As a guild master, a long-time player of the game, and someone known to be helpful when approached, I know very well the pains of seeing a wall of pink when I log into the game.

In fact, the transition from assisting the leadership to becoming the guild master was particularly painful for me because I was so loathe to ever say no to any of my guys. If they needed help, I was the first to offer. If gold or items could help, I selflessly gave. I dropped two raids (both of which have progressed so that they are currently in or starting Hyjal and Black Temple) so that I could put in the time to organize Karazhan for them. My every moment in game was spent helping people acquire loot, learn their classes, or just building a rapport with them.

I kept doing that until I reached the point that I almost burned out.

My leadership style has changed. I don’t try to keep the guild afloat by doing everything myself. There are two co-leaders in the guild with me, I have elevated knowledgeable people into positions of authority (called our Aide de Camps), and I set aside a lot of time for myself each week to raid or PvP. I interact less with my guys because they don’t maintain the same heavy raiding schedule that I do and aren’t able to do so themselves, but we still do runs together, we’ve been hitting the Battlegrounds as a guild, and our weekly Karazhan runs are a way to snag badges and gear while having fun together.

One thing I will not ever do, however, is ignore them. If my AFK tag is up, I’m honestly AFK. I consider myself entirely approachable and I don’t want to do anything to dissuade my guys from believing that. Now, if I’m busy and can’t give them my full attention, I’ll let them know and try to set up time later to talk; however, I always always always give a reply so that they know that I am listening.