Important, Please give it a good read.

As you all know. I'll be leaving in a week. I'll be gone three weeks afterward. I'm not sure if i'm overstepping my position. I know i've said I DO NOT want to be an officer. And I still DO NOT WANT TO BE AN OFFICER... But I just want to get this out there.
I've seen some things going on around the guild. Things i've seen in the past that end up being inevitable. I've played MMO's since 2004. I've held every position in guilds from Guild Leader, Guild tribunal, Raid leader, Class Leader, Recruitment officer, Class leader, Bank Manager, and a few titles i cannot think of at this time. People say i'm a good listener. And I do listen. But i also watch to see how things go on. After seeing guilds succeed and fail. Rise and fall over a little mistake. I think i have some idea of whats going on.
Problem is, we're lying to ourselves. We say we have 400+ members. In reality we have maybe 80-100ish "ACTIVE" members. If we're lucky. Thats pretty much if both guild mission days have about 8 groups each. And we're lucky at times to have around 5-6 groups, so 80-100 might actually be around 60-70ish members.
People get burnt out, totally understand that. I also understand alot of the people who haven't been on for 2 months are guildies from GW1. So they automatically get a position over here. But with our real numbers of active players. Our guild is extreamly small.
This is where the problem comes in. The purpose of the guild is to do things together. To have people to rely on to do things with. To help out. And yes we DO help out. But at the same time. I feel the defeatist additude in people. People who used to arrange dungeon runs or fractals are no longer interested. Not because they don't wanna go. But because there is almost no interest anymore in going.
I understand real life is there, people are busy. But if someone is trying to get other guildies to join in on a dungeon/fractal. Please don't try to talk someone into NOT going. It's very rude.
To be honest. I've very surprised we haven't even really held on actual GUILD meeting. Not an officer meeting. But a guild meeting. To see how everyone is. Although these meeting are a pain to put together. And most times people don't say anything because they're either scared to speak up, or really have nothing to say. That's one nice thing about the guild forum. We can have a sorta psudo guild meeting and get people to actually voice something here.
This guild is great, it really is. Very fun loving people all over. But in my short time here, I truely worry. I'm not saying this guild is being ran wrong or anything. And im not saying to have a mass guild recruitment.
What i'm saying is, don't give up. Keep trying, I've never had all the answers to keep a guild together. One person cannot do it alone. It takes everybody. Our officers are awesome trying to keep us together and without drama.
I'm not sure if this will make any sense. But I just wanted to say something. I'm probably wrong maybe. And i truely hope i am. But before you say I am wrong. Keep an opened eye out. See for yourself, just to make sure. Before you say something.

Peace

Wow that's a lot to take in Midway
but I dont think thats a bad idea...a guild meeting
-gives Midway tacos as thanks!-

Coming from GW1 having 90 members on in a day is a record for us. It is a record for us in GW2. Our peak has been like 120, but I've only seen that once. We have climbed to 90 daily from around 50 daily earlier in the year.

I hear your concerns and I have my concerns too. We are open to listen to all suggestions.

I would like to see more recruiting, but I agree with the others that it needs to be targeted.

We are a social guild and we have built deep roots. We have had our ups and downs, and I'm sure there will be more, but we will never die if I have anything to do with it.

That's a very insightful post Midway, and I appreciate your taking the time to put your thoughts to words.

You are correct that we have been stuggling with recruits, turnover, and retaining "full-time" players.  I too am concerned with the state of the organization of the guild, but I don't think it is merely a guild problem.  In all honesty, I think it is a MMORPG problem.  The days of EQ1, DOAC, and even vanilla WoW are long gone and the nature of guilds has changed.  Guilds like ours are "generalist" guilds, which cater to no specific breed of player and therefore lack focus.  Without focus, organization begins to degrade and the guild becomes a mini-network of companions which may or may not be doing the same thing you want to do on any particular night.  Note also that the nature of GW2 content over the last year or so has lead to another fragmentation of guild players:  those that have completed the current content; those that have not, but are still trying; and those that are not even attempting to finish the content.

So my thought for the guild is this:  Decided what we want to do.  If we want to continue to be a generalist guild, that is fine, but accept that without focus, the guild will remain fragmented into friendly individuals who sometimes come together.  Sometimes not.

Good Points Midway and Pseudo. As AoL is the only real guild I've ever been I don't have the experience of what other guilds are like. AoL has always been a collection of people doing things together without a real focus, and as midway says that's kinda the nature of these type of guilds. Looking back I think we're about as good as we've ever been for actual members playing, but Midway is right, I don't know anywhere near all the people in our guild. Many don't talk in guild chat and others get discouraged when they don't get an answer to requests for groups. I see no reason not to try a guild meeting, maybe it would draw out some of our shyer members.

Personally (as a player, not as Guild Leader) I don't know about changing AoL, to decide on a specialization, though it would make things a bit easier to find people to party with we have a few members that wouldn't be happy with what we chose, and I like to do lots of different thigns at different times.

Please understand Ratche, I in no way feel that AoL should be a "specialized" or focused guild.  However, I was just trying to explain that the current dynamic of the guild is something I would expect in a game like GW2.  There are many facets to this game and people like to play it for that reason.  Being able to participate in decent PvE, good story, decent WvW, and good PvP, along with crafting, collections, exploration, wardrobe, etc.  I mean, when has there ever been a game that truly tries to do ALL that GW2 does?  There are very few examples.

So my point is this:  We can accept the guild as it is and work to get back to where we are a little more tightly knit among the 50-60 active members we have now.  Or we can choose another route that may make things more tightly knit and organized, but with fewer members due to a more "specialized" approach.  I will use the WvW guilds as an example: they are very closely knit and have roughly 20-40 members that are always (required to be) on for WvW at the same time.  But that is it.  And those members fluctuate except for a very close knit 15-20 because other people come and go in and out of wanting to do solely WvW.

I really believe that a Guild Meeting as opposed to an Officer Meeting is a fabulous idea! Officer Meetings are crucial I believe, but it leaves our other members feeling like they don't have a voice unless they're an officer.
I would like to vote YES for a Guild Meeting and we need to ensure we do it in a way that anyone can voice their opinion either via text or talking... we would need to have a chairperson to oversee and monitor said Meetings and I think Ratche (if he is willing) would be a great choice.

I have discussed a new approach to our recruitment and we have starting penciling in a new Buddy system which I believe will help make our guild a more close knit 'family'.

In regards to all this, if someone does not want to do a dungeon and all, do not peer pressure them into doing so.  Each person reacts differently when asked, and as much as you want to do things with the guild, the fact of the matter is that no one should be goaded into doing things with guildies if they don't want to.  So yes doing things with guildies is great, but no forcing people into doing them to fit your needs.

In response to people recruiting saying 400+ members, yeah we really aren't, don't go lying about that.

As for guild meetings, no one ever thought about it before, so if this is a thing people show interest in, then we'll set it up.  It should foster communication well within the guild, and get certain players more active and open to talking to people, especially leaders within the guild.  The thing is, what do we talk about?  We could make it into a ts event with prizes if we wanted as well, held after the meeting, and for the people present at the meeting (as initial incentives).  We could host a teq run with people on ts to help as well.  Thing is, we need your opinions as well to flush out what will get the most people on and active.  So do respond!