When Your Guild Has "The Talk"

Exactly one week ago, my guild ran into a major obstacle. Many guilds reach a breaking point, and that time has come for the good people in "Is A Pinch Better". Last Monday, we had a guild meeting to discuss the future of the guild, and the type of conversation I like to dub "The Talk".

Our story is just like one you have probably heard already. One of the longtime officers decides to leave the guild to experience more endgame content. Naturally, this comes as a shock to most of his friends and sends the Guild Leader into panic mode. The purpose of the guild is questioned, and everyone has their own idea of how the guild should operate. Some reactionary decisions are made, and others use this incident as an excuse to push their own agenda forward. Some people get a /gkick, and others head for the door on their own.

Sound familiar? I think I have had four or five of these meetings during my WoW career, and they never have quite the same results.

The test comes after "The Talk" has ended. Does the guild change for the better or for the worse? The guild may not change much at all. "Is A Pinch Better" has made some minor improvements, but overall not much has changed. The Guild Leader quickly returned to MIA status, and a second longtime officer left the guild yesterday.

On the brighter side, our main Warrior tank has started organizing a weekly Kara and ZA raid. The officers decided to try an ingame calendar mod, and thankfully people are actually using it. They won't go to our guild forums, but they will install and update another mod. Wonders never cease.

We still are not a true "Raiding Guild", and I doubt we ever will be one. More people are going to leave, but my hope is that we will keep a solid core to go into the next expansion. Our biggest test will be 25 person content. There are still people that want to do Guild Gruul's Lair raids. We don't have the people, but we would obviously be able to pick up 10-12 puggies. If these future raids fail, will the guild finally break apart?