For me, running an FC takes a lot of witchcraft. Witchcraft powered by tears and blood and desperate prayers. Okay, but seriously. After a couple years of pain and suffering I think I've finally got this guild leading stuff relatively figured out. (Note: In this post I'm only addressing my advice and experience in running an FC, not necessarily linkshells.) Thank you for posting this, Maia! It's very helpful! I agree with everything you've said so I'll try not to repeat too much of what has already been posted! 
What we offer...
With the help of a member of my company who typically likes to remain anonymous, we've done what we can to make our website both pretty and optimized. We have a custom layout and thanks to the donations of our awesome members we have Advanced Enjin membership to give us a lot of extra goodies and keep the site running smoothly. I like Enjin because it's pretty simple to use, and you only need one account to join as many communities as you please.
Making an account on our website is mandatory to fill out an application for the FC. However, using the website after that is not mandatory but immensely encouraged. It's hard to communicate effectively with an FC of ~100 unique people with in game resources alone. I can only parrot certain things in FC chat so many times before the people who are online often at the same time as me wanna punch me after hearing me repeat myself for the tenth time, and the FC announcements section has such a short character limit that it fits not even half a paragraph. Using a website is necessary for clear communication and also helps add more of a sense of community.
Our forums feature...
The one thing I feel worth mentioning here, we have an "IC Bulletin Board" thread (not to be confused with the "Company Bulletin Board" forum board where all written IC notices are posted). In this thread, we post what our character has been up to IC. It's very helpful for dropping subtle hints or setting plots into motion. For example, things like "So-and-so has been walking with a noticeable limp for the past week but if questioned insists everything is fine" or "So-and-so has not been seen at the company house for two days and any attempts to contact him fail." Basically, it's for communicating IC information that cannot be easily conveyed via actual separate RP interactions on a wide scale with everyone who might have seen your character over that period of time.
Involvement is the number one way to move up in my FC, and it is how each of my officers got their position. Those who are more involved, naturally, get to play a larger role in our company RP plot. We also like to make it known that our members are welcome to run their own events--they do not need my approval.
One thing we've done recently to encourage involvement is a rewards raffle. Each person gets a "ticket" each time they attend a company meeting, help out, or do something that my officers or I feel should be rewarded. At the end of the month, one person is chosen through a random number generator to receive a prize valued around 100k gil.
Our company hosts a Tavern Night every week. It's good to form ties between our FC members and those outside it, get our name out there, and foster RP in the community. Every few months, we usually have a larger and more uniquely themed community event (date auctions, masquerade balls, holiday parties, scavenger hunts, etc.) ran by myself or other members of our company.
Our company has a meeting every week where we discuss various IC issues, introduce new members, and give updates on the recent happenings of the FC. We also do IC treasure hunts most weeks. When we've had a recent influx of new members, we hold a Meet & Greet to help the newer members meet others in the company and find their place in the company's ranks. Aside from this, we have little events pretty sporadically, some pre-planned and some very spontaneous, everything from parties to fighting tournaments to IC dungeon runs.
The application is explained (and can be seen in full) here.
My policy here is mostly the same as Maia's, so I won't echo that too much. I will just say I must stress that these things often involve compromise. When there's a dispute where both sides have contributed but Person A is gunning for me to slam Person B with punishments and let Person A get away freely (while cheering from the sidelines as they watch Person B go down in flames!), I do my best to politely inform them it's not going to work that way. When conflicts arise I like to do my best to make sure both sides can end on friendly terms if possible, and that will take compromise. I like for people to come to with the intent of actually working out a problem, not the intent to simply tattle and get the other person in trouble.
Meetings are Mandatory
There was some backlash when I implemented this, but I think it was necessary. Let me explain what I mean by mandatory--OOC reasons to miss are perfectly fine. And by reasons, I mean even saying "I didn't feel like logging in so I watched a movie" or "I felt like playing another game" is a valid reason. However, if someone is online in FFXIV and the FC, I expect them to be at the majority of the meeting.
No Readmittance?
An open door policy is all good and nice, but frankly, we've had too many problems with fair-weather FC members--the type who will get caught up in the hype of drama and leave amid a mass exodus, or maybe complain of the inactivity following an exodus and leave for greener pastures. Greener pastures that they apparently never end up finding before we bounce back on our feet again and are active once more, and lo! Now that we're thriving, they're suddenly our best buddies and them leaving was just "a break" and they want an invite back to the company that they say is their "home." If someone leaves on decent enough terms and/or sincerely apologizes, I typically don't mind giving second chances... But people asking for third and fourth chances is too much. We've had too much of this in the past and now we're very strict on letting anyone back in. If anyone leaves, we expect them to keep in mind they may not be able to just waltz back in.
TL;DR?
The rest of our rules, I think, are pretty standard and I've had no complaints. You can find them in full here. Some people are put off by the mere length of them, but honestly, it all pretty much boils down to "be mature and respectful of others." In fact, that phrase is more or less all our "rules" used to be--some people just had problems understanding how to achieve that, so we chose to break it down piece by piece.
Not only do we have our own board on the forum, but the staff of my FC also have our own Skype group. We use the Skype chat regularly to collaborate on ideas and discuss concerns, as well as simply relay any necessary information. Also, my boyfriend is the person I made this FC with. He doesn't really play FFXIV much anymore, but he's led guilds for a while and unlike me he's a natural leader, Type A personality who has his crap together, so in almost every decision I make, I consult him and give a lot of weight to his opinions and ideas.
Communication - Communication is key. I like people who tell me when there's drama rather than let it escalate. I like people who come to me when they have a problem rather than silently leaving the FC.
Initiative - I like people who make my job easier and bring more life to the FC! I like people who, rather than sitting and complaining that "I want there to be more IC dungeon runs!" and whining until someone makes it happen, take the initiative to make it happen themselves.
Positive Attitudes - I like people who are friendly and upbeat, and don't fill FC chat with negativity. I like people who make friends and form bonds. I like people who don't get involved in drama. I like people who are open to compromise and not easily offended. I like people who help mediate.
Helpfulness - I like people who help answer general questions about the game and the company, or who help company mates with anything from dungeons to coming up with a character background.
"Always IC"
For clarification, if any member wants to be "always IC," they are more than welcome to. But to me, "heavy RP" isn't about how often someone is IC, it's the quality of the time that is spent IC--how much thought is behind it, how much effort and passion is put into it, how good the writing is, how interesting the character is, how lore friendly the role-play is, how properly common RP etiquette is observed. Maybe it's an unpopular opinion, but I find "always IC" to be the exact opposite of "heavy RP." There are some situations that just do not make sense for my characters to be there IC canonically, and there just some times I really can't get my mind into the state necessary to play my character well and would end up half-assing my RP. That being said, no one is ever at any point required to be IC.
Strict Activity Requirements
If someone is gone for 100+ days with no explanation and without checking in, they'll likely be kicked. They will also likely fail their membership vote if they are not particularly active in their first three weeks in the FC, but that's not so much a rule as simply a thing that happens. I've seen FC's where people are kicked for not logging in for a week, or even for not RPing once a week. I think that's silly, not only because OOC/RL stuff is obviously more important than RP/FFXIV, but also because someone's not going to be anymore active if you kick them--they'll just be gone. And I don't know how others feel, but if I got kicked for activity for being gone two weeks, I wouldn't reapply--I'd go elsewhere.
Voice Chat Mandatory
This is an RP FC, not a hardcore raiding FC. We don't need voice chat to communicate. I've seen guilds--RP guilds--where voice chatting is necessary because officers like to interview applicants in voice chat, or like to deal with addressing any problems via voice chat. It's honestly just incredibly uncomfortable to me. It makes me feel like I'm interviewing for a job, or being called into the boss's office for a lecture. Those aren't feelings I want out of my FC and my leisure time. As someone with social anxiety issues, it's all doubly unpleasant to me. I find it particularly weird in RP guilds, since a lot of role-players tend to be a little introverted OOC, or like to keep their OOC details relatively unknown for security or immersion reasons. Voice chatting for something already nerve-wracking like an interview or a reprimanding just seems far too personal and awkward.
Always SFW and PG
FC chat is where we, as adults and perhaps the rare older teen, relax and unwind. We don't allow anything obscene. But profanity, teasing and good-natured jeers, and innuendos are to be expected.
Hand-holding
We are willing to help, but we can't walk everyone through every step of the game, or forcibly drag someone into every RP. There's simply not enough time, and it shouldn't be necessary. People have to do some things themselves. This is a large FC, so if someone needs someone else to drag them into being involved with literally anything, something smaller be a better option. I mean a lot smaller, like an FC of 5 - 8 active members.
Dating Services
The FC is not a hookup service for anyone to find sex or romance, IC or OOC. Good for you if you stumble into it! However, we don't foster the environment for someone looking for partnership and nothing more. We are not anyone's personal dating pool.
Leader-centric Plotlines
Let's face it--this is no fun for anyone but the leaders (and maybe their special group of closest friends who are sometimes included). I do actually see some reason in it, because if you rely on others to move your plot along they often drop the ball and the plot can be lost or put on hold, but we find a compromise by letting those who are most active and involved play the largest role in the company plot while keeping the plot large and broad enough to give everyone who puts forth the effort a chance to play their own role in things and have a moment in the spotlight. Faye and her co-leader, Zularti, are not meant to be the "main characters" of the plot. Their role is not to be the heroes of the story, but rather to be the hook that connects the plot to the company as a whole and make it personal for all of our members.
We are a large FC and like anyone else I do have real life responsibilities, including two part-time jobs. I cannot do everything myself. Fortunately, I have some trusty officers to rely on! Each position has a definitive IC role, but I'll just explain solely the OOC facet of what each branch does. The current hierarchy beneath me is...
Primarch - This role is filled by my boyfriend who serves as my co-leader (or did, when he still played regularly)! He is the person I bounce ideas off of or seek advice from. He also brainstorms up the overarching company plot and sets each step of it in motion. It's helpful to have someone who I can very easily communicate with OOC no matter where I am or what I'm doing, as well to have someone I can trust enough to say, "Hey, log into my account and do this for me."
Warden - My Warden is that trusty Val fellow! He's someone I can get in contact with relatively easily and know very well, so he's kinda like my personal assistant and fills my shoes when I'm busy or offline. He helps me out, relays information to people when I can't be online, and helps judge applicants to the company. He's also someone I bounce ideas off a lot, and he looks after the Mumble server for me.
Chronicler - My Chronicler is a great fellow who's been around since nearly the start of HoD years ago on TERA. His position is mostly IC, but he helps plan events and plotlines for the company and I value his input a lot.
Saints - I have four of them--one for each branch of my company! The Saints are each responsible for running their own branch--they plan events and content for their branch, hold regular IC meetings with their branch, and they are the go-to person (IC and OOC) for the needs and concerns of the members of their branch. They help judge applicants to the FC, ensure the FC's rules are followed, and give me feedback on the problems and ideas I go to them with.
Lieutenants - Each Saint can appoint a couple LT's from their respective branch. Lieutenant is an IC position, but they help ease the burden of the Saints who sometimes have more to deal with IC than they have time for OOC, or sometimes just can't be online thus leaving the LT's to fill in. LT's often help run/make RP events and relay information for their Saint.
??? - I haven't decided on a name for this rank yet, as it was only created just last night. However, before a member joins a branch, they are an "acolyte." Since they are not in a branch yet, they do not have anyone specific to go to for their IC and OOC needs. So I've remedied that by appointing someone to this newly created position. Basically, his role will be to help answer the questions of new members and help get them settled into the company. He is also responsible for encouraging and directing people toward joining a branch well-suited for their character to ensure they can have the opportunity to be involved in the FC and our role-plays which branches may often play a large role in. Consider him the "Saint" of the acolytes!
It should also be noted that all officers aside from LT's can help with purchasing and activating company actions as well as handing out invites and approving in-game applications.
Amenities
What we offer...
- Large FC house
- Active website
- Double company actions
- IC linkshell
- Access to FC chest full of crafting mats
- Optional Skype chat
- Optional Mumble server
- Optional Facebook group
- Plug.dj room
- FC specific RP event/meeting every week
- Server-wide RP event every week
- Help with leveling and progression
- Help with making a well-rounded character and general RP advice
Website Use
With the help of a member of my company who typically likes to remain anonymous, we've done what we can to make our website both pretty and optimized. We have a custom layout and thanks to the donations of our awesome members we have Advanced Enjin membership to give us a lot of extra goodies and keep the site running smoothly. I like Enjin because it's pretty simple to use, and you only need one account to join as many communities as you please.
Making an account on our website is mandatory to fill out an application for the FC. However, using the website after that is not mandatory but immensely encouraged. It's hard to communicate effectively with an FC of ~100 unique people with in game resources alone. I can only parrot certain things in FC chat so many times before the people who are online often at the same time as me wanna punch me after hearing me repeat myself for the tenth time, and the FC announcements section has such a short character limit that it fits not even half a paragraph. Using a website is necessary for clear communication and also helps add more of a sense of community.
Our forums feature...
Communication Tools
The one thing I feel worth mentioning here, we have an "IC Bulletin Board" thread (not to be confused with the "Company Bulletin Board" forum board where all written IC notices are posted). In this thread, we post what our character has been up to IC. It's very helpful for dropping subtle hints or setting plots into motion. For example, things like "So-and-so has been walking with a noticeable limp for the past week but if questioned insists everything is fine" or "So-and-so has not been seen at the company house for two days and any attempts to contact him fail." Basically, it's for communicating IC information that cannot be easily conveyed via actual separate RP interactions on a wide scale with everyone who might have seen your character over that period of time.
Encouraging Involvement
Involvement is the number one way to move up in my FC, and it is how each of my officers got their position. Those who are more involved, naturally, get to play a larger role in our company RP plot. We also like to make it known that our members are welcome to run their own events--they do not need my approval.
One thing we've done recently to encourage involvement is a rewards raffle. Each person gets a "ticket" each time they attend a company meeting, help out, or do something that my officers or I feel should be rewarded. At the end of the month, one person is chosen through a random number generator to receive a prize valued around 100k gil.
Public Events
Our company hosts a Tavern Night every week. It's good to form ties between our FC members and those outside it, get our name out there, and foster RP in the community. Every few months, we usually have a larger and more uniquely themed community event (date auctions, masquerade balls, holiday parties, scavenger hunts, etc.) ran by myself or other members of our company.
FC Events
Our company has a meeting every week where we discuss various IC issues, introduce new members, and give updates on the recent happenings of the FC. We also do IC treasure hunts most weeks. When we've had a recent influx of new members, we hold a Meet & Greet to help the newer members meet others in the company and find their place in the company's ranks. Aside from this, we have little events pretty sporadically, some pre-planned and some very spontaneous, everything from parties to fighting tournaments to IC dungeon runs.
Our Application Process
The application is explained (and can be seen in full) here.
Conflict Resolution Policy
My policy here is mostly the same as Maia's, so I won't echo that too much. I will just say I must stress that these things often involve compromise. When there's a dispute where both sides have contributed but Person A is gunning for me to slam Person B with punishments and let Person A get away freely (while cheering from the sidelines as they watch Person B go down in flames!), I do my best to politely inform them it's not going to work that way. When conflicts arise I like to do my best to make sure both sides can end on friendly terms if possible, and that will take compromise. I like for people to come to with the intent of actually working out a problem, not the intent to simply tattle and get the other person in trouble.
Unpopular Policies
Meetings are Mandatory
There was some backlash when I implemented this, but I think it was necessary. Let me explain what I mean by mandatory--OOC reasons to miss are perfectly fine. And by reasons, I mean even saying "I didn't feel like logging in so I watched a movie" or "I felt like playing another game" is a valid reason. However, if someone is online in FFXIV and the FC, I expect them to be at the majority of the meeting.
No Readmittance?
An open door policy is all good and nice, but frankly, we've had too many problems with fair-weather FC members--the type who will get caught up in the hype of drama and leave amid a mass exodus, or maybe complain of the inactivity following an exodus and leave for greener pastures. Greener pastures that they apparently never end up finding before we bounce back on our feet again and are active once more, and lo! Now that we're thriving, they're suddenly our best buddies and them leaving was just "a break" and they want an invite back to the company that they say is their "home." If someone leaves on decent enough terms and/or sincerely apologizes, I typically don't mind giving second chances... But people asking for third and fourth chances is too much. We've had too much of this in the past and now we're very strict on letting anyone back in. If anyone leaves, we expect them to keep in mind they may not be able to just waltz back in.
TL;DR?
The rest of our rules, I think, are pretty standard and I've had no complaints. You can find them in full here. Some people are put off by the mere length of them, but honestly, it all pretty much boils down to "be mature and respectful of others." In fact, that phrase is more or less all our "rules" used to be--some people just had problems understanding how to achieve that, so we chose to break it down piece by piece.
Behind the Scenes
Not only do we have our own board on the forum, but the staff of my FC also have our own Skype group. We use the Skype chat regularly to collaborate on ideas and discuss concerns, as well as simply relay any necessary information. Also, my boyfriend is the person I made this FC with. He doesn't really play FFXIV much anymore, but he's led guilds for a while and unlike me he's a natural leader, Type A personality who has his crap together, so in almost every decision I make, I consult him and give a lot of weight to his opinions and ideas.
Things I Appreciate in Membership
Communication - Communication is key. I like people who tell me when there's drama rather than let it escalate. I like people who come to me when they have a problem rather than silently leaving the FC.
Initiative - I like people who make my job easier and bring more life to the FC! I like people who, rather than sitting and complaining that "I want there to be more IC dungeon runs!" and whining until someone makes it happen, take the initiative to make it happen themselves.
Positive Attitudes - I like people who are friendly and upbeat, and don't fill FC chat with negativity. I like people who make friends and form bonds. I like people who don't get involved in drama. I like people who are open to compromise and not easily offended. I like people who help mediate.
Helpfulness - I like people who help answer general questions about the game and the company, or who help company mates with anything from dungeons to coming up with a character background.
Policies We Avoid
"Always IC"
For clarification, if any member wants to be "always IC," they are more than welcome to. But to me, "heavy RP" isn't about how often someone is IC, it's the quality of the time that is spent IC--how much thought is behind it, how much effort and passion is put into it, how good the writing is, how interesting the character is, how lore friendly the role-play is, how properly common RP etiquette is observed. Maybe it's an unpopular opinion, but I find "always IC" to be the exact opposite of "heavy RP." There are some situations that just do not make sense for my characters to be there IC canonically, and there just some times I really can't get my mind into the state necessary to play my character well and would end up half-assing my RP. That being said, no one is ever at any point required to be IC.
Strict Activity Requirements
If someone is gone for 100+ days with no explanation and without checking in, they'll likely be kicked. They will also likely fail their membership vote if they are not particularly active in their first three weeks in the FC, but that's not so much a rule as simply a thing that happens. I've seen FC's where people are kicked for not logging in for a week, or even for not RPing once a week. I think that's silly, not only because OOC/RL stuff is obviously more important than RP/FFXIV, but also because someone's not going to be anymore active if you kick them--they'll just be gone. And I don't know how others feel, but if I got kicked for activity for being gone two weeks, I wouldn't reapply--I'd go elsewhere.
Voice Chat Mandatory
This is an RP FC, not a hardcore raiding FC. We don't need voice chat to communicate. I've seen guilds--RP guilds--where voice chatting is necessary because officers like to interview applicants in voice chat, or like to deal with addressing any problems via voice chat. It's honestly just incredibly uncomfortable to me. It makes me feel like I'm interviewing for a job, or being called into the boss's office for a lecture. Those aren't feelings I want out of my FC and my leisure time. As someone with social anxiety issues, it's all doubly unpleasant to me. I find it particularly weird in RP guilds, since a lot of role-players tend to be a little introverted OOC, or like to keep their OOC details relatively unknown for security or immersion reasons. Voice chatting for something already nerve-wracking like an interview or a reprimanding just seems far too personal and awkward.
Always SFW and PG
FC chat is where we, as adults and perhaps the rare older teen, relax and unwind. We don't allow anything obscene. But profanity, teasing and good-natured jeers, and innuendos are to be expected.
Hand-holding
We are willing to help, but we can't walk everyone through every step of the game, or forcibly drag someone into every RP. There's simply not enough time, and it shouldn't be necessary. People have to do some things themselves. This is a large FC, so if someone needs someone else to drag them into being involved with literally anything, something smaller be a better option. I mean a lot smaller, like an FC of 5 - 8 active members.
Dating Services
The FC is not a hookup service for anyone to find sex or romance, IC or OOC. Good for you if you stumble into it! However, we don't foster the environment for someone looking for partnership and nothing more. We are not anyone's personal dating pool.
Leader-centric Plotlines
Let's face it--this is no fun for anyone but the leaders (and maybe their special group of closest friends who are sometimes included). I do actually see some reason in it, because if you rely on others to move your plot along they often drop the ball and the plot can be lost or put on hold, but we find a compromise by letting those who are most active and involved play the largest role in the company plot while keeping the plot large and broad enough to give everyone who puts forth the effort a chance to play their own role in things and have a moment in the spotlight. Faye and her co-leader, Zularti, are not meant to be the "main characters" of the plot. Their role is not to be the heroes of the story, but rather to be the hook that connects the plot to the company as a whole and make it personal for all of our members.
Delegation
We are a large FC and like anyone else I do have real life responsibilities, including two part-time jobs. I cannot do everything myself. Fortunately, I have some trusty officers to rely on! Each position has a definitive IC role, but I'll just explain solely the OOC facet of what each branch does. The current hierarchy beneath me is...
Primarch - This role is filled by my boyfriend who serves as my co-leader (or did, when he still played regularly)! He is the person I bounce ideas off of or seek advice from. He also brainstorms up the overarching company plot and sets each step of it in motion. It's helpful to have someone who I can very easily communicate with OOC no matter where I am or what I'm doing, as well to have someone I can trust enough to say, "Hey, log into my account and do this for me."
Warden - My Warden is that trusty Val fellow! He's someone I can get in contact with relatively easily and know very well, so he's kinda like my personal assistant and fills my shoes when I'm busy or offline. He helps me out, relays information to people when I can't be online, and helps judge applicants to the company. He's also someone I bounce ideas off a lot, and he looks after the Mumble server for me.
Chronicler - My Chronicler is a great fellow who's been around since nearly the start of HoD years ago on TERA. His position is mostly IC, but he helps plan events and plotlines for the company and I value his input a lot.
Saints - I have four of them--one for each branch of my company! The Saints are each responsible for running their own branch--they plan events and content for their branch, hold regular IC meetings with their branch, and they are the go-to person (IC and OOC) for the needs and concerns of the members of their branch. They help judge applicants to the FC, ensure the FC's rules are followed, and give me feedback on the problems and ideas I go to them with.
Lieutenants - Each Saint can appoint a couple LT's from their respective branch. Lieutenant is an IC position, but they help ease the burden of the Saints who sometimes have more to deal with IC than they have time for OOC, or sometimes just can't be online thus leaving the LT's to fill in. LT's often help run/make RP events and relay information for their Saint.
??? - I haven't decided on a name for this rank yet, as it was only created just last night. However, before a member joins a branch, they are an "acolyte." Since they are not in a branch yet, they do not have anyone specific to go to for their IC and OOC needs. So I've remedied that by appointing someone to this newly created position. Basically, his role will be to help answer the questions of new members and help get them settled into the company. He is also responsible for encouraging and directing people toward joining a branch well-suited for their character to ensure they can have the opportunity to be involved in the FC and our role-plays which branches may often play a large role in. Consider him the "Saint" of the acolytes!
It should also be noted that all officers aside from LT's can help with purchasing and activating company actions as well as handing out invites and approving in-game applications.
![[Image: NCtCate.png]](http://i.imgur.com/NCtCate.png)
