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A Guild - What's In It For You
The Escapist has a piece looking at the rationale behind joining a Guild, and what it takes to enjoy the experience. Guilds are a core component of most Massively Multiplayer Online Games, but they're also one of the hardest to get right. From the article: "If guild members don't get what they need from their group, whether that need is companionship or gear, they are going to leave it. The guilds that thrive are not the ones that recruit hundreds of members with no common interests - in this case, finding members might be easy, but keeping them would be impossible. Similarly, if players refuse to accept the costs of a guild such as sharing loot or defending castles, the guild will have a harder time functioning as an efficient unit. The guilds with higher rewards and lower costs are the ones that will last."
Gads...this entire article reads like the conversation you are forced to have with the sweaty fat nerd at the con...you know the one...the one who insists on telling you all about his character, all the while constantly violating your personal space and assaulting you with his nasty aroma of Stridex, B.O., and Dorito breath.
(Hint: If this hasn't happened to you, odds are you're the one the rest of us are talking about.)
One more thing...what is up with the picture on the last page of the article? Are those two characters in a romantic embrace???
Far more information than I needed, thanks.
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~ |rip/\/\aster /\/\onkey
I'm a officer in one of the larger outfits in Planetside. I've played about 6 or 7 different MMO's in the past, but only got involved in guilds in 2 games. I tried creating one in SWG during the first months of its release but it just failed miserably. I was in one in Earth & Beyond that worked nicely. I think it's safe to say that guilds definitely are an excellent way to get yourself addicted to a game. If you're just soloing through the world, it's definitely more of an uphill battle than if you have people who you are competing against when leveling and trading and such.
The best part of my E&B guild was that there were people who actually helped you level up. In Planetside, we coordinate our attacks and stick together when in combat. PS is unique in that you can definitely level without killing everything in sight. As a result, our players stick with our outfit because it's hard to find other outfits that do what we do consistently with excellent results. We often have people who show up for seven day trials that subscribe just so they can prolong their play with us. I think both of my experiences have shown the two good reasons why guilds should exist.
Okay, so I probably shouldnt even plug em seeing as I dont play the game anymore, but hey, when you're primo number one on the server and have officers whose guides are regarded as some of the finest in the game community, you gotta throw out the props.
/. you!! ;-)
www.pacifistguild.org
Check em out if you play WoW, their Onyxia and Ragnaros "bibles" are top notch.
And to keep on topic. The officers here are some of the best people (and players) I've ever encountered in a MMO. They listen, they make changes, and ultimately they dont do whats best for them (even though they could and we'd probably let em) they do whats best for the guild as a whole. Great bunch of guys, definately the best on WoW's Kel Thuzad realm.
Good luck in BWL gang, hope I didnt
- level 60 hunter
former "joker" of pacifist
This is my sig. Its pathetic.
FTA:"Guilds are the backbones of MMOGs, but even more importantly, players are the backbones of guilds. "
Duh. Individuals are the backbone of any organization that exists for mutual gain. What guilds truly offer is a framework of trust and relationships for online characters.
In an online world where negative repercussions for acting like a jerk are few and far between, guilds provide a way to encourage cooperative play, which depends on trust.
"Trolls they were, but filled with the evil will of their master: a fell race..." -- J.R.R. Tolkien on Olog-hai
I came to the MMOG world as an adult, starting with EQ for the Mac. A lot of the guilds seemed pretty immature and I was reluctant to join one, but as it happened I became friends with someone who brought me into a great guild. When I look back at the gaming experience, the guild was an integral part of my enjoyment.
I think an adult trying out WoW, for example, would be even more reluctant to join a guild because, at least in the beginning, there were so many pseudo-guilds that turned out to be ego-driven. The PvP element in WoW makes that worse, I think.
The basic reason that a guild can be a fundamental part of the MMOG experience is that it gives you an opportunity to spend most of your gaming time with people who take a similar approach to the game that you do, assuming you find the right guild.
I don't really have the years of MMORPG experience that many others do, so this may come off as naive. In any case, this is my perspective, tastes, and so on. WoW is my first MMORPG, and I signed a guild charter Dec 2nd, and was one of the officers.
The guild started small, recruitment was poor, but levels 1-55 experience do not demand large numbers. There was some small competition evident at first. I was the first to hit 60, with a druid, of all classes. At 60, though, I started to notice that there was a lack of people. I was friends with everyone, the discussion was good, but there was something missing.
We had picked up more members along the way, but not enough high levels to create a 40-man raid, or even a 20-man. The members started going off on their own, doing things with other guilds, and not assisting the other members with pertinent things. The leadership of the guild seemed to stop caring, and the efforts of one officer were not enough to get things done. The other members of the guild have to cooperate, and that was not happening. I realized that if I wanted to do more than just those last lvl 55-60 instances, that I'd need a change of scenery.
As I left, about 13 other people went with me. The old guild deflated, and might not survive. The new guild has a similar mindset to how our old guild started... close knit, friendly, joking, and helpful. We also are big enough to field a full raid, and the leadership is strong. There is some friendly competition as well.
I had attended a couple of raids with the server's premier raiding guild, just to see if that fit for me. They operate with extreme efficiency, and make Molten Core look like Candyland. It was scary in a way, because what I thought was supposed to be hard was made to look trivial. The other thing that I noticed about that guild was the emphasis on items. The members really didn't seem to mesh with each other well, they worked together to the common goal of doing MC and BWL, and getting phat lewt, but I could tell that there was tension. That guild was less of a family/friend environment, and more of a machine.
The personalities in a guild have to mesh first, I think. If there is a strong core of members that enjoy each others' company, then the guild will last. However, if there are enough bad apples, sometimes it only takes one in the wrong position, the guild will not survive.
You need to restart your computer. Hold down the Power button for several seconds or press the Restart button.
less snapping of the fingers and turned-up collars.
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