To FC Leaders.

[Desidious]

I am not a leader of my FC but have been in my FC since 2.0 launch. The one thing that I would like to see change in my FC is that all events are always at the same time. 8:00 pm EST. This is great for the people that are available to play at 8:00 pm every time. I would like to see event times changed up, maybe 8:00 pm one week and 9 or 10 pm the following or something like that. By keeping the same time you are only including the same people every time.

And this right here can be super harmful to FCs because of that dreaded word: exclusion.

Never (this I'm learning is hard to do being my first FC) exclude a certain member, type of member, or if you have timed events you need to compensate for morning folks, evening folks, graveyard shift folks, and oversea members.

[Zaels]

When the FC gets large enough, it's almost impossible for someone to not get excluded.

9 people in the FC and all 9 wants to be in a Coil static? Now what?

[Desidious]

I've lost many members, most whom I've built a great personal bond with, to progression because my FC is casual. It happens I'm told and nothing you can do about it. Just remember that in order to achieve your ideals that there just might be some sacrifices, tons of hard decisions, and a few unhappy campers.

[AmyNeudaiz]

My biggest advice is "Zero Tolerance" policies are awful. Back in 1.0 I ran a successful LS for a long time and the lower-leaders convinced me to introduce "Zero Tolerance" rules and once I did my LS died about 2 weeks later. I lost a lot of friends over garbage rules I had to enforce.

Second biggest advice is think worst case when setting privileges. If it's open to abuse, you may want to think it over again.

Third piece of advice is you can't make everyone happy, so don't try. It just sets you up for failure.

[ColorOfSakura]

As someone who is the leader of an FC: Handling disputes between members correctly is a big one.

Not everyone is going to get along 100% of the time. You will have disputes between members. If it seems like a fairly harmless debate or argument, then its probably best to stay out of it but keep an eye on things. If it escalates to something personal and vindictive (especially if its occurring in FC chat) - put your foot down about it (try to be firm but not angry sounding).

If someone in the FC says or does something that makes another user uncomfortable enough to come to you privately about the matter? Deal with it immediately. I can't stress this one enough. I'm not saying ban the person (that's just going to end badly), but make sure to pull them aside ASAP and talk to them about it. It may be a misunderstanding. However, the people in your FC have the right to feel comfortable in their group and gaming environment. If someone's being a huge jerk and saying really offensive and hurtful things to and about other members, make sure you get it stopped. If that means releasing the person from the FC because they won't quit - then that's what you'll have to do. Don't let your FC crumble because someone decides that they're so important that they don't have to abide by the rules or be a decent human being to the other members of the group.

[Gerolan]

One main rule for any FC, don't have chest access for newly joined members, as sadly that will get abused a lot

[CodeCass]

Quick question: when recruiting, is it wrong/frowned upon to have age as a factor? Thus far, the entirety of my 9-man FC are all 21 or older. Not that I want to exclude younger gamers, but our language/humor/values are on the mature side.

[LalaRu]

From my experience, you will end up with a group along the line of your liking of things, because all ones who doesn't feel things as you do, will leave before.
Some Officer is needed so the new members will see someone to rely on for things. Just be careful, if you get good officers you will run a great FC, if you get one bad apple you risk the good people leaving.

About problems, just make sure Members have a place to put their complains or any method to reach you when they need. Unresolved little things will go only worse with time.

I saw if you organize sometime little events, it helps a lot. FATE runnings together are much appreciated.

[AmyNeudaiz]

Quick question: when recruiting, is it wrong/frowned upon to have age as a factor? Thus far, the entirety of my 9-man FC are all 21 or older. Not that I want to exclude younger gamers, but our language/humor/values are on the mature side.

Not exactly, but you'll exclude a lot of people who would normally fit in despite their age. Just asking for a more mature mindset would be good enough in my opinion. Once a long time ago we found out a member was only 16 and we were absolutely shocked because he was quite mature and had a deep voice even.

[IoneNightshade]

Quick question: when recruiting, is it wrong/frowned upon to have age as a factor? Thus far, the entirety of my 9-man FC are all 21 or older. Not that I want to exclude younger gamers, but our language/humor/values are on the mature side.

I'm one of the leaders of my FC/Community and I can tell you that age really isn't a problem at all. We were founded by a group of 6 of us that are all over the age of 25. We have had a lot of experiences with younger folks in the past and know that it is really not for us.

We chose to keep the age limit at 21. We currently have about 35 active members and that's our target number. We're staying small for the purpose of building friendships. If you recruit well, present yourselves in a positive light, and really make an effort to be the kind of member you would want in the FC then you'll be fine. Just remember that everything you do as a leader needs to be in the best interest of the group, not you. Remember your members come first and without them, you're just a lonely guy with a tag.

Having a unified goal is helpful, so maybe look at what you would like to be and model the FC after that. My goal is for our FC to be seen as a positive member of the Behemoth community so we host server-wide events and try to help at any time we can. Hopefully that gives people the idea =)

Anyways there's a lot to leading an FC and it's a challenging job. It's also a rewarding one when you get it right and all your members are just happy to hang out with each other.