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SiteYour Guild Site Launched!
I mentioned earlier this morning in “Apparently We’re Recruiting Cross-Platform Now” that I’ve been contemplating creating a guild website for House Al’shar for quite some time now. My interest was first piqued when Tallaa sent me an email one morning asking if having a website was something that we should consider in the future. He dumped the entire project in my lap because, of the entire bunch, I’m probably the only person who has had any past experience with webdesign, maintaining a website, and the effort that goes into the entire project.1 He also had the presence of mind to let me decide when and how to do it, since I’d probably be the one putting in all of the effort of time.
He’s so considerate, isn’t he?
Now, designing and implementing a guild website isn’t something new to me. I’ve done this numerous of times in the past. Back when I was actively playing Ultima Online, I created a number of websites for aspiring guilds. In the most recent past I designed and hosted the website for the Feathermoon US roleplaying guild, The Regiment.2 So an undertaking like this wouldn’t be too overwhelming.
There are two things preventing me from going forward with purchasing the domain and putting the site up right now:
- I’m not sure if I have the time at this moment to dedicate to such an undertaking3, and
- I don’t know what I would do with the site.
Guild sites usually serve a number of roles. They serve as a place for the guild to come together and socialize outside of the game, usually through some sort of forums. Guild websites provide valuable updates on the activities of the guild, such as recent accomplishments, social gatherings within the game, or even relaying information about what is happening in members’ lives. They provide information about the guild, whether it’s to existing members or potential members. For example, The Regiment website has recruitment information and form, a description of the history of the guild within the World of Warcraft universe, and short character biographies of some of the most notable characters.4
And all of this would work well for House Al’shar. However, I’m thinking about taking it a step further. One of the things that I always wanted to implement while Guild Leader of The Regiment was character blogs on the main website. Each member of the guild would have had the opportunity to log onto the site and post in-character blogs — which appealed to some members who were interested in expanding their characters’ histories and advancing their stories, but lacked the know-how to accomplish it on their own. Unfortunately, the idea fell through when some of the people interested in it played World of Warcraft less due to time constraints and I became inundated with work and guild-related responsibilities.5 The project entirely fell apart when I left the guild.
So, I have a question to pose to you fellow World of Warcraft players: what features would you like to see incorporated on a guild website? Is there anything in particular that stands out about guild websites you’ve seen? Are there features that you wish were added to your guild’s website? What is the most outlandish but awesome idea that you’ve ever had regarding guild websites?
At this point I’m pretty open to ideas and suggestions. I could always use another web-related project in the near future when things settle down again!
- Over a decade spent dabbling on numerous web-related projects and a couple of thousand dollars paid to me over the years for designing sites. ↩
- If you’re interested in seeing the website you might want to view it soon; I just got my renewal notice for the site and I fully plan on letting it expire, thank you very much. ↩
- I’m moving across the country within the next couple of weeks. ↩
- Actually, it’s just profiles of the people who submitted character biographies to me. ↩
- And drama. There’s always drama. ↩
