Why a Ninja May Be the Best Thing to Happen to Your Guild

Every guild goes through a golden age, when the members are friendly, the guild bank is well-organized, and everyone knows the correct loot roll to make on that super-nice item which just dropped from Utgarde Pinnacle. And then it happens. Someone steals half the guild bank and resells it on the Auction House. Someone rolls "need" after everyone else in the raid has agreed to make a "greed" roll. And then your guild members wake up out of their happy little reveries and realize: We've been the victims of a guild ninja.

Unless you run a guild called NinjazRUs, it's understandable that you and your fellow guild members would feel pretty upset after a member walks away with your hard-earned loot, gold, and trinkets. After all, most guilds have a rule, be it written or unwritten, to be nice and respectful to your other guild members. And by their very actions, a guild ninja violates that rule.

But fear not, noble guilds of Azeroth! Guild bank theft and ninja loot rolls are not the end of the world. Recovering from a guild ninja may actually make your guild stronger, healthier, and better-prepared than ever before.

Often the occurrence of a guild theft or a loot ninja is a good time for members to sit down and think long and hard about your guild's scope and direction. If you're still feeling too hot, angry, and pissed off about the ninja, then at least take some time to read the following tips before taking drastic and perhaps irreparable action.

What not to do when dealing with a guild ninja:

• Don't Overreact. Just because one person stole from your guild does not mean that everyone is suddenly unworthy of trust. Don't suddenly change all your rules, don't demote everyone down to Peon status, and don't suddenly close off access to the guild bank. This type of overreaction leaves guild members confused, worried, and may sometimes even scare people into leaving your guild. Worst of all, it punishes ordinary, every-day, hard-working guild members by treating them like potential ninjas themselves.
  
• Don't Cut off Communication. When someone gets kicked out of the guild, usually people want to know why. If you don't want to talk about it openly among the masses on guild chat, then at least let your guild members know that your decision to remove said player from the guild was not arbitrary - there was a solid reason why they were /gkicked. If you are going to be opening up the issue, either to your officers or to your entire guild, set a time to do so and make that public. In short: let your guild members know that there is a process for dealing with what happened, and that you are available to discuss the issue.
• Don't Engage in Slander. Don't start shouting to your officers, your guild members, the Trade channel, and the public at large about your guild ninja. Whatever the reason for their theft, hot-headedly spamming their name in front of the Auction House is more likely to make you look foolish than it is likely to hurt the player who pulled a ninja.
• Don't Spread the Blame. It doesn't matter who introduced the ninja to the guild, who left the item lying around in the wrong guild bank tab, who didn't explain the rules for loot rolling well enough, or who didn't perform a better background check in the recruitment process. Nearly everyone feels a little violated after a guild ninja, and the last thing you want to do is to make people feel worse by pointing the finger.

Once you've got your emotions in check, it's time to figure out how your guild is going to recover from the ninja, and the bottom line for doing this is: communication. Every guild member should be made aware of the ninja and any work on your part to deal with the theft. These same members should also have their voices heard, and any concerns they have addressed. Open up chat with your officers, or depending on how your guild is formulated, with your member base at large, and get down to analyzing the causes and repercussions of the theft, and how your guild is going to cope.

To do when dealing with a guild ninja:

• Ask Questions. Talk with your guild officers, and figure out how to address what happened. Every guild is different, but in most cases asking questions like these can start you off on the right track:
  

1. What actions are being taken to respond to the ninja?
2. Was the ninja someone you knew well? Do they have alts in your guild?
3. Do you need to change any guild policies to help reduce chances of having another ninja down the line?
4. How has the theft impacted guild morale? How are you explaining the ninja or any policy changes which resulted from the ninja to your member base?

• Be Positive. What is possibly the worst thing that could ever happen to your guild has happened. But the road to recovery is a learning process, and a chance to get to know everyone in your guild a little better. While one person violated your guild's trust, the rest of you can work together to make your guild even better than it was before. Instead of adding additional rules to your guild charter, or tacking on more questions to your member application, try hosting a guild social event, where members can get to know and trust each other without the pressure of dungeon-running. If timing is an issue for your guild, try opening up a guild forum for members to interact as their schedules permit.
  
• Keep Information Flowing. Keep your members updated through the guild message of the day. Hold scheduled information sessions where members can share any confusion or concerns regarding the ninja. Make sure any changes in guild policy are clearly expressed to guild members using every possible method of in-game communication. And follow up with guild members in a week or two to clear up any lingering issues.
• Reinforce the Basics. No guild is perfect, and you may experience a ninja in the future, no matter how well-written your guild policies or or how well they are enforced. So instead of rewriting your guild charter with restrictions, rules and legalese, or burdening your officers with the weight of policing your members, consider instead reminding all members that your guild, like every other, should be founded on a basis of respect and trust, and that all members have the duty of acting with courtesy within the guild.

There is no denying it: guild ninjas suck. But they can also be a powerful learning tool for you and your guild. Figuring out how you and your guild members are going to respond to the ninja may actually help to unify your guild policies, unite your officers, and "rally your troops" toward the common causes of better guild communication, higher trust, and increased awareness for all your guild members. Good luck!