OOC (Advice on starting an RP org)

[Aimes]

Hello everyone, I'm fairly new to the AO RP scene as well as fairly new to AO in general (3 months) and already I've grown tired of hunting down missions and beating the living daylights out of mobs. (Well, actually it's been more of the other way around but that's besides the point.) I've been a P&P role player for quite a while, and I think it would be a real blast to start my own RP organization, but I can't for the life of me figure out how to go about starting it. I have the idea and everything, however I would really appreciate any input from anyone who has run/participated in an organization concerning logistical topics like how best to recruit people, how to handle things like rare loot, and the importance of having a website as well as any other things that you think are important.

Thanks for all your help, and I hope to see myself posting recruitment messages at some point

[________________Java]

Well, I can't offer an advice on setting up an org, but if you would like any assistance in setting up the website, give me a call

[UwensBack]

If you need some help setting up an org, I would be happy to start a new RP char or use an old Omni one. And don't worry, my characters operate independently of each other so no spying

[______________Emiliy]

But they might decide to perma-kill someone you know, so be careful if you take him up on his offer!

[Nevver]

((Well, Devil's Advocate started the same way that I think most orgainzations started: a few like-minded friends just decided to start their own guild and it went from there. I advise you to do the same - these are the people you're going to spend most of your time with!

A web site is pretty important, or at least your own message board. We don't really put much in the way of news on our site, but our board gets used quite a bit for discussing guild business and voting on potential new members (it has a polling thing included with it). We also have a form on the site for people to fill out if they're interested in joining, which brings me to the next point...

We don't really do much in the way of actively recruiting people and the vast majority of our members decided that DA was a guild that they would like to be a part of. However, we do go through a bit of a process of deciding if we think a person would be a good match for us and vice versa whenever someone expresses an interest in joining either ingame or through the web site. This process includes filling out the application on our web site, us looking at it and, if the person looks good, we set up an interview. After the interview, we take another look at that and the application then vote. We're not always quick about it and sometimes it might take us a week or longer to decide, but the system seems to work. We've kicked only two people out of Devil's Advocate as far as I remember and very few have ever left to join another guild and, when they have, it's always been on good terms.

I can't stress enough how important it is to screen applicants and have a recruitment process in place. Some guilds seem to take just about anyone just to increase their numbers where we would much rather have just a few good people. Numbers are good, but just a few bad members can really give an org's reputation a black eye. We might take only half or even less of the people who apply to DA, but when we do give the official invitation, we're pretty sure that it's a good match for both the applicant and us.

We don't really use the org bank system. If someone needs something, they speak up and if someone else has what they need, they offer it. However, most of our members are pretty self sufficient and ask for things only if they are simply unable to obtain something by themselves or are just having a rough time.

We have a great group. ))

[Aimes]

Thanks for all the advice/help guys, you cleared up a lot of issues for me.

[Dabblez]

Running your own rp org is not a blast. It's hard work and it can be so very frustrating and maddening at times. Unlike in a p&p campaign where just have to prepare a game session per week, in a mmorpg you are always on the spot. Recruitment is difficult because their simply aren't that many roleplayers to go round. And the player turnover and general unpredictability of AO is guaranteed to drive you insane.

My very best advice is consider long and hard joining one of the existing roleplaying orgs before starting a new one. Most of these organisations are perpetually short of people, in particular creative people willing to put the time and energy into creating roleplaying events.

Of course I am not particularly good at following my own advice and I've taken this road not once, but twice. So if you are determined to go ahead anyway, feel free to give me a tell in game and I'll share the little I've learned. I really can't say I've cracked the secret of running a successful guild, but I've certainly got a fair bit of practice at trying.