In Star Wars Galaxies a guild may only have one actual leader in game (though many guilds have Council type structures in game). The purpose of this position is to set permissions allowing other guild members to recruit, guild email, declare war, and kick out other members. From time to time in games people feel the need to move on and sometimes that person is the leader of a guild. When a guild leader chooses to leave the guild a new leader must be chosen and SWG has a built in system to accomplish this.
The following are the steps in which you will need to do to change the guilds leadership:
1. Between the guild members, choose who your new leader will be. The best method I have found to communicate with the entire guild is through Guild Email in game if you have the permissions set in the guild to use it. Let everyone know what has happened and what steps need to be taken to adopt a new leader.
How To: Guild Email: If you have the permissions set up, open your email (Control - E by default) in the To: field simply type the word "guild". This will send an email to the entire guild and allow them to all reply to the person who sent the email.
*Remember: You can only have one actual leader in game despite any roleplay leadership structure you may have for your guild, so you must choose one individual for this role.
2. Once you have chosen the new leader, to officially place them in the role you will need to have at least 51% of the guild vote for them within the PA Hall using the Guild Management Terminal.
3. To Vote for the Person: Go to the Guild Terminal > Choose Member Management > Find that Persons name and Select > Choose Set Allegiance. It will then switch the Allegiance to that person.
4. You must have 51% or the Majority(If more than one person is challenging for leadership) of the membership to cast their vote for the new leader by the time the next PA Update cycle arrives, and with the following cycle after that the new leader will be moved to the position and can begin setting permissions for members just as the old leader did.
*Note: The person who is trying to become leader can/should vote for themselves in the process as well. If the leader of the guild is still available, they should also vote for the new person as these do count in the total.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: When is the PA Update?
A: Originally, the PA Update is the day of the week and time the PA was created in game. This time shifts by the amount of downtime the server has and over a period of months it can be very easy to lose track of the update. Most guilds are unaware of this at creation and never keep track. I've added the following to my guide from a post from MajorXP (Thanks!) on his suggestion for finding your update time:
To find out your update day and time: - Change either the name of the PA slightly or the tag slightly - Tell your members what you are doing and why - Have your guild members help track when the change happens (it could happen at anytime for a week) - When it will changes, that time and day the PA updates
Since this changes every week, to keep track us this method: - Go to your city (or any city) terminal - Find out the update for the city - Calculate the date and time difference between the two
The difference will always be the same as they are on the same server uptime clock.
Q: What if I don't get 51% or a Majority by the next update? Do we have to start over?
A: If you are unable to achieve 51% or a majority of the vote by the time that the PA cycle updates (Once a week), then yes you will have to begin again. When undergoing a guild leadership change, try to express the importance of the voting to your members and urge them to do it quickly and hopefully you can avoid this situation.
Q: Do I need to be the owner of the PA hall to be leader?
A: No, you do not need to own the hall to be leader. Any member of the guild may place a PA hall and its guild terminal will tie in with the guild automatically. The original leader for the guild will need to be the one who places the hall so that he/she can create the guild original. It may then be transferred (via /transferstructure) to another member of the guild if you desire.
Q: I am the current guild leader; can I just give the leadership to a person of my choosing?
A: No, unfortunately there is no command to assign leadership to another individual. It should also be noted that a CSR will not be able to assist you in this either.
Q: We have a lot of inactive people and can not get enough of the vote to elect a new leader, what can we do?
A: This answer is one of the hardest to give, but there are a few things you can try to do.
- If anyone in the guild has the ability to kick a member, you may want to remove inactive accounts for the purpose of changing leadership. It is advised that you send an email out to the entire guild (again, if possible) or to at least those being removed apologizing for the action but explaining the reasoning so that if they do return, they will not be upset finding themselves removed and you may welcome them back (if you wish to do so).
- If no one in the guild has the ability to kick other members except the now inactive leader, then your options become very limited. If others have the ability to recruit, you could try to continue forward with the guild as is and hope that no one will need the abilities a leader will have.
- The last option is the toughest one to admit to. You may be forced to start a new guild and recruit those active in the guild over to it and begin anew. If you do this, if anyone in the guild has the ability to change the guild name and abbreviation, I would suggest doing so beforehand (so you may create the new guild with same name and tag). If not, then among yourselves choose a new name and tag and create the new guild. The person creating the new guild should remove themselves from the former guild (with /removeguild or via terminal) BEFORE placing the new guild hall.
Q: What if the guild leader leaves the guild, deletes their character, or moves the guild leader character to a different server? Do we still need to get 51% of the vote?
A: No, if the leader is removed from the guild by their own will, it will leave the position vacant and the person with the most votes (does not have to be over 51% or a majority) at the next update will be named leader. This is a slight workaround for quickly changing leadership if the leader announces they will be leaving, and the normal voting process does not work.
Note: If the leader just wishes to use this method for changing the leadership of the guild, that person must not rejoin the guild until a new leader is chosen. If they rejoin prior to that the former leader will be automatically placed back in the leadership position again.
I'm sure in this guide that I've missed some things or not answered all the questions you have. If you have a question that should be added, reply with it below and I will edit this post and add them in to keep an on going guide for us to follow. My hopes for this is to help all those with these questions so they can find the answers they seek easily and it cuts down on some of the repetitive posting.
Thanks for your time in reading!
EDIT: Corrected the Former 51% rule to "51% or a Majority of the vote when multiple people run." Thanks Atytula for correcting this.
Message Edited by Rothin on 01-10-2005 09:59 PM Message Edited by Rothin on 01-13-2005 12:23 PM
Rothin Skyshrine
Retired Galactic Senator Former Player Association Correspondent "A people that values its privileges above its principles soon loses both."
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