Breakfast Topic: Guilded or unguilded?
by Jennie Lees 
Mar 3rd 2006 at 7:00AM
Joining a guild can be a lot of fun, but it can also
bring a lot of drama into your life. Some people eschew the complexities of guilded life and purposefully go guildless;
others pick and choose guilds carefully, or bounce between guilds at will.I've personally only found a couple of nice guilds in my time playing, and I generally don't join guilds with my alts on other servers--it's not exactly fair on the guild, since I'll not be playing much. However, I've found guilded life to be rewarding and (given the tales I have heard of other guilds) surprisingly hassle-free. What's your take on guilds? More trouble than they're worth, or worth their weight in gold?
Filed under: Guilds, Breakfast Topics
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Dustin Mar 3rd 2006 7:55AM
I have had the game since its release, but only recently joined a guild in the hopes of experiencing some of the games high end content. So far it has been a positive experience. The guild is very relaxed. What I really would like to know is how the larger guilds i.e., player numbers around 200 that constantly do MC and Black Wing Lair fair. That sounds like a nightmare to maintain.
Mike Mar 3rd 2006 8:47AM
I have been unguilded to date, but I'm shopping... I just don't want to join a guild full of asses of the variety that break up all the pick-up instance groups I run ;)
Ryan Mar 3rd 2006 8:55AM
I absolutly love my guild. Alot of the reason for this though is we are a very small guild though we have two larger alliances. But everyone in the guild i am in, knows each other one way or another. So we all help out and all know each other personally. That may change the way i think about it!
boneyard Mar 3rd 2006 9:24AM
you are more or less required to join a guild and it even has to be a large enough guild if you want to experience that last part of the game: aka end game raiding.
elizabeth Mar 3rd 2006 10:52AM
Regarding Dustin's comment about larger guilds doing MC and BWL - a smart raiding guild will only be in the range of 50 active players (give or take, depending on just how active everyone is). 200 would be quite unmanagable, as you can only bring 40 at a time into a raid... so what happens when you have more than 40 on who want to raid? Some very large guilds will have set people who are in the raiding group and the rest sit out, some have signups, some give out slots on a first come first served basis... but regardless of how you manage it, some people are going to be unhappy.
For guilds, even raiding guilds, bigger is not always better.
Andy Mar 3rd 2006 11:17AM
I am a member of "The Ancients" on malfurion and I have to say that it is a great guild. It is a casual guild for those 30+ so there is very little drama. Also, the membership is large enough that you can always find someone around your level to play with.
GlennZilla Mar 3rd 2006 12:09PM
I was a strictly solo player for a long time. Then I decided to throw the NE Druid that was begging for people to help sign her charter. I agreed if only to shut her up.
I made several friends with that Guild and when it self destructed I was saddened by it. One member left to join an end game guild. One was haunted by previous guildmates and some drama. Another was really into PVP and left to join a PVP guild. Sometimes guilds just die because the members want different things and can't help each other reach such varied goals.
Then some real life friends and I moved to Twisting Nether. I saw a Priest and Druid looking for some help in Feralas with the Sprite Darter Quests. As we finished the quests I explained how my current guild had ended. They expressed sympathy and invited me to thier guild. We were united by a common goal, leveling and end game content. Kaguya Clan was a great guild and I got all my IRL friends to join. Then some drama occured. The majority of us merged into Clan of the Dragon. Now a part of a large guild that is building toward end game content I have enjoyed my first character to reach 60. I must admit that you can solo it all the way to 60, even on a PVP enabled server. But to run in any raid you'll want a guild simply because it'll be far easier to gather help.
The bane of guilds from my experience is the differeing opinions, goals and differing schedules of the people in the guild. Truly, Hell is other people.
However the benefits of a guild are the shared goals, community and support system offered by the other people in the guild.
Think of selecting a guild much like dating. You have to go out with them a few times to see if they are a good amtch for you and your life/game style. If they are good and you left a good impression on them, ask them about joining.
Joe Mar 3rd 2006 1:14PM
The guild I am in has 60 lvl 60s and runs MC and the other instances on a regular basis. Managing 60 is tough and 200 would be tougher, but not un-doable. There just needs to be a well established and dedicated leadership team that can communicate effectively.
As far as sitting out, we are continuing to grow and to address the issues "elizabeth" spoke about above we all looking at starting a 2nd raid night for MC, et al... and offering the guildies their choice of which nights and times they perfer.
What that means is more flexibility in dates and times and more chances for people to go.
elizabeth Mar 3rd 2006 1:30PM
True, but the more raids you're managing, the more complicated the management gets. Not that it's impossible, but it adds overhead, and you don't often see a guild that's able to manage multiple raiding teams gracefully.
Also, Joe, I think we may be discussing different issues. What I'm thinking of is having 80 (or more) players wishing to run Molten Core, and thus doing it with two full raid groups. Most guilds I see trying this tend to end up spliting into multiple guilds.
Running Molten Core over several days to fit the schedules for different players is usually a good thing.
RighteousDork Mar 3rd 2006 1:47PM
I think I've been in 3 guilds since I started playing. The first guild was when I was in the teens and it was just ok. Nothing substantial. My second guild originally started out just being for hunters and I had a good time while I was there. Never really grouped or anything. It was mostly just a support system. The guild leader "Warbane" is one of the best I've ever seen though. The guild was just for fun and wasn't anything serious. Warbane went out of his way to help us though, giving us weapons and gold when we needed it. He didn't even have a mount because to him it was more important to share the wealth instead of squander it.
I ended up leaving that guild feeling kind of guilty. I wanted to join up with some people I know in RL. I still haven't really grouped with my guild and usually prefer PUGs. They're there for support though and leather....which I always need. :)
Tryst Mar 3rd 2006 2:31PM
Having been a long time member of Guildess on Khaz'goroth I just recently joined a "real" guild with my questing partner. Everything started out great but when the officers when on a major recruiting jag, everything went downhill. Now guild chat has degenerated into childishness, Chuck Norris references and frequent sightings of " has left the guild." It's turned ugly and it didn't really have to. A little more discriminatory recruiting and, in my opinion, all would have been well. There are so many guilds out there, there just has to be one for everyone. My questing partner quit yesterday and I hesitated as I've made some good friends over the last couple of weeks but, sadly, I will probably be on the market for a new guild later today.