Guild Wars 2

So obviously, the way you get commander status is to pay 100 gold for it. However, people often mention that they feel like just being a commander doesn’t mean you deserve it, or deserve having people follow you.

I love WvWvW, and am working towards commander status. However, I want to feel like I “earned” it. So, in everyone’s opinion what should I do to earn this title, in addition to saving up the 100 gold?

Only save up the gold by killing players in WvW and selling the drops they give you. You can’t use any other source to get the income for your badge. Try that :P

Build up a good reputation on your server by consistently demonstrating good leadership and a solid understanding of strategy/tactics.

If you want to feel like you earned it try leading without it for a month. If people follow your command without that little blue zerg magnet, you will know it’s money well spent.
Or you can do what Vodka said, I think 1000 Badges of Honour would be a less extreme idea though.

People will generally learn who to follow and who not to. Just because you buy the title, doesn’t mean you’ll get the support.

Try rallying without it, GL

The question of what needs to be done in order to ‘earn’ Commander is in my opinion a simple one, but then by that opinion by now 99% of Commanders haven earned it – that said, I think people can earn it by the deeds they do after as well, though they need to work that much harder in my eyes.

On Underworld, I worked tirelessly to lead from the start, BWE1, and from then built up a Guild of some rather amazing people in my opinion, but basically I led without Commander, it’s not that hard once you figure it out, I did it for at least a month and a half before I got Commander, and that effort did really get appreciated… In the end people sent me donations because they liked my leading, and that is the story of how I got Commander; Randoms mind, not just my Guild.

The effort I put in every single day did pay off, I was a celebrity on the server pretty much, and people kept telling me in Team Chat and Map Chat that they are tired of people pining for ‘Eze’ during the weekdays
Those are back in the days though, I would probably give a lot to go back to them, throughout different circumstances, incidents and accidents, involving Russians and Minecrafting and a man that slew grog, I ended up on Gandara Server, alone and unrecognised apart from my Guild and a couple others, both of which dissipated some time after. I’ve built up my standings since then, and might be a bit hopeful in thinking we’re now recognised as a significant Guild and force.
Still think of those as the good old days, I still scowl when Random commanders turn up, all silent and toting Legendaries and cultural tier 3s – my thoughts are, lead priorly, make an effort, always get involved, and communicate, listen and learn.

For me that effort and initiative beforehand is very very important; make an effort before turning up with your badge and expecting everyone to how before you.

Sorry for giving you my life story just had to get it out
it’s also sad that whenever I’m mentioned on UW, well at least from a month ago, people call me coward and betrayer I’d like to point out to those who believe this, A) I always tried to do the best by UW, but when that focus left, and things became near unbearable, and overeager Russians got involved… Well that’s when it fell apart -I wanted to go back quite a lot, but when I went, everyone was gone and It was the Russian’s fault!

If you find it too hard or challenging leading or helping out without the Badge, I suppose you can prove yourself with amazing tactical victories and exploits with it on Back on UW just after release was a lot different I suppose, pretty much because Commanders didn’t exist

Thanks for all the suggestions. I’m definitely going to try leading without the badge and seeing what happens.

Well if you do the standard badge to gold conversion it could be 10k badges of honor for a commander title haha, if that were the case I would be dam sure to follow their orders.

Due to changes with my internet service provider I’ve been “commanding” without my tag on a lot lately (hate to disconnect and have everyone run around like chickens with their heads cut off). I’ve found that, without that blue tag looming over my head, people are a lot more willing to offer their often helpful suggestions rather than just go with what I say. I’ve actually learned a few new tricks this way.
So yeah, definitely try and earn respect and show leadership skills now before you have your tag, you’ll learn a lot from people as you go along.

Littlefeather.8623:

Try rallying without it, GL

Did it in the first month after launch with no problem at all. Was easier to rally back then because there were no commanders so people followed you based on your performance.

Whats worse is seeing people with the commander icon activated while running around solo picking herbs.

GL on bigger servers is all i can say. i know on HoD most of us reckognize the commanders worth following and the non commanders worthy of leading.

Elthurien.8356:

Or you can do what Vodka said, I think 1000 Badges of Honour would be a less extreme idea though.

For my spec and playstyle it would be around the same. I get on average 1G in WvW per evening, in that same amount of time I make on average 10 badges (sometimes more).
This equals to 100 evenings to get both 100G and 1000 badges.

On topic: You got to earn respect of your server’s community by showing good knowledge of tactics to use, trying out new things without putting things at risk too much. being respectful to others yourself, be open to suggestions etc.

Vodka.3958:

Only save up the gold by killing players in WvW and selling the drops they give you. You can’t use any other source to get the income for your badge. Try that :P

That’s how I got mine

The whole concept of commander again was ruined from the start, one of the many things in WvW that was simply done wrong.
There should have been a set of goal to attain the status in addition to paying for it and there should be goals to retain it

Having a commander system where it is possible for some 7 yr old kid who got GW2 for Christmas can cash in his Christmas money and be a commander on day one, is not a good system

Fact is, if you spend your GW2 life in WvW upgrading, buying and placing siege etc, you’ll never have the 100g for the icon lol

It would have been good if commander had required players to donate their badges to other players and donated badges were the only currency for commander title. Oh well, too late now.

Making a personal goal of gathering X Badges of Honor in WvW would be a good start. sPvP rank is good to prove to yourself that you can play your class well – the Gladiator title looks good on a commander.

A minimum requirement is getting a party of 80s to repeatedly follow you on hazardous missions away from the zerg. This means gathering the group and leading it to surprise objectives while coordinating with the local commander(s). There are two players on our server that I’ll gladly follow on party deep strike missions and I think both should be commanders.

Revan.6259:

So obviously, the way you get commander status is to pay 100 gold for it. However, people often mention that they feel like just being a commander doesn’t mean you deserve it, or deserve having people follow you.

I love WvWvW, and am working towards commander status. However, I want to feel like I “earned” it. So, in everyone’s opinion what should I do to earn this title, in addition to saving up the 100 gold?

Just prove you know what you’re doing.

In any group, people need to figure out who the good leaders are and who the sucky leaders are, and that takes time. It’s one of those things you learn by watching, paying attention and experiencing.

If you’re actually a good leader who knows what he’s doing, people will eventually gravitate to you regardless of whether you have a commander icon or not.

There are enough commanders out there, but there are only a few I would follow no matter what.

I don’t care if I die, as long as it’s not for nothing. I’m not going to die for a commander I think doesn’t know what he’s doing. If I know a certain commander is good and he tells us it’s going to be a kamikaze mission I will do it no questions asked.

Victory or death

I agree that, most people will know who to follow and who not to. If I choose to zerg it up that day and the commander is clueless I won’t call them on it or anything of the sort, I just won’t ever follow their lead again, I’ll find another commander (theres plenty) or do my own thing.

This should have happened on release, this wont work now.

If they change the system now people will just hate even more, especially the people in guilds who collect gold from all their members to pay for a commander.

Guilds decide which of their members are worthy of the title. And ofcourse you have people who just buy it anyways because they have gold

Demonstrate good leadership skills within your guild and then have your guildmates vote with their coin that you deserve one by donating towards it.

I got ordered to get my commander tag by my server as i’d been leading people for months without it and everyone kept complaining about it. So i asked a few of them and a few other commanders if i should, they all agreed my efforts made me more worthy of having it than alot of our credit card kids. So i bought it and now am a member of the “shiney blue badge of idiocy” club(it’s trademarked so don’t you dare steal my line!). If you show you can lead without it, then having it will help you more(at times).

a true commander earn their own gold.

I shared my 7 Things Successful Leaders Do Differently at jadequarry.com. It is still publicly available and I believe it is very material to the OP topic.

However, since it is impossible to plagerize ones own work, I’ll reprint it here for your pleasure (although I think the formatting there is prettier)

1. Successful Leaders put relationships first.

Successful leaders not only build networks, but they also nurture the connections they make. Robert Martin illustrates this point well when he says, “Taking an interest in what others are thinking and doing is often a much more powerful form of encouragement than praise.”

2. Successful Leaders know that meaning matters.

Many people, particularly millennials, build their lives around having fun, giving back and doing something that will uplift others in some way. Successful leaders know how their efforts fit into a broader, more significant context.

3. Successful Leaders use humor appropriately.

Successful leaders deal with tough stuff, but they fight back with levity. Since humor builds positive emotion, it can also help reduce feelings of anger, depression, and anxiety. Top leaders know just the right amount of humor that is appropriate.

4. Successful Leaders lead and live with their strengths.

Successful leaders understand that they cannot be everything to everybody and still remain effective; instead, they have a keen awareness of how to leverage their unique blend of strengths, skills, and talents.

5. Successful Leaders manage pessimistic thinking.

Successful leaders reign in their pessimistic thinking in three ways:

• First, they focus their time and energy on where they have control. They know when to move on if certain strategies aren’t working or if they don’t have control in a specific area.
• Second, they know that “this too shall pass.” Successful leaders “embrace the suck” and understand that while the ride might be bumpy at times, it won’t last forever.
• Finally, great leaders are good at compartmentalizing. They don’t let an adversity in one area of their life seep over into other areas of their life.

6. Successful Leaders make their own luck.

The concept of “grit”—perseverance and passion for long-term goals, is not new. The best leaders are not more athletic, well-rounded, or smarter—they are grittier; in fact, grit is now the principal test for success at West Point than IQ or standardized test scores. Successful leaders pursue goals with passion, don’t back down from challenges, don’t allow a failure to define who they are as a person – simply put, they don’t quit, they don’t surrender, they don’t give up.

7. Successful Leaders manage their energy.

Jim Loehr, co-author of the Harvard Business Review article entitled, “The Making of a Corporate Athlete,” describes an ideal performance state as prolonged and sustained high performance over time. Burnout is a potential reality for troops in combat, athletes on the field, workers in business. Successful leaders become adept at moving between energy expenditure (stress) and energy renewal (recovery).

Joel Baker said it best when he said:

“A leader is a person you will follow to a place you wouldn’t go by yourself.”

Fook.3914:

a true commander earn their own gold.

A true commander buys siege and upgrades and never has any gold whatsoever.

My ultimate goal is to make 50k gold,then buy a commander tag for any person in wvw

Everyone has there own way of leading and the suggestions others have made are good, but most of the same. Don’t forget about the other aspects other than just the proving to be a good leader. Make sure you communicate with the player base on your server out there even if it’s just to talk. Back up other commanders you believe to be right by reinforcing their decisions, show them you are willing to work with them, and that you are a team player. Leaders in any pvp situations do NOT dictate what everyone does in pvp not matter how experienced or reputable they are. Give and take a little bit.

You are going to have to play politics too. Treat everyone with respect and you will get it in return. Ask for help without being harsh or calling people out poorly. If someone or a group of someones did something wrong explain it to them in a tactful way. Don’t be too nice either. You don’t want to be known as the commander who will bend over backwards for others.

It also helps to explain why you are asking players to do something. This shouldn’t be necessary, but it can help. I can’t tell you how many times I saw players get called out for asking others to do something and someone tell them that’s stupid or don’t listen to him. When the reason said leader is asking for that to be done is a perfectly valid reason and the one calling them out is too blind to see the value in what is being suggested. Stay away from doing this yourself. Opinions will differ and these things should not be talked about in the public channel unless it has to. Someone hating on the commanders who are working together and accepting of different approaches will ultimately isolate themselves. Causing people to eventually not care about what they have to say.

Hope that’s helpful information to you.

zortek.9607:

I shared my 7 Things Successful Leaders Do Differently at jadequarry.com. It is still publicly available and I believe it is very material to the OP topic.

However, since it is impossible to plagerize ones own work, I’ll reprint it here for your pleasure (although I think the formatting there is prettier)

1. Successful Leaders put relationships first.

Successful leaders not only build networks, but they also nurture the connections they make. Robert Martin illustrates this point well when he says, “Taking an interest in what others are thinking and doing is often a much more powerful form of encouragement than praise.”

2. Successful Leaders know that meaning matters.

Many people, particularly millennials, build their lives around having fun, giving back and doing something that will uplift others in some way. Successful leaders know how their efforts fit into a broader, more significant context.

3. Successful Leaders use humor appropriately.

Successful leaders deal with tough stuff, but they fight back with levity. Since humor builds positive emotion, it can also help reduce feelings of anger, depression, and anxiety. Top leaders know just the right amount of humor that is appropriate.

4. Successful Leaders lead and live with their strengths.

Successful leaders understand that they cannot be everything to everybody and still remain effective; instead, they have a keen awareness of how to leverage their unique blend of strengths, skills, and talents.

5. Successful Leaders manage pessimistic thinking.

Successful leaders reign in their pessimistic thinking in three ways:

• First, they focus their time and energy on where they have control. They know when to move on if certain strategies aren’t working or if they don’t have control in a specific area.
• Second, they know that “this too shall pass.” Successful leaders “embrace the suck” and understand that while the ride might be bumpy at times, it won’t last forever.
• Finally, great leaders are good at compartmentalizing. They don’t let an adversity in one area of their life seep over into other areas of their life.

6. Successful Leaders make their own luck.

The concept of “grit”—perseverance and passion for long-term goals, is not new. The best leaders are not more athletic, well-rounded, or smarter—they are grittier; in fact, grit is now the principal test for success at West Point than IQ or standardized test scores. Successful leaders pursue goals with passion, don’t back down from challenges, don’t allow a failure to define who they are as a person – simply put, they don’t quit, they don’t surrender, they don’t give up.

7. Successful Leaders manage their energy.

Jim Loehr, co-author of the Harvard Business Review article entitled, “The Making of a Corporate Athlete,” describes an ideal performance state as prolonged and sustained high performance over time. Burnout is a potential reality for troops in combat, athletes on the field, workers in business. Successful leaders become adept at moving between energy expenditure (stress) and energy renewal (recovery).

Joel Baker said it best when he said:

“A leader is a person you will follow to a place you wouldn’t go by yourself.”

I didn’t see this post until after I made my post. I like this post. It also gives a lot of information you will find useful that you don’t see suggested by most others. I think Zortek did a better job at achieving what I was aiming for when I made my post. Which was what you should know outside of playing the game a lot and learning how leading specifically works in the game.

Fenrir Bartea.5917:

Due to changes with my internet service provider I’ve been “commanding” without my tag on a lot lately (hate to disconnect and have everyone run around like chickens with their heads cut off). I’ve found that, without that blue tag looming over my head, people are a lot more willing to offer their often helpful suggestions rather than just go with what I say. I’ve actually learned a few new tricks this way.
So yeah, definitely try and earn respect and show leadership skills now before you have your tag, you’ll learn a lot from people as you go along.

I like what you do. But after group has agreed to follow, would it be best to turn the signet back on so other people can and will follow you and your team to the objective?