Every Monday, Scott Andrews contributes Officers’ Quarters, a column about the ins and outs of guild leadership. He is the author of The Guild Leader’s Handbook, available now from No Starch Press.

Word went around this week that one of my server’s long-time 25-man guilds would be switching to the 10-man format. It’s a phenomenon that has become more common recently. For many guilds, fielding the number of quality raiders needed for the larger size has grown more difficult over the past few months.

Part of the reason is likely the drop in attendance during summer. Some of it could be the game’s declining subscription numbers. We also can’t ignore the fact that 10-man versions of Firelands bosses are, in most cases, significantly easier to beat.

This week’s email comes from a player whose guild has also made this decision. In the process, he’s found himself without a slot.

Hello Scott,

I am a raider in a casual/raiding guild with a bit of a problem . . . I joined this guild after running with a couple of it’s members in my first pug once I hit 85. Things were really quite amazing at first, the guild runs were so well run and actually fun, which was something I rarely experienced during ICC. I was usually in the top 3 in damage on most bosses, knew my role, never had any issues with other raiders, always showed up prepared and did what I could to help the guild. Then my problem arose.

One night during a raid, I got a call that a relative was in poor health. When the raid ended, I whispered the raid lead that I may not be on the next week. The relative passed away.

My in-game problem arose when I logged in for a minute that first week and found an in-game mail from an officer admonishing me for not accepting/declining for raid on the calendar and asking «if I didn’t want to raid, what the hell was I doing in the guild?»Continue reading Officers’ Quarters: DownsizedFiled under: Officers’ Quarters (Guild Leadership)Officers’ Quarters: Downsized originally appeared on WoW Insider on Mon, 29 Aug 2011 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink | Email this | Comments

Every Monday, Scott Andrews contributes Officers’ Quarters, a column about the ins and outs of guild leadership. He is the author of The Guild Leader’s Handbook, available now from No Starch Press.

Word went around this week that one of my server’s long-time 25-man guilds would be switching to the 10-man format. It’s a phenomenon that has become more common recently. For many guilds, fielding the number of quality raiders needed for the larger size has grown more difficult over the past few months.

Part of the reason is likely the drop in attendance during summer. Some of it could be the game’s declining subscription numbers. We also can’t ignore the fact that 10-man versions of Firelands bosses are, in most cases, significantly easier to beat.

This week’s email comes from a player whose guild has also made this decision. In the process, he’s found himself without a slot.

Hello Scott,

I am a raider in a casual/raiding guild with a bit of a problem . . . I joined this guild after running with a couple of it’s members in my first pug once I hit 85. Things were really quite amazing at first, the guild runs were so well run and actually fun, which was something I rarely experienced during ICC. I was usually in the top 3 in damage on most bosses, knew my role, never had any issues with other raiders, always showed up prepared and did what I could to help the guild. Then my problem arose.

One night during a raid, I got a call that a relative was in poor health. When the raid ended, I whispered the raid lead that I may not be on the next week. The relative passed away.

My in-game problem arose when I logged in for a minute that first week and found an in-game mail from an officer admonishing me for not accepting/declining for raid on the calendar and asking «if I didn’t want to raid, what the hell was I doing in the guild?»Continue reading Officers’ Quarters: DownsizedFiled under: Officers’ Quarters (Guild Leadership)Officers’ Quarters: Downsized originally appeared on WoW Insider on Mon, 29 Aug 2011 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink | Email this | Comments