Guild Etiquette Part 3: Guild Chat

Communication is everything. Communication in online games is vital to the success of a guild. Despite hating to have a ton of grammer nazi rules I find that setting boundaries for communication prevents problems later.

Prime Rule: Don’t Be a Douche.

1. The assumption is made that you are a mature adult. If you aren’t, then it is assumed that you either act like one or the mature adult in your life has your profanity filter turned on. The occasional curse here or there (or in the event of a <10% health wipe a great deal of it) is to be expected. However if someone asks you to stop, you stop (see Prime Rule). There is also a fine line between what you might think is okay and what someone else thinks is okay. Some people don’t mind the B word. For me, it is the big red might as well be a summoning spell button. Err on the side of caution

2. Do not under any circumstances make it personal in guild chat. Ideas, suggestions, theories, all perfectly legit to argue with and say they are stupid. People, not. We are here to have fun, not be verbal punching bags for others. There is some measure of, oh we were just playing, but it if happens too often from one person, get rid of them. If I see it in my guild, you’re gone. There are better ways to deal with something you see as a problem than to attack a person. Don’t talk bad about other guild members.

3. If it is something that would be said in the Barrens or a bad trade channel day, don’t say it in Guild. No Chuck, No Murlocs.

4. 1 4m 2 l33t 4 u. Anyone who still talks like this is a douche. See Prime Rule. In fact for that matter, I won’t correct your bad spelling, the you’re/your their/there/they’re thing if you promise to use full words (2, u, etc).

5. Long winded rants about guild policy. There is a time and a place. That time is whenever, the place is the guild forums, behind the password protected part. Guild chat is not the place.

6. Arguments about loot. This should be handled in whispers. Specifically whispers to the Master Looter. Don’t whisper the person who got the item. Don’t whisper the GM. Whisper the master Looter and discuss with them first. If they agree, they will take it up with the person. If they don’t, well that’s for the Loot Etiquette part, but lets just say, look to Prime Rule.

7. We don’t want to hear about your sexual exploits.

8. No SPOILERS! We all love movies, tv shows, books. If it ain’t on DVD, keep it on the dl. Use a good 6 month rule of thumb or if it is on DVD. Then it is fair game.

9. Begging and Selling. Ask for help once. If you get it, awesome. If you don’t, drop it. Have something to sell? Good for you. If you are offering a discount for guildies, you can pimp it in g chat up to a max of 4 times an hour. If it is the same price as the AH, shut it.

10. Bragging about breaking the law, talking about suicide, hurting people. If you don’t want the cops to know, don’t talk about it in guild. If you threaten suicide, I will take it seriously and I will notify a GM, who has your info and WILL call the cops. If you are having a rough time and need an ear to lean on, that’s fine, but don’t do it in g chat, that’s what whispers are for.

Final Rule: There is an ignore feature for reason. I have been in several guilds where I have had people on ignore. I have also had those people on mute. I made sure my raid leader knew in the event that person might be a source of info the RL would know to repeat it. In the rare occurrence the person on ignore is the raid leader, make sure an officer or your class leader knows. Once I had the lovely joy of explaining to the only other officer in the raid why he had to do the loot distribution and make sure to repeat everything because I had the RL on ignore and he was originally the master looter.

Leave a Reply