Comments on: The Challenge of Delegating Responsibilities

By: Ihra

Ihra — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 15:43:13 +0000

I’ve had guilds implode on me twice and they were devastating both times. I wasn’t an officer in either, so I can’t imagine what you went through as a higher-up but I admire your stick-to-itness and can see easily where your control problems come from (I have some similar ones and probably for similar reasons)

By: Rholm

Rholm — Thu, 23 Sep 2010 18:31:49 +0000

I wouldn’t trust that one rogue and that… Troll but…

No, I am just kidding.

I think you’ve made a wise choice, Beru. They are both long time members of Monolith and they sure deserved that promotion and I am sure they will work hard to get everything done. Except that one rogue…

You know, Beru, I worked 15 years as a Chef, in various restaurants. Most restaurants are opened over 12 hours/day, seven days/week.

At some point in my career, I HAD to appoint people to fill tasks while I wasn’t around. You know what? I’ve never been disappointed. You would be surprise how people can come up with creativity, hard work etc…

I like to think it is the same in an MMORPG. You didn’t give responsibilities to the “new guy”, Beru. But to trustworthy guild members. Long time guild members.

Give them a chance. Except for that one rogue…

Long live, Monolith.

By: ladyerinia

ladyerinia — Thu, 23 Sep 2010 12:41:35 +0000

Having guilds split because of misunderstandings, betrayal, and dishonesty is very hurtful and confusing. While I cannot say that I have experienced the exact same situation as you, I have experienced a very upsetting guild split that put me directly in the middle. I commend you for working through everything and continuing on until you found a light in that darkness.

Because of your hurt and your experience, I also commend you for the courage you have shown in delegating tasks and promoting new officers. Letting go of the reins you have had for so long is terrifying and it can feel like you are floundering.

Good luck with this huge change.

-Erinia

By: Kae

Kae — Wed, 22 Sep 2010 20:56:44 +0000

Ohhhh my lord. I hadn’t realized you and Brade were single-handedly shouldering the management of an entire 25-man guild. We have 3 leaders for a 10… and we still delegate to non-officers for things!

I have experienced a guild split, before. They left in an exodus, but a core of loyalists remained, and we rebuilt… and like you, I could tell there was guilt from the other faction’s new GM. In a few months, wounds began to mend between us and we actually did world bosses together (BC)… and then they fell apart. I think some returned to the original guild with bowed heads; others moved on elsewhere or quit the game.

I will say, however, that extending that trust to others is a good way to strengthen bonds between you. Relying on them, sharing in confidence for making major decisions or just helping each other with maintaining a well-functioning guild, creates a much tighter bond between two players than would be seen if it was just “the leader” and “the member.”

By: Virile

Virile — Wed, 22 Sep 2010 20:19:24 +0000

I’m sure this is a good thing for you!

By: Dendrite

Dendrite — Wed, 22 Sep 2010 19:57:23 +0000

Thank christ the Accountability Officer is after my raiding days. They’d have had a field day with me.

By: Aunna

Aunna — Wed, 22 Sep 2010 19:55:55 +0000

So I’ll be honest, after reading this I kind of chuckled to myself, and then just had to post to commend you for sticking in there. I understand exactly where you’re coming from here, I’ve been in that same spot.

I joined a guild early in bc with no expectations, I was planning on leaving not long after. But, guild chat was good and soon we started raiding. Then we starting climbing the server ranks quite quickly. Somewhere in there I’d been promoted to officer, and not long after that, the guild leader fell off the face of the earth. He just disappeared. After a month of myself and one other officer running things, we opened a gm ticket and I somehow ended up with lead. Long story short, I ended up leading it with almost no officers for about 2 years until RL issues forced me to hand over the reigns and move on. Long story short, the trust issues are probably super common among guild leads. Especially when it’s a guild that’s been on the verge of breaking before. I commend you for hanging in there though, it’s not an easy job, and it’s incredibly thankless. Cheers.

By: Rades

Rades — Wed, 22 Sep 2010 19:39:15 +0000

I used to play a smaller MMO called Ragnarok Online before getting into WoW, and I was the leader of a small guild of RL friends / friends-of-friends / etc. I was the sole leader, created/ran our forum, organized our “raiding nights” (in this game it was guild vs guild PVP but same idea), led the guild in strategy & actions on those nights, handled any drama or disputes with other guilds, etc. Like you. BUT my guild was only 12-15 people! I can’t even imagine solo-managing a large group like in WoW, let alone people who don’t actually know each other in RL like we did.

From the story of your old guild, it’s no wonder that you are reluctant to open Monolith open to another such disaster (and bad form on those that left…bad form.) And who could blame you? But I think you’ve made a great decision, both in delegating some responsibilities to others and recognizing just why/how doing so can be beneficial to you. It can be tough to hand over control of something you care dearly about, but in some cases it is simply the right thing to do – especially in cases like the PhPbb issues, when the person you handed it over too is much more knowledgeable & familiar with it!

It sounds like you’ve given this a lot of thought so I’m sure it’ll work out great for you & your guild! Less stress = more fun!