(The social groups is something that I don't think works well. Seen it on other forums and it is pretty lame so another variation may have to be looked into)
Yeah, since the guild used to use vBulletin, it had user-run groups for years. But the implementation was always pretty bad. IIRC, the forum didn't expose many ways to stay on top of each group's going-ons, so it was common to forget about the groups you were part of beyond manually clicking through each one to see if anybody responded to you.
I like the spirit of user-run groups though. I like giving users the tools to self organize and all that. I even like the idea of letting a group act as a sort of subforum that doesn't show up on the homepage instead of the gimped approximation of a subforum that vBulletin groups had.
I would need to address the problems of my experience with vBulletin groups and steal ideas from modern post-vBulletin approaches to groups. I could probably come up with something pretty good.
Going off topic here, but I race remote control cars on a weekly basis and my club has had a similar issue with recruiting in new members. We'll occasionally get kids that come down and view the track, but they rarely come back because it's a bit too pricey for them and their parent (I have about 2 grand worth of gear and electronics). What we started doing was we put together a package that people can look at and we've listed all the parts and their approximate pricing, giving people links to where to buy it. It's about $600-700 and we mention that it's about the same price as a new gaming console, minus the games, and gets the kids out of the house. So far it's had a good response with people slowly finding that the hobby is not as expensive.
I mention that because it's a similar scenario to what's here. I'm still new so I remember when I was jumping round some sites looking at each opportunity. What drew me into the guild was when I logged into the chat widget and watched the general discussion for a bit and said hi. I got a response and was told, "please join, kill like it". We just need to make that friendly atmosphere useful, maybe showcase a member occasionally on the front page or some works, more guides and articles (which is already increasing) and things like that to demonstrate that you'll be missing out if you *don't* join.
Good point, really.
Some guild features kind of sell themselves by being immediately visible to guests. For instance, I like that guests can see that we have a contest system on the sidebar and a feed of latest checks/roleplays. But the rest of the guild's offering is a secret.
For example: the Arena's new (but fledgling) ranked-game system would've instantly appealed to me back when I roleplayed. But it's not obvious to even our existing members that we have it... much less how it works.
Another example: I recently created the start of a trophy system and awarded the winners of the contests so far. It's another feature that the guild effectively hides from even its current members unless you chance across someone's profile that has a trophy.
The old guild used to have a welcome panel for guests on the homepage that enumerated its basic stats and features. It even had a link to a "Quickstart Guide" to show people how roleplaying works and how our IC/OOC system organizes a roleplay. That quickstart guide was once one of the guild's most viewed topics. I should put something like that welcome panel back together so guests can skim the guild's offering in one place.
Finally I think it's important to point out that the Guild's activity is gradually increasing aside from the dip in activity from that "exodus" towards the end of last year (the guild has since caught back up to where it was pre-dip). In other words, I don't want to give anyone the impression that we're trying to save a sinking ship.
Just coincidence, I tell myself. 
