Logard Replies...

Logard runs a solid guild and enjoyable RvR groups. He also acts as right-hand-man behind-the-scenes, making sure the raid goes smoothly.
  1. What kind of leadership do you do in DAoC? (e.g., guild leadership? leading multi-group PvE or RvR raids? RvR gank groups? all of the above?)

    I am the guild leader of Siol Lear, one of the oldest guilds on Percival. (I think we're number three for active guilds). I've led both pve and rvr groups and multi-group raids. What I do the most of right now is lead around small defense groups, 8-24 people most nights. Most nights I don't volunteer to lead, people just end up following my group around, which we welcome. People that are out in defense of Midgard near every night, such as Lyrn, Tisra and others, know that I do pretty well at picking proper targets and using enough strategy to win when the odds are fairly even. We're not a gank group, not even close, but we have a fairly solid setup and we all know our jobs well enough to win against most but the top gank groups. When it comes to the bigger RvR raids, I don't normally lead those... but what I do is almost as important in my opinion. Gisli relies on me at times to provide information, make observations and give opinions on what is happening. We're in /tells nearly constantly while out in the frontier. I consider that my role. I don't like being the one to type out the orders or take credit for anything when there are large numbers involved. I prefer to be the one in the background helping whoever is leading... which most often is Gisli. I've known Gisli now for nearly five years, having played Everquest together prior to coming to DAoC.

  2. Have you had any formal leadership training in RL? (e.g., military, leadership seminars, etc.)

    Yes. I spent 10 years in the AirForce. I was enlisted, not an officer, but reached the rank of E6 and was in charge of quite a large number of people and 26 aircraft as a shift supervisor. I was sent through two academies for leadership. One was just a one month course, the other was three months I believe. I also worked for a company as thier production supervisor after leaving the AirForce. From there I moved on to another company as the maintenance manager.

  3. What background has helped you become the leader you are now? it>(e.g., raising kids, just plain leading raids in DAoC, having been a business leader, etc.)

    My military background, raising two children, education and job experience all play a part of it I'd suppose. Leading raids in Everquest as well as in DAoC helps one learn what to do and more importantly, what not to do.

  4. What background/experience (in and out of game) has helped you with the *tactics and strategies* of RvR?

    I truly believe most things that happen in RvR that are called stategies are mostly common sense... it's just getting the people to follow you that is the trick. It's one thing to say "we should sit over the hill and wait for the albs to run down the road and then ambush them", but quite another to actually get people to sit over that hill and be patient enough not to run out too early. Camping milewalls, in my opinion, is not strategy. It's too easy to get sandwiched between albs and hibs doing that. Not to mention people get bored and before you know it, you're down to one or two groups holding the wall. Putting stealthers out to tell the horde when enemies leave thier portal keep or arrive at a milewall and then having the horde rush in from out of clipping range is much smarter and will win just about every time. When people port to our lands, thier first concern is that milewall. Once they get there and realize there's no defenders, they get laxed. They'll stand around talking or looking around... that's when you hit them. Panic will set in and they'll not realize what best to do until it is too late. Watch the gank groups, they never stop at milewalls. They run through them and get somewhere a bit more safe before they stop to discuss what they're going to do.

  5. What is your approximate age? (20-24, 25-29; or 20-29, 30-39, etc.)

    I'm an old fart... at least I feel like it sometimes. I'm 36.

  6. Do you have or have you had your own family? (i.e., live(d) in your own household (not your parents') with at least one other person)

    [Yes]

  7. What are your goal(s) and motivation(s) as a leader? (e.g., to win? to make sure everyone has a good time? RPs? fame & fortune?)

    When it's just me and my guildmates, we're just out to play the game together and have fun while doing it. If it's for a relic raid or defense, it's to win. Sounds bad maybe, but really there's only one objective when defending relics... to win. Kill them before they kill you. I could care less if anyone knows who I am, which is why I mostly stay in the background, helping the leader of the night. Again, I'm in constant communication with Gisli or Snapp while on a raid or in defense with them. You'll also notice that when we have a small defense team in Odin's, I'll talk in chat and make jokes, etc. But when we start getting 50 or more people, I only use chat to give information. I'm not much of a public person really, unless I have to be.

  8. What are the most important traits of a good leader, and what, in your opinion, distinguishes a good leader from a *bad* leader?

    Tons and tons of patience. Without that, just log off. When I get frustrated by what's going on, I know it's time to take a break. A good leader doesn't have to do that, they have enough patience to keep pushing on. Another important one is an open mind. You cannot have a thought in your head and think it's the only way to do something. You have to listen to others you trust and make a decision on which would be the best and or easiest to do. A bad leader will only listen to himself and yell and scream when things don't go his/her way. Another trait is flexibility. The ability to move things a different direction than initially planned, on the fly. A bad leader will take in information but continue on his one track thinking mind towards certain defeat. Say there are 5 groups of albs reported at AG in Odin's... Five groups of mids are inbound... A stealther at APK reports another four groups of albs heading to join the 5 at AG... A good leader will turn the horde back to somewhere else while the bad leader will continue on to AG and get pummeled by nine groups of albs. The last trait that I think is overlooked way too often is being a good communicator. Communication is the key to winning or losing a battle. Without good communication, you're fighting a losing battle. With it and the tide will turn in your favor. People need to know what's going on. Just telling them they're going to Albion and to Excalibur isn't good enough. They want to know every detail that you can give them. They want and need to feel a part of it, not just another few pixels to throw at a door. Give them specific things to do and you'll have a much smoother raid.

  9. What should an aspiring leader always keep in mind? What mistakes should he/she avoid? (Multple answers ok)

    This is kind of a continuation of the previous question. A leader has to be openminded, patient, decisive and communicate. I can't stress the communication aspect enough. Tell people what you need of them, tell them what you have planned, motivate them to do it. The biggest mistake most make is to just not tell anyone what you have in mind. Another mistake that is common is to critisize harshly when a mistake is made. I've always followed this... Preach in private, Praise in public. If you have a problem with a group of people, tell them in private... if a group is doing better than you expected, let them know in public.

  10. What, in your opinion, makes a good follower?

    Knowing when it's time to talk and when it's time to shutup. Being able to ask questions that are important to being able to do the job you were assigned. When someone in chat disagrees with the leader, it doesn't take 20 people jumping down that persons throat and spamming chat. A good follower pays attention to what the leader is saying, gives important information to the leader and chat group, and does what he can to help the leader.

    [Know] when to take the initiative to accomplish something that the leader is struggling with. [In an ML raid] I had used the initiative of getting something done that I knew needed done but the raid leader was too busy to see. The down side to that is... if everyone tries to do that, noone would be on the main objective. You have to be able to see the big picture and do what you can to accomplish the main goals.

  11. Do you have a leader role-model, or someone whose style you emulate in whole or part?

    Not really. I ask myself what other leaders would do in the situation I'm in and take note of that... but I don't think I have a role-model for it. Everyone has thier own way of doing things, but the best leaders are the ones that use a bit of something from the others. Noone can motivate people better than Snapp. When he has an objective, he knows how to get the people to do it and he seems to have a good time doing that. Gisli is more methodic. He knows what needs to be done and moves people to where he needs them. But he's more open to opinions than Snapp is. So, if you take a bit from both of them, you have the best of both worlds. People post on the VN's all the time that midgard is more organised than the other realms because we have fewer alliances and fewer guilds. While that is a big part of it, it's not the biggest part. The biggest part is flat out because all of our leaders get along with each other. There's no struggle for power, noone arguing with each other for who is right and who is wrong. The people of midgard might argue with each other in chat from time to time... but none of the leaders do. They support each other and do what they can to help out.

  12. Who do you think are other good leaders (in game/out of game)?

    I don't really think about this out of game. In game I like being out there with Gisli, Snapp, Sanger... a few others that aren't popping to mind right now as well. I have a list of those I won't follow as well though, but they're not really leaders, just people that like to use caps in chat groups and act like they're leading.

  13. Any more comments on your own style of leadership (and/or "followship")?

    Not really... I'm a vocal person, I think alot of people follow based on just that. I certainly never asked or volunteered to lead anything. I didn't even start out as leader of Siol Lear, I was an officer to start (we all moved over together from Everquest and I was an officer of our guild there). When our guild leader started not playing as often, I was looked to to keep the guild going. I've been in that seat ever since. Each night I log on I get /tells asking me what we're going to do tonight. I don't even get time to think about it, just expected to tell everyone in my normal group what we're going to do. Same things happens alot of nights that I join the defense chat. I am of the opinion that people want to be led, not told how to do every little thing, just told what the big picture is and what will be done to accomplish the task at hand. Again, I don't really lead all that often when it's more than just a couple groups out there... but I'm in constant /tells and alot of times in group with the one that is leading. I like being the right hand man, but not the central figure most times.

  14. Bonus question: Some of you role-play while leading. Any comments on the role of roleplaying with leadership?

    Roleplaying is a tricky thing. Everyone has thier own opinion of what roleplaying really is. To some it's just trying to talk different. To some it's totally immersed into thier character. To even others it's a mix of the two. I try to stay in character when in public channels. I might not always, but I attempt to. In group when in heavy RvR, I don't roleplay at all... I make quick concise statements and get back to what I'm supposed to be doing. I give big cudos to anyone that roleplays in chat, it's not always easy when others are speaking dude. Gisli doen't roleplay while leading, but he speaks in plain english. Snapp roleplays and I think alot of people really enjoy it when he does. I'm not honestly sure if roleplaying plays a big role while leading, but I do enjoy following more when a leader does.

    Logard/Legar
    Siol Lear

  15. Do you think leadership in DAoC has had positive (or even negative) effects in you and your Real Life? If so, in what way?

    No, not really. I believe it's the other way around more than anything. Real life experience playing a role in knowing what to do in the game.

  16. If you have alts that take up leadership, do you find that followers treat you differently when they don't know it's "you"?

    Yes, very much so. I started this game and played as my shaman, Legar, for the better part of 1.5 years. When I changed to playing my thane full time it was quite different when in rvr chats. Then I switched again to Logard, my savage, and again it was different. People get to know a name and are comfortable following that name...if they don't know it's the same person behind a different toon, they will not react to you the same way.

DAoC Leadership Resources