I see . I get what you are saying . <| sep |> As a guild leader since late TBC I ' ll list some things that have made our group successful for over 8 years . 1 . The right Leadership . The few days where I can ' t be there for raid , we just cancel the raid . This is because I know I am the only one who is truly respected in the leadership , and if anyone else tries to organize the raid , the membership wont take it as serious . Having a vocal central leader or leaders is the number 1 thing that makes a guild successful over time . This person will be hated by some , loved by others . This person should be the first person who speaks when the raid begins , and the last person to speak before people leave . I like to open with a statement of the goal for the evening and end with a recap of what went well when we are done . I also always set a tentative plan for next week so people know what to expect , but I imagine most people don ' t remember by the time it comes around . 2 . The right attitude towards every situation . You need to know when to push your team harder and when to lay off . For example , we wipe to a really stupid mistake , I lay into them . We wipe to something beyond our control , I try to make light of the situation to not let RNG demoralize people . Try never to single anyone out , even if they are deserving it . I haven ' t been the best at this over the years and almost every time it pushes the player to far and many times they end up quitting or leaving . 3 . Absolute dedication to the times . You can NOT lead a guild if you can ' t be sure you are around as much as possible . No one will respect leadership that isn ' t , especially for raid times . If a leader is absent or mentally occupied when he is supposed to be leading , thats gg rip guild . 4 . Never give up . Probably impossible to do on a Private server , but on live servers this is the biggest reason we are still raiding 8 years later . I am just too fucking stubborn to stop . I don ' t know why I even keep going at this point , but I dont think I ' ll ever stop because I am too competitive to just quit out on a commitment this big . This means not quitting in the face of a difficult progression target , but also when meta set backs occur like fights in the core , nights where people can ' t make it , or even when recruitment and attendance is low . There have been 3 great examples of these things that would have ended most guilds , but each time I solve the situation by pouring that extra bit into it and getting it solved . When the membership sees the leader is that dedicated , the bleeding stops . 5 . A team of friends above all else . Can ' t get around this , especially in Classic . If you aren ' t able to be friends with the people you are raiding with , there is nothing else that will keep things together for very long . Progression and gear only go so far if you don ' t enjoy the company of the others around you . This is probably the biggest benefit to being in a guild as well , and once you establish a social atmosphere , it will snowball and envelop the whole membership . In my guild , a good 15 people have been there for over 5 years . A vast majority only continue to raid because of our friendships .