What's a good technique for recruiting good players?

[Capt. Guster]

I've got a guild, but most of the players on my friend list already are part of guilds, so my guild is still small. I usually crew up with people in game, if they're good, they get an invite, but a lot of times, I find out later that they've changed guilds.

What's a good way to recruit and keep players (I'm always polite, helpful, and I'm a good crew member, so that's not the problem)?

What's a good place to do it as well? Should I find a 'base' of operations?

[Jason Redskull]

Great question. I am one of the recruiters for my guild... I'll tell ya... it can really be hit or miss at times.

I've gotten some that I recruited that even after I've explained how the guild works... they still act like knuckle-head's (they don't last). Then some pirates are just tremendous. There is no exact science since some are not who they seem when you initially talk with them. Just this weekend I ran into a Level 11 who said she heard great things about the Reapers and wanted to join... so after talking to her for a bit (everything seemed up & up) I let her in. She greeted everyone and asked if she could get some help on a "ship sinking" quest. We pulled out a War Frigate with about five other Reapers onboard and sank ships. After we were done she said thanks... and then quit the guild. I found her later on in Tortuga trying to get into a different Guild. I won't get into what I said to her... I'm sure I'll be banned soon. Grrrrrr... "Pirates are like a box of chocolates... you never know what your going to get".

I've done most of my recruiting on PR or even Devils Anvil... I just hop servers looking for noob's and talk to them. Then again... I have ran randomly into un-guilded/higher level pirates that joined as well. One thing I won't do is steal someone from another guild. That’s low IMO.

We've never had any serious issues with keeping people. If they really want to go... they can go. I'm not gonna beg or loose any sleep over it. We have a solid core of great players/friends (most ran out of things to do) that have been here since Sirena first created this branch off of "The Elite Circle" tree.

[Kat Sheffield]

Everyone is going to have varying opinions on how to bring people into their guild. But the way I see it, any way can be potentially painful. Some guilds hand out invite codes to whomever might be interested in joining, some only invite people that they know personally, others troll certain spots in the game looking for good fighters to recruit, it really just depends on the guild itself, I suppose. There really is no wrong way to recruit. The way that my guild does it is by holding a very casual "try out" - basically what this consists of is just sailing with the recruit. This helps us to make sure that they can listen and follow directions; making sure they're reading the chat, switching to the right sides, only shooting at the called targets. It also lets you see who's a loose cannon, so to speak, and who will shoot at any random ship. These are people you definitely don't want in a guild. But for us, the plundering really works well for both sides, I think. That way you can see how your guild works with the recruit, and the recruit can see how they like working with the guild as well.

But even though we do all of this, we've still been forced to boot a few people from the guild because basically they fooled us by being on their best behavior on their plundering run. It's unfortunate, but it happens. But you want to be selective with the people that you bring in, just not too selective. We've been building since mid-February and as of this weekend we just hit 40 members. But because of the slow, controlled growth of the guild it has made us stronger, I think. Everyone is friendly with one another, there are no real strangers in the guild, and I like that.

Good luck with your recruiting and let us know how it goes!

[dangerousden]

Don't blindly invite someone. Talk to them. Ask them if they would like to join a guild. Offer them assistance.

A blind invite usually just annoys a potential member. Be polite and ask before sending them the invite.

[League]

I have good luck doing it ingame with people whom I hit it (whatever it is) off. Outta the game, I don't have it.

It is just what I bring.

I tend to guild successfully the people I'd like to join whatever guild I'm in. If I don't want them, odds are that they don't want it either. Reserve it for those you favor.