Someone on the DR forums suggested I post this in the WVW forum, so here it is.
I haven’t taken a leadership sort of role in PVP until Guild Wars 2, so in the past few months where I have been “leading” (acting as one of ADQQSTY’s* “drivers”), I’ve learned some new things.
For those of you aspiring to be a team leader in WVW (especially for you roamers out there), hopefully this information will help you out!
“Ten Things I’ve Learned About Being a Team Leader”
ONE:
As a team leader, you are the team and the team is you.
You are the focal point of the team because people look up to you for your charisma and confidence. You are a good team leader if people get motivated to play when you get online.
The team is also the focal point. The team should get credit for doing good work and are the main reason why you succeed.
On certain occasions, you have to be flexible and follow the team. Sometimes you may want to go X direction or do X thing, but the team is going Y direction or doing Y thing—sometimes, go with the flow with what your people want, that way you will stay together rather than split up.
TWO:
As a team leader, experience is your resource for gaining the confidence you need and for making awesome decisions.
You gain experience by doing WVW a lot. You gain experience by watching how other team leaders function. While leading your own team, you also gain experience through defeat or by trying new things.
Players who beat you are your teachers.
Most teams understand that as you act as their leader, you will sometimes lead them into blunders while you learn. The team must follow the designated leader despite this so that everyone stays together.
Over time, awesome decisions will get you victories. Victories will earn you your team’s confidence. Your team’s confidence will make you a great team leader.
THREE:
As a team leader, you will face “leader’s melancholy.”
Sometimes you will feel bad about your performance or about your team getting wiped. A good team leader battles such feelings and continues to lead their team despite hardship. Rage quitting never helps and discourages the whole team to continue playing.
Revel in challenges. This stuff will always be a learning experience.
FOUR:
As a team leader, you will have to handle drama issues and be diplomatic. Your job is to network and get to know people.
Avoid drama with players and always keep your doors open. Closing doors with players means fewer opportunities.
Never yell or demean your team members in game chat or voice chat. Never vocally place blame or complain about your own team. People don’t like being put in a negative light. People will not be as willing to follow you if you are negatively critical to them.
On the other hand, it never hurts to give your team feedback when the team needs it, but be nice with it.
FIVE:
As a team leader, you will be nurturing to your team.
In PVP, team members can be excitable, not know what to do, or might get frustrated at times. Over the microphone (VOIP), use a calm voice and be simple and clear with your commands. Avoid angry or desperate tones.
A calmly and politely stated “Please clear comms” when there is overwhelming chatter can do a lot.
It is fine if there is a lot of VOIP chatter during a battle as long as it is all “on topic.” You know your team is nicely focused on a battle when they all speak “on topic” about the battle and give relevant bursts of information.
Compliment your team and certain players when they do something awesome. Whisper a team member personally when they truly deserve it.
Be a helpful and benevolent force.
SIX:
As a team leader, you will be quick with your decisions and decisive with your commands.
Once you gain enough experience, you will have the ability to quickly make a decision based on a certain circumstance or encounter. If you know the enemy is planning X, you can react with Y to ensure your team doesn’t get killed. If the enemy has X numbers, you will know how to use Y to defeat said numbers.
You will learn to think one step ahead, or consider future events like a Chess game.
You must be decisive in your commands. As a team leader, your job is to set an overall goal and guide the general tactics of the team. You want to say, “We will do X” rather than “Do we want to do X?” to your team. It is fine to ask for suggestions, but do it sparingly. Indecisive leaders who ask, “Should we do X?” over and over will make team members uneasy.
Sometimes briefly telling your plan will help your team so they know what to expect. You can say, “We will go here to do X and then we will do Y.” Your team should always be mentally prepared.
Member of [DAWN]
NA Dragonbrand Server
