Alliance Life

It’s difficult to get anything done without an alliance in 99.9% of any MMO game out there.  World War Rising is no different.  You need an alliance for help, completing events, even attacking Syndicates.  The alliance is your game family.  Your core, the people you can rely on and trust. They support you even when things may not benefit them personally because they know the greater good is what sustains and lasts.  It’s not near as fun trying to fend off the enemy in a Control Point battle or try to rally a target by yourself.  Who better to cheer you on and push your limits to be better than your alliance?  Although Alliances are run differently, here are a few basics to always remember.

In the Beginning

When you first begin to play WWR, or even if you decided it is time for a change and begin your alliance, the are a few steps to take in creating one.

• Pick a Name  This should be a catchy name that represents your alliance.  There is so much variety in this.  This is one of the first impressions people have about what and who you are as a team.

• Choose a Catchy Tag Your alliance tags will be used to identify your alliance as a whole more than anything else.
• Choose your Symbol  This is again something that should represent your alliance, whether it be your killing prowess, farmer abilities or you want for a good time.
• Choose the Primary Language This is the default language of your alliance but does not prevent you from having non-English speaking members.
• Decide Whether or Not to be an Open Alliance An open alliance allows anyone in your region to join at any time without approval.  A closed alliance allows for more control in adding members, as an r4/5 must let the members in once they have applied to the alliance.  At the beginning of a region, I recommend an open alliance the first few days to allow as many people to join as possible.
• Get Chatty in Region Chat allows the Region to see what your alliance is like and to even know that you exist at all at first.  People chatting is what causes many to gravitate towards each other to begin forming the bonds that develop in an alliance over time.
• Strongly Consider Introducing Outside Social Apps Such as Line and Discord These are fantastic for building bonds between members, but also for explaining strategies or gaming techniques. Many alliances use these apps as an extra alert system to notify members as well.

Ranking Decisions

Now that the alliance has been formed and you have gained a few members, you have to decide on a ranking system.

• Rank 4- “The Elders” The r4s of any alliance are typically the backbone.  They support the r5 and council as needed.  Not all alliances have a strict ranking system.  Some have many r4s just so there is always someone to let people in the alliance as needed.  Some are very strict and only r4/5 make decisions for the whole alliance.  How rigid your ranking system should be is based on the needs of your particular alliance.
• Rank 3- Typically r3 is your more active player without actually being elder status.
• Rank 2- Many are smaller or less active, but also loyal players at r2.
• Rank 1–  Often visitors and farms are kept at r1.

How you decide to rank is entirely up to you.  How people earn their status is also up to you.  Often r5s rank on participation.  Some rank on size.  While others use ranking as motivation to grow. For example, set milestones to earn a rank.  Once achieved, drop members back down to reach a new milestone.  Ranking for some alliances matters a great deal, while others it doesn’t matter at all.  You may have to experiment a little with different ranking methods. Try to come up with a system that suits your team best.

Alliance Operations and Expectations

One of the keys to a successful alliance is activity and participation.  There are several ways to ensure this in your alliance.  Please bear in mind this is SUGGESTIONS on things to do, they do not indicate an absolute correct way to run your alliance. All alliances are different because people are different and you must mold to what your family needs.  Once you have decided what type of alliance you want, ie, fighting, farming, social, etc. you should establish at least lose guidelines to continue to progress.  For example, decide if you feel it necessary for members to participate in events.  If so, how much participation is required?  If you are a social alliance, are people required to participate in Alliance Chat?  Do you require members to inform elders of an absence beforehand or can your members do as they please?   Typically the goal of an alliance is to run smoothly without much elder interference eventually. For that reason, it is very important that the r4/5 set very clear guidelines for their players, whatever they may be.  Do the members know what is expected of them?  Do they understand the consequences when expectations are not met?

Something else to keep in mind for your members.  Do not advertise your alliance as something it is not.  For example, do not say that you are a fighting alliance and have NAP agreements with everyone in the Region.  Fighters are going to want to fight, and holding them back will make gameplay unenjoyable for them.  In turn, if you are a social alliance, don’t expect members to fight players in the Region they may have become close with. Unhappy members lead to drama and infighting and can cause an uncomfortable environment for many.  Typically people do not like to be around uncomfortable situations and may leave.  Try to be open to suggestions and attempt to compromise with your members as often as possible.

Region Relations

Region Relations depends quite a bit on what your alliance represents.  Be honest with those you share the map with.  My favorite alliances never have NAPs with anyone but are more than willing to share knowledge to help others in Region become stronger. Many regions benefit from kingdom-wide naps.  Typically in my experience Alliances that win Kill Events do not have naps, although there are exceptions to every rule.  Alliances need to decide on what cooperation level they will have with other Alliances in the Region.  The two extremes are typically fought all day, every day but come together for Region versus Region events, or have constant peace in Region to cooperate that way.  I have seen regions that do not give up warring during Region Kill events, but quite honestly they rarely rank in the winner’s circle.

Some level of cooperation is important, whether it be trading items from packs, to share knowledge, simply being nice on occasion.  Set up Chat Rooms four elders in the region to foster communication.

You can kill everyone in sight and still get along with most.  Often the fewer grudges, the more successful a region. Keep in mind that the strong individuals of today will have challengers later, so I would not recommend shutting yourself off completely from others.

Treat Others As You Wish to Be Treated

Although this saying is old, it is accurate.  Respect is earned, not automatic.  Loyalty is earned, not automatic.  The most successful alliances I have experienced are where leadership leads by example.  They respect their members and don’t subvert their families.  Uncle Ben taught us, “with great power comes great responsibility”.  If you are a leader, be sure to treat your members with respect and dignity.  They will return the approbation. Leadership sets the tone.

Sustaining a Quality Alliance Over Time

One of the biggest challenges over time is keeping it active.  Often, things can feel stagnant and truthfully downright boring.  How can you keep your members involved?  Bored members do not log on as much and over time the amount members stay off the game begins to increase.  It’s a snowball effect that keeps building on itself.  So, how do you keep this from happening?

Pay close attention to the mood of your alliance.  People give away thoughts and feelings in the tone of which they speak.  Try to notice when anyone’s tone is less than satisfied and try to find the source of the issue.

When possible, have a large variety of different types of people that often make up an alliance.  You need someone with the gift of gab to keep the chat going and positive.  Attempt to have testers active when times are slow so activity is still occurring.  Create games for the alliance such as “Where in the Region is Eriu Dagda”.  The first one to find the object wins a prize. (This also improves target finding skills)  Or the first player to kill 10 level 1 syndicate gets stamina gifts. Even non-game related activities can make it fun for a member’s help.  I was in one alliance that used to play “Guess this Song”.  Someone would start with one word from the lyrics of a song and add to it until the song was guessed.  The winner got a little treat such as a million food or something similar.  The possibilities for entertainment are endless and only limited by your imagination.

Another way to improve Alliance relations would be outside apps like Line or Discord.  When people get to know each other, they often have a much more difficult time separating.

I hope these suggestions help your alliance on the path to success. Please keep in mind, as stated above, they are only suggestions to try and see if they work for you.  The most important thing is that you and your alliance family are like-minded and have fun together!

If you would like more personalized suggestions for how to run an Alliance, join us at WWR Command on Line or Discord.  We’ll be there!