I'm not a guild hopper. I just want to highlight the importance of not sending 'wild' invitation and open code to join. I'm not good at recruiting, and I can understand that for relatively new guild, recruiting is one of the most important part of guild life. But I think it will work better for the guild and the pirates it recruits if you all do not send wild invitation or code to just about anybody. By sending wild invitation I mean open recruiting in popular server such as Tortuga dock in Abassa using a thought bubble. Sending the invitation code openly in a public thread (such as Guild Discussion section in this Forums) is not a very good idea either. The reasons are:
1. You would not know in person what kind of a person the pirate who wants to join your guild is (general idea)
2. The pirate who wants to join may not know what kind of guild you have, not get any proper welcome or briefing about it (rules, code of conducts).
Of course if the guild and the prospect member do not have the same idea about why they should join, they are not going to see common ground. That's one of those important things why he/she would leave again. I'm not saying that's the only one reason, because pirates are supposed to be free to find a guild that fits them, and sometimes they would not know the real guild life until they join (so changing mind is very possible). Except, "being selective", is going to help reduce the possibility of misconception between both parties.
I like the 'interview type' that I've seen in one of my guilds. An officer/veteran actually takes time to pass along the guild rules/code of conduct to the prospect member. And the prospect member could actually decides whether the guild rules are something that he/she would be willing to deal with when he/she joins. Being a friend of members actually helps too. So an officer/veteran would be able to ask if a prospect member is actually a friend of a member in the guild before he/she can be guilded. At least, that prospect member already somewhat knew about the guild from what he/she has heard from his/her friens who is already in the guild. I think it's still about party 'luck' and partly 'hard work" if a guild can find and actually keep a lot of members for a long time. But don't be discouraged; there are a lot of pirates out there that are just loyal from the heart.
There is no guarantee, and it ultimately comes back to each individual opinion to fit into a guild. And yes, there are plenty of guilds out there to choose as well. And don't forget, there are ever changing factors in guild life (such as friends influence, changing of guild routines and dynamics, changing of each person's mood and preferences, etc.) that all are beyond any control of guild officers/managers. And when that happens, there is nothing much guild officers could do to prevent members from hopping away.
.
