Can a Guild Really Transition From Social to Raiding?
This question has probably been asked over and over again for more than a million times I’m sure. Is it possible for a guild that started out casual transition into a raiding guild withought it just melting down or exploding into a huge drama infested mess???
I’m not too sure if it really is. And if it can happen it will take an extremely strong commitment from it’s leaders. Here’s why I say that and some possible suggestions that might help prevent a meltdown or if not disolve it as gently as possible.
I guess the first thing we all need to do is get a brief understanding of what is the difference between a Social guild and a Raiding guild.
Most Social guilds start out with a group of friends that often met either in or out of the game and started questing and leveling together. Often times this core group decides it’s easier to just create a guild and use the guild chat as a common way to talk without having to be in groups all the time. I mean there are times that a NElf might be in Darnassus, the Dwarf in Ironforge and a Human in Stormwind for different reasons. Also, by using the Guild your friends list can now be a little less cluttered and be used for more temporary contacts in game.
Because these guilds often are started on this basis, their structure and goals are extremely loose if there are any at all. It’s this that is probably the most critical difference between a Social guild and a Raiding guild.
You see, a social guild is created for just that. A place to hang out and for everyone to chat, help out and maybe share things, but there’s no other real purpose for the guild. This is especially great when your leveling or trying to complete quests. There’s almost always someone one, and the friendly atmosphere often lends itself towards everyone being willing to offer a hand.
Now with a Raiding guild it’s beginnings are often different. It is created with a purpose, reach the End Game Raiding Content. Now, we can debate at what point there is real raiding. But even during the leveling stages, a guild that’s sole purpose is to complete instances and has the goal to grow enough to see the end game content, is a Raiding Guild.
So what’s the problem you ask.. Why is it so hard for a Social Guild to transition into a Raiding one? Well, it’s perception. You see many Social players feel that their time in game is just that, their time. If they don’t show up? Well, no one is really hurt or let down by it. But in a Raiding Guild, not showing will force the leaders to scramble and find a replacement. This causes 4, 9, 24, or even in the old raids 39 othe people to wait. You see, the game switches from being purely the social aspect to now being a link of dependencies.
It’s critical point that often times leads to the drama and eventual break-ups of most social guilds when they decide to become raiding ones.
So is it possible? Well yes it is, but you’ll need a core group of dedicated individuals. Also, you have to be willing to lose members, maybe even those that you had thought of as friends. Remember, this is a game, it needs to remain fun. And to some, the fun is the social aspect not necessarily the content. Also, the core players need to recognize that now their play time is no longer just their own, they are committing to helping their fellow players see new content. Their guildmates are now dependent upon them in order to see new exciting sites.
If this doesn’t happen, if the guild members don’t agree to this commitment then the guild will never make the transition, feelings will be hurt, and people will become upset and leave anyways.
Well I promised you some tips that might make this a little less tramatic if not dramatic. Here they are.
1. Keep the social aspect of the game alive. This is why you all play the game, right? For fun??
2. Recognize that raiding is a commitment to at least 4-9 other players and shouldn’t be made or broken lightly.
3. Keep raid times limited. Don’t get caught up with the idea that you must finish a raid in one night. True most 5-man content is reset after a couple of hours, but 10 and 25 man content is often a couple of days to a week. So take your time enjoy the journey.
4. Don’t be afraid to PUG (pick up group) for open spots. For example, if your core group is only 5 players and you want to see 10 man content, Pug it. Create alliances, reach out. Who knows, other players may find they like your guild better and join up.
5. Don’t hate those that leave. Recognize that the transition period is going to be tough. Both social players and raiders will leave. Instead of hating these players, keep in touch create chat channels, still use your Vent/Teamspeak servers to keep the friendships and social aspect alive.
I think if you remember these 5 things, you find the transition from social to raiding not as traumatic and maybe even successful. 
Oh yeah, last thing. Remember that not everyone wants to raid. Just because you decided to raid, you did start as a social guild. So don’t go overboard and make strange rules like everyone must now be have some arbitrary stat to be in the guild. Let your friends stay, who knows. When your more experienced and can maybe carry them along, they might end up liking raiding and joining you. You never can tell
So sorry to all of you that came here and was wondering what was going on. Well.. it seems that I’m back 
