand, because people will want to hang with people they feel comfortable with and not everyone will be as outgoing as I am. Hell, even the officers are as recalcitrant and almost afraid of getting to know new people, so you can imagine how the new people feel. I try my best to talk to everyone even if it's just a whisper to say hello, and I had wondered if people thought that overbearing or intrusive or just downright creepy. Actually, half the time I whisper someone, they are afraid that I'm talking to them because I'm about to tell them off about something they had done. I'm not THAT scary. Well, not that kind of scary.
Reigning in language has been a hard trot. People really do forget that you can't go around saying this stuff in real life, and so why do you think it's OK to say it in a game? On Saturday someone dropped a rule breaking comment which I immediately acted upon and that snuffed that unwelcome spark before everyone thought it was OK to talk like that. The person in question said to me "OMG I do not know why I said that, WTB 1 minute rewind and delete, sorry Navi" and it was a comment that was particularly out of character for that person anyway. Perhaps they too were feeling like they were trying to fit in and their enthusiasm went a little astray.
Then yesterday I had some concerned tells from guildies who worried that people were overly sensitive and thus had resulted in people being afraid to talk in guild chat. It so happened that the incident that spawned this concern was one I had already dealt with and I had spoken to all parties involved with encouragement to think before you speak (and also there was some misunderstanding as someone had said a similar comment only seconds earlier and so they thought it was OK to say the offending line - another example of why a single incident should be dealt with before it becomes precedent). I explained to the concerned people that I had sorted it out, and it was all fine now. They apologised to me for troubling me about the incident and I just grinned and said "Welcome to my everyday as a GM in Frostwolves!"
Don't get me wrong - I want to hear all the things that are going on when I'm not around. I'm not on 24 hours a day and people tend to be more restrained when I'm on. I don't think listening to the constant complaints really gets to me as much as people think it would. I would rather know than not know, no matter how bad it is. I think people worry that I look at them as being a whiner but I actually prefer people to be upfront and tell me stuff. I am rarely offended when people are genuinely being honest (but of course I am irritated by people who are trying to be asshats) but I worry that my calm reassurance is mistaken for nonchalance or couldn't give a poop. How do I tell people that this cycle has happened many times before without sounding like a know it all? How do I reassure them that in the long run, it will settle down?
I think the biggest thing I am afraid of is that the essential spirit of the guild that I've tried hard to maintain will be washed away or diluted by the wave of new people who don't have the same passion for the values I hold dear. This "new Frostwolves" has people concerned - a loss of spirit, of unity, of togetherness that we had throughout out the last expansion. People can be resistant to change - players from Vanilla in the guild tell me how they miss those good old days in the guild and raiding, and then there are also those who miss what we had in Pandaria. I look back on the guild dynamics over the years and in my mind (and perhaps I am biased) and I feel like the best times were had during Throne of Thunder and Siege of Orgrimmar. Maybe it was because I had a more active role in the guild then - though as an long time officer in Frostwolves I was always involved to some extent.
A guild should not be a dictatorship, it should be a consensus. Am I being churlish for not allowing a consensus? I guess it seems a little unfair that I am trying to push the guild towards MY preference for raiding and general attitudes, but fortunately there are a few who also share my ideals, so it's not as if I am trying to shove unpalatable concepts down people's throats. As long as there are those people in Frostwolves, I will always have a guild to call family. And I guess I have always got the other officers around to ground me - though they may be quiet, they're not all yes-men, and they will usually give me a calm perspective n something that my single minded determination has ridden rough shod over.
Anyway it's server shutdown time and this brain expunge has lightened my soul somewhat. I shall finish this post here and go look up some Highmaul fights before tomorrow!