Today, I found an interesting topic made by Surly in the Clan discussion forum about Clan Leadership Philosophy.
Everyone knows that a strong and good leadership is very important to succeed in any video games and also to survive through many many years of gaming. The first things that comes to my mind when I talk about clans is family, its a place to have fun, to make friends and a place where we share the same goals and values. I for one think that sharing the same goals is the most important thing in a guild, after all we are all here to accomplish something, to have fun and fights for the goals of our clan and also our own goals. Being in good term with your leader and being able to have fun with him, and feels like he's part of us and not a distant figure of authority is the best leader that a clan could have in my opinion.
That being said, what type of leader are you? How do you deal with your own clan? Do you think maintaining the goals and values of the clan is the best to do or going with the flow of your newest members values and own goals would be better?
Here's the link to the topic made by Surly: Link
19 comments:
Okey, I will explain why because I have a lot of respect for your blog. And please respect my choice to be anonymous. I have my reasons.
I will not state whether or not I am clan leader. I do not wish to get into a pissing match with anyone. This is my opinion, take it or leave it.
Surly has little pre-emptive abilities to tackle a significant problem as clan leader, he is indecisive; you don't wait until a problem becomes enormous to solve it, you fucking solve it the moment it raises it's ugly head. Just him asking in the thread at what hypothetical point he should take action is a strong hint that he is not capable of being an adequate clan leader, he is too indecisive; you don't sit on the sidelines as a clan leader, you need to be involved because it is your JOB. Who else would do that? Who else is supposed to solve problems?
Now Surly has created a "cold reality" atmosphere in his clan by being an egotistical self-centered troll for years on forumfall and that gives off the impression that he is only concerned with trying to make an impression upon people as being more intelligent than everyone else. He flaunts his own wisdom in endless flamboyant expressions his all his writing that harkens much like that emo Dani Filth of that pathetic band Cradle of Filth; they share the same sort of vain expressive qualities that only seems homo-erotic and vain. Unfortunately, Surly isn't all that intelligent, despite being able to use wise-cracks that sometimes get various people's panties in a bind over the years.
He has stated that the clan leadership are the only ones with authority for making decisions and that all the rest of his clan is just "body and soul" and has no collective wisdom. What makes Surly such an authority with exclusive knowledge? Nothing, really. Some people in that thread pointed that shit out with validity.
Of course, I recognize that it is his guild that he founded, but that is immaterial to the fact that he pays no respect to his clan members. He suggests that he will pay them no mind, since his leadership center should be the ones with exclusive decision-making power, and the "peons" are the ones that plant the seeds, whereas the leadership harvests the results, even while the peon has left the guild months ago.
I know a lot of clans use this same methodology. But that is not a philosophy, it is based on inexperience and bad clan design and management, in my view.
As an example, the badge and commendation hand-outs for accomplishments will only serve to cause friction and jealousy among clan members. Even if that jealousy is not expressed, it will nevertheless exist as an under-current. Seemingly, as far as I can tell, Surly divorces himself from these clan members because his organization is focused upon his small group of leadership and nobody else. His circle of leaders will give out declarations of what the clan will plan to do, and nobody will be tolerated in discenting, actually it is obvious by Surly's own admission that they will be ignored. That is extremely common in clans in games such as World of Warcraft and elsewhere because nothing really actually matters in those games since they are worthless games. That is typical guild structure. But Darkfall is entirely different and needs a better approach. In Darkfall, all occurrences within a clan matter due to reality that the clan itself is a more serious and significant entity (land ownership, clan politics, warfare, in Darkfall, clans have actual MEANING).
That is like a vague political figure in the Senate that nobody but other Senators can influence, the "people" are not represented. And does not discontent occur when the "peons" and "serfs" are not represented? It was effective in the Middle Ages because all those people were completely helpless, they had no choice but to comply or they would fucking starve to death, tossed into prison, tortured, killed, whatever. But in Darkfall, these people do have a choice, and they will take make that choice no matter what. If they are not happy with their clan, they will go elsewhere and join another clan that appreciates their voice and contributions.
In my ideal clan, all clan members should be seen as equals or you retain an inevitable sense of elitism and competition, and those pressures will build-up over some amount of time. It results in feelings of discontent. In a larger guild, you have members that are friends and you will have many, many more members that are not so much. Those are the wild cards that could very well contribute to drama within the guild when things go wrong. And with Surly's "hands-off" approach, him thinking that problems within a clan will eventually even-out and solve themselves... that is what I term idiocy and incompetence for any clan leader. A hands-off approach? Why is Surly in the position of clan leader then? That's incompetent and ineffectual leadership.
You might think that internal competition in a clan would establish increased levels of motivation, but that is also wrong; it will only serve to cause destabilization within the ranks when an unexpected problem arises from the outside (war, seige, political pressure, internal division, members getting ganked too many times and crying about it in clan chatbox: drama). Those clans do not survive the drama, they experience internal division or outright dissolution.
Additionally, he mentions that his membership will be fluid, that the "body and soul" of the clan will change all the time, will not be constant; whereas only those with the high-ranking leadership roles will be consistently present. Well, that is due to his own naive clan design, since many of the "serfs" will be discontent, and they will leave, mainly because they have no influence over clan decisions whatsoever: the "serfs" feel left out of the loop. If they were content participants with their clan, their membership would not be fluid, instead there would be a much higher retention. Unless I am mistaken, Surly foresaw that consequence of his entirely self-centered clan design. I will give him that much. He is fully aware of his own selfishness and designed his ways to accomidate it.
Those are my observations. And my belief that Surly is a fucking clueless idiot still stands and my opinion about that is not up to debate. I will not reply to trolling. Nobody thinks more highly of Surly... than Surly himself. And he could not help but design his clan entirely around that extremely limited viewpoint.
Vain egotism is the prelude to a harsh fall.
Take that for what you will...
Admittedly, my conceptions might be completely off. I was basing that only on what Surly said, himself, in that thread. Otherwise I know nothing concerning Anvil Society.
And I do not mean to stir up trouble, I am giving my opinion. You asked, so you recieved.
I will likely not respond with anything after this, I have given my opinion and that is final.
That is a long answer.
Thanks for sharing your opinion. You won't be in trouble and I respect that you are posting anonymously.
You know every leaders manage their clan in a different way. Darkfall will be much different like you said, so I wouldn't bash the way Surly deal with his guild before we see the final result in-game.
You might be right or you might be wrong, but in the end what matter the most is which style of leadership your prefer the most. If the way Surly leads his guild is not what you like then yeah you won't tell him that what he's doing is great, but if you ask some members from the Anvil they might tell you that they really like the management of the guild.
I think its more of a personal taste than anything else but I have to admit that some leaders have no clue how to manage a clan.
Anyway Thanks for sharing your opinion!
Was my pleasure.
If Anvil members are content with being nothing but voiceless peasants, more power (or lack of it) to them.
Regards.
Happy Holidays to MOA. The future is going to be extremely fun, interesting, and kickass at the same time. We will all be sucked into an alternate universe very soon, and we will be therein, hopelessly trapped, for all time. Or at least until the 7th Darkfall expansion pack fucks everything up.
:)
I'm in Anvil Society, and I feel that criticism of Surly's leadership ability said above is unfounded. I'm rather happy with him. Yeah, he can be a jerk sometimes to us, but, hey, he's Surly.
He is receptive and sensitive to clan interests though. There's been several instances where he has changed the clan's direction to what the popular opinion and mentality of clan members within it. He recognizes the fact that people, and their interests change. He isn't one of those leaders who thinks in terms of his goals for the clan on his own, he knows the future success and longevity of SotA depends on doing that.
In my opinion, he's a competent leader who knows what he is doing.
I find it interesting that despite not being in SotA, you seem to have this detailed knowledge of whether or not people or represented well, whether or not they like it, or even how Surly runs things on a day to day basis. Put your disclaimer at the beginning so I can ignore the rest of your post next time. Most of the paragraphs are distorted by your own bias, and your ecstatic love for democracy. I would hazard a guess that you are American, and either a feminist or perhaps a late highschool/college age activist male who goes to rallies with his friends on weekends.
One word for why surly stands above all other guild leaders.
Reacharound
the core structure of SOTA is what determines our inevitable victory in darkfall, this foundation is 1 part rock 2 parts penis and if you arent down get outta town. word
who is Surly and why are you all so obsessed with him?
He's the leader of Darkfall
I dont really agree with that long poster, but, well, I dont really like Surly much myself cuz he is a piece of shit, but I think Surly is smart enough to troll the fuck out everyone, including me in the past (Ammon777 here). LOL that entire post here was paraphrased by Surly today on forumfall. Hahaha.
Have almost all those posts after that been by Anvil peepz though? I suppose thats expected..
One question:
'One word for why surly stands above all other guild leaders. Reacharound."
What is that supposed to mean? Is that like in relation to politics? Or he gives you guys tremendous hugz all the time? wut !!!
One more thing:
"inevitable victory in darkfall"
LAWLz dude, i sure hope you arent for a rude awakening.
:)
Reach Around:
n: the performance of the act of masterbating a sexual partner, usually while the person performing this act is simultaneously performing doggy style, anal sex, or spooning on the same partner as the person on top
rwp80 here... I cant be bothered to register.
I thought Surly's thread on the forum (http://forums.darkfallonline.com/showthread.php?t=100727) was serious.
I think this entire episode could be entirely engineered by Surly as a form of self-marketing.
Who knows, he might become the 'Marylin Manson' of Forumfall. Darkfall's first celebrity perhaps?
No, you are not the REAL Surly.
It is I !!! I amz the REAL SURLY !!!
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA,
no, actually i am Grim[SF]!
"Reach Around: n: the performance of the act of masterbating a sexual partner, usually while the person performing this act is simultaneously performing doggy style, anal sex, or spooning on the same partner as the person on top"
Very kinky! I have never heard of this! Must try this next time!
rwp80 here...
I haz now realized that i am completely fukken retardation timez.
:D
Well, after reading this hilarious thread. I loved the criticism of Surly, I'm sure he would enjoy it as well if he decided to read it.
However, as an AS member(ts) I felt the need to comment on this part...
"If Anvil members are content with being nothing but voiceless peasants, more power (or lack of it) to them."
This shows the poster of that wall of incorrect opinion knows nothing of Anvil, Surly, or the posts Surly made in his thread.
Nearly everyone in the clan is on the same stool as each other. If you want to be a voiceless peasant, you can be that. If you want respect, power, authority, or a voice in Anvil, you can have that as well.
Surly has built Anvil to allow anyone to do what they want. He doesn't have a hand in political bullshit in his own clan, he doesn't simply reward the favored members. If you want something more from your membership, you work for it and take it.
Neat!
Yah, I am sure Surly is real genius hero.
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