The Darkwind Way: Recruitment by Squirrely
Posted by 2014-04-11 in NewsUncategorized
This is the second article in a series about Darkwind culture. Each expansion we bring in new members and take on new challenges. Although the guild has grown and continues to evolve, the heart of what Darkwind is all about remains the same.
In our first Darkwind Way article, we mentioned that we never recruit for raiding. That probably sounds strange for a guild running 25-man content with ~250 individual accounts. There are many reasons why people join guilds, and we want new members to have the same vision we do. We focus on building a community with a friendly, mature, and drama-free environment.
In practice, this means we don’t invite people to the guild randomly or blindly. This begins with our approach in finding potential members. You will never see Darkwind advertising in trade or general chat. Darkwind’s reputation and presence on Wyrmrest Accord since 2009 speaks for itself. People find us through word of mouth, public forums for WoW, progression websites such as wowprogress.com or guildox.com, or in-game interaction with Darkwind members. We don’t “recruit” at all in the traditional sense.
When people contact us about the guild, we initially refer them to our website’s About section. Essentially, we’re saying “if you like what you read, fill out an application and we’ll get back to you.” We have used this process for several years now. Players who are “seeking-level-25-guild, any-will-do” are deterred simply because they have to fill out an application. Applications can take a couple of days before being greenlighted for an interview. A couple days may seem like a long time, but behind the scenes, officers review and discuss each application at length to make sure the candidate is a good prospect for Darkwind.
After an application has been reviewed, a decision is made either to toss it or to proceed with an interview. There are a wide variety of reasons why an application might get rejected. We feel very strongly that there are no one-size-fits-all-guilds. As a result, we do not accept all applications.
Once the recruitment committee gives an application the green light, an officer contacts the applicant to interview them. No one is invited to Darkwind without an interview. These are casual, get-to-know-you conversations to make a connection with each applicant, learn about them, and discover their interests. We also inform applicants of guild rules and expectations and require agreement prior to joining. Recruitment decisions are not based on character level, game experience, or item level, but rather on friendliness and ability to get along with others. We take pride in our quality of membership – in 2013, only 6 people were removed from the guild for bad behavior, which is a low rate of guild-kicks for our size.
Darkwind’s recruitment process has allowed for consistency and higher quality in the members we invite. We have found that by taking our time with each individual applicant, our members find more success in understanding Darkwind’s vision and establishing an initial connection. This improves member participation and retention. Inclusion is Darkwind’s secret ingredient and is very important to us.
This is the Darkwind Way™.