A Steward's Guide

5. Lead as a Mentor, Not a Boss
You are a facilitator, a mentor, a guide, and a helper—not an army sergeant. You cannot give orders outside of reminding people of the guild rules. While you hold the administrative power to remove people from the guild or voice chat, doing so should be handled through a formal Steward's Inquiry (detailed at the bottom of this guide), where the entire Steward team collaboratively decides how to address deliberate troublemakers.

You cannot say to people, "I am the Steward, and you do what I say." That is not your role. I am the High Steward and the owner of the guild, and even I would never dream of saying that to anyone.
Tactfulness is a skill you must master. Count to ten before reacting to friction. We are all human, and our emotions can get the better of us. You might be dealing with heavy real-life problems, and the person you are interacting with may be dealing with even more severe real-life dramas—stress, anxiety, depression, or physiological conditions you know nothing about, but which perfectly explain their behaviour.

It is often said that to truly know someone, you need to walk a mile in their shoes. Since you cannot do that, adopt the approach of assuming there is always something more going on beneath the surface. They may be facing something devastating that they would never share with the group, and that bottled-up stress colours their judgment.

The Guarded Traditionalist: These members can be stubborn, direct, and set in their ways. They might use self-deprecation as a shield when challenged (e.g., "I guess I'm just the fool"). They can react defensively to changes, interpreting a shift in guild style as a personal attack.
Your Approach: Never assume malice where there might simply be desperation or frustration, and never bite defensive bait. Avoid assuming the worst. Count to ten, change the subject, or invite them to a quiet, private chat. Always pivot the conversation away from personality clashes and back to the core philosophy of looking after the wider community. Your goal is always to defuse the situation, not cause it to blow up in your face.

6. Avoid Overexplaining (The Driving Instructor Analogy)
When helping members, avoid overloading them with data. Game builds are complex, and it is easy to accidentally overwhelm people.

The Perfectionist / Min-Maxer: These players are driven by optimal performance, hard modes, and raw numbers. They know game data inside and out. However, they can easily fall into the trap of "showing off" their knowledge, throwing advanced, multi-layered strategies at a beginner, and creating a cold, exclusionary atmosphere.
Your Approach: If someone asks how to make a heavy attack sorcerer, point them to the website for a solid setup, explain which dungeon drops the necessary set, and offer to run that dungeon with them.
 
Do not throw 15 different optimisation variants into a single, short conversation.
 
Imagine you are teaching a student how to drive a car: you explain how to start the engine, use the clutch, steer, and brake before letting them try. You don't immediately lecture them on fuel injectors, DPF filters, and sport mode with launch control.
 
People are not computers; it takes time for the human brain to rewire itself, absorb new terminology, and successfully put it into practice. Keep explanations focused on the basic mechanics first.

7. Look Out for Your Guildmates and Protect the "Steady In-Betweener"
Our guild relies heavily on different types of social players, and we must protect them all.
 
The Steady In-Betweener: These members are the absolute bedrock of SRS. They hit solid, mid-tier numbers (like a reliable 35K DPS), try their absolute best, and love the social connection. However, they can easily get confused or forget a mechanic under pressure, making them highly susceptible to feeling like a "burden" if someone makes a careless comment.
Your Approach: Protect them fiercely. Validate their presence, remind them that the atmosphere is brighter when they are around, and use data-based reassurance to prove they are doing great.

Active Outreach: If you notice a regular player has been missing for a few days, reach out via private message on Discord. If they are still playing the game but avoiding social spaces (which you can check via their last-online status on the guild roster), send them an in-game mail. Note: Because sent in-game mails are not currently saved in the history, I highly advise copying and pasting your sent messages into a notepad for your own future reference.

Simply ask if they are okay and let them know they haven't been seen in chat for a while. Show them that you genuinely care. When people receive a message like that, it proves they are valued and missed.

It is incredibly important to most people to know that others care about their welfare. Usually, the answer is simple: they are feeling burned out, taking a break, or playing a newly released triple-A game. But if they respond and reveal they were bullied or made to feel bad in chat, that is the exact moment to escalate the matter to a Stewards Inquiry by notifying other Stewards or me immediately.

8. Speak of Others Constructively
Avoid talking about guild members in a derogatory way to others. It is hurtful, achieves nothing, and will eventually catch up to you. If you hear other members speaking badly about someone, ask them to speak with you in private so you can assess if a real problem is brewing. If you are unsure how to handle what they tell you, contact other Stewards or me for advice.

While it's true that leaders rarely hear the good things said about them, we should always strive to speak well of our members (e.g., "Take so-and-so with you, they are a fantastic tank and will really help your dungeon run"). We do not want to hear the opposite (e.g., "Don’t take them, they suck and will die in seconds").

If someone asks to bring a player who you know isn't quite ready for a specific piece of veteran content, phrase your advice constructively: "I think that particular content might be quite a big jump for them right now; ensure they are fully aware of the mechanics and what you are planning before inviting them along."