Another piece of advice: Go find the thread on picking a guild name. I believe "a list of ship names from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iain_Banks" was linked somewhere. If you go looking around and notice Heresiarch in there, well, allow me a moment to feign surprise. (I think there are some "Lapsed Pacifists" on these forums too)

I think the people in the guild you're in just have a different set of priorities when they play compared to yours.

Personally (and probably anyone reading the Elitist Jerk forums) I raid, to see new content, and get new items. But not everyone is like that, the feeling I got from reading your first post, was like that of a Cornerman trying to motivate a boxer to be world champion, but if all the boxer wants is to fight part-time on the weekends, there's no amount of coaching you can do to make them be a championship contender.

I recall a time where I was in a casual guild, and it was great fun. One member was a mother of 2, and regularly had to leave to cook dinner for her husband, or pick up the kids from school. She could do all the things any of us could do, but while I may be reading strats on worldofraids.com and farming resist pots, and I'm prepared to do that. She has other things to do, and no amount of 'leadership' can make her not pick up her kids, or not make sure her family is fed.

If you're trying to motivate a guild not interested in cutting edge content, it won't work. You need people already interested in what you're interested in, and then work towards that common goal. Whether that is creating a guild of your own, or joining a guild, I think you'll find more success.

And if you do go the creating route, be sure to parcel off responsibilities to trustworthy people. Shouldering all the burden yourself leads to mega stressful situations and premature burnout.

Best of luck.

Good luck to you. Pulling a guild up by the bootstraps is tough but rewarding.